The Dunelmian 15-16 Edition

The Dunelmian

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The Magazine of Durham School, 2015-16 Edition

The Magazine of Durham School, 2015-16 Edition Floreat Dunelmia

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Speech Day 2016 A celebration of Durham School’s achievements in the 2015/16 Academic Year.

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Pastoral

Creative

If a child lives with encouragement, he or she learns to be confident.

Durham School is a hub of creativity, both in terms of performing arts, literature, art, design and technology.

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Academic

Durham School offers a wide academic range of subjects taught inside and outside the classroom.

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Co-Curricular

Our School has a well deserved reputation for sports, individual competition and teamwork.

Our co-curricular activities complement our curriculum to help give pupils confidence for life.

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Old Dunelmians

And so shall we, whate’er we be, whether lawyer lacking fee, or priest, or scribe, or bold hussar, sing Floreat Dunelmia!

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Editor: Mr P Sturt Design: Mr A Beales Photography: Many sources including Mark Wilkinson Photography The Dunelmian Magazine Published by Durham School Quarryheads Lane, Durham City, DH1 4SZ 0191 386 4783 Reg Charity Number 1023407

Welcome

The purpose of a school magazine is to act as an instrument of record for the year.

But, much more than that, The Dunelmian serves as a celebration of the huge variety of activities which take place here, and on every page you will find another aspect of our community recorded and remembered. Whether it be the sports reports, house memories or another of the endeavours our pupils have been involved in, the richness of life at Durham School comes spilling off the page.

You will, I hope, notice that we have redesigned some aspects of the magazine which I hope make it even easier to read. We have also included more examples of pupils’ creativity in the form of extended projects, essays and artwork. My thanks must go to all of our contributors to the magazine, whether they be staff or pupils, and in particular my thanks to Andrew Beales and Philip Sturt without whom the production of The Dunelmian would not have been possible.

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Chief Guest, Peter Barron

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Speech Day Mr Chairman, distinguished guests, ladies, gentlemen, ODs and current pupils, many thanks and welcome to this year’s Speech Day.

A particular welcome of course goes to our Chief Guest Peter Barron, journalist, columnist and (erstwhile) editor of the Northern Echo and we are all looking forward to what he has to say to us later on. Some of you may know that I am a keen follower on Twitter and one person I follow is Peter, though I am sure he has never noticed it. I particularly enjoy following him as every so often he will post another entry into his Headline Challenge.

He will outline a news story and then provide his ideal strapline for the story in question.

Dating app launched just for Remain voters so they avoid awkward dates with Brexiteers...EURO THE ONE THAT I WANT Swedish footballer sent off for breaking wind during match...

THEY STINK IT’S ALL OVER Farmer stages pig race over jumps to predict result of EU referendum...THE GRAND RASHER-NAL Pimms Jelly replica of Buckingham Palace, with jelly corgis, made for Queen’s 90th...FOR SHE’S A JELLY GOOOD FELLOW Bar opens in Soho, where drinks are served by dogs...

BARKTENDER - PAW ME A JACK SPANIELS Lost property staff appeal to owner of false teeth left behind at Auckland Airport in New Zealand...GUM FLY WITH ME Dog called Dagger is internet hit after learning to paint pictures by holding brush in his mouth...PANTING BY NUMBERS Firemen pump water from lake to fight blaze - but hoses won’t work cos hydrant is clogged up with fish..TROUT OF ORDER So, social media has its uses but it has its drawbacks too. In these days of a bewildering overload of information, where everyone has a voice baying to be heard, it is more vital to have responsible journalists to cut through to the truth and cover it fairly and without bias- particularly those stories with a local interest - and we thank him very much for his attendance today.

Following Peter’s Challenge, it falls to me therefore to give you the headlines for Durham School this year in my annual report.

TOP OF THE CLASS Since last year’s Speech Day we have had a season of public examination results. The Summer of 2015 saw some great successes both at A level and GCSE; in the former, our A*-A rate was the second highest in the School’s history, and in the latter our success in the EBacc subjects, highly favoured of course by government, was the best ever performance at the School.

Individual success stories abounded too, with three of our pupils

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heading to Oxford and Cambridge, two to universities in the USA and a number to other top Russell group institutions.

However, and I have said this before but make no apologies for repeating myself, just as pleasing are the results of other pupils which are on the face of it more modest, but which represent a huge achievement for them. Now is not the time to get bogged down in the technical details of Value Added Data but the statistic I am most proud of from last year’s results is this one: the value that we add to our pupils at A level based on their GCSE results puts us in the top 8% of schools nationally and the top 14% of all independent schools in the country.

Daily Telegraph league table positions may be one thing, but knowing that the School does so well in helping every child reach their academic potential is quite another, so my congratulations go to those pupils and of course to the staff who support them with such dedication and who are so generous with their time.

“They will leave us well-prepared for the world of university and indeed life” Today’s leavers therefore have a tough act to follow but we have every confidence that they will leave us well-prepared for the world of university and indeed life. And that’s a challenging world. We are in a time of unprecedented political instability and it is an unsettling prospect for some of them – today’s young people face challenges the like of which were inconceivable when I was their age. The lives, strengths and weakness, trials and tribulations of young people are of course a happy hunting ground for the media and we are bombarded on seemingly a daily basis with the latest story about how youngsters these days lack character and resilience… they lack basic skills and are leaving school unemployable… youngsters have phones surgically grafted to their hands, and live in a cyberworld which is at the same time mindnumbing and time-sapping, as well as being terrifyingly dangerous. In order to combat this, schools and teachers should do more. We need to raise standards but we need to be careful about putting youngsters under too much pressure; they have to excel academically, but don’t forget those important soft skills, kids these days can’t communicate and so on and so on and so on.

I think – I know – the picture is much healthier than that for all youngsters, and for those at Durham School. You only have to look at the breadth of achievement we are celebrating here today, as well as those which we celebrate throughout the year, to see that pupils achieve highly. You only have to come to one of the fixtures, concerts or shows to see how pupils work as a team, become resilient and display determination. You only need to talk to our pupils to see their confidence, their ambition, their humour and their level-headedness to know that they have the soft skills ready to move on. They are a fine testament of course I would say to the School but more importantly to you as parents, who provide the encouragement which helps them to realise the achievements we celebrate here today.

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THE BOOT ON THE OTHER FOOT On the sporting front this year, we have enjoyed some fantastic successes across the range of sports and range of ages. The first term saw some great games of rugby, with our youngsters small in number but big in heart – punching above their weight to record some victories against bigger local rivals – the U16s who made it into the last 8 in the Rosslyn Park cup deserve special mention, as does their amazing run of 75 matches unbeaten; at the top end the first XV too coalesced into a fearsome unit, working strongly as a team as well of course as having some outstanding individual talent.

As Headmaster of course, it is my duty to stress that it is the taking part not winning which is important, but I hope I will be forgiven if I pick as my particular highlight the final kick from James Elliott’s boot against RGS Newcastle at Kingston Park back in September – sweet revenge for the narrow loss last year.

The girls too have enjoyed great success in hockey, holding their own in the ladies’ league that the firsts have participated in this year and there have been some serious victories over other schools. Rowing continues to go from strength to strength, with highlight being a record number of wins in our own Durham Regatta this year. Cricket and the firsts enjoyed an almost unbeaten season, laying waste to many big cricketing schools, but special mention goes to the U15s who made it all the way to the semi-final of the National Lords’ Taverners competition, narrowly losing to Solihull School, but finishing as one of the top four cricket teams in the country for their age.

AN INSPECTOR CALLS There were two sets of visitors to the School in the first term who came for very different purposes, but reached remarkably similar conclusions. You will know that the School has been working for a number of years now to establish a sister school overseas, principally in Dubai. Progress on that is going well, and there will be more to report I hope later in the year. As part of the work done we had a team from the UAE visit us for a few days before Christmas. With surgical precision and a relentless energy, they challenged us to distil down the essence of a Durham School education: who we are; what we aspire to achieve; how we go about realising our aims. The second group of visitors – frankly less welcome, but with an important job to do – were the team of School Inspectors from ISI who came to us in October. They too poked and prodded, ticked boxes and consulted policies, in order to produce their verdict on Durham School. Whatever the faults of the inspection process – and there some – certainly by the end of their time with us they could identify what made us distinctive and what we did well.

And what did both of these processes find? Well, as I said, remarkable similarities. The team from Dubai identified a school with a strong sense of place – one with rich connections to the city, the Cathedral and the university – but also a school with its own heritage. 602 years of history have given the School a strong sense of its own values and those values lead to, amongst other things, what both sets of visitors saw – excellent pastoral care.

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Mr Alasdair MacConachie, OBE, DL Chairman of Governors

PASSING WITH FLYING COLOURS As well as the prizes to be given, I should announce the members of the Upper Sixth who have received colours this year. Ties and badges can be collected from me later, but I am pleased to announce that full Sports colours for Cricket go to Luke Henderson. Half colours go to Katherine Pears, Lucy Mcillroy, Zara Alexander and Ellie Heydon. For rowing, full colours to Emily Soppitt and Jodie Cameron.

Full music colours go to Ed Arthur & Fred Enticknap with half to Frank Xiao Sheng. Full School colours, which recognise a contribution to school life across the board, go to Ben O’Neill and Iain Choyce.

It has become a tradition to reward those of you who have made it all the way from Badgers to the U6. Rather sadly there

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is only one pupil who has made that fifteen year journey, but I can think of no better person than to have done so than Ben Langthorne and I’d like to ask Mrs Champion, Badgers legend, to present with your special cufflinks in honour of the time you have spent at Durham.

PARTING IS SUCH SWEET SORROW As in every year, there are some people who have been part of our community who leave us. Whether they have been with us for a year or for a lifetime, they each have made a difference to the School and take our fond best wishes with them wherever they are moving on to.

I would like to thank Juliet Inverdale and Rebecca Melville for their work in houses over the past year, and wish them luck for their future careers. We bid farewell to Esther Hitchens as

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resident tutor in Pimlico House for the past two years and we wish her well as she continues her Masters.

I am pleased to say we have relatively few members of the teaching staff leaving us this year. Kirsty Wilson departed earlier in the year to spend more time with her young family; Kirsty joined us in 2011 as a Maths teacher and brought some youthful enthusiasm into the department. She grew quickly into an excellent teacher and no doubt will be an asset to the profession when she returns to it. I would also like to thank Ian Casey for his work in the Maths department this year as cover for Kirsty and we wish him well for the future.

Also moving on this year is Kirsty Lowery. Kirsty came to us in April 2010 after having had some experience with us in supply work. Kirsty rapidly established herself as an excellent teacher of chemistry with much valued expertise as a senior examiner for

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OCR. Over her time her she became assistant housemistress in Pimlico, working with Kath Rochester and more recently she took oversight of international pupils both at the admission stage and when they arrived. Kirsty has been instrumental in our holiday language courses and also the Chinese Exchange which was introduced with great success in 2014. Kirsty leaves to continue her international endeavours by moving overseas herself, taking up a post of Chemistry teacher at Epsom College in Malaysia.

We wish her well.

Ben Mason joined us in 2004 as Director of Sport. Over the past 12 years here has guided the games at Durham School with skill and tenacity, further cementing our reputation as a School which punches hugely above its weight not only in terms of achievement but in its levels of participation. One of his roles of course has been to coach the first XV and he has instrumental in its successes, with the U18s reaching the NatWest final in 2006 semi-final, Ben has also played an important part in recruiting pupils into the School – not just rugby players – and monitoring the development of sportsmen and women. He has also provided us with some of the more entertaining moments in Chapel and few will forget the sight of his dressed as an air hostess to launch the ski trip this year. Ben leaves us to pursue his interest in Global Bridge, an exciting new start-up venture, and we wish him the best of luck with that.

Our departing staff may be few in number but they are great in service. Retiring this year are two couples, literally, of teachers who have a combined service of 32 and 73 years respectively.

Nick and Sue Baird came to lead Bow School in 2000 and sixteen years ago Bow was a very different place. It was a traditional boys’ prep school with pupils coming up to Durham in Year 9. The echoes of boarding were still strong, with Nick and Sue still living above the shop, and hard to believe now, Saturday morning lessons. As a team, and they are very much a team, Nick and Sue have overseen huge changes there through to the coeducational day school from three to eleven we know now. More than that though, they have become the embodiment

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of the School and Bow beyond the Bairds seems unimaginable; their three children were all educated here and their connection with us will remain strong as they move into their retirement.

That retirement they will spend divided between Yorkshire and France and we wish them the very best for the future. Finally, and moving to our other retiring couple, Lucy Hewitt came to us as Lucy Cresswell in 1990 to teach History and to be the Housemistress of Pimlico. In her letter of appointment, Michael Lang required her to cover the “spiritual, moral, academic, cultural and physical welfare” of the girls in Pimlico and this she did with diligence and care for 15 years – she is Pimlico House’s longest serving housemistress to date, and the house owes much of its success to Mrs Hewitt’s tenure.

Richard Hewitt is the final member of the teaching staff who began working with us in the seventies. Starting as a part time teacher, Richard became full time in 1980 as a teacher of Geography and a rowing coach. Richard had been an accomplished rower himself, and was both Captain and the principal coach of the Hild Bede rowing club at Durham and brought that expertise to bear on the Wear for School. As well as his contribution in the classroom, Richard quickly became involved in the Royal Navy section of the CCF, a role he has continued up until the present day. During his time with us Richard was instrumental in developing the ICT skills in the department and his breadth of knowledge, particularly in fieldwork, has been invaluable. Richard’s time spent on Durham School’s sailing has been equally successful, and even in my time here we have had notable performances in national competitions, outperforming many bigger schools on those stages. Today Richard and Lucy leave us not only as members of staff but as parents, as William finishes his time in the U6 too. We wish them all the very best for their retirement.

Finally on staff matters, one of the teaching staff this year reaches a milestone of 25 years’ service. She has been a hugely committed member of staff and run the girls’ games programme for … years. So, I’d like to invite Mrs Kim Dougall to come and collect a token of our appreciation.

What other headlines are fitting for our year at Durham School?

FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL We have spent a good deal of time planning for the future.

Earlier in the year we launched our development plan where we set out our ideas to make Durham School even better and the leading boarding school in the northeast. They focussed on our academic achievements and our aspiration to become a beacon school for teaching and learning. Now we are focussing on our capital development; we have recently appointed a new Development Director, Mr Andrew Beales, who will help us formulate our strategy for fundraising so that we can make our facilities the envy of other schools in the region. Watch this space for more news there.

But, the headline which I would use to sum up Durham School is one which I have – perhaps like the best journalists – stolen from somebody else.

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STEALTH CONFIDENCE I had the pleasure of attending our Jack Marsden Public Speaking competition earlier in the year. The competition was set up to commemorate Jack who had been Chaplain and Deputy Head at the School, being with us for 35 years.

It was a really enjoyable evening but I was struck by one of the entrants who spoke on the subject of Stealth Confidence.

The speaker, who I won’t embarrass…., he spoke how Durham School enacted its unofficial motto – Confidence for Life – in quite a subtle, almost unnoticed way. By providing our pupils with opportunities on the sports field, on the stage, in CCF or indeed in the Exhibition Room in a public speaking competition, in all these ways the School built pupils confidence.

We challenge the pupils, we encourage them, nag, cajole, whatever is necessary to get the pupils to engage. It’s something I am sure that, parents, you can see in your own sons and daughters – it’s something I can see in my children here – and it’s certainly something I can see as a Head when I speak to the pupils.

saw his value as a liaison officer - then he received his British commission. After the war he entered the Consular service and in the Second War was one of the first British diplomats to recognise the importance of General de Gaulle and advise the Foreign Office to take note of him. In some ways Robert Parr sums up the qualities of the ideal Dunelmian. Brave, committed, resourceful, perhaps prepared to bend the rules a little, but perceptive and principled. Somebody who is prepared to support his colleagues and his friends, even when obstacles are in his way.

But it’s not new. Our School has had a long history of providing opportunities to its pupils and encouraging them in the service of others, whether it be the School, university, the armed forces or society at large. Whenever I meet an Old Dunelmian, they take great pleasure in recalling how the school challenged them. And I don’t mean hard beds and cold food, I mean challenging them to take responsibility for themselves and to work with other people too.

DUNELMIA MATER NOSTRA Oh Durham’s three tall towers, Behold the tides of men Flow from their silent waters To seas beyond our ken; They gazed on us, my brothers, And we were happy then.

This brings me to my final highlight of the year was the visit of Charlotte Zeepvat and Christopher Hodgson to Durham School last month. Charlotte is the biographer of Noel Hodgson OD and Christopher his great-nephew. They came and spoke to us in the School House Common Room – Noel’s old house – about his life and in particular his death which occurred exactly one hundred years ago yesterday, on the battlefield of the Somme.

It was a fascinating evening but one anecdote she told was particularly striking; it was not about Hodgson himself, but about a contemporary of his called Robert Parr. Robert entered School House as a King’s Scholar in September 1907. On the outbreak of war he volunteered for the British Army and was turned down owing to poor eyesight. So he went to the Serbian Consulate in London and talked his way into the Serbian army and fought in Serbia until he was noticed by British representatives who

So my final headline is the title of one of Hodgson’s poems – Dunelmia Mater Nostra – Durham, Our Mother. Hodgson wrote it in 1913 to celebrate the friendships he had had at Durham School. The words of the poem have resonance particularly to those of you here today who will go on to celebrate the lifelong friends you made at school and the experiences you shared and I can think of no better way to end the Speech Day than with Hodgson’s poem:

Our footsteps, oh my brothers, In pleasant paths were set, With pleasures to remember, And sorrows to forget; Deep draught of love and laughter A cup without regret …..

Time is the strong destroyer Of much that heaven sends, And cherished treasures daily Draw to their destined ends; But youth shall live for ever In the trusty grip of friends.

Floreat Dunelmia.

William Noel Hodgson MC, (S, 1905-11)

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The Richardson Bunbury Prize for Modern Languages (French) The Richardson Bunbury Prize for Modern Languages (German) The Bishop Lee Prize for Religious Studies The Chaplain’s Prize The Vernon Ferens Community Service Award The Green Prize for Classics The Greek Prose Prize The Hodgson Prize for English The Reader Prize for Spanish The Gough Prize for English Verse The Gawan-Taylor Prize for English Essay The Senior Theatre Studies Prize The Senior Prize for Drama The Senior Prize for Music The Senior Prize for Music The Marsden Public Speaking Trophy (Senior) The Robson Prize for Outstanding Contribution to the Sixth Form The Ian Nuttall Prize for Biology The Metcalf Prize for Mathematics The Mitchell Prize for Service to the School The Senior Prize for Economics The Prize for Excellence and Endeavour in Learning The Senior Prize for Art The Senior Prize for Art The Ker Memorial Prize for Ancient History and Classical Civilisation The Durham University Prize The C.H.A. Howe Prize for Practical Skills The Senior Photography Prize The Connor Prize for Armed Forces Scholarships The Senior Business Studies Prize The Henry Smith Prize for Physics The Senior Psychology Prize The Sidney Dunn Prize for High Achievement in Digital Media The Peter Lee Prize for International Pupils The Tristram Prize for Academic Excellence in Science The Senior Politics Prize The Reader Trophy for Leadership The Senior Additional Mathematics Prize Katem Prize for Endeavour in Learning The Senior Prize for English Recitations The Portwood Prize for Computer Studies The Senior PE Prize The Ker Memorial Prize for Modern History The Fred Hurrell Prize for Music The Fred Hurrell Prize for Music The Special Prize for Excellence in English The Jackson Prize for Latin Prose The Scott Latimer Prize for Modern Languages (French) The Scott Latimer Prize for Modern Languages (German) L6 Physics Prize The Scott Latimer Prize for Modern Languages (Spanish) L6 Art Prize L6 Art Prize L6 Geography Prize The Tom Percival Prize for History

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Ben O’Neill B.S.

Alexander Smith

Beth Snegir shared shared

Edward Arthur B.S.

Iain Choyce K.S.

Ming Yang shared shared

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Rory Jackson William Hewitt

Edward Carr Emily Bateson-Roseberry Patrick Fawcett Alexandra Grecoe Thomas Hardern Vivi Lauslahti Leezum Lepcha Kai Yu Leung Didara Malgarayeva Katherine Pears Rowan Rochester Stephanie Yipeng Emily Soppitt Charlotte Stone Gabriella Tunstall Jacob Weightman Jodie Cameron Helena Campbell B.S.

Nurul Fadilah shared shared

Alexander Smith Will Gray Dominic Scott B.S.

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L6 Psychology Prize L6 Theatre Studies Prize L6 Photography Prize L6 Computer Studies Prize L6 Computer Studies Prize L6 Business Studies Prize The Design & Realisation Prize L6 Chemistry Prize L6 Biology Prize The Raynor Prize for Religious Studies L6 Mathematics Prize The Bell Prize for Politics L6 Economics Prize L6 Classical Civilisation Prize L6 PE Prize The Stationers’ Prize for Printing The Stationers’ Prize for Printing Yr 11 Prize for Academic Achievement Yr 11 Prize for Academic Achievement The Middle School Drama Cup The Middle School Prize for Music The Middle School Prize for Music The Special Prize for Services to Drama The Junior Art Prize Katem Prize for Endeavour in Learning Yr 10 Prize for Academic Achievement Yr 10 Prize for Academic Achievement The Junior Prize for English Recitations Cecil Yuill Prize for Academic Progress Yr 10 Cecil Yuill Prize for Academic Progress Yr 10 The Marsden Public Speaking Trophy (Intermediate) Yr 9 Prize for Academic Achievement Yr 9 Prize for Academic Achievement Cecil Yuill Prize for Academic Progress (Yr 9) Cecil Yuill Prize for Academic Progress (Yr 9) Yr 8 Prize for Academic Achievement Yr 8 Prize for Academic Achievement The Johnson Perkins Prize for Fieldwork in Biology in the Removes Cecil Yuill Prize for Academic Progress (Yr 8) Cecil Yuill Prize for Academic Progress (Yr 8) Yr 7 Prize for Academic Achievement The Keeton Prize for Removes Music The Bell Twins Prize in the Lower Remove Yr 7 Prize for Academic Achievement The Removes Prize for English Recitations The Junior Drama Cup Cecil Yuill Prize for Academic Progress (Yr 7) Cecil Yuill Prize for Academic Progress (Yr 7) The Marsden Public Speaking Trophy (Junior) The Robin Myerscough Cup for Singing The Chadeyron Music Competition The Lowson and Salkeld Prize for Chemistry The Morley-Wells Prize for Geography The Headmaster’s Prize

Jayne Etherington Sam Johnston shared shared

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Chloe Readman-Bell Josh O’Brien Michael Banks Will Bowles Louis Dinsdale Miranda Li Christopher Page Simon Sebban Matthew Storey Emma Willmott Aydin Simsek K.S. Sebastian Baldwin Adam Morris Ben Pulman K.S.

Kari Dougall Alexander Blackett-Sneath Georgina Brown Deanna Lowery Hal Burke K.S. Jeff Zhang Dominic Gaines K.S. Joseph Hogan John Moody David Gardiner David Hardern K.S. Ross Sime K.S. Katelyn Heslop Guy Oliver Zoe Banks Freya Court K.S. Jessica Bramwell Holly Coupe Monica Speed James Green K.S.

Pranav Sambamoorthi K.S.

Lottie Holmes Asia Koltai Newton Maya Hood K.S. Beth Snegir Dolly He Kirstie Kirkley K.S.

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From the Chaplain The Chapel has continued to be at the heart of life at Durham School throughout this year, from my licensing as Chaplain in September to the Speech Day Service in July.

It has been a huge privilege to be a part of this fantastic School community and share in the joys and the challenges of life together.

Highlights of the year include the annual acts of remembrance for those who have lost their lives in war, the heritage open weekend, the many Cathedral services, the visiting speakers, and the Bow Nativity and Carol Services in Chapel.

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“As a community, we have raised over £2,000 in chapel collections this year”

Talks that I will remember especially include Nurul Fadilah’s personal reflection on Ramadan, the Year 9 Geographers on World Ocean Day, Phil Smith, Mr Burke and Miss Yates’ reflections on loss and the time when the sixth formers stood on eggs in Chapel without breaking them!

Chaplaincy events outside the usual round of services have included confirmation classes, culminating in the confirmation of Sam Gordon and Elys Hutchinson in St Oswald’s Church in June, and a new meditation and mindfulness group. It has also been a real privilege to preside at the weddings of ODs in Chapel and hear lots of fond memories from many years ago.

As a community, we have raised over £2,000 in chapel collections this year, which has been split between the British Heart Foundation, Christian Aid, the Children’s Cancer Fund (of the Great North Children’s Hospital), Book Aid International, Cancer Research UK and the Mental Health Foundation. This is on top of other fundraising activities in Houses throughout the year.

As always many people deserve to be thanked for their significant contribution to Chapel, above and beyond the call of duty, these include Godfrey Hedley OD, Mrs Proud, Mr Muttitt, Mr Hays and Ben O’Neill.

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School House As a pupil who has been through the House since the Lower Remove, I can certainly say that this has been one of the most successful years in recent Bungite history.

A strong team of five School Monitors were chosen to put the House in extremely capable hands. These were Edward Carr, Lewis Miller, Gabriel Lewis, Joshua Pratt and me. With the help of the four House Monitors, and Lewis Miller as Deputy Head of House, 2015-16 has been made a memorable year for all involved. As ever, the start of the academic year brought many new faces to the House from both near and far, bringing with them a range of talents, gifts, and characters.

The new faces soon began to blend in with the others as the House Music competition was approaching with speed. This is an opportunity for those with musical flair to showcase their talent whilst also bringing the whole House to sing in unison – a challenge for any House, let alone Bungites. Our unison song this year was Eye of the Tiger, and the hymn Jerusalem.

Unfortunately, the hours of practice, gusto and an extraordinary emphasis on diction were not enough for the Bungites to bring home the overall win. Nevertheless, my thanks go to all the boys for all they contributed to help Lewis and me in the preparation for what is always an extremely stressful part of the year. This year’s part-song deserves a special mention; our inventive rendition of Stand By Me with Beautiful Girl brought home the silverware for the second year running while our idiosyncratic [for which read ‘unusual’] choreography brought the crowd to their feet to score a brilliant 30/30 points.

While not normally regarded a focal event of the year, Wednesday 20 November witnessed the House Chapel service.

We took a slightly different approach than normal and decided

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to attempt to answer possibly the most intriguing question in the School - which House is the smartest? To this end, a champion was sought from each House to participate in a spelling bee, a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and skill in handling some of the English language’s trickier words.

While Pimlico emerged victorious with an accurate knowledge of ‘diarrhoea’ [or, if you prefer, ‘diarrhea’], the competition provided a gruelling challenge to some of the School’s keenest minds. More importantly, the service told of the decision of one former spelling bee-er’s honesty after correcting a judge’s mishearing. The boy’s decision was not only a triumph for the virtue of honesty but also for doing the right thing freely and from a belief in the rightness of telling the truth – an example to us all in moral decision-making.

The final week of the Christmas term saw the commencement of the dreaded [at least by most] Dunelm Run. Once again, Bungite grit was demonstrated to the full, helping the House to overall victory, having gained second place in the Removes, third in the Swainston, and a clear first place in the senior Dunelm.

Once again, my thanks go to all runners, both élite and determined, but particular mention must go to Edward James [UR], Rory Jackson [UVI] and Henning Köncke [LV] on their outstanding finishing positions. This victory provided a perfect entrée to the House Supper where we were able to celebrate the term’s achievements and the talents of a few brave men and women. It was a true delight to witness the Headmaster relive his youthful experiences in a Liverpudlian band and they will never be forgotten – and, sadly, nor will his eerie falsetto and his rendition of the BeeGees classic Stayin’ Alive.

The Easter Term had barely begun before we were required to demonstrate our prowess once again. A convincing win in the first stages of the House Basketball against the Caffinites was soon forgotten about, after narrowly missing out in the final by two points in the dying minutes against Poole House.

Nevertheless, the House rightly regained confidence after achieving first place in the annual House Swimming Gala at Durham’s Freeman’s Quay.

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March 17 brought on the commencement of Durham School’s fantastic production of Grease at the Gala Theatre. While this was most definitely a School production, many roles were filled

by Bungites including an almost inappropriately attired André Robson as Teen Angel, Alex Kobylka as Eugene, Lewis Miller as Johnny Casino while I tackled the demands of Danny Zuko – a role some said I have been playing for seventeen years. It was a convincing and memorable theatrical experience, and I hope one that junior boys in the House will look to develop next year.

The last week of the Easter Term saw the House Rugby take place, and all are to be commended on their contribution to the Bungite effort in some tough matches; in particular, the Removes, UV and VI Form teams are to be commended on their fine victories, helping the House to gain overall first place once again. It is particularly good to note that since the competition’s return to School life, the House is yet to lose the VI-Form cup.

The Summer Term inevitably brought the distraction of examinations, and the House turned its attention to preparation and revision. On the one hand, this makes for a quiet term. The second half saw a return visit by Rupesh Borade from Mumbai; Rupesh was joined by Prajwal Pansare, and both boys spent three weeks at the School learning English and developing their cricket skills. It was a delight to welcome both boys to Bungites and see how quickly they became part of the community.

The final week of the school year is always packed full of action for younger years, fuelled with the excitement of leaving for the summer holidays. Bungites brought home gold once again in the Inter-House Athletics competition at Maiden Castle. A very impressive relay team of Cameron Keanurico [UV], Joe Nordli and Simon Turnbull [LVI], and Harry Pearson [UVI] are to be congratulated on breaking the School record by 2.5 seconds.

I am also pleased to report that the ever-impressive House Staff relay team returned the trophy for the seventh year in a row.

The Saturday of Speech Day saw the House cricketers in action; despite some clear ability in the team, victory was sadly not to be ours.

As always the House BBQ was a very enjoyable evening, this year celebrating the theme of Star Wars. Stormtroopers, Jedis, and the occasional Wookie populated the event, while Princess Leia was expertly exhibited by Mrs Alderson AND Lewis Miller in a frightening spot-the-difference competition. An extraordinary turn of events saw the return of the Millennium Falcon, competently piloted by Edward Carr as Han Solo; this was an outstanding testimony to all Edward’s designs and builds over his time in the House.

A very special mention goes to Mr Hewitt as he leaves us this year after being part of the School for over 37 years, spending the last eleven years as a VI-Form tutor in the School House. On behalf of Bungites, I thank Mr Hewitt for his immense contribution to the House and I wish him an extremely happy retirement.

Throughout the year, there were many and varied individual achievements by boys throughout the House; these ranged from sporting triumphs, to musical performances and

academic achievements. At the risk of omitting one or two, I would offer this snapshot of the House to congratulate some of those individuals. Early in the year, Kristian Wood [LR] and Isaiah Jones [UR] were selected to trial for ISFA under-thirteen squad, while Isaiah has been further selected to attend the North of England trials for the ISFA. Piers Oxenham [UR] is to be commended on his sterling performance in the National Biathlon. Billy Marsden [UV] was part of the winning team in the Regional Championships in the Royal Society of Chemistry Top of the Bench competition.

Congratulations go to Alexander Dryden, Nathaniel Evans, Saki Kaitoga, and Cameron Keanurico [UV] and the rest of the under-sixteen VII squad on reaching the quarter-finals in the National Sevens’ competition at Rosslyn Park in March.

Equally, members of the first VII performed well, reaching the Vase bowl. An exceptional mention goes to a recent recruit to the House, Reece Amir [UV], on being selected to represent England under 16s Rugby Union. Congratulations go to André Robson on his selection in the North of England Rugby development camp, as well as to Garry Izomor and Joshua Pratt [UVI] on their victory in the Chester 7s Competition.

Henning Köncke [LV], one of our international arrivals, took various rivers by storm and, in fact, had a delayed start after competing and achieving gold in the Youth Olympic Training Regatta in Berlin.

Watersports seemed to be our strong point early on in the year with Edward Carr who gained second place in the Pico class at the RN Sailing Regatta, while William Hewitt took first place in the Bosun class for the fourth time in successive years. Developing a familial nautical theme, Alexander Carr [UR] gained his Royal Yachting Association level 2 certificate, and doubtlessly will take the helm abandoned by his brother. Finally, in the closing weeks of the year Aydin Simsek and Sebastian Baldwin [LVI] received various awards and nominations for the Durham Eye, including nominations for best business and environmental strategies. Both Aydin and Sebastian were awarded the title of Young Journalist Showing Exceptional promise, and travelled to London to spend a day at The Telegraph office working with Simon Heffer.

Everyone in the House is given such talents, but it is what we choose to do with them that matters.

As the year comes to an end, it is essential that I offer my thanks to Dr Alderson for being an exceptional leader in what is an amazing House and a brotherhood. My thanks go to Mrs Alderson for her unwavering support and contribution to the House. I say thank you to the House that has served me and my contemporaries well over the last seven years, and I am extremely honoured to have led these boys through what has been an amazing year.

I offer my best wishes to the boys who have left us as Old Dunelmians this year, and good luck to those remaining in Bungites for 2016-17. Finally, may I wish William Bowles the very best of luck for next year as the newly appointed Head of School House and good luck to Alexander Smith as Head of the School. Floreat Dunelmia!

A. R. Anderson, Head of House

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P A S T O R A L

Pimlico House It has been a real privilege this year to be Head of Pimlico House and work alongside such a wonderful group of students and staff.

The Monitor team of Kirstie Kirkley, Gabi Matthews, Martha Bradley, Beth Snegir, Didara Malgarayeva and I have worked very hard throughout the year and with complementary range of skills, we have tackled many challenges. We all remember our first day or night at Durham School be it in Year 7 for Kirstie, Gabi and Martha, Y10 for Beth and I and Y12 for Didara so we knew how important it was for us to provide a warm welcome to our 23 new girls and offer regular support to them to ensure they settled well, enjoyed Durham School and the House and made friends.

To accommodate increasing numbers of boarders, we opened 7 new boarding rooms over the top of Macleod. The paint was barely dry when the boarders moved in and they have been a very welcome addition to the House offering very modern accommodation.

With House Music being in October, we didn’t have long to prepare our part song and House song. Rehearsals started promptly in September with Kirstie Kirkley and Beth Snegir our musical directors, leading proceedings very professionally and calmly. They inspired us with confidence and on the night, Pimlico performed brilliantly. ‘Make me a channel of your peace’ our hymn was performed with precision and emotion, ‘Life is Rosy’ our part song showcased some hidden talents and we gave it all we had as a House in ‘We are golden’, our House song. We WON for the first time in 8 years; none of our girls had ever won House Music and it was a superb and unforgettable moment this year.

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On the sporting front, we have not won as many trophies this year but we have had some excellent performances. Well done to the Emma Willmott and Orla Jackson winning the Dunelm Run for the Senior and Inters age groups respectively. We also played really well on the hockey pitch, beating Macleod in the Senior and Inters age groups and also winning the inters netball. As usual, the swimming gala is met with trepidation and with our small team, we tried our best but unfortunately this was not good enough to retain the trophy.

Pimlico House is well known for its close community and this is very evident at our House celebrations at the House Suppers and the House Barbecues. House Colours are awarded along with other awards and fun presentations. Our House Barbeque followed a neon theme this year and with all our girls and staff clad in the brightest of outfits we had great fun celebrating our achievements, saying thank you and sending our good wishes to those who are leaving us. Our highlight was a Photo Booth in which we all had much fun. During the year, we said goodbye and thank you to Ms Lowery as Junior Housemistress in Pimlico and wish her well in her new job at Epsom College in Malaysia. We also sent Mrs Turnbull off on maternity leave with our best wishes and Miss Hitchin, our Resident Tutor who has helped to look after our boarders so well has left us to concentrate on her PhD studies.

Feel Good Week, took place once again in February when girls had the opportunity to surprise their secret friend.

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We had a fun House night out to Spags and we made the time to make the week special for everyone around us.

Girls were thrilled to receive small messages and treats from others and the Year 13 tutor group enjoyed surprising Miss Hinde with a lovely bouquet of flowers. As always we entered World Book Day and other theme events taking place in School with enthusiasm and we hosted several Chapel services throughout the year informing the School about a range of interesting topics.

All of us in Pimlico really appreciate the support and help of our staff team and know we wouldn’t be as happy and successful without their help and wise advice. We thank Miss Hinde (Y13), Mrs Turnbull (Y12), Mrs Eccleston (Y11), Miss Parking and Mrs Wood (Y10), Mr Casey (Y9) and Miss Bayliss (Y7&8) as our Tutor team this year. Mrs Wood was appointed as Deputy Housemistress in January and we wish her well in her role next year. A big thank you to Mrs Rochester, our Housemistress who is always there to support us and ensure we are all happy.

This year has been a very special one for Matron; she has worked at Durham School for 25 years both as Matron in Pimlico but before that as one of the cleaning staff. Matron looks after us all really well and is always there for us in the House whatever time of day or night. As part of ‘Feel Good Week’ in February, we gave Matron a special surprise. Along with a bouquet of flowers we included an Invitation to London for the day to take in the sights and see Mamma Mia at the theatre with the House in May. Excitement grew and the big day finally came. 30 girls, 5 staff and Matron caught the 7.00am train to London and had a fabulous day. An open top bus tour proved interesting but after half an hour in a traffic jam we got off and walked along the Thames upto Covent Garden.

The weather was hot and despite us all wearing our winter North East clothes and melting, we enjoyed lunch and shopping in Covent Garden. The highlight of the day was seeing Mamma Mia at the Novello Theatre. We all enjoyed the show especially the sing along at the end and it was so good to see Matron and the House having so much fun.

Once back at School, we all had to settle down to revision and exams, especially those girls in Year 11, 12 and 13.

It is always a tough time but it seems that everyone worked hard and I hope they achieve the grades they need.

During the summer term the House seemed very quiet with many of us on study leave. The younger girls made up for this, taking on extra responsibilities in the House and maintaining a healthy noise level!

I wish to thank everyone in Pimlico for a hugely successful and enjoyable year and pass on my best wishes to Anu and her team of Monitors, Charlotte, Selena and Nurul for next year.

Rowan Rochester, Head of House 2 0 1 5 - 2 0 1 6

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P A S T O R A L

The Caffinites

It was always going to be a challenge to maintain or even exceed the high standards of the House set by last year.

However, I believe we have achieved this. This was only possible due to the charisma, effort and enthusiasm shown by the boys across all aspects of school life.

This year we have been fortunate to have numerous leaders in the Upper VI - James Elliott captained the 1st XV, Jonny Hedley captained the 2nd XV, James Hewison lead the Durham Knights in basketball, Alex Smith captained the 1st XI hockey team and Ryan Bewick was the Head of the Boat Club.

I would like to thank my deputy Euan Gardiner for all of the help when trying to maintain some kind of order. We were also lucky to have a strong monitor team this year in the House, consisting of Iain Choyce and Ben O’Neill as Deputy Heads of school with Ali Denby and Alex Smith also in the monitor body. They have all contributed well to the house in all aspects of school life and made my job much easier.

House music came around quickly this year with the boys throwing themselves into it, resulting in the House bonding and coming together. Even though the event was not at the Sage, it did not mean that the competition was at all less fierce and as is tradition, the result was controversial. Caffinites won two out of the three categories (a great achievement especially for a boys’ house) yet only managed second place. Not even Mr Fordyce can work this one out! Part song performed ‘On top of the world’ by Imagine Dragons which was expertly led

by Ben Pullman who worked tirelessly late into the evenings.

This year’s unison, ‘Don’t stop me now’ by Queen and the hymn ‘Shine Jesus shine’ was led by Phil Smith whose effort cannot be faulted.

The Clan system has made impressive steps forward this year with regular meetings and Clan competitions. Torridon were the Clash of Clans champions this year and took part in events from Pictionary to ginger bread house decorating. A highlight however was Clan Quidditch which captured the imagination of many who enjoyed the round robin which consisted of friendly yet intense competition.

We have had varied success in inter-house competitions however the Year 7s had an outstanding year winning almost everything that they were entered. They settled into a warm house environment, gelling as a year group and have a bright future after such a dominant first year.

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In the winter term, the whole House was delighted to participate in inter-house cross country, with highlights being Observatory Hill and Farmer’s Field. Despite many attempts to avoid the dreaded run, the boys pulled together giving their all for the House and doing themselves justice showing impressive house spirit. Following a trend from previous years, the fastest runner in the School came from Caffinites with James Hughes effortlessly dominating the Dunelm run from start to finish. As he is only in Year 11, this bodes well for the future- no pressure James.

“I am in no doubt that Caffinites will get even stronger next year”

House suppers saw the return of clash of clans, this time round the competition was ‘gaming’ with each year group competing at a different game. This saw the comeback of ‘Just Dance’ and the Upper VI were more than impressed

by Mr Thomson’s moves.

Sports day saw the majority of the House participating at Maiden Castle endeavouring to win events in the sunshine.

The boys were humble in both victory and magnanimous in defeat, it was very pleasing to see such a high level of sportsmanship. A special mention must go to Ethan O’Kane who won the Victor Ludorum award for the most successful male athlete due to success in the high jump and numerous track events.

I am in no doubt that Caffinites will get even stronger next year as I leave it in the more than capable hands of Alasdair Richardson who takes over as head of house.

The monitor body for 2016-17 is dominated by seven Caffinites including Matthew Storey as Deputy Head of School; I know they will do all in their power to make sure the House has another successful year.

Floreat Dunelmia!

Jacob Weightman, Head of House 2 0 1 5 - 2 0 1 6

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PWAE SL TCOOR MA EL

MacLeod House MacLeod House has had a very busy year winning various events throughout the throughout different age groups.

The first event of this year was House Music, this was the best event of the year for me as everyone pulled together and sang wonderfully. I was so proud of them all. And a massive thank you to Jodie Cameron who composed Part Song and everybody within it as we came joint 1st with Caffinites This year we had a few inter house competitions and the first one was the pumpkin competition. Everyone had to carve their own pumpkins at home and then they bought them in and Mrs Thompson and Mrs Abbott were the judges.

Well done to Lucy Kirk, Laura Mitchelson, Lottie Holmes and Fern Hodgeson for some excellent pumpkin carving.

The second event of the year was House Netball where overall MacLeod won. I would just like to give a small mention to Imogen Nicholson who did some amazing defending for the juniors.

“This year has been a great year for MacLeod and I’m so thankful to everyone that has participated in all of the events”

The third event was the event that MacLeod House dreaded, House Cross-country and despite the fear, Macleod won

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PWAE SL TCOOR MA EL

overall and a special well done to Kari Dougall and Lottie Holmes who both won their races. However, we would not have won had it not been for everyone who took part, so thank you to all the fabulous MacLeod girls.

Then came House Suppers and this year we decided to do MacLeod’s Got Talent where every Year group had to do a small performance. We had Year 7s dancing, Year 8s doing Strictly Come Dancing, Year 9s doing Snow White and Seven Dwarfs, Year 10s playing fluffly bunnies, Year 11s singing 12 days of Christmas, Year 12s singing around the piano and finally Year 13s doing a video based on a day in MacLeod.

Every Year group did well but I have to say that there are two highlights for me; the first was the Year 9s performance for featuring Miss Watchman as Snow White, great outfits and an original song written by the cast. The second highlight was Year 13s video about a day in the House I know that we all had great fun filming it and I hope that Macleod enjoyed watching it, including the staff who were good sports.

House Swimming was the next event and well done to everyone who took part as once again MacLeod won. There are two people who I would like to thank and these are Lucy Kirk who won all of her races and took charge of the event, and Jo Heron who quickly put on my swimming costume and divided into the pool to save MacLeod’s relay.

The next event was House Hockey, which was only won by the

Juniors so well done to them. I would also like to thank the Inters and the Seniors as I know that they both tired very hard, but unfortunately Pimlico was just too good.

Also a special mention should go to Charlotte Stone and Imogen Hurst who both gave their hockey debut that day.

Then came the second inter house competition, this time each year group had to build a den. Each person who took part gave a donation to help raise money for Save the Children.

This was a very close competition between Year 13s and Year7s, but in the end the 7s took the prize.

Thursday 30 June was a great day for Macleod as we won every Year group section at Sports Day and a special mention to Lucy Mcllroy who won all of her races and won the girls trophy for athletics.

And we also won all of the house rounders that day. So well done to everyone who took part; particularly to all of the Year 11s and 13s that came back to join in following exams.

This year has been a great year for MacLeod and I’m so thankful to everyone that has participated in all of the events.

I wish everyone the best of luck for next year, especially Fiona Sime as she takes over as Head of House, and I hope that MacLeod can keep up the winning.

Floreat Dunelmia!

Gabriella Tunstall, Head of House

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P A S T O R A L

Poole House This year Poole House has been the smallest of the three boys’ houses, which I think has allowed us to all form closer and more personal relationships with one another - not only as the pupils, but also with all the members of staff.

The House has been a very strong, respectful and happy environment throughout the year, which has made my job a very easy one. Once again, we have had an extremely successful year, referring to all areas including academics, sports, music and drama, whether that being individual successes or as part of a team. There is no doubt that all of this success has been strongly encouraged and enabled by the leaders in the house. Mr Reith as Housemaster, along with the other members of staff, create a very positive attitude by keeping in close contact with their respective pupils allowing us to excel in all areas of school life.

Furthermore, the House Monitor team has been flawless this year.

There have been many jobs to be covered, from duties on a night to organising every event from House Music to House Barbecues, and I am extremely grateful to the team for always being where they should be, and doing their jobs to perfection.

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It was no surprise that yet again this year the House Competitions were fiercely contested throughout all age groups. Firstly, I must mention House Music which is the largest house event of the year as everyone must participate. This means it takes a huge amount of commitment and organisation in order for everything to run smoothly. This year it was led by Ed Arthur, and assisted by Henry Hudson, who both did superbly with this very challenging role of organising the house and also being able to balance the workload with the rest of school life. Fred Enticknap gave excellent support on the piano in every rehearsal. Sadly, we did not win this year, but the standard of all our pieces was excellent as ever. I’m sure we’ll come back even stronger next year.

This event, similarly to the house music, is seen as one of the largest, due to the whole house having to participate - except for those who ‘broke their leg walking to school’ which can sometimes be quite a significant number of people. With us being the smallest house, and every runner who completes the race earning at least one point, this makes it a monumental task for Poole House. We may not have won overall but we had many strong performances yet again, in the Dunelm from the likes of Joe Stelling and Harry Jackson, and in the Swainston, where we took all five top places, thanks, in order, to the effort and talent of Conor Dougal, Jonny Bushnell, Josh Bland, Joe Hogan, and Dylan Fleming-Jones. Another aspect which shows the level of respect we have for each other is that every year, the majority of our House will stay to support our team, no matter what the weather, until the last person crossed the line which is where our Ed Arthur chant originally came from.

The younger years once again did an excellent job despite the recurring problem that we were very light on numbers. They managed to hold their own and also come out on top in some areas. Moving up the year groups, as we gradually have more numbers, we became more able to compete and therefore started to produce better results. This is shown by the Year 11s display of Rugby in House Sevens where they very easily won the tournament. In the House Swimming we were excellent, with superb performances from Liam Leung, Conor Dougall and Elliot Edworthy. We also won the Senior House Basketball, with Liam Leung again giving an impressive performance, as well as Kai Yu and Kevin, in what was a close-fought final against School House which we won 26-24. Senior House Cricket was once again successful with us beating both other houses, led by Luke Henderson, meaning that we finished off our record of winning it every year since Year 7. Furthermore, we made a valiant effort in House Rugby, being led by Patrick Fawcett. However, despite a huge amount of determination, we were still unable to win.

The last house event that I will mention is house cross country.

One of the great things about the House is that everyone gets involved. In the Autumn Term, as a first XV Rugby player, I saw outstanding Poole performances on the Rugby pitch all around me, from the likes of Dan Jukes, Will Gray, Will Jewitt, Harry Jackson, Rob Milbanke, Reece Amir and Kyle Elliot. In the Spring term, many of the same stars were competing successfully in the Sevens tournaments, while on the hockey pitch Lukas, Jonty, Cameron, Ujwal and Henry gave their all for school and house.

In the Summer Term, we had a wealth of superstar performances on the cricket pitch: Jonny Bushnell, Robbie Fyfe, Sol Bell, Jonty Megginson, Will Jewitt, Nathan Bushnell, Will Gray, Cameron Fyfe and of course Luke Henderson, the first XI captain. There were also very memorable individual performances and moments throughout the year: Pranav Sambamoorthi as Mowgli in the junior school production of the Jungle Book, Archie O’Dair’s rendition of The Last Post on Remembrance Day, Ewan Greenlaw winning every event he was entered into on Sports Day, or Kevin Chen’s performance of Chopin’s Nocturne no. 2 which won the House Piano Competition at House Suppers.

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There have also been so many exciting things to do this year.

The boarders’ activities programme has been packed, with trips to Infinite Air, paintballing, sailing, clay pigeon shooting, museums and art galleries, as well as First Aid training or shopping to Dalton Park or the Metrocentre. There has been a huge range of academic talks on every topic from Moliere to Rubik’s Cubism to Exercise Biomedicine to the language of the New Testament, and there have been practical talks on how to succeed from the likes of millionaires Dillon Bhardwaj and John Marshall. As well as the opportunity to get involved in whole school drama productions such as Grease and The Jungle Book, there have been theatre trips to see plays like An Inspector Calls, Henry V, Brave New World or Dead Dog in a Suitcase. There have also been business trips, geography trips, history trips, trips to the Houses of Parliament, even a Classics Quiz trip, where Nils Malmros was an outstanding performer. Activities Week was a splendid way to end such an exciting year, with a chance for the boys to get creative pitching for an Olympic Bid or writing a newspaper to deadline, building skills such as kayaking or orienteering, or visiting York or BBC Newcastle.

It was also a year when we said goodbye. In the Autumn Term, we said goodbye to our cleaner Mrs Adaline Isles, who retired after eighteen years working in Poole House. She always got on well with the boys, was a great character with a great sense of humour, and made sure the House was spotlessly clean every morning. We will miss her. And of course I couldn’t write this without giving a very special mention to our matron, Miss Helen Wood. She has been our matron as long as any of us have been at the senior school and she will now be moving on to a new job as matron of an all girls’ boarding house closer to her home in Scotland. She has been excellent in all areas of her job, whether it be toasting ten loaves of bread each morning, or dragging us out of bed for breakfast when our ‘alarm doesn’t go off’. I speak on behalf of the whole house when I say that she will be deeply missed and we all wish her the best in her new job.

Our U6th tutors this year, Mr Brownlee and Mrs Melville, have done an amazing job, despite how difficult their role is of keeping us organised and ready to move on to university. They have been there every step of the way with us and will always help us as much as they can, no matter how busy they are or how little the problem is. Thank you for everything you have done for us over this past year - it was all greatly appreciated and I hope you take the relaxing summer break you deserve.

Mr Macmillan was once again the resident tutor and also took on the role of matron for a while when Helen was not here, which I am sure he thoroughly enjoyed. He is always ready to take part in any of the wide range of activities that are provided on a night for the boarders, as long as it is football, and he is on the winning team. There are many other staff members such as Mr Younger, Mr Burke, Mr Smith, Mr Gardner, Miss Lowery and Mr Wright who are the glue which hold this house together through their constant hard work to take care of the well-being of all pupils in the house.

A final mention must go to our Housemaster, Mr Reith. He has had yet another excellent year as Housemaster and you only truly realise how much work and effort he puts into the house once you get older. Especially since it was clear that he would go the extra mile to make other people’s jobs easier, including mine. Managing a House full of boys is a very daunting and difficult task but he manages it with ease and always does it with a smile on his face.

It has been a privilege to be Head of House this year. Good luck to Will Gray who takes on the role of Head of House next year, I’m sure he’ll do a brilliant job along with his team of house monitors behind him. Good luck to all members of the U6th who leave us this year in whatever you do. The great memories we have of Poole House I know will last a lifetime.

Floreat Dunelmia Ben Langthorne, Head of House

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Creative 2 0 1 5 - 2 0 1 6

C R E A T I V E

Art & Design The 2015/16 academic year once again highlighted the creative and imaginative capability of our pupils at Durham School.

At the beginning of the Autumn term exam pupils taking upper school courses in Art and Design Technology formulated their project ideas with staff. Ideas are many and varied and as teaching staff we are constantly surprised by the ingenuity of our pupils. Of course creative thinking is an important skill which pupils acquire through rigorous teaching. It is also an important life skill applicable to many different contexts in a variety of employment situations.

which manufactures a wide range of laminated chipboard and associated products. They gained understanding of the mechanisation and production processes used and saw the practical application of procedures and processes they had studied theoretically. We were informed that Egger’s UK plants in Hexham and Scotland manufacture half of all the chipboard used in the manufacture of fitted kitchens in the UK. The scale of the process was staggering. Pupils also learned how the company is required to protect the environment and the significant lengths they go to in order to achieve this objective.

The end of year summer exhibition which took place at the end of June in the Exhibition Room was a great success. A wide variety of exam work was exhibited including art, photography and design technology, was well attended. Pupils received many compliments about their work.

Mr M. Baldwin

The inspection in the Autumn term allowed us to highlight our successes, in terms of both teaching and pupil achievement.

A wide variety of art and design technology work was displayed around the school in corridors and in classrooms. Pupils gain a real sense of achievement in seeing their work displayed.

A variety of trips and gallery visits provided pupils with opportunities to see exhibitions and design technology practices in an industrial setting. In the spring term, on different occasions, years 10 and 11 and sixth form art students visited London galleries, gaining a real insight into the work of important past and contemporary artists, sculptors and photographers.

Towards the middle of the spring term the design technology pupils in years 12 and 13 visited Egger UK in Hexham

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p30 Will Gray (Y12), Georgina Brown (GCSE) - Coffee Cup p31 Georgina Brown (GCSE), Verus von Haeften (Y12) - Fish Collage Alexander Smith (Y12), Teresa Esisi (GCSE), Leezum Lepcha (Y13) Ming Yang (Y13), Will Gray (Y12), James Hewison (Y13) - Container Port Ming Yang (Y13), Alexander Smith (Y12) - Bamburgh (also back cover), Alexander Smith (Y12) - London

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Music

The first good news of the year came on the results days in August, when music GCSE and A level successes were some of the best on record.

Over the Summer we said goodbye to as gifted a group of musicians as I can remember. It’s always incredible how, after a cohort of very talented musicians leave the school, our pupils step up to the mark and aspire to or improve on the standards set by their predecessors. This year was no exception.

One of the highlights of 2015-16 was always going to be the production of Grease in the Gala Theatre and auditions took place early on in the Christmas term. Once the cast had been chosen rehearsals took place after school nearly every day until the show. You can read a report of our remarkable production elsewhere.

At the same time the usual feverish preparations were taking place (some cloaked in secrecy for a reason still unclear to me…) for the House Music competition. The event itself in the week before half term was as entertaining as ever and musical standards were high. Adjudicator Mr Simon Dearsley, Director of Music, Barnard Castle School announced Pimlico House as overall winner, with the special trophy going to School House for the overall spirit of their performances.

Next year we return to Sage, Gateshead for this event.

How lucky our pupils are to be able to perform in a world-class venue such as this, not to mention Durham Cathedral, which is where the first half of term was completed to the sound of the chapel choir singing a rousing rendition of Stanford’s Te Deum in Bb.

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It was very good to hear so many musicians from Bow in fine form at their Christmas Concert in early December, under the excellent direction of Mrs Murray. Two days later the senior school Christmas concert was staged in chapel and you can read Helena Campbell’s excellent report of this below. The last week of term was particularly busy. On the Monday Bow choir were on tremendous form in the Bow carol service and on the Tuesday the senior chamber choir combined with the choir of St. Chad’s College, Durham University to perform in a concert of seasonal music to a packed Durham Cathedral. The following night singers from Bow and our Junior Choir performed at a large-scale charity concert in the Rainton Meadows Arena, performing to a huge audience. The end of term concluded on the Friday in Durham Cathedral with our traditional service of nine lessons and carols. Musicians tend to be a hardy lot but after that it was definitely time for a lie down….

Four days into the Easter term and some of our senior musicians sang (or played) for their supper at the Old Dunelmian Masonic Lodge, where we were received warmly and a good evening was had by all. Then came some informal lunchtime concerts in preparation for ABRSM exams.

The inevitable nerves that come with performing to an examiner or to an audience can only be overcome with practice playing in front of people (along with lots of actual practice, of course) and these lunchtime concerts are excellent opportunities to help with this.

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Shortly after half term the chamber choir perfomed once again in the Cathedral as part of the first ever North East Festival of Youth Choirs, as reported on so well by Aydin Simsek below, and from then on it was 50s rock ‘n’ roll all the way, gold lamé jackets included, to the Gala Theatre for our production of Grease.

And so the summer term arrived. Having completed myriad GCSE and A level recordings, finishing touches were put into preparations for our Spring Concert on 13 May, just before normal teaching stopped for those pupils taking public exams.

The Leavers Service two weeks’ later in the Cathedral was the final time that the current choir would perform in that magnificent building. And they sang with aplomb in their singing of Mozart’s Gloria from his Coronation Mass in C. For many, the final couple of weeks in the summer term can be a ratcheting down of activities. Not so for musicians. After more ABRSM exams came the Myerscough singing and Chadeyron instrumental competitions, adjudicated by Mr Kris Thomsett, acting Director of Music at Newcastle Cathedral. His comments about all the performers really hit the nail on the head, with some very beneficial feedback to all involved. The Myerscough competition winner was Beth Snegir for her musical rendition of Tchaikovsky’s None but the lonely heart. Winner of the Chadeyron competition was Dolly He with her virtuoso performance of Chopin’s Scherzo No. 2.

Congratulations to all musicians who performed over the year in events great and small. Playing or singing in public requires a huge amount of self-discipline, practice time, patience, motivation, not to mention nerves of steel. Why do we do it? In the end because the rewards are worth it. As Victor Hugo said: “Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” Durham School musicians certainly understand that and carry the skills required into almost every other aspect of their lives, and on into the future.

Mr R.A. Muttitt

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Creative Writing I arrived in Africa, feeling excited, but also terrified.

I had been slightly apprehensive about embarking on this trip.

Dangerous animals lurked around every corner, disease could be anywhere and there was a horrid feeling of being completely isolated and cut off from the rest of the world. It was not my idea of a perfect summer holiday, but it was time for an adventure, and Africa would be sure to give one.

The sun shone brightly and dust rose up from the track.

Strong smells of animals and other unidentified objects wafted around us. However, what did I expect, going to a farm. Upon our arrival, workers, schoolchildren and our family raced out to greet us. It was not often that any of us English relatives came out to see them. Honestly, I was shocked at the sheer size of

the place. In my head, I had had very different images of my aunt’s farm. Expecting small shacks and chaos everywhere.

On entering the house, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was very modern. Not only was there working lights but, wait for it, WIFI! My brother and I were sharing a room; I was not too unhappy about that, but I was about the spider. A large, spider. I ran to fetch my aunt who ‘dealt with it’ (she killed it).

Apparently, it was a wall spider, and NOT a big deal.

Not liking creepy crawlies I decided to leave my room, only to lay eyes on an ugly, black beetle, sauntering into my room.

Feeling pathetic after the last incident, I ‘dealt’ with this one myself, then went to explore the rest of the house. It was large for a bungalow, with spacious rooms filled with dark, oak furniture. As I wandered into what I thought was the cloakroom, I was met with a nasty surprise. The room was colder than the rest and smelt rancid.

Slices of meats and fur hung over wooden racks, while massive joints were suspended from the ceiling. I was disgusted, but also intrigued. I suppose that it had never occurred to me how

“A mysterious land, for a fabulous holiday and an adventure”

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they stored or dried meat. I just assumed it would be some factory like back home. However, my questions were not important enough for me to wish an answer, so I exited quickly, feeling nauseous, deciding not to go in there again.

Dinnertime came and I watched as my aunt slopped some brown stew into my chipped bowl. I curled my nose, half expecting an eyeball to roll to the surface. However, I was.

Wrong. The stew was delicious. It was onyx meat. Having no clue what this was, my uncle began to describe one. He said something along the lines of; ‘like a deer, but much bigger, with two very long straight horns’. He also agreed to take my brother and I out to try and see one tomorrow. Feeling nervous about this, I thanked them and turned to my bed.

The next day the sun shone brightly again. I stepped outside and was blown away by the landscape. Vast. Oh so vast!

With no other buildings as far as the eye could see. The land was flat, covered in shrubs and small trees. In the distance, there were rolling hills, which looked stunning as the sun rose up behind them. I could see the cattle being moved from one of the pens to the waterhole. They ‘mooed’ excitedly, stamping their hooves. It was winter here, but I felt boiling. Despite my lack of acclimatisation, the natives were all shivering.

My brother and I looked dubiously at the rickety truck making our way over.

“In” my uncle commanded. Speaking very little English, conversation a challenge and was very limited. Sitting down on the holey seat, I noticed a gun at my feet. “The gun?” I asked.

“Just in case” my uncle replied.

“Oh great. Just in case, what? We get attacked?” Suddenly the truck felt the safest place in the world, and I did not want to get out.

The drive was bumpy. Dust flew up in front of the truck and I wondered how on Earth my uncle could see. Turning to look at him, I noticed that he was in fact rummaging for something in the back seat, and not watching the road. The truck suddenly came to an abrupt halt, and uncle hopped out, grabbing the gun. Having not been able to see, I was shocked to find that we were in the wild. I could not see the farm at all, and we had not been driving that long. My surroundings were a typical image of Africa. Trees with not much on them, huge grey rocks, shrubs and short, brown grass, which I was told NOT to go in under any circumstances. Although much of the landscape was stunning, some of it was dry and bland, with not much going on.

We set off walking in a dry, sandy riverbed. Really, I just wanted to go back to the farm, but we were already too far gone from the truck. Becoming bored of the brown surroundings, my mind began to wonder. I had hardly noticed that my uncle had stopped, had raised the gun and was waving my brother and I away. I had no clue what was going on, but it turns out that it was a leopard. As it was not a lion, I did not feel the urgency that my uncle had felt.

Very quietly but swiftly, we made our way back to the truck.

We never got to see an onyx. I was not hugely disappointed about that, but everyone was ecstatic about the leopard encounter. Apparently they are very rare, and very dangerous; however, nothing dangerous really occurred, I failed to see the excitement.

As much as I enjoyed Africa, I would not live there. Their way of life is too cut off for me, and that is not because they do not have phones. They do! They just do not use them. The people were lovely but were relaxed about everything as a five-year-old would be. Not saying that this is a bad thing.

Finding out about their way of life was a learning curve for me.

The way they approach situations, good or bad, is completely different to western civilization. They do everything when it suits them, which makes it sound like nothing would ever get done, and that’s sort of true! Everything is just done very slowly.

However, people have a relaxed attitude, that I would not mind experiencing more often. Like at one point, my aunt and I were going around the farm. She spotted one of the workers having ‘a sit’. She asked him what he was doing.

He replied; “my legs feelin’ stiff, so I sit”. My aunt shrugged and said. “So when will the work be complete?” The worker stretched out. “Just now, just now”. My aunt tutted and left the worker to ‘have his sit’. She seemed a little cross with him, and I asked why. It turns out that ‘just now’, means ‘when I’m ready’. If only everything could be done ‘just now’.

At one point, when I was in the town. Yes, a town! I met a man trying to sell key rings. I love key rings, but these were disgusting. I did not even know what they were meant to be.

So I told him politely; “no thank you” and walked away, but boy, was he eager to sell. He followed me around indiscreetly, but I pretended not to notice. I eventually stopped at a junction and he caught up with me. “Hello” he said happily. “Please, where are you from?” I ignored him. He began to list countries from where he thought I came from. He decided on Austria.

God knows why. As I moved on, he followed in quick pursuit and when we made eye contact, he would shout “Austria” at me and then come walking over as if we were old friends.

At first I was annoyed, but then I saw the funnier side. It just goes to show, that however laid back they appear, if they want something, they will stop at nothing until, they get it. I certainly admire this and have been trying become more like this myself.

Africa has rubbed off on me. Their relaxed ways, puts life into perspective. They worry about the important things, and the rest, does not matter. If they want to have ‘a sit’ on the job, then they will. Personally, I think if we all tried to be a little more like this, some of the stress would seep away and life would be a little more enjoyable.

I recommend a trip to Africa, especially if you need to unwind. It is also a mysterious land, for a fabulous holiday and an adventure.

Connie Barraclough Y11

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Drama The Year 11 GCSE drama students have worked hard this year to produce a superb set of performances which forms part of their GCSE assessment.

Back in September, the group explored a range of stimuli in lessons to provide inspiration for their pieces. Inspired by a Dystopian theme explored in lessons, where we focused on novels like Orwell’s 1984 and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, one group created an improvised piece, which begins with three people trapped in a room, not knowing how they got there or why. The Controller (played by Ben Pulman) was manipulating the inmates; pulling their strings metaphorically and literally during some impressive physical theatre sequences.

The piece effectively took the audience on a journey of many twists and turns, as we discovered the flaws of character, through flashback scenes, that had lead to the three inmates being captured. The biggest twist of all was revealed at the end of the piece, when we discovered that the exploration of these flaws of society was in fact being broadcast as a reality TV show.

This was a highly inventive piece, full of originality and surprise.

A further piece was a devised performance that used Golding’s Lord of the Flies for textual inspiration. The group created their own script, but effectively devised this around some of the original text. They wished to explore the theme of human nature and survival when four castaways are stranded on a desert island. The groups’ use of physical theatre and synchronised movement was impressive, as they effectively simulated the

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plane crash, fight scenes and non-naturalistic sequences.

The costume designer (Deanna Lowery) helped to enhance the production and emphasise the trauma of the characters and the lighting design and execution (Fraser Reith) made the performance visually exciting with effective use of colour and gobos to create a range of settings.

In April, the Year 11 GCSE drama students further demonstrated their range of skills, with one student designing and building a set for one groups’ production of John Godber’s Shakers. This included a fully functional bar and flashing LED sign. Further Scripted pieces ranged from Antigone to The Woman in Black and again demonstrated high levels of talent and enthusiasm from Durham drama students.

These were an impressive set of pieces that demonstrated the creativity and commitment of the GCSE students.

The extra rehearsal and preparation undertaken should be commended and definitely paid off with an excellent set of practical marks.

More recently, Year 10 performed in three ensemble Physical Theatre pieces, The Smile, a piece set during WW1 which explores the experiences of wounded soldiers, Josephine the Angel, which follows the experiences of New York Firefighters, ladder company six on 9/11 and Let him have it a portrayal of the true case of Derek Bentley and Christopher Craig. The pupils should be commended for their maturity in dealing with such sensitive content and their very moving portrayal of the themes and issues explored.

A very well done!

Miss A. Parkin, Head of Drama

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Grease As soon as the show was announced there was an immediate buzz and sense of anticipation surrounding the show and the auditions, particularly as the show was going to be performed at the Gala Theatre, Durham.

Mr Muttitt and I were delighted with the turn out for auditions, demonstrating just how much talent there was to choose from!

Armed with an exceptionally strong cast, we began rehearsals in September. The show demands huge amounts of energy from its cast in terms of acting, singing and LOTS of dancing – so there was lots of preparation to be done.

All students rose to the challenge and even those who thought they ‘couldn’t dance’ took to the choreography and the hand jiving like pros! Once the cast started modelling their ‘greaser’ hairstyles and 50s costume, the energy and enthusiasm rocketed!

Performing in the Gala Theatre, Durham was simply wonderful and we were delighted to have had the opportunity to experience such a fantastic venue.

For many students, this is really a once in a lifetime opportunity to perform in a theatre venue of this size and calibre and one I certainly wish I had at school.

The cast took to the pressures and demands of performing four consecutive shows; giving their all to each and every moment of the production. Audience feedback was superb, with many comparing it to a west end production!

The quality of the design and technical elements should also be recognised, as the lighting and sound was operated

by Durham School Technical Team members; again demonstrating just how far the talent stretched.

It was an absolute pleasure to work with the cast, the crew, and all of those involved in this year’s production.

Once again, I have been blown away by the ability of the performers and the exceptionally high standards the pupils set themselves.

Miss A. Parkin, Head of Drama

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The Jungle Book This Summer, the Lower School drama production was, ‘The Jungle book’. As this is such a well known and loved story, I wanted to retain some of the original songs and scenes from the Disney movie (1967), but also stay true to Rudyard Kipling’s novel; focusing more closely on the family of wolves he is raised by and the hunters and other humans he encounters in the ‘man village’.

The 2016 new Disney film of the same name is truly epic, and really brings to life the ferocity of the jungle and the struggles Mowgli has to survive. We spent lots of time working on movement and physicality to reflect the animals the cast were playing, managing to effectively capture the many creatures Mowgli encounters in the jungle. For example the terrifying tiger, Shere Khan (played by Freya Court) , the sly, hungercrazed serpent, Kaa (played by Moncia Speed), and Baloo the lovable bear (played by Daniel Coleman) to name but a few.

A special mention must also go to Pranav Sambamoorthi, who played Mowgli. This was Pranav’s theatrical debut for Durham School and he was superb!

I have been hugely impressed with the commitment of the whole cast and crew, with some lead casts members choosing to carry out extra rehearsals themselves! The current year 7 and 8 students are a very talented bunch, and one can only imagine the shows we will be watching in a few years when they are in the upper school!

The technical team, made up entirely of year 10 students, were invaluable in their support to the cast and in their flawless execution of sound, lighting and stage management.

A fantastic show rounds off a fantastic year for Drama at Durham School. Thanks to all who have taken part – you have done yourselves proud.

Miss A. Parkin, Head of Drama

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The all-new Audi Q5 & SQ5 Now is calling

Test drive at Wearside Audi.

We have now moved to Newcastle Road, Sunderland.

Wearside Audi

SR5 1JQ 0191 639 1952

www.lookers.co.uk/audi Official fuel consumption figures for the all-new Audi Q5 range in mpg (l/100km) from: Urban 26.2 (10.8) – 52.3 (5.4), Extra Urban 41.5 (6.8) – 58.9 (4.8), Combined 34.0 (8.3) – 56.5 (5.0). CO2 emissions: 195 – 132g/km.

Fuel consumption and CO2 figures are obtained under standardised EU test conditions (Directive 93/116/EEC). This allows a direct comparison between different manufacturer models but may not represent the actual fuel consumption achieved in ‘real world’ driving conditions. Image shown for illustration purposes only. Audi Q5 Sport model shows Adaptive Cruise Control Plus £750 RRP, Audi Pre Sense Basic £250 RRP, Matrix LED Headlights £1,750 RRP, Parking Assistance Pack £900 RRP, Electrically Adjustable Mirrors £225 RRP and Technology Pack £1,100 RRP. Choice of wheels and other options may affect fuel consumption, BIK and emissions data (which may also affect the amount of Vehicle Excise Duty payable and therefore the ROTR price).

More information is available on the Audi website at www.audi.co.uk and at www.dft.gov.uk/vca

C R E A T I V E

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare Helena – Emily Bullock, Hermia – Shaira Berg

AS & A2 Theatre Studies

All My Sons by Arthur Miller Mother – Jayne Etherington, Chris – Chris Coleman, Joe – Matthew Storey

This group really wanted to capture the ‘magic’ of the forest, whilst making the Midsummer setting a believable one that both characters find themselves in. They created a pond, fit for purpose, which the characters used as a focal point of the piece and effectively created comedy.

Phenomenal performances from all involved with all students gaining top band marks and Chris Coleman achieving a staggering full marks for his performance The groups’ Stanislavskian approach to the piece was fully realised with a full set replica of the Kellers’ backyard created on stage, including faux grass, a bench and the symbolic tree; which students effectively nurtured and took care of in preparation for the performance!

The ‘drama tree’ has now been planted in the school grounds behind the admin office.

A STRING OF PEARLS

Austin Anderson, Elisabeth Snegir & Charlotte Stone

LAMDA: London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts This year saw the start of extra Speech and Drama lessons as part of the Co-Curricular Drama programme. A number of pupils from years 7- 13 have been taking individual lessons with Mrs Gatziou, our Speech and Drama teacher. These lessons develop acting, performance, presentation and public speaking skills, with many pupils opting to take LAMDA examinations in May of this year. Pupils were entered from Grade 2 to Grade 6 (Acting Bronze Medal).

Results were superb: 13 Acting Grades with Distinction, three with Merit and two Passes.

Very well done.

Miss A. Parkin, Head of Drama

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Year 13 devised a piece inspired by the true story of Benjamin Barber, also known as Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Reading the original Penny Dreadful entitled, ‘The String of Pearls’ the group realised that the pearls were a central point in the story, representing the corrupt nature of the upper class Victorian society. Fascinated by Todd’s backstory, the group explored how his tough childhood and experiences in prison as a young boy gave rise to his murderous activities. Stripping back the glamour of the Hollywood, they wished to create a piece that told the ‘real’ story of the events.

In this hard hitting and immersive piece, audience members were offered Mrs Lovitt’s delicious pies as the story unfolded through the eyes of Toby, a young boy who worked in the shop. Two life size puppets represented Mr Barker and Mrs Lovitt in some scenes.

The groups’ musical abilities came to the fore in many scenes, and involved music created by the students themselves. The quality of the acting was superb and the multi-rolling the pupils undertook, exceptional. A fantastic piece.

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A C A D E M I C

Extended Projects An Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) is a standalone qualification that encourages university style study of a topic, chosen by the pupil and supported by an academic mentor.

EPQs are highly respected by universities and are seen as a way students can differentiate themselves from other applicants.

A number sixth form of pupils at Durham undertake an EPQ each year.

In one such EPQ B.S. Benjamin O’Neill, Year 13, investigated the question “To What Extent Are Attitudes to Crime and Solving Crime in Modern European Detective Fiction Expressions of National Psyche and Philosophy?” The topic allowed Ben to merge his linguistic, philosophical, historical and cultural interests. Ben’s 5,000 word essay goes on to investigate the similarities between the detective fiction of England, France, Germany and Russia and the respective cultural influences that effect the national psyches. An extract of his work follows.

Midsomer Murders, Miss Marple, A Touch of Frost, Sherlock Holmes, Taggart, Bergerac, Endeavour, Foyle’s War ... throughout the recent decades, English television has come to be dominated by such classic crime dramas. The format is equally easily recognisable: a murder is committed, the detective receives a phone-call, he turns up at the crime scene, and within the duration of the programme, the crime is mathematically solved. Essentially, this is the whodunit of the 1920s on our screens.

Throughout the course of this essay, I wish to explore the extent to which this paradigm differs for equivalent continental texts and the extent to which ideas relating to a ‘national psyche’ and aspects of philosophy may be used in order to explain such differences. For many, Christie’s Miss Marple represents the quintessential twentieth century English Detective Story, spanning over twelve novels and several short story collections, written between 1926 and 1971. The Daily Mirror, 28 October 1971, describe the final novel, Nemesis, as a traditional Detective novel, and ITV’s 2009 broadcast, featuring the late Geraldine McEwan, certainly remains true to this description, despite its simplified plot and cast.

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After receiving a postcard from the late Jason Rafiel, Jane Marple embarks on a mystery tour, encompassing a range of quintessentially British country houses, estates and gardens, along with selected participants. Because of her shrewd intelligence, impartiality and cunning, the crime is almost mathematically solved; the clues placed before the reader chapter by chapter for the discerning armchair detective to solve alongside the protagonist. It is very interesting to note that throughout this, and indeed other novels, Christie engineers links with previously solved cases. Fundamentally, Christie’s stories suggest all crimes, at least in literature, follow similar patterns ands structures highlighting the English psyche that everything is structured and quasi predictable.

This empirical understanding of crime in which all details may be recovered by the detective with the correct skills and knowledge recalls a fundamental aspect of British philosophy, first proposed by 14th century Franciscan Friar and theologian, William of Occam. Occam argued that there are simple, natural and understandable reasons for everything – indeed Occam’s razor advocates efficient reasoning, using the fewest possible causes, variables factors and assumptions. These themes were later developed by Newton in his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687) and Kelvin in his Treatise on Natural Philosophy (1867), where both deal empirically with questions regarding natural order and quantitative reasoning familiar to any reader or viewer of the Sherlock Holmes stories. While easy to dismiss this theory, by saying that not everyone has read Newton or Kelvin, our ethics are based on their philosophical principles which have been embedded into our education and institutions.

Occam contributed greatly to the principles of propositional logic through a series of laws which would later, in the nineteenth-century, be developed by Augustus de Morgan and become known as de Morgan’s Laws. Both Occam and de Morgan place significant emphasis on proof, deduction and logic; I would argue that these themes are omnipresent in English detective literature.

In the ITV series A Touch of Frost (1992-2010), staring David Jason and based on the novels of R.D. Wingfield, they are clearly demonstrated through the investigations of the hero of the title; once again, it is striking to note that the crime is always solved, albeit often via controversial means.

For example, in Penny for the Guy (1997), Frost is prepared to produce a forged receipt in order to prise a confession from the elderly Finch.

While breaking all regulations of correct Police procedure and perhaps the British concept of fairness, such expedient fabrication of evidence reflects theories of utilitarianism and represents the typical British values of dedication to a cause, hard-work and willingness to go out of one’s comfort zone for the good of the country. It reflects England’s consequentialist philosophical legacy, including Bentham, Mill, Sidgwick and Moore, since it is made clear that the end is more important for Frost than the means by which it is achieved.

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Classics

readings and achievement in this competition over the last two years.

Another busy year saw the department offer a range of activities and experiences for pupils covering aspects of languages and culture/literature, since the small department offers Latin, Greek, and Classical Civilisation to A level.

Benjamin also entered the nation ARLT Recitation Competition in January, which Lexy Powell OD had won last year; a recorded reading of a different section of Virgil resulted in Benjamin being Highly Commended, no mean feat with only the top-two places awarded and the winner coming from Brighton College no less.

In October Miss Baylis and I took our VI Form Classicists on a day trip to London to watch a performance of a Greek Tragedy: Aeschylus’ Oresteia Trilogy was being performed at the Globe Theatre, the first play of which, The Agamemnon, is a set text for AS Classical Civilisation. It was expertlyperformed and true to the original texts (though delivered in English translation), though it mixed the old and the new in costume and set design with mixed results. A very bloody and realistic re-enactment of the aftermath of the slaughter of the Greek King, Agamemnon, set the tone for a visual treat which captivated our pupils.

In the second term a flurry of Classics-related events took place, with three Hillard talks dealing with Roman History, Greek Music and the language of the Greek New Testament. The latter was delivered by Professor Bash from Durham University while the first two were lectures given by Faculty at Newcastle University – the department continues to foster close links with universities offering Classics. There is an article devoted to the newly-established Hillard Society elsewhere in this magazine so I shall say no more beyond thanking Benjamin O’Neill and Jodie Cameron (UVI, MacLeod) for their roles in setting up and running the society this year and wishing good luck to those taking on the baton: Alexander Smith (LVI, School) and Helena Campbell (LVI, Pimlico).

Also in the first term I took Benjamin O’Neill (UVI, Caffs) to the Latin Recitation Competition at The RGS, Newcastle, where he competed in the Senior section by reading aloud two Latin passages, one from Virgil’s epic poem The Aeneid and the other a letter written by Pliny the Younger (primarily known for providing the only eye-witness account of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79). Last year Lexy Powell OD placed second while Ben came third, and it was most impressive that he built on this and came second himself this time around. Although disappointed not to take the top spot, Benjamin should be proud of his

In February we took five teams of three (with a couple of subs) to the Inter-School Classics Quiz hosted by Newcastle High School. We entered a Junior team, an Intermediate team and three Senior teams (comprising Y11-Y13 pupils), testament to our pupils’ willingness to get involved and interest in the subjects, even when it meant giving up a Saturday morning.

We performed well in all sections but our strongest showing came from the team composed of Ben O’Neill, Charlotte

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Stone, Anu Krishna and Charlotte Etherington, which benefitted from having two Latinists and a good all-round knowledge. They were unbeaten through all their rounds, including their last match-up which they won on the very last question, winning 105-95 against three girls from Newcastle High School. These girls, however, were the eventual winners by virtue of accumulating the most points over all four rounds, while our undefeated team were pushed into third due to this scoring system, though they were only one correct answer away from winning!

“All in all a busy and enjoyable year, but also a successful one. Pupils represented the School very well in a number of events but also pupils are pursuing their passion for the ancient world after it.”

Also in February I decided to enter some pupils from our School into the UK Linguistics Olympiad, a competition with four levels which sets linguistic ‘puzzles’ drawn from languages both real and invented, mostly of A level equivalent to Linguistics exercises undertaken at degree level. I entered my entire Y9 Latin set at the Foundation Level (2nd of 4) and was very impressed by their performances.

Toby Laycock (Poole) won a Bronze Award, putting him in the top 20% nationally, while Ross Sime and Jared Warby (both Caffs) missed out by the narrowest of margins. At the Advanced Level (4th of 4), I was most pleased to have seven volunteer entrants – from the UVI Benjamin O’Neill and Jodie Cameron and from the LVI Anu Krishna, Helena Campbell and Nurul Fadilah (all Pimlico), as well as Alexander Smith and William Bowles (both School). A gruelling two-and-ahalf-hour examination challenged them greatly but all were up to the task. It was a fantastic achievement that we won three awards in total – Benjamin and Nurul secured Bronzes (top 25% of country) while Anu went one better with a Silver (top 15% of country). I look forward to building on this in the coming years.

In the final term we took to the outdoors – on our nowannual Y13 Class Civ trip in May we visited the Roman supply fort at Arbeia in South Shields before spending the afternoon – post-Wagamama’s lunch – at the Hancock Museum in Newcastle, which houses many of the artefacts we study in the Roman Britain A2 Class Civ module. In June Miss Baylis organised and led a Hadrian’s Wall trip for all of Year 7 – a separate report on this follows.

All in all a busy and enjoyable year, but also a successful one. Pupils represented the School very well in a number of events but also pupils are pursuing their passion for the ancient world after it. Benjamin O’Neill is going to read German and Latin at Peterhouse College, Cambridge – the first Oxbridge classical linguist for over twenty years from Durham School. Two pupils are going to read Classics/ Ancient History/Archaeology at university – William Hewitt

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(School) at Durham University and Charlotte Stone (MacLeod) at Trinity St. David’s, University of Wales (Lampeter).

Numbers of pupils taking Classics-related subjects are fairly small but proportionately strong and healthy; all six AS Level Class Civ pupils will continue to A2 level while we had three take AS Latin this year. Lower down the School we will have nine pupils sit GCSE Class Civ this coming year and over twenty Y9s have opted to take Latin and around fifteen Class Civ. I hope to enter a pupil for GCSE Greek and wish to continue to offer it as an off-timetable subject for those interested.

From a staffing point of view, Miss Baylis attended a conference on ‘Classics in Communities’ and is looking at ways to widen access to the Classics on a larger scale; this coming year she shall teach Latin to Years 5 and 6 at Bow every week and this continuity will prove very helpful with regard to the promotion of such studies. She is Secretary of The Repton Summer School in Classics and teaches courses there, while she took on GCSE Class Civ examination marking this year to help the teaching of the subject.

I continue to mark GCSE Greek papers while this year I have become the author of A level examinations, creating the papers for the Roman Britain OCR A2 Class Civ module and a language paper for OCR A level Greek.

This past year I started a pilot project, CTEP – the Classics-teaching Experience Programme. Only two universities (Cambridge and KCL) offer PGCEs in Classics; both are small and very competitive, yet the demand for Classics teachers outweighs the current supply.

I had two Durham University Classics students, would-be teachers, enrol on this programme which involved observing some lessons followed by debriefs, some workshops and meetings with me to discuss the realities, positives and difficulties of teaching these subjects.

I am glad to say that both students were accepted on the Cambridge PGCE course and CTEP will now be expanded.

I already have four Durham University students signed up for this coming year while Newcastle University have advertised it to their Classicists too.

Indeed this coming year is already lining up to be an interesting one. Two Classics Professors (one from Durham, one from Newcastle) have already agreed to deliver lectures for the Hillard Society while in November we will be visited by a museum curator who will bring replicas of classical artefacts for pupils to study and handle while subsequently pupils in the Art department will sketch them. In February 2017 a group of Y11-Y13 pupils will visit Rome for four days while we are planning a trip to Cambridge to see Sophocles’ Antigone performed in Greek (with English surtitles). With four pupils taking EPQs within the department and a handful looking to study Classics-related degrees next year, it promises to be a busy and fruitful one.

Mr C. Hope

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We already provide flights and holidays for a number of staff and pupils.

Why not become part of our Durham School partnership.

A C A D E M I C

Business Studies and Economics The Business Studies and Economics Department were thrilled with the terrific results achieved by the leaving class of 2015.

Two thirds of the Business Studies cohort achieved either an A*, A or B grade overall, with Helen Clifford, Jasper Wiese (winner of the Business Studies prize), Lewis Bunce, Tim Hargreaves and Charlie Conway managing to score full marks in one of their two A2 exams, a great achievement for these conscientious students.

Jamie Kirkbride (winner of the Economics prize) was the top performing economist but he was joined by Millie Poon, Kristian Hall, Henry Wadsworth, Oliver Simmonds, Anita Yu and Romany Kullar within the A-B grade category.

The Department must extend thanks to the diverse group of speakers who addressed the students this year. Local business magnate John Marshall regaled us with tales from his life as an entrepreneur, dishing out a substantial dose of reality as to what it takes to launch and grow a business from humble beginnings.

Professor Jason Shachat from Durham University ran a stock market simulation game for the U6th economists as well as organising guided tours of the Business School for us to enjoy, and Professor Ian Stone from Durham Business School kindly hosted the L6th students for an evening of enterprise education competitions. The speakers, trips and activities which make up the department’s enrichment programme continue to support all the good work done in class by both the students and their teachers, Mr Gouge and Mrs Turnbull.

A highlight of the year was the tremendous performance of the Target 2.0 team who competed in the Bank of England’s inflation rate challenge, putting forward their proposals for controlling

inflation to a panel of Bank of England employees and monetary policy experts. Ming Yang, Lewis Miller, Hannah Haynes and Alex Grecoe excelled in delivering a composed and articulate presentation, demonstrating impressive research, teamwork and public speaking skills.

The Department also ran a competition this year for the Year 8 students, whereby teams of our young entrepreneurs researched, designed and presented a concept for a social enterprise project, whilst being mentored by current sixth form Business students.

The judging panel, including Debbie Stanford and Kate Welch OBE from the organisation ‘Social Enterprise Acumen’ were really impressed with the innovative ideas and the standard of speaking and presentation on show.

The winning team of Charlotte Payne, Frances Clifford, Amy O’Kane and Imogen Nicholson designed an anti-bullying app which they will launch as a real business next year.

This year we welcomed Vanessa Turnbull to the department as a teacher of both Business and Economics. Vanessa has made a valuable contribution in a short space of time and we look forward to the department enjoying more success in the coming years.

Mr O. Hughes

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English

Reading Week ended with a visit from a local author, Quentin Smith, who discussed his inspirations for writing and how he develops his plot and characters. Of course Reading Week would not be complete without staff and students participating in our ‘dress up as a character from a book day’. There were some fabulous entries; with Year 7 pupils in particular making an excellent effort.

We have experienced yet another busy year in the English Department.

In May Mrs Swan started her maternity leave and shortly afterwards she became the mum of a third daughter, Pippa.

We welcomed Mr Jennings into the department and he will be with us until Mrs Swan’s return in May 2017.

Throughout the year there have been numerous trips to the theatre and places of literary heritage. Sixth form students enjoyed a visit to Bronte Country where they experienced a hike across the rugged moorlands that inspired the Bronte sisters’ work. They also visited the Bronte Parsonage, the home of the Bronte sisters from 1820, which is now a beautifully preserved museum. Year 10 and 11 pupils enjoyed a trip to the Theatre Royal at Newcastle to watch the critically acclaimed An Inspector Calls. All students agreed it had helped to ‘bring the play to life’ for them.

As always the department, together with learning support, held our annual Reading Week. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter was the theme of a very entertaining chapel service that saw our sixth form students reciting, and indeed enacting, key quotes from the world famous novels. The Harry Potter theme carried through into lunch in our very own Hogwart’s Dining Hall on Tuesday, where the catering staff conjured up several culinary delights.

During activities week Year 10 pupils spent an afternoon at the BBC studios in Newcastle where they were shown the Look North set, amongst many other things. They were also given the opportunity to read the weather and take part in their own radio play. There were some stellar performances, but a special mention needs to go to John Moody and Chris Heron who were completely at home in the media environment. It was a very enjoyable experience for the pupils and they learned a lot about how television and radio operate.

Next year promises to be just as busy. A love of reading does not come naturally to some people, however, we want as many of our students as possible to try and read more this next year.

Reading not only allows us to escape, it helps us to use our imagination and empathise with situations and characters.

Reading increases the range of vocabulary we use, but most of all it makes us think; it makes us consider what we would do in certain situations, how we would act if faced with a moral dilemma. Let’s hope we can share our passion for reading with the whole school; we look forward to the challenge!

Mrs E. Melville

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A C A D E M I C

Geography Fieldwork visits continue to be the highlight of the academic year in the Geography Department.

The field visit to Iceland saw our geographers experiencing the extremities of the land of ice and fire. They climbed to the crater of Heimay an active volcano, brandished crampons and ice axes to traverse a glacier at Skaftafell, sailed on the Jokullsarlon glacial meltwater lagoon then recovered by relaxing in the geothermal Blue Lagoon.

Closer to home, the GCSE geographers carried out fieldwork on a sunny Seaham beach , investigating coastal processes and features. Later on in the year we ventured to a fog-bound Saltburn-on-Sea to evaluate tourism in a British seaside town. Of course fish and chips sampling, along with ice cream tasting, is a major consideration when investigatIng tourist provision.

The sixth form geographers braved the voracious Scots midge for their summer term field work on the Isle of Arran. A variety of field projects saw them wading in rivers, surveying beaches, collecting data and surviving without Wi-Fi for lengthy periods of time. Luckily there was haggis pizza to see them through, though the mystery of Mr Hewitt’s missing Arran beer remains unsolved.

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And so to Mr Hewitt to whom we say goodbye after 34 years in the geography department. We wish him many happy years sailing off into the sunset with Mrs Hewitt. And for the last time ... no he has not taken his rock collection with him. They are all still available for viewing upon demand. In Mr Hewitt’s place, we welcome Miss Buist who joins us from Alnwick who I’m sure will continue to inspire all students as to the wonders of the world around us.

Dr Scott-Warburton

“The sixth form geographers braved the voracious Scots midge for their summer term field work on the Isle of Arran. A variety of field projects saw them wading in rivers, surveying beaches, collecting data and surviving without Wi-Fi for lengthy periods of time.”

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History The year has been a busy and successful one, marked by significant change in the Department, exams and also the centenary events around Noel Hodgson OD. The year has been a busy and successful one, marked by significant change in the Department, exams and also the centenary events around Noel Hodgson OD. The seismic shift in the Department was delivered in the Easter Term, with the news that Mrs Hewitt was to leave the School after a long and loyal career. Her no-nonsense and supremely organised approach has been a great asset in my time here and of course long before. The amount of times Lucy pointed out errors in my documents or cut through confusion with a clear decision is impossible to guess but her input has been much appreciated. Her classes have always had clear guidance and a firm approach, and have been in safe hands.

Academic success has been and always will be the focus of the Department, and the 2015 exams were pleasing. GCSE success was comfortably up on School average, with 77% of students at A* to B and a full 20% at A*. A level success was shown by the 65% A*to B performance. History remains one of the “gold standard” Academic subjects and to continue this strong performance is very encouraging. Louis Dinsdale and Dominic Scott were the top scorers in GCSE with 387 and 381 UMS (from a possible 400) respectively. At A level the top performers were James Hewitt and Lexy Powell, with 351 and 350 points. This year saw the new reformed A levels roll out and overall I am in favour. The sweep of History is now there, from Medieval to Modern, and the topics are interesting. Time will tell how the “toughening up” of A level pans out but the Durham students will be up for the challenge!

Outside of the classroom the Department was busy. The now traditional series of days working with Durham University History Department and the Royal Society of Arts gave a much appreciated insight to undergraduate life and some networking with other Schools and Academies in the region. The Year 7 and 8 Historians had a full day trip to York, visiting the excellent York Army Museum. The focus on the Somme was timely given the School’s own involvement in this famous battle. In the afternoon we visited the Castle museum, which tied in nicely with the Medieval studies of these year groups.

The big event was the centenary of the death of Noel Hodgson on the Somme. Hodgson was increasingly famous for his poetry during the war and his death took away a special talent that had somewhat ebbed from the national consciousness, with war poetry dominated by Sassoon and Owen. I had planned a trip to Devonshire Cemetery on the Somme for the anniversary, but the French authorities closed the whole region.

The activities in School took on more significance therefore and we welcomed Christopher Hodgson, the great-nephew of Noel and Charlotte Zeepvat to the School in June. A day was spent working with the students and then an excellent evening was held in Big School with poetry and talks. The gift by Christopher of Noel’s Latin books was poignant. The BBC were involved also with interviews in May and June, and so the History of Noel and the School has hopefully reached a wider audience.

2016-17 will be full of challenges for the students and the newly-remodelled Department but we can look forward with confidence. As Mr Best put it, “History is all around you in Durham School.”

Mr D. Tyreman

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A C A D E M I C

Modern Foreign Languages The Modern Languages’ Department has been as busy as ever this academic year.

I bought a stunning photo by Phil Benton of the Eiffel Tower early in June from an exhibition in Newcastle. The photo attracted my attention primarily because of the view of the tower surrounded by some rather ominous clouds but in the foreground there is a man reading Le Monde and the title for the newspaper article he is reading is, ‘Europe est en danger’. It is very much a moment in time.

The Modern Languages’ Department has been as busy as ever this academic year. Classes have been working hard from Year 7 to Year 13 across a variety of topics. The A level examination classes always impress with their ability to hold their exam debate in French, German and Spanish on some tricky issues; abortion, the death penalty and the immigrant crisis among some of the subjects discussed this year. Even the Year 8 classes enjoyed their oral presentations earlier in the year when they talked about their daily routine. While lessons take place every day in the Department, other exciting activities have hit the headlines this year.

The Year 13 linguists started the year with a debating competition at St. Peter’s, York back in November.

You might remember that we reported on the inaugural competition last year but this year’s competition added Spanish to the mix of languages. We sent two teams, one for Spanish and one for German. Elisabeth Snegir, Alexander Smith, Benjamin O’Neill and Jodie Cameron were brave enough to take on this challenge and they performed exceptionally well. The Spanish team adapted their arguments well enough to combat those of their opponents so that Durham School defeated a strong Leeds Grammar School team, just narrowly missing out on a place in the semi-finals.

The German team performed exceptionally well and made their way into the final in style where despite an impressive and articulate performance, they lost out by a single point.

Nevertheless, both teams enjoyed the day and have set the standard for next year’s competitors.

The Hillard Society was founded this year to enrich learning for all linguists and classicists. With Ben O’Neill and Jodie Cameron at the helm, the Society has met together on many occasions since September to hear speakers from leading experts in the fields of German, French, Classical (and New Testament) Greek, Latin, Arabic and Linguistics. We have had no fewer than ten lectures thanks to Ben’s powers of persuasion and organisational skills. These have been impressive, not least in terms of the breadth and depth of scholars’ knowledge, and although a new society, it certainly does not lack rigour, and we feel sure that the Hillard Society

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will enjoy a promising future as Alexander Smith and Helena Campbell take over for September 2016.

Very recently, Year 8 French has been studying café culture in French. While they struggled with the idea of having a glass of wine or watching the football with a beer in a café rather than an English pub they did get to grips with ordering ice-creams in a myriad of flavours! Practising ordering things was fun, especially when we sang all 12 verses of the waiter’s song. This led to a lovely morning in a pretend French Café in Big School with Mrs Eccleston and Mrs Wilkinson. We have never witnessed so many croissants and pains au chocolat disappear in such a short space of time. Ils avaient faim!

The chocolat chaud went down a treat too.

The Olympics Week at the end of term gave us the chance to do some fun activities with our pupils. The Year 9 turned a simple game of boules into a fiercely fought competition to rival the football! On Tuesday 28 June, the Luce Theatre hosted the Flying Theatre Company once again for another fun-filled show of acrobatics and comedy all performed in French. It was a whirlwind performance which was greatly enjoyed by the staff and pupils alike. Year 10 enjoyed some French cinema complete with popcorn and chocolate as they watched La Famille Bélier while Years 7 and 9 were given the opportunity to learn and practise Spanish for use on their holidays.

‘Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose,’ springs to mind as we look to the new academic year.

There are some significant changes to the examination courses to come in September as the Year 12 take on the new A level course over two years and the Year 10 begin the new GCSE. We seem to be keeping some of the things we do now, reverting back to how things were a little while ago with other requirements and then adding some tweaks along the way. The new GCSE format will involve the same core skills of listening, reading, writing and speaking but as we say farewell to controlled assessments this will inevitably change the focus for the pupils for the writing and speaking examinations at the end of the course.

We feel sure that the pupils will take such changes and challenges in their stride. For the A level, it is exciting to have the opportunity to teach more literature and film, and to have the time to focus on the culture of each country alongside the language in more depth than before.

The year to come will definitely be an interesting one.

Mrs K. L. Wilkinson

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A C A D E M I C

A visit to Auckland Castle

On Wednesday 11 May I had the pleasure of taking my Spanish A level pupils to Auckland Castle to view the magnificent Zurbarán paintings. We had had the fortune to attend a fascinating lecture by Professor Beresford earlier in the year, courtesy of the Hilliard Society, in which he talked about Spanish art in the North East and this had sparked our interest. We were not disappointed. Auckland Castle is a hidden treasure and the staff working there could not have been more attentive. We spent some time in the stunning St Peter’s Chapel and were given a private tour which was hugely interesting. We were, however, itching to see the famous portraits of Jacob and his twelve sons painted by

Regional Debate 2015

On the 25 November, four A2 students; Elisabeth Snegir, Alexander Smith, Benjamin O’Neill and Jodie Cameron took part in a foreign language debate at St Peter’s, York, the former two were representing Spanish and the latter two German.

As part of the essential preparation for the debate, upon arriving in York the teams benefitted from a delightful Italian lunch which was I must stress, an essential part of the day!

The format of the debates relied on contestant’s spontaneity and language skills, as well as the ability to defend their opinions. With a series of compelling and topics such as the ‘use of performance enhancing drugs in sport’ or ‘the impacts of tourism on the UK’ there were many profound and lively debates taking place throughout the day. The Spanish team performed well and adapted their points to combat those of their opponents; Durham School defeated a strong Leeds Grammar School team and narrowly missed out on a place in the semi-finals. The German team performed excellently and steamed their way into the final where despite an impressive and articulate performance, they lost out by a single point. Nevertheless, both teams enjoyed the day as a whole and in future years I’m sure Durham School teams will return with even greater vigour. Events such as these offer language students a rare opportunity to speak their chosen language which is a vital component to the examination and any possibility to practise is greatly welcomed and enjoyed.

Francisco de Zurbarán between 1640 and 1644.

Bishop Richard Trevor bought twelve of the paintings in 1756, but had been outbid at auction for the thirteenth.

Fortunately, he was able to employ an artist at the time to make an exact copy and so, the thirteen portraits were able to go on show in the purpose-built gallery and have hung there for over 250 years. Bishop Trevor’s objective was to encourage religious tolerance at a time of turmoil in England, particularly towards Jewish people living in the country. We thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity of viewing the portraits.

Ms. C. Piñán

The Flying Theatre Company

On the final Tuesday of term, the Flying Theatre Company came back to Durham School. The Year 7 and Year 8 pupils were treated to a spectacular show entitled ‘Bon Voyage’. This energetic and engaging performance in friendly and accessible French told the story of Pierre who flew into the sunny south of France for a surfing holiday with his cousin, Lola. The acrobatics and energy in the performance were amazing and with audience participation in abundance, it was definitely a fabulous way to end the term and start the holidays. Bonnes vacances!

Mrs K. L. Wilkinson

“Events offer language students a rare opportunity to speak their chosen language which is a vital component to the examination and any possibility to practise is greatly welcomed and enjoyed.”

Alex Smith Year 13 2 0 1 5 - 2 0 1 6

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A C A D E M I C

Information Technology Once again, it has been a very busy year in the ICT Department. We have greatly welcomed the introduction of our new VLE platform across the school. This has proved a great asset in furthering our pupils learning as many of our teaching resources can now be accessed from home or in the boarding house.

Academically, the department has seen a very good set of examination results for our 2015-16 A level and GCSE students. In addition to this, we have also continued to see a record number of pupils selecting ICT courses here at Durham School, especially at A level. We look forward to seeing what these pupils can achieve in the coming months.

On a separate note, we also say goodbye to Mr Nathan Hendry and Mr Mike Avraamides (our student teachers this year) and we would like to personally thank them for their support and hard work that they have both devoted to this department throughout the academic year. We wish them both every success in the future as they start their teaching careers across the North East of England. We will no doubt see the introduction of another student teacher from September; a great asset as they will be invaluable in supporting the department both throughout ICT lessons and our after school clubs. We look forward to the year ahead, having closed what can only be described as an ‘excellent year’.

Mr A. McMillan

Academic PE The class of 2016 graduated from A2 Physical Education with a 50% pass rate at A*to B. We ended up with 6 students getting a C grade, from a statistical point of view it is a shame that a number of those students didn`t get a B grade.

Religious Studies, Philosophy and Ethics

A “big congratulations” must go to Jacob Weightman who thoroughly deserved his Academic PE prize and backed it up in the summer with an A*.

It has been a real joy to join the RPE department this year and my thanks go to Mrs Proud, Mrs Butler and Miss Hinde for their warm welcome and support throughout the year.

Highlights for the department this year include the Sixth Form A level Conference in York, the Years 7-9 gifted and talented conference in Harrogate (including a lively debate on the motion “This House believes that science has replaced God”), the Lower Sixth rewriting the lyrics of Deft Punk’s Get Lucky on the theme of Virtue Ethics, and the giant picture of Christ the Redeemer from

At AS we had a mixed set of results. A special mention, however, should go to Emma Willmott who got 100% (120/120) in her academic exam – a tremendous achievement!

Our GCSE results were steady; with 33.3% of the cohort getting A*/A. Well done to Sophie Atkinson on her A*, another excellent result!

Mr P. Gerrard

Rio that the Year 8 girls produced for Olympics week. I was also thoroughly impressed by the patience and dedication shown by the Year 7s who completed a 1000 dot dot-to-dot picture of St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow as an extra piece of homework. Finally, my congratulations go to the GCSE set of 2015 who all got either an A or A* grade in their Religious Studies exams!

Father Simon

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“A “big congratulations” must go to Jacob Weightman who thoroughly deserved his Academic PE prize and backed it up in the summer with an A*.”

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Mathematics It has been a year of change within the Department this year.

Mrs Kirsty Wilson was on maternity leave all year, eventually deciding not to return so she can focus on her family. Having been offered an educational advisors position, this is my last year in charge of the Department.

Although there were no stand outs at the Intermediate level of the UKMT, the middle of the School had a second chance in the University of Newcastle’s maths challenge; here David Hardern and Toby Laycock won certificates with Christine Zhang winning one of the top prizes.

We waited in anticipation for our summer 2015 external examination results wondering whether we would be able to beat last year or not. At GCSE we did not quite beat last years A*-C pass rate but we did achieve a very commendable 81%, whilst still maintaining our 100% pass rate. GCSE Statistics maintained a 100% pass rate with A*-C being 83%. This was the last year we had two sets doing the GCSE Statistics with only the top set sitting it. At A level we maintained our 100% pass rate but smashed our A*-B pass rate raising this to 76% with our A* - C rate reaching 90%.

Our Further Maths course has been become so popular this group has increased in size a lot, this years A*-B rate was 80% and A*-C 100%. The department were extremely proud of our A level results which were the best in my time in charge and were some of the best in the School. The challenge to the pupils is to see whether we can maintain or beat this next year.

We continued our link with Durham University taking on two undergraduates who put together a series of tests to monitor some of our A level pupils.

Our Year 12 Further Mathematicians, once again, had the opportunity to visit the University and although we could not get a lecture we had a very informative and detailed tour of Collingwood College, the Mathematics Department and the Bill Bryson library where pupils spent some time delving into some of the Universities Mathematics books.

Our top mathematicians also competed in the UKMT Challenges at all levels. Stand out pupils were Hanlu Shen at the junior end who went onto compete in the next round, the Junior Kangaroo. By reaching the Kangaroo Hanlu showed that she was in the top 6% of the entrants this year.

On a personal note, I have been proud to lead the Department over the last six years, administering many curriculum changes, improving the administration of the department and making significant and positive changes to the teaching and learning. Although I am sorry to say goodbye to leading the department, I am looking forward to challenges of my new role.

At the senior end Tony Tong, Yifei Li and Selena Li were our top pupils with all three reaching the Senior Kangaroo, all obtaining Merits (top 25% of those reaching the Kangaroo).

Academically we have just implemented the new GCSE Mathematics course and we will all be interested to see how the summer 2017 examinations are going to go as these will be the first ones through the new 9-1 syllabus. In just over a year we will be starting the reformed A level courses so there are some very interesting times ahead.

Mr C. S. Fordyce

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A C A D E M I C

Politics Democracy Day

In September the Politics department hosted a Democracy Day with the Parliamentary outreach team.

Year 9 learnt the process of how bills are proposed and passed into laws, before being let loose into groups to devise and propose bills of their own. All 70 Y12 students spent the afternoon in a parliamentary style debating session, proposing and debating motions in the style of the House of Commons. Controversy was never far as the year group grappled with a range of contemporary issues relevant to them.

Parliament Visit

The second annual Parliament trip was very well received by the students and this year Dominic Scott volunteered to produce a ‘student’s eye’ write up. The department will return next year, but this time for an overnight stay to experience more of the ‘nations political capital’!

Politics Conference

The Y12 Politics cohort spent the day at Newcastle University experiencing University style Politics teaching. The highlight of the day was testing a prototype online voting system which provoked much debate on the relative merits of digital versus traditional voting methods.

EU Simulation Day

The week prior to the national referendum three Year 12 students took part in an EU simulation day at Newcastle University. The whole day event replicated the procedures of the EU parliament in dealing with the issue of mass migration from conflict areas. The students were given the chance to work with politics students from across the region and realised that there are no easy solutions to the worlds problems!

EU Referendum

Following on from last year’s EU debate the school held an in/out referendum vote alongside the national one.

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Bucking the national and regional trend the school voted overwhelming to remain in the European Union, with many students expressing a nuanced and well developed understanding of the ramifications of both outcomes.

Mr S. MacNair

Politics Trip to The Palace of Westminster

Wednesday 13 January saw the Politics Department’s annual outing to the Palace of Westminster, central London. All eleven students accompanied by Mr Macnair departed from Durham train station at the ungodly time of 6:20am, with Mr Webb joining the convoy at York. Arriving in London King’s Cross at 9:15am, a short trek, past Westminster Abbey, brought us to the Houses of Parliament themselves, where we were subjected to rigorous airport-style scrutiny before we could enter.

At this point we met our host- Lord Brian Mackenzie of Framwellgate, former President of the Police Superintendants Association and Chief Superintendant of Durham Constabulary. An hour and a half tour around the seemingly endless corridors and vastly spacious galleries provided a detailed, occasionally obscure yet fascinating history of the palace and its occupants. Once we had absorbed the awe of standing on the plaque marking the spot Nelson Mandela gave his addresses to both Houses on 11 July 1996 in the main hall of Westminster, we resumed our journey, this time to the Cardinal dining complex.

Returning to the palace, we once again joined Lord Mackenzie, who took us into the House of Lords. During the debate, which we watched from the public galleries, various junior ministers were questioned by the peers.

At the end of our visit Lord Mackenzie held a question and answer session in which students asked about the workings of the Lords, which were found to be both revealing and complex.

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Psychology The 2015-2016 academic year was one of both great success and big change for the Psychology department.

The year began with the revelation that the graduating class of 2015 achieved the best ever grades (in terms of value added) in the final A level examinations, making Psychology one of the most successful departments in the entire school at A level, and in the 94th percentile in the country – a huge congratulations to all students, with a special mention of Tom Howe and Phoebe Dormand, who both achieved an A* overall. As in previous years, a number of the graduating class decided to read Psychology at university, with destinations including Durham, Liverpool, Leeds, Edinburgh, Exeter and Sheffield, to name but a few. The ‘new’ Year 13 started the year with excellent AS results and have always had the target to exceed the successes of the class of 2015; this is a big challenge, but they certainly have the ability to achieve it!

The major academic change this year in Psychology was in Year 12, where the cohort started the newly reformed syllabus. Although there are many similarities in terms of content, the move towards a linear model presents a number of challenges, but students have performed fantastically all year, engaging with the new approaches and working with focus and effort throughout.

In addition to the normal day-to-day teaching and learning, 2015-2016 has been a year where Psychology has attempted to move ‘beyond the classroom’, in an attempt to inspire and enthuse all students about the subject. Psychology students have conducted two chapel services this year, on the topics of ‘relationships’ and ‘mental health awareness’, the latter being part of a wider programme of events associated with mental health awareness week.

In addition, the Psychology Department was also involved in a number of activities in conjunction with other academic departments; during science week, sessions were held on the factors that affect witness testimony and jury decision making (as expected, the conclusion was made that people make surprisingly bad eyewitnesses), and Year 7 and Year 8 students were introduced to the concept of psychological profiling when visited by ‘Inspector Brownlee’ as part of the activities week ‘murder mystery’ event. Once again, students must be commended on their efforts throughout all of these activities, and it has been great to see the many new faces attracted to Psychology.

2015-2016 also played host to the first ever ‘joint centre Psychology revision day’ – a fantastic day which saw Year 12 students from Durham School travel to Wakefield Girls High School to work with peers from neighbouring institutions. The day was designed and coordinated in part by Mr Brownlee, and students worked in mixed groups in a variety of revision sessions; the psychology students may state that this is an example of ‘investigator bias’, but it has to be said that the Durham School students noticeably outperformed their peers throughout.

With the continued development and delivery of the reformed A level syllabus, 2016-2017 looks set to be an equally hectic, challenging and enjoyable year in Psychology. We look forward to welcoming a new cohort of Psychologists and wish every success to those leaving Durham School. As a parting note, the Psychology department would like to remind everyone, including all new ODs, to recognise the following words from inimitable Sigmund Freud as they progress through their lives; ‘Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar…’

Mr B. Brownlee

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Science Medical Day 2016

Chemical Analyst Competition

On the 2 March, 10 Durham School students from Years 10 and 11 travelled to Teesside to gain an understanding of medicine. We arrived at Stockton Sixth Form College promptly, and were quickly escorted to a room just off the canteen. When we entered the room, they divided the visiting schools into evenly mixed groups. We then listened to a short presentation about life in medical school given by two fifth year students.

This presentation described what was to be expected from each year, their daily routine based on the University of Liverpool, and ended on our plan for the day. Throughout the day each group visited three workshops: anatomy, CPR and Medical Ethics. In anatomy we drew and labelled a diagram of a torso then each group researched an organ and presented it to the class. It was a little awkward at first working with complete strangers, but this was quickly overcome as we focused on the task at hand. In CPR we were given numerous situations and had to explain the process of we would go through, for example, how we approach a patient and what to do if they weren’t breathing. Everyone then had a turn practicing heart resuscitations on some dummies that would indicate if we were doing it right. Finally we made it to Medical Ethics here we learnt about the four principles of Medical Ethics and how to apply them to certain situations. This was probably the hardest task of the day as there was no right answer and it all depended on our own opinion. At the end of the day we listened to junior doctors; a GP, and a military based doctor describing their life on a day to day basis and the different kind of jobs.

Overall it was a very inspiring day and everyone gained a better understanding of what it meant to be a doctor. It was a great experience and we send our thanks to the Liverpool medical students who provided us with such a great introduction to medicine.

Lauren Watson (Y11)

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A Year 12 team of Anu Krishna, Fraser Gaines and Will Bowles representing the school were invited for a day of analytical Chemistry at the labs of Sunderland University.

They were each given a booklet containing a story of a villager who wanted to grow a prizewinning marrow in his garden; however he had made some enemies in the village and his marrow had subsequently been destroyed by a mystery marrow murderer.

Three suspects were narrowed down who had both motive and lack of alibi. They also each had the chemistry knowledge and access to chemicals for them to be able to marrow tamper.

Each of these suspects was to be investigated using analytical chemistry methods by each of the three members of the team, with Anu sorting a Silver nitrate scandal, Fraser testing for Phosphorous in Fertiliser and Will working on a salty scheme.

Will made samples of different concentrations of salt water to be compared with both water obtained from the marrow plant’s surrounding soil and soil from elsewhere in the garden.

Using flame spectroscopy (where a sample of a chemical is sent through a methane flame and the energy absorbed is an indication of the proportion of a certain element in the sample) Will found there to be less than 0.01 ppm (part per million) of Na in the water, and there was no difference between samples taken directly from the marrow soil and elsewhere in the garden, thus exonerating the first suspect from having committed such a terrible crime. Anu was next, using a Ferrous thiocyanate indicator to detect a colour change from milky to grapefruit pink with the thiocyanate ion ([SCN]) when combined with silver nitrate ([Ag][NO]) and 6 molar nitric acid (HNO) to form a Silver thiocyanate precipitate when all of the iron had been used in conjunction with the thiocyanate ([Fe]³ 3[SCN] with excess [Ag] means [Ag] [SCN] silver thiocyanate precipitate is produced.

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By titrating this solution Anu was able to work out there was no significant difference in the amount of AgNO₃ in the soil around the marrow plant, and it was much less than the weakest concentration solution she had prepared in the lab, meaning that one of the suspects had also not poisoned the prized marrow.

It all came down to Fraser Gaines’ phosphate fertiliser activity, as he used the analytical test for phosphate ions; ammonium molybdate-(2[NH₄]⁺[MoO₄]⁻²) If phosphate was present the solution turned a dark marine blue, and the concentration of phosphate was proportional to the depth of the blue colour.

Fraser mixed varying concentrations of phosphate to use as comparisons, and then tested the sample from the marrow patch and the soil from elsewhere in the garden, finding a distinct difference between the two; the one from the rest of the garden was a dark blue, with a high concentration of phosphate [PO₃]⁻ ions, where the marrow grower had previously used fertiliser.

Using analytical photospectroscopy techniques ( which measure the absorption of light of a substance), Fraser could identify as having the same concentration as the weakest solution he had prepared, showing that a shop owner had been watering down the fertiliser to sabotage the growth of the prized marrow.

park is right next to a new climbing wall, which the boys found fascinating. The chemistry department is right at the top of one of the tallest buildings on site and is breathtaking to look out onto the transporter bridge and the river Tees from the labs.

On arrival the students were greeted with coffee, tea and biscuits and at this point loosened up. The afternoon started with a quiz about the periodic table. They were in their “element” as they answered it with confidence and I could really feel like they began to realise why they had been chosen. The rest of the afternoon was full of quick fire quiz “buzzer” rounds and tested the students recall and application. All of the Durham School students were absolutely brilliant, each bringing their own skill to the competition and walked away with a very close win. With goodie bags in hand and the prospect of the final at Easter, they were thrilled and needless to say the journey back to Durham School had a completely different atmosphere!

Having taken longer to complete the analytical side of the practical work, the team was left to write a conclusion with follow up questions, which were answered in a shortage of time and unfortunately did not secure them first place.

The experience was both interesting and difficult, while improving their understanding of chemistry through analytical practical skills which will no doubt be good experience for university and later life for all three members of the Year 12 team. The team were able to use skills and techniques they have never used before and it was a very successful afternoon. We look forward to another group of students taking part next year – but it may not be a marrow murderer needing to be caught.

RSC Top of the Bench

Top of the Bench is a national competition run by the RSC for 14-16 year old students. The competition begins with heats run by RSC Local Sections to select a team to represent the section in the UK final the following year. This is the second year in a row where a team of four from Durham School have won the regional heats (Teeside) and gone on to the final in Loughborough.

Regional Heats

This year our students were Niall Butler (Year 9), Ross Sime (Year 9), Archie O’Dair (Year 10) and Billy Marsden (Year 11). We all travelled down to Teesside University on a Wednesday afternoon in the first term with a bit of anxiety amongst the students. They were definitely feeling a bit of pressure from last year’s winning team and I could feel the tension in the car. As we arrived at the University, excitement set in. I am not known for my sense of direction, but luckily Billy was in the front reading the directions to the car park! If you have never been to Teesside University, I advise you go and have a look. The students were stunned into silence as we walked through the newly built campus. The car

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Final in Loughborough

The finals took place on a Saturday during the Easter holidays.

Due to the distance we had to travel I wanted everyone to get a good night’s sleep so we booked into a hotel the night before the final. As excited as I was about it all, I could tell that the students didn’t share my enthusiasm for a long drive together for a chemistry competition! Luckily, I have come prepared! Percy Pigs and chemistry revision for everyone! This obviously was all it took before chemistry conversation began to flow. It really was like a training session for University Challenge. Our specialist subject: Chemistry. After a long journey with a stop for refuelling (students as well as the car), we arrived at the hotel well in time for a bit of r&r before tea. We were all booked into a lovely hotel on the Loughborough University campus and the students had some free time to look around. They even used the gym and were offered the Nintendo Wii by the staff. We made a trip to the local McDonalds for tea, where Niall was rained on by a broken air conditioner and we mulled over which foods had the most calories before heading back to the hotel for an early night ready for the big day on Saturday.

It includes a short test of factual chemical knowledge and a practical chemical problem solving team exercise.

Prizes are given for the best overall school performance (the Top of the Bench Team) and for the five runner up teams. The Jacqui Clee Award is given for an outstanding individual contribution to the day.

Mrs T. Moore

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Girls’ Sport The 15-16 season has been very successful in a number of ways and has been thoroughly enjoyed by all.

In preparation for the long senior league season the 1st hockey had a short tour to Giggleswick. They started the season slowly but made great improvements and won a number of matches towards the end of the season. The 1st netball, despite numerous injuries, won the majority of matches. In the lower years there is still a restricted number of girls so many pupils are playing for older teams giving them great experience. The swimmers once again went to the national Bath and Otter cup and the rowers continue to flourish in all age groups.

Inter House events as ever were closely fought with Macleod winning 2 of the netball. The cross country and swimming were dominated by Macleod but Pimlico took the inter House cross country, senior and inter House hockey and netball.

Sports day was much enjoyed by everyone with some great performances. Macleod took all titles with Lucy McIllroy winning the Victrix Ludorum. Macleod also won all three rounders matches.

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The sports dinner was a great success with the following awards made: Year 7 Achievement Lottie Holmes Year 7 Commitment Maya Hood Year 8 Achievement Emily Khan and Jessica Bramwell Year 8 Commitment Monica Speed Year 9 Achievement Scarlette Bell and Olivia Colby Year 9 Commitment Katelyn Heslop and Jesica Appleby Year 10 Achievement Heidi Rochester and Orla Jackson Year 10 Commitment Olivia Soppitt Year 11 Achievement Sophie Atkinson Year 11 Commitment Georgina Brown Year 12 Achievement Jo Heron Year 12 Commitment Anu Krishna Year 13 Commitment Katherine Pears Hockey Kirstie Kirkley Netball Ella Tunstall and Gabriella Matthews Hockey Improvement Emily Bateson Roseberry Tennis Rowan Rochester Swimming Lucy Kirk X-Country Orla Jackson Connor Award Zara Alexander Rowing Emily Soppitt and Jodie Cameron Junior Sportswoman Heidi Rochester and Orla Jackson Senior Sports Woman Rowan Rochester

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1st Hockey Team

Back in September 2015, the long season ahead of us started with pre-season training as guests of Giggleswick School. We took a big squad and trained hard over 2 days introducing new younger members of the squad in Year 9 and 10 to the rigours of First Team play. This was excellent preparation both physically and socially as the team really gelled well and we completed the weekend with an 8-0 victory over Giggleswick.

This season our First team continued to play in the Durham County Womens’ First Division against club teams as far away as Whitby alongside competing in the England Hockey National Schools Competition, Tyne and Wear Knockout Cup and playing our regular friendlies against some of the top Schools in the North. Our friendly fixtures provided us with some tightly fought games with results going either way; we beat RGS, Dame Allan’s and Barnard Castle, drew with Austin Friars and Yarm and lost only to Ampleforth. We represented County Durham in the North Regional Schools U18 Finals at Pocklington in November; again playing some excellent hockey but unfortunately we had 3 of our players out with illness and injury which depleted our strength. In the Saturday league, our best performances were against Whitby, Sunderland and Marton Furness and we finished a commendable 7th.

The league provided challenging hockey but proved a huge commitment this season, with our team only having Boxing Day off and us having to play several evening games not finishing until 10pm.

We had a regular squad of 14 players, captained by Kirstie Kirkley. The goal keeper position was shared by Sandra Griffin and Gabi Matthews, both who made some brilliant saves. In defence, Kirstie Kirkley, Sophie Atkinson, Georgina Brown and

Heidi Rochester displayed skill, tenacity and real bravery on occasions, fielding balls regularly travelling at 70mph! Their calm distribution of the ball and solid tackling prevented the opposing teams scoring and set up our attack. Midfield was driven by Jo Heron, Kari Dougall and Orla Jackson along with Miss Watchman who played in the League matches. Going forward their skill in beating opponents allowed us to attack successfully and they supported our attackers, Emily Bateson Roseberry, Ellie Heydon and Zara Alexander, who scored some impressive goals. Olivia Colby, Scarlette Bell and Katie Heslop from the Under 14 squad also played regularly in the first squad and with huge potential between them, they made an excellent contribution and gained valuable experience playing higher level hockey. I must thank all the squad for their commitment, dedication and good humour throughout this long season and congratulate them on their successes. They girls have been a pleasure to coach and I wish them the best of luck in the Independent Schools North of England league next season.

Mrs K. Rochester

2nd Hockey Team

This year the second team hockey got off to great start with a 2-1 win against RGS. With our head held high we then went on to play Ampleforth where we unfortunately lost. With only seven games this season we managed to win one, draw one and lose five. Even though we didn’t have many wins, we certainly had the spirit. The team consisted of Gabi Matthews, keeping us in the game on numerous occasions; Allie Jackson, Cathia Cummings and Honey Kennedy strong in defence;

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Laura Mitchelson, Anu Krishna, Zara Hudson and Ella Tunstall provided some impressive speed and skill in midfield; Alexandra Grecoe, Helena Campbell and Katherine Pears rotated as left and right inside forwards, providing crucial links between the midfield and forwards; and finally upfront we had a tremendous amount of determination and grit from Megan Brown, Sophie Hogg, Lucy McIlroy, Sandra Griffin and Katie Willis. The second team was even blessed with the special guest appearance and debut performance from Charlotte Stone.

The U14 hockey season was an enjoyable one, with all the girls improving both individually and as a team .

Results were mixed but the girls did play some exciting and attractive hockey.

For the second year running we only had a small group of girls from Year 9 playing. This meant we could call upon some of our talented U13 players and give them the exposure to playing a year up and on a full pitch. Scarlette Bell captained the team and did an excellent job. Along with Olivia Colby and Katie Heslop they were the three outstanding players.

All three girls represented the 1st XI in league fixtures on a Saturday. I look forward too seeing all the team develop as hockey players with further hard work at training next season.

The Year 7s started the season working hard to develop their skills and game play. Hockey was a new game for several of our girls but they soon learnt how to pass, tackle and score goals. The first Saturday of the season in September was our first match against RGS. Effort levels were excellent but we were playing against a more experienced team and lost 5-0. The girls must be commended for their superb attitude and their keenness to learn a new sport. Amy Moyes-Reader stepped into the goalkeeper role an made some good saves throughout the season. Rosie Bolam dominiated at the back with excellent tackling and the skill to dribble the ball forward to support the attack. In midfield, Lottie Holmes had an outstanding season scoring a number of goals and she was ably supported by Maya Hood and Asia Koltai-Newton who defended and attacked well.

Hannah Watson assisted by several of our Under 13 squad played in attack and set up and scored the rest of our goals. Our team played 10 matches, winning 4 and losing 6.

Our highlights of the season were a 4-0 victory against Dame Allan’s School and 5-0 against Richmond School.

Well done to all the girls who represented Durham School U12 hockey team; they have been a pleasure to coach and I wish them the best of luck next season.

Mr M.Fishwick

Mrs K. Rochester

Ella Tunstall, Captain

Under 14 Hockey Team

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Under 12 Hockey Team

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1st Netball Team

The First team have had a very successful season this year playing 21 matches, winning 11, drawing 2 and losing 6 with 260 goals scored against 258 conceded. The team were captained by Rowan Rochester and the squad of Gabi Matthews, Emily Bateson-Roseberry, Gabriella Tunstall, Zara Hudson, Kari Dougall, Sophie Atkinson, Georgina Brown and Sandra Griffin showed excellent team work, spirit, enthusiasm and work ethic throughout the season. Their skill and ability was a pleasure to watch and contributed to excellent performances against, RGS, St Leonard’s School, St Cuthbert’s College and Sedburgh. The highlight of the season was our success in the Ampleforth Tournament, where we won all our group games and lost by a final second goal to Ampleforth in the final. The passing, movement, defending and shooting the team displayed in this tournament were some of the best netball we have seen for a long time especially when competing against such physical opponents and in such terrible weather. A very big well done to our First team this season and best of luck for the future.

Mrs S. Sweeting

2nd Netball Team

The Durham School second netball team played 78 fixtures this season and had one match cancelled. We enjoyed new fixtures against several local University Colleges in which we were closely matched and also played our regular opposition in friendly fixtures. We lost to Yarm, RGS and Durham High School and beat St Aidans College 16-5. They have worked hard and had good fun playing as a squad this season. Well done to all our girls who have represented the Second Team this season.

Mrs S. Sweeting

Under 15 Netball Team

“A small squad with a big heart” would be an excellent way of describing this team. The team pulled together and in most matches reached a very high level of play despite the small numbers. They won well over 50 % of their matches with Grace Carr and Hollie Hilton shooting effectively. A strong win against Durham Johnson and Framwellgate at the beginning of the season gave the team confidence. Orla Jackson worked hard in mid court bringing the ball from defence to attack and the speed of Sophie Fascione and Olivia Soppitt were a great asset.

Wins against Cundall Manor 16-13 and Park View 9-5 were evidence of the teamwork and timing beginning to fit together.

Harder challenges by a strong Sedbergh side, RGS and Red House meant the team needed a little more work on blocking and marking in defence. They took on the challenge and Joely Wood alongside Maddie Clark and Heidi Rochester began to pressurise the opposition attacks. Close games towards the end of the season saw us on the winning end which showed the defence was working effectively. We beat Durham High 10-9, Austin Friars 15-13 and Barnard Castle 15-14. An excellent season with a huge amount of improvement and much more consistent play towards the end of the year.

Mrs K. Dougall

Under 14 Netball Team

The Under 14 team played 22 fixtures throughout the season and found the competition very challenging against some very tall and quick teams. However the squad stepped up to the mark, trained hard and fought well in match play. We scored 226 and conceded 265 goals. In the Durham Area league, we lost 3, won 2 and drew one match, finishing in 3rd place with our best performance against Framwellgate School, winning 17-3. Many of our friendly matches were end to end, exciting games and we lost narrowly to Yarm, Dame Allan’s and Sedbergh by only a couple of goals. We did however have some excellent wins, playing really well against Queen Mary’s, Austin Friars, Redhouse and Emmanuel College.

A big well done to the Under 14 team who are to be commended on their dedication and hard work this season and we look forward to seeing them play next season.

Mrs K. Rochester

Under 13 Netball Team

Building on a successful season last year, the Under 13 team went from strength to strength and with the development and understanding of more advanced tactics, they performed on the whole, really well. They played 20 matches in the Area League, friendlies and the Area Tournament. Unfortunately the Under 13’s had a tournament and 4 fixtures cancelled due to poor weather. Out of the 20 games played, we won 13, drew 1 and lost 6, scoring 220 goals and only conceding 139.

Highlights of the season were the games again RGS where we won 14-7, beating Dame Allan’s 17-14 and a very exciting game again Queen Mary’s resulting in a 8-8 draw.

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We finished 3rd in the Durham Area League with commendable performances against local teams and won the Durham Area league towards the end of the season playing brilliantly in every game. Congratulations to the Under 13 team on a very successful season which reflects the hard work and dedication of all the squad.

Mrs S. Sweeting

Under 12 Netball Team

The Under 12 team have had a really busy first netball season at Durham School. With a small year group it was lovely that all our Year 7 girls played regular fixtures and represented School in friendly games and tournaments. In the Durham Area league we enjoyed fixtures against local schools including Framwellgate School, Durham Johnston, St Leonard’s, Park View, The Choristers and Durham High School A & B. We won 5 out of the 7 fixtures losing only to Durham High A and drawing with St Leonard’s School. We had similar results in the Area Tournament finishing in 3rd place.

Our game play improved steadily throughout the season and work on passing, moving into space, marking and attacking play really made a difference playing in our friendly fixtures in the Spring Term. In our friendly fixtures, we played Terrington Hall, Cundall Manor, Austin Friars, St Martin’s and RGS with the highlight being a 6-0 victory over Barnard Castle School and a nailbiting win over Choristers 5 goals to 4. Well done to all the Year 7 girls on their excellent attitude both in training and games and their perseverance in some tough fixtures.

They will certainly be a team to watch out for in the future.

Mrs S. Sweeting

Unfortunately due to the weather the rounders season was cut short. The 1st team had 3 matches they beat Barnard Castle 28.5-8.5 and Durham High 23-8 with exceptional batting by Rowan Rochester,Kari Dougall and Ellie Heydon.

The deep fielding of captain Sandra Griffin to second bay stumped a lot of players as did the backstop to Sophie Atkinson at 1st bay. Sedbergh were a tougher challenge although the match ended in a very close 19-21 oundres.

Lucy Mcillroy took a number of catches at 3rd bay and Zara alexander played well at 4th bay. With Charlotte Davison at 1st deep the team was strong in all areas.

The second team only played two matches and unfortunately lost both but all the girls enjoyed there matches.

Mrs K. Rochester

The Under 15 team ably led by Joely Woods had mixed fortunes this season. We compete in the Durham Area League and also play several friendly fixtures as well. The beginning of the season saw us training in snow storms, howling gales and driving rain; not good for squad preparation however in the league we made a good start with victories against Framwellgate School and Park View. The lousy weather continued which resulted in cancelled games against Yarm,

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Mrs K. Rochester

Under 14 Rounders Team

Senior Rounders Team

Under 15 Rounders Team

Queen Mary’s and Barnard Castle; this was a real shame as these are usually excellent games. Maddie Clark consistently bowled well and the bowler to backstop, Hollie Hylton worked very well with Hollie taking several excellent catches. We welcomed Dolly He and Christine Zhang to the team and they picked up the intricacies of the game well and showed massive improvement throughout the season. Big hitting from Orla Jackson, Caitlin Hardy and Joely Woods contributed to wins against Polam Hall and Durham Johnston. Olivia Soppitt commanded the field well at second base stumping out players and she was supported well by Simone Hardy on third base.

Well done to the team this season on their performances.

The Under 14 rounders team played very well this season.

They played 14 games in all winning six loosing four and having three games cancelled. We played three friendlys of which we lost to Sedbergh 6 rounders to 12.5. Polam Hall lost 13. 5 to 15 a very close game, and winning to RGS 11 to 10. 5 another nail biting game. We took part in The Tyne and Wear tournament. Losing to The High School 3 to 4.5.

We then played RGS and Emanuel winning both games 3 to 1. our last game was against park View which we lost 4.5 to 5.5 some nice standard of play. We also took part in the Durham League of which we won all our games. Framwellgate was our first game winning 13.5 to5.5 Then the High School winning 10 to 9.5 a close game. Durham Johnston was next with a winning score of 10 to 6.5 lastly we played Park View we won 9.5 to 4 this put us at the top of the league making us the league winners. Well done to the whole team. The team consisted of Olivia Colby, Jessica Appleby, Alex Seed, Scarlette Bell, Katelin Heslop, Jessica Crawford, Katie Colborn, Alex Bolam, Lucy Hogun, Lilly Kennedy.

Mrs S. Sweeting

Under 13 Rounders Team

This has been an exceptional year for the Under 13 rounders.

They have won 13 out of 15 games as well as the Tyne and Wear tournament and the area league. A strong squad of 10

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players developed in confidence and skill level as the term progressed. Small problems with consistent batting at the beginning of term were overcome as they began to strike and place the ball accurately towards the end of term. Emily Khan batted well throughout the season with Jessica Bramwell and Imogen Nicholson also scoring a lot of rounders. Early wins over Choristers 5.5-4 and park View 14.5-1 gave the team confidence. The tactical awareness and support play in the field was evident. Libby Houston bowled well with Emily Khan and Cody Alderson getting a large number of players out at 1st post. An 18-7 win over Polam Hall and a 9.5-8 win over Johnson were pleasing with Amy O'Kane taking a number of good catches while Monica Speed stopped a lot of low balls at third. An extremely close game against Durham high also ended in a win 11-10 with Imogen Nicholsons skills at second being particularly important.

Mowden Hall and Yarm were our only defeats and on both occasions they had strong hitters who made deep fielders Holly Coupe and Jessica Bramwell work hard. More wins against Red House 20.5-5.5 and The Framwellgate Moor in the league 10.5-4 showed strength in depth with Charlotte Payne and Freya Court both batting well and fielding some excellent balls into second bay.

In the Tyne and Wear tournament they won all six matches (including Newcastle School for Girls and Durham High.)

Cody Alderson and Charlotte Payne batted well and the whole team played with excellent tactical awareness and speed of

fielding. They were the deserved overall winners.

Altogether a very successful and enjoyable season with an enthusiastic team.

Mrs K. Rochester

Tennis

The Under 13 and Under 15 tennis teams competed in the national schools competition . The U13 team of Emily Khan, Freya Court, Libby Houston, Jessica Bramwell, Holly Coupe and Monica Speed won their first two matches against Biddick 6-0 and Polam Hall 5-1 but lost to a very stong Yarm side 0-6. They also competed in the county cup beating Durham High and narrowly losing to Barnard Castle and Durham Johnson. They all played some strong tennis with consistent ground strokes in all matches.

The U15s beat Biddick 5-1 but lost to Polam Hall 2-4.

Heidi Rochester, Maddie Clark, Victoria Wong, Imogen Nicholson and Orla Jackson played some good tennis but unfortunately were outplayed in the second match by a more consistent opposition.

The 1st team had one match against RGS which they won 6-3. Rowan Rochester dominating her games but the rest of the team battled hard for a great win.Ellie Heydon, Zara Alexander, and Sophie Atkinson made up the squad.

Mrs K. Dougall

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Rowing The start of the year saw many changes in the boat club, with two new coaches starting at the School.

The start of the year saw many changes in the boat club, with two new coaches starting at the School; Mr McCarron and Miss Yates, and Mr Davison leaving to take on new challenges in his career. Not only did the club need to adapt to the changes in staff, but with a number of influential and strong members leaving the club to go on to pursue their university lives; coming into September, the club had a very different feel to it.

to athletes, and tokens of thanks to a range of students and parents, acknowledging their help and hard work that keeps the boat club ‘afloat’. The evening concluded with a speech from Nicole Lamb, an OD and under 23 medallist. She gave a speech on what hard work and commitment meant to her and how these qualities continue to help her on her GB pathway with the hope to inspire our squads to continue to work hard and keep focussed.

September saw training kick start with no delays, and it was soon clear who had trained over the long summer, and those who hadn’t. Nevertheless, everyone worked hard to get their fitness back and we were in full swing to prepare for the long head season that would shortly be upon us. Winter training consisted of long pieces on the rowing machines, three 7am strength and conditioning sessions a week and technical focus on the water. The change in the boys senior squad this year saw the introduction of Joe Stelling who took on the challenge of senior training and has progressed well throughout the year. We also had a strong addition to the squad with the arrival of Henning Koencke from Germany who, with the rest of the boys, stepped up to the challenge of becoming fully fledged seniors and hit the training full on. The girls however, found the transition a little more daunting, feeling the loss of squad members leaving the school. However, with the late arrival of Emma Willmott into the girls senior squad, the girls started to gel and pick up training and commitment.

The head season started at Wansbeck on the 3 October where we had a number of male and female crews racing.

This is where the boys started their long line of success with the intermediate 3 coxless quad being the fastest boat in their category, and fastest overall boat which was made up of Henning K, Alistair Richardson, Lee McCarron and Ryan Bewick. The J17 coxless quad with Matthew Storey, Alexander Smith, Joe Stelling and Luke Hargreaves also came 1st in their category, beating a number of strong crews from the region.

There were a number of girls crews that performed well but missed out on winning their categories due to the strong female crews in the region. The Junior 15 girls represented the school and had a good race, using Wansbeck as a good introduction to head racing and giving them the feel for more head races to come.

September also saw an increase in junior rowing, resulting in a large number of Year 10 boys and the largest number of Year 10 girls we have had for a number of years. Many of them picked up the sport quickly and have continued into the regatta season, making their debuts for the school and building some good friendships and crews. We look forward to seeing these individuals progress into the senior programme next year and reach their rowing potential.

Whilst getting into the swing of training we also had the Annual Dinner approaching which gave the new members of staff chance to meet parents, pupils and past and present members of the boat club. The night was held at the Ramside Hall Hotel and was a relaxed and enjoyable evening, allowing us to celebrate the past year of rowing successes and achievements. We had a selection of prizes to hand out

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On the 17 October, Tees long distance sculls and small boats head took place. The boys crew of Henning Koenke, Alistair Richardson, Matthew Storey, Ryan Bewick came in as the fastest boat in their category once again. The senior girls represented the school in both divisions and the junior 15 girls experienced a full length head race; being a shock to the system but not phasing them to want to compete in a long distance race again.

The next head race was on home turf, and the 31 October saw Durham long distance sculls in full swing. Here the boys met their challenge and were five seconds behind the fastest crew in the first division; Chester Le Street. The Novice coxed quad won their category in division two with Joe Stelling, Alistair Richardson, Matthew Story and Luke Hardgreaves coxed by Charlie Procter. The senior girls coxed quad of Jayne Etherington, Chloe Bell, Emma Reed and Anu Krishna coxed

by Fiona Sime had a strong race, finishing only 3 seconds behind the winning crew in their category in the first division.

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Chloe Bell competed in a Novice double, composting with QE and won their race. The Junior 18 coxless quad was the fastest boat in the second division which Ryan Bewick rowed with two boys from QE and another from Talkin Tarn.

During the initial weeks back into the training programme members of DSBC also started to work in a different domain; coaching. Miss Yates’s interest in working with children with disabilities enabled the sixth formers the chance to accompany her to Trinity School and work with children with a range of learning, mental, and physical disabilities. There was a lot of interest in the project and the coaches were happy to see the interest there was in sharing their love of rowing, and give others opportunities that are often taken for granted. The students worked well with the staff and pupils at the school, tested their communication, and displayed good leadership skills. Due to the success of the programme we hope to continue with this through the next winter season and see more coaching talent and leadership within our athletes.

The beginning of November saw a different type of competition; indoor. Although not as attractive as on the water, we were able to strongly represent the school at the County Durham indoor Championships on the 5 November.

In years 12 and 13 Ryan Bewick and Alistair Richardson got Silver and bronze respectfully, and Jayne Etherington got Bronze for the girls. In the Year 11 competition, Henning Koencke took Gold and Nick Blowey and Simon Fascione took silver and bronze respectively in Year 10. The club managed to get some really good results especially when our focus was on long distance up to this point and the indoor competition was a sprint event.

The head season continued at South Hylton on the 7 November, where the rain lashed down and many peoples water proofs weren’t water proof for long. As the racing started however, the clouds started to clear, rain started to stop, and conditions improved. We had our first girls win with Jayne Etherington and Emma Reed winning the intermediate 2 double. The boys racked up another win in the Junior 17 coxed quad with Joe Stelling, Danny Paterson, Alexander Smith and Luke Hargreaves with Charlie Proctor coxing. The Junior 15 boys also saw a win with Simon Fascione placed first in the junior 15 singles. We were certainly happy to get home that day, each with a carrier bag full of wet clothes.

The Tri School competition or the ‘Tri Wizard Cup’ as many call it, is a traditional race between St Leonards School, Yarm, and ourselves which took place at Yarm School, giving us all an opportunity to work on some different water and to see their impressive new club house. We represented the school in a number of categories and fought well down the 3000 metre course, but due to come good crews and larger numbers, we came second overall.

Tyne United Rowing Club and Durham Universities New Years Head took place on the Tyne on the 23 January. Conditions were windy and therefore a little choppy, but not too testing for the Tyne. The senior girls had a strong race in their coxless

quad and Jodie Cameron, Chloe Bell, Emma Willmott and Emily Soppitt came 3rd out of 6 crews in their category. The boys crew raced as intermediates once again and their coxless quad consisted of Henning Koencke, Alistair Richardson, Matthew Storey and Ryan Bewick were they started in 7th position and finished in 4th, competing against some strong university and club crews. The boys looked strong and had a good race but their near collision increased their time and distance between them and Durham University. The other boys crew raced as Novice and were racing for time only.

The coxless quad that consisted of Joe Stelling, Alexander Smith, Lee McCarron and Luke Hargreaves looked strong and technically good, going from a starting position of 18th and coming across the line in 7th place overall.

We were soon back to racing on home turf at Durham Small Boats Head on the 6 February where confidence and skill got us many a win. The boys racked up the wins by coming first in the fastest overall coxless quads, the intermediate 2 coxless quads, the Novice coxed fours – compositing with St Leonards School, the Novice coxed quads and the novice single sculls.

Again, the girls were represented well but missed out on winning through the strength and depth within the region. The event was a success and many of the juniors got to race as well as the seniors, the weather was good and the spectators were not let down with commotion through Elvet Bridge.

Junior Inter regional regatta trials took place this year on the 27 February at Cambois rowing club. The Junior 16 boys coxed four composite with two St Leonards School, Henning Koencke, Joe Stelling and coxed by Alexander Smith who went on to win their category and were therefore secured a place in the Junior Inter regional regatta later on in the season. There was good performances from the junior 15 boys; Patrick Miller, Doug Whitefield, Jack Coupe and Simon Fascione coxed by Ben Lumsden in their four and quad, looking technically stronger in the four, clearly feeling more comfortable sweeping. There was really good progress from the junior 15 girls at the trials both through their racing technique and confidence, with both the coaches and the crew being pleased with how they performed.

Our biggest competition of the year so far soon approached and on the 17 March where we travelled down to London to

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take part in the National Schools Head of the River. We set off in good time with the two crews of Jodie Cameron, Chloe Bell, Emma Willmott and Emily Soppitt for the girls and Ryan Bewick, Henning Koencke, Alisdair Richardson and Luke Hargreaves. Arriving at the hotel in good time we got our evening meal and after crew briefings about the challenges of the Thames, we all got an early night to prepare for the long day ahead.

For some students it was their first time at this competition and the experience of rowing on the Thames was not only a shock but a great reward and something they will always remember.

The weather was lovely and we felt blessed that the sun shone for us. There was a slight wind, but nothing to make the crews worry as they took to the water for their pre-race paddle to rid them of their anxiety and race day nerves. Both crews raced well and kept their technique and power within their crews. The boys came 12th out of 30, a very pleasing result for a tough and well represented category. The girls came a respectable 25th out of 28, representing the North East in a very tough, and southern dominated race.

With all this racing we thought it was about time to host an event for the boat club, get everyone out of the school environment and celebrate, and what better way to do this than to have a Ceilidh! So, on the evening before the junior inter regional regatta, around 70 people took to the Ramside to celebrate the boat club. The night was a complete success with everyone getting up on the dance floor, enjoying the live music, and devouring the delicious beef pie which gave us the boost we needed to carry on.

What was particularly enjoyable to see was those pupils who were determined that they were not going to dance, yet they never left the dance floor!

With a good warm up from the night before the Junior inter regional regatta crew of Henning Koenke, Joe Stelling, the two St Leonards School boys and Alexander Smith coxing, set off to Nottingham to represent not only the school but their region. After their time trail they then took to the water to race their semi-final. The race didn’t go to plan and they scraped into the final. With some strong but reassuring words from one another and a few deep breaths they took to the water for the last time that day. The boys changed their race completely and rowed with power down the course, coming 4th out of 12 overall; a great result.

We were soon back onto home turf as Durham City Regatta took place on the 7 and 8 of May, which saw some really strong performances for the first regatta of the season. The junior 18 boys first coxless quad got into the final out of 9 boats, fighting all the way but narrowly missed out against York. The other junior 18 coxless quad; The Sharks, as they have named themselves, had tough heat and didn’t manage to get through their heat. Our third entry into the Junior 18 coxless quads consisted of a combination of people’s first race, and a number of novice rowers. The inexperienced crew did extremely well and held off their opposition but were unfortunately then drawn into the bank by an unknown force where their race came to a premature and abrupt stop.

The regatta saw the senior girl’s first win in their four where they were competing in a straight final against Hatfield College in the Intermediate 2 category. The crew gave the opportunity for Emma Willmott to stroke her first regatta race, with Jodie Cameron backing her up, followed by Emma Reed and Chloe Bell and coxed by Fiona Sime.

On the Sunday, Jack Coupe won his single race in the U15 single sculls, having to race his crew mate, Simon Fascione.

Chloe Bell also performed well in her QE composite when

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they took part in novice doubles, having an easy first heat but having to put up more of a fight in the final to win their category.

As exams started, training became a challenge for different reasons and managing time became harder and vital in creating the balance between studying and preparing for National School Regatta. Time tables were compared and training slots agreed by coaches and by Friday 27 there was nothing more we could do as we set off to Eton Dorney to row on the Olympic lake.

Several crews made finals at the regatta and a number of pupils made their Durham School debuts for the boat club. Megan Harvey and Katie Nesbitt were particularly impressive as they won their heat in their first rowing race for the school, only having picked up the sport a few months before.

Tees regatta on the 21 May gave us the most challenging weather yet as at lunch time a thunder storm approached, but it didn’t phase our junior 15 girls who stormed through the rain and wind to get into the final. Katie Nesbitt, Megan Harvey, Olivia Soppitt and Lucia Speed coxed by Heidi Rochester came off the water looking very bedraggled and extremely soggy, although they were all still smiling. With some hot drinks, dry clothes and team work they took to the water again and secured 3rd place overall.

Before the bad weather hit, the senior boys won their Intermediate coxless quad event to start the day, with Henning Keonke, Alistair Richardson, Luke Hargreaves and Ryan Berwick making a strong start to the regatta season. The junior 18 girls raced well and held their power which was a good confidence boost for them and good preparation for national schools regatta that was to follow.

The junior 13 boys did really well in their straight final, fighting their opposition till the end of the 850 metre course and only just missing out on first place. The junior 15 boys raced in an eight for the first time and their good team work and excellent coxing from Ben Lumsden give them a strong race but it wasn’t enough for the well drilled Yarm opposition.

Towards the end of the challenging day Ryan Berwick and Mr Lee MacCarron won their intermediate pair in their straight final against Bradford grammar school, securing the second win of the day. The real feel of a team and club really shone through at Tees regatta, where everyone was helping each other to boat, carry equipment, and run round trying to find people shoes! The coaches all noticed the team spirit and were all very proud of the club and how we worked together and supported each other throughout the long and testing day.

After the long drive down, rigging the boats ready for the next day and finding the hotel, the Friday night was thankfully calm and relaxed. We ate supper, had a crew talk and went through our race plans, and after some gossiping from the girls and Fifa playing from the boys, everyone started to wind down for a much needed long nights sleep. Filling our boots with the buffet breakfast made sure that we were ready for the long day ahead. We arrived at the lake around 8:30 and the girls were first to take to the water at 9:30, closely followed by the boys.

The girls had a tidy race and did what they could, but fighting a hard battle against bigger girls and clubs with a lot more depth, they unfortunately didn’t qualify. They took the news really well and the coaches were proud of how they responded, taking a mature approach to the day.

They continued to enjoy the experience, weather and supporting the boys through their races. The first quad didn’t produce their best race in the time trials, dropping their pace and strength when they needed to hold it. As before though, they managed to reflect on their performance and have a much stronger race, coming second in the E final.

The second quad had a strong time trial and were really happy on how it felt and the result they got. As with the other crew, they fought hard in their final and were happy with their result, finishing 6th in the F final.

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A number of the students that went to the National Schools Regatta hadn’t been before, they hadn’t experienced the buzz of high competition, been up against prestigious clubs and soaked in the atmosphere. It was lovely to see them enjoying being away, representing the club and acting as a team.

After half term we were refreshed and ready to start last minute preparations for Durham Regatta, our largest event of the year. On home turf, home water, and being founders of the regatta, Durham School celebrates the event over both days. We showed our strength and depth of the club by putting out our best crews alongside involving the younger and less experienced rowers in the event.

We started off the regatta with the junior 13 boys in their coxed quad of Dan Coleman, Max Eyers, Cameron ReganTeasdale, Alex Carr and sam Hall coxing . The boys fought well down the 700m course but unfortunately weren’t as gelled as the Choristers boys. The competition turned to the older boys who won the boys J15 8+ event which consisted of Simon Fascione, Jack Coupe, Nick Blowey, Patrick Miller, Thomas Panter, Paddy Kell, Doug Whitefield, Harry Thopson, with Ben Lumsden coxing in a straight final against Yarm who had previously beat us in the season. The novice boys coxed four race gave us some hard racing and fierce competition.

The crew of Alexander Smith, Alex Jones, Matthew Storey, Joe Stelling and Max George coxing; an OD, took the competition in their stride, winning the category and the prestigious Mayors Plate. We entered the open junior 16 coxless quads with a composite with Gateshead and Bradford Grammer school where we took the title and first place with only being in the boat together five minutes before the race.

The girls also showed some strong competition and although there were no wins, we showed great technical ability and strong racing. The women’s IM2 coxed fours event got us a tough draw against Durham University and with a substitution at last minute, Jodie Cameron, Emily Soppitt, Emma Reed and Miss B. Yates showed good technical ability, had a strong race and felt positive about their performance even though we lost by a respectable length and a half. The junior 15 girls did a complete Durham School crew and a composite with Queen Elizabeth High School in the coxed quads and they all performed really well throughout the competition. The composite with Lily Beveridge and Fern Hodgson got through two heats and showed some strong

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performances throughout, making a good link between Northern Clubs. The same girls showed great determination when facing the challenges of their double competitions.

With the test of being in the double only a few times before the race Megan Harvey and Katie Nesbitt had a rocky start but did the club proud as they pushed through to the finish, showing strength and determination. Lily Beveridge and Heidi Rochester were well-tuned and won their first heat but unfortunately lost in the semi-final. Even more pleasing was seeing Katie Heslop having to row with a girl from Chester Le Street who filled in, racing an age category up and having never rowed together before the girls got through two heats.

The Saturday evening saw our usual picnic on the river bank but for a change we had decided this year to have a hog roast. It was a great success and regardless of the rainfall everyone got their fill and enjoyed the evening huddling under the marquee and sharing experiences of the day. After some more tidying up and locating of wondering kit and belongings, we set off home ready for an early night in preparation to do it all again.

Sunday started with the Novice coxed fours where they headed to the water determined, the J15 crew, each carrying their oars and Ben Lumsden carrying his four litres of squash and a kettle bell for his dead weight. Simon Fascione, Jack Coupe, Nick Blowey and Patrick Miller with Ben Lumsden coxing won their first race against a college crew but unfortunately lost their second. The second four comprising of three J15s (Paddy Kell, Thomas Panter and Elliot Edworthy coxing) and two senior boy’s Ian Richardson and Alex Dryden, were defeated by the overall winners from Northumbria University.

After the time trails of the day the boys junior 18 coxless quads were drawn against St Leonards first who they beat then met Doncaster in the Final which again they beat, winning the category. In the boys intermediate coxed quads Alasdair Richardson, Luke Hargreaves, Alex Jones, Matthew Storey met our other DUS crew in the final, where Mr L. McCarron, Ryan Bewick, Peter Fisk (OD), Alexander Smith and Fiona Sime coxing won the competition.

The girls rowed well in their time trial and put in some good competition but unfortunately it wasn’t enough as only one crew didn’t make it through. They still fought hard in their next

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competition; the coxless quads where Anu Krishna, Chloe Bell, Lily Beveridge and Emma Reed were against Chester le Street and put up a good fight, but with some steering issues and a strong opposition they didn’t beat them. The other crew in the same category which consisted of Miss B. Yates, Becca Melvile, Emily Soppitt and Jodie Cameron won their first race and were up against Leeds University in the final. They showed a strong race in a scratch crew and showed a respectable performance and only missed out by half a length.

The novice eight had two changes from the previous day’s J15 eight with Alex Dryden and Ian Richardson in. Unfortunately, they were not able to beat a tidy looking college crew in their semi final.

Heidi Rochester was the only junior 15 to race in a single at the weekend, showing strength not only in a crew boat but also having the skills and confidence to race in a single scull. She get a bye into a straight final against a girl from Tyne who represented the North East at regional trials. Heidi put up a good fight against her competition and gained on her in the second half of her race, doing herself and the coaches proud.

With the end of a long and successful year for the boat club fast approaching, the senior boys squad headed down to Henley-on-Thames to race at the Henley Qualifiers. There was no doubt that the boys were aware of the fierce competition that they would face in the qualifiers for the Fawly Challenge Cup (junior coxless quads), however they were all determined to make sure that they had the best race of their year.

The boys had the opportunity to have a paddle on the course when they arrived on the Thursday night to see what they would be facing the next day and also to soak

up some of the heritage that is ingrained into this fantastic place. On arrival at the hotel everyone could relax in the pool the night before and everyone was clearly excited for the amazing challenge and experience that they would have the next day.

Everyone was treated to a lie in due to the uncivilised time of 7pm that the Fawly time trail began. The day was full of preparation for the race and when they boys eventually got on the water they rose to the challenge of competing on such a prestigious course. Both crews unfortunately missed out on qualification for the regatta due to the extremely high standard of crews attending. However, everyone agreed that they still put in a solid race that they were happy with; a true reflection of how far the boys squad has come since the start of the year.

As the end of the year comes to a close it is safe to say that the club has had a successful year in both performance and partipation aspects. The club has grown not only in strength but depth of members and rowing particiapants, a lot of who have involved themselves in local clubs to keep them training throughout the long summer. The club has not only performed well on the water but has shown true grit, team work and strength of character throughout the challenges this year has thrown at them.

We look forward to next year and to see the return of all three coaches, the increase in the senior section, and eagerly await more paticipants coming up through the school. We also sadly say good bye to two influential girls, Emily Soppitt and Jodie Cameron who have both done the club and school very proud through there time at Durham and we wish them the best of luck for their future adventures.

Miss B. Yates

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Boys’ Sport Reece Amir

James Elliott (1st team captain) has recently accepted a professional contract with Yorkshire Carnegie in conjunction with Leeds Beckett University and we wish him all the best as he pursues his ambitions to play at the highest level. Reece Amir was selected to play against Wales for England U16s with many others in the U16 team playing for the Newcastle Falcons Academy team.

First Team Captain’s Speech

Ladies, gentleman, Headmaster, honoured guests, Going into your final season at Durham school is a daunting experience, it is a massive motivator for the lads to come together and perform as a team.

This year we started the season as a close group of friends and finished it even closer. Probably too close. We won as a team and lost as a team, like any Durham School side should. This made the wins extremely satisfying but the losses more hurtful. Luckily for us no matter how the result went we always had swimming on a monday morning, and the changing room before a swimming session at half 7 on a monday morning is not a good place to be. ‘Why do I play rugby?’ and ‘I think I hate my life’ being said every session was always a great motivator to start the week. ‘Get in the pool’… ‘It’s not even cold’… ‘Connor you look very tanned’…. ‘Charlie have you put some weight on?’….

‘Lewis will you please buy some bigger swimming trunks’ were also said by Mr Bedworth every week.

Rugby

The 2015/16 season has seen a number of outstanding results. The school has yet again fielded two teams in each age group meaning that the number of boys representing the School in the game is maintained. The School has also continued to host many competitions with the Bain Cup this year being hosted in partnership with Northumbria University at Bullocksteads having 20 teams from across the North of England and Scotland in attendance, making it one of the premier tournaments on the circuit.

There have also been a number of standout moments, a last ditch penalty kick to win the RGS Newcastle game at Kingston Park, the U16s beating Sedbergh School 42-12 and continuing their great run of success in sevens, and the U15s team performance against Ripon Grammar in the Natwest Cup showing what great potential this year group possesses. There are also many more moments which I am sure the coaches will mention in their articles.

The end of season dinner at the Ramside Hall Hotel was a fitting finish to the year and again all the captains made impressive speeches highlighting the ups and downs of their team’s seasons in front of 230 people.

Individual success in representative Rugby has been the result of many players’ commitment to training and playing.

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The start of the season went very well, due to a very productive pre-season and Chris Malherbe and Adam Morton turning up again for the Strength Camp and pushing us to new limits for what felt like a week. This hard work and training during pre-season paid off as beat Kings Macclesfield in the first game with Joe Nordli and Cameron Keanurico saving us at the end. We then beat RGS Newcastle and their abusive crowd at Kingston park, although the Rugby was somewhat enjoyable the highlight of the evening was the chanting from the RGS fans aimed at Lewis Miller. A quick shout out to Lewis Miller and Austin Anderson, who unfortunately cannot be here tonight as they are taking part in Greece the musical, showing how diverse our squad really is.

Following the RGS Newcastle game, we had a good run of form up until we played Sedbergh. We played very well but unfortunately didn’t have the depth they had on the bench to finish off the game. But the lads gave everything and we are very proud of our performance.

After the disappointment, we carried on with our season playing in some quality games, including winning the Noel Shearing cup again vs Ampleforth, defeating Brinkburn College in the Natwest Schools Cup and winning 3 out of 4 games at the V4 festival. Unfortunately, we lost to RGS Newcastle in the next round of the Natwest Cup despite scoring an early try through Will Grey.

In terms of sevens, the highlights of the season included

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reaching the final of the Merchiston Castle sevens tournament and our performance on the first day of Rosslyn Park.

The season this year has been one we will never forget, and I’d like to thank the lads for the efforts they have given. It has been a pleasure to be a part of and especially to captain. In particular, I’d like to say a massive thank you to the lads in the u6 who have finished their time playing for Durham School including, Fred, Lewis, Josh, Ben, Alex, Euan, Austin, Charlie, Jacob, Garry, Connor and Harry who have made this year as enjoyable as it has been.

for our boys as they fell to their first loss of the season.

This game proved to be costly in other areas as injuries followed meaning that as a squad we spent most of our time struggling for front row players and played many spells of games with uncontested scrums from then on.

This did not however worry the squad and they continued to pick up results. A strong attacking performance against a big Hartlepool Sixth Form College team in the Natwest Cup meant that we went into this year’s Veterimmi Competition at Cheltenham College with only one loss.

I would also like to give a massive thank you to the parents, who have turned out whether it was wet or dry, cold or freezing, home or away and have made this season possible and as good as it has been. Thank you.

Finally, I would like to thank big and small, tall and short, big head and normal sized head….

Mr Bedworth and Mr Mason for the time and effort that they have given to the team and the coaching that they have offered. It has made us the players that we are, and without them this team would have achieved nothing close to what it has. Finally, I would like to invite some of the lads to come up and give you a gift from all of the squad.

Floreat Dunelmia.

James Elliott - 1st XV Captain

1st XV Rugby

Over recent years the level of work that is put in during pre-season and the type of attitude shown by the squad whilst being put through their paces by Chris Malherbe and Adam Morton is a clear indicator of how good a season can be.

This group of players were clearly motivated to do well.

There was a strong spine of 1st team experience in the squad with James Elliott, Ben Langthorne, Garry Izomor, Harry Pearson, Charlie Scott, Alex Vassallo, Connor Stewart and Austin Anderson all being regular players in the previous season. This was at its most evident in our first game against a strong King’s Macclesfield team who had recently toured South Africa. The team defended for vast periods of the game including a last second try-saving play by Cameron Keanurico after Joe Nordli has sidestepped 4 players to score just minutes before to hold them off. This showed that the squad had both character and commitment and this was the start of a string of good results.

A last minute James Elliott penalty kick to beat RGS Newcastle in front of a partisan crowd at Newcastle Falcons was followed by wins against Dame Allans, Leeds Grammar and Hymers College. This meant that moving into the Sedbergh week the boys were positive and motivated for a big performance, and for 55 minutes that is what happened. A tiring team were then challenged by 7 Sedbergh players fresh from the bench a play that eventually proved a challenge too much

On the first day we drew with Sherborne 10-10 playing so good Rugby and followed this with an outstanding attacking display against Cheltenham which progressed us into the final against a very big and physical St. Pauls. Tired bodies and a poor performance by our standards resulted in 22-5 loss, however it had been a great event which all our boys thoroughly enjoyed. In two years’ time this will be based in London at St. Pauls which is definitely something to look forward to the current Year 12 & 11s.

After Half term started on a positive note with a comfortable win against Yarm which proved to be our final victory of the season. Again Injuries were the contributing factor but also these fixtures were against strong opposition.

A narrow loss against Woodhouse was followed by a disappointing loss to RGS Newcastle in the Natwest Cup a game we fancied to win. St Peter’s, York ended up being the final performance of the season due to Barnard Castle being cancelled due to weather, and one I am sure some of the squad would rather forget.

On a whole this year must go down as a success for a number of reasons. The effort and determination of a small squad was unquestionable, many Year 11 players stepped up to the level and finally we played some outstanding Rugby at times.

Overall as a squad they were a joy to coach and on behalf of myself and Mr Mason I would like to thank the boys for making it such an enjoyable year.

Mr M. Bedworth 1st XV Coach

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1st VII Rugby

group we played some outstanding Rugby beating the previous year’s U16s winner Reigate and cruising to wins against some much bigger schools than ourselves. This lead to a last 32 game against Dulwich College. In this game we played some of our best sevens to date against a very strong side. A last gasp fumble popped into their possession and that was game over 19-17. What we had not understood is that by making the last 32 we had qualified for the Vase on the second day.

This was a great success for the team and one they were extremely proud of. We started well the next day beating Judd 28-24 but losing to Malvern College and Whitchurch which knocked us out. This was still one of strongest performances at the National Sevens for a long time so the team should be proud of that achievement.

This year we thought we had a good mix of size, skill and speed to be competitive on the circuit and the was most definitely the case, but at times inconsistency was our downfall which cost us is some of the close games.

Although through reading this article the season might not seem a great success, it was good fun and throughout the squad trained with real purpose and for that I must thank them.

Three of the squad were selected for the Gilbert Super Sevena team created by Ben Mason and consisted of the best players from the HMC North East Super Sevens competitions and I must congratulate Josh Pratt, Garry Izomor and James Elliott who represented the school on that day.

The Sevens season was badly affected by the weather this year with two major tournaments (North of England and Mount St Mary’s) cancelled which is always a disappointment for all involved.

The season started at the County Sevens held at Yarm. The team cruised through the group without really hitting full speed.

This possibly lead to some complacency and in the semi-final we met a very physical Barnard Castle team who wanted it more than us on the day beating us by two tries in the end.

This was disappointing, but at the same time there were glimpses in that game of what we were capable of.

Next was the Bain Sevens at Bullocksteads. The team were up for the day, strengthened by a couple of the successful Year 11 team and started well with convincing wins over Dame Allans, Woodhouse Grove, Ripon Grammar and High School of Dundee which put us through to the quarter-final against Bradford Grammar. We started the game strongly taking a two try early lead through some impressive play, but Bradford never looked beaten and battled hard to stay in the game with a late try in the first half. This was followed soon after with a breakaway from a mistake by us midfield. Our heads went down and unfortunately they scored close to the end to make it 15-19 and knock us out of our tournament. Bradford did go onto the final losing to a very powerful Kirkham side in the end.

Ampleforth Sevens proved to be a tournament too much for us after the weekends efforts and was followed by a break in the calendar due to heavy rain, snow and frost. This proved to be good timing as we travelled to Merchiston Castle well rested and ready to improve after 2 weeks good training. Strong performances in the group qualified us for a final against Merchiston which we unfortunately lost. This didn’t dampen the feeling in the camp as the team had enjoyed playing better Rugby and had found the style that worked for them.

This left Rosslyn Park. As a school we had not made the second day for a long time, so this was the first goal. In the

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Mark Bedworth 1st XV Coach

2nd XV Rugby (The Hawks)

The 2nd XV started the season in earnest with a tough pre-season leading into an outstanding 10-0 victory over RGS on the Hawks Nest. Defence was key here and one missed tackle by RGS cost them the game. No one player stood out, this was a true team performance led ably by Jonny Hedley and Simon Turnbull’s solo try clinching the game. We had set the marker for season ahead, but we came crashing down to earth on a beautiful day down in Leeds. Out-muscling GSAL at the breakdown and offering more in attack, Joe Nordli standing out here, we somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. A second half defensive implosion saw us ship four unanswered tries.

Twice we were felled inside their 5 metre line late on as Cameron Wright and man-of-the-match, Phil Chapman just missed out on the elusive try line. A mid-week fixture gave us the opportunity to rectify our poor defensive organisation against a robust King’s Priory 1st XV. We ran them ragged throughout. Even our huge bench didn’t affect our continuity as we amassed a 50-point win.

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Our weekend fixtures continued against Dame Allan’s, with another huge win, 60 points this time. The Hawks were strong in defence and attack with the U16’s slotting in seamlessly.

Unfortunately our momentum was broken when Hymers couldn’t field a team against us. The final game before halfterm was against our bogey team, Ampleforth. The Hawks had a strong feeling that we could break our long-standing hoodoo against a perennially strong team. Once again our defence imploded and whilst we went down to a 13-0 loss, in reality the difference between the two teams was much greater. One man stood out, Sam Newton. Since his return from injury, he had overseen 2 huge wins and almost single handedly pulled Durham out of the mire here. A sign of a good referee is when you don’t notice them, everyone noticed this one. Our game is based on fast, free-flowing rugby. We were not able to do this here due to the whistle being blown at what seemed like every breakdown. The 2nd XV had to wait nearly a month for their next game after Yarm could not field a team against us. The U16’s joined us again to make the ‘Turbo Hawks’. We played a very hard-hitting Woodhouse Grove School on what can only be described as the narrowest pitch on the circuit. This immediately nullified our attacking threat out wide. Nathan Bushnell, Saki Kaitoga and Max Weightman did their utmost to break through in a very tight game. We scored 2 clear tries that were called back for forward passes which turned out to be the difference in a 13-10 loss. Our final game of the season saw Jonty Megginson move to 9 as injuries and call-ups to the 1st XV took their toll. We fielded just 14 against our rivals, and being great sportsmen, they kept 15 on the pitch….. The scoreline was a fair reflection of the game, but they went home battered and bruised. Adi Hitchins doing his utmost to run through every one of their players. Our lineout failed to function allowing St. Peter’s to play the game on the front foot throughout.

our favour. With a number of boys playing for the 1st XV we lost to a physical Leeds Grammar School 5-10 and then we lost to St Peter’s York in the last play of the game 15-20. Aside from these two losses, the U16 team dominated their rugby circuit in an uncompromising and impressive fashion. Never have I seen a school boy team defend with such intensity and attack with a clinical edge. The 386 points scored and 72 points conceded highlights this well.

Arguably the highlight of the 15 a-side season was when we went away to play Sedbergh. We had our full strength squad and the conditions suited a fast and expansive game of rugby.

It was one of those days where everything clicked and I can genuinely say I have not seen an U16 team perform so well for the entire game, winning 42-12.

The success experienced throughout the season was down to a number of factors; the boys worked incredibly hard for each other when playing in matches and they brought an unparalleled physicality to both training and playing. ‘Sir, can we play contact against the first team?’ being a question that was asked a number of times, will live long in my memory!

In addition to this, we have had some fantastically talented players who have set the standard for the rest of the team to follow. Rhys Amir must be congratulated for being selected for the England U16 team and Cameron Keanurico, Kyle Elliott represented the Falcons in the rugby festival at Wellington College.

Our captain, Max Weightman, has been instrumental in the success of the team; he has always lead by example, both when training and playing. His skillful, yet hard working and tough approach was reflected in the efforts of the rest of the team.

It is a shame not all the players can be mentioned more, but to the departing Year 13 boys; Jonny Hedly, Lorenz Lurozcik, Verus von Haeften and Iain Choyce, I hope you have enjoyed your rugby during your time at Durham School. For the Year 13 boys; Phil Chapman, Will Sopp, Adi Hitchins, Cameron Wright, Jonty Megginson, Will Bowles, Nathan Bushnell, Joe Nordli, Simon Turnbull, Henry Hudson and Alex Sablin, I hope that you carry the strong tradition of the Hawks into the 201617 season. Our game is based on enjoyment and playing the game hard and fair. I think we managed that this season. As a wise Hawk once said, ‘Hawks fly together, Hawks die together, Hawks for life’.

Under 16 VII Rugby

Jonny Hedley

Under 16 Rugby

The U16 Rugby team continued their excellent run of form this season. Going in to the season they had lost only two games of rugby since coming together in Year 9. With this in mind they were the team to beat on the circuit and the boys knew it was going to be a challenging campaign.

The two games that we lost were both very tight affairs and with the bounce of the ball, the results could have gone in

The during the Easter term, the U16s embarked on their 7s journey, which was to prove incredibly successful. The weather during this time of year is very unpredictable and unfortunately led to the cancelation of the Sedbergh 7s and the QEGS 7s competitions. Nevertheless, impressive performances saw the squad win the RGS 7s, comfortably beating Sedbergh in the final, the County 7s where we beat Barnard Castle in the final. With the Rosslyn Park 7s looming, the U16s made the long journey across the border to play in

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S P O R T

the Merchiston Castle 7s. True to form the won this competition convincingly.

Having never lost a 7s fixture, we took a strong squad down to the Rosslyn Park National 7s, the biggest school boys rugby tournament in the world. Playing over two days, we had some excellent wins in day one against Warwick (21-19) and Harrow (24-19). This was an incredibly tough first day, but the wins meant we had qualified for day two. After a shaky start against Trent College, we managed to win 31-17, which put us in to the quarter finals. Unfortunately this was to be our last game.

Nothing was left on the pitch and we ended up losing in the last minute of the game to New Hall School. This was an incredibly achievement, by a very talented group of players.

With close to 150 teams entering the tournament, getting to the last 8, and only narrowly losing, demonstrates just how good this team has been. It was the first time that they had lost a game of sevens since joining as a year group in Year 9.

All in all, they have played 73 games of 7s and won 72, a very impressive record!

I have thoroughly enjoyed coaching all of the players involved in the U16 rugby squads over the course of the year. The effort that have put in the some of the rugby that they have played has been outstanding and they have really helped to put Durham School rugby on the map. I would like to thank the boys for their efforts and I would particularly like to thank Max Weightman, who has captained the side superbly. There is some serious potential amongst this group of players and I would be surprised if some of the boys don’t go on to play at a very high level. Well done to all!

Mr P. Dias

The inclusion of U14’s Jonny Bushnell, Ewan Lydiatt, Owen Vassallo and Nick Marsden brought a renewed strength to the squad and allowed the boys to achieve a more consistent performance over 60 minutes on the pitch. After beating Dame Allan’s 34-19, we registered an away victory against Ripon Grammar School, with a magnificent team display, overcoming a big physical side and walking out 34-10 winners. Friendly wins against Yarm and Harton followed, before the 5th round crunch tie with RGS Newcastle in the Natwest Cup. The boys played admirably in the first half leading 3-0 at half time, however tired in the 2nd half, eventually losing 22-3. The team had come a long was from the start of the season and could be very proud of their efforts.

Mr A. Smith

Under 14 Rugby

The 2015 season was a period of personal and team based growth for all the boys involved in the squad. Some tough early losses in September against the likes of RGS Newcastle, King’s Macclesfield and the Grammar School at Leeds resembled basketball scores and left the group fearing a season of perennial disappointment.

However, the boys turned out to be more mentally and physically resolute than they ever originally imagined, going on to turn their fortunes around rapidly. Brilliant wins against Kings Priory School, Dame Allan’s, Hymers College, Ampleforth, Yarm and Woodhouse Grove offset losses against a gigantic Sedbergh side and the aforementioned trio during the painful early season weeks.

Under 15 Rugby

The U15s endured a difficult but ultimately successful and rewarding season in 2015/16. The year started with some tough encounters against strong opposition. A combination of lack of form, bad luck and injury resulted in the first 7 Saturday fixtures ending in defeat, however the team was making consistent improvement throughout this period. Shining lights in the team included Archie O’Dair and Will Dexter who were outstanding in defence, alongside Will Elliott and Andre Robson who were our most impressive attacking threats. The Natwest Cup proved to be the spark which ignited the team’s season with an impressive victory over Dame Allans, who we had previously been defeated by earlier in the season.

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The team were lucky to have some terrific leaders in key positions who could inspire the troops at pivotal moments. Niall Butler, David Gardiner, Conor Dougall and Owen Vassallo always trained well and set the right tone for others to follow. Ewan Lydiatt was the undoubted player of the season and if he continues to progress at his current rate he will be a tremendous player for the 1st XV in a couple of seasons. A fearsome ball-carrier, tackler and playmaker at number eight, Ewan complimented the industry of his teammates in the pack very effectively. Forwards Joe Houston, David Mahdi, Maximus Kelf-Vermeulen, Matt Chapman, Conor Dougall, Owen Vassallo, Nick Marsden, Max Wainwright, Phil Greenbank and Jack March all played important roles throughout the season.

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Niall Butler led the backline of Jonny Bushnell, Will Tomlinson, Tom Dexter, David Gardiner, Ian Wren, Jared Warby, Tom Watson, Ewan Fox and Nathaniel Stanford admirably. Niall deserves special credit for the amount of focus, bravery and effort he exerted over the course of the season and he was a major factor in the results turnaround.

I’m optimistic that the boys will be able to build on some of their excellent performances this season and continue to grow as individual players and as a team next year. And please boys, make sure you hit the ground running in September!

Mr O. Hughes

Under 14 b Rugby

The Under 14 ‘Killer’ Bs had a tough season but can be proud of some strong victories over teams such as Yarm and Ampleforth. More impressive, however, was the spirit that the team showed in every game. At the beginning of the season, the team set out with the ethos that every man mattered and although players came and went, the team strived at all times to support each other. This led to a number of excellent team performances, brought about by every player playing their best for the good of the team, not just for themselves.

This was embodied by our first captain of the year, Jenson Hibbitts, who led the team selflessly until his season was ended by injury. However, he was ably replaced by Guy Oliver, who continued to set the tone of teamwork and cooperation over individual gain.

The ‘Killer B’ spirit was on full display on a number of occasions throughout the season when, despite arriving at a number of fixtures without all 15 players, the team welcomed opposition players and made them feel a part of the team.

A particular highlight in this respect was the fixture against the Grammar School at Leeds when the boys enjoyed a match in which both teams merged. Other highlights this season included David Hardern’s ferocious tackling, Max Eyers’ pitch-long sprint for the line in the GSAL fixture and Leo Giacomelli’s consistent strength and leadership in the back line.

The team was also often bolstered by a strong contingent of Under 13 players who turned up each and every week it would be remiss not to thank them, especially for the times they were playing against opposition who were bigger than they were. Thanks also go to the parents who leant their support to the team each and every week. Finally, I would

like to thank the players, who played for each other not just with each other, and made me proud every weekend.

Dr M. Smith

Under 13 Rugby

The U13 rugby team started their season with a bang; recording a narrow victory against RGS B team. Some excellent rugby was played, with strong tackling on show from Isaiah Jones, Edward James and Nathaniel Stanford. This provided the boys with a good platform to kick on from, and while results didn’t go our way during the season I have been impressed with how the team developed. Given the size of the year group, we struggled against some of the larger schools, many of which had big strong runners in their team. At U13 level, this can make a huge difference to the result. To the boys’ credit, they worked really hard in training and our ball retention improved hugely. This was particularly evident when we played Yarm School, where we frequently kept the ball for up to 10 phases at a time.

Ewan Greenlaw has been a good addition to the team, bringing a physical edge to the midfield, both in attack and defense. In addition to this, Edward James and Max Eyers have brought dynamism and speed to our attack, which has been pleasing to see. George Horner and Piers Oxenham have demonstrated some excellent evasive running and scored some impressive tries.

The foundations for a good team are there with this group of players. While physical size hasn’t been on their side this season, the skill level that they have developed and the attitude to continue to try their best, no matter the score-line, has put them in good position to improve from as they progress through the school.

I have thoroughly enjoyed coaching this group of players over the course of the Christmas and Easter terms, they have trained and played with enthusiasm and I would like to thank them for their efforts. I would particularly like to congratulate Isaiah on the excellent job that he has done in captaining the side. I have no doubt that as this group of players progress through the school, they will turn around a number of the results that have gone against them this season.

Well done to all involved!

Mr P. Dias

U13A

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U13B

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Cricket

I would just like to thank the catering and ground staff that made the cricket season possible and enjoyable for all the boys. Also a special thank you again to Maurice Bell and Mike Hirsch for all their support over the season.

2017 is going be exciting with the cricket tour to Sri Lanka and watching the boys play on much improved wickets after major renovations over the summer including the relaying of three new pitches.

The awards for the season: Mike Hirsch award for the outstanding 1st XI cricket: Luke Henderson. Maurice Bell award for most improved player: Josh O’Brien. Batting: Josh O’Brien Bowling: Luke Henderson Fielding: Will Gray.

Mr M. Fishwick.

Under 15 Cricket

The U15s enjoyed a busy and successful cricket season.

The 2016 first XI Cricket Season has been one of the most successful in recent years. A young side with only two leavers in Captain Luke Henderson and Charlie Scott, the team only lost one fixture against schoolboy opposition in the longer format.

As has often been the case, the start of the season was weather affected, with the first couple of games being called off due to the rain. Neverthless, the season got underway with a good performance against RGS Newcastle.

A number of boys were unavailable for this game as they were away with Duke of Edinburgh. Having picked a number of U14 B team players in the side, it was great to see us bowl RGS out for 51 and get the runs for one wicket down!

We had excellent wins against Barnard Castle, St Peter’s, Ashville College, Bradford , Leeds Grammar and The Perse.

We had two draws against RGS, Newcastle and Ampleforth.

Our next fixture was, again, against RGS Newcastle, but this time in the Lord Taverners competition. Durham scored 139 and bowled RGS out for 108 (J Bushnell 4 wickets).

Our loss was away against Sedbergh. In the National T20 competition we qualified for Northern Finals days, beating RGS Newcastle and Barnard Castle but came up short in the semi Final against Worksop College.

A convincing win against Ashville College the following Saturday (J Pears 53 and J Heydon 55), and then another good win against NSB, meant we had won our first four games of the season.

Luke Henderson captained the team and lead from the front with some outstanding performances. Josh O’Brien was the outstanding batsman and Luke Henderson scored a hundred against Ampleforth, Cameron Fyfe and Dom Scott both scored 50s during the season .Luke Henderson was the leading wicket taker, Dom Scott was the leading spin bowler, Jonty Megginson, Louis Dinsdale and Nathan Bushnell also performed well with the ball.

Our winning streak came to an end against a good Durham County side. We managed to put ourselves in to a winning position, however a flurry of wickets, while we were trying to chase down 141, resulted in a build up of pressure and we were bowled out for 89. Given the start we had made to the season, this was a disappointing result.

Senior Cricket

Our fielding was excellent all season and Will Gray the Wicket Keeper performed well behind the stumps Cricket at Durham continues to develop with most of this team returning next season.

With 2nd XI cricketers performing along with our talented U15s , the step up to 1st XI cricket next season means the stocks of young players is good. Hard work over the winter months will be required to force their way into the the first XI next season.

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To their credit, the boys bounced back and beat St Peter’s York in close 35 over game. Bowling first, we restricted St Peter’s to 111 (R Hall and C Heron both taking 3 wickets).

Will Elliott hit the winning runs with Durham being 8 wickets down.

The next round of the Lord’s Taverners competition was played against Altrincham School. In difficult conditions, Durham scored 152-5 (J Bushnell 48). An impressive bowling display then ensued as we bowled them out for 49 (S North 4 wickets).

This was a great win, which put us in to the last 8 teams in the country!

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During the half term break, we played Northumberland County and recorded another pleasing victory. Batting first, we scored 202-8 (J Bushnell 90 not out) and bowled Northumberland out for 154 (T Bell taking 4 wickets).

Over the course of the season, we played a number of 20/20 games which we won comfortably. One of these was the County Cup final against Durham Johnston School.

of boys and the results both individually and collectively as a team have been brilliant . We look forward to seeing most of this team play 1st XI cricket in the future.

Awards: Batting: Jonny Bushnell, Bowling: Robbie Fyfe, Fielding: Leo Giacomelli Mr M. Fishwick

Under 13 Cricket

Sol Bell performed very well in our game against Bradford Grammar School. He was the difference between the two sides, scoring 108 not out and taking 5 wickets!

Our quarter final of the Lord Taverners was against Trent College. We bowled first and bowled well; Trent all out for 101. With the bat, we looked comfortable and found ourselves at 72-2. A dramatic collapse then ensued which saw us go to 86-8!! Fortunately we held on and Tommy Bell hit the winning runs. A great win, which took us in to the semi finals!

The excitement was short-lived as we had a narrow loss to Sedbergh the following day. Sam North, nearly took us over the line with a quick fire 50, but unfortunately this wasn’t to be enough.

Arguably one of the best achievements to recent date, was the fact that the U15 team reached the semi-finals of the National Lord Taverners competition, placing them in the top 4 teams in the country. For this match we made the long journey south to Solihull School. We started well, and managed to bowl them out for 166. An equally impressive start was made with the bat, however the pressure of the occasion seemed to get to the boys and we had a dramatic collapse, gifting Solihull School a place in the final.

This has been a tremendously successful season for the U15 team and I would like to thank them for their efforts.

They are a talented group of players who, if they work hard, could play cricket to a very high level. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sol Bell and Jonny Pears, who both captained the side superbly. Well done to all involved!

The U13 cricket team have again developed and improved over the season. Not all of the results went their way but they played some excellent cricket and the whole team enjoying playing and training hard to improve their technical skills .

Thomas Reynolds captained the team and was the outstanding batsman again, scoring heavily throughout the season.Sam Brown , Isaiah Jones , Tye Burke performed well, along with the rest of the team who are all technically better players after playing plenty of cricket over the term.

Both Mike Hirsch and myself look forward to seeing them all continue to develop as cricketers.

Awards: Batting: Thomas Reynolds, Bowling: Sam Brown, Fielding: Isaiah Jones Mr M. Fishwick.

Under 12 Cricket

The U12 cricket season was again very enjoyable. It is very exciting for all of the coaches to watch these young boys start their cricket career at Durham School.

Unfortunately the team missed over half their games due to the the weather but they tried hard and improved in what is now a strong and extensive fixture list playing most Thursdays and Saturdays.

The squad of players that we had to choose a cricket team from this year was very small and inexperienced but some talented cricketers did emerge over the season.

Jai Richardson captained the team and shows real potential.

Mathew Nichol has a lot of natural talent. Richard Troughear was the real surprise package, taking up the wicket keeping and being the leading run scorer in the team.

Mr P. Dias

Under 14 Cricket

The U14 Cricket team had a brilliant season, going undefeated against school opposition, beating Sedbergh, St Peter’s, Bradford , Ashville , RGS , Leeds and Barnard Castle. The fixture against Durham County was the only game they lost. Jonny Bushnell captained the team and had an outstanding season. Robbie Fyfe , Leo Giacomelli were in the County squad and performed well. The team also had a lot of depth in Niall Butler wk batsman, Jenson Hibbitts off spin bowler and Tom Dexter opening bowler.

The whole team worked hard and really improved over the season. Mike Hirsch has again worked tirelessly with this group

The team did not win many games but they all really enjoyed playing. The highlight for the team was a brilliant win in the last game of the season against St Martins, Ampleforth. All the boys improved over the season and with continued hard work over the winter I look forward to seeing them develop even further next year.

Awards: Batting: Richard Troughear, Bowling: Mathew Nicol, Fielding: Jay Richardson Mr M. Fishwick

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Batting and Fielding - Durham School 1st XI Name

Inninngs N.O.

Total Runs Ave. Runs

Strike Rate Faced

100s

50s

H.S.

Catches

Stumpings

Luke Henderson [c]

11

1

462

46.2

72.1

591

1

2

117

4

0

Dominic Scott

7

1

225

37.5

76.5

294

0

2

98

5

0

Josh O’Brien

12

2

524

52.4

59.5

775

0

5

89

2

0

Cameron Fyfe

8

2

236

39.3

48.9

483

0

1

60

2

0

Louis Dinsdale

3

2

21

21.0

91.3

23

0

0

16

2

0

Charlie Scott

6

3

117

39.0

77.9

149

0

1

53

3

0

Nathan Bushnell

3

0

76

25.3

90.4

52

0

0

29

0

0

William Jewitt

8

5

120

40.0

50.0

172

0

0

34

4

0

Jonty Megginson

2

0

8

4.0

66.7

12

0

0

5

3

0

Sol Bell

2

1

32

32.0

46.4

69

0

0

25

0

0

William Gray [w]

2

2

3

3.0

75.0

4

0

0

3

4

5

Jonathan Bushnell

1

1

41

41.0

73.2

56

0

0

41

1

0

Rupesh Barode

5

0

72

14.4

58.2

122

0

0

43

1

0

Loyd Horner

5

0

30

6.0

48.4

62

0

0

17

1

0

Lewis Carney

4

2

10

5.0

58.3

12

0

0

6

0

0

Sam North

1 0 8 8.0 0.0 0 0 0 8 0 0

Prajwal Pansare 1 0 1 1.0 0.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Jonathan Pears 1 0 62 62.0 0.0 0 1 0 62 0 0

Bowling - Durham School 1st XI Name

Inninngs Balls

Maidens Wickets Ave. Wickets

Total Runs

Bowling Ave. Strike Rate

Economy

5 WI

B BI

Luke Henderson [c] 11

504

15

26

2.4

295

11.3

58.5

3.2

2

6-71

Dominic Scott

8

407

10

16

2.0

284

17.8

69.8

3.8

0

3-5

Josh O’Brien

7

139

4

2

0.3

170

85.0

122.3

6.1

0

1-15

Cameron Fyfe

4

60

1

2

0.5

66

33.0

110.0

5.3

0

2-24

Louis Dinsdale

9

306

5

6

0.7

228

38.0

74.5

4.6

0

2-24

Charlie Scott

0

0

0

0

0.0

0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0

0-0

Nathan Bushnell

6

180

1

7

1.2

179

25.6

99.4

6.0

0

4-35

William Jewitt

1

6

0

1

1.0

15

15.0

250.0

19.0

0

1-0

Jonty Megginson

9

307

3

9

1.0

247

27.4

80.5

4.4

0

3-15

Sol Bell

2

41

0

1

0.5

36

36.0

87.8

2.5

0

1-8

William Gray [w]

0

0

0

0

0.0

0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0

0-0

Jonathan Bushnell

0

0

0

1

0.0

0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0

1-0

Rupesh Barode

5

168

2

7

1.4

153

21.9

91.1

7.8

0

3-26

Loyd Horner

0

0

1

0

0.0

0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0

0-0

Lewis Carney

1

92

0

6

6.0

96

16.0

104.3

31.0

0

4-13

Sam North

2

66

6

0

0.0

14

0.0

21.2

1.5

0

0-10

Prajwal Pansare

1

18

2

1

1.0

1

1.0

5.6

0.0

0

1-1

Jonathan Pears

0

0

0

0

0.0

0

1.0

0.0

0.0

0

0-0

Records Highest Score (Season)

Most Runs (Career)

Highest Average

Best Strike Rate (batting)

Most 100s

Most 50s

L. Henderson - 177

J. O’Brien - 524

J. O’Brien - 52.4

L. Dinsdale - 91.3

L.Henderson - 1

J.O’Brien - 5

Best Bowling (Season)

Most Wickets (Career)

Best Average

Best Strike Rate (bowling)

Max Balls Bowled

Most 5WIs

name number - (for) number

L. Henderson - 26

L. Henderson - 2.3

L. Henderson - 58.5

L. Henderson - 78

L. Henderson - 2

80

Total Runs

Overall Average

2048 Total Wickets 85

Overall Strike Rate

Total 100s

Total 50s

170.7 71.2

1

11

Overall Average

Overall Strike Rate

Total Balls Bowled

Total 5WIs

7.1

77.8

2294 2

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Swimming The swimming season of 2016 has been very successful for both our senior and junior teams. Our first fixture was against archrivals Sedbergh, where the junior team won by a comfortable margin thanks to impressive performances by Miguel Queiruga and Alex Mitchelson. The senior team did enough to gain a draw (despite early season fitness issues) which meant a sound victory for Durham overall. The team then managed to hold on to an undefeated streak against an experienced Ampleforth side. This time both the seniors and juniors had prolific wins, as Conor Dougall and Jai Richardson had very quick swims to seal what was a comfortable victory. In the seniors, Alex Sablin and Iain Choyce quickly solidified their places in the team with fast swims in their respective strokes to put valuable points on the leaderboard.

The girls’ team this year had a solo tournament against Barnard Castle, Queen Mary’s and Sedbergh where the seniors won, aided by an impressive swim by Emma Willmott who annihilated the field in her butterfly race. However, the juniors had a very tough start and narrowly lost the top spot by the closest of margins meaning that our overall score was second place.

The inter-House swimming competition is widely regarded as the most competitive and serious event in the school calendar, with all five houses eager to take back the trophy. Out of Pimlico and Macleod there was a clear difference in ability leading to a comfortable Macleod win despite the strong efforts of the Pimlico girls. The results demonstrate Macleod’s dominance as they took the win in the juniors, intermediates and seniors races. In the boys houses competition was at a high with all houses showing a good range of talent. In the juniors’ race Caffinites pulled off a solid

victory, however it was not enough to claim the win as School House brought the trophy home again with outstandingly quick races in the intermediates and seniors. Poole House gave a great attempt at the relays but it was too little too late and wasn’t enough to put them in the top spot.

The season culminated with the four fastest boys and girls in the school travelling down to London to compete in a national schools tournament where 60 schools and colleges across the country sent their best swimmers to compete. The girls’ team captained by Lucy Kirk, was comprised of Emma Wilmot, Emma Reed and Kari Dougall. As the standard in this Gala was extremely high, the girls had to put in their best performances of the season to gain a good result. Unfortunately their efforts were not enough to give them a place on the podium, but they gained valuable experience competing at such a high level. The boys’ team captained by Rory Jackson, was built up of Gabe Lewis, Liam Leung and Conor Dougall. Again, as competition for the top places was extremely fierce, the team’s medley and freestyle relays were just not quite up to scratch in order to compete with the best. Although the split times showed if we had had more time to train as a team, we could have had a side that would have challenged the likes of Whitgift and Harrow for the top spot.

For both of our teams, fitness was a huge difficulty, as a 100m sprint was much more challenging than expected. For aspiring athletes wishing to join the swimming team next year, get a good level of sprint fitness and speak to the God that is Mr Colin Fordyce, he will sort you out.

Rory Jackson and Lucy Kirk

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Co-Curricular Co-Curricular is the term we use at Durham School to encompass the huge amount of activities, clubs, trips, societies and learning that are delivered alongside our academic curriculum; importantly they enhance and support learning as well as developing vital skills for life. This enables all our pupils to become confident, well rounded, experienced young people who are ready and well equipped to tackle the challenges that face them in the future.

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This year, over 80 weekly activities were regularly delivered including a variety of musical ensembles, drama, CCF, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, Swim club, Ceramics club, Mindfulness and Meditation, debating and reading circle to name but a few. We offered numerous educational visits ranging from Theatre Trips to the Rugby Tour to the USA and Canada, and throughout this year, we have had a Reading Week, Science Week and Mental Health Awareness Week. The academic year culminated in Olympics Week in which all pupils engaged in and enjoyed activities designed to challenge, enjoy and facilitate good team work and leadership. Well done to all pupils who have taken part in activities, trips, productions, concerts and sporting fixtures this year and a huge thank-you to all our staff who willingly give of their time to offer such a tremendous range of opportunities.

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Duke of Edinburgh Award

A whopping seven expeditions took place this academic year allowing around sixty students to complete this part of their Duke of Edinburgh Award.

The Bronze award continues to attract bumper numbers, and new equipment has even needed to be purchased to accommodate the crowds. Their assessed expedition in the High Pennines proved to be a rather soggy one, but I was delighted to see that the training that was delivered over the year proved worthwhile and the majority of students finished with a sense of elation after forty eight hours of expeditions. Lost tents in rivers and missing groups on the hills all proved to be minor distractions in what was a very enjoyable weekend.

The Silver award saw pupils complete a practice expedition around Kielder Water in October and in hindsight this was possibly not the best of ideas by the groups. A combination of freezing conditions and snow falling higher up meant that the practice was extremely hard work. The groups benefitted greatly however by having a proper test during the practice – they could see just how bad an idea it is to waterproof your sleeping bag with a bin liner (or not at all) and that a boot left outside overnight will certainly be soaking in the morning!

A delayed silver assessed expedition across the North York Moors meant that summer was cut short for those pupils wishing to complete their silver award! The route is always tough and many found that their relaxed approach to actually walking meant that the days began to drag. Fortunately the troubles of the first day were brushed off after a good night’s sleep and both the boys’ and girls’ groups were working very well on day two of the expedition. Unfortunately pupils on the expedition continued to have bad luck with the weather and so Goathland was not a pleasant place to be at the start of September – it rained for most of the day and night. On the Sunday morning however, spirits were very high as the end was in sight and pupils could smell the fish and chips awaiting them at Robin Hood’s Bay! The groups eventually finished on the beach, just as the sun finally came out, and were delighted to have finished what was another difficult expedition! Some even want to come back for more next year!

This year Gold award students were offered two options for their assessed expedition – either an expedition across the Lake District from Coniston to Keswick, or a summer holiday expedition in the High Atlas mountains of Morocco. The Lake District expedition gives great scenery and the option to wild camp, which many students enjoyed and was once again a great opportunity to work with other students from Fyling Hall School which was great fun. Gold award students always amaze me with their ability to complete this expedition, which is incredibly hard work – to carry all your equipment and food for four days across high mountains and through deep valleys is no mean feat and to do it with a smile on your face (most of the time) is very impressive. Students completed a memorable expedition with their arrival at Keswick Pencil Museum and had certainly deserved their sleep all the way home!

Mr P. Sturt

Gold Award Expedition, Morocco

Our DofE trek to Morocco was one that I would recommend to anyone, not just because its hot and you’re pretty much guaranteed better weather than in England, but because the experience you get from it and the skills you also gain from it are second to none.

After a long minibus drive down to Manchester airport and then what seemed like a life time both on the plane and stuck in security, filling in papers and exchanging currency in Marrakesh airport. We finally got out on another minibus towards our Riad and the centre of Marrakesh. Due to a fairly late flight and added delays we got into the centre of Marrakesh to actually eat something (little did we know that this kebab and kebab shop was going to be the beloved staple food while we were in the centre of Marrakesh). It was very late at night through to the early hours of the next morning local time. To all of our surprise the centre was still buzzing with life with stalls being set out and a lot of vendors and locals still up and about.

On the second day it was a reasonably early start to get a traditional Moroccan breakfast of pancakes, syrup, cream

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and Moroccan tea on the roof top tables on the top of our Riad (our Riad was on a side street right out from the main street in Marrakesh, and at 0830 it was already hot!). Later that morning we packed up our things and all our expedition gear in preparation to go out to the mountains for our “acclimatisation day”. Upon getting to Imlil in the High Atlas Mountains and going up the road to out camp site for the first night, we were taught a few basic things that you need to know in the mountains and in Morocco such as depositing of waste, filtering water, hand sanitisation and cooking. We then collected all the food and equipment such as fuel, stoves and tents we would need for the exped. After all this in the afternoon we then went on a small walk around the Valley of Imlil with our packs just to get a feel for the terrain and the conditions we would be doing the expedition in. When we got back to the camp site on the last night before the expedition we were fully catered for with traditional Moroccan and Berber food and Berber whisky (just tea!).

The next day was officially the first day of the expedition however we did get a full breakfast cooked for us by the full expedition team (they were great!). After this we packed up out things, got hold of the radios (that was my job mainly) and the maps which we took it in turns to use. On the first day of the exped we climbed out of Imlil Valley and then descended towards Tacheddirt. It was easily the simplest days of the whole expeditions. Getting to the camp site at around mid-day we set up camp and started doing food (lunch everyday was tomato tuna, bread and crisps. Tea was noodles and soup and breakfast was porridge and cereal). After all the other group had arrived an hour or so after us we chilled out all afternoon

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and got to wash and swim in a little stream and pool just down the hill from our campsite and there we met some young local boys we spoke to.

“I recommend this to anyone who has the chance as it is a brilliant opportunity to bond, further skills such as leadership and navigation but also mature and become someone you never thought you could be.”

On day 3 of the trip and day 2 of the expedition after Alex Jones sunglasses scare and after breakfast we left to walk all the way up into the centre of Tizi n’Tacheddirt, to then follow the route all the way through the valley we were in all the way up through Arg and Amssakrou to the camp site at Imsker and El Bour. This day was by far one of the hardest days of the whole expedition not just because of the terrane but because of the heat as well.

As we got to the campsite and got set up, again we had the chance to wash and freshen up in the nearby stream which was an absolute gift. Again it was a similar routine with dinner and then sleep, however unfortunately for me that night in the dark I managed to stub my toe on a large steel peg in the ground resulting in the loss of my toenail, unfortunate but it wasn’t a problem and I carried on.

Day 3 of our DofE exped was a very early start as we had to get that day done as quick as possible due to the fact of it being arguably the longest and the hottest days going over

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a very high mountain pass. On that day we walked all the way from Imsker to Tizi Oussem. Along the way we did see things such as goats that could climb trees and we all experienced heat that many of us had never felt before. This was easily the hardest day and the most challenging but it was certainly the day that I learnt the most from and a day I will never forget. That evening we into the campsite and again went through the similar routine. After a short but very heavy storm we were at the camp with a group of people doing world challenge, they offered us a game of volleyball on a homemade court with two ropes and some trees. A few from the our exped including myself, the staff and guides all played volleyball.

It was great fun.

On day 4 of the DofE expedition (the last day of the exped) we walked from Tizi Oussem up another pass, back into the Valley of Imlil and to the finish (the campsite we stayed on the night of the induction day). Though it looked like a short day on the map the climb up to the top was anything but short. However once at the top of the pass the view was amazing and the decent into Imlil really made the day and the trip. The views were spectacular and let’s just say everyone was glad that it was close to the finish. Once down into Imlil and a short walk/fun running race (that I won) up to the campsite. Then began the arduous task of unloading, cleaning and squaring everything away before we could officially end the expedition. Thankfully Alex Jones and I were used to this process and know the standards pretty well so our group were done in no time, unfortunately the other group were not so lucky. That evening it was so nice to be off of the tuna, noodles and soup diet and eating something different, for me even a bit of proper pasta and bits of salad was really nice.

heartbeat. When we were back in Marrakesh we had a day to wander around in the souks and the centre of the city. This was also good fun as we got to experience a different side of Moroccan culture that you don’t see in the mountains.

On the last day after the final sleep in the Riad and in morocco we packed up all our thing in preparation to leave. Due to the flight being very late in the evening, during the day we got to spend our time in a hotel on the roof top pool in the heat and sun which was also very nice and a good relaxing day to end the overall trip.

DofE Gold expedition in Morocco has changed me for the better and I have learnt so many things that I definitely wouldn’t have done if I had not have done it or even if I had done it in England. I recommend this to anyone who has the chance as it is a brilliant opportunity to bond, further skills such as leadership and navigation but also mature and become someone you never thought you could be. I have loved doing my DofE Gold and I loved my time out in Morocco and I will never forget it!

Alasdair Richardson

The next day we woke up to be of the expedition and to be eating a proper breakfast and packing up ready to leave to go back to Marrakesh. Our guides Abdul and Mostapha and the cook Muhammed really helped make the week as memorable as it was and to be honest I’d go back and do the same in a 2 0 1 5 - 2 0 1 6

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CCF - Army Section

As Contingent Commander of Durham School CCF I would welcome you to read the various articles detailing the activities of the two sections – Army and Royal Navy – over the past twelve months, however before doing so, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Richard Hewitt for his dedicated service to the CCF over the past three decades! Mr Hewitt has run the RN section at Durham School for nearly as long as I have been alive, and his retirement signals the end of an era of sailing which has provided countless pupils with the opportunity to either just give sailing a go, or in many cases to excel under his command. You will see from his article that yet more competitions have been won, more students have been successful in developing their skills and the RN section has once again proved that however small it is, it is very worthwhile and does exactly what it is supposed to do – give young people an insight into life in the armed forces.

I wish Richard a relaxing retirement and hope that his wetsuit boots can be filled by another willing member of staff who will be able to develop the section either as a continuation of the current format, or in a new direction. The CCF is in a good position within the school environment and certainly provides pupils with opportunity to try things not on offer anywhere else on the curriculum – long may it continue.

This year has seen a wide variety of activities take place in the Army section of the CCF. With numbers growing in the Army section, it has been great to see how those junior cadets from last year have begun to take on more leadership and command in the section and are able to show those new to the CCF how things are done.

We have benefitted from regular training provided by Sgt Jay Turnbull from 4 Brigade Cadet Training Team and his lighthearted but knowledgeable methods of teaching have certainly kept the cadets entertained.

As with previous years, the first date in the cadet calendar was Exercise Black Rat Cadet Challenge in October, a competition held at Catterick which looks to challenge cadets in all aspects of their syllabus. First Aid, Weapon Handling,

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Navigation and Command Tasks were all on the agenda this year and although the cadets didn’t come in the top 3 of schools attending, they certainly enjoyed themselves and showed that at least some of the topics covered on a Thursday night had sunk in!

Weekend exercises continued to appear in the diary, and the Banetal enemy forces were repelled from the area of Durham School repeatedly, thanks to the skill and military tactics adopted by 1 Durham School Rifles! The enemy forces had certainly had to up their game this year, with observation posts, tactical patrolling and ambushes all being used by Friendly Forces to repel the enemy from school grounds!

The end of the summer term saw the annual summer camp, this time at Wathgill Camp in Catterick Garrison and once again it proved to be huge success. The annual camp gives cadets the opportunity to try out the skills they have gained over the year in much more realistic conditions, with much greater support from the real Army and not just Mr Sturt and Mr Atkinson telling them what to do! The six day camp offers live firing, advanced tactics, adventurous training and a twenty four hour exercise and this year finished off with a day at the largest outdoor obstacle course in the north! Needless to say, the cadets came away from the camp very tired, but very satisfied with what they had achieved during the week Normally this would signal the end of the activities for cadets, however this year Cdt Sgt Alasdair Richardson took it upon himself to arrange a week at an army funded caving course in the Lake District. The Combined Cadet Adventurous Training organisation provides cadets and adult volunteers with the opportunity to gained Adventurous Training qualifications at a fraction of the cost (literally £40.00 for the whole week!) and it is great to see that finally some cadets are getting involved with this great opportunity!

With the new academic year upon us, I only hope that more new cadets join the organisation and allow themselves to be pushed in ways they never thought they would do – the opportunity is there, they just have to take it!

Mr P. Sturt

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CCAT Caving

After my CCAT caving course I think that CCAT is amazing.

Apart from meeting new people and making new friends, CCAT inspires you and teaches you so many things that you often don’t learn without opportunities such as CCAT and for such a low price it is well worth the money!

After the first day of arrival and of settling, that evening we had dinner a lecture and brief after that was done we got to relax and socialise around Halton camp and in the billets that were shared for all the boys on the CCAT courses at that time.

The next day we picked up all our kit we needed for the week from the stores (great quality kit!) then we met our instructors.

My two instructors were absolute legends and were really down to earth and friendly. After we met we discussed where we were going to go and what the weather was doing as well as doing a group risk assessment. The night before there had been some pretty severe rain that had flooded a lot of caves fully and a lot of them including show caves were not accessible at all.

Still we went out to view the effects of the rain. First we went to Yordas (all the caves we went into and visited were in the Yorkshire dales). After seeing that that was completely flooded (a 20-meter-high chamber was full to the brim) we then decided to go to the second cave of the day Valley Entrance. At Valley Entrance we had an intro to caving through lots and lots of water, having to stop and turn back do to the active cave being flooded. Plus we got to experience what true darkness is which was pretty cool!

On the second day we went to the Longchurn Cave System and Wilsons cave doing a full cave exploration including a 25 – 30cm ish size squeeze (the cheese press) and other parts where you were pretty much swimming through the tight area of a bedding plane. As well as this we walked up a near vertical water flow (Dr Bannisters hand basin (great fun)).

Then on the third day we went back to Yordas and Valley Entrance to see how far we could get through. In Yordas we managed to get in and have a look around and even go to the site where people are actively digging to try and find other ways out or caves. Yordas is where most of my photos are from and you can see a few resurgences and other effects of the water a

couple of days before. Then in Valley Entrance we followed it all the way through until we got to a 8 meter high escarpment with a stream flowing through the bottom of it because Valley Entrance is a part of Kingsdale Master Cave which is an active cave system. We then traversed this escarpment which is one of if not the longest traverses in the country and I and a few others helped those that struggled through that (about 100 meters).

After this we explored the master cave more, with more squeezes and then the same traverse and a bit more navigation back to the surface out of Valley Entrance.

On the fourth day we explored Brow Gill and Calf Holes.

To get to the Brow Gill cave system you have to abseil down Calf Holes (a big pot hole with a waterfall flowing down it).

Once in the Brow Gill cave system we then started walking deeper and deeper following a stream down until eventually it turned into a crawl and then the infamous letter box crawl which pretty much does what it says on the tin, a very tight crawl just like the cheese press but over fairly jagged rocks and a few boulders and at the end a 1.5 meter drop off onto a pile of boulders, (again it was tough but so much fun). After that we started to get further back to the bottom of the cave where we then re-joined the stream and climbed up a 6 meter rock face up a water fall. After that we had pairs and I navigated my pair out of the cave and back to the bottom of Calf Holes where we used the caving ladder (a aluminium flexible almost rope ladder. Back up 15-20 to the surface and I got to carry the 10kg climbing bag with all the kit in up with me which was a challenge to say the least!

Finally, on the last day (day five) we had a half day due to travel so we went and explored Great Douk. Just a short exploration straight through the cave system emerging out at a limestone pavement just like Mr Wilsons cave, including crawls through tight spaces and very cold water, thin small passageways and a crawl through a SSSI (sight of special scientific interest (which was beautiful)). Ending up with a lateral squeeze through limestone and some fairly large cave spider nests, (one of the largest spider species in the UK).

That was a short summary of my week on the Basic Caving Course through CCAT. I could easily write a lot more about

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it but tried to include as many of the key details and most memorable moments as I could. In the course everyone had ample opportunities to navigate the group further in the cave or out of the cave which I took on many occasions and spent most of the time leading the group which was a good experience and one that I have learnt some important lessons from.

I love adventure training and CCAT is the perfect opportunity to do it for a very low price. As well as improving your social skills and making new friends as I did, your leadership improves

Summer Camp 2016

On the afternoon of Speech day, it wasn’t the time for the antics of the summer holidays for the CCF who travelled down to Wathgill Camp, Catterick Garrison for their annual Summer Camp. A week full of exciting activities for the cadets to take part in ranging from adventurous training to a live range day. The week lived up to the usual expectations even if numbers were slightly depleted by the rugby tour.

The first day was adventurous training for the cadets with training in kayaking, raft building and climbing. Then, on day two, we took to the ranges of North Yorkshire and were firing full bore Sa80 GP rifles (semi-automatic) and the fully automatic LSW (light support weapon) on the range at both 100 and 200 metres. This day is always a particular favourite on the camp and this year was no exception going through hundreds of rounds as a school.

Moving into the mid-week, the CCF enjoyed days of leadership, orienteering and advanced tactics all taught by serving soldiers mainly from the Yorkshire Regiment or Cadet training team.

These festivities proved very useful for the overnight exercise at the end of the week on the vast but somewhat boggy grounds of Catterick training area which we shared with the regular

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as I believe mine has and you gain an experience and a qualification not many others certainly that I know will not be able to have. Because of this course I have picked up a new hobby in caving and I hope to advance in the field, learn new skills and continue caving for as long as I can.

P.S. most of the pictures included on this document are taken in the main chamber of Yordas under the lighting of the groups headlamps.

Alasdair Richardson

soldiers of the Yorkshire Regiment. The exercise was a great end to the year’s training including the use of observation posts, patrols and sections attacks in alignment with The Reed School.

The week had many highlights including the narrow loss to Barnard Castle’s CCF in the evening football match taken very seriously by both teams. However, their squad of 26 to our 10 was rather hard to match especially with the 3 match officials being of Barney origin provoking some questionable decisions and motives. With all of this in mind, still, Durham were sporting and the loss has not left a bitter taste in any of our mouths. (Apart from the horrible foul on our own Sgt Jones mid game left un-penalised, the obvious corner in the 75th minute and their continued use of substitutes…)

It is hard not to finish without mention of Major Sturt and WO2 Atkinson for taking us on yet another brilliant, action packed week and we are all grateful for not only their role in the week away, but also their training throughout the year to get us up to standard for the various competitions and camps through the year. Our thanks go to them for the time they have given up.

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CCF - Royal Navy Section

September 2015 saw a group of new cadets joining the section some of whom had arrived from other schools and already had sailing skills. This gave our existing sailors a boost and boded well for the upcoming Northern and National regattas.

We had two weeks to prepare and set about training with gusto.

So it was with great optimism that we headed off to Southport with a strong team, and even a reserve. Our optimism was rewarded with a large haul of trophies. William Hewitt and Leezum Lepcha sailing the Bosun won all their races and took the Bosun Cup for the fourth year in a row. Adam Morris fought a good battle with his opposite number from Sedbergh and came away with the Topper Trophy and Edward Carr was just pipped at the post for the Pico trophy, ultimately finishing second. When the results were combined Durham won the trophy for the best North East Area school and the overall Northern Regatta trophy as well.

With the Northern Regatta under our belt we were looking forward to competing in the National Regatta at Portsmouth and potentially improving on our runner up position from the previous year. We were to be disappointed though as a high pressure settled over the country and a totally windless forecast meant that the event was cancelled before we even left Durham.

Our attention then turned to the Bi-ennial Inspection. A range of practical leadership tasks were set up involving crossing rivers of ‘shark infested custard’, and recovering ‘radio-active’ flasks from islands also surrounded by more’ shark infested custard’.

The inspecting officer was duly impressed by the enthusiasm and ingenuity of our cadets, not just on the day but also in the number and variety of activities that our cadets were involved in throughout the two years since the last inspection.

As I have said before in these reports when the winter arrives the Navy section tends to retreat indoors and do the rather mundane theory and chartwork. The absence of any Year 9 cadets meant that opportunities for the senior cadets to develop instruction skills were limited but nonetheless personal skills and knowledge of maritime matters were developed.

During this time we were fortunate to receive a visit from Josh Daniels OD who is now a serving Navy officer and who at the time had just returned from a circumnavigation of the Antarctic as navigating officer on board HMS Endurance. Josh delivered a fascinating talk to the CCF on his time in the deep south, which included being stuck in the ice for some time, and a bizarre way of freeing the ship by waggling a shipping container from a crane!

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More recently Michael Goldsmith OD (1992-96) has been in touch. He is now a submariner and warrant officer. Unfortunately we were unable to arrange a visit, but wish both Michael and Josh all the best for their future naval careers.

The summer term 2016 saw the resumption of our on the water activities and the arrival of new cadets from Year 8. Michael Toner, Cameron Regan-Teasdale and Alexander Carr took immediate advantage of what the Navy offer and signed up for a week of sailing on a RYA course at Southport during the half term holiday. They had a great week sailing Argos and Qubas and came away with their RYA Level 2 certificates.

A few weeks later the same cadets were back at Southport for the National 12 Hour Race. Without two of our best sailors who were exam tied this was always going to be a tough challenge, but our young team ably led by Edward Carr did well to finish 21st out of the 24 teams. They had a good day and unlike many teams avoided capsizing in the squalls that hit unexpectedly at times.

Due to a lack of accommodation in September the Northern Regatta for 2016 was brought forward to the day after the 12 Hour Race so the same team was also able to compete in that.

Edward Carr battled neck and neck with his opposite number from Sedbergh but just missed out on winning the Quba Trophy when the finishing positions in the discounted race were taken into account.

This is the last report of the year that I will write for the RN Section as I move into retirement. I joined the section back in 1981 and served with Norman MacLeod. Field Days to the Farne Islands with Billy Shiels and sailing at Scarborough make up my earliest memories of the section. They were great days, but were tinged with sadness when following a memorable visit to HMS Sheffield and Cdr Mike Norman OD at Hull the ship sailed out to the Mediterranean (with Durham School plaque on board) and never returned to Britain. She was diverted to the Falklands where she was hit by a missile and later sank. Twenty lives were lost and many severely injured. Mike Norman returned to school after the conflict and spoke movingly to the whole school in chapel.

The RN Section has provided myself and many cadets with wonderful opportunities and experiences throughout my time in the school. Yachting in the Firth of Clyde, fleet tenders along the south coast, passing out parades at BRNC and Royal Arthur are some. HMS Invincible was for many years our affiliated ship and provided sea time. On one occasion we scrambled

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on board using nets in Lyme Bay, on another we arrived by helicopter with Invincible growing from a tiny dot to a mammoth floating airfield as we approached. The highlight of our visits though was the trip from Gibraltar back to Pompey.

The Navy taught me how to sail and windsurf, indeed at one time Durham School was the only RYA recognised windsurfing school in the country! I hope that I have passed on some of what the Navy taught me to the cadets in my charge. From time to time I meet some of my cadets and I am always pleased to hear that many remember their time in the RN section with fondness and that some are still sailing!

Although I am retiring from teaching at Durham School and from the school CCF, I intend to continue in the CCF at a national level, and hopefully will be instructing dinghy sailing at Plymouth and Southport for a few more years. In between Navy work I hope to have more time to sail and race my own dinghy, and possibly even race the remote control yacht that was presented to me on my retirement! I wish Durham School CCF and all cadets past and present well for the future.

Lt R. Hewitt RNR (CCF)

Ski Trip

The first week of the Easter Holidays saw 26 pupils and 3 staff embark on the Durham School Ski trip to Serre Chevalier. After a very long bus journey and numerous stops at some of the ‘nicer’ French service stations, we arrived at our authentic French hotel. Here, the kids were able to sample some unique French cuisine and put all the learning from their French lessons in to practise when talking to Albert, the hotel manager.

With a whole range of skiing abilities on the trip it was great to have some excellent ski instructors (including Mr Mason) who were able to help everyone on the trip really improve their skiing.

Most of the days saw blue sky and fresh snow which provided a fantastic environment for everyone to ski. The end of each day did see some of the snow melt, which contributed to some impressive falls!

On the subject of falls, Sophie Atkinson and Nick Blowey deserve the bravery awards for their trips to the local hospital to get stitched up. This will have been a tough, but valuable lesson for Nick on the dangers of skiing in to a bin!

Despite tired legs and sore bodies we managed to get involved in some enjoyable activities each evening.

Bowling, swimming, ice-skating and the local discothèque were all well received, although some of the groups dance moves do need some serious work! Zara Alexander wasn’t able to demonstrate her alleged dancing prowess as she managed to lock herself in the toilet for the majority of the evening!

Credit must also go to the minority of the group (which excluded Mr Dias) who managed to fight off or avoid the ‘super bug’ which wiped out the majority of people for 24 hours over the course of the week.

An incredibly enjoyable and successful trip was had by all.

Everyone improved their skiing, which was great to see.

On behalf of the staff I would like to thank and congratulate all the pupils on their efforts, they were a pleasure to take away!

Mr P. Dias

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Ben Smith 401 Challenge

Durham School had the pleasure of hosting Ben Smith and his team during his 259th Marathon in Durham City. Ben is completing 401 marathons in 401 days, raising valuable funds for Kidscape and Stonewall charities.

Several of our Year 7 and 8 athletes accompanied Ben for part of his run into Durham School where he was greeted by the whole school who sang Happy Birthday and presented him with an amazing cake. Ben and his team joined us for a hearty Durham School lunch, packed with carbohydrates (to contribute to the 6000 calories he needed every day). It was a pleasant surprise that Steve Cram and Ally Dixon, Rio Olympian and London Marathon winner were running with Ben and also joined us for lunch. At the time of writing, Ben still has 50 marathons to complete and we wish him well with the rest of his tough challenge.

Mrs K. Rochester

Scholars’ Quiz 2016 Scholars’ Dinner

The annual Scholars’ Dinner took place on 23 March and as usual all the King’s and Burkitt Scholars in Year 11, 12 and 13 attended. The guest speaker was Mr Philip Sanderson, Principal of Kings Priory School, Tynemouth. This year the evening comprised of a Heretics Society style debate after the meal and Mr Sanderson spoke on the menace of social media very persuasively, though he could not convince a majority of those present to agree with him (perhaps unsurprisingly given the age range….), and was therefore declared the dubious honour of becoming a Heretic!

Each table also completed the customary and eagerly-awaited Scholars’ Quiz. Try it for yourself here! (Answers available from Mr Muttitt)

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1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

What word looks the same backwards and upside down?

Draw a line. Without touching it, how do you make the line longer?

What goes around the wood but never goes into the wood? ippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of what?

The Canary Islands were named after which animal?

Which animal is the national symbol of Scotland?

The sentence “May I have a large container of coffee?” is used as a memory aid for what?

Circle the number that is the odd one out: 8 27 64 128 In Papua New Guinea what is the leading cause of death?

Write the next word in this sequence: gun, shoe, spree, door, hive...

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Olympics Week

Olympics Week has been a resounding success with all our pupils participating in a range of exciting and challenging activities and trips. All pupils also completed a first aid and resuscitation course and have received a certificate. Our highlight on Wednesday was a visit by Olympian Ross Murray who motivated and enthused our pupils with an insight into life as an elite athlete and he fielded some excellent questions posed by our pupils.

Speedwatch

As a School we value our good relationship with Durham Constabulary and we work closely with local officers to ensure our School community are safe and educated against the dangers that face young people today.

One worry we all share is the busy road which runs through our School site and whilst we endeavour to ensure our pupils cross the road correctly and safely at all times, this doesn’t stop a number of drivers driving far too fast along Quarryheads Lane. Our Year 7, 8 and 9 pupils have been involved termly, with local officers and traffic Police to deliver a Speedwatch Campaign which involves cars approaching school in both directions, being checked using the laser to monitor the speed of the vehicle.

Our Year 7s helped Inspector Parkin and CSI Brownlee solve a murder mystery, identified sporting drugs cheats in their science workshop, enjoyed the Flying Theatre Company, participated in a range of outdoor activities and prepared and delivered interesting presentations about the Olympics. Woodland Warrior was a particular highlight for our Year 8s where mud was the name of the game. Most teams completed the mile course with 26 obstacles 4 times; needless to say they were a little weary and very filthy afterwards. They also enjoyed the outdoor activities, science and business workshops, the Flying Theatre and working in teams to prepare a bid for the UK to host the 2024 Olympics.

If the vehicle is driving dangerously, they are pulled over and our pupils read them their rights and issue a Durham School Speeding ticket, explaining why it is so important to drive carefully through School. Needless to say, most are hugely apologetic and shamed and hopefully pay more heed to their driving habits. This is an excellent opportunity for our pupils to experience good citizenship and provides an insight into the work and role of a Police Officer. We were also proud of a group of our pupils who were involved in the training of high level officers from the Bahrain Police Department who were visiting Durham Constabulary, by showing them how young people can get involved in making their local community a safer place to live and go to School.

A visit to Exit and the Centre for Life on Monday was really enjoyed by the Year 9s. At Exit, they had to work in teams to find clues and develop strategies to get out of the situation they found themselves in including a dark Attic and a city about to blow up! The week ended with a camping trip to Lightwater Valley where fun was had by all.

The Year 10s had their eyes opened to academia, University style. A chemistry trip to Newcastle University and a Sports Science trip to Durham University challenged our pupils thinking and learning skills as they carried out experiments in the Uni labs, using technical equipment not available in Schools. The Year 10s enjoyed a trip to the wBBC; our artists also produced excellent fruit and vegetable scenes in their workshop and competitive fun was had by all orienteering.

Mrs K. Rochester

Mrs K. Rochester

Marsden Speaking Competition

The final round of the Marsden Public Speaking Competition took place on Tuesday 22 March in the Exhibition Room, adjudicated by the ex Orator of Durham University, Professor J.R. Watson. Professor Watson was very impressed both by the variety of topics and the standard of presentation.

The speakers, topics and winners are listed below:

Intermediate category: Archie O’Dair: Confidence for life David Gardiner: Coltan Mining in the Congo (W) Hal Burke: Arming the British police Dominic Gaines: Should killer whales be kept in captivity?

Junior category: James Green: Is the universe doughnut shaped?

Hannah Watson: Bullying Thomas Reynolds: Lucky Zoe Mansel: White lies Maya Hood: A speech from space (W)

Senior category: Ed Arthur: Artificial intelligence (W) Dominic Scott: Is history a science?

Nils Malmros: Germanic paganism Alex Smith: The importance of language Will Gray: The art of happiness.

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Old Dunelmians

Annual London Old Dunelmian Dinner

Friday 12 February 2016 This year the Annual London OD Dinner was held at The Naval and Military Club, (affectionately known as the ‘In and Out’ Club) on St. James’s Square, London. The Speaker was Paul Dickson (S, 1968-72), a contemporary of the President.

The Dinner was well attended with 85 people, a good mix of new and old faces. Guests were brought up to date about current developments at our School by the Headmaster.

The OD Society would like to thank Rod Hepple-Wilson (S, 1968-73) for providing the facility of the Club.

Annual Old Dunelmian Dinner

Saturday 10 September 2016 The Dinner was held in Big School and well attended by well over 100 people. It was particularly pleasing to see so many youngsters attending and regular groups are forming. Our Speaker was Peter Bell (L, 1970 – 77) drafted in by the President at short notice. Peter was enormously witty (as always) and the event was extremely well enjoyed by all present

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Following Amanda Petty leaving, the Society is grateful to Sue Langthorne and Debbie Stanford for pulling the Dinner together and making it such an enjoyable occasion.

As President, and personally, I am absolutely delighted Andrew Beales and Debbie Stanford have joined the staff as Development Director and Assistant Development Director respectively. I look forward to working with them both.

We have already set up and enjoyed good communications and between the OD Society, myself, Andrew and Debbie and the School. Exciting plans are already starting to evolve for the OD Society.

The President’s Tenure

ODs may or might not be aware that the President’s tenure is usually for five years and means I will need to have a successor in place before September 2018. Notwithstanding I live some 350 miles away, I come to the School both for Governors Meeting and functions as often as I can.

I am delighted that there are a couple of people, who have expressed an interest and are being considered, both have excellent credentials. I cannot say who they are, at this stage.

Are there any other nominations? Please feel free to nominate yourself, or others (whether they are aware or not!). Please do so by email to od@durhamschool.co.uk

Other Initiatives

I am delighted to see the Headmaster has put together a series of informal OD Drinks events, which will take place in various parts of the UK, and abroad. These great informal gatherings are strongly supported by the OD Society.

2017

Our two Dinners next year are in London on Friday 3 February 2017 and in Durham on Sat 9 September, 2017. Next year it will be 50 years since I came to Durham (from Bow) and I’m certainly planning to do my best to get the largest number of those attending both dinners, who were at School any time entering from 1965 to 1973, particularly. If you attended during this time, this may be your best ever opportunity to reacquaint your selves with old friends.

Demand is likely to be high, so register your interest now.

There is currently a bit of research to try and find lost ODs, if you can help, please get in touch.

In both cases please email od@durhamschool.co.uk Floreat Dunelmia Ritchie Salkeld (C, 1967-72) 2 0 1 5 - 2 0 1 6

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The Old Dunelmian Lodge

The Lodge has been active in raising funds for both masonic and School projects as well as other smaller charity donations.

In 2014 the stained glass window, funded by the Lodge, was installed in the south wall of the School Chapel. There have also been donations to assist in funding the new hymn books and the book-cases in which to store them and to assist the CDT department with various items of equipment and also the Music Department and Rowing Club. The Most recent donation was to an upgrade of the Chapel Organ. Other donations have been made to the Cathedral to assist in the restoration of the octagonal monks kitchen and to a project by Durham Masons to provide a teddy bear for every child admitted to hospital throughout the County.

The Lodge held its annual Service in the School Chapel on Sunday 10 April 2016, with many wives, friends, and Masons from other Lodges attending and enjoying Sunday Lunch in Big School after the service. The next service will be held on 9 April 2017 at 11 am and anyone is welcome to book for lunch with the Lodge secretary (email address below). There will also be a Riverboat cruise on 9 June on the Wear in Durham to which everyone is welcome.

June 4 2016 was the fiftieth anniversary of the Consecration of the Lodge, a ceremony which was performed in Big School, and to celebrate a dinner was held on the exact anniversary, which saw Big School filled almost to capacity. Two of the Founders, Charles V. Scott (C, 1939-45) and John Elstrop (S, 1946-49) attended as guests of the Lodge.

Kenneth E.C. Howe (P, 1955-58) was installed as Master of the Lodge in July 2015 and was followed in the position in July 2016 by C. Michael Saint (P, 1966-70). The Installation Meeting is always held at the school with the Installation Ceremony being held in the Luce Theatre followed by the Installation Banquet in Big School.

The members of Old Dunelmian Lodge wish to record their thanks to the Headmaster, catering staff, estate staff and Colin Looker in the printing department for the use of School buildings, and the help and assistance provided to the Lodge.

Anyone interested in membership of the Lodge is welcome to contact the secretary, John Liddle (C, 1955-61) by email at j.f.liddle@btinternet.com for full details. We welcome enquiries from ODs, staff, and close relatives of past and present pupils, for joining membership or initiation into Freemasonry. You do not need to wait to be invited to become a Freemason.

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Old Dunelmian Royal Arch Chapter

There are three degrees in Freemasonry; Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason but through a quirk of history, the three degrees also explicitly include the Royal Arch degree, which completes the story of the Master Mason degree.

The degree ceremonies performed in the Lodge are based around the story of the construction of King Solomon’s Temple, built to house the Ark of the Covenant. History tells us about the construction and the subsequent destruction of the temple, and the building of a second temple on the foundations of the first. The degree of the Royal Arch continues the story of the Lodge degrees by bringing us forward in time to the construction of the second temple.

The Old Dunelmian Royal Arch Chapter is where those who have progressed up to Master Mason in the Old Dunelmian Lodge, or another lodge, can continue their masonic journey. Our Chapter is closely linked to the lodge, bearing the same Lodge number in the United Grand Lodge of England’s register and is made up primarily of members of Old Dunelmian Lodge.

Just like the Lodge, new candidates must express an interest in joining rather than be invited. The Old Dunelmian Lodge and Chapter have an extra qualification for membership beyond the usual requirements – every prospective member must have a close connection to Durham School such as ODs, Parents or members of Staff.

Our Chapter only meets twice a year, compared to the six meetings of the Lodge. The February meeting is a ceremony to place the newly elected officers of the lodge into their roles and our June meeting is a ceremony for new candidates who wish to join our Chapter. After each meeting we have a semi-formal meal together which gives us a chance to catch up with old friends, and make new ones. We also welcome guests from other Chapters. Being a member of a Chapter or Lodge entitles you to visit other Chapters or Lodges right across the globe, continuing the tradition of the travelling masons who built the great cathedrals and castles of Europe.

Last year in February we installed Michael Liddle (L, 1990-95) as First Principal (a position similar to President or Chairman), and in June we held a BBQ for members and their families. In February this year we will install Eric Robinson (S, 1956-59) as First Principal.

If anyone is interested in finding out more information about the Royal Arch in general, or the Old Dunelmian Royal Arch Chapter in particular, please contact the secretary Lloyd Pickering (P, 19972002) via email at lloyd@lloydpickering.com

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Obituaries

John Brian Chetwynd, (S, 1933-37) CHETWYND Dr. John, born 12 October 1919. Radiologist, Husband, Father, Grandfather, Friend. Died 25 November 2009 in Lions Gate Hospital, North Vancouver. John is survived by wife Sybil Rodger, sons Roger and Stephen, daughters Anne and Heather, granddaughter Teresa, and many friends and colleagues.

John started Durham School in September 1933 and went on to captain the XV 1935-36. He left in 1937 to read Medicine at Edinburgh, where he earned his University Blue in 1944. He won a Gold Medal for Forensic Medicine in 1942. Having served in the R.A.F.V.R at the R.A.F. Hospital, Kirkham he became a he became a Radiologist in 1953. His career in Radiology took him to Ontario and later to Vancouver where he retired in 1989.

His obituary read “Life may be simpler without him but not nearly as interesting or fun.”

Richard Longstaff (P, 1958-63) Richard sadly passed away peacefully on 3 March 2017, following an illness affecting his blood cells aged 72. He is survived by his wife Jill and son Richard. along with many close friends, some of whom he had known since childhood. Always happy and good natured, Richard will be a loss to his family and his many friends.

Peter Wickham, (S, 1942-47) Peter came to Durham School in 1942 on a county scholarship.

He was both Head of House and Head of School. He won several prizes at School including Bishop Lee Prize for Divinity three years in a row (45-47) and the Metcalf Prize for Mathematics (1947).

He sat on the committee of staff and pupils who were tasked with improving the School’s library after the war. He was also a corporal in the Joint Training Corps (the forerunner of the modern Combined Cadet Force). He left in 1947 to go to St John’s College Cambridge to read Mathematics.

Peter was an enthusiastic and longstanding member of the Old Dunelmian Society and was a frequent attender of reunions, especially in London, where Peter was part of the organising committee.

Everard Stuart Whitehouse (P, 1947-50) Forward by Ritchie Salkeld, President OD Society: Everard, as you will see below, has been one of the staunchest supporters of the School and OD Society, and a friend of mine for about 40 years. He almost never missed a London OD Dinner.

I will miss him. He was such a lovely chap.

Everard Stuart Whitehouse Everard Whitehouse, a son of that increasingly rare breed, the Parson Headmaster, was brought up in Liverpool. He vividly remembered the heavy bombing, and being chosen to sing in the Liverpool Cathedral Choir at the special service celebrating the end of hostilities. He entered Poole House in 1947.

From an unusually early age he seemed set on a career in catering and management, in both of which he became skilled and qualified via the school of Hotel Management at Battersea Polytechnic, and then National Service in the Army Catering

Corps and as a Captain in the Army Emergency Reserve. He always spoke highly of A.C.C. and its contribution to his career.

ODs benefited from his many managerial positions from Boswell’s in Norwich to Simpson’s in the Strand and the Savoy. He became General Manager with Grand Metropolitan Hotels, a Director with Centre Hotels and Chairman and President of the Hotel Industry Marketing Group, before setting up his own company of catering suppliers, which traded mainly with the Middle East, providing among a lot of other things, workers for the agricultural development of Saudi-Arabia.

Everard lived most of his adult life at Sutton Court, Chiswick, an impressive block of 146 early 20th century apartments, in which he moved from a smaller bachelor pad to more spacious accommodation for his wife Claudia and their children. At an age when most people have retired, it is perhaps not surprising that he kept busy for many years as the Estate Manager of Sutton Court as well as, for more than 10 years, looking after foreign dignitaries for the British Council. He also enjoyed his involvement with the development of the allotments overlooking the Chiswick Reach of the River Thames. His many hobbies included collecting not only stamps, but much bric-a brac in which he (and sometimes only he) could see potential.

If Everard’s profession was management, his passion was cooking. While entertaining, he could conjure up the most delicious meals, without a pause in the flow of conversation and with scarcely a glance at the array of cooking pots into which he casually flicked ingredients en passant.

The OD Society is greatly in his debt. With his felicitous combination of cooking and management skills, hospitality was his talent. He organised the London OD Dinners for many years.

He knew the Club and he knew the hotels and he knew London better than any taxi-driver. When ODs were pushed out into the night at the dinner’s end, there always seemed to be a very comfortable hotel with a vacant suite, crates of beer and long deep sofas, just round the corner.

He faced his final illness with dignity and courage and died on the 9 January 2017 aged 83. The funeral was at St Michael’s Church, Sutton Court.

All of us who knew him were beguiled by his cheerfulness and kindness. Beneath his effortless charm and the pin-stripes, his goodness and humour were always bubbling away.

Derek Baty Past President ODS & Friend of Everard’s for 70 years Norman J.B.Prynn Former Bursar 1987 - 1992 Norman died on 1 January 2017. Norman joined the Governing Body in 1986 and retired from ICI in 1987 to take over as School Bursar. In his five years as Bursar he had a remarkable effect on both the finances and the fabric of the School. He remained a loyal supporter of Durham School in his retirement.

Ingledew, Elizabeth (Nee Bowen) Former Matron of Caffinites Elizabeth died peacefully in Hillview Nursing Home on December 22 2016 aged 77 years. Formally of Marske by the Sea. Beloved mother of Adam, Ben and the late Nicholas, dear mother in law

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of Anneke, much loved grandmother of Alisha and a much loved aunt of Stella, Caroline and Jamie. Her well attended funeral service was held at Emmanuel Parish Church, Saltburn on Wednesday January 4, 2017.

Robert Peter Mangin Bell (School House, 1932-37) Peter was born in Darlington on 11 September 1918. He died aged 97 on 20 May 2016. Educated at Durham School, he read Modern Languages at Jesus College, Cambridge. He was a keen sportsman at school and played for the XV and rowed in the first crew. At Cambridge, he won the Fairbairn Cup with the First Boat in 1938.

His time in Cambridge was interrupted by WWII where he served as a Lieutenant in the 21st LAA R.A. Sent to what was then the Netherlands East Indies, now Indonesia, he took part in the Java/Sumatra campaign of 1942. After the Dutch and British Forces surrendered, he spent three years as a Japanese prisoner of war. He graduated in 1946 and joined Collisons, where he qualified as a solicitor in 1949. He retired as a Partner in 1982.

In retirement he served as a trustee of the Hospital of St Cross & Almshouse of Noble Poverty, Winchester. He married Heather Doreen Parnell in 1960; they had two sons, a daughter and nine grandchildren.

Kenneth Ernest Webster (S, 1947-49) By Maurice Bell d.13/6/2016 b. 30/09/1933 Son of J.A.Webster, Greencroft, Elton Road, Darlington. S.H. Left Christmas 1949. Ken was a good friend, a contemporary of mine and a groomsman at my wedding. He qualified as an optician and joined his father’s practice in Darlington, succeeding him when his father retired.

He was a low handicap golfer, an accomplished pianist and an amusing raconteur, quite a character. Of recent times he would be seen around the West End of Darlington on his bicycle.

Ralph Downs Appleton (S, 1933-38) Appleton, Ralph Downs b.26/02/1919 d.September 2015.

Son of E.R.Appeton J.P. Father of D.R.Appleton OD & A.E.Appleton OD. Choral Soc. & Dramatic Soc. Latin & Greek prizes. Left Christmas 1936. C.V.I. F.R.I.C.S. 1948-50 Valuer, Inland Revenue. 1956-85 Chartered Surveyor, Partner in Ralph Appleton & Hall, Chartered Surveyors, Stockton-OnTees. 1937 Commissioned DLI, TA 1939-46, Major, R.A., T.D. J.P 1958-72.

Thornton Percival Mitcalfe (S, 1944-50) b.20/10/32 d 13/3/16. O.D. 44-50 Son of E.T.Mitcalfe 44 Grange Road Darlington. SH Sixth Form Prize. Livesay Cup for best in school cadet force. Fives team. Cricket XI 1949-50. Left summer 1950 UVI. F.C.A. Senior partner for Gilchrist, Tash and Sansom C.A. Retired from Partnership 1988 following a coronary and 5 way heart bypass operation. 2 years 1956-58 R.A.P.C. 1st Lieutenant G.S.M.(Clasp Malaya). Ran a large Caravan Park in upper Teesdale.

Member of Board Kirklevington Detention Centre, Commissioner of Income Tax 1959, Chairman 1985. Member of board Aycliffe & Peterlee Development Corporation 1965-68, Deputy Chairman 1968-73, acting Chairman 1970-72, O.B.E. 1973.

Governor Teesside High School 1953, Chairman 1986. Director, Darlington Building Society 1960-90, Chairman 1981-90.

Chairman Stockton Conservative Assoc. 1980-86.

Arthur “Pip” Appleby, MA. Head of English at Durham School, 1960-65.

ODs will be sad to learn that Pip (Arthur) Appleby died in September 2016, aged 85. Pip was an inspirational head of English in the early 1960s and he will be remembered with affection by former colleagues and by those who were taught by him or who knew him through Junior Colts’ Rugby or the Army section of the CCF. Pip went on to become Deputy Head at Annfield Plain and then Headmaster of Ponteland High School. In retirement, he lived in Morpeth. Pip’s wife Joan died some years ago but is survived by his three children and several grandchildren.

Since the publication of the last Dunelmian Magazine we have received word that the following Old Dunelmians have passed away.

If you know of any errors or omissions from this list please do not hesitate to contact the Development Office, od@durhamschool.co.uk 0191 386 4783.

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Name

Entered Left House

Died

Mr Geoff Humble

1956

1961

Poole

27 August 2015

Mr Ralph Appleton

1933

1936

School

22 September 2015

Mr Tom Hay

1947

1951

School

7 October 2015

Mr Rae Walton

1932

1935

Caffinites

4 January 2016

Rev. Tim Shepherd

1946

1953

School

27 January 2016

Mr Robin Crowther

1954

1958

Caffinites

28 January 2016

Dr. Fraser Lund

1941

1946

Poole

9 February 2016

Mr Michael Morris

1946

1950

School

5 March 2016

Mr Peter Bell

1932

1937

School

20 May 2016

Mr Everard Whitehouse

1947

1950

Poole

9 January 2017

Mr Peter Wickham

1942

1947

School

31 January 2017

Mr Richard Longstaff

1958

1963

Poole

3 March 2017

Dates for the Diary

Saturday 9 September 2017 Friday 9 February 2018 Friday 8 February 2019

OD Annual Dinner at Durham School OD London Dinner OD London Dinner

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