Durham School

Durham's only silver awarded AA rated and 4 star hotel. Set in a unique location, surrounded by 350 acres of private grounds with two 18 hole Championship golf courses, a purpose built luxury on site spa complex, four bars and award winning restaurants.

This stunning combination of superb facilities make Ramside Hall the number one choice for a business event or relaxing overnight stay.

www.ramsidehallhotel.co.uk | 0191 386 5282 Ramside Hall Hotel Golf & Spa | Carrville | Durham | DH1 1TD

I N D E X

6

Speech Day 2018 A celebration of Durham School’s achievements in the 2017/18 Academic Year.

20

33

Pastoral

Academic

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

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

45

Creative

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

65

59

Durham School Community

Co-Curricular

Our co-curricular activities help develop the skills that give pupils confidence for life.

Parents, ODs, and the wider School Community come together through the Development Office.

84 Sport

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

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

3

W E L C O M E

Welcome

Welcome from Headmaster Kieran McLaughlin An education at Durham School helps develop Confidence for Life. Our pupils put down strong roots through our House system, and flourish as young people thanks to the mix of pastoral care, co-curricular activity and academic excellence. All these areas of school life are showcased in this edition of the Dunelmian.

The academic life of the School continues to go from strength to strength and at the end of the 2017-18 year, we were able to record our best A level results in living memory. Behind this headline sits a complex web of endeavour from pupils, tireless work from a talented staff, a raft of student led academic societies and huge amount of curricular enrichment from Y7 Contemporary Studies through to Extended Project Qualifications (EPQs) for the Sixth Form.

Kieran McLaughlin, Headmaster

Editor: Andrew Beales Produced by: Remember Media Photography: Various sources including KG Photography - www.kgphotography.co.uk/ Mark Wilkinson Photography - markwilkinsonphotography. smugmug.com Chris Lishman - www.chrislishman.com Peter Vassallo Durham School - www.durhamschool.co.uk The team photographs in the Sport Section of The Dunelmian have been reproduced by kind permission of Gillman & Soame photographers and can be ordered online at www.gsimagebank.co.uk/durham-school/t/durhamschool2018 The Dunelmian Magazine Quarryheads Lane, Durham City, DH1 4SZ 0191 386 4783 Reg Charity Number 1023407

4

Outside the classroom, our co-curricular programmes greatly extend our pupils potential. Whether through lunchtime clubs and activities, or large-scale events such as Activities Week, these additional elements add exponentially to help shape and round the individual.

All of this activity is supported from afar by the wider School Community. Our careers programme, boosted by the publication Confidence for Life, is one meaningful way parents and ODs can support current pupils. Another is through the philanthropy of the School community which also underpins much of the sporting and co-curricular activities we undertake, and I would specifically like to thank those ODs and Parents who have funded such a wide array of projects across our School. The Dunelmian, distributed to over 4,000 ODs around the world rightfully pays tribute to their contributions to School life.

Finally, if you pick up this edition and flip it over it contains 24 more exciting pages about the future of Durham. Our pupils down at Bow start at age 3, and by the time they join the senior school, they have already begun to develop the many skills and interests that will make them shine at Durham and beyond. Music, Drama, Sport, Science and Languages are all-important parts of our junior curriculum that pay dividends later in their educational career, and it is a fabulous way to conclude The Dunelmian by focusing on this bright future for Durham School.

Floreat Dunelmia Mr Kieran McLaughlin Headmaster

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

Big enough for big business.

Small enough to care about you.

We’ve grown a lot over the last few years from our base here in Durham City.

We believe our success has been helped by giving our clients ‘Legal solutions that fit’.

What we mean by this is that we give clients what they really need. We don’t give them flannel, over complication and quite frankly, stuff they don’t need.

Being big has its benefits, however, we realise that size isn’t everything. To our family and private client teams, it’s all about personal relationships; empathy and care for the individual.

Venture House, Aykley Heads Business Centre, Durham DH1 5TS Tel: 0191 384 2441 swinburnemaddison.co.uk

S P E E C H

D A Y

Speech Day Headmaster’s review of the year

Mr Chairman, distinguished guests, ladies, gentlemen, ODs and current pupils, many thanks and welcome to this year’s Speech Day. A particular welcome goes to our Chief Guest Mr Chris Elliott, OD, who will talk to us shortly. I do not wish to steal Chris’s thunder so I will keep my remarks brief, though you will get a hint of what is to come if you look at his postnominals on our Speech Day programme.

What a start to the year it was. Our A Level results were by some margin the best ever recorded at the school, with our A*-B percentage finishing at 69.7% once the dust of marking reviews had settled. This is a fine achievement; well over two thirds of the grades needed to attend the top Russell Group universities. We also recorded, for the fourth year in a row, a 100% pass rate for all of the examinations taken.

Some of you may have a head start too, as you may have seen Chris already in our wonderful “Confidence for Life” book produced earlier in the year; there are copies in Big School for any of you who haven’t. That book is a fascinating record of some of our younger ODs – well, younger than me anyway – and the lives they have lived in the years since they sat in this very marquee with the same mix of excitement and trepidation that the current leavers are no doubt feeling right now.

Statistics are all very well, but what matters are the amazing individual success stories amongst those results too. Four pupils managed to score two A* grades and an A in their A Levels – Fraser Gaines, Miranda Li, Chris Page and Dominic Scott. A further six scored all A or A* grades. Louis Dinsdale took up his place to read History and Politics at Cambridge, Anu Krishna and Emma Reed their places to study Medicine and Dan Jukes went off to study Law. This year saw the highest percentage of pupils going on to study at Russell Group universities, with universities and courses from Exeter to St Andrews and Countryside Management to Ancient History.

The good news is, as you can see from the book, there is a huge variety of careers and opportunities which await all of you. Doctors, lawyers, actors, sportswomen, jockeys, the list goes on and on. So many different destinations, and yet one common starting point: Durham School, from where you now begin the next stage of your lives.

One of the joys of my job is meeting ODs of every different age and stage; whether it be at Durham City rugby club or the Kowloon Cricket Club, in Darlington or in Dubai. Wherever they are from, and wherever they have gone, their memories of school are as fresh as if they left just yesterday. Memories of friendships, of shared experiences, of teachers remembered for good or for bad, of the small but meaningful exchanges which went on to shape their futures. I have no doubt in many years to come, the U6 who leave us today will look back on their own days at school with similar wistful nostalgia.

And what will you remember? Well, a busy year, if my review of is a reliable guide. It begins for us in the summer holiday with the publication of examination results at A Level and GCSE.

6

Impressive though these achievements are, what is really gratifying to me and indeed to all the staff at school is our value-added performance. A Levels aren’t easy, and for some pupils three C grades are as much an achievement as three As would be for others. Whatever the target though, it is clear that as a school we add value to every one of our pupils.

Independent analysis from the University of Durham shows that last year we were in the top 5% of schools nationally for adding value in the Sixth Form and in the top 8% of independent schools. We were, if I am allowed to say it, better than virtually any other independent school in the North East.

This is a real team effort, and my thanks go as ever to the leavers from last year, their parents and of course the staff who are so incredibly generous with their time and support throughout the year.

Turning to GCSE, more records again were shattered as we recorded the highest A*-B percentage at this level on record,

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P E E C H

and the highest percentage of pupils scoring the magic 5 A*-C passes. Notable successes here were Hal Burke with a bewildering 12 A* passes and Jeff Zhang not far behind with 10 A* grades. Tristan Green and Orla Jackson both scored straight A* and A grades too. A high bar therefore for this year’s GCSE cohort to match. But, as with A Level, our internal analysis shows that we add value not just to pupils with strings of As and A*s; just as much effort goes in to helping pupils achieve the C grades they need in English and Maths which will allow them to access post-16 education elsewhere.

Durham School adds value to all of its pupils.

On the sporting front, the rugby season began and continued with a mix of great wins and frustrating losses against the likes of RGS Newcastle, Leeds Grammar and, after a promising start, Sedbergh when Will Jewitt suffered a serious injury.

The second half of the term saw better performances and the team finished with good wins against Barnard Castle and Ripon Grammar.

Standout teams from across the rest of the school were the Second XV, who won all but one of their matches this year, and the U15s who had a good run in the National Schools cup.

The 7s season saw more consistency throughout and the 1sts won a good deal of their matches. Both they and the U16s performed well at Rosslyn Park, the former qualifying for the second day but unfortunately landing in the group of death and losing to the eventual winners Blundells. The U16s recorded an impressive win over Harrow School before losing to Epsom.

The girls hockey teams had a strong season too, with the seniors having some excellent wins against Barney and Sedbergh. Most encouraging though were the performances of some of our younger teams, with the U12s being the standout season – winning 9 of their 13 matches and beating Durham High School 6-0 to boot.

D A Y

this glorious summer, and I know the boys were disappointed not to have the opportunity to test their mettle against them. It was however, great to finish with an unbroken run in the cricket festival this week and to complete a season scoring over 500 runs. There is much talent emerging too, with the U12s and 13s recording some excellent wins over the last term.

As ever, my thanks goes to those members of staff who give up so much time not only to take pupils to the fixtures but to coach and prepare them for the matches beforehand. I also commend you as parents for your support on the touchlines which is as sporting and gracious as ever. Special mention this year goes to the parents of the 1st XV who travelled in all weathers to support their sons across the North East.

The cultural life of the school is as rich as ever with a variety of activities, small-scale as well as showpiece, which demonstrate the wealth of talent we have at the school. Our House Music competition, this year of course in Durham Cathedral, was as keenly contested as ever with some amazing individual performances as well as a great group effort. My congratulations go to MacLeod house on their win.

Last term saw our bi-annual major musical production in the Gala, Oliver!, and what a treat that was. The staging, the performances and the musical arrangement were all fantastic and, whilst it is always difficult to see performers of the calibre of Ben Pullman and Kari Dougall leaving the school, what was particularly encouraging was the emergence of more talent in the younger years, not least Will Palmer-Muttitt in the title role.

New Head of School, Archie O’Dair (Y12, Poole)

Netball went well, with the highlight for the firsts being another win over the High School, 34-9. This term rounders has been the major sport, with a great win for the U15s in the Tyne and Wear trophy.

The strength of the Boat Club continues undiminished, with each season building on the success of the previous. We have some excellent individual performers, such as Sam Turnill and Julia Gledson both of whom are involved in Great Britain trials, but the real strength on the river is the quality of the teamwork. This was evident to anyone who saw the races at Durham Regatta this year. The adaptability and versatility of the pupils was much in evidence and is a tribute to the coaching they receive. No surprise when this became another recordbreaking year at the Regatta, with 13 wins and a further 10 crews reaching the finals. We can claim quite rightly to be one of the leading schools in rowing, having recorded the third highest number of wins of all the schools in the UK in last year’s season.

Cricket has been another success story this year too; the first XI has won the overwhelming majority of its fixtures. Sadly the Sedbergh game was one of the very few that was washed out

These two major events however shouldn’t overshadow our routine musical life. Informal concerts, performances in chapel, even just the regular practices in house all add to the artistic ambience of the school. I have already name-checked him once, and don’t want to further embarrass him, but Ben Pullman spoke very powerfully in Chapel just last week about how he has been able to develop music and drama to both his own and to our benefit during his time at Durham, and I thank him and his teachers for inspiring him.

Pupils continued to develop their international outlook and, having mentioned one chapel talk last week, I will now mention another. This time it was from one old Dunelmian about another. John Gillette OD came last week to speak about his

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

7

S P E E C H

D A Y

great success with increased numbers and improved results over the past six years. For four years Owen has also been the Head of Lower School, working to settle in pupils new into the Senior School either from Bow or outside. Owen has been a sympathetic and understanding figure in that part of the school and no doubt learned much on the pastoral and academic side; this will stand him in good stead when he takes up his Assistant Head’s role at Stonyhurst College in September.

Speech Day music

charity the Zambezi Sunrise Trust, which he founded some years ago to provide an education for underprivileged children in Zambia. Our retiring collection today is in support of that charity. During his talk, John also mentioned how, at the end of his previous visit, Will Gray OD – who left us this time last year – approached him and asked how he could help. After a little paperwork and administration, Will found himself in Livingstone working with those children and, using his artistic and design skills honed at Durham School, building and decorating the classrooms for the children to learn in. That, for me, is another fantastic testament to the power of the OD community to make a positive difference to those around them.

I hope that the school Sports Tour to nearby South Africa, leaving in August, provides another amazing international experience for those pupils.

We come soon to the main purpose of today: to celebrate the achievements of our prizewinners. These prizes, quite rightly, recognise academic success across the year but they are not the only way in which we do so. Lauds, our book of excellence, the Liber Laudis, competitions both internal and external, even just praise on a book from a teacher. All these are ways in which achievement is noted; sometimes low key, without a fuss being made, but no less powerful for that.

Our last tradition on Speech Day is to award cufflinks to those pupils who began their education with us down at Badgers and have made it all the way through to the U6. This year’s presentation is tinged with a little sadness, as it will be the last time Mrs Champion is here to make it, as she retires from Badgers this year. So, our congratulations go to Mrs Champion as well on her retirement and we wish her the very best for the future. The pupils receiving cufflinks are Cameron Fyfe, Jack Holmes, Will Jewitt, Jonas Laycock and James Wood.

As well as Mrs Champion, a number of other staff depart us for pastures new this year. Mr Shaun Wardle leaves us at the end of this year and we thank him for his contribution to the Business Studies department and school over the past five terms. Also leaving our Business and Economics department this year is its Head; Owen Hughes joined us in September 2012 to lead the department after a successful time at Lancaster Grammar School. Owen brought a level head, an eye for detail and an enthusiasm for his subject which was much appreciated by the pupils. Under his leadership the department has gone on to

8

Diccon Tyreman joined us as Head of History back in 2011, returning (nearly) to home from time spent teaching in London. Diccon too has had a tremendous impact in the History department, managing to square the circle of being a powerhouse of top exam grades whilst retaining a scholarly edge and a sense of studying the subject for its own sake.

Diccon is a proper historian, and those who he has taught have appreciated that love for his subject, though I suspect few ever took his advice for a spot of history on Christmas Day. More recently, Diccon has been our Head of Middle School and brought those high standards to bear on all the pupils in Year 10 and 11. For underperformers there is no place to hide; Diccon’s tenacity in expecting the best out of all of the members of the Middle School has borne fruit in the excellent GCSE results I mentioned earlier. RGS’s gain is very much Durham School’s loss, and we wish him the best of luck for the future.

The final member of the HoD triumvirate leaving us this year is Ben Brownlee. Ben joined us back in 2010 to set up the school’s brand new Psychology department. Very quickly Ben established both himself and the department as one of the standout strands of the sixth form curriculum. With his customary energy, enthusiasm and imagination, Ben fashioned an excellent department not only in terms of academic results but also in the quality of experience for the pupils. Ben’s contributions to sixth form life did not end there; he took on the role of deputy head of sixth form, focussing on pupils wishing to apply for elite courses, and also introduced our Extended Project programme, broadening and strengthening our curriculum provision. Given his evident talent in the classroom, Ben was a natural for the post of Director of Teaching and Learning, which he has held for the last three years. Ben has acted as a coach, a mentor and an advocate for staff looking to improve still further the classroom experience for all of the pupils at Durham School.

There are two other long serving members of staff leaving us this term. Paul Atkinson, the school marshal, has been with us since 2003 and has acted as the School’s Staff Instructor for the CCF at Durham as well as running site security, looking after the minibuses and the various other duties a school marshal has. He leaves with his wife Tracy and Rottweiler Harvey, who many of you will know. You may be familiar with the “petalike” phenomenon, where dogs and their owners grow to look like each other. I have rarely seen more convincing evidence than Paul and Harvey: a powerful build and fearsome reputation disguising a gentle temperament and a heart of gold. We wish all three of the Atkinson family a long and happy retirement.

Close to home for me this year is the departure of my PA, Susan Spence, who has been a loyal assistant to three

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P E E C H

D A Y

Headmasters of Durham School over the last 19 years. It is difficult to know where to start with Sue whose encyclopaedic knowledge of staff, pupils and parents will be a loss when she leaves us. Sue is one of those members of staff who acquire legendary status, and the extent of her friendships with the wider Dunelmian family pays tribute to this; she is after all sister and mother to ODs. Her efficiency, her versatility, her occasional and necessary fierceness have all made her the ideal PA over her time at the school – the second most important woman in my life – and I will miss her greatly.

Two of our governors also step down this year. Canon David Kennedy, the Cathedral Chapter’s nominee on the governing body, leaves the Cathedral to move to his new post as Vicar of Corbridge in Northumberland. We will miss his warmth, wisdom and scholarship, as I am sure the Cathedral will too, and we wish him well in his new role.

Retiring as both a governor and his role as President of the OD Society, is Ritchie Salkeld. Ritchie has served the OD Society with energy and resilience for many years both in his role and outside of it, and has been a useful representative on the board for the last three years. We look forward to welcoming his successor, OD and current parent, Quentin Anstee both to his role as President of the ODs and to him joining the Board.

So, as we come to the end of the year we look to the future.

One of the most exciting developments for the school, genuinely an historic one, is our announcement of the opening of a sister school in Qatar. Durham School for Girls, Doha, will open its doors in September of next year, but already much work has been done behind the scenes with the appointment of its principal and senior staff as well as, of course, building and fitting out what will be a state of the art school for the country. It comes at the end of many years of work, and I thank Colonel Nick Millen, our Director of Operations at the school, for his tireless efforts to make our aspirations a reality.

A British independent education, such as the one that is offered by Durham School, is one which is envied throughout the world. At a time of uncertainty between the UK and our neighbours and colleagues, education is one area in which we can claim to be world-leading and one which is a real growth industry for our country. You only need to look around

The right to keep a goat on Masters’ Green

at the city we live in to see the evidence for that at university level, but it is also true of schools. We have more and more youngsters from more and more countries wanting to come to the UK so they can experience for themselves what many other education systems aren’t able to offer. I am hugely proud that a school like Durham, with its traditions of a liberal and all-round education, will promulgate those values through a girls’ school in the Middle East and play its part in transforming the society those young women will live and work in.

Of course the relationship extends both ways, and there will be opportunities in due course for teacher exchange, pupil visits, joint projects which will only add to the educational experience of our pupils in the UK and prepare them for an increasingly international workplace. As you will hear, our guest speaker today is one of the many old Dunelmians who have spent time working overseas and this is a trend which will only continue to grow.

What is it, you may ask, about a British education system that makes it so desired around the world. Is it the academic rigour, the good behaviour, the nice uniforms? It’s much more than any of that. I believe that our education system in the UK – and indeed what we see here at Durham School – offers the perfect all-round experience: a balance between academic and extra-curricular; science and arts; progressive yet traditional. In particular, what MARKS out a Durham School education are our values: Moral Integrity, Ambition, Responsibility and Kindness. It is these qualities which will remain with our pupils long after they have walked through the Kerr arch for the last time.

So to return to where I began. For you, our leavers, the rest of your lives begin today. Take what you have learned here, both in the classroom and outside of it, and use that to make your MARK in the world. Because, that’s what old Dunelmians do.

Speech Day guests Floreat Dunelmia 2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

9

S P E E C H

D A Y

Guest Speaker Chris Elliott OD (C.1988-93) Hello. Welcome to the Annual Sauna.

I bet you’re all sitting here thinking “Oh no. I’m parked in this hot tent, with half an hour’s prize giving ceremony still to go.”

“And now there’s this guy standing in front of me looking like he’s in need of a shave. And a haircut. And wearing a tie that looks like it’s the product of the union between a barcode and a deckchair. Of all people, why him?”

Don’t worry. I know it wouldn’t really matter even if I was The Prime Minister or the Dalai Lama, because I’ve sat just where you are now, and many of the speakers I heard at those speech days both here and across the road at The Choristers’ School were really very eminent people. Indeed in my final year here I think we may have even had the Astronomer Royal! (God! This year’s a bit of a climb down, isn’t it?)

Don’t feel bad. “Why am I standing in front to you” is a fair question, and don’t think I didn’t ask it myself.

So I think we can all agree, so far, so good.

Thinking back to that speech that the Astronomer Royal gave on my final speech day here has turned out to be an immense help to me in writing this one, and there’s a very simple reason for that: I can’t remember a single word he said.

Other moments of wisdom from my school life, I absolutely do remember, but not any of those speeches. Even so, I will do my best to at least try to create some memorable moments.

With that in mind, let me make it memorable (I’ve been looking forward to this) for at least two people: Could Imogen and Zara stand up please? Come on, I know where you are.

In part I think the Governors picked me because Will Todd & Gareth Archer were busy and Alex Armstrong was washing his hair, but it was perhaps also - and this is just a guess here because one of the things I do is to tell young people like you who might be feeling a bit at a loss as to what they might want to do with their life, what you can do with your life, and what should make you feel happy and fulfilled - but more of that in a moment.

You know when Mr McNair sent you over to talk to me at the School Careers Fair, and you both bet me that I wouldn’t give you a shout out during my speech? Good. Well, I’m glad we got that cleared up. A round of applause for Imogen and Zara!

Now, whilst they get over that cruel trauma (my, this is fun), let me tell you what’s in store.

Now whereas some people would run in terror at the thought of doing a speech day speech at their old school, for many others to do so is a dream come true.

I’m going to tell you things that you will hopefully find fun, serious, uncomfortable, helpful, critical and difficult. Things that can get you ahead and give you advantage, and most importantly of all I’m going to do my best to be honest with you.

So it is for me, but not I have to confess in the way I originally dreamt it, and I’ve had this dream many times. This is just as

10

well because otherwise by now: • you’d have all revealed yourselves to be zombies, • the headmaster would have suddenly morphed into a giant vampire chicken, • and I would have just looked down to discover I wasn’t wearing any clothes.

As a proud former member of the Heretics Society I’m going

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P E E C H

to say some things some might find a bit radical, even though they’re really not. You’re looking intrigued now, aren’t you?

So aside from that fact that all those things seem quite cool, I’ve said a few things that were vaguely funny and I’ve already publicly embarrassed two of you, why should you give me your attention?

My life has been an unusual one in many ways, and I have what is called a ‘portfolio career’. First off in the portfolio I’m a Headhunter and Human Performance expert. Don’t panic. That does not mean that I’m about to come and chop of your noggin.

A headhunter is someone who finds and places very senior people in top executive positions in companies. I was lucky enough to learn my trade in the preeminent headhunting company in the world, and then go off and found my own company. What that means is that I’ve spent over two decades assessing some of the top business people in the country, and indeed the world, and so I know what makes someone successful in big business and what doesn’t.

The second role in my portfolio came about because I came across so many people in the wrong jobs, simply because they hadn’t had good careers advice. Then, when I saw the quality of the current major careers advice companies, I decided it was about time I founded my own one that could do a lot better, and it’s called Life Launch.

We use a team of industry experts and the most advanced psychometric profiling method available today - one all but unknown in the UK - that was originally designed to select American jet fighter pilots, and NASA Astronauts, before it was adapted for business.

In other words, at Life Launch we’re able to discover what actually makes you tick, and therefore what the best things are for you to consider doing with your life in order to be happy and fulfilled. It’s immensely satisfying and meaningful work, and we just love doing it.

Talking of doing things I love, in the other part of my life - my other career - I do stuff like this: [Chris then went into the audience, sought out Sue Spence and sang Amor Ti Vieta from Giordano’s Fedora to her, unaccompanied, in order to wish her well in her retirement after 19 years as the Headmaster’s Secretary.] Was that memorable?

Yes! I’ve beaten the Astronomer Royal!!

As you can see I’m also an opera singer. At 28 I gave up my big successful job in the City that would likely have made me a millionaire and I went to Music College and Opera School for four years whilst running my new business at the same time.

I’m someone who found a way to be “conventionally successful” doing something I enjoy, whilst also pursuing my passion, something fewer people get the chance to do than they should.

And so, with my combined knowledge of both the creative and traditional industries, I can tell you about some of the key

D A Y

skills you will all need to acquire for what is an increasingly unpredictable future.

By the by, this isn’t just for the leavers, so year nines upwards, pay attention. Well come on then, pay attention! Thank you.

THEMES I’ve two, overlapping themes I’d like to focus on: The first is Confidence for Life, and what I believe you need to do to obtain it.

The second: what the future of work looks like, and the increasing importance within it of Creativity, including revealing to you Durham School’s secret weapon that you can use to maximise your success.

And, if I’ve time I’d like to offer a few general pearls of wisdom for you to pick up from the end of this speech and see if you think any of them shiny enough for you to want to pop into your pocket and keep with you.

CONFIDENCE FOR LIFE In my portfolio life I’ve had the privilege to work with top business people, singers, actors, musicians, film stars, sportspeople and all kinds of other fabulous creative types.

In doing so I’ve noticed some common traits in the ones that have been the most successful, and crucially also the most happy, and with your permission I’d like to share them with you.

Those key attributes are: Authenticity, self-knowledge, kindness (not always associated with big CEOs, but nonetheless true), awareness of any entitlement & privilege they may have and how to deal with that, vulnerability, and their ability to accept and embrace it and all of this as well as being in the right career in life, all leading to the true driver of their success - their consequent happiness.

VULNERABILITY & AUTHENTICITY Broadly speaking, I have found that there are two types of confidence. Outward confidence, and the inner confidence that comes from self-knowledge.

With the first type you can fake it till you make it, and that can be a good temporary skill to learn as long as you don’t start faking it permanently, but confidence ultimately comes from the Inner version.

Inner Confidence comes from being authentic, and true to yourself, and that can be difficult, because there is so much pressure placed on us these days to feel that we’re not good enough: That we’re not cool enough, or thin enough, or built enough, rich enough, beautiful enough, smart enough, or promoted enough, to which we should all say -“Enough!”

And so much of this pressure is viewed through the prism of other people’s lives, whether it be celebrities in the media, or people we actually know on Social Media, who are of course in the main portraying themselves as far cooler, thinner, richer, smarter and more beautiful than they actually are too.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

1 1

S P E E C H

D A Y

And the reality, of course, is that we are all works in progress, but all with our own unique combinations of talents, skills and abilities (I truly believe this), and as long as we recognise that, and as long as we all keep striving to be the best that we can be, then we’ll be living a life that is true to ourselves and to the world. In other words, we’ll be authentic.

And we all respond to authenticity, don’t we? Because if you think about it, it’s only when we are being authentic with one another that we truly connect. In friendships, in love, in school, in the workplace, you will only truly connect with people, and reveal all these fabulous unique qualities that make you, you, and them, them, if you are authentic. To be true to others, you must first be true to yourself.

To do that takes self-knowledge, it takes courage, an awareness of where we are coming from in life, kindness to and compassion for others and for ourselves, and, crucially, the ability to be vulnerable. Which can be, as we used to say, ‘scary monsters’.

Courage is seen these days, often, as quite a macho quality.

One of physically putting yourself in the line of fire or danger, and indeed such things are courageous, but there are many forms of courage, and most of them are very private and personal.

What not many of us realise is that the original definition of the word ‘Courage’ comes from the Latin word ‘Cor’ meaning ‘heart’. For those of you studying French, it’s where the word ‘coeur’ comes from. And the heart in the ancient and mediaeval world was seen - as it is now - as the seat of feelings. (Oh, please God no! Make him stop! He’s talking about feelings!)

In other words exhibiting courage meant being able to tell the story of who you are with your whole heart. And in order to do anything well in life, we have to commit to it “whole-heartedly”, don’t we? In other words, we open up our heart, unprotected.

Something that we instinctively do as children, but then often fail to maintain as we grow up.

And doing that can be incredibly liberating, but it can also be incredibly scary. To be willing to say “I love you” first, to try something where there are no guarantees of success, to breath through the worst that life can throw at you, or to invest in friendships or romantic relationships that may or may not work out. All this can be pant-whettlingly petrifying. But it’s necessary, and it’s liberating, because once you do that, one of two things will happen. Either it will work out, or it won’t.

And if it doesn’t, and you crash out, you’ll find that you’re still here, and that, counterintuitively, gives you some of the greatest confidence that you can have, because once you’ve hit rock bottom, once your worst fears on something have been realised, and you find that you’re still alive, you’re still breathing, and the world still turns, you know that no matter how far you fall the next time, you’ll still be okay, because vulnerability is the very root of courage.

Courage is not an absence of fear, it is the presence of it and

1 2

the decision to go ahead in spite of it anyway. And in doing so, you will truly get to know yourself, and all of those things will give you the confidence to achieve whatever you want to, and remain true to yourself whilst doing so. To put it another way, in the immortal words of no less a cultural figure than Princess Elsa, ‘Let it go’.

HAPPINESS A little story for you. A primary school teacher once asked his class to write down what they wanted to be when they grew up. Some wrote down astronaut, actor, singer, scientist and so on.

And then the teacher noticed that one of the girls had written down the word “happy”, so he went up to her and he said, “Mary, I think you misunderstood the assignment”, and Mary said “Sir. I think you’ve misunderstood life”.

We only have one life and it is far too precious to waste on being malcontented or miserable.

My old and dear Director of Music Nick Gleed got incredibly angry one time in choir practice, and when he got incredibly angry he often got caught between two words: “But?” and ‘What?”, and thus the resulting sound that emerged from his mouth at considerable volume was “BWHAT!!”. It was at that point that you knew something volcanic was coming. He said to us “Listen! If you think that this is a rehearsal for life, it’s not.

You are living it NOW!”, and this really hit me, and woke me up to the fact that I had to get cracking in life.

As a nation we spend more time at work than we have ever done before and as this continues it’s going to be more and more central to how happy we are therefore going to be.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P E E C H

A large survey was done recently about job satisfaction. In mainland Europe 58% said that if they could start again they would choose a different job, and in the UK it was 68%!

That means that today, over two thirds of adults in this country don’t feel they’re doing what they should be doing in life.

Our own company research has shown that as much as 85% of them went into the wrong career for the wrong reasons. Either they drifted into it, their parents did it, their was family pressure to do it, it was seen as financially necessary to pursue a certain career over another, or it was simply seen as providing security.

Only 15 % followed their heart, and most of those are the ones who rose to the top. As Steve Jobs said. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life”. Three or four years at University is a long time and at least fifty thousand pounds to spend on the wrong subject, so you really need to make sure you’re studying the right degree to put you on the right path in life.

Young people are currently being mocked in the media for having “quarter life crises” when in fact these crises are symptomatic of the fact young people experience huge pressure to try and choose a career so early on, when in most instances they couldn’t possibly know what that career means in terms of its day-to-day reality.

So short of coming to see us in order to know what career(s) you should think about pursuing in life, here’s a bit of advice.

BEWARE THE STEREOTYPE Research shows that you, along with most adults, will currently think of most jobs in terms of the stereotypes of those jobs that are served up to you on TV and in the movies, because that’s all you have to go on rather than the realities of what they actually are, and no-one can blame you for that.

So, let me give you some shocking truths: No spies - and I’ve met quite a few - have the lifestyle of James Bond, nor the lack of paperwork. Lawyers are far less likely to spend their days winning dramatic court room battles at the eleventh hour, and far more likely to spend them redrafting things like shop leases.

And though some medics spend their days performing heroic last minute life saving surgeries, most are more likely to spend their days as GPs looking at the business end of Mrs Blogg’s bottom. You get the picture. Well, not of Mrs Blogg’s bottom I hope, as she might object, but you know what I mean.

D A Y

THE FUTURE OF THE WORKPLACE The fundamental truth is that the workplace has changed exponentially, and also what is therefore actually required to succeed in it.

At the current projected official retirement age, those of you leaving School today are set to retire around the year 2075.

You are the first year born into a new millennium, and no-one has a clue what the world will look like or what you’ll all be doing. I mean, I know what I’ll be doing. I’ll be dead.

But you lovely young people will I hope still be very much alive and kicking, and most of you will very likely be in jobs, careers and indeed potentially entire industries that have yet to be invented. A.I. will be one enormous disruptor, the consequence of which we don’t yet know. And that’s just the start.

Jobs for life are almost extinct. The only job security that you will ultimately have is your repeated re-employability.

CREATIVITY The key skills you will need for work life are radically different to what they used to be, and yet we have a national education framework that is moving further away from helping children to acquire those skills - unless you go somewhere like Durham School. Why do I say that? You’ve only experienced Durham School, why would things be different elsewhere?

Well, If you speak to almost anyone in business right now, they’ll say exactly the same thing as The World Economic Forum has said: that by as soon as 2020 it will be one of top three most important skills for future jobs, alongside complex problem solving and critical thinking, and the “it” I’m referring to is Creativity.

Companies all over the world are realising this. The company ranked as the number one most desirable company to work for in the world, Google, realised this ages ago, changing its policy from recruiting only STEM graduates to those from the Arts & Humanities (and who wouldn’t want to work for a company where you can leave the office via a Helter-Skelter?)

My advice to you, therefore, even if you’re in year 9, is to start doing your research and to start asking around.

Read the careers section of the UCAS website. Ask your parents, ask your friends’ parents, ask your parents’ friends, and the friends of all of those friends, and their butler, niece, tennis partner, Great Auntie Norah and whoever else you can to find out as many angles on what you can do in life and and why you may or may not want to do it.

Go and get some work experience. Even if it’s just making the tea, being in a particular work environment will give you a good feel for whether you might like it or not. The future of work, and the increasing importance within it of Creativity.

Chris sings to Mrs Spence

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

1 3

S P E E C H

And yet since 2010 there has been a 28% drop in children taking creative subjects at GCSE-level in the State sector, not least because of the dreadfully misguided direction of the EBac. What that means is there has never been a better time to gain an advantage from the broader education that an independent school like Durham can offer. And here is how you can do it.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC Maths and English are perceived as basic skills. And rightly so.

And I would argue that so, now, in 2018, should the Creative subjects be. So, here’s the bit where I get to talk about Durham School’s secret weapon.

In the car over here my darling mother, sitting in the front row (hopefully proud as punch, but by the end of this speech we’ll see), reminded me as she often does about ‘The Little Bill” from school. You know the one I mean, parents? The little bill that’s actually huge because of all of the uniform that has had to be purchased across the year.

The reason that Durham school was once in the Guinness Book of Records for the most variations on school uniform per head of pupil is that each extra-curricular activity has a tie, and there are hundreds of them as you know.

You should open up your brave and vulnerable hearts to as many of those extra-curricular experiences as you can possibly gain, because experience is what broadens us. And the Arts are particularly useful. Now, I believe that everyone should do drama, art, dance, and debating. They all have huge benefits, and if you’re not doing those yet, then summon up that courage and do them.

However, I want to focus particularly on music as an example, because there is no other subject that has such a beneficial effect on so many other subjects, indeed all other subjects, in the curriculum, and I shall bring science to my aid to explain this.

We often think of sport requiring much greater activity than music, but in fact, musicians are very far from inactive. It’s just that most of the activity is internal, taking place hidden away in their brains, more so than in almost any other human activity we know about.

Scan your brain doing maths or physics or sport and the corresponding parts of the brain will light up as active, but have them play music and it will light up the scanner as if a pyromaniac had just highjacked a bonfire night.

Extensive studies have now shown what was long suspected: that learning to play a musical instrument and to read music can actually restructure your brain. In other words, it allows you to do your own brain surgery.

It boosts the engagement of brain networks that are responsible for decision-making, focus and attention. It has been proven beyond doubt to impact positively on children’s social, emotional and cognitive development, even after only a short while of study. It accelerates maturity in areas of the brain

1 4

D A Y

responsible for sound processing, language development, speech perception and reading skills.

It gives you higher levels of executive brain function, and what this means is that the ‘musical version of you’ gets better at planning, strategising, attention to detail, and requires simultaneous analysis of aspects both cognitive and emotional, which is all quite a tricky feat for your brain to pull off.

This ability also has an impact on how our memory systems work, and here’s the real kicker: the ‘musical version of you’ exhibits enhanced memory functions, collecting, storing and retrieving memories more quickly and efficiently than the ‘nonmusical version of you’ does.

Musicians also appear to use these highly connected up brains to give each memory multiple tags, such as conceptual, emotional, audio, and visual or contextual tags, just like a really good Internet Search Engine does.

Which means that if you study music you are more likely to remember facts and be able to problem solve, which means you’ll do better in your exams!

Because of all this, the brains of the young who study music are on average bigger than the ones who don’t, and more mature both intellectually and also emotionally.

(I wondered if the size of people’s brains in the opera world had anything to do with this, but I then realised that it was just the fact we all had massive egos.)

SO WHAT STOPS PEOPLE DOING MUSIC AT SCHOOL? This speaks to my point about vulnerability. As we move into our teenage years, we sadly become more negatively aware of ourselves in relation to others. Stifled and hampered by embarrassment we think that because we’re not good at something in the first place we might as well play safe and give up.

There is also the myth, popularised by Hollywood and the media, that creative people are cut from a different cloth than normal folk – that creativity is something you either have a talent for it, or you don’t - and that’s simply not true.

Some things people do indeed have an initial talent for, but that doesn’t mean it’s what they should actually do in life.

Conversely there are people who initially might be brutally bad at something but can become very good at it (trust me, you should have heard some of the people I started with at music college who sounded like cats being put through a particularly rusty mangle and now have successful careers).

We think we are impressed by talent, but in fact we are impressed by the application of talent to hard work and the ability to have a go. We are impressed by the effort, and the determination. Which produces the skill.

And skill is the product of endless hours of, effectively, making a right prat of yourself, be it a sportsperson, musician , writer or

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P E E C H

D A Y

Trust me, you’re not. Why? Because if you really were tone deaf it would mean you couldn’t have conversations with anyone because you wouldn’t be able to understand and interpret the cadences, or tones, or inflections in their voice.

All not being good at it means is that you need to learn some technique, and practice it, just the same as sport. If you can speak, you can sing.

The conclusion of all of this? Just because you’re good at sport doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still do, and be expected to do, music and the arts, just as the reverse is true too. To think any other way in 2018 is just bonkers, and you will throw away so much this fabulous place has to offer you and a major advantage in life if you don’t do music. I shall now dismount my hobby horse.

Chris Elliott OD and John Malden OD

visual artist. If you’re really brilliant at something, you will have had to really work at it. So what we’re really impressed by is the commitment. Talent doesn’t come into it.

Agreed, it is easier on average to reach a level of expertise where you look good on the rugby pitch than it is to sound good playing a piano concerto, but acknowledging that at first you’re going to suck at something can be very liberating. It takes the pressure off, and allows you to pursue something that is of universal benefit to anyone who does it.

Just like sport.

I also believe that there is no better way to learn co-operation and team work than through music, and here comes the possibly controversial bit. I realise that this a rather crude comparison, but in team sports you need to work together potentially only 51% of the time to get it right in order to win a game. However, in a choir or an orchestra you need to work together to get it right 100% of the time, every time, or it will very quickly sound like a cacophony, and that’s before you’ve really started on the finer points of the musical interpretation.

In other words, musical teamwork is a whole different ball game, so if you want to get better at team sports, do music!

Learning an instrument doesn’t have to be an end in itself, either. It can be a means to and end just like studying GCSE biology but not taking it to A-Level.

No parent I’ve ever heard complains to their child “I spent all that money on your maths classes, but where’s my hedge fund algorithm damnit!”, so neither should you be concerned if your child learns an instrument for a few years, and then decides to put it down. Sad though that is, the benefit will already have been gained, and they can always pick it up again down the road. It’s something you have for life.

You don’t even have to take up an instrument. Singing is just as good, and just because at first you might not sound like Tom Jones or Beyoncé, doesn’t mean you can’t do it because you’re ‘tone deaf’.

RANDOM PEARLS OF WISDOM Let me wind up by giving you some random pearls of wisdom.

Here is my motto which has served me incredibly well so far since I discovered it. If you feel an achievement might be out of reach, try embracing this: “You don’t actually have to be good at something in life, you just have to be less rubbish than most other people.”

Remember that the perfect is often the enemy of the good.

Remember that life is what happens to you in between your plans. Don’t plan too far ahead and fix your gaze too fervently on the distance or you might miss the important shiny thing out of the corner of your eye.

As my dad advised me, “Wear life like a loose garment”.

(I’ll let you think about that one).

To be old and wise you first must be young and stupid. Don’t worry that you don’t feel as grown up as you’re told you should be. It’s invariably less fun for a start, and how are you supposed to know how to act your age when you’ve never been this age before?

Comfort zones are lovely places to live, but nothing grows there. If you want to grow, get out of your comfort zone. If you’re the smartest person in the room, then you’re in the wrong room. Life is a journey not a destination - so if you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it.

Avoid the “If only I hads” and the “What Ifs” of life by trying as many different things as you can. “Be yourself;”, as Oscar Wilde said, because “everyone else is already taken”.

And finally, the real secret that you will discover quite soon after you leave school, is this: that adults are just kids who have to pay tax.

And if your remember nothing else from this speech, be true to yourself and to others, be brave, be foolish, remember how generally fabulous you all are, and you’ll be more than fine.

And what’s more, Durham will indeed flourish.

Floreat Dunelmia

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

1 5

S P E E C H

D A Y

Head of School’s address Georgina Brown (Y13, MacLeod) Throughout our history, people have taken risks and made enormous sacrifices in order to have their voices heard, and it will not have escaped your attention that one such group, the Suffragette Movement, celebrated 100 years ago this year since obtaining the right to vote. At a time when women were expected to conform to certain social rules and regulations - the voice of the woman in public and private life was often silenced. The efforts of the Suffragettes in trying to speak up for their right to vote were repeatedly thwarted and cast aside, causing them to resort to committing extreme and disruptive acts which included violence as a way of raising awareness, initiating conversations. They sought and took advantage of the tools at their disposal to establish for themselves and other women a platform … a way for their voices to be heard.

These women, whose vision was for equality and for women to have the right to vote may never have foreseen how their acts of disobedience and disruption would change history, first when middle-class women were granted the right to vote, and in subsequent years when all women were given

1 6

that opportunity. They set the ball rolling in the early 20th Century, but it has rolled onwards and onwards since, and change in society, culture and attitudes has been a feature of the intervening hundred years. Today, we celebrate the rise of, among others, the TIME’S UP movement, established in 2018 to support women, men, people of colour, and the LGBTQ community who have less access to media platforms and funds to speak up about harassment. Surely, in the modern day, we should be able to say, that people fighting for a voice is ‘last week’s news.’ But, don’t you think that the fact that we can’t say that - speaks volumes in itself?

Feminists would argue that, even a century after those seeds were sown, with regard to equality and voice, there is work still to be done. But it would be wrong to conclude that it is only women’s voices which need to be supported, amplified, for the good of all... Men, and young men in particular, we are told, are equally trapped in their silence, unable, unwilling and unsupported when it comes to expressing their emotions and concerns about their mental health and wellbeing. The Heads Together and “it’s ok to say”

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P E E C H

campaigns have highlighted the reality of this fear of appearing to be ‘less of a man’ by talking about feelings and worries, and it is another epidemic of silence that needs to be broken for the good of all.

It is said that, ‘when the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.’ With this in mind there is still a long way to go, but we are on the right path. All of us in this marquee can help to achieve equality, to allow people to have a voice, and to speak on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves.

We can share the messages of our predecessors and create an ambitious, responsible and kind chorus of voices in harmony with one another.

Durham school’s rich history provides a platform for this.

Just think: we have over 600 years of history within this school and we today are still sharing the messages of our predecessors - through music by singing Floreat Dunelmia, and through sport by maintaining the tradition of sports such as rugby, cricket and rowing. However the school has also demonstrated its ability to listen. Listen to the voices bringing change – in 1985 girls were introduced into 6th form, which was then developed as in 1998 girls were introduced into the junior school, thus allowing new traditions to be founded, and successes to be enjoyed, through the likes of hockey and netball. Over the years, Durham School has demonstrated its versatility and adaptability in many different respects, ranging from the classroom (with the development of the performing arts, politics and psychology), to the Houses (with international pupils from over 20 different countries around the world).

Diversity is a reality of our community, and we are so fortunate to be able to live, learn and thrive here.

Durham School allows us all the unique opportunity to have a voice, and it is something we shouldn’t take for granted.

As a school body, we can become a community of voices, recognising multiple issues that need to be talked about. We can express our identity, our passions and our pride through music, where the fiercely competitive house music events provide the opportunity to relay messages through another form of communication. Napoleon Bonaparte commented that ‘music is the voice that tells us that the human race is greater than it knows,’ and I am sure that every pupil here who has stood and performed in the Sage or in the magnificent Cathedral will identify with that idea. As a school body we are a community that provides security, solidarity and support; it is a place where voices are heard, where people are listened to, and where speaking up and speaking out are an ingredient of progress.

I have only come to recognise the power of having a voice fully in this last year. The position of being Head of School has given me a platform to speak my beliefs but also speak on behalf of those who can’t - this may be due to lack of confidence in an individual’s own voice, or even because the issues that need to be discussed are outside of the security that the school provides. The school aims to help us to develop confidence for life, something which, I admit, before this year I had taken for granted. When reminiscing with the year 13 leavers, from those who have been devoted to the school from Bow, to those who arrived for 6th form, we can

D A Y

all acknowledge how much we have changed – from timid, unsure, young and very very small children... as you can see, some of us are still struggling with the small part - to the strong, kind-natured young adults I hope you see before you. Durham School has given us all the confidence to have our own voice, opinions and beliefs – Something I think our predecessors, who fought for us all to have a voice, and opportunity, would be proud of.

As I prepare to step down as Head of School, I would just like to take a brief moment to thank my deputies. They say that behind every strong man is a stronger woman, but hey, look how times have changed... as I can’t help but remark on the fact that this woman had not one but two great men to support her. I can’t thank Ben and Joe enough for their steady dependability and their strength. The same goes to my monitor team, all of whom have worked tirelessly behind the scenes. I also want to wish the best of luck to all the year 13 leavers, and any others who are leaving the school. I wish you all the best in your future endeavours and I look forward to hearing of what everyone achieves. Whilst on this note, I also want to wish the future head of school, Archie O’Dair, deputies, Heads of houses, and monitors all the best of luck next year. You have all been given a position of responsibility and a platform where you can share your beliefs. Please use your voice wisely, to benefit the school community and to speak on behalf of those who can’t. Remember that you have two ears and one mouth; our biology is telling us to listen more than we speak.

“when the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.”

And finally, it would be remiss of me to ignore my final duty of Head of school – in acknowledging the Head of School’s traditions. For those who were here last year, you may remember Alexander Smith set me a challenge, in which I’m sorry to say I’ve failed to achieve...in growing a beard.

Unfortunately – if that’s the right term to use - I don’t smoke and so a pipe wouldn’t have been appropriate. And so my final privilege as head of school is to graze a goat on Masters Green. As some may know this is easier said than done.

However being the most realistic option out of the three, I thought I’d make it happen for you all today - with the help of a few amazing Macleod girls backing me. Before you leave, I encourage you all to admire the goat that is currently grazing on Master’s Green. He is very friendly and is apparently very photogenic!

Although I’m concluding my speech on what I hope is a memorable ending, I ask you all to also remember the key message of it. We all have a voice...an opportunity to make a change. Please don’t shy away from using it, as we are all well equipped to take on the challenges that life throws our way. Have strength in yourself and in your own voice to make a positive change in the world.

Thank you.

Floreat Dunelmia.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

17

Pastoral

20

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

P A S T O R A L

From the Chaplain…

The Chaplaincy life of Durham School continues to thrive.

Within Chapel itself, we have enjoyed a good variety of guest speakers this year ranging from local singer/songwriter Sam Slatcher, who campaigns on behalf of refugees, to ex-army officer now aspiring vicar, Rachael Phillips. For the first time, each House has been asked to provide a “House Sacristan”.

These have be trained up to work as an acolyte, crucifer, thurifer, and reader in Chapel and the Cathedral. This has worked well and generated considerable enthusiasm amongst the pupils.

The Charity committee, started last year, has continued to make decisions on which Charities the school supports and is tasked with coming up with fund raising ideas. This has proved to be a highly valuable learning experience for a

number of pupils and helped them to develop their project management skills. We have continued to support the excellent work of the Zambezi Sunrise Trust (founded by John Gillette OD), as well as the British Red Cross, MacMillan, Children in Need, Charlie Bear Cancer Care, Meningitis Now, and the Lullaby Trust.

Confirmation classes have also been a highlight, culminating in a very moving dawn confirmation service in the Cathedral on Easter Day that saw a number of pupils and one parent confirmed.

Fr S. McMurtary Chaplain

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

21

P A S T O R A L

Sports Day 2018

School House I must begin this year’s Dunelmian report by thanking all of the Bungites community for the very warm and supportive welcome my family and I received upon moving into the House.

I have long since thought that School House has a special place in the hearts of the boys and parents who pass through these old corridors and, having spent a year in the house, I can certainly see why.

The term got off to a frantic start with House Music dominating the boys’ time. A suitable song was quickly chosen and the boys set about learning both the words and the art of singing. Dan Taylor and Jonny Anstee did an outstanding job preparing the house for what was a superb evening in the Cathedral. Our part

song won their category and this was followed by a superb solo performance from Piers Oxenham on the saxophone. Going into the crucial Hymn and Unisong the boys were well placed but were narrowly pipped at the post by a deserving Macleod House. Finishing second was an outstanding achievement and gives us cause for much optimism going forward.

Midway through the term we hosted former Bungites in the Common Room. This was an excellent afternoon filled with much reminiscing and really heartfelt affection towards the house. It was lovely to meet so many former Bungites and I do hope that this is the first of many such events.

“The house has been superbly led by Stavros Gidopoulos who was supported by an excellent team of monitors”

House BBQs were held, as always, on the final evening of the Christmas term. We had a lovely evening and it was a tremendous celebration of the boys’ achievements throughout the year. As is often the case on such evenings the entertainment took a variety of forms with the year 10 public speaking competition a particular highlight; watching Matron stand in front of the house was a sight to behold and one I am sure will live long in the memory. The evening ended with drinks and ‘stories’ in front of the fire in Private Side and I do hope a good night was had by all.

Canoeing trip

22

The New Year began with the great news that one of the boys, Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, had been offered a three year 2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

P A S T O R A L

House BBQ

contract with the Newcastle Falcons. Such great news filters through the house and the term got off to a strong start. This was one of many sporting highlights from throughout the year and I am always very proud to see the boys representing the School in any way. I must mention the school performance of Oliver! which was simply superb. Will Palmer-Muttitt (Y8, Bungites) played Oliver and gave a brilliant performance.

Stavros Gidopoulos as Bill Sykes another notable performance.

House competitions seemed to come thick and fast after Christmas and we enjoyed considerable success on many fronts.

To go with a blistering win in House Cycling and a tough win in House Rugby, the boys claimed House Athletics, Junior House Cricket and Senior House Cricket. The three latter competitions

all taking place on the same day – a day that became known as ‘Super Thursday’. Pride, passion and determination aplenty on so many fronts – long may it continue.

I will finish by wishing this year’s leaver all the very best as they take the next step in their lives. The house has been superbly led

by Stavros Gidopoulos who was supported by an excellent team of monitors. Special mention must go to Dan Taylor for all that he contributed this year and I thank all of the Upper Sixth for their support of the house over the years. I must also thank Alex Dryden and Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti who, as senior boarders, helped me tremendously and were always a source of support and good humour. Take care boys and remember to call in should you be passing.

House Cricket

School House boys advise England Manager

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

23

P A S T O R A L

Poole House When I look back now on my last year in Poole, what a phenomenal year it was!

What makes the School function is the house system, and I want to say a really big thank you to all the Poole House staff for the fantastic support we received throughout – especially to Mr Reith, to Dr Smith, to my tutor Mr Brownlee, and to Elaine and Janice – who made it all such incredible fun and really made it a home from home.

I was blessed to have a totally brilliant monitor team supporting me throughout the year. I had a superb set of school monitors on my team in Joe Stelling, Cameron Fyfe, Aleks Gorgadze, Steven Leung and Danny Paterson, and they were ably supported by the house monitors Niall Greenlaw, Will Jewitt, Ziriu Liu, Rob Milbanke, Sam Newton and Fraser Reith. Anything that needed done, we were immediately on it, and we got very good at working out what was coming next and being ready for it. I was pleased when teachers were telling us how excellent we were, and I felt proud that we had done such a good job.

Learning how to manage people, and to plan how to manage and execute projects and tasks through a team of people, should, I hope, turn out to be good preparation for the business world.

I shall miss everyone in my year. As a group, we got on very well with each other, set a good example, worked hard and led both in the house and in the school, with Will Jewitt as Captain of Rugby, Joe Stelling as Captain of Boats, Cameron Fyfe as Captain of Cricket, and Joe Stelling and Danny Paterson as Heads of the CCF. Seasons We learned to appreciate just how seasonal Britain is this year.

We went from purple skies to blue skies over Poole at night time, and from sunshine to rain to snow, and then more snow,

Poole House leavers during the day. That meant a lot of sledging and snowballs.

We even managed to use the weather as inspiration for one of our chapel services, when we spoke about the race between Scott and Amundsen to reach the South Pole, a good example of how ambition needs to be matched by responsibility, moral integrity and kindness if you are to succeed.

Valete and Salvete The year had its share of sad moments too. At the end of the Christmas term we said a very fond farewell to our matron Elaine Arkley, a really super, caring woman who looked after us, had great banter and was a wise counsellor. We also said a very emotional goodbye half way through the summer term to Mr Brownlee, our tutor in Year 13. As a tutor, he was a legend, a man who always went the extra mile to support us, and who helped us through the process of applying to university and making sure we were on track academically to get there.

We were delighted in the summer term to meet our new matron, Janice, who has a very friendly, caring manner and quickly made a very positive impact. It was great to have regular baking in the house and a feast every week - she really understands that the way to a boy’s heart is through his stomach!

House Life

Boarders Activities With a different array of activities on every evening – swimming, basketball, badminton, football, gym – there was always plenty of active things to do, and the weekend activities programme was very wide-ranging: paintballing, go-karting, climbing, kayaking, trampolining, cinema trips, shopping trips in York and Newcastle, taking First Aid qualifications – even sausagemaking!

Evening Events One spectacular evening was the Sixth Form dinner, with dancing, a photo booth, a karaoke, and even a rendition of Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head from Mr Gerrard.

Winter at Poole House

24

Another highlight was the international dinner, a super evening with great food, great company and great entertainment.

Groups of our international students, and individual students, from all houses, gave excellent performances, singing, reading poems, performing music and providing all-round excellent entertainment. It was a really memorable evening, and thanks to Aleks and Isaac particularly for hosting the evening so perfectly.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

P A S T O R A L

House Competitions

House Music The best house event of the whole year, as ever, was the House Music competition. And what a stunning evening! The boys absolutely loved it, and congratulations to Macleod for winning the House Music with such exquisite performances. We were proud that we had the opportunity to close the event this year with Circle of Life, a piece we had worked on a good deal, and we were very pleased with how we performed that. So many people came up to say how we had moved them to tears.

Particularly well done to Niall Greenlaw for his solo lead-in: Nants ingonyama bagithi baba! It was also delightful to see quite a number of ODs from recent years attending – and supporting the house. Well done to everyone for working so tirelessly to make it such a special night, and especially well done to Joe Stelling and Danny Paterson for arranging the music and running all the rehearsals.

Dunelm The Dunelm was more challenging than ever this year since we started on top ground which made the last section of the whole run the gruelling uphill stretch. The boys recognised the need to prove themselves, and rose to the challenge. Congratulations to Will Henderson for winning the Removes run, to Jack Moralee for coming third in the Swainston, and to Will Jewitt for his fifth place in the Dunelm Run. Athletics: Sports Day Sports Day was very well contested, with some good running and competing from some of our strong athletes – Ewan Greenlaw, Callum Brown, Rob Milbanke, Lorenzo Selvarajah, Filip Topic and Will Henderson for example. Though there were plenty of winners in individual events, we did not win overall.

One event at the end was particularly memorable, though: after waiting eight years, Poole House finally won back the staff 4x100 relay trophy!

House Swimming Inter-House Swimming was not our best competition this year, though Joe Hogan, Paddy Kell, Phil Greenbank, Na’il Goodwin and Lorenzo Previati deserve special mention for competing so well. While we gave it our all, the plain fact was that the other houses had far more team swimmers than we did. It was nonetheless a very good house event, but I think the only way we could have brought home gold was if they gave out the medals for team spirit!

House Cycling We enjoyed the opportunity to compete in the Inter-House Cycling, with live commentary adding to the atmosphere and egging us on: here again though, we came second.

House Spirit We were a welcoming house this year. We welcomed two Chinese winter camps into our boarding community, made sure they all integrated well and helped ensure they all had a good time. We were delighted when, on their last evening, they gave us a very charming evening of entertainment, including presentations, music and dance.

I also thought we were a very caring house all year. We cared well for each other, and we tried to embody the school’s values of moral integrity, ambition, responsibility and kindness.

One example: in one house assembly, the Year 9 boys spoke individually about how they had all gone home and designed and cooked a meal for their families. Their parents had even given them feedback on the quality of the meal, what they had done well, and what they could improve for next time.

House Suppers I will certainly miss Poole House. It is impossible to describe the spirit of the house and the effect it has on you. At the start of the year, everyone gels together as they prepare for the house music pieces. At the end of the year, everyone is partying like mad at house barbecues: we had gladiators, bungee ropes, electronic basketball and a penalty shoot-out this year at our gothic circus themed party! And in between there’s an endless series of magic moments. Weekly feasts with Janice, cooking moon cake for the Chinese mid-Autumn festival, lunchtime football in the back garden, croquet on the lawn on a balmy summer’s evening, pizzas, monitors’ meals with Mr Reith, dressing up day, dressing down day, the atmosphere at Christmas with decorations everywhere and little gnome houses in unexpected corners, house suppers, house entertainments (the Kahoot! was hilarious), and of course working out with the guys at the gym!

Filip Topic, Head of Poole House 2017-2018

House Rugby On paper we should have won the House Rugby, having the lion’s share of first team players, and while we beat Caffinites quite comfortably, we lost a tight game against School House.

House Football The Inter-House Football competition was fiercely contested. We played pretty well, with Sol Bell calmly taking on the defenders and putting the ball in the back of the net to put us 1-0 up against School House. Thanks to man-of-the-match Jeffrey Lo’s fine saves, we managed to keep a clean sheet which put us into the final against Caffinites. Here, however, an unlucky rebound combined with some poor moments in defence meant we went down 1-0.

Sixth Form Dinner

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

25

P A S T O R A L

Caffinites Lego club

The Caffinites Maintaining the prestige and success that The Caffinites has built over recent years was always going to be a hard task, however I feel we have managed to achieve it. Whether it has been in House events or general behaviour around school, we have given maximum effort to meet the standards that we have always aimed for.

The first whole House event of the year was House Singing, held for the first time in the Cathedral. Following our victory last year, we knew the pressure was on and therefore began practising early, with Ben Pulman and Adam Morris coordinating our rehearsals. On the night of the event, we gave maximum effort, with Ben leading the unison, small group and hymn sections, where we sang ‘Carrying the Banner’, ‘Cheerleader’ and ‘Jerusalem’ respectively. Credit must go to Alex Raine who won the solo event. Although the final result didn’t go as planned, the event certainly was enjoyable and pulled the House closer together, as it always does.

The following inter-house event was House Cross Country, which has certainly been my favourite event this year. After many cancellations due to poor weather, the run was uncharacteristically held in sunshine. With the Juniors claiming

26

third place and the Intermediates finishing in second, it was all to play for going into the Seniors race. As we have done for many years now, The Caffinites dominated the Dunelm, which ranges from years 11 to 13. We claimed the top five places, with 9 of the top 10 runners being Caffinites boys, which is an incredible result. Once again, James Hughes won the race, completing a staggering achievement of winning every House Cross Country in his time at school, including when he was at Bow. With this, we won the event, which was our first inter-house competition win of the year, a great achievement.

Congratulations must also go to Mr Wallace, who won the fiercely contested teachers’ race.

A favourable memory of mine this year has been our House Supper, which brought with it the highly anticipated return of house entertainment. Following our meal in Big School, and the presentation of colours and tutor presents, the House settled to watch the entertainment provided by each year.

Performances ranged from a recreation of the game ‘Fruit Ninja’, in which volunteers fearfully tried to slice oncoming fruit thrown by the audience, to the powerful acting of Ian Wren, mimicking Bear Grylls and explaining how to survive in Durham School. Overall, the night was great fun and I’m sure it will be hard to top next year.

Not long after this was House Swimming, which was once again held at Freeman’s Quay. With such a small number of swimmers in years seven and eight, the Junior races were always going to be our biggest challenge. The small team of just four boys, Daniel Hogg, Christian Hogan Brooks,

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

P A S T O R A L

Alex Raine

Jack O’Hare and Nathan Brown, had their work cut out and I cannot fault their effort. Despite this, they came in third place, facing strong opposition. In the Intermediates, The Caffinites dominated, with phenomenal racing from Alex Mitchelson and Miguel Queiruga to name two. We also came first in the Senior races and relays, where Patrick Miller excelled. With these results, we once again claimed the house swimming trophy.

The summer term brought exam fever for the 11s and 13s with many getting their heads truly into their books. There was some time to relax in between with some House competitions. House cricket came up first and well done to the intermediate team who quite convincingly won their event, sadly it was not the same for the junior and senior team who unfortunately came third in their events. Sports day was a blistering day with our U14 team winning their category and an overall second place was well deserved.

of various house members had us in stitches at the time of filming, and this project involving everyone in our tutor group really was a fitting way to end our time together at school.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as Head of House, made very easy by the behaviour and commitment of the boys this year. On behalf of the House members, I would like to thank Mr Fordyce and Mr Thompson who have been key in developing the House to meet the high standards that we set.

Furthermore, Sharon has maintained the comfortable feeling of the House, always being there to talk to and providing a key role, which I am very thankful for. Finally, thanks to the tutors who have worked hard to develop their specific year group.

Max Weightman, Head of House

House BBQs was the final event for the House and as a treat we have two inflatable’s this year which went down a treat along with the World Cup football which held many pupils attention that evening.

Personally, I would like to thank the Upper Sixth for making my time at school very memorable. With such a small year group, we have formed very tight bonds and had some unforgettable experiences which I am grateful for. The filming of our House Entertainment, which was a Durham School Promotional Video, stays fondly in my memory. Our attempted impressions

House BBQ

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

27

PWAE SL TCOOR MA EL

MacLeod leavers

MacLeod House This year Macleod has seen a haven of activity within the house, and success has followed us throughout the year.

House singing was the first major competition of the year and we were determined to succeed. Having gained a vital asset of Emily Pehrson who lead and arranged our wonderful Part Song mashup of ‘Love Me Again’ and ‘Just Hold On’, as well as singing a beautiful solo piece of ‘Pie Jesu’, we were already sending shudders down other Houses spines. With what we thought was some disappointing marking in the Part Song we were down in 3rd before the Whole House making the girls even more determined. Standing conducting these girls through our hymn ‘Lord of the Dance’ and Disney song ‘How Far I’ll Go’ from Moana was one of the proudest moments of being a Head of House and seeing all the hard work and hours that everyone had put in had been worth it. The cheers and screams from the girls as ‘Macleod’ was read out as the winners was only the icing on the cake.

We have also been incredibly competitive within the House beginning with the ‘Great MacLeod bake off’ where the House was split into teams and each week a theme would be given and one person from each team would bring in a handmade creation on Monday which would then be sold at break in the house. Mrs Thompson had the arduous task of taste testing and selecting a winner based on taste and look. The funds raised were able to support a girl in India for an entire year and with the small pot of money remaining allowed much needed garden benches to be supplied to the house garden.

Lunchtime games were also ran where teams would select people to play games such as Twister and Jenga in knockout rounds finishing with a final on Thursdays. Spragg-a-pet was another great idea thought of by Isabelle Liversage where Mackies would put their green spraggs on a pet and send a photo, this included snakes, chickens, dogs, sheep with the eventual winner being Katie Heslop with her chicken. The final House competition of the year was renovate-a-chair, where damaged chairs from across the school were given to each year group who were told to renovate it any way they wished, each Y7 put a button on the back of their chair to represent them, the Y11s put some very itchy and uncomfortable bright green material on theirs, however the winners were the upper

28

sixth with their amazing tartan chair being well sewn (thank you Angela Phyall); comfortable and stylish (I’m not bias at all).

These varying activities which have taken place in MacLeod House throughout the year have brought out countless different sides of the girls and revealed previously unknown talents. It has allowed strengths to be shown and confirmed the house has more skills than just sport or music, it has also encourages many girls to learn new skills, and understand the importance of teamwork.

House Suppers was also a highlight of the year. In Macleod we had a tree decorating competition where each year were given a tree to decorate which would eventually be put on the Macleod table at the suppers. Adding a few lights and other touches MacLeod went on to win the house table decorating competition showing our variance in talent. Instead of having Secret Santa where presents vary in price and size we decided to do a Secret Sock Santa with the whole house where everyone selected someone in the house out of a hat and got a pair of socks which were then given out, fluffy socks seemed to be a very popular choice in this! The theme chosen for House entertainment was Hairspray (the musical), memorable performances included Y9 singing numerous Hairspray hits and with only two out of three of them being able to attend they did a terrific job. Y11s also did an amazing dance routine which had everyone in stitches due to numerous costume malfunctions. The remainder of the night included games such as Pie Face and the After Eight game, and finished with Mr Gerrard leading the Y12 and Y13s in numerous games which left us walking out with black smudges all over our faces.

This year’s House Monitors were Rehmat Goodwin and Elizabeth Akalumhe who both had to think of an idea for the house, Rehmat chose to have homework help where every Thursday after school pupils from any year could go to her for help. Elizabeth chose to do Meditation on Wednesday lunchtimes, this included blasting ‘soothing’ music in a pitch black common room where occasionally girls would come

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

PWAE SL TCOOR MA EL

in and take crisps and biscuits which Elizabeth had supplied for pupils in her session, they would then proceed to run out before she had the chance to catch them. Friendship Friday was also continued from last year, where everyone randomly picks a girl out of a hat who they have to then give a gift of no monetary value, for example pick them flowers, bake them a cake etc.

The rivalry between MacLeod and Pimlico was still evident in House hockey where the Juniors lost, inters won convincingly and seniors drew. House netball had juniors losing again and the inters and seniors both recording wins. All matches were fought with great determination but with a sporting attitude.

House swimming saw our biggest team to date and effort was not lacking in the MacLeod camp, winning juniors, inters, seniors and relays so clearly taking the overall title. A highlight of the gala was beating two out of three of the boys teams as well as Pimlico in the canon, this is where two people from each age group take part; special mentions go to Angela Phyall and Lucia Speed who courageously did the butterfly and individual medley making the house proud. Belle Ford, Amelia Simpson, Kari Dougall, Jessica Bramwell and Rosie Bolam all broke school records, showing the strength of the swimmers in MacLeod.

The dreaded House Cross Country was set to be before the end of the Christmas term however due to bad weather it was postponed till the following term, when the cross country did come around the girls tried incredibly hard and even though we did come a very close 2nd overall, it is always satisfying to know that it is done for another year. Special mentions go to the inters who won overall including Phaedra Davies 1st and Lottie Holmes 2nd. In the Juniors Belle Ford came 2nd and Amelia Simpson 3rd. With a few more numbers at the senior level I am sure the result would have been different.

It was a terrific night ending, as always with sixth formers and tutors around the fire roasting marshmallows and what a perfect way is was to end our time at the school and in particular MacLeod House.

My final message is to say thank you to everyone in MacLeod who has made my time and all the leavers time here so memorable, all the lessons we have learnt; teamwork, resilience, hardwork will help us greatly in later life. Thank you to all of the MacLeod Upper Sixth who have been there to offer help when I need it and are never afraid of a challenge.

Thank you to Sharon our matron and all the tutors who are always there to assist the whole house in any way. Finally to Mrs Abbott and Mrs Thompson, Mrs Abbott is tirelessly happy to listen to anyone’s problems and is the best Junior Housemistress ever, she always says how she is my biggest fan (which makes me very embarrassed), but I know that this is how she feels about every girl in the house. You don’t realise until you become Head of House or a senior member of the house just how much work Mrs Thompson does behind the scenes. She is always happy to have a joke but also runs the house with a very professional and organised but fair perspective on school life. I believe this is the reason so many of the past and present MacLeod leavers are smart, caring, independent women.

It has been an honour to be this year’s MacLeod Head of House and I hope that I have made a small positive impact and have made my predecessors proud.

MacLeod moto: “Hold Fast” Kari Dougall, Macleod Head of House

This year there was also House Cycling introduced due to the cycling competition that occurs on the streets right outside of school landing on a school day, it was a relay where each house had to have 10 participants who cycled about 400m, we were leading with three people to go until someone’s bike chain came off and they had to run the rest of the way with the bike... I am still sorry and wish I could go back and re-do it!

Sports Day and House rounders were the final battles of the year between MacLeod and Pimlico and they were no means the easiest, the House managed to sweep the board in both events winning juniors, inters and seniors in both Sports Day and rounders with everyone pulling out terrific performances and putting 100% effort in, even in the baking heat! Thanks go to all of the Y13s who participated even though they did not have to be there however a special mention must go to Jessica Appelby, Alex Bolam and Olivia Colby who were the only Y11s to return to take part, they were vital members in both sports day and rounders and all 3 of them including myself, were part of the 4x100m senior relay who broke the school record.

Secret Sock Santa

Sports Day

The final event of the year is always House BBQs with this year’s theme being ‘Hawaii’ which included; surf machine, photo booth, limbo-hop and ‘Mac-taiki’ bar to name a few.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

29

P A S T O R A L

Swimming Gala

Pimlico House

Time has flown by in Pimlico House once again with many great memories made and wonderful friendships forged. Back in September we welcomed over 20 new members of the House who were all given a very warm Pimlico welcome and everyone settled in really quickly.

The House was led by a strong team of School monitors with Imogen Hurst as Deputy Head of House, Beryl Yan as Head Boarder and Zara Hudson and Beata Juricova as School Monitors. Our House Monitors, Freya Bowen, Harriet Vasey, Valeria Cobiltean and Cherry Au also provided invaluable help and support throughout this year. Alongside this group of wonderful girls, the enthusiastic members of Pimlico and great staff have made it an honour and a pleasure to lead the House this year.

Our first event of the year proved a huge success with a great number of parents, grandparents and friends of the House attending our Macmillan Coffee ‘Afternoon’.

Fantastic cakes were baked and sold and we raised £267 for MacMillan.

Pimlico House is always a very sociable and friendly place to be, with age being no barrier to friendship. It is always lovely to see our younger girls chatting and getting along well with the older girls in the House and this is a wonderful thing about our House so long may this tradition last. We all enjoyed a fun evening visiting Sunderland Empire to see Mamma Mia back in November with MacLeod.

30

House competitions are met with mixed emotions, mainly driven by the desire to do our best and hopefully win. Thank you to all our girls who shared their talents, gave it a go (even if they didn’t feel too confident) and worked as hard as they could to do their best for Pimlico. There is no better feeling than wearing the pale blue of Pimlico and the team work we generate. Our first competition was House Music in Durham Cathedral in November. We performed brilliantly but unfortunately didn’t win. Thank you to Letty Peng for arranging Part Song and performing in the solo. Imogen Hurst, Zara Hudson and I looked after the Unison and coordinated rehearsals; thank you to them and everyone else who contributed.

The poor weather hit the House sports competitions but we did manage to play the House Netball before Christmas. We won the Juniors and narrowly lost the Inters and the Seniors.

The Dunelm Run was postponed several times much to our delight as running in driving snow which was knee deep was not a prospect we relished. Once we finally had a sunny day at the end of March, the run took place on a slightly different but more hilly course around School. Well done to Imogen Hurst who won, with Grace Bradley and Heidi Rochester finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively. Congratulations to Grace James who won the Junior Run and to Libby Houston finishing 3rd in the Inters race. Our determination and great attitude resulted in Pimlico winning the overall trophy.

“Opportunities to gather are important to us in Pimlico” Swimming is not our strongest of sports, however we fielded a big team with all Y7 and Y8 girls competing and many

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

P A S T O R A L

from Y10 and Sixth Form. Well done to Tereza Cillikova who won several senior races and Madeleine Yuill-Rostron, Polina Mozhaeva and Elise Robinson-Towers who swam brilliantly in the Junior event. The snow had left and sunshine had appeared by the last week of the Easter term which enabled us to play House Hockey. Well done to our Junior team who beat Macleod, our Inters lost and our Seniors drew 2-2 with only eight players, with Harriet Vasey putting in a noble performance in goal, having never played hockey before. Sports Day was keenly contested with some excellent performances in both the track and field events. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be our year this year but huge congratulations go to Grace James who was awarded the Victrix Lodorun for being the most outstanding female athlete in School this year.

Opportunities to gather are important to us in the House and our boarders especially enjoy their Saturday night Pizza and Pepsi nights followed by a DVD or game of Just Dance.

Thank you to Mr Rochester for cooking us Pizza each week.

Other highlights during the year have been ‘Feel Good Week’, Pizza and DVD nights after School, endless games of Durham School Monopoly and BBQs in the garden on warm evenings. We decided we needed a House Logo to accompany our Motto and well done to Freya Bowen who won our Logo design competition which we have adopted. The Boarders have really enjoyed a variety of activities on Sundays ranging from shopping, cinema trips to sausage making, kayaking and climbing up Roseberry Topping.

Canoeing trip

All the girls enjoyed both our House Suppers and House BBQ this year. A ‘Night at the Circus’ was the theme for our BBQ, which we held in the Grove Garden this year so we could utilise the extra space to learn circus tricks. Thanks to Rosa and Nat who visited our BBQ and taught us all how to juggle, spin plates, walk on stilts, use devil sticks and numerous more circus skills. It was great fun and the evening finished with all the senior pupils gathering at School House to celebrate our last evening together at school.

Cycle Race

As always in Pimlico, we are very grateful for all the help and support we all receive from our selfless House staff and Tutors. We thank our Tutor Team of Mrs Brownlee (Y13), Miss Buist (Y12), Mr Armitage and Miss Black (Y11), Mrs Eccleston (Y10), Mr Wright (Y9), Miss Hinde (Y8) and Miss Little (Y7).

We also thank Miss Hinde in her first successful year as Deputy Housemistress and Miss Dean, our Resident Tutor for all her help with our boarders. Mrs Rochester and Matron are always here for us in the House and we thank them very much for their continued support.

I would like to thank everyone in Pimlico for a very successful year and I wish Joely Wood, Heidi Rochester, Lika Jatoeava, Grace Carr, Grace Bradley, Julia Gledson and Megan Harvey the best of luck as School Monitors next year and know they will keep the Pimlico spirit strong.

Destitutis Ventis, Remos Adhibe If the wind will not serve, take to the Oars.

Dunelm Run Sophie Atkinson, Head of House 2017-18 2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

3 1

A D V E R T O R I A L

5 minutes with...

Paul Shields Paul Shields is an Associate Partner at accountancy and advisory services firm Tait Walker, where he has worked for over ten years. He tells us about the company’s Durham office, which has been open for just over a year, and what it’s like working with great businesses in the region…

What does Tait Walker do and where are you based?

We are an independent firm of accountants, strategic tax and Wealth Management advisors. Our specialist team provides large corporates, owner-managed businesses and individuals with a complete set of accountancy and advisory services. I am an Associate Partner in the Business Services team and head up our Durham office. We have other offices in Newcastle, Teesside, Northumberland and, Carlisle. We opened our newest office in Durham in October 2017, we’re based at Salvus House in Aykley Heads and really enjoy being so close to the centre of Durham.

Why did the firm choose to open an office in Durham?

We work with a lot of businesses in Durham, Washington and Sunderland and wanted to create a new base for client meetings to help further support our activity, and also to be part of a new business community forming in the Aykley Heads area.

We specialise in manufacturing, construction and technology and so this area was a perfect place for us to set up camp given the surrounding businesses.

offering, especially in corporate finance and specialist tax. We’re looking forward to hosting lots more events and getting to know a lot more local businesses.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work – any hobbies?

Cricket is a huge part of my life. I played at junior county level until I was 16 and wanted to be a professional cricketer, even though I realised it wasn’t going to happen I’ve always remained involved in the sport. I’ve played senior cricket for many years and I am currently captain of the 1st team at Whitburn Cricket Club as well as a junior coach there. My son William also plays at Whitburn and it’s great to be able to watch him enjoying the sport I’ve loved for many years. I also get to enjoy other sports with my daughters, Eva and Isabella – including some very interesting Karate tours all over Europe.

Salvus House, Aykley Heads, Durham, DH1 5TS Tel: 0191 379 1099 www.taitwalker.co.uk

What does 2019 have in store?

We’ve had a very warm welcome to Durham and we’re optimistic that this will continue. We’ve worked with clients across Durham for many years and we’re continuing to grow our

32

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

Academic 2 20 01 71 7- 2- 20 01 81 8

33

A C A D E M I C

Academic report 2018 The focus of a report like this is usually the A level results achieved by departing Year 13 students and the GCSE results of Year 11 and I promise I will come to them shortly, but first I would like to focus on the younger members of the Dunelmian community.

The 2017-18 academic year saw the introduction of a completely new subject - Contemporary Studies. The brainchild of Mr Brownlee and Mr Webb the Contemporary Studies course was launched in Y7 in September 2017 with a brief to teach some of the ‘soft skills’ that are important in the 21st century.

The first year was a huge success and the pupils developed their presentation skills, critical thinking and problem solving, culminating in a ‘Dragons’ Den’ session where they pitched ideas to the Senior Management Team. The pupils enjoyed this opportunity to learn to look at things from a different perspective and the course has continued into Y8 with the Headmaster teaching elements of the Theory of Knowledge.

The intention is to continue to develop a course unique to Durham School covering Y7-Y9 that prepares the pupils for the shifting challenges of life in the 21st Century that complements their traditional academic subjects.

Despite not benefiting from such a course the departing Y13 students showed the world the value of a Durham School education. As well as leaving school as confident, mature and responsible young men and women they achieved the best A level results the school has ever seen with 71% of the grades at A*-B. These top grades crucially enable students to go on to the universities of their choice and gain places on the most competitive courses. As well as two students taking up places at Oxford and Cambridge, another two entered medical school and an unprecedented five students went to Bath University. I

34

expect that Sophie and Rob, having spent two years in the same Chemistry class, would never have imagined they would travel 300 miles to spend another three years sitting next to each other in lectures.

As a school we a are immensely proud of the achievements of our 2018 leavers and look forward to hearing about their future achievements. They have set the bar high for those that follow and I know the new Y13 students and their teachers are working hard to achieve similar success.

The achievements of the Y11 pupils are also noteworthy as not only are they impressive in their own right but they were also the first year to take the new, ‘reformed’ GCSEs with all the uncertainty about grade boundaries and the exam boards’ warnings about volatility within subjects and schools. Some highlights were the 100% grade 9s in Latin GCSE and the outstanding results in History and Drama where 93% and 83% of the grades were 7-9 respectively.

Most of the pupils who took their GCSEs at Durham School, who worked so hard and listened carefully to and acted upon the advice of their diligent and hardworking teachers, are now in Y12. The purpose of an article like this is to reflect on the past year, but it is important to look forward too, and I am excited already about the success stories I can write next year and in years to come.

Congratulations to all those who took external exams in 2018; you made the Dunelmian community proud and embodied our values as you made your mark on each exam you took.

Mr A. Pearson Deputy Head [Academic]

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

A C A D E M I C

Classics

The Classics department enjoyed another productive and activity-packed year, with several events taking place for all the year groups while summer examinations proved successful.

The department welcomed an additional member of staff Mrs A Warne taught Y9 Classical Civilisation and Y10 Latin and Classical Civilisation. She was an immediate hit with the students due to her subject knowledge, entertaining teaching style and willingness to listen to the pupils; it is a great boon to the department that she will be joining the School from next year on almost a full-time basis. Her appointment reflects the increase in provision of Classics-related subjects throughout the School. Miss K Baylis teaches Y7 and Y8 Latin, Y9 Latin and Classical Civilisation are taught as options by Mr C Hope and Mrs Warne respectively. Both subjects are offered at GCSE and A Level and the teaching of these classes is shared, while this year Mr Hope offered Ancient History to the Y12 cohort and four pupils opted to tackle reading much Herodotus and Thucydides in the Greek History component of the course. Two pupils continued their study of Classical Greek in Y10 and will sit the GCSE next summer.

Trips and events through the year included the annual transition trip which Miss Baylis runs for Y6 and Y7 pupils combined in the summer term, giving the Y6 pupils a chance to get to know some older pupils before moving up to the senior site. The pupils visited Palace Green Library in Durham and handled archaeological artefacts and even made their own mosaics during a thoroughly enjoyable day. In-class activities were numerous, highlights including Y7s designing a tour of the Roman forum and Y8s, during their study of inscriptions, making Roman-style grave markers from plasticine where much creativity was on display. Sixth form Classicists enjoyed lectures on topics relevant to their A Levels at the Newcastle University Classics Conference, while many pupils of various ages took part in the two regional competitions: Latin/Greek Recitation at RGS and the Classics Quiz at NHSfG, for the latter of which we took a total of eight teams of three, a great reflection on the commitment of our pupils. Next year there is a trip to the Bay of Naples in October, a trip to the British Museum and a Hadrian’s Wall trip for the ancient historians, though there are sure to be a number of other activities organised through the course of the year!

Business and Economics The 2016/17 academic year was the culmination of the first completion of the full two year reformed A level courses for both Economics and Business.

Department staff were thrilled with the A level results earned by our Y13 students in August, with 78% of Economics students receiving A*-B grades and 53% of Business students gaining A*-B grades, which was testament to the great efforts made by the students over their two year with us.

Away from the classroom, we enjoyed a busy schedule of enrichment events, including entries in a variety of essay competitions (Corpus Christi essay competition, Royal Economics Society competition), several trips to Durham University Business School and our Y12 students participated in both BASE Business Challenge and the IFS Student Investor challenge. The Y12 economists also found the time to design and then staff an enterprise event for visiting Y6s from Bow and local state primary schools. Congratulations must also go to our end of year prize winners; Max Weightman (Y13 Economics), Rob Tomlinson (Y13 Business), Linda Lin (Y12 Economics) and Don Ossou (Y12 Business).

“The department has been lucky to have some great teachers over recent years” The end of the 2017/18 academic also saw our first BTEC Business cohort finish their course, having dedicated two years of their time to a series of business projects, assignments and presentations. A particular highlight of the course was the ‘managing an event’ module, where the team (Zara Alexander, Reece Amir, Megan Harvey, Will Hodgson, Harry Jackson and Claudia Mason) created a ‘dragon’s den’ style competition for the Y7 pupils to take part in. It was a fun event, but a thoroughly informative one and gave our youngest pupils a little taste of the subject before they reach 6th form.

Examination results were most pleasing. There was no Y11 or Y13 Classical Civilisation this year, so it was left to the Latinists to continue the department’s good record. They did themselves proud, with all five GCSE pupils securing 9s while Joseph S secured an A and has gone on to read Classics at Edinburgh University. Nineteen pupils will take GCSEs or A Levels in Classics-related subjects next summer as more and more pupils seek to take on the challenge of these academic, multi-disciplinary courses which remain very highly regarded by all educational establishments.

This year will be my last at the helm and I would like to thank the department team of Andrew Gouge, Joanna Little and Shaun Wardle for all their hard work over the duration of the year. The department has been lucky to have some great teachers over recent years in general, not least the much-loved and respected Mr Bushnell, my predecessor as Head of Department. I would also like to wish my successor, Mr Andrew Graham, the very best of luck for the future.

Mr C. Hope Head of Classics

Mr O. Hughes Head of Business & Economics 2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

35

A C A D E M I C

English The 2017-2018 academic year was a busy and successful one, with the department achieving some excellent GCSE and A level results.

The change to our English Language GCSE syllabus for many of our pupils meant that Y10 and Y11 took a speaking and listening assessment. Whilst this is not out of the ordinary for them in a Durham School English classroom, speaking to camera and being recorded is and can be a daunting experience. Our speakers were well prepared on their subjects which were broad in range from the impact of plastics on the ocean, the importance of sport and psychopaths (not the importance of!). The Marsden Public Speaking Competition involved not only Y10 and Y11 but the whole school. Students in Y7 to Y11 prepared their speeches in class, practising, drafting and polishing their entries. Only four or five entries from each section Removes: Y7 and Y8, Intermediate: Y9, Y10 , Y11 and Senior: Y12 and Y13 could go through so the competition was tough. Again the range of topics and research was impressive and the evening of the final was extremely enjoyable as we heard about topics as diverse as ‘The Life of a School Blazer’ and ‘The Crime of Political Disengagement.’

I would like to thank our adjudicator, Sam Rushford and also Mr Muttitt for organising the evening.

extremely difficult to judge! Tereza Cillikova’s poem Underexposure with its memorable imagery was judged the winner. Whilst Beata Juricova’s response to the essay titile “we find ourselves in books: an essay on the power of literature” won the Gawan Taylor prize for essay. In it she explores the book that honed her ambition for the future in an analytical and personal manner.

The power of literature and exploring literature is at the core of our teaching. Research suggests that students reading for pleasure aged 15 achieve higher grades. Our motivation is not purely grade based however, we believe in the importance of literature as a pleasure, as means of escape, a means of learning about the world and ourselves, and as a means to encourage our empathy for others. Our reading programs have always stressed wide reading and this year we created a shadowing group to read and consider the contenders for the Carnegie Book Award. Pupils from Y9 and Y10 read the various books put forward and reviewed them for their peers through presentation and discussion in class and for a wider audience via the Carnegie Book Award website. The experience was extremely enjoyable and at times controversial, particularly when Y10s favourite novel did not win the coveted prize!

Mrs F. Swan Head of English

In the summer term the RSC produced a school’s broadcast of Macbeth. Y10 and Y11 are studying the Shakespeare play for English Literature iGCSE and so the English Department and Y10 and Y11 all took over Big School for a live screening of the production. In between this interesting staging of the play, actors talked with a presenter about the preparation they underwent to take on their parts and also the intricacies of the play itself. Y10 benefitted from seeing a full staged version of the play and Y11 had a timely revision of the play before they sat their exam.

Whilst a highlight of our year is usually Reading Week we only managed a couple of our scheduled activities as the ‘beast from the East’ raged and many of us were snowed in. Y7 did visit Seven Stories to investigate comics and their narratives but all our ideas for dressing as a character for a book will need to be stored for this March and our next Reading Week.

A postponed trip for Y10 saw them visiting BBC Newcastle to explore how the news is produced and even produce their own weather reports and a radio script. Our themed lunch this time Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief was also postponed until the end of the Easter term. Once again the catering staff prepared an inventive and clever menu through discussion with some of the 6th form who study English. The menu incorporated ideas gleaned from their reading of the Percy Jackson series and the Greek Mythology it encompasses. The 6th form also ran a mini saga competition this year a Greek myth with a twist. The form requires extremely careful use of language for effect as the word limit was 100 words.

There are other prizes for English through out the year.

The Gough Prize for Verse was extremely popular and

36

BBC Trip

In April, Y10 English Pupils enjoyed an excellent trip to the BBC. The pupils also enjoyed a tour where they saw into the archive room, the interview room and the gallery where they control everything, and also of course the TV studios. It was certainly a very educational experience for all, especially for anyone considering a career in the media industry.

Jack commented: ‘The trip was really interesting. We met people in the news industry, we learnt about the history of the BBC and we got to practise making weather reports and radio programmes.’

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

A C A D E M I C

Marsden Speaking Prize A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF MY SCHOOL BLAZER I expect most people in this room will have worn a blazer at some point in their life – most likely school. I’m sure if I were to ask you all now, some people might even admit to having an old school blazer or tie lurking at the back of a wardrobe.

Why do we keep such things? Is it through a sense of nostalgia? Is it so in the future we can show our children and share special memories? Or is it simply because you couldn’t quite bring yourself to throw it away?

To the untrained eye, my blazer looks much like any other school blazer; navy blue, with the school crest on the left hand breast pocket. Researching the school history I was surprised to see that the blazer has been many shapes and styles over the course of time. I’m very pleased that I wasn’t at school during the 1920’s and 30’s where boaters and striped blazers were the current fashion. I don’t think it would suit me. The school crest proudly displays the date 1414, which was when the school was founded by the Bishop of Durham Thomas Langley. This makes Durham School the 18th oldest public school in Britain.

During the reign of Henry VIII, the school was refounded as part of the Reformation in 1541. King’s scholarships awarded each year owe their origin to this time. I am therefore very proud of this little badge on my lapel and what it represents.

I am also relieved that I am not a King’s Scholar in the late 1800’s as I would have had to wear a white robe. Now keeping that clean really would be hard work!

A year is a long time in the life of a blazer. In September at the very start of term, nearly every school pupil can be seen wearing a pristine new blazer. Often they are several sizes too big. Parents have obviously bought them with the hope that the blazer will last the full year and their child can get as much wear out of it as possible. If it lasts the year great – if your child can wear it into the next year, even better! After the first half term, all thoughts of keeping the blazer “as good as new” disappear. I think this is especially true for boys. Rain, mud and rugby games often mean that blazers are scrunched and stuffed into dirty games bags, often alongside muddy boots. Blazers are abandoned on dirty locker room floors or on Top Ground or the Cricket Pavilion only to be reunited with their owner some days or weeks or even months later, looking very sorry for themselves.

I would like to think that I give my blazer an interesting and varied life. My English teacher will be pleased that I am using personification in this speech. For me, my blazer is “like an old friend” who I see every day. He comes with me to all of my lessons, enjoying a range of subjects from maths and science through to music and drama. My blazer must now know the French verb “aller” inside out! Some of the things it has learnt however may well prove pointless in years to come such as how to stay safe around a Bunsen burner, how to complete quadratic equations and how to greet a friend in Latin. My blazer will remember the excitement of standing

on the stage at the Sage, singing and playing. It will also remember the fun of snowball fights on the playground.

Art and DT lessons can be a dangerous time for all blazers.

Hazards such as glue, paint and sharp craft knives wait to pounce. Fortunately for my blazer, there have been no mishaps. However the same could not be said for my brother’s blazer. My mum spent many an hour, picking glue from the sleeve and when all else failed, the blazer had to go into the washing machine with fingers crossed that it came out in one piece. At one point the whole sleeve of my brother’s blazer became detached from the rest of it. He couldn’t give a valid reason as to why this had happened.

Had he been fighting?? No! It was as if it had happened by magic. Anyway the blazer had to spend the week at the repair shop only to return three weeks later when the pocket fell off. I could talk about the day my brother ripped his trousers all the way from the front to the back, but that is for another speech!

My blazer has a lot to thank me for but perhaps it has missed out on the delights of lunch in big school and the treats that lurk at tuck. The only delights that my blazer gets to enjoy are the odd crumbs from a cinnamon bun or pizza slice. My brother’s blazer on the other hand regularly enjoyed being dipped in bowls of hot custard and gravy. My mum didn’t need to ask him what he had eaten for lunch; she only had to look at the front of his blazer to work it out. Into the washing machine again!!

As the seasons move on and the summer term starts, most blazers are starting to look a bit worse for wear. It seems to me however that there is a big difference between how girls and boys look after their blazers and by the summer term this is starting to show. Boys have spent the year cramming their pockets full of things such as chargers and a lot of random objects which inevitably poke holes through the lining. Lurking at the bottom of pockets are sweet wrappers and often halfeaten sweets sticking everything nicely together. Seams are split and frayed and to put it bluntly, most of the blazers are looking well past their best. Girls on the other hand appear just as they did in September - tidy and well organised with only crucial school items in their pockets such as lip balm or nail polish. As speech day looms, parents breathe a sigh of relief that the uniform has survived the year.

If my blazer could speak I hope it would say “thank you for taking such great care of me”. However it will soon be time for us to part ways. As you can see this is the second year for my blazer. My mum is extremely happy, but it is rather on the small side now. I will keep it though as I know that when I reach about 15, I might want to wear a blazer three sizes too small for me, just as my brother did. My blazer might even get to have a whole new year of fun!!

By Will Palmer Muttitt, Y8

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

37

A C A D E M I C

Geography

Trip to Easdale Tarn

Being geographers involves observing the world and trying to make sense of the physical and human patterns. With this in mind the geography department’s aim this last academic year was to take as many pupils out on fieldwork as possible.

Our fabulous North-East region gives us plentiful possible locations and activities week allows us to travel further afield.

I am pleased to report that bar the sixth-formers that we don’t teach, we were successful in providing all pupils with an out of classroom learning experience.

On the doorstep we walked from the classroom to investigate the regeneration of Durham’s city centre, sandstone weathering of the cathedral walls and the renewable energy scheme down at Freeman’s Quay. Y7 and Y8 carried out coastal studies in the town and on the beach at Saltburn-on-sea. Y9 enjoyed a blistering hot day in the glaciated upland scenery of Grasmere, hiking up to Easdale tarn for the Durham school Stone Skimming competition along with an appreciation of the glaciated landforms.

What makes the educational experience at Durham School so special is the ability of a department like ours to feel supported by the school community in running educational visits like these. Not all school have the flexibility in their timetables or co-curricular support to do this. But what is an added bonus, is the members of staff who accompany our small department on these trips and the knowledge and extra dimension they bring: Mr McNair as head of Politics giving us insights into Catalan politics in Barcelona; Mrs Thomspon running a workshop in sand sculpture; Mr Burke and Dr Smith bringing their knowledge of shoreline ecology to our beach visits; Mr Reith’s recital of Wordsworth poetry at Easdale Tarn which earned a round of applause from both pupils and surprised tourists. And last but not least, Mr Wallace’s unforgettable unicycle masterclass on Saltburn pier. Thank you to all at Durham School, staff and pupils alike, for these great learning experiences. Geography is really going places!

Dr C. Scott-Warburton Head of Geography

In the course of their GCSE study, Y10 visited High Force, waded in the river at Hamsterley forest and studied Urban Environments across Newcastle. In activities week they visited Alnwick Gardens to study rural tourist hotspots and visited the coastal managed retreat scheme at Warkworth.

Y12 and Y13 geographers took part in our now annual field visit to Barcelona to study the features of one of the most economically successful urban regeneration projects in Europe. Some may think their second destination slightly less glamorous, but the sand dunes of Seaton Carew and the study of human impact on fragile ecosystems is of equal importance to A level progress.

38

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

High Force

A C A D E M I C

History A successful year for the Historians, and a turning point for the GCSE students as this has been the first cohort to go through the new reformed GCSE exams.

History could never be accused of being anything other than scholarly and demanding, but the new GCSE is definitely tougher and the GCSE students deserve great praise for how hard they have worked.

Casting back to the 2017 exam results, there was much cause for celebration. The A-Level students were a great bunch and it was notable that they all went on to study Arts subjects at University. They gained 100% A* to B in the summer and that is a tremendous performance, with several individuals adding a grade at least on their predictions. Louis Dinsdale gained an A* and everyone in the Department was delighted that he got in to Cambridge. Their end of exams celebrations involved dressing as Templar Knights (we study the Crusades) and taking the party to Durham and Newcastle. The GCSE students had an excellent year, with 92% at A* to B and again several students adding a grade or more to their results. A* grades were gained

by Paddy Kell, Hal Burke, Chris Heron and Ben Lumsden.

We have been busy out of the classroom, as ever. The GCSE students demanded trips this year and so we went on two.

The now annual “Frontline Sedgefield” event was held in June and we went on the Saturday to see battlefield re-enactments and displays of everything from Vikings to World War Two. Since this is our GCSE spread of topics it was really useful to see these things literally in action. For our second trip we went on a tour of the North East, visiting Cold War aircraft at NELSAM Washington, on to Prudhoe Castle and then to

Frontline Sedgefield

Tynemouth Priory. The last site is particularly good as it has a Norman Priory and castle, then Seventeen Century adjustments to the walls for cannon and musket, and finally a Second World War artillery emplacement. All within a couple of acres, and a beach down the hill. The Y12 students went to “Open Treasures” at Durham Cathedral, which is a fabulous exhibition and highly recommended. We also went to the cinema as a group to watch the satire “The Death of Stalin”, as they study Russia in the Upper Sixth. Finally, they went to the “Bodies of Evidence” forensic history display about the Civil War. They Y7 and Y8 students had a day in York at the Henry VII and Richard III exhibitions, Clifford’s Tower and the Yorkshire Museum. It is important to study the History of the most important County in England, and arguably the fulcrum of world history.

Each year is a time of goodbyes, and this is no different. The Upper Sixth of 2018 were a small but splendid group who showed great solidarity and independence in their learning.

They deserve every success I know they will get on results day.

Next year’s Upper Sixth and Y11 are well set and two of the nicest groups of students I have ever taught.

I also bid goodbye to the School after seven years. Huge thanks to Miss Black and Miss Buist who have been fabulous and inspired the younger students. Mr MacNair has been a valued colleague who I hope will return to the Department again, if we can prise him out of full time Politics. I worked for five years with Lucy Hewitt and remain grateful for all that she did. Finally, a word on Derek Best. Taking on the History Department from such a remarkable figure in the history of the School is something I have always regarded as a significant passing of the baton. People like Derek Best are rare and it is right that Durham School will not forget him.

I now pass the Department on to Mr Sam Wright and wish him all the best.

Prudhoe Castle

Mr D. Tyreman Head of History

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

39

A C A D E M I C

Religious Studies, Philosophy and Ethics It has been a delight to see pupils from across the School ponder the meaning of life and continue to wrestle with age old ethical dilemmas, as well as some thoroughly twenty-first century ones, throughout the year.

Particular highlights for me this year include Y7 and Y8 delving into the mysteries of Eastern Religions. With great enthusiasm, they reproduced colourful and imaginative images of Hindu gods and learned how to meditate like the historical Buddha under the Bodhi tree.

The most significant achievement, however, was in Y11.

All GCSE pupils gained grades significantly higher than their benchmark grades, with an average improvement of three grades per student. This is an outstanding

achievement, and particular praise goes to Jess Crawford whose hard work enabled her to gain the highest grade and make the biggest improvement on her benchmark grade.

As always, my thanks goes to Miss Black, who continues to bring passion, knowledge and teaching skill to the department.

Fr S. McMurtary Head of Religious Studies, Philosophy and Ethics

“Ethics is really interesting, it stimulates your brain and makes you think hard�

Maths In January Y7 and Y8 pupils welcomed a group of maths specialists from Sunderland University for our annual morning of problem solving competitions.

Under the watchful eye of our university guests, the pupils competed in teams in a diverse range of challenges designed to test and develop their ability to work as part of a team and to crack numerical puzzles.

Drawing complex shapes blindfolded with only verbal

guidance from teammates, memorising and reciting pi to as many decimal places as possible, solving algebraic equations as part of a group where every team member has a distinct role to play – there was a great variety of challenges on show and all the pupils deserve congratulations for the enthusiasm and vigour with which they approached the whole morning.

Mr T. Middleton Head of Maths

Senior Maths Challenge

40

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

A C A D E M I C

Modern Foreign Languages In May this year, some of our budding Y10 linguists spoke in Chapel to celebrate Europe Day. The girls took the time to explain why learning new languages is important to them.

In fact, Amy O’Kane quoted the famous Italian director and screenwriter Federico Fellini saying, ‘A different language is a different vision of life’ and this struck a chord. We hope that in our French, German and Spanish classes this year, pupils have understood a little of what Federico meant when he said this. We have studied Joffo, Louis Malle, La Fontaine, French, German and Spanish festivals, Francoist Spain, the French Occupation and the fall of the Berlin Wall amongst other challenging topics. Life in the department has been busy and exciting with just a hint of trepidation for the new scheme exams for GCSE and A-level this summer. I hope that you enjoy the articles and pictures to follow, which give a snapshot of our year.

in May. It was a jam-packed, fun filled week and Elizabeth and I are so grateful to have been taken.

Sophie Hogg, Y13

Notre entente cordiale

Over the past two years, we have been corresponding with Estic in Saint-Dizier in France. Madame Clare Lalaus, Mr Renshaw’s daughter, works as a teacher in the French school.

She contacted the department a short while ago to ask if we’d like to set up our own ‘entente cordiale’ and so the Y12 has embraced this idea this year and has been sending old-fashioned letters, a photo gallery from around school, and I think that they may even have been in touch via various social networks too. Who knows what opportunities may lie ahead?

Mrs K. L. Wilkinson Head of MFL

Y13 Trip to Madrid

Our amazing Spanish teacher, Señora Piñán, took us to Madrid for six days in February. We explored Spanish markets, ate thousands of olives and learned so much! As we study the Spanish Civil War as part of our A level course, we did a walking tour of Madrid visiting sites where battles took place and where there was still evidence of the conflict; in fact, the University of Madrid’s medical school still has bullet holes in one of its walls. The tour was organised just for us by a bilingual author and specialist on the Civil War, so we were extremely lucky to meet him. We also went to see the grave of Franco in a private city walled garden and a Flamenco show, which definitely helped us to understand the traditional dance that we study, and I even spoke about it in my speaking exam

Petit Déjeuner

Pertunk

Petit Déjeuner

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

41

A C A D E M I C

Science A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life. - Charles Darwin This academic year has been overflowing with activities, trips and academic successes at every key stage. As well as seeing outstanding GCSE and A level results, science continues to have a healthy uptake at A level with a mix of abilities, which demonstrates how much students enjoy studying the sciences at Durham School. Our activities program has been the strongest its ever been with trips including; Centre for Life, Durham, Sunderland and Newcastle University, mini-medical days, Top of the Bench and the Chemical analyst competitions and we mustn’t forget the amazing trip to CERN in Geneva! We have also had many visits from primary schools, who have thoroughly enjoyed our activities program and of course Science Week, Forensics and Activities week! The academic year came to a close with the 2nd of our annual KS3 Science Fairs, which saw some outstanding projects from students from both Y7 and Y8. It never fails to blow my mind just how incredibly talented our students are and how exciting science can be with some hard work and effort from all involved. Dr Smith, Mr Burke and the wonderful technicians who have taken the lead in getting the Science Fair together each year have done an amazing job.

We are looking forward to an equally fruitful year this year, and have even more activities planned and hopefully students continue to love what we do here in science.

Mrs T. Moore Head of Science

Will Palmer-Muttitt

Pharmacy at Newcastle University

On 9 May the Y12 A level Chemistry group visited Newcastle University School of Pharmacy for an Organic Chemistry workshop. After an introduction and safety talk the morning workshop focused on analytical techniques – in particular spectrophotometry and how it is used to provide diagnostic support in hospitals. We had to use spectrophotometry to determine the concentration of protein in a solution. This involved using the technique on a range of samples of known protein concentration and producing a standard curve. The technique was then used on the unknown and the concentration determined using the curve we had drawn.

In the afternoon we learned about the synthesis of paracetamol using an acylation reaction and had the opportunity to try this for ourselves. The process was mostly carried out within a fume cupboard and involved combining the chemicals, stirring whilst the reaction occurred and then collecting the product by filtration.

It was a really enjoyable day and gave good insight into different aspects and applications of chemistry. We also

42

managed to tick off quite a few of the skills expected from the practical side of the A Level course.

Archie O’Dair, Y12

Durham School Physics Trip – CERN 2017

Durham School Physics department embarked on their inaugural trip to Geneva in October 2017 to visit the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. A group of over 30 6th form pupils and staff boarded the plane from Newcastle and arrived in Geneva in the evening. A short train journey into the city centre and we checked into our accommodation.

There was time for some lovely Italian food and a quick tour of the local area, before the group returned to the hotel and rested before the big day! The Saturday morning started with a tram ride to the CERN reception. We were met by our guides for the day and enjoyed a very informative lecture about the History of Particle Physics. It was great to see the students showing so much interest and also recognising so much of the content from what we had studied in class. We then were told the brilliant news that we were the lucky group of the day - the group that got to go underground at the Compact

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

A C A D E M I C

Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment! A short bus journey to CMS ensued before the group were split into three sub-groups for our tour. Everyone was provided with a helmet and the safety briefing certainly added to the excitement and the gravity of what we were about to witness. After descending around 100m in a lift, we were provided with a wonderful tour of the cutting edge Physics taking place right now at CMS. The pupils really did achieve a great sense of understanding that they were standing right next to the pinnacle of modern day Science. We were taken to the huge data centre used to record the results of countless experiments which take place every second at CMS, we met CMS Scientists and we witnessed the incredibly tight security that must be in place due to the incredibly dangerous magnetic fields needed to keep the particle beam in position. All in all, a brilliant experience and one in which we will not forget.

Jack O’Hare After leaving CERN we headed for Lake Geneva and enjoyed a boat cruise in the most beautiful setting. The Jet D’eau was in full force providing a magnificent sight. After all that excitement, it was definitely time for some relaxation in the hotel before we headed to Hotel Eidelweiss for a traditional Swiss meal. A majestic cheese fondue was definitely the highlight of the evening and there was even a well-earned glass of wine for the staff.

On the Sunday we explored Geneva Old Town and it didn’t disappoint. The Natural History museum was of great interest to our Biologists on the trip and provided a nice cross curricular element. We also visited the History of Science Museum, a number of beautiful cafes and once again enjoyed the views from Lake Geneva waterside. It was a jam-packed day where we estimated that we walked over 15km in total!

Unfortunately, this was the last day of the trip and we returned to Geneva Airport to make the flight home. Cherry Au boarded her flight to Turkey, Zi Liu boarded his train to Paris and the remaining students and staff boarded the delights of an EasyJet plane back to Newcastle. Mr Smith and Mrs Moore were very grateful to the students for their moral support during the particular stressful process of flying – it never gets any easier!

The students on the trip enjoyed a magnificent experience and were an absolute credit to the school. Thanks go to Mr McMillan for enthusiastically embracing all things Science during the trip and Mrs Moore for being a great help throughout. Roll on 2019!

Mr A. Smith Head of Physics

Y13 Biology trip to the Centre for Life – DNA extraction and Gel electrophoresis practical

The day started in earnest with a brisk walk to the train station for the short journey to the Centre for Life. The Biology teaches had been raving about this trip for weeks and it was hard to determine who was the most excited, the pupils or staff. Once we arrived we quickly found out that at the end of this practical we could finally tell our parents that we legitimately didn’t like Brussel sprouts and that it was scientific fact, rather than us being fussy.

Science Fair

We were to extract our DNA and cut out the PTC gene using Restriction enzymes. The PTC gene determines whether we find brassica a very bitter taste or not. We started with the taste strip. A multitude of faces were pulled at the distaste that we then encountered. The lucky few were wondering what all the fuss was about.

We then proceeded with the practical aspect of the day. We learned some incredibly useful techniques that we can take forward to university, particularly dealing with micropipettes and understanding how to calibrate them. The PCR song was given some context as we extended our DNA in the thermocycler too. After setting up the electrophoresis equipment we left it to run for a while and then collected our results. Our alleles had banded out and we could determine whether we were homozygous or heterozygous for the PTC gene. Unfortunately for some, their dislike of sprouts was not genetic, so expect them to be present on your plate during Christmas diner!

Y13 Biologists

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

43

A C A D E M I C

Extended Project Qualification The EPQ provides students with “an opportunity for students to extend their abilities beyond the A level syllabus, stand out and prepare for university or their future career”, and at school this past year our students have risen to meet and then exceed expectations in undertaking what is a very challenging, and ultimately independent, piece of work.

Writing a 5000 word essay is not easy, but the project seeks to develop a students’ skills beyond merely constructing a weighty tome. Deciding on a topic area itself is difficult, and then every part of the process, from initial research, critical analysis of sources and contacting experts in the field through

to reviewing literature, planning and finally presenting their findings, is all down to the individual to manage within a tight timeline.

The projects submitted in May were impressive, with topics as diverse as the psychology of serial killers, mobile currency payments, and the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. What follows are three articles written by the students who submitted these projects this year. If they spark your interest, I wholeheartedly recommend following the links and reading the full essays – you will be impressed with the academic rigour, maturity and depth of the work.

Is technology having a positive or negative effect on healthcare and the availability of jobs?

Ben Lumsden, Y13 After numerous title changes, I decided to research whether technology is having a positive or negative effect on healthcare and the availability of jobs. I chose this topic because I feel as if it is an extremely relevant change which is occurring within society now since it has huge potential to affect both healthcare and the availability of jobs. For this reason, I hoped to broaden the understanding of the advantages and consequences of technology so these consequences can be combated to ensure technology has fully positive effects on our future. As an overview of my project, I found that technology has huge potential to improve healthcare in hospitals, by using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to diagnose patients with eye disease or spinal cancer growth. This would help ease the pressure off doctors to reduce the doctor shortages. Furthermore, intelligent robots such as IBM MERA (Pepper) can be implemented in homes to care for the elderly and help alleviate loneliness.

Robots can also be used to help children with mental illnesses to develop social skills by interacting with the child without overwhelming them. However, I found that there were concerns about whether we should be using robots for healthcare as consumers may reject the technology and potentially feel hostile towards them. To research this myself, I conducted a short survey and found that 45% of people would be content with an intelligent robot looking after them. For the second part of my project, I concluded that technology is causing a ‘technological shift’ in jobs, where new jobs will require human-computer interaction to increase efficiency. Furthermore, I learnt that technology created more jobs in the long run in the past. For example, the number of weavers quadrupled in the

44

19th century due to advances in technology due to the increase in demand of weaved products. After writing my essay, I presented my findings and evaluations to other EPQ students, my supervisor and the centre coordinator, along with anyone else who would like to come. My EPQ has helped me to develop the skills required in further education, such as a university, to complete independent research and learning. Furthermore, my essay writing skills have developed as I have learnt to thoroughly and consistently reference documents, which is also needed in further education. I have learnt to find useful resources from the internet, by ensuring the information I find within the sources is consistent with other sources. I have also developed the skills required to find a wide variety of sources, from different views, authors and source types such as books and journals. My EPQ has inspired me to study computer sciences at university, as I have found my project interesting to research and I would love to be able to and learn the skills required to combat the consequences of technology which I found from my research in further education. Specifically, I have developed an interest in humancomputer interaction which is hosting massive changes to how work will be done in the future.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

Creative 2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

45

C R E A T I V E

Alexandra Bolam, Y11

Zara Hudson, Y13

Beiman Xu, Y11 Simone Hardy, Y12

Steven Zhu, Y11

46

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

C R E A T I V E

Freya Bowen, Y13

Guy Oliver, Y11

Teresa Esisi, Y13

Art & Design

This academic year proved as busy as any other with many successful achievements along the way.

The autumn term saw pupils working hard on their assessed project work in Y11, Y12 and Y13. Pupils often spent additional time in the Department developing and improving personal work. The extended lunchtime provided useful opportunities for staff to provide additional support, though pupils also worked in the department after school and, as exam deadlines approached, often at weekends too. Staff are very keen to foster and encourage independent learning and we actively encourage pupils to use this additional time to enhance their work.

In addition to staffed subject clinics the Department has offered a variety of clubs for all age groups. The STEM club has proved very popular with a wide variety of pupils of different ages.

Run by Mr Clayton, this offers interested pupils the opportunity to develop their DT skills further by providing a wide range of activities to increase awareness and appreciation of design

related possibilities. They have, for example, been able to explore the creative possibilities provided by using our new 3D printer, the funding for which was very kindly provided by the ‘Friends of Durham School.’ This purchase has helped to offer our pupils understanding of this new and evolving technology.

To develop our DT sixth form curriculum we made the decision early in the academic year to offer the Cambridge Examinations Pre U qualification in design. The rationale behind this was to provide future sixth form DT pupils with a challenging and stimulating course building on skills taught at GCSE. One significant advantage is that all work submitted for assessment is coursework based and hence pupils are not required to sit an examination. Teaching for this new syllabus started in September 2017 for Y12 pupils.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

47

C R E A T I V E

Yuging Song (Maria), Y11

Ewan Fox, Y11

Letty Peng, Y11

Alex Seed, Y11

Planning for this new course involved a lot of preparation and staff training. Mr Younger attended several courses in London and the South East. Pre U qualifications are taught in many private schools across the country and we hope our pupils will benefit from its unique structure and learning approach.

Throughout the year we offered a variety of trips to various destinations with the objective of reinforcing classroom learning.

In the spring term Y12 art pupils visited the Edinburgh galleries.

They gained a great deal from studying original artwork in a gallery setting. We were very fortunate to have Charlotte Lorimer accompany us on the trip. Charlotte supported us in the Department during the spring and summer terms while completing her undergraduate Art History degree at Durham University. She was very knowledgeable and spoke about selected works in the galleries we visited. Interestingly Charlotte’s comes from a Scottish family with a strong artistic tradition.

She was able to direct us to buildings around the city designed by her Great Uncle. Her Grandfather was Norris McWhiter

48

Maddie Clark, Y11

who co-founded the Guinness Book of Records.

Other trips included a sixth form watercolour excursion to Teesdale during March. Although the weather was changeable, pupils were able to experience drawing and painting the beauty of the North Pennines National Park.

The end of year exhibition took place in June and the open evening was well attended. The event offered parents, grandparents and others the opportunity to see the breadth and diversity of creative work produced.

Examination results were very pleasing with many pupils once again achieving excellent examination successes at GCSE and A level. Grades achieved reflected the perseverance and hard work of pupils and staff during the academic year.

Mr M. Baldwin Head of Art, Design and Technology

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

C R E A T I V E

Georgina Brown, Y13

Hydro Du, Y13

Imogen Hurst, Y13

Rhys Hook, Y11

Samuel Cameron, Y11

Harry Dodds, Y13

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

49

C R E A T I V E

Gough Prize UNDEREXPOSURE

there is more on my mind than my brain can take, the weight doesn’t let my eyelids up turns the skin under my eyes purple; I hear more than I want. at night when its quiet there is noise I need to escape, and the wire of my headphones is all I can hold on to but it can only hold so much until it breaks, and I break with it into million pieces that arrange themselves into a picture only Dali could make some sense of; but he’s gone so I paint the metamorphosis of the narcissus on my wall instead and never look at my reflection again knowing I’d be scared of what I see. and I wait for one of the Bronte sisters to write me into a book but all I get is Kafka and he does the best he can and everyone praises it from afar and little do they know it isn’t just a story and that the giant insect named Gregor really died because he was more scared of himself than anybody else and he’ll never know how famous it made him. and the world goes on but I’ll be here with a camera in case it moves too fast.

I can make it stop, freeze in one picture frame with a push of a button, with a click of a mirror lens. hang it on my wall and look at it as I fall asleep, and try to make some sense out of it all.

Tereza Cililkova Y12

50

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

C R E A T I V E

Gawan Taylor Prize for English Essay WE FIND OURSELVES IN BOOKS: ON ESSAY ON THE POWER OF LITERATURE Ever since I was little, books and writing became my means of escaping the real world. Any hardships, any troubles connected to my everyday life would disappear in the soft turning of pages or scribbling of the pen. In this essay, I would like to talk about a book that became more than an escape and the power it has had over me since the day I read the first page.

A year ago, I began to doubt my decision to become a doctor. All the hard work ,all the obstacles I have conquered up to that point seemed meaningless and my justification “I just really want to help people,” suddenly did not seem good enough. Knocked down, but not yet defeated, I picked up a certain book I have bought some while ago, but have not read yet. I heard a lot about this little blue book about medicine and relished the moment I finally read the dedication and the first chapter.

By the time I finished part one – which could not have taken longer than a couple of hours - I slammed the book shut and did not come near it for several months. The reason behind that was very simple in its nature, yet more absurd with every passing week. I was scared.

Terrified would probably be more accurate. To this day, I find it very hard to express how I felt the first time I have hungrily read those beautiful words, unfolding on the pages like a road somewhere I could yet not see, somewhere in the future.

It was perfect and it terrified me.

When breath becomes air was written by the late Paul Kalanithi in which he describes his rise towards a career as a neurosurgeon when suddenly his life takes an unexpected turn. In his mid-thirties, Paul was diagnosed with lung cancer, giving him less than a few years to live.

He talks about his hardships at medical school, about his residency being so close to finishing, about finally seeing the promised land where he and his wife could have the life he had promised them. Until one lung scan, no different from hundreds others he has analysed in his life took that away from him.

From page one, you know the man who wrote those breath taking words is long gone. Knowing this makes reading the book incredibly painful. I was petrified how perfectly written it was, how Paul seemed to be the only person who could ever understand me, how the book seemed to be written specifically for me, specifically for this time of my life. After long, excruciating months, I came back to part two, this time armed with a pencil, scribbling down my notes and thoughts, annotating the most beautiful paragraphs and underlining the most painful ones.

It did not take me longer than another couple of hours to finish part two and the epilogue written after Paul’s death.

By the time I closed the book, I felt torn apart and turning

that last page was like saying goodbye to the best friend I could have asked for. Paul was more than a character in a book - he was that book and the words he had so beautifully constellated into a story were the words that have always been in the back of my head yet I was too ashamed to say them out loud.

Paul was not. Paul knew the truth and he presented it with such kindness and respect, while still searching for ways to be better, a better doctor, a better husband, a way to finally understand what ties death and life together and where do morality and biology intersect. And through Paul, I found myself. His thoughts were my thoughts, his desires were my desires. The constant hunger to know what makes life worth living facing death was suddenly matched by Paul’s desire to know the same. My infinite ultimatum to study medicine or pursue literature met Paul’s struggle to choose his path as well. It was as if I found myself in the book, while also meeting a friend that would stay with me always.

It has been almost a year since I have finished When breath becomes air and I have read it several times since then.

It became my moral compass, my sense of making the right choices, my way to understand why I have chosen medicine as my path in life. It is thanks to Paul I now understand that “I just really want to help people,” is indeed one of the best reasons to choose medicine.

And it is Paul I turn to when I am torn between literature and science and find comfort knowing he tried to pursue both without limiting himself. He was the answer as to why I chose medicine without a legitimate reason. It was not a career.

It was a calling.

How could a rather short book change someone’s life to such degree that they could turn to it for guidance and understanding? I believe Paul understood. He spent his entire adolescent years trying to understand the influence of literature and words before turning to neurosurgery as his true calling. Thanks to him ,I now also understand that books are more than a few words nicely put together in a pretty cover. They are an influx of thoughts and emotions that wield the power to change people’ s lives and help them understand the inexpressible parts of themselves.

Paul Kalanithi was a hero. A hero in a white coat and blue scrubs, balancing the weight of life and death on his shoulders while trying to understand and learn from both.

He is the reason that made me choose medicine all over again. He is the power of literature explained in an incredible little blue book. He found his calling and never apologised for his true intentions. Thanks to him, I am now prepared to do the same.

Beata Juricova, Pimlico Y13

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

5 1

C R E A T I V E

House Music at Durham Cathedral

Music As the pupils returned to school at the start of September, attentions turned almost immediately to preparation for the two big events of the year: the house music competition and the whole-school production of Oliver! Auditions began straight away as work began for both of these events.

Rehearsals also started for the Autumn Concert in midOctober, which showcased the orchestra, big band, various solos and duets from across all year groups, and the wellreceived evening in the chapel finished with a couple of gospel numbers from the chapel choir. On returning after half term, the houses went into overdrive for the music competition, held for the first time in Durham Cathedral. A new venue and a different format, consisting of the traditional wholehouse unison song, but this year with three other sections: a hymn, a chamber group of either instrumentalists or singers (or combination), and a solo performance. The theme for the unison song was Disney and the audience in the packed cathedral was treated to spirited and indeed often sensitive accounts in this section. School house were the winners of the small group section with their mash-up of California Dreamin’ and Hotel California, artfully arranged by Jonny Anstee. Alex Raine held everybody captivated by his playing of the first movement of Bach’s E major Partita. In fact some were moved to tears. The overall prize went to MacLeod. Mark Mawhinney’s adjudication caused no grumbles from anyone – the girls had worked tirelessly for every section and their sense of musicality and precision shone through, particularly in some truly beautiful singing in How Far I’ll Go from Moana and in their hymn, Lord of the Dance. As ever, all the music was chosen, arranged and rehearsed by the pupils themselves.

52

The results they can achieve never ceases to amaze me.

Just nine days later many of the school’s musicians returned to the cathedral to take part again in the Friends of Durham Cathedral Christmas Concert. It was a wonderful experience to sing together with the choirs of Bow, Durham Cathedral Young Singers, St. Chad’s College, and with brass band accompaniment, everyone left feeling full of Christmas cheer.

Further festive fayre was heard in our traditional end of term service of nine lessons and carols. For those in the choir, that was the fourth performance in the cathedral within the space of a little over eight weeks. Although we had lost many tenors and basses over the summer, the top line remained strong and the musical highlights were the singing of Adam’s O Holy Night and two movements from Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols.

Very shortly into the Easter term a group of sixth formers were invited to the Old Dunelmian Masonic Lodge, where they literally sang for their supper. A short concert was given before a meal and good conversation with the many ODs in attendance, and the students were interested to learn about the mystical (and not so mystical) masonic traditions. Just before half term, a recital was held in the music studio which featured some memorable solo performances. Beautiful singing from

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

C R E A T I V E

Pimlico House

School House

Poole House

MacLeod House

Emily Pehrson and the dazzling pianistic skills of Letty Peng were highlights but it was very good, too, to see so many of our younger musicians taking to the stage so confidently.

These events aside, the term was always going to be wholeheartedly focussed on the production of Oliver! in Durham’s Gala Theatre. Featuring the largest cast and crew ever assembled for a school production, the result was superb, with a tremendous collaboration of musicianship, theatre skills, set-building, and technical wizardry. The enormous amount of hard work was recompensed by ecstatic full houses for each of the four performances. It was a show to remember. There being no rest for the wicked, two days of ABRSM music exams finished us off for the end of term.

If there was any hope at the start of the summer term for some extra freedom of time relative to the intensity of the Oliver! schedule, it was surely wishful thinking - as preparation for public exams and rehearsals for the annual music dinner quickly kicked in. The latter was its usual joyous celebration of the musical talents in the school and the orchestra and other ensembles acquitted themselves very well indeed. Towards the end of term more ABRSM exams were held, which for some proved useful practice for the Myerscough singing and Chadeyron instrumental competitions. Lottie Holmes

won the Elementary section for her assured piano and drum playing and William Palmer-Muttitt claimed the Intermediate section for his clarinet performance of a Finzi prelude. Connie Barraclough was the victor of the senior singing competition for an exquisite rendition of Silent Noon by Vaughan Williams, bringing the adjudicator to tears. The advanced instrumental prize went to Ben Pulman for his mature interpretation of a Beethoven piano sonata.

And so another busy year came to a close, tinged, as ever, with sadness at the thought of our talented pupils leaving, but also looking ahead with optimism at the array of talent coming up within the school. Those in attendance at Speech Day will have heard the guest speaker’s empassioned speech on the importance of music and how the skills learnt through playing an instrument, singing, or being part of a musical ensembles leads to all kinds of benefits later on in life. (Look no further than Alastair Cook, England cricket captain, who attributes much of his success to his years at school as a chorister and clarinettist.) For unparalleled resilience, a sense of achievement and teamwork skills like nothing else, book yourself a music lesson now!!

Mr R. A. Muttitt Director of Music

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

53

C R E A T I V E

Emily Pehrson, Beware the Ides of March

Drama

this piece with the sensitivity and maturity it needed. Applying Stansiasvksi throughout, the pupils were expected to entirely embody the characters thoughts and motivations, and the group should be commended for the amount of hard work and extra rehearsals they undertook to get the piece and their supporting reflective report to the extremely high standard they achieved. This was reflected in their superb A level results this summer; 75% of the group achieving A*-B. Congratulations should also go to Ben Pulman who will start the Actor Musician (BA Hons) course at the prestigious Guildford School of Acting in September 2018.

In May, Y12 Drama and Theatre students performed their own piece, ‘Beware the Ides of March’ devised and written themselves, an immersive theatre piece, in the style of Punchdrunk Theatre company based loosely on Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, designed to get the audience to consider the dangers of ambition. Emily Pehrson and Lily Beveridge worked hard to transform the Luce Theatre into an off Broadway 1950s

The new academic year went off with a bang in the Autumn Drama Showcase, with some of our talented Speech and Drama (LAMDA) students performing monologues and Y11 GCSE Drama students showcasing their devised piece ‘Sock Puppets’; exploring identity in a social media swamped world.

The group wanted to use verbatim material in their work, taken from interviews carried out with friends, family and an article which discussed the ‘weird reasons people create false identities online’. The piece was a huge success, with many colleagues, friends and parents expressing how different, thought provoking and polished the piece was. The maturity and depth to the piece, the characters and the narrative overall surpassed the requirements of a devised GCSE Drama piece, and the pupils were all rewarded with high marks in this component of the GCSE.

54

Lily Beveridge, Beware the Ides of March

In total contrast, the Y13 students performed an Artuadian style piece, just in time for Halloween! Antonin Artuad’s work aimed to ‘assault the senses of the audience’, and judging from the response to the blood filled bath, the gruesome onstage antics, and the screams of the audience, the group definitely achieved their aims! This performance forms part of the A level Drama and Theatre course, of workshopping a range of plays and theatrical styles. The pupils chose the Wertenbaker text, ‘Ash Girl’ and decided to apply Artaud’s concepts and ideas, by forcing the audience to confront their inner demons!

Theatre, complete with dressing room with old style bulb mirrors, record player and photographs of Hollywood actresses like Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn. The audience were taken on a journey through the space, visiting a rehearsal room, a dressing room, a bar and a street. The audience had total autonomy in which actress they followed and therefore how the narrative unfolded. This was a highly ambitious and complex piece, but one that the girls executed perfectly. Special mention must go to the Durham School Technical Team, who had a near impossible task executing lighting and sound cues from four separate locations! The highlight for me was when the Headmaster, taking the autonomy offered in the piece very seriously, led several audience members down into an out of bounds area, and the pupils carried on regardless!

Y13 (Megan Brown, Stavros Gidopoulos, Claudia Mason and Ben Pulman) performed their final piece to an AQA examiner in February 2018, an extract from Arthur Miller’s, ‘All My Sons’ and then showcased their work to friends, family and staff in the Spring Drama Showcase. The group are likely one of the most talented A level Theatre groups we have seen in some time, so it came as no surprise that they successfully performed

The Y11 GCSE Drama students performed their final scripted pieces to an AQA examiner in April. Contrasting pieces, from Mallatratt’s ‘Woman in Black’ to Olwen Wymark’s epic drama ‘Find Me’. Again, the group: Jessica Appleby, Olivia Colby, David Gardiner, Lilly Kennedy and Jessica Lo excelled practically and achieved an exceptional 83% grades 7-9 in their GCSE overall.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

STONEYCAIRN Quality game shooting, gundog training & gundog accessories

stoneycairn.com

T SK T A S A OU RE AL E B A R GI D U R O FA SA

Making luxury holidays affordable Tailormade holidays to the Far East/ Africa and Australasia Fly from Newcastle ÂŁ639 return Our staff are well travelled and two members of staff have been to 88 and 86 countries respectively and are happy to provide guidance and advice.

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

Why not become part of our Durham School partnership.

www.gazelletravel.co.uk Owned by an old Dunelmian, Gazelle is an Award Winning Agency offering great savings on worldwide flights in economy and business class

C R E A T I V E

The cast

Oliver!

The Drama department at Durham School constantly and consistency delivers excellent pieces of theatre, but it is performance opportunities such as treading the boards of The Gala Theatre that showcase just how excellent the pupils and staff are at producing full scale, intricate productions.

This piece will take you through the process off taking Oliver! from the audition notice to the final fall of the curtain from my perspective.

Many people often don’t appreciate how long it takes to rehearse such a large-scale production. Auditions were held for Oliver! very early in the school calendar in order to allow enough time to learn all the material. Once the cast was announced, rehearsals began almost immediately, starting with the teaching of the large ensemble music numbers.

This production in particular offered a new challenge to the production team in the form of a considerably larger cast than everyone has been used to. Oliver! boasted a cast of over 60 pupils ranging all the way from Y7 to Y13. The volume and spread of different voices within the cast took quite a significant amount of time to get used to and often meant the music school studio was full to the brim when full cast ensemble singing rehearsals were in full swing.

Once the material was learnt, the cast and production team then went about transferring the script into blocking. The Luce floor adopted a considerably more colourful makeover; different coloured tape marked out the accurate dimensions of the set that would be built inside the gala theatre, allowing the performers and creative team to visualise the space. This

56

was absolutely crucial given the complexity of the set we hired and how little time we would have to adjust to the new space once we arrived at the theatre. At the height of the rehearsal period, rehearsals came thick and fast, averaging around 3-4 rehearsals a week which balanced learning choreography, blocking scenes, character development and music cleaning to iron out any small mistakes that sneaked their way into the cast’s head after rehearsing the piece for so long. A huge challenge for the principle actors was learning to strike the balance between truthfulness and the heightened nature of the rich, Dickensian characters. Alongside all of this, a technical crew made up of students worked hard to produce cue sheets for each lighting shift and sound effect.

After months of rehearsals opening night was on the horizon.

I had the pleasure of sitting in on the first band call in order to run through the complicated timing of some of Fagin’s songs; the band sounded amazing and raised my excitement to get the piece onstage tenfold. Final preparations were being made before transferring to the theatre including costume fittings as well as gathering any props not yet acquired. When we arrived at the Gala, the schedule was rammed with technical and dress rehearsals. The backstage crew only had tiny amount of time to adjust to the massive set that was built that morning.

And just like that it was opening night. Both the cast and crew managed to create a fabulous piece of theatre showcasing just how talented everyone truly is all the while making a closely knit group of friends that would stay with people long after their final bow.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

C R E A T I V E

Will Palmer-Muttitt

Jessicca Appleby, Jonny Anstee and Dan Coleman

Kari Dougal as Nancy

Ben Pulman as Fagin and Joe Winetroube as the Artful Dodger

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

57

C R E A T I V E

Edinburgh Fringe Towards the end of 2017, the A Level Drama and Theatre students workshopped scenes from a new play written by Stephen Cronin, a school volunteer who has supported the drama department for some years. The workshops were rewarding and creative, with a full production being enticing, but there was evidently a considerable amount of work to do to evolve a linear script into a deliverable, theatrical show.

A decision was made to “go for it” as a joint production with Shadow Dreams (Stephen’s production company) and Durham School Drama. Stephen took on the organisational aspects, booking the Edinburgh venue, accommodation, and insurance etc. We developed and devised the show in a collaborative way with a volunteer cast of pupils and Old Dunelmians (ODs) with Amy and Stephen as co-directors, and Amy performing in the piece. The development /rehearsal schedule was incredibly difficult with participants from Cambridge, London, Nottingham, Edinburgh and Durham. There was also interesting and productive tension between Stephen’s practical “concrete” approach to the story and the evident need for more abstract movement and dance to convey more complex factors.

The story concerns two young people with Cystic Fibrosis, a very serious illness which utterly dominates their shortened lives; including extensive, intrusive, daily rituals of Physiotherapy and treatment. The serious risk of cross infection also isolates them from others with the same condition.

Our challenge was how to convey these factors and others in an enthralling piece of theatre.

Our target was the Edinburgh Festival Fringe which is the biggest Arts festival in the world occurring in August every year.

Rehearsals were mostly holiday time, i.e Christmas, Easter but particularly the summer. The commitment and hard work from the whole team was extraordinary, and the final show was gradually distilled. We were ambitious with a complex set, involving fast choreography in its use, animation, video and music. Our biggest challenge however was the timing. The original script was probably 90 minutes in length, however the physical theatre element to the piece was effective in foreshortening key scenes like the trip to Glastonbury. But as we got closer to our run it was clear we were still substantially over time (50 minutes) and, as with all writing, precious dialogue and indeed scenes had to be cut, and very hard decisions had to be make.

58

Our preview was on August 7th 2018, as we had converted the Luce into a facsimile of the Edinburgh space and invited a small audience to view our show for the first time and feedback what was working and what wasn’t. The audience included families with CF and indeed Jodie Symington who has CF and had kindly shared her experience of her life with CF with the Cast and Crew. There was very helpful feedback, which was taken on board, but overall our preview audience loved the show, were enthralled by the story, but also felt we were properly sharing and doing justice to the reality of CF. Edinburgh was just extraordinary; the logistics of shifting the set, of converting and adapting, lights sound and video, to living together in an apartment as a team! Our technical “get-in”was 90 minutes long at 23:15 on a Sunday night and the next time we could use the space was at 19:40 show time the following day. There were mistakes and massive challenges but the show went on 6 nights in a row, starting on time and getting out in time! The audiences were highly appreciative, their social media reviews were glowing as were the professional reviewers.

It was an exhausting week, flyering for hours every day and networking to find our audience, delivering a high quality performance every night, then getting out, sorting the set, the props and ourselves, trying to recover, only to do it all again the next day.

It was very hard work, and there are things we definitely wouldn’t do again, but we delivered quality theatre. We even got a chance to see some other shows some of a fantastic standard and others some less so!

Would we do it different yes, but would we do it again. We think so. Just a brilliant time that we will remember forever.

Dr S. Cronin School Volunteer, High Sherriff of Durham and Retired Paediatrician Mrs A. Brownlee Head of Drama Cast/Crew Chris Coleman (OD), Jayne Etherington (OD), Ben Pulman (Year 13), Matthew Storey (OD), Peter Lotts (OD), Hannah Neal (OD), James Vardy (OD)

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

Co-Curricular

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

59

C O - C U R R I C U L A R

Y9 visit to Beadnell

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

gruesome details of what happened if you were a traitor!

Resilience is a term we are hearing more and more; especially how important it is for us all to be resilient so we can tackle all the physical, mental, academic and social challenges we face on a daily basis. Activities Week was aptly named and the programme of activities provided our Y7, Y8, Y9, Y10 and Y12 pupils with some fantastic challenges, learning opportunities outside of the classroom and the development of teamwork and leadership skills; all vital ingredients for developing resilience.

Y9s certainly had several physical challenges with a geography field trip to Easedale Tarn near Grasmere. The highlight of the trip was a rendition of Wordsworth’s poem, ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ by Mr Reith on the shores of the tarn where he was not only applauded by our pupils and staff but also by the audience of passing hikers. The best weather of the week was

Y7s started the week with a French breakfast watching Ratatouille and a Science challenge where they had to save the Durham School community if it were hit by an earthquake. We are lucky that they can all purify water and generate energy by building wind turbines as well as other science survival skills.

All Y7s also received CPR and first aid training.

Y7 and Y8 enjoyed a geography field trip to Saltburn where they were challenged with a range of town and coast activities they had to complete. It was back to Yorkshire the day after with a historical visit to York to visit the Wars of the Roses exhibitions and the Yorkshire Museum. Most pupils enjoyed trying on suits of armour and helmets and hearing about the

60

Duke of Edinburgh

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

C O - C U R R I C U L A R

saved for the Y9 visit to Beadnell for Coasteering and paddle boarding.

Pupils spent the day working their way around the cliffs with plenty of jumping in. The sight of smiling, tired and suntanned faces and hearing the words ‘amazing’, ‘fantastic’, ‘I jumped off a really high cliff!’ were the result of an incredible day. Learn a Skill was certainly a challenge with Y9 pupils in small groups learning how to be a Barista or sausage making or kayaking or water colour painting or learning to play the ukulele.

Out of the classroom learning was a focus for our GCSE Y10 pupils.

Drama students undertook a day long workshop exploring a range of onstage techniques and styles. Geographers enjoyed a field trip to Alnwick Gardens and Warkworth beach. Historians visited York exploring the Tudors. Artists completed workshops in glass art, land art and ceramics. The whole year group visited the Centre for Life completing a DNA GCSE workshop and finished the day with a big treat; a bounce at Inflataspace.

Academic Society

The Academic Society met for the first time this year on the topic of “Important People You Have Never Heard Of”.

Five minute presentations were made by students from a range of different academic subjects, with the aim of broadening academic and cultural horizons. The students enjoyed presentations on Scientist, Historians, the Irish Potato Famine, famous Georgians and others.

The range of topics and interesting insights made it a very enjoyable evening. I definitely learned a great deal.

Gabi Watson, Y13

“The Death of Stalin” Trip

On Thursday 16 November the Sixth Form Historians, accompanied by Politics and English students, went to Boldon Cinema to watch “The Death of Stalin”. The film is a comedy satire on the remarkable events that followed Stalin’s death, and the eventual rise of Nikita Khrushchev as Soviet leader. Reviews in the press have been five-star, and the pupils agreed, with Faith Benson commenting “it was historically fascinating and also very funny, with really impressive performances”

The Hillard Society 2017-2018 Trip to York

Alongside the Gold Duke of Edinburgh expedition and the Cricket Festival, UCAS applications were the theme of the week for Y12.

Whilst making excellent progress with their applications, pupils also attended specialist subject workshops at both Newcastle and Durham Universities.

“Artists completed workshops in glass art, land art and ceramics” The week culminated with Sports Day and House Sports on the Thursday.

Competitive spirit is something we are not short of at Durham School and linked with loads of resilience, excellent teamwork and leadership skills and willingness to give new challenges a go, proves we have the most amazing pupils and staff. A huge thank you to all pupils and staff who all entered into the spirit of the week with enthusiasm and energy.

Remaining a prominent society in the school and offering lectures from many illustrious professors across the region, The Hillard Society has flourished this year as students were presented with an eclectic array of subjects: from censorship in dictatorial Spain to the adapting of classical epics into modern medias, all have been a treat to experience.

Not just stuck in the past, for example, a superb talk from Dr Joe Skinner (Newcastle University) explored the effects of ancient refugee crises, clearly liking to modern events, and not straying too far from the society’s linguistic roots. Furthermore, the enthusiasm of those in attendance towards such diverse topics was inspiring and testament to the hard work and preparation of our guests, all of whom we thoroughly thank. Such a success this year for the society promises only to grow in the future, and we truly hope that this will be the case and wish those taking over the leadership the best of luck!

Joe Stelling, Y13

Mrs K. Rochester 2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

61

C O - C U R R I C U L A R

Air Cadets

CCF Summer 2018 marks the end of a very busy year for our cadets, both in terms of the school based activities but also in their engaging with the courses and qualifications offered by the Royal Navy.

Thursday evenings regularly consist of a mixture of leadership and problem solving tasks alongside a classroom based curriculum and skills such as boat rigging, weapons handling and drill, and as the younger cadets progress through the ranks they are more frequently leading the evening sessions themselves, earning promotions as well as developing valuable skills.

Some of the cadets have really taken up the plethora of opportunities available to them outside of school too, including this year alone participating in scuba diving, power boating, windsurfing, endurance dinghy racing, yachting, and seamanship. The icing on the cake would have to be the two senior cadets sailing from Felixstowe to Sunderland as part of the Tall Ships race in July – what an opportunity!

Most of these courses and camps result in professional, internationally recognised qualifications from bodies such as the RYA and BSAC, which the cadets can then go on to use in pursuit of their hobbies for years to come.

We have also been very fortunate this year to receive a donation from Mr Christopher Buffey OD, which has enabled us to buy a new Lazer dinghy for the cadets to use in training for rigging and maintenance, and in the future for sailing at locations much closer to home.

62

OPERATION DUNELM 30 cadets from the CCF took part in Exercise Dunelm in October 2017. During the event they learnt skills such as camping out under poncho, cooking their own meals and the parts of a cadet rifle. They were blessed with very pleasant weather, with only a bit of wind in the night so their experience was as good as we could hope for in late October!

The senior cadets – Danny Paterson, Joe Stelling and Tom Panter did an excellent job as section commanders, guiding the junior cadets through their first experience outdoors in the CCF. Major P. Sturt CCF CCF ON MANOUVERS On Saturday the 30 September, eight cadets travelled down to Catterick Garrison with Mr Sturt and Mr Atkinson to take part in the annual CCF Exercise Black Rat Cadet Challenge.

The event started early on the Sunday morning with this year’s challenge being different as the competition element between schools was removed. Instead, a TIBUA (Tactics In Built Up Areas) exercise made up of two platoons took place, with cadets fighting off the enemy force who had taken over the buildings in Whinney Hill. The whole exercise lasted an exhausting four hours and was a thoroughly enjoyable experience for the cadets – we learnt a lot in a short amount of time.

Cadet Sergeant Alex Dryden

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

C O - C U R R I C U L A R

Ski trip – Les Deux Alpes December 2017

December 2017 saw 29 pupils and four staff enjoy a fantastic ski trip to Les Deux Alpes. The signs were all there for good skiing conditions as we drove through snow on our way to Manchester Airport and it was great to arrive in resort with a fresh layer of snow having just fallen.

at the end of each day so it wasn’t too difficult getting some sleep! Some early morning rallying calls from Mr Sturt and Miss Watchman got the pupils up and ready for their action packed day of skiing, with Mrs Abbott on hand to reassure and look after anyone who wasn’t feeling too well.

Les Deux Alpes is a great resort for school ski trips as the skiing there can cater for all levels of ability. Having beaten the holiday rush, we were blessed with relatively quite slopes and some excellent instructors who really helped everyone improve.

On the last evening, we all went out for a meal in a very Italian restaurant where pizza and ice cream was the order of the day.

At the end of the meal we had some presentations and it was a great way to finish off the trip.

The majority of the group were novices so there were plenty of epic falls as pupils (and staff) worked hard to find their ski legs!

But by the end of the week everyone was upright and skiing well and it was also great to get everyone back in one piece!

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the pupils on how the conducted themselves; they really were a pleasure to take away. In addition to this, I would like to thank the staff who helped make the trip so successful.

In all we had six days of skiing, with three hours of tuition in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. Lunch was taken on the mountain and we were able to enjoy some stunning views and sunshine whilst tucking in to some well-earned sustenance. As well as this, the pupils were able to enjoy some hot chocolates and refreshing drinks in a number of the cafes situated on the mountain.

Mr P. Dias Head of Boys Games

The evenings presented an opportunity to take part in some activities, which were varied and a source of great fun. The activities included bowling, ice-skating, a film night, a quiz night, chocolate tasting and swimming. There were a few in the group who didn’t fall over during the ice skating, but there best way to summarise our collective skating ability would be ‘Bambi on ice’! Swimming was a particular highlight as it was a (heated) outdoor pool. There were lots of snow angels being made, followed by a quick dash to get back in to the warm water.

The combination of five hours of skiing, an evening activity and a good meal in the hotel left the group feeling pretty tired 2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

63

C O - C U R R I C U L A R

Wisedrive

With programmes like Traffic Cops and Police Interceptors on TV, we are all well aware of the dangers on our roads. Before they are old enough to learn to drive, our Year 11s are lucky to be invited to attend the Wisedrive workshop run by a partnership of safety agencies in County Durham including Durham Constabulary and Durham Fire Brigade. It is a hard hitting, sobering day where many messages are relayed including the importance of good decision making around driving, alcohol, drugs and personal safety.

Mrs K. Rochester

Dr. Who

Just before Christmas 2017, The BBC hosted a special preview screening of the Christmas Day Dr Who Episode in Big School. An audience of over 500 guests saw the show across two screenings.

The evening was marked by the Eye of The Needle being thrown open to reveal the Tardis (the actual one from the series – Dr Who fans will know that each Dr gets their own Tardis, so this one was on its farewell tour!)

Restart a heart

Our Y7s were busy in October taking part in ‘Restart a Heart’ which forms part of our PSHE programme. It is part of the national campaign to get children trained in CPR. Thank you to our wonderful nurses and our very own Mrs Abbott for their support in the training.

64

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

Will Gray (P, 2010-17)

The School Community 2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

65

T HE S C HO O L C O M M U N IT Y

Friends of Durham School Summer Fair 2018

Bonfire Night

Durham School Ball - Parents

Durham School Ball - 6th Form Leavers Credit www.chrislishman.com

The Friends of Durham School WHAT IS THE FRIENDS? The Friends of Durham School is an active community of current and former parents, staff and Old Dunelmians. For over 80 years, it has organised events and activities that have brought the Durham School community together and supported many of the developments across the campus.

The Friends work with The Development Office to coordinate our activities and provide opportunities for pupils across the School. To do this we rely on our dedicated network of volunteers to act as reps and to run social and fundraising events.

FRIENDS’ EVENTS Last year we ran some terrific events, all of which were well attended. Highlights included Bonfire Night, the Bow Summer Fair and of course the Summer Ball. We are all volunteers, but when we pull together, we can really make a terrific impact on the life of the School.

SUPPORTING PUPILS The Friends work hard to fund projects that benefit all pupils across the School. From our very youngest pupils at Bow, through to the Sixth Form, we raise money to help add extra opportunities for pupils at Durham School.

As well as supporting regular events, such as the Christmas

66

Disco and Party down at Bow we have also invested in an outdoor “Willow Classroom” and the newly refurbished library.

At Senior School, we have supported projects in sport, music, art and the Chapel. You can read more about these projects elsewhere in the Dunelmian.

SECOND HAND UNIFORM SHOP The Friends runs a second hand uniform shop, which many parents find useful for buying additional items of uniform and sports kit. If you have any unwanted uniform or sports kit, please it up and bring it to reception, at either Bow or Senior School, and mark it for the attention of the Friends.

We will be happy to find it a new home. We run stalls at various events throughout the year, and you can also order online through our website: www.friendsofdurhamschool.org.uk GET INVOLVED! If you want to learn more about what we do or how you can get involved, then why not get in touch friends@durhamschool. co.uk or come along to one of our coffee mornings? Coffee mornings are held every Friday in the Orangery Coffee Shop at Senior School from 8.30am. All parents across Bow and Senior School are welcome.

Lyndsey Johnson Chair, Friends of Durham School

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

T HE S C HO O L C O M M U N IT Y

The Lodge had another successful year with Lloyd Pickering, PH, 1997-2002, being installed as Master in July 2017, in a meeting held in the Luce Theatre, and followed by dinner in Big School.

Old Dunelmian Masonic Lodge Just prior to the July meeting in 2017 an Honours Board was erected in the room adjacent to Big School, listing the Masters of the Lodge from its inception in 1966 to the present time.

We thank Mr. McLaughlin for permitting, and providing space for the erection of the board.

In December the meeting of the Lodge did not coincide with the School’s Cathedral Carol Service but a number of members attended the Service and then dined in the Exhibition Room, which the Headmaster kindly offered as a venue for the social event with the Lodge meeting being held on its regular night.

January’s meeting of the Lodge was an opportunity for the members and guests to hear a concert provided by a group of Sixth Form Music and Drama students performing songs from the Musical Oliver!, which was to be staged in March at the Gala Theatre. After dinner the Lodge was pleased to present a £500 cheque to Mr. McLaughlin to help pay for the restoration of a painting which had recently been discovered in School. This is believed to be the earliest painting of a rugby match and will be displayed in School when restored. Another cheque for £860 was also presented to pay for a new rowing machine to improve the School Boat Club training facilities.

The O.D. Lodge Celebration Service was held in the School Chapel on Sunday 15th April at 11.00 am followed by lunch in Big School. The event was well attended and the collection in Chapel was donated to the Chapel funds.

An enjoyable social evening in June was again blessed with good weather for the barbecue and cruise on the river and was another successful event with many guests joining O.D. Lodge members aboard the Prince Bishop.

The School Boat Club invited Lodge members to their evening Social on the Racecourse for the naming of a School boat as OLD DUNELMIAN LODGE No.8100 in recognition of the support the Lodge has given to the Boat Club.

July 2018’s Installation meeting, again in School, provided the venue for Jeremy Bray, father of James Bray, SH, 2012-15, to be Installed as the new Master.

In September Jeremy had the pleasure of Initiating James into Freemasonry. At the meeting we were pleased to entertain the Past District Grand Master for Hong Kong and the Far East,

who presented an engraved trowel to the Lodge.

The members were saddened to hear of the demise of John Elstrop who was the last surviving Founder of the Lodge and also of John Young Moralee, both having been Master during their membership.

The Lodge is grateful for the generosity of Mr. McLaughlin and the assistance of the various members of staff in allowing and servicing our use of School buildings and facilities. We thank all involved, along with Colin Looker who has printed our notices and menu cards for the various functions.

The Lodge meets in Durham six times a year and membership is limited to men with a close connection with Durham School, such as Old Dunelmians, staff, and their close relatives. If you are interested in becoming a Freemason or would like further information about Freemasonry contact John Liddle, the Lodge Secretary at; j.f.liddle@btinternet.com

The Old Dunelmian Royal Arch Chapter

The Old Dunelmian Royal Arch Chapter meets twice a year (February and June) in the Masonic Hall in Durham. In February 2018, Eric Robinson (School House 1956-59) was installed as First Principal of the Chapter, with David Parr (parent) and C. Michael Saint (Poole House, 1966-70) as Second and Third Principals.

At our June meeting, we received an Area Group visit from the Provincial Grand Chapter, led by the Third Provincial Grand Principal, E. Comp Michael Stuart Shaw, with many Provincial Officers visiting us on the evening, and making for an entertaining and convivial evening.

The Chapter is always keen to welcome Royal Arch Masons from other Chapters, and anyone with a connection to the school who is already a Freemason and wishes to find out more about the Chapter is asked to contact the Scribe E (secretary) Mike Liddle (Langley House, 1990-95) at mike.j.liddle@btinternet.com.

The next meeting of the Chapter on 22 February 2019 will see David Parr installed as First Principal, Mike Saint as Second Principal and Lloyd C. Pickering (Poole House, 1997-2002) as Third Principal.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

67

T HE S C HO O L C O M M U N IT Y

Old Dunelmian Society This year the Old Dunelmians Society had perhaps its busiest year since the 600th anniversary in 2014. It was also my last as President of the Old Dunelmian Society.

It has been a real honour to serve as President for the last five years.

During my tenure, we have built a great relationship with the School, and when I hand on the reins to the next president, Prof. Quentin Anstee (S, 1986-91) in September, I know that partnership will continue to go from strength to strength. It is time for the younger generations to mould the OD Society as they want it.

Prof Derek Ward Thomson talks about science at the Careers Fair

ODs (1954-56) lunch at East India Club 7 November 2017

The year began with a gathering of ODs in Green and White for the Durham vs RGS Newcastle game at Kingston Park on Saturday 9 September. Sadly, the XV were not victorious but it was certainly a splendid morning out.

Later that day ODs helped with the Open Heritage Weekend tours of the School and Chapel, organised by our friends in the Development Office.

Finally, the time came for the Annual Dinner in the evening.

Over 100 of us sat for a splendid meal, and heard from a fabulous speaker in John Croasdell (S, 1966-71), perhaps the best all round sportsmen of my era.

The next major gathering of ODs was overseas in Dubai.

The Headmaster met with a handful of ODs over there while on a recruitment tour.

Over 50 of us packed into the The Guinea in Mayfair for the London Drinks on 6 November. Big thanks to my old friend Mike Usher (P1976-81) who organised the evening.

There was an informal gathering by some of the ODs in the class of 1954-6 the next day that helped swell our numbers.

The Northern Lunch which takes place on the Monday closest to Remembrance Sunday has a loyal following and 50 older members sat for a splendid lunch in the exhibition room. Thank you to Godfrey Hedley (P, 1963-68) for continuing to organise this annual event.

A few ODs were on hand to support the House Music Concert, which took place in Abbey on 27 November, and many more returned to the Cathedral to take part in the Carol Service at the end of term. If you are about in Durham in mid-December do look out for this date – it really does fill you with the spirit of Christmas.

68

After Christmas over 70 ODs piled into the Dun Cow (flooding the back room) and then spilt out into Durham City Rugby Club for an informal Durham Drinks in January. Thank you to Mark Bedworth (S, 1995-2000) amongst others for organising this night out.

Next, down to London for the OD London Dinner, facilitated

by Rod Hepple Wilson at the In and Out Club on St James’.

Again 70 ODs and guests joined us on the evening, with Jonathan Westbury(L, 1966-71) giving an excellent speech.

It was my last dinner as OD Society President and having organised and chivvied ODs along to this event for about 30 years, I was grateful to the heartfelt tributes by the Headmaster and others., including my wife, Philippa, herself an Hon OD. Thank you.

In early March, ODs came back to School in good numbers to support the Careers Fair. If there is one way that ODs can give back to the School with little or no cost it is through sharing their experience and advice with those that follow us.

Thank you to everyone who took part on the day.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

T HE S C HO O L C O M M U N IT Y

As a Society, we splashed a little cash this year with gifts to the School to support the restoration of the Thomas Hemey Painting and the Engine Name Plate. I am delighted to see both restored and in pride of place at the School.

Again thanks in no small part due to the Development Office.

Easter saw the annual Chapel Celebration and Thanksgiving.

Technically an OD Lodge event, but ODs are always delighted to attend services in Chapel. Honorary OD Frances Proud spoke well using as her text the Confidence for Life booklet that so well demonstrated what younger members of the Society are doing.

Following on from the success of the Caffinites reunion last May, this spring the Headmaster invited Old Bungites, back for an afternoon tea. St Peter’s were playing on the playground and brought with them parent and England Manager Gareth Southgate. An absolute gentleman Gareth chatted with ODs and pupils from School House – perhaps the young men of School House pictured will go on to tell of how they gave Southgate et al the tactical tips that saw them reach the semi-finals at the World Cup!

Bungites Reunion May 2017

A number of younger ODs turned out for the Spring BBQ at the start of the Spring Half Term. Sadly, the weather put pay to any cricket but a very wet game of rounders did take place between pupils and ODs! The Lodge also organised a splendid cruise down the river for ODs and their guests in Early June. If the Prince Bishop River Cruiser is still afloat in future years, I hope one day to join them on this leisurely ride out from Browns Boat House to the School Boat House and back.

Another event attended by ODs but not organised by the Society is the Regatta Hog Roast, which takes place on the Saturday of Durham Regatta. The weekend sees many ODs supporting the School. This year one OD, Nick Hall (P, 1960-65) had travelled over from the west coast of the US for the weekend. I understand Nick is acting as representative for ODs over in the US, so if you are over there do seek him out!

The year ended of course with Speech Day, and a number of ODs were in attendance. Claire Hawthorn (2001-06) and

OD Annual Dinner 2017 - Ritchie Salkeld, Peter Bell and Rod Hepple Wilson Chris Elliott (1988-93) were the guest speakers at Bow and Senior School Speech Days respectively, and their contributions are given chapter and verse elsewhere in this publication. One of the last acts on Speech Day is to welcome the U6th into the Old Dunelmian Society in a ceremony in Chapel.

Therefore, this is a fitting place to end our review of the year.

Pupils welcome the return of the Engine Name Plate

By the time you read this, I will have retired to the back benches, no less enthusiastic and hugely supportive of the School.

I leave it in the good hands of The Head, Kieran, and all his Staff, the Development Office, so capably run by Andrew and Debbie (both Hon ODs), your new President, Quentin, and of course you, my fellow ODs. Thank you for your splendid support.

Floreat Dunelmia!

Ritchie Salkeld (C, 1967-72) OD Society President

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

69

T HE S C HO O L C O M M U N IT Y

Igniting passions through bursaries

Projects

Student Activities

CCF NAVY SECTION A recent recall of boats by the Navy had left the cadets literally “high and dry” until Mr Chris Buffey OD made the generous gift of a new “Laser” sailing boat to the School.

The “Chris GB” as it has been named will give hundreds of pupils the chance to learn to sail over the coming decade.

CCF Navy Officer Tom Williams said “Thanks to Chris’ generosity we have been able to double the numbers in the section, and given all our cadets the opportunity to get out on the water!”

The Development Office has been working with The Friends of Durham School, The Old Dunelmian Lodge, The Old Dunelmian Society and individual donors to facilitate a number of small but important projects around Durham School.

Bursaries

Giving young people from a disadvantaged background an opportunity to study at Durham is part of our DNA, and is reflected in our earliest statutes. Whether through the cumulative effect of gifts to the Langley Foundation or through named benefactions such as The Peter Lee Scholarship or The Burkitt Scholarships, your gift can have a real impact on the lives of bursary recipients.

If you can help us to meet the ever increasing need for bursaries by either sponsoring a place directly or by joining the many staff, ODs and parents who already give to support these important programmes, please contact the Development Office. Your gift will have an immediate impact, giving the opportunity of a Durham School education to the next generation.

For more details contact The Development Office, Development@durhamschool.co.uk

70

New mirrors for drama rehearsal

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

T HE S C HO O L C O M M U N IT Y

New Playground scoreboard DRAMA Full-length dance mirrors have been installed along the back wall of the Luce Theatre for use during rehearsals. Thanks to the generosity of The Friends of Durham School, performers were able to hone their performance for Oliver! greatly improving individual scenes and whole cast musical numbers.

The mirrors will continue to be an asset to the space for drama and dance in the coming years.

CHAPEL Durham School Chapel recently celebrated its 90th anniversary, and it has never had more pupils or staff on its pews. Ensuring everyone can hear, particularly if the speaker is a pupil or visitor, relies on a decent sound system. Thanks to The Friends of Durham School a new PA system will be installed in 2018/19.

EXHIBITION ROOM Pupils’ art, design and photography pieces are regularly displayed in the Exhibition Room. Thanks to The Friends of Durham School there is now a matching set of frames for the work.

Sport

RUGBY The Friends have sponsored new rugby post protectors, flags and other pitch furniture for pitches on Top Ground.

CRICKET The Friends have also made a much larger gift to enable the replacement of the mechanical scorebox on The Playground with a new electronic score board. This has been of great benefit to all of the sides that played on the historic ground during the 2018 season, including the girls sides that played their first competitive games this year.

New PA equipment for Chapel ROWING The Old Dunelmian Lodge have supported countless projects across the School in recent years. In recognition of their support of rowing, Durham School Boat Club have recently named a boat in their honour. Pupils will now take to the water in “The Old Dunelmian Lodge, 8100” as well as making use of the Rowing Machine donated by the Lodge.

Bow School

A small gift from The Friends of Durham School enabled Bow Pupils to plant and grow their own outdoor Willow Classroom.

Planted in 2017 it has already become a base for outdoor learning at the junior school.

Bow library has been refurbished thanks to gifts from a Governor and The Friends of Durham School. New shelving and furniture has really brought the space to life and is now a well-used part of the School.

Archives

The Durham School Engine nameplate was recast thanks to a generous gift from the Old Dunelmian Society. You can rea more about its restoration in the School grounds in the Class notes section of the magazine.

The Old Dunelmian Society and the OD Lodge combined forces with the School to pay for the restoration of the historic TM Hemey oil painting of a game of rugby on the Playground from 1886. Again you can read more about the picture’s restoration in Class Notes.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

71

T HE S C HO O L C O M M U N IT Y

Confidence For Life In February 2018 The Development Office produced Confidence for Life. This booklet featured the stories of over 50 young Old Dunelmians. Published to coincide with the Durham School Careers Fair, the booklet showcases the talents and achievements of some of our younger alumni and is designed to inspire current pupils to follow them into a diverse range of careers from the traditional professions including medicine, law, and teaching, through to more modern occupations including computer game design and racing driving.

By focusing on ODs a few years after they left Durham School, we hope to help them identify career pathways that are perhaps not always self-evident. The book has been heralded as a huge success by ODs, parents and the pupils themselves. We have even identified a number of guest speakers for Speech Day and other events through the process of putting the book together. A second volume is planned for 2019. If you know of an OD we should feature please do not hesitate to get in touch od@durhamschool.co.uk The whole publication is available to download from the OD website, www.olddunelmians.org.uk or we can send out a printed copy on request. Please write to The Development Office, Durham School, Quarryheads Lane, DH1 4SZ and a copy will be sent out to you by return of post.

Max Pugh Langley (1994) Film Director Max is a filmmaker working all over the world on documentary and fiction projects. His latest feature documentary is ‘Walk With Me’. Filmed over three years and with unprecedented access, this visceral film is a meditation on a community which has given up all their possessions for a monastic life in rural France.

‘Walk With Me’ is represented by WestEnd Films and has sold to distributors around the world including Kino Lorber / Gathr(USA), Village Roadshow (Australia), DCM (Germany), Gaga (Japan).

As well as working with Benedict Cumberbatch and Djimon Hounsou, Max has also directed award-nominated fiction shorts starring David Oyelowo, Miriam Margolyes and Zawe Ashton.

Max’s first feature documentary ‘The road to freedom peak’ was commissioned by Foxtel and Screen Australia and sold world rights to Netflix. Max is also known for his video art installations made in collaboration with the celebrated composer Michael Nyman. www.maxpugh.com

72

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

T HE S C HO O L C O M M U N IT Y

Paul Croft Poole (2002) Game Designer and Co-Founder, Mediatonic

Victoria Watson Pimlico (1998) Communications & Personal Branding Consultant Having worked in PR and marketing for leading hotel, design and lifestyle brands since 2006, Victoria set up VJW Communications with the aim of supporting women launching their own businesses, by helping them to understand the basics of marketing, communications and brand building.

“Defining how to market yourself effectively can be one of the most daunting parts of setting up a business” notes Victoria. “I help to put the building blocks in place by working with clients either via one-on-one workshops, consulting or delivering bespoke marketing services which include PR, content creation and social media.”

Currently based in London, Victoria is an active member of a number of women in business groups including Blooming Founders and Driven Woman and regularly mentors women who are at the beginning of the business start-up process. She also has a personal and professional interest in health and wellbeing and believes that in order to thrive in the business world we must work towards creating a better work/life balance by improving education for entrepreneurs around self development, nutrition and mental health.

Paul has always been interested in Computers. He loved technology, design and computer games at School and spent a lot of his spare time building websites and animations.

After he graduated from School, he went to study Multimedia Design at Brunel University in London. During his time at university, he started a company – Mediatonic – with a close friend. They focused on building websites, animations and games.

“At the beginning, when it was just two of us we had to do everything, from the programming and design to drawing (badly!). We worked on the business alongside our studies at university and built a strong base of clients and projects.”

“When we graduated, we rented a very small office in London, began to hire people to help us and worked hard to grow the company. After a few years, we decided to specialise purely in designing and developing computer games.”

The business is now twelve years old.

Paul now has a team of 150 people across several studios who have made more than 100 games. “Our games have been played by more than 150 million people around the world. We like to have fun with the games we make.

Our games include titles like Amateur Surgeon, Heavenstrike Rivals, Hatoful Boyfriend, Foul Play and Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess. Paul is philosophical about his success - “I still love playing games, and I’m grateful it’s something I get to call my job.”

Verity Richardson MacLeod (2008) Head of Marketing, Stratajet Verity read Aeronautical Engineering at Durham University, graduating with a Master’s Degree in 2012. She then secured a role as a Business Analyst with NetJets, her first role in the world of private travel.

From here she moved into the world of luxury hotels, joining Maybourne Hotel Group (owner of Claridge’s, The Connaught and The Berkeley) in 2015.

She has since joined the UK’s fifth fastest growing tech startup, Stratajet, as Head of Marketing.

Since their foundation in 2011, Stratajet has changed the way people travel by making the world’s supply of private jets more accessible through their unique technology. It is headquartered in London and is live throughout Europe and the US. In her day-to-day role, Verity manages all Stratajet’s marketing and PR activity.

Having significant experience in the luxury sector helps Verity when she crafts the strategy for this high-end digital startup.

mediatonic.co.uk www.vjwcommunications.co.uk

www.stratajet.com 2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

73

T HE S C HO O L C O M M U N IT Y

Obituaries

In the later years of his life, David was also a keen swimmer and an active member of Sudbury and District Swimming Club, from which he won a number of cups and medals, in recognition of his accomplishments swimming over long distance. In addition, he was known for his enthusiasm for travel, gardening and fly fishing.

After a brief spell as an auctioneer and estate agent, he joined the RAF in 1940 as a Flight Lieutenant in 514 Bomber Squadron, serving in France and Germany. He then joined the staff as a flight instructor at Cranwell College.

Mr Bryson is survived by his wife Noeline, his two sons, Richard and Robin, and his five grandchildren, Alex, Sam, Gina, Meghan and Joel.

William (Bill) Gibson Bainbridge (P, 1935-38) Bill Bainbridge died peacefully on 15 February 2017, aged 95.

His three brothers (GT, DT, PT) and son William T Bainbridge, (P, 1964-69) were also all ODs. At School Bill rowed in VIII and played Rugby for XV.

After the War, he became an airline pilot - rising to Senior Captain at BOAC (1946-76) and then Singapore Airlines (1976-81). He retired in 1981.

Much-loved husband, father and grandfather. Having outlived most of his friends, he requested that there should be no formal farewell and that it should be a private funeral.

His death notice was published in The Times on 23 Feb 2017.

Frank Anthony David Bland (Hon OD, Staff, 1966-72) We are sorry to report the sudden death, on 2 April 2018, of David Bland (Hon OD, Staff, 1966-72), aged 87.

David was Head of Geography, Master in charge of Rowing and Rugby, and Housemaster of Langley (1969-72) at Durham School.

Even aged 87, news of David’s death has come as a shock to many in the OD Community. David’s formidable physical presence made him seem invincible to many who knew him.

An inspiring coach and talented teacher, David made a lasting impression on a generation of Old Dunelmians. His lasting legacy remains Durham School’s reputation as a school that punched well above its weight in sporting competitions.

What all sportsmen, and oarsmen in particular, will remember is David’s record as a rowing coach. David showed no sentimentality about rowing for the fun of it, he rowed to win!

In 1970, the World Youth Rowing Championships were held in Greece. Great Britain was represented in several events by composite crews from across UK schools, with the exception being the Durham IV, chosen in its entirety - including the late David Sprague. This crew won all its heats, but were only able to finish fourth in the final with one of the crew debilitated by illness. Nevertheless, this must rank as one of DSBC’s greatest ever achievements.

When Langley House was re-founded in the 1969 to cater for the ever-growing numbers of dayboys within the School, David was the ideal choice for its first ‘new’ housemaster. David left Durham to become Headmaster at the Licenced Victuallers’ School (where, he said, the food was better – though this is long before Michael Lang’s great culinary improvements).

David is survived by his widow Helga.

David R Bryson (S, 1941-44) It is with sadness we report the death of Dr David R Bryson OD. David, who was a qualified Dentist, died in West Suffolk Hospital after a short illness on January 21 2018, aged 90.

74

John Brookes MBE (P, 1946-50) John Brookes (P, 1946-50) died on Friday 16 March aged 84, in the company of friends and his pupils. John was a direct contemporary of Derek Baty who remembers him very much an “arty” type, who played the violin, indeed he won the Art prize in 1946.

On leaving Durham School he studied landscape design at University College London and went on to become one of the most sought after landscape designers of the 20th century.

The tribute below is by Gwendolyn van Paasschen, pupil of John Brookes then friend and colleague in design.

‘I am not a gardener. I am a landscape designer.’ So John Brookes MBE would admonish anyone who mistook him for the former.

Regarded as the ‘the man who made the modern garden’, Mr Brookes died Friday morning at the age of 84, after a lifetime of designing gardens and landscapes in Britain and around the world. Some of his best-known gardens include the College Green Garden at Westminster Abbey, Fitzroy Square, Barakura English Garden in Japan, and the English Walled Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Born in Durham in 1933 Mr Brookes began practising garden design in the late 1950s, having worked with Dame Sylvia Crowe and Brenda Colvin in London. Recognizing the rapidly changing lifestyles of what was then ‘modern life’, he vigorously broke with previous garden design traditions and the emphasis on showcasing plants by advocating the use of gardens as extensions of the home. Also ahead of his time, he introduced the notion that a garden could be low-maintenance as well as beautiful.

His approach was first publicly unveiled in 1962. That year, Mr Brookes, who was the first independent designer to present a Chelsea Flower Show exhibition garden, audaciously created a designed exterior space at Chelsea that had seating, sculpture, even a place for an incinerator, and was linked to an imaginary townhouse interior. His approach was unprecedented, presenting the then-novel idea that people of all income levels could have designed, fashionable, peaceful gardens tailored to their preferences. Plants were part of the design but subordinate to the garden’s purpose, which was to create a ‘Room Outside’, the title of his groundbreaking book published in 1969 and revised in 2007. It was the first of more than 25 books and pamphlets that he wrote about garden and landscape design.

Mr Brookes went on to teach and lecture around the world,

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

T HE S C HO O L C O M M U N IT Y

influencing thousands of homeowners, garden designers, and contractors over his career of 50+ years. In 1980, after a two-year stint teaching interior design for the Inchbald School, he founded the Clock House School of Garden Design at Denmans, West Sussex, where he lived until his death. He also set up schools of design in Chile, Japan, and Argentina.

His energetic writing, teaching, and appearances on television meant that he became widely regarded as the ‘king’ and the ‘godfather’ of garden and landscape design. He is perhaps best known for teaching his ‘grid’ method of design, which enables a designer to determine proper proportions for spaces and mass in a garden. He also believed that while garden design was an art form, gardens should serve the needs of those who use them.

As he began to travel and design abroad, he became convinced that gardens, public or private, should be connected to the culture, history, and landscapes in which they are built.

His influence and legacy in design is far-reaching and will be long-lived.

David G Cooke (C, 1950-54) David passed away in Perth, Tasmania from Bone and Blood Cancer on 28 October 2015.

Dr Edgar Cooper (C, 1939-44) It is with sadness we report the death of Dr Edgar Cooper on 15 October 2016. Edgar died peacefully in the company of his family aged 90 years.

Dr Cooper was an Anaesthetist of some note. He had worked in the Department of Medicine at the University of Birmingham as a National Coal Board Research Fellow prior to moving to Newcastle upon Tyne. He was first assistant (1957-62), then a consultant, and became Professor of Anaesthesia in May 1967, until 1980 when he resigned from this appointment.

He gave the prestigious Hewitt Lecture for the Royal College of Anaesthetists in 1981.

would be a plentiful supply of cement to be mined.

This work took him to India, Pakistan, Mexico, Guatemala and Nigeria. In the early 1970s he and his wife moved to Brant Broughton. His interests and hobbies included cricket and golf.

He was also a steam enthusiast of both national locomotives and model narrow gauge steam trains, and a keen lover of classical music, particularly Elgar. He also loved writing poetry and one of his poems was read out at the funeral service by his son Richard. During his retirement he was parish clerk for Brant Broughton Parish Council for 18 years, and was scientific adviser to LAND (Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire against Nuclear Dumping) during the LAND campaign from February 1986 to May 1987, and then BAND (Britain Against Nuclear Dumping).

After Deborah’s death he was on his own but later met Mavice and they were married in 1990. They enjoyed many happy years of love and devoted companionship.

The funeral service was held at St Helen’s Church, Brant Broughton, conducted by the Venerable Brian Lucas.

Cremation followed at Grantham. His ashes will later be interred in his first wife’s grave in Brant Broughton churchyard.

Joseph William (Bill) Driver (S, 1952-58) Bill passed away peacefully on December 27, 2017 at the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Palliative Care Center, Hudson Quebec, Canada following a year long battle with Burkitt’s Lymphoma.

He was 77 years old.

Bill attended Bow School from 1948-52 before moving on to Durham School. Bill was a keen athlete playing cricket and rugby with great success. He was also an excellent swimmer.

Following Durham School, he attended Durham University where he read Mechanical Engineering obtaining a BSc.

Edgar leaves Susan, his wife of 57 years, four children and six grandchildren. He will be greatly missed.

In 1963, he emigrated to Canada where he enjoyed a successful engineering career, culminating in several consulting positions in Europe, including in France, Sweden and Norway.

In 1972, he earned an MBA from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

Hugh Barry Serre Dales (S, 1934-38) We have just been notified of the death in 2007 of Hugh Barry Serre Dales, of Maltkiln Lane, Brant Broughton, at Lincoln County Hospital. He was 87.

Bill is survived by his beloved wife of 54 years, Audrey, and his much-loved children Jennifer, Andrew and Christine and their spouses. He was also the very proud grandad of Dylan, Julia, Curtis, Lindsay and Erika.

Known to everyone as Barry, he was born at Twickenham, the son of a schoolmaster. He moved with his family at the age of seven to Durham, and attended Durham Public School. During the war he worked as a chemist for ICI in Welwyn Garden City, researching and developing plastics. It was here that he met and married his first wife, Deborah.

John Elstrop OBE JP (S, 1944-49) It is with regret that we inform you of the death of John Elstrop on 9 April 2018 in hospital.

ICI sent him to Durham University, where he began studying chemistry and then changed direction to study geology. After the war and university, as a geologist he joined the Blue Circle Cement Company, working in Kent and Barnstone, doing basic research for building cement factories, ensuring there

John has been battling with Parkinson’s Disease and Glaucoma for a number of years. He was particularly challenged with losing the ability to drive and meet with the many people he has become friends with, over his diverse life.

John was very much a family man, but outside that, he had three main interests in his life. Motoring, Freemasonry, and The Law.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

75

T HE S C HO O L C O M M U N IT Y

His first, motoring was a lifelong passion and it started at an early age. The story of how Walter, Brian and John took turns to steer their late Fathers car around The Old Coach House at The Bailey, whilst the other two pushed. All three Old Dunelmians.

John was astounded to think that he should be honoured, for what he considered to be, ‘his civic duty’. This duty saw him rewarded by invitation to a garden party at Buckingham Palace, meeting the Queen Mother, together with the highlight; meeting the Queen at St James Palace.

This early discovery was to lead into a lifelong career in driving tuition and motorsport. John travelled throughout the country marshalling, and competed in Rallys and Hillclimbs. It was in 1975, that John took me to Silverstone for my first ever British Grand Prix. Little did we know that that would change my direction in life. 20 years later would have me competing there myself, working in Motorsport throughout the UK and teaching and competing all over the world. He was a great supporter of my motorsport and loved the photographs and tales of my racing in South Africa, Le Mans and Daytona.

Still passionate about it after all the years, his interest in motorsport never faded.

Through the cards, wishes, and words from his friends and colleagues; from all the aspects of his life, it is clear that John was a gentleman. Always proper, with values, and advice which were appreciated and respected. I am sure those that knew John, and his brothers Walter and Brian, my father, they will remember them all in their own way, with memories of early life, school, and in later years. We hope you all hold onto those memories for them all too, as I will.

John had a lifelong association with safe driving; as member CAMDA and the League of Safe Drivers, which later became RoSPA. For all of Johns work in Motorsport, and the safe driving involvement, John suffered life threatening injuries when he was hit head on, by an unaccompanied learner driver.

Hence the donations in memory of John were in aid of the Great North Air Ambulance, a donation that would benefit motorsport, drivers, and all of us.

Serving well over 50 years in Freemasonry, John was first initiated into Beacon Lodge with his brother Brian on 5th November 1959, and by 1966 had become a founding member of Old Dunelmian Lodge. In circumstances unlikely to be repeated, John became Worshipful Master in 1972, taking the chair from his Brother Brian, who had followed his brother Walter. Three siblings, of their school lodge, in three consecutive years. At the time of his death he was the only surviving founder member of the lodge, and when no longer able to attend on health grounds, was delighted to receive honorary membership.

With the exception of his driving instruction, all Johns work was on a volunteer basis. John had always had an interest in the law, and during this time applied to be a Magistrate, in order to serve his community. His aptitude and dedication was obvious to all, with John becoming Chairman of the Bench locally, and serving as an Executive Member of the Magistrates Association nationally for over 20 years until his retirement.

Such was John’s skill in assessing people and situations, that his presence was requested at disciplinary hearings, appointment interviews, and liaison panels with the Police, and Advisory Committees.

It was not just the Magistrates side where John concentrated his efforts; he was also worked on the Road Traffic Committee, Supervision of Offenders, Probation Committee and Communication Committees. Even his spare time was based on supporting others.

In 1999 John received the Order of the British Empire from the Queen, for his Service to the Administration of Justice in Durham, an honour for which we were all immensely proud.

76

Colin Elstrop (S, 1975-77) David Fordy (S, 1952-56) It is with great sadness we report the death of David Lawrence Fordy OD. David died suddenly at home on 6 July 2018, aged 79.

Much loved husband of Wendy, father of Christopher and late daughter Helene. Devoted family man and greatly missed by son-in-law John, daughter-in-law Belinda, grandchildren Ben, Marcus and George.

John William Glass (C,1948-52) John died peacefully in hospital on Friday February 9, John, aged 83 years. Dearly loved husband, father, father-in-law and grandfather.

Canon John Hudson. (S, 1936-41) Canon John C Hudson, died aged 88 in June 2011. He was the vicar of Clitheroe Parish Church (also known as St Mary Magdalene C of E Church) in Church Street, Clitheroe, from 1968 to 1985. Born at West Hartlepool, he was the son of a Church of England priest. Educated at Durham School and Selwyn College, Cambridge.

It was while at Cambridge that he met his wife of 64 years, Kay and they married in 1947. Canon Hudson’s studies at Cambridge were interrupted when he served in a tank regiment during the Second World War. After leaving Cambridge, he completed his clerical training and his first post was as a curate in Darlington where both his children, Ian and Jill, were born.

He moved to Usworth as team rector until 1957 when he moved to Padiham as vicar, serving there for 11 years. His happiest period though was as vicar of Clitheroe Parish Church and during this time he was very involved in many aspects of the town’s life.

He was Chairman of Governors for Clitheroe Royal Grammar School for many years and was involved in the operatic society, Toc H and as chaplain to the hospital. He was county chaplain for Lancashire Scouts and received the Scouts’ Medal of Merit.

He also oversaw the partial rebuilding of Clitheroe Parish Church after the disastrous fire in the 1970s. For 25 years, he was the rural dean and was made an honorary canon of Blackburn Cathedral in 1979.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

T HE S C HO O L C O M M U N IT Y

In retirement, he followed his interests including travel, model railways and cars – he had passed his driving test on his 17th birthday. Canon Hudson continued to take services for the first 20 years of his retirement.

He leaves his wife Kay, son Ian and daughter Jill, plus four grandchildren. At the time of the couple’s diamond wedding anniversary, all four grandchildren were at university at the same time, one grandson having followed im to Selwyn College, Cambridge, which pleased him greatly.

Peter Lowes (C, 1967-73) b 8th May 1954 d 19th Jan 2018 aged 63 Bow School 1963 – 1967 Durham School 1967 - 1973 I first met Peter, when in Summer of 1964, I joined him at Bow. We both came to Durham at the same time, and left at the end of the summer term in 1972. His link with both Schools, I believe, was his Godfather, the late Brian Lincoln OB, OD (whom I also knew very well).

Colin Parminter (P. 1946 -49) Colin died suddenly on 24 January 2017 after a short illness.

He held a great respect for Durham School and was proud to have been a pupil there. After leaving School, he started an engineering apprenticeship on Tyneside becoming a Chartered Engineer with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Colin spent the next 20 years teaching, before taking early retirement and returning to engineering. His final appointment was at Bradford University where he was Laboratory Manager in Polymer Processing, a job he loved. Colin is remembered as a gentle gentleman and is sadly missed by all who knew him.

John Bywell Parker MBE (S, 1943-47) John died peacefully at home with all the family on Tuesday 17 November 2015, devoted husband of Dorothy and the late Gill, dearest father of Toby, Ian and Gillian, a greatly loved and respected step father, father-in-law, friend and a very special grandpa.

He was very friendly, and it was a pleasure to be in his company. He was extremely popular, and one of the good guys. Mostly we were in the same forms throughout our School years, and we were both (very proud) Caffinites.

For pretty well the last three years at Durham, we shared a study.

John received an MBE in the 2009 New Year’s Honours List for his services to charity.

Although born in Newcastle, from where his family came, he lived much of his early and school years in Nassau, flying to and from there to School. Peter had a nickname (we all did), and this term of endearment was PANAM (after his love of Airplanes). We all knew he was destined to work with and around Airlines in one capacity or another, and so he did until his passing.

Christopher Richards CBE (S, 1940-44) It is with sadness we mark the passing of Christopher Richards OD, aged 92 on 31 October 2018. Christopher attended Durham School, along with his brother Julian, at the beginning of The Second World War. A keen and proficient sportsman, he played for the XV and rowed stroke for the 1st Crew. He was also 2nd Violin in the School Orchestra.

Peter was not a great academic, but he made as much of his talents as he could. He was a pretty decent Rugby player, having a fair turn of speed, and unsurprisingly an excellent Swimmer.

On leaving School, he served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers (1944-48) before attending Queens University Belfast.

He worked for Unilever in Nigeria and Ghana, and retired as a Director of their subsidiary VAC International. He was awarded a CBE in 1975 for services to British Interests in Ghana.

We kept in touch after we left Durham, but his constant travelling did make it difficult. He regularly rang me in the month prior to the London Dinner, for a chat, and catch up, wanting to attend if he could engineer being in the UK.

Mark Thomas Rillands (L, 1986-88) Mark Rillands died suddenly in Sunninghill, aged 46 years on February 17 2016.

I last spoke with him about this time last year, shortly before he buried his second wife Sallie, it seems he too had had bad news of having cancer. Other contemporaries had spoken with him rather more recently, some on business as he was extremely well connected and well thought of. Despite his illness, he never complained, and remained cheerful until the end.

Peter, who was an only child, had no children, and is survived by his mother Maureen Lowes (nee Thompson).

Peter, dear friend, I will remember you with much affection, the good times we shared (and some scrapes) and raise a glass in your memory. RIP. Richie Salkeld (C, 1967-72)

He sang bass in the Newcastle Choral Society between 19842014. They dedicated their 2016 performance of The Creation

by Haydn to his memory.

Dr Matthew Ronald Robinson (P, 1942-49) Dr Matthew Ronald Robinson died peacefully on 1 December 2013.

Liam F C Ryan (P, 1982-1987) Friends were shocked to hear the news of the passing of Liam Ryan (P,1982-87) on 19 July 2018.

Liam was born at North Tees General Hospital, Stockton-onTees on 13 September 1968. He joined Red House School in 1973 where his father (Sam) was the Headmaster.

After much sporting success and some impressive dancing and singing performances, Liam moved onto Durham in 1982.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

77

T HE S C HO O L C O M M U N IT Y

He followed his brother Feargus (P, 1976-82) into Poole House where he threw himself into whatever school had to offer.

and six grandchildren. He was a hard-working and wellrespected GP and in later years enjoyed travelling the world.

Liam represented the school very successfully at rugby, cricket, basketball and athletics culminating in 2 years in the 1st XV, the 1st XI and the 1st V basketball team. He also played rugby for Durham County at under 16s and under 18s. In addition, he was more than willing to take part in extra-curricular activities including drama productions and debates. He spent his UVI year as a monitor in Ferens House where his willingness to engage with, and listen to, the younger pupils made him a great success and a much respected figure.

Nicholas Grant Turnbull (C, 1963-67) We have received word from Chris Dixon OD that Nic Turnbull passed away after a long battle with Cancer in 2017. Nic was a King’s Scholar and played for the XV while at School.

After reading English at Birmingham University, he went on to have a varied career in the media as a writer, publisher and TV producer. Nic is survived by his wife Judy, and his children Scott, Bonnie and Kerrie.

Liam then went to Chester College and studied History and PE whilst continuing to play rugby.

After that he headed south and during that time in London he met Christina. The first of his 4 sons, Jack, was born in Brockley before they all headed off to Colchester where Ted and Oscar were born. The family returned to the north east in 2007 ten days before Joe was born in Darlington.

In the 38 years I had the pleasure of knowing Liam there were many, many great times and the overriding memory of Liam for myself, and I imagine for all that knew him, will always be of laughing when in his company.

However, things weren’t easy for him or his family - Liam lost his father when he was 13 and his second son Ted passed away as an infant. The strength he showed in dealing with whatever was thrown at him was, in my view, remarkable.

I was privileged to have Liam as my best man when I got married but I would like to suggest that all those who knew him can say that Liam Finbar Cormack Ryan was one of the best men they had the pleasure to know.

David Wheatley (C 1960-66) It is with sadness we announce the death of David Wheatly OD after a long illness. David died peacefully in Hospital with his wife Jacky by his side on Monday 5 March.

William John Winterbottom (C, 1942-44) William John Winterbottom passed away peacefully at home on 21 September following a short illness, aged 90 years.

Beloved and loving husband of the late Mary, very special dad to Susan and Helen, beloved grandad and great grandad. A true gentleman, loyal and valued friend to all who knew him.

At School, William played Rugby for the XV in the 194344 season. He went on to become Managing Director of Winterbottom (Engrs.) Ltd. Horbury, W. Yorks David Paxton Worthy (S, 1946-49) It is with sadness we report the death of David Worthy, who passed away peacefully on the 20 June 2018. He was a proud Bungite and a keen cricketer. His son, Simon, followed David into School House in the 1970s. After Durham School, David became a well-respected Solicitor in Sunderland and continued practising until he was 79. He leaves his wife Patricia Mary Worthy, daughter Lynda, son Simon (OD) and one granddaughter Isabella Worthy.

His warmth, his sense of fun, his open offer of friendship and his willingness to help others will be sorely missed but we remember a loving father, son and brother as well as a loyal friend and our thoughts are with his family at this time.

Andrew Clayton (L, 1983-88) Dr Kenneth Dowson Stephenson (S, 1936-40) Dr Stephenson passed away peacefully in Hospital on February 19 2017, aged 92 years. Beloved husband of the late Anne and a devoted father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

Kenneth joined the RAF in 1943 after his brother Maxwell (also at Durham school) was killed over Holland on a bombing raid in a Lancaster, on the 8 of January 1943. He trained for bombers in South Africa and was proud to have become an officer at the age of 21 years and 2 months.

After leaving the RAF in 1946, he studied medicine at Newcastle University and qualified in 1952. He moved to Darlington and became a GP, and after further exams became an anaesthetist. He married another doctor, Margaret Anne Conley in 1956, and leaves three children

78

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

T HE S C HO O L C O M M U N IT Y

The Mist of St Cuthbert We are grateful to Jared Armstrong, (C, 1940-43) who was a pupil here during WWII for sharing this story. We were also able to find in the archives this Oil Painting of Durham by Edwin Glasgow, dated 1943.

So many memories of those happy years spent at Durham (The finest of games in the finest of schools, as the Rugger song modestly states) in the 1940s, in spite of the ever present fact of the War, which was influencing our daily routine and, indeed, in which we would all soon be taking an even more active part.

Boat House, the Farming and Forestry Camps - hard work rewarded with much appreciated “agricultural workers” rations; the stories of the battle hardend JTC instructors from the Durham Light Infantry etc. etc. that seem as vivid now, some eight decades later.

I found myself reliving those experiences, as I browsed through every page of the last edition of the Dunelmian and marvelled at how, even more enriching the Durham experience has become. As a musical Caffinite, I was naturally delighted to read that Music and House Sprit still flourishes there and it reminded me of the 1942 Music Competition.

Perhaps the most enduring wartime memory is that Bombers Moon night when we thought our “Abbey” was doomed. I wonder, do pupils still use that name for the Cathedral?

That year we were fortunate in that to be involved in House Music was considered cool and we also possessed several good solo performers. George Dyson, Director of the Royal College of Music came up from London to judge the event – and rightly announced that The Caffinites had won! In this we were greatly helped by Roger Lord, Baritone, Piano and Oboe (later to become the Principal Oboe of the London Symphony Orchestra for many years). The following day, Headmaster, HK Luce summoned us both to his study. “You two are enjoying yourselves far too much here!” he said. Heavens I thought, what has he found out now?! “We cannot do anything more for you. In a few months’ time, you are going to be called up and if (he emphasised the if!) you survive and can prove your careers have been interrupted by the war you would then qualify to receive state financial support. So, I have had a word with Sir George and he will have you at the RCM for a year before you are called up.” For both of us HKL’s wisdom and advice would prove crucial in the years which were to follow.

Recalling Durham – the sound of Abbey’s bells striking 9 and still with 20 or more steps to mount before the Chapel Doors would close and we would be left to ruminate on which disciplinary action we had incurred; the tarry smell of the

Lord Haw Haw has warned that Durham would be next in the Luftwaffe’s sights in the vengeance campaign that had followed RAF raids on several German cities. It was summer 1943 and as the sirens sounded across the City the boys in the Houses took to the ground floor shelters, save for the three of us whose turn it was to fire watch, and deal with any incendiaries that might land.

From the upper dormitory window, we looked at the Galilee Chapel and the two towers, blazing white against the moonlit sky, convinced it would be for the last time. Even one 500 pounder, dropped nearby would, we felt, bring the whole lot crashing down into the river.

The AA Guns on the Coast opened up and the drone of approaching Heinkels came ever nearer. Then the incredible happened. As we watched a mist began to rise and by the time the planes reached Framwellgate Moor, Abbey had become completely shrouded and had become invisible to the raiders, who now short on fuel, dropped their bombs seemingly at random over farmland and abandoned the strike, averting many casualties.

Whether it was sudden change in temperature as the sun went down, or the intervention of some higher power, the City and Cathedral were saved.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

79

D U RHA M S C HO O L C O M M U N IT Y

Class Notes Painting Restoration

The Old Dunelmian Lodge and The Old Dunelmian Society are coming together to help restore a unique piece of Durham School History.

The oil painting of Durham School playing rugby (against as of yet unknown opponents) in 1896 by artist TM Hemy is thought to be one of the earliest paintings of Rugby and School Sport in general. The past 120 years have taken their toll on the painting and it is in urgent need of restoration. Thankfully, both the OD Society and the OD Lodge have stepped in to ensure this special piece of Durham School history will remain for future generations.

Hemy, as well as painting many landscapes and seascapes, was renowned for capturing sporting events. His subjects included Sunderland vs Aston Villa league match (4 -4) in 1895 known as “Now or Never” and The Eton Wall Game in 1887. Hemy also painted a game of Cricket at Rugby School and a football match at Harrow.

The Durham Picture appears to have been a commission in his series of public school paintings, but little is known as to why it was painted, or indeed which fixture it represents.

The opposition colours of red and white do not tie with the

80

records of the teams Durham School played at the time.

Cross referencing from photographs of the time confirm that it does feature several famous players and familiar names of the time including Graham Campbell Kerr OD, the Scotland International to whom the archway at the entrance to The Quad is dedicated.

OD Surfaces to Share Advice with Pupils

In June, Lt Josh Daniels OD (S, 2002-07) came to talk to pupils interested in a career in the Navy. Josh, a proud submariner, spoke to pupils for just under an hour about careers within the Navy.

He shared information about the recruitment and training programmes and the Navy’s sports programme (Josh has represented the Navy at Table Tennis, something he might attribute to misspent lunchtimes in the School House common room!) More unusually, he is one of a small number of people to have ever played cricket at the North Pole, having “broken the ice” up there on a mission earlier this year.

Josh shared video tours of his submarine with the pupils, giving them a unique insight into life on board his “undersea village”.

His visit finished with a lively question and answer session.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

DU RHA M S C HO O L C O M M U N IT Y

This is not Josh’s first trip back to School, and he plans to visit again in the autumn to meet with individual pupils who are interested in a career in the Navy.

OD Celebrated in Queen’s Birthday Honours List

Dick Elsy (C, 1973-77), has been made Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to manufacturing and technology.

Dick is CEO of The High Value Manufacturing Catapult, which stimulates and supports the commercial application of new technologies through the development of innovative manufacturing processes.

serves as CEO. Malin Corporation plc is an Irish company investing in the life sciences industry and has an office in Cambridge. In 2017 the company joined Pembroke’s Corporate Partnership Programme and the College is delighted to welcome Dr Howd to the William Pitt Fellowship to recognise the partnership.

The admission ceremony was attended by Fellows and friends of the College and Dr Howd’s wife and daughter. The signing of the relevant College books was followed by gowning of the new William Pitt Fellow by Dr Mark Wormald, and High Table dinner.

HVMC is widely regarded as the go-to place for advanced manufacturing technology in the UK. With over £700m of assets, supporting both industry and academia, it represents the greatest concentration of advanced manufacturing capability in the UK. Dick credits his former maths and science teachers for his success saying, “I was inspired by Messrs Gedye, Best, Englehart and Keaton, my teachers in the 1970s to pursue the sciences at Durham School.”

After leaving school, Dick had a long and successful career in the automotive industry, working at both Land Rover and then Jaguar, where he was engineering director. At Land Rover, he began his career working on the original Discovery programme. Following this, he became a member of the Board from where he led the creation, development, and manufacture of the Freelander. Prior to his most recent role, Dick was the CEO of Torotrak plc the FTSE listed developer of traction drive technology.

Andrew Beales, Development Director at Durham said, “Congratulations to Mr Elsy. His success in the field of technology is the latest in a long line of achievements by Old Dunelmians to be recognised through the honours system.

Whether through industry, service to their community, science or the arts, our alumni use the confidence and skills honed at Durham School to make a difference. We look forward to welcoming Dick and other leading ODs, parents and friends back to School to share their advice with the current generation of pupils.”

Mr Elsy was born in South Shields, educated at Durham School, and is married with one daughter. He is also a Fellow of the IMechE and IET. His mother, Rebecca Elsy, was awarded the MBE for her community work in 2003.

Dr Adrian Howd (S, 1985-90) made William Pitt Fellow at Pembroke College, Cambridge

On the 15 May Dr Adrian Howd of Malin Corporation plc was admitted to the William Pitt Fellowship.

Dr Howd holds a PhD in molecular neuroscience from UMDS, University of London and was a Visiting Research Fellow at NIH. Following positions at Nomura, ABN Amro Berenberg and Evotec, he co-founded Malin in May 2014 and now

OD Gift Gives CCF Clear Water

Pupils involved with the CCF received a boost this week thanks to the generosity of an Old Dunelmian. Chris Buffy OD (P,1963-67) has donated a new Laser sailing boat to the Navy Section. The boat, named Chris GB, was unveiled on Masters’ Green during CCF activities on Thursday evening.

No stranger to water, Chris was a keen member of the CCF Canoe Section during his time at School and he was delighted to be able to help. Chris swapped stories with cadets about “arduous training” in the mountains of Glen Coe and shared reminiscences about his CCF Trip to a British base in Berlin.

Head of the Navy Section, Lt Tom Williams, said, “It is great to have the support of Mr Buffey and of the OD Community.

CCF is not just about the valuable skills learned but the many memories and friendships made. Thanks to Chris’s generosity we will see more pupils out on the water in the coming years.”

Picture shows Contingent Commander Phil Sturt, Head of Navy Section Tom Williams, Mr Chris Buffey OD, and senior navy section cadets.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

81

D U RHA M S C HO O L C O M M U N IT Y

Railway Sign makes a return – 79 Years On.

Missing OD List Published

We are constantly trying to stay in touch with Old Dunelmians around the world but, inevitably, some drop off the radar. If you can help to put us back in touch with ODs on this list, (https://tinyurl.com/missingODList2018) please email od@durhamschool.co.uk.

ODs will be pleased to hear that an Engine Nameplate, cast from the original casting block, has been put back in position at the entrance to Durham School. We were given the original casting block at the naming ceremony on Durham Elvet Station in June 1939. One cast of the nameplate was given to the School after the engine was decommissioned in the 1960s.

The new casting has been positioned in the same location, outside the Porter’s Lodge.

Prints of The Durham School Engine, by Mr John White OD (1939-44) are available from www.olddunelmians.org.uk and the Development Office for £15.00 + p&p.

Falcons go back to their Durham School Roots Newcastle Falcons have returned to their Gosforth roots with a new green and white hooped kit in the year of the club’s 140th anniversary.

The ISC Sport kit will be worn for the first time during Saturday’s European Challenge Cup visit of Dragons, and will be available for supporters to buy from Saturday onwards at the Kingston Park club shop.

ODs Meet in USA

Nick Hall (S, 1962 - 65) reports that he and two others from the 1st VIII of 1965 met up in San Francisco this summer.

The crew are pictured above celebrating one of their four regatta wins that year, and features the following ODs from right to left: Street (cox) - Potts - Appleby - Hall J - White Hall N - Fletcher - Owen - Sparrow.

Having seen the picture of Hall’s car rally to New Zealand in a Floreat Dunelmia earlier this year, Captain of Boats in 1965, Nick Hall, who now lives in San Francisco, contacted John Hall and fellow US based OD John White. They then decided to meet up for the first time in over half a century.

The green and white hoops of Durham School were adopted as the original colours of Gosforth FC when the club was founded back in 1877 by a group of Durham School old boys.

Worn for well over a century prior to the onset of professionalism and the club’s re-birth as Newcastle Falcons, the iconic hoops will return for this season’s European campaign in a design which incorporates the ‘1877’ logo.

The picture on the right is a montage of the three team members Nick Hall (P, 1960-65), Hall (S, 1962 - 65) and John White (P, 1960-66). John Hall said “It was the first time that I had seen them since school days, 53 years ago, and we had a wonderful evening at Nick’s place reminiscing and trying to recall things!”

OD launches ‘Pokemon Go for bars’

A Golden Celebration at OD Lodge

A new app described as the ‘Pokemon Go for bars’ has been launched in Newcastle to help drinkers plan the perfect pub crawl.

The Old Dunelmian Lodge was consecrated in 1966 and meets at the Masonic Hall in Old Elvet, Durham. They have six regular meetings of the Lodge, with the Installation held at Durham School.

Tipll is being developed by North East entrepreneur and Old Dunelmian, Grant Thompson, and allows users to plan a route around bars in the city using their phone’s GPS and map software.

Durham School Open Heritage Weekend

ODs are always welcome back to School. However, do look out for the Durham Open Heritage Weekends in September – which include public open days for The School and the School Chapel. Details are published on the OD Website and Local Press each year.

82

At their recent April meeting, they welcomed the Assistant Provincial Grand Master, John Paul Thompson, who joined the Old Dunelmian Brethren in Durham to honour one of its own long standing members, Rodwell John Soper Harrison in his 50 years in Freemasonry.

OD, Will Gray helping children in Africa William Gray (P, 2010-17) spent six weeks volunteering in Zambia, where he spent time building classrooms and installing water purification systems with the Zambezi Sunrise Trust.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

DU RHA M S C HO O L C O M M U N IT Y

William made the decision to volunteer after OD, John Gillette, visited to talk in a chapel service about the work of the Zambezi Sunshine Trust – a County Durham based organisation dedicated to the advancement of education and the relief of poverty, sickness and distress in Zambia.

School has suffered heavily in the War, as have all the Schools, and it is the duty of those who have been spared to preserve the memories of those who by their sacrifice have made it possible for the School to continue its functions and carry on its traditions.” We hope through the dedication of this plaque to continue to preserve their memory.

Mr McLaughlin, said: “We are incredibly proud of William for volunteering for such a worthy cause and wish him the best of luck in his African adventures.”

John Gillette, trustee of the Zambezi Sunshine Trust and former Durham School pupil, said: “We are delighted that William got in touch, he will be our first volunteer to go to Zambia. He is a very motivated young man who I think will bring a lot of energy and drive to the construction and development of the area in Zambia to provide a better life for the children there.”

OD Lays Wreath at Menin Gate on Behalf of Livery Company.

In June 2018, Dr John Slater OD (C, 1951-56), a former Master of the Worshipful Company of Woodturners was part of a party of Liverymen who laid a wreath at the Menin Gate, the memorial to those British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient during WWI and whose last resting place are unknown.

One of the oldest Livery Companies in the City of London, the Turners’ Company was already a guild in the 12th Century.

Today it supports a number of charities and education projects as well as playing an active role in the life of the City of London.

Old Dunelmians commemorated at St George’s Church, Ypres.

Durham School and the Old Dunelmian Society have placed a plaque in St George’s Church, Ieper (Ypres) in memory of the ODs who fought and died in the First World War. There was a short dedication service for the plaque, attended by the Headmaster, on Wednesday 9 August 2017 at 10.30am. Also in attendance were ODs including Simon Surtees. (Pictured) Between 1914 and 1919, over 98 former pupils of Durham School, known as Old Dunelmians, lost their lives on active service. Their lives are commemorated in a book, “The War Record of Old Dunelmians”, published in 1919. In 1926, the School Chapel was built as a permanent tribute to the fallen.

The names of each casualty are engraved in its stone pillars.

The hymn, reading and School Prayer in the Order of Service for the dedication all featured in the Order of Service for the Consecration of the Chapel, held on 30 September 1926.

Some 536 Old Dunelmians served in The Forces during WWI, with ODs seeing action on all fronts and in each of the three services. Many years after the end of the War it became clear that 98 was likely to be only a minimum number of casualties, as some ODs had joined the war fighting in other armies of the Commonwealth, or died later from wounds sustained. Today, we believe at least 103 ODs perished during the War in the service of their country. A further 16 Old Bowites (former pupils of our Prep School, Bow, acquired by Durham School in the 1970s) also died in the War. In the preface for “The War Record of Old Dunelmians”, its editor Editor Capt. A B Thompson OD commented: “The

OD Looking Dapper Down Under

OD John Hall was involved in the Napier Art Deco Festival in New Zealand last weekend. John, a vintage car enthusiast, took part in his OD waistcoat and rowing blazer as part of The Gloucester Bentley Drivers. The group brought seven Bentleys and a Rolls Royce over to New Zealand especially for the festival.

“We have seven pre-war Bentleys and one relatively young Rolls Royce Cloud (1961) which used to be the Queen Mother’s car. We use it for a refuge for our navigators when the weather gets a bit inclement,” said John.

“We shipped them in a 40ft container on 17 November from Southampton to Lyttelton, which is the port for Christchurch - they were landed about 7 weeks later.

“Once we got them picked up at the end of January, they had been customs cleared but then had to go through an NZ MOT - they all passed with flying colours - other than for a 1926 WO Bentley which they found had a cracked fuel line - that was rectified same day so we were then all fit to go.

“We have been on the road for almost a month now and we haven’t had one serious mechanical issue.”

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

83

Sport 84

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P O R T

The Sports programme at Durham School is an integral part of the community. Every pupil is encouraged to be involved in sport on both a performance and participation level with the aim of promoting a positive attitude to activity and the benefits of a healthy and active lifestyle.

We celebrate all success in sport and this year has been no different with 2 pupils continuing to perform at international level. Kari Dougall was selected again for the England senior squad in Pistol Shooting, and will continue her pursuit of an Olympic place at university. Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti was also selected again for England U18 in Rugby Union. Cameron has also been given the opportunity to play professionally for the Newcastle Falcons, and will join Old Dunelmians James Elliott and Micky Young in the scrum half squad.

The Rowing season ended on a high with five of our girls taking a Bronze medal at the British Championships in a composite crew with four pupils from Kings School Canterbury where OD and former Head of Rowing John Williamson now resides. This was an amazing achievement as all the crew were a year young and will be hoping for more next

year. Conor Dougall (U16) and Sam Newton (U19) both played for the Independent Lambs XV. With Jonny Bushnell, Cameron Fyfe and Sol Bell all playing Cricket for Durham County Cricket under 19s. Many other pupils have been involved in Premiership Academies, acquiring County Honours and taken part in inter-regional events in Hockey, Cricket, Rowing and Rugby.

Sport continues to thrive at Durham School, but as always, none of this would be possible without the incredible amount of time that our staff devote to the sporting programme.

My thanks, on behalf of the pupils, goes to everyone who has contributed to this year.

M. I. Bedworth Director of Sport

Bath and Otter Cup, Olympic Park

Swimming

Though we were faced with several cancellations, it has been a successful year. We had a strong start to the season with our first gala taking place in the Durham pool against Sedbergh on the 27 of January. Despite it being a mixed gala, both the Juniors and Seniors beat the Sedbergh side by quite a lot.

Our next gala was an all-girls competition against Barnard Castle on the 7th of February and the strong win on our behalf, of 103 to 59, really highlighted the strong group of girls that we have swimming here in Durham School. This is one of the reasons that we only sent a girls’ team down to London for the annual Bath and Otter cup this year. Amelia Simpson joined Jessica, Kari and Tereza to complete the team which travelled to the national schools, achieving the best results for a number of years. They came 12th in the Freestyle relay and 14th in the Medley, only just missing out on the final for both by points of a second. Though the boys themselves didn’t travel down to London this is only due to

a lack of senior boys, however we maintain a strong junior boys side which bodes well for coming years. Our last meet of the year took place in Ampleforth College, where despite it being March time already we still battled through the snow to compete. We sustained our first and only loss of the season to a strong Ampleforth side, so keep up the training and maybe next year we will beat them. Finally, I would just like to say well done to everyone who competed this year in the team in particular to Madeleine Yuill-Rostron who continually gave strong performances against boys three times her height. However, I think I can speak on behalf of myself and Kari when I say it has been a pleasure to captain you all and thank you to Mr and Mrs Fordyce who give up their time to take a sometimes reluctant team to meets. I wish you all the best with the swimming next year and look forward to hearing the victories that I’m sure Tereza will lead you to. Good luck Tereza you have a good team on your hands!

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

85

S P O R T

Girls’ Sport 2017-2018 has been a very busy year with a number of successes.

Highlights of the year have been the success of the 1st netball team, a brilliant tour to South Africa and the girls playing some cricket for the first time. Girls have been playing in the hockey performance centre and numerous others have been playing at regional and national level in netball, rowing swimming x-country and shooting.

Alongside the major reports below a number of other events have happened.

Three girls took part in the British Schools regional biathlon in September. Tereza Cillicova finishing 1st in U17 girls, Amelia Simpson 5th in the U13 girls and Isabelle Ford 9th In the U12 girls. Scores are ranked nationally and Amelia and Isabelle qualified for national finals. Isabelle took part in the national finals at Crystal palace doing a personal best in both swimming and running.

For the first time girls competed in the Table Tennis and Badminton teams. Beryl Yan, Lika Jatoeva and Christine Zhang played badminton while Valeria Cobiltean, Lika and Christine played table tennis. Valeria who won all her matches against the NSB boys team which was very pleasing.

Kari Dougall has been competing internationally at pistol shooting. She in on the GB future olympians squad and England academy. She got to the final of the GB mixed schools shooting competition but her main success was gaining two golds and a bronze at the British Championships and setting a new U21 British Record for 10m precision shooting.

As ever the inter house competitions were well fought. Pimlico won the senior and Junior X-Country and MacLeod the inters.

In swimming Macleod took a clean sweep of all three age group. Many school records were broken. In the juniors Amelia Simpson broke the fly and IM, Isabelle Ford the backstroke and Polina Mozhaeva the front crawl. In the inters Rosie Bolam broke the breastroke record and Lottie Holmes the frontcrawl.

Four individual records were broke in the seniors Kari Dougall in the frontcrawl and backcrawl while Tereza Cillicova broke the fly and IM. Macleod also broke 6 of the 7 relay records.

Hockey was won by Pimlico at junior level and Macleod at inters and the seniors was a very well fought draw.

record by over 6 metres, Grace James who equalled the junior 200m record and the Macleod Senior 4 x 100m of Jess Appelby, Alex Bolam, Olivia Colby and Kari Dougall who also set a new school record.

The victrix Ludorum went to Grace James for her successes on the athletics field throughout the year but in particular winning the county school pentathlon competition.

Outside of our School sport it is really pleasing to see many of our girls playing sport at clubs and in representative teams.

Joining a club to pursue a sport you enjoy really does help you to develop better skills and knowledge of the sport.

Well done to all the girls who have competed in a number of sports throughout the year. It has been a successful season with great improvements.

Thank you to all the staff who have worked tirelessly to create these successes.

1st Netball

The 1st netball team has had a fantastic season this year. The first tournament we played in was the Durham area tournament.

The team played hard and enthusiastically with good skill and determination which put us ahead of the other teams winning the tournament. Two of the best results in the tournament were against Durham Johnson 7 to 3 and St Leonards 12 to 0. During the rest of the season we played twenty matches of which we won sixteen and lost only four. With Grace Carr and Sophie Atkinson shooting. Laura Maxey, Olivia Colby and Scarlette Bell in centre court. Then Kari Dougall and Zara Hudson in defence.

With the help of Jessica Bramwell as a sub in some games, this team went from strength to strength. Our second tournament in the autumn was the Tyne and Wear cup Finishing third, this tournament is always very challenging. Some good games resulted in us beating Emmanuel 10 to 7 and Dame Allan’s 9 to 4. Losing only two games to RGS 4 to 9 and Newcastle High. With Sophie Atkinson and Grace Carr shooting under a great deal of pressure, centre court moving at great speed and perfect timing. Then Zara Hudson and Kari Dougall defending and intercepting some great balls helped us beat Durham High

In netball it was MacLeod 1st in the inters and seniors and Pimlico won the juniors.

House Rounders was fiercely contested with MacLeod winning all 3 ages but Pimlico putting up a good fight in all matches but particularly at inters with only 1.5 rounds splitting the houses.

Sports day was another very enjoyable occasion with many high level performances. Macleod once again took all 3 age group titles and so the overall trophy. Performances of the day came from Kari Dougall in the senior javelin who broke the school

86

1st Netball

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P O R T

in this tournament which was one of three times we would beat them this season. We continued our success against the local schools beating Emmanuel 18 to 10, Austin Friars 20 to 9, Durham High 34 to 9, Dame Allan’s 26 to 14 and RGS 23 to 16. Our last game of the season was against Polam Hall due to injuries and illness we lost a couple of team mates, so Sophie Hogg, Heidi Rochester and Jessica Bramwell stepped in. This was a great game to watch resulting in a fantastic win 34 to 20 what a great way to end the season.

U15 Netball great improvement of all their skills. As a team they built up their accuracy of play on court, working towards timing of passes, making strong leads and our defence against the ball.

Individually Rhianna Ballantyne has been a strong presence on court throughout the season, whilst playing goal defence. Freya Court and Monica Speed have rotated between goal keeper and wing defence, with Monica discovering a new found love of blocking and Freya getting many interceptions.

2nd Netball

2nd Netball

The 2nd team worked hard this season. The team finished 4th out of 7 teams in the Durham area netball tournament. Having a close game against Durham Johnson beating them 3 to 2.

Then drawing against st Leonards A and B teams. Having some great games against other schools we beat Austin Friars 14 to 1. With another win against RGS Jessica Crawford and Lilly Kennedy really started to work well together as the shooters.

Jessica Appleby and Joely Woods made a strong defence in the shooting circle. Sophie Hogg, Georgina Brown worked the centre court along with Alex Bolam and Lucy Hogan to get the ball down to our shooters. The team really started to gel together when the weather disrupted play. The next few games we lost against a very strong Barnard Castle and Yarm, but the determination and enthusiasm shone threw and they were a pleasure to watch.

U16 Netball

The Under 16s had three school matches and the area tournament. In the area championships they struggled as many players cup were tied to the 1st team. They beat Park View and Hermitage finishing 4th overall with Lilly Kennedy showing some good shooting skills and Jessica Appleby defending with great determination.

Amy O’Kane and Holly Coupe have provided strong support on the wings throughout every match. They were always available for passes as their strengths lay in getting free and helping move the ball down the court.Finally the shooters, Jessica Bramwell and Arabella Stewart have been working brilliantly, not just on their shots but on their movement around the circle.

They started the season slowly only winning one game 6-0 against Newcastle high B at the Tyne and Wear tournament but made a great improvement after this winning 9 and losing 4 matches. In the Durham league they won all but one match the best results being 26-13 against Hermitage Phaedra Davies and Amy O’Kane playing particularly well in mid court. Then a 15-14 win against a strong Durham Johnson side Jessicas shooting keeping them in the game and 17-5 against a Durham High team. Other wins followed 24-21 in a tight end to end game against Queen Marys Holly Coupe and Freya Court marking well as wings, 7-1 against Dame Allans and 26-18 in a physical game at Emmanuel.

The highlight of the season was our game against Austin Friars in which we won 26-5 Rhiannas defence and interceptions being a key area. The game flowed and our timing from Monica in defence to Arabella in attack was good.

The full U16 team played against Queen Mary’s where they had a convincing 17 - 1 win. Fast flowing play from Jessica Crawford in attack and Scarlette Bell in defence linked the two ends of the court fluently. The girls controlled the game throughout. Due to numbers, Rosie Bolam was promoted to the u16s for this match. They played another 2 games against Yarm and Red House unfortunately losing in close matches but Olivia Colby’s athleticism and Lucy Hogan’s determination were evident in both matches.

The team has shown how versatile it can be by moving into different positions when needed. Even though they lost some matches all the players have learnt from those mistakes, enabling them to grow as a team and apply what they have learnt to future matches. In the final match of the season against Polam Hall the team came out with a great score of 31-11. They controlled the game from start to finish showing how much they had learnt and progressed throughout the season.

U15 Netball

The under 14 team has really made a great improvement as the season went on. With some strong schools for competition this year we gained some good results. With a good game

The Under 15 netball team had a strong season in which we had many convincing wins, close losses and have shown a

U14 Netball

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

87

S P O R T

U14 Netball against Emmanuel College beating them 21 to 1 this was the beginning of some great matches. We played DJS ending with a draw of 10 to 10. The next few games were challenging as the season moved on we beat Park View 10 to 4 and RGS 18 to 14. Polam Hall was another great game to watch keeping us all in suspense until we beat them 19 to 14. We did have a hard game against Hermitage Academy which could have gone either way unfortunately we lost 17 to 20. Another very close game against a strong Barnard Castle team had us all holding our breath this also resulted in a loss for us of 19 to 21 our girls just kept working till the last second. With Rosie Bolam and Izzy Liversidge in shooting, Lottie Holmes, Holly coupe, Amy Moyes Reader in centre court. Then Asia Newton Koltin and Mgan Qin in defence. This team showed great effort and determination in all their games.

Tanfield School in the league, beating them 4-1. Belle Ford and Hannah Gordon working well in the centre third. Unfortunately they played several strong local teams in the league and lost to them however the whole team learnt a lot and made big improvements towards the end of the season. Next was the most exciting match of the season in which they drew against Choristers with Maddy Holmes and Madeleine Yuill Rostron working particularly hard to maintain possession. They then went on to beat a strong Barnard Castle team 8-7 scoring in the last minute when Katherine Hogan began to show the strength of her shooting skills. Isabelle Metcalfe and Libby Taylor were by now working hard in defence and blocking players from the circle.

Megan Bonner and Ruth Sinclair joined the team and improved their movement and passing skills in the mid court as the season progressed. It has been a tough year but all the girls have trained hard and made big improvements.

The Under 12 B team had a difficult season but made very good improvements throughout the season. Many of the girls had only started playing netball in September but they quickly learnt the rules and basic tactics, unfortunately they didn’t win a game but their effort and determination was excellent. Hannah McNaughton Jones and Megan Bonner worked tirelessly in mid court to regain possession.

Abigail Williams and Ruby Ward showed a great deal of improvement in a number of positions quickly learning the game. Ruth Sinclair used her height in the defensive circle and Lola Mawson intercepted a number of balls against Red House. Katie Toner and Charlotte Aiyenibe from Y8 drafted in to complete the team and played with determination.

Well done to all the girls who never gave up or let their heads go down.

U13 Netball

U13 Netball

This team has made a big improvement this season but also had some teething problems with positions. We did have several girls who could shoot and play centre court, so it did take a bit longer for the team to gel and become one. We had our first game against Hermitage in the league. This was a very close game and with a sigh of relief we beat them 12 to 11. The weather washed most of our games out so out of eleven games we did not get to play eight of them. Although the girls did put effort and constant enthusiasm into each match we did lose against Chorister school 4 to 11 and Yarm 3 to 11. If this team had been given the chance to play all their games, with Daisy Sullivan, Saroop Bath, Grace James, Izzy Parker Fuller, Rachel Person, Amelia Simpson, Ella Stevenson and Isabel Marley on the squad this could be the team to watch out for next season.

U12 ‘A’ Netball

U12 Netball

The Under 12A team had a varied number of wins and losses.

They started off the season with a convincing win against

88

U12 ‘B’ Netball

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P O R T

1st XI Hockey

The 1st XI girls hockey team were again a pleasure to coach.

The girls started slowly but steadily improved over the season.

Hard work on the training pitch and a mixture of senior and junior players enabled the team to play 9 games win 5 and lose 4. The team had excellent victories against Newcastle School for girls, Barnard Castle, Ampleforth and Sedbergh 2XIs. Sophie Atkinson captained the team leading with some fine individual performances. Many of the team will return to play next season and with the addition of more young players the team will further improve . A special thanks must go to Sophie Watchman who works hard coaching and organising all of the girls. She also umpires all of the games.

1st Hockey

at some point; either making slick steals and tackles in midfield or using terrifying force and skill to launch the ball into the top corners of the goal.

At the back Freya Court and Izzy Liversidge worked very effectively as a unit and Asia Koltai Newton played in goal as the last line of defence and improved greatly throughout the season.

The season started out well with two convincing victories in the space of three days; 4-0 against Queen Mary’s, then 8-0 against RGS. After that they had a considerable gap in playing as a team and perhaps because of this our fortunes changed with a 5-0 loss to Ashville College then, after another gap, a cruel 1-0 loss to Yarm in a very closely fought competition.

However after these two defeats they quickly picked themselves up, trained hard and went on to a satisfying win against Barnard Castle, 3-1. Another very pleasing win against Dame Allans 7-1 showed how much more confident they had become towards the end of the season. More seering runs by Libby and solid defence by Freya created a very attacking game where pressure was forced on Dame Allans throughout. In total the team sustained 4 wins and 4 losses but showed an immense amount of improvement as the season progressed. They have worked hard on individual skills, tactics and teamwork ready to join the senior squad next year.

U13 Hockey

The Under 13s may not have had the strongest of seasons however they have become stronger as a team, and finally mastered the art of moving in to space and passing a strong and accurate pass. They have learnt their positions this season and through hard work have developed their defensive and attacking roles as well as being more confident as individuals on the ball.

U15 Hockey

Even though they didn’t have many wins some of the goals scored have been of a high quality. Playing Teesside High on a tiny pitch was a difficult start to the season and they struggled to create space on the ball. Daisy Sullivan is a strong tackler and she stopped many goals on this occasion.

U15 Hockey

This year the Under 15 team has been a talented group playing in many varied positions. Many of their members have switched between u15s and other ages which has meant a continually changing team. They have taken this in their stride and flourished as players.

Amy Moyes Reader, Amy O Kane and Jess Bramwell on the wings making solid J-runs and co-ordinating some quite frankly beautiful switching goals. Libby Houstons speed in the centre outrunning many players to score some excellent goals.

A 3-1 loss against RGS could have been a lot more without Izzy Parker Fullers great saves in goal as they repeatedly sent waves of attacks. In midfield, Saroop Batth and Rachel Pearson have improved a lot and made some good passes to our forwards.

Their best game came against Dame Allans which we won 4-1.

Our attackers, Elise Robinson Towers, Amelia Simpson and Ella Stevenson made some good moves to get into the circle to challenge the goalie.

They were supported by Rhianna Ballantynes the enthusiastic play maker in the heart of the formation. She then could pass out wide to Rosie Bolam as right half or Phaedra Davies as link and they both used some well timed passes to push play higher up the pitch.

Monica Speed and Holly Coupe were often in the right place at the right time to weave around opposition players in the mid field. Lottie Holmes played almost every position on the pitch

U13 Hockey

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

89

S P O R T

Grace James played exceptionally well throughout the year.

Her energy and enthusiasm never wavered. She scored a number of individual goals. Against Ashville she tackled in the defensive circle, controlled the ball beat 4 players then put the ball in the top corner of the net to score one of our 2 goals.

Well done to all the girls as they move into the 11 a side game.

1st Rounders

2nd Rounders

U12 ‘A’ Hockey

U12 ‘B’ Hockey

U12 Hockey

Enthusiasm has certainly been the theme throughout the season with all our Year 7 girls enjoying their hockey. As always in Year 7, we have girls who have already played and those who are new to the game. Those new to the game have really worked hard to learn the skills and how to play the game and they have been helped by those more experienced players. With the first matches during our first week of term in September, there was not much time for preparation however we finished the week with wins over The Chorister School and Newcastle High School for Girls. Luckily this season, we have had enough players to field two teams and our B team played several games providing everyone with the opportunity to play matches. Our A team played 13 fixtures throughout the season, winning 9, drawing 1 and losing 3. Our most exciting game was against Yarm in November where it was end to end play, some excellent saves by both goal keepers and some great passing; we won 2-1, scoring in the last 20 seconds. This team have huge potential for the future as the talent and passion for the game runs throughout.

Well done also to Maddy Holmes, Belle Ford, Madeleine YuillRostron and Izzy Metcalfe also training at the Durham County Academy Centre for Under 13 players.

Senior Rounders

This has been a short season due to exam pressure. All the seniors thoroughly enjoyed their matches which for many were their last competitive outings for Durham School.

90

The 1st team played 4 matches. Winning 3 and only losing narrowly to a strong Sedbergh team. Against Yarm strong bowling by Georgina Brown prevented them from hitting well but when they did hit the ball Scarlette Bell fielded strongly into 2nd and 4th bay and Jess Appleby covered many balls at 1st deep.

They won 27-8. The strength of Kari Dougall fielding tightly at 2nd and Zara Hudsons throws to fourth bay were the changing point in the Durham High game which they won18-13. Another pleasing win against Barnard Castle 16-9 showed the strength of Sophie Atkinson in the field, Olivia Colby as backstop and Zara Alexander on 4th. Highest batting score of the season was Kari Dougall followed by Sophie Atkinson. Other players were Alex Bolam who batted particularly strongly Maddie Clark, Claudia Mason and Joely Woods.

The 2nd team played 3 matches. They also lost to Sedbergh and Barnard Castle although Claudia Mason and Lilly Kennedy fielded well. They then beat Yarm 12-8. Maddie Clark and Grace Carr batting well. Fern Hodgson and Connie Barraclough both came in to cover for absences and fielded with enthusiasm.

Megan Brown and Lucy Hogan were also important members in both the fielding and batting.

U13 Rounders

This season has been a mixed one. The team had ten games to play out of which one was cancelled, and we had four wins. The games we won were quite impressive and the games lost were close ones. Durham Johnson was a amazing close game but the team were determined to take a win home and they really fought hard. The score was 9 to 8. The girls then went on to play Park view beating them 12.5 to 7 another great win. Framwellgate was another win of 9.5 to 5.5. St Bedes was a more comfortable win of 18 to 11. Some of our lost games were quite close Barnard Castle was a nail biting game us losing in the end 14 to 18.5. And Chorister match was a very close game we lost 5

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P O R T

U13 Rounders

Junior Cross Country to 8. Again, the High School another close match but we lost 8.5 to 11. All the games were played with great enthusiasm and great sportsmanship. Our girl’s skills have improved so much during this season and we are all looking forward to next year.

X-Country

The area Cross Country Championships took place on a very cold and wet November day at Framwellgate; 28 girls ran. The best performances came from Imogen Hurst 4th in the senior girls and with the senior girls of Tereza Cillicova, Heidi Rochester and Maya Chuckajama winning the senior event. Libby Houston was 9th and Phaedra Davies 10th in the Year 10 and 11 girls race, both qualifying to run for the Area at Barnard Castle.

Grace James was 8th and Amelia Simpson 10th in the Year 8 race and in the junior girls, Isabelle Ford was 14th, Abbie Williams was 15th and Madeleine Yuill Rostron 16th.

The Red House U13 x-country was next. The team finished a pleasing 2nd overall with Grace finishing 2nd and Amelia 4th.

6 of the 8 runners were U12 so all bodes well for next year.

The House Cross Country was postponed until just before the Easter break due to poor weather. The course was changed slightly but seemed to include far more hills than usual!

Congratulations to everyone for taking part and representing their Houses with pride and a good attitude. The Junior Run was won by Grace James with Belle Ford in 2nd and Amelia Simpson 3rd. Pimlico won the juniors. In the Inters Run, Phaedra Davies won with Lottie Holmes 2nd and Libby Houston in 3rd. Macleod won the inters race. In the seniors, Pimlico took the top 3 with Imogen Hurst winning, Grace Bradley in second and Heidi Rochester in third. Pimlico won the overall trophy.

Supporting Clients.

Protecting Assets.

Changing Lives.

Blending our specialist knowledge, experience & enthusiasm, EMG Solicitors offer clear, professional legal advice.

It’s the way we deliver our advice that sets us apart.

• Court of Protection

• Wills, Trusts & Probate

• Lasting Powers of Attorney

• Residential Conveyancing

• Deputyships

• Dispute Resolution

• Family & Divorce

• Commercial Property

W: www.emgsolicitors.com T: 0191 500 6989 E: enquiry@emgsolicitors.com

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

Abbey House Abbeywoods Business Park Durham DH1 5TH

91

S P O R T

Katie Heslop, Julia Gledson, Sam Turnill

Rowing Rowing is a sport that you don’t really understand or totally appreciate until you are fully submersed and by then it’s too late, your hooked for eternity.

In life everybody needs inspiration, it usually comes from History, Books, Individuals that have gone before us and sometimes sport. One of the first things we associate with sport is passion, it’s a common thread that unites pupils, families and even nations. It’s the passion in the boat club that brings the best out of our pupils, with the success shared equally by everyone at the club.

During the long gruelling hours spent on the river bank it’s made me realise how important it is to have passion, to have a purpose, to be dedicated to the nth degree. You will find passion from inspirational pupils that have come before you or even pupils in the year above, but sometimes to be that person you have to beat that person.

92

there is no passion from dreaming small. At Durham School we dream big and we win big through the passion of our pupils, staff and parents.

So thank you all for being so passionate and being part of a record breaking season at Durham School Boat Club.

Mr E. Bryant Director of Rowing After a very successful previous season, time needed spent reviewing and planning, deciding on what we were setting out to do this season, sustain last year’s efforts or step on and aim for another record season…….

Sometimes when following your passion you will encounter obstacles, if you run into a wall, even if it’s a great wall, you don’t turn around and give up, you find a way to climb over it, go around it or even through it.

We started the season with a full cohort of staff, we bid farewell to Hanna Inntojore but welcomed Ryan Todhunter and Rebecca Moore to the team, both bringing a wealth of experience from their previous school and university rowing programmes.

Durham School is a small (but growing) rowing school, but

For the Seniors winter training started immediately with the

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P O R T

Katie Heslop younger pupils aiming towards Durham Autumn Sprints and the new format of omnium competition. As Durham Autumn sprints was quickly upon us in September the pupils had very little time on learning the new skills in comparison to our local club rivals who had been hard at it all summer. On the day of the event, the nerves were very obvious, but the younger pupils went on to display fantastic sculling ability and scored extremely high on the skills. It was a great day for all our crews gaining valuable experience and of course picking up several category wins.

As customary the Northern Rowing Council Sculling series started in October, Berwick was cancelled due to the weather so South Hylton would be the schools first test of the series.

In conditions that were not great the School came away with three wins, in the Sen 4x-, J15 2x and WJ17 2x. Special mention goes to Julia Gledson and Grace Bradley on their first race and win for the school after joining us in September.

With very little rest and another weeks training under the belt it was time for run out on home water at Durham LDS and SBH. Yet again a strong display of sculling led to a further three wins to add to the list with the J15 4x+ continuing their dominance from J14 and the Senior girls winning the WJ17 2x and WJ16 1x.

Harry Cameron

training and is real indicator of how things are going so far.

A large squad travelled and as tradition we boated from St. Peters School in York. Two of the J15 boys raced up in a J16 4x- with two lads from another club comfortably won the J16 4x-. The J17 girls also worked hard taking home wins in the W4x+, WJ17 2x and WJ16 1x. We don’t normally pick up many wins at York so this was a great day out for DSBC. With Christmas coming attention turned towards the last race of the year. Rutherford Head is one of the biggest events in the North with the opportunity to pitch ourselves against the top clubs, schools and universities. We had several crews entered who exceeded all expectations but it was only the J16 boys who pick up a win in their category but also came 2nd in the J18 event which was incredibly impressive.

As the calendar year drew to a close, one last event unfolded, the annual Christmas Pudding race. This year’s event saw eight crews made up of pupils, staff, parents and friends all race out to be crowned Pudding Champion, taking the Christmas puddings as prizes and Brussel sprouts for the losers.

Not forgetting that everyone made a superb effort with the fancy dress.

In January, training resumed as normal but water sessions over the next few weeks took a big hit due to the constant rain and river flooding. The pupils all stepped up to the increase in land training and made huge gains in fitness and strength.

Tyne was up next but yet again the weather got the better of the event and it was cancelled. This gave us some more time to get prepared for the gruelling 5km race at Tees LDS and SBH. We took a smaller squad to Tees due to the predicted conditions. The J17 girls put on another good display and took wins in the WJ17 2x and WJ17 4x-.

Due to the weather several head races were cancelled that hindered our preparation for schools head but we did manage to get an outing at Durham Small Boats Head where we picked up J15 4x+ and Katie Heslop won the Womens 4+ in a composite crew training for Inter Regional Selection.

At this point the season was beginning to shape up well with the J17 girls moving very quickly and the J15 boys continuing to show dominance in the coxed quad they had raced in all last season.

Junior Inter-Regional Trials took place at Wansbeck with the J15 4x+ dominating the event and getting selected to the Northern Team. Similarly the J14 4x+ put in a strong performance beating the favourites to also get selected.

In between the events Julia Gledson who joined the school in September had attended Early ID Trials with GB Rowing and came well inside the top 30 scullers. After this she was invited onto the Diploma in Sporting Excellence through GB rowing.

The end of the head season and the aim of all of our training was a trip to the tideway for the annual Schools Head of the River Race which is always a fantastic trip for the pupils and a chance for the northern crews to race some tough opposition from our friends in the South. The School sent three crews with the J15 4+ finishing 2nd behind a very good Radnor House crew and the Women’s Champ 4x- finishing 11th and 19th in

The next big test was York Small Boats Head, this event brings stronger competition and is real test after the first 1/3 of winter

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

93

S P O R T

J15 Boys Coxed Quad

Alex Cooper

J15 coed Boys 4

J15 Girls Double

J14 Double

J15 Double

a very tough category, all the girls were J17, so it bodes well for next year.

With no Easter Camp this year due to the whole school sport tour to South Africa scheduled for the summer it was up to the pupils to work hard over the Easter period to maintain the gains during the tough winter months.

The first regatta was upon us which happened to be the Junior Inter Regional Regatta at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham. The school had two crews selected to the team at J15 and J14 level. The J14 4x+ put in a stellar performance making the A final and coming 4thin an event with a tough field. The J15 4x+, took part in what many spectators called the race of the day. They comfortably made the A final and in a race that was separated by less than 1 second from 1st to 4th, just missed out on a medal.

The next whole club regatta was at Durham City Regatta, the club entered both days of the event and put on great displays of sculling and sweep. The club came away with a record 15 wins across the age groups from J14 up to J18. This event really set the tone for training over the next few weeks as we headed towards the bigger regattas.

94

Tees Regatta was the first multi-lane event and was a good warm up for the impending National Schools Regatta. With tougher competition crews stepped up and took a total of 7 wins with our National Schools crews taking strong wins, growing in confidence.

National Schools Regatta was up next with two crews travelling to Dorney Lake in Windsor. The J15 4x+ raced their time trial on the Friday and comfortably made it into the A/B semi-finals. After a little concern over the draws for the semi-finals the crew had to race in a very tough semi-final with 3 of the fastest four crews in our event.

The boys put on a very mature performance to qualify to the A Final. In the A final some of the crew fitness came into play and after a hard fought race the crew narrowly missed out on a medal again by less than a second. On the Saturday the Girls 4+ comfortably made it into the A/B Semi Final. When it came to the Semi Finals, the weather had changed and the wind now made it very advantageous to the lower lane numbers. The Girls who were in Lane 6 had a tough race and unfortunately did not make it in to the A Final. The Girls raced the B Final later in the day and put in the best performance I have seen, beating local rivals Yarm School.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P O R T

Girls Coxed 4

Senior Boys coxed Quad

J15 Coxed Quad

Julia Gledson

Senior Girls Coxless Quad

The crews should be commended, as making A/B Semi Finals at National Schools in no easy task.

Returning to domestic competition, Durham Regatta, the biggest weekend on the school’s calendar and it did not disappoint. The weekend is big social event for the boat club and its supporters with marquee on the race course and the evening hog roast on the Saturday. The racing was a highlight on the weekend. The School took a record 13 wins across the weekend and were the most successful junior club at the weekend. Big thanks to all the staff, pupils and parents that made the weekend such a huge success.

As the domestic season drew to and end for most of the pupils, the senior girls travelled down to Women’s Henley Regatta. This was the first time the girls as J17’s had raced at the famous venue and it gave them a great experience of the International event. The girls were very unlucky and just missed out on qualifying for the main event by 0.8secs. Although this was extremely disappointing for the girls but also gave them food for thought and the seed was sown for the following year.

Term ended and the senior girls and J15 boys travelled down to British Championships. Sam Hall in the J15 1x put in a great

performance in the 1x finishing 4th in the C Final. A huge achievement for him at his first multi-lane event in the single.

The J15 2x had a tough race in and made the B final finishing 4th, still an impressive performance. The senior girls joined forces with four girls from Kings School Canterbury, where OD and previous Head of Rowing Jon Williamson now worked in a women’s eight. After an average time trial the girls were sitting in 4th place on time, knocking on 3rd place. In the A final the girls needed to step up to challenge for a medal and that is what they did. At 1000m the girls were sitting in Bronze medal position but they had a fight on their hands. As Henley pushed on the girls, they responded and went onto win the Bronze Medal, this was a fantastic way to end the season and payment for all the girls hard work.

There was then good news over the summer when OD Nicole Lamb was selected to represent Great Britain in the single at the World University Games in China.

The successes this season were down to a lot of hard work from all of the pupils and Staff with the fantastic support of the parents. A special thanks needs to go to Miss Yates, Mr Rumble and Mr Bewick, who’s support and effort this year have been faultless.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

95

S P O R T

Noel Shearing Memorial Cup

Boys’ Sport Badminton

to playing them home and away each year from next year on.

We had a newly-formed Durham School sports team this year – a badminton team, named by committee (those playing in the first fixture) as the Dragonflies.

We were able to organise three competitive match-ups against other schools and the hope is that we can build on these to have a number of fixtures each year. There are certainly a number of schools around us which play and this year showed that there is clearly interest in the sport from the pupils. As a Games option on Thursdays for seniors, the hall was usually full of around 28 pupils playing (or waiting to) each week, while Badminton Club on the lunchtime, open to all, usually saw between 10-25 pupils of all ages come along to try it out or, for some, practise their skills.

Our first fixture, away at Emmanuel College, saw us start with a win, despite their team including the current County Durham adults’ badminton singles champion! While he defeated our captain Stavros G as well as Tony Q in singles, overall we were a stronger outfit with more depth, as the other team members including Tony P, Simon Zh, Sett K, Stephen L, Cameron F and Robbie F clocked up a number of wins. Overall we won comfortably 24-14.

We followed this up with success over Sedbergh at home, winning 21-14 overall. It was a most pleasing occasion, as Sedbergh travelled with 16 players including a couple of girls’ pairs so we selected 16 too: 32 pupils in total, all coming together to play badminton for an afternoon. The core of our team were too strong for Sedbergh, while our six girls all got some wins and played well and some others who came in, such as Tom P and Will P, all gave good accounts of themselves. Wins against this particular rival can sometimes be in short supply, so this was quite welcome. We look forward

96

Our final game took place on a Saturday morning in March, against Hummersknot from Darlington. Hoping to defend the unbeaten record, the team fell at the last, being defeated 19-13. Both myself and captain Stavros G were absent, unfortunately, but the record of scores showed that many games were decided by a single point and that both teams were very well matched. Tony K joined the team for this one and will be an integral part of the team next year, while a number of other players from younger years took part, including Tom D, Sol B and George H, and again a pair of girls, Lika J and Beryl Y. Now we have a team name and the start of a fixture list, it is to be hoped that we can go from strength to strength in badminton; I was especially pleased to see a number of individuals, who may not play many other sports, having fun and showing themselves good athletes on the court.

Mr C. Hope

Boys Tennis

The tennis season started in the summer term with a fixture away at Sedbergh. Both the U15 and U18 Boys teams played a mixture of singles and doubles matches. The U18 team 1st pair of Stavros Gidopoulos and Matthew Hindmarsh won their doubles match in a tight affair. Unfortunately this was to be the only win for the day as we ended up losing 5-1 and 6-0.

Poor weather meant the U18 Baranrd Castle fixture couldn’t be played, but the U15s enjoyed a successful day, beating Barnard Castle 5-1. The U15s, with the addition of their French superstar Baptiste, then travelled to Durham Johnston and played against a strong side. The boys worked hard

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P O R T

and with one match remaining the scores were tied at 4-4. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be, but they did take a lot of confidence from the improvement that they had made.

The U18s also played against Durham Johnston. In windy conditions, the boys struggled against a strong outfit and ended up losing 5-1.

The U13 team enjoyed a 61-61 thriller against NSB. There was lots of good table tennis being played and the boys learned some valuable lessons about the tactics required to play against different opponents.

Mr P. Dias

1st XI Cricket 2018

Mr P. Dias

The 1st XI had one of the most successful seasons in recent times, playing 17 fixtures; winning 13, drawing 1 and losing just 3 games. With the weather being cold and wet leading up to the season, we managed to get started playing RGS at Jesmond. A fantastic 150 from Jonny Bushnell propelled us to an excellent first win. The weather then turned and the sun came out for the best school cricket season in recent memory.

The sunshine made for excellent wickets and some exciting cricket for the whole summer.

Basketball

Basketball

The Durham School Knights made an impressive start to their basketball campaign. New additions Don Ossou and Steele Barker helped strengthen a largely unchanged squad from the 2017 season. Their first match was against Emmaunel College where the team linked well and worked hard off the ball. Their shooting was accurate and the end score line finished 53-5, a comprehensive win. The Knights next fixture was against Sedbergh, which proved to be a much more challenging affair.

Against a much fitter and more organsied side we lost 74-48.

Nevertheless the knights bounced back in the fixture against NSB, comfortably winning 48-25. It was the speed of passing and accuracy of shooting that was the difference between the two sides.

The junior basketball team, the Squires, played a match against NSB. Despite plenty of endeavour, there was a lack of composure under the basket and they team ended up losing 34-17.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Stephen Leung for his efforts in captaining the Knights, and I am looking forward to seeing the basketball at Durham School to continue to develop next year.

The team then went on to achieve some excellent wins against Barnard Castle, Ampleforth, The Perse , NSB, Durham Pilgrims and then the highlight of the season beating Durham County U17s.

It was a fine team performance and shows the strength and depth of Durham Schools cricket to beat a County team .

In the National T20 competition we had good wins against Barnard Castle and RGS which was played under lights at the Riverside . This qualified us for the North East semi final and we lost a close game against Worksop College. We had some fine cricketers representing the school with Jonny Bushnell and Sol Bell representing Durham CCC at U17, U19 and 2nd XI level . Cameron Fyfe captained the team and had an excellent season with both bat and ball, making two centuries against St Peters York and NSB being the highlight. But all round contributions from the whole team made for such a consistent season.

The awards are as follows: Mike Hirsch Award for the outstanding First XI Cricketer: Cameron Fyfe Maurice Bell Award for the most improved Cricketer: Jonny Bushnell Batting Award: Cameron Fyfe Bowling Award: Sam North Fielding Award: Jonny Bushnell I must again thank everyone who helps to make a school cricket season; the coaches, ground staff, catering, parents

Mr P. Dias 1st XI Cricket

Table Tennis

In the Easter term we played a number of table tennis fixtures against NSB, with the senior side up first. The team ended up losing 65-39 but there were some excellent performances from Valeria Cobiltean and Christine Zhang.

Despite some excellent performances from Joe Liu, Joe Seymour and Thomas Pickering the U15 side lost to NSB 40-29. The U15 team also entered the TSSSA Table Tennis Competition, where they faced four other schools from the area. The standard of the tournament was very high and the boys finished 4th out of 5.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

97

S P O R T

and Maurice Bell for all of his support.

We now look forward to 2019 cricket with a lot of hard work in the winter months and our fingers crossed for another fantastic summer.

Mr M. Fishwick

Cricket – 2nd XI

The theme of the year for the 2nd XI season was presence, or rather, at times, the lack of it; a couple of games in the middle part of the season stretched us too thin but for the rest of the time we had a side full of ability and, in some cases, potential which was not quite fulfilled.

It would miss the point to concentrate only on our record of Won 1, Lost 7, since context is everything. The defeats suffered early in the season partly came about through personnel issues and partly a lack of application from the batsmen who did not consider the state of the pitch, or our lower order, before being prone to rash shot selection. The middle patch of games was plagued, as ever, by the unsettling of the side by the external and internal examinations, the spectres of which loomed large over a number of players, leading to frantic Fridays trying to rustle up a team. We always sought to compete, however, and we always had the makings of a strong bowling side; as the season wore on, players got into rhythms, the captain and side became more settled and our performances blossomed.

The tally of three losses at the end of the season is a tough pill to swallow, since they all were games which could have fallen in our favour. Nonetheless each served up a lot of exciting cricket; in one, momentum ebbed and flowed before our score of 95 was exposed as being about 20 runs short, while in a 20/20 match a 70no from Thomas R deserved the win but we lost off the penultimate ball. Between these we lost to Ampleforth in a memorable game where in defending 84 we had them at 83-9 and thought we had won it when their number 11 scooped one up to point, only for the Hal(-f) chance to go begging. Nonetheless it was a cracking game, but all three of those last games were reminders of how important each run can be, how intensity in the field needs to be maintained throughout and how, when batting, it is important to stay in as every run gained could end up being the difference between a win and a loss.

2nd XI cricket should be played with the right attitude, combining focused effort with a little more relaxed approach.

2nd XI Cricket

For the most part we got this right, and my thanks go to Tommy B for leading the side so well and getting the team together despite the competition of examinations and revision. On the field he certainly led by example, and his bowling caused problems for every side we played. The core of the side, including Jensen H, Robbie H, Jake H, Alex K and Aaron D and others, all played their part in various games; next season hopefully we can match good performances with the ball to strong showings with the bat and get back to winning ways.

Mr C. Hope

U15 Cricket 2018

The U15 team started their season with an away match at RGS Newcastle. Unfortunately the heavens opened during the 7th over and the match was abandoned. Fortunately, this proved to be one of the few wash-outs for the summer, allowing the boys to play plenty of cricket.

Our next match was away at Barnard Castle where we posted a seemingly strong total of 160-6, Thomas Reynolds batted well to score 71 and Matthew Heywood added 42 in the middle order. Unfortunately, sloppy fielding and short bowling gifted Barnard Castle too many easy runs and they past the total with 6 wickets down.

Against Ashville College we bowled first, and despite an improvement on the match against Barnard Castle, we allowed Ashville to a commanding 176-8. Jack Stephenson performed well with the bat in this game but his 33 wasn’t to be enough and we finished up on 154-8.

Against St Peters York we bowled pretty well, with Matthew Heywood, Sam Brown and Tadgh being the pick of the bowlers, and George Horner deserves a special mention for his unbelievable catch deep on the long on boundary. We restricted St Peters to 159 on a relatively small pitch and we felt that this was an achievable target to chase. Our top order didn’t fire, but we still had a chance whilst George Horner was impressing with the bat, he score 42 runs but this wasn’t to be enough.

The addition of a few U16 players bolstered the U15 team in a challenging game against Durham County. Durham County scored 189/8 from their 40 overs. School then took to the challenge of knocking the runs off. An impressive batting from Jack Stephenson (58) and Niall Butler (67) put us in a great position to win the game. Unfortunately they both got out towards the end of the innings and we fell 10 runs short.

The Durham County T20 competition started with a game against Easington. This turned out to be a comprehensive win as the team bowled Easington out for 49 and then scored the runs without the loss of a wicket.

The following round was played on the same day, in the afternoon at Hartlepool Cricket Club. In the heat of the sun, we batted first and scored 138-3 in 20 overs. Thomas Reynolds (61) and Jack Stephenson (41) batted very well together. Unfortunately, with the ball, we were less the convincing and we ended up losing on the last ball of the game.

98

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P O R T

U14 Cricket

U15 Cricket During the half term break we played Northumberland CC. We had a few players missing that day, so some of the U14 team stepped up to play. Northumberland scored 189-6 and Durham replied with 154 all out. A tough game but some valuable lessons learnt about fielding positions and bowling full.

U14 Cricket

After the half term break the U15s travelled to Yarm and recorded a convincing win, bowling Yarm out for 52 (Jack Moralee taking 3 wickets) and knocking the runs off for the loss of 4 wickets.

Mr Hirsch set about improving this area with a lot of work on the boys’ technical skills. The addition of Niam Khan arriving from Mumbai at half term enabled the whole team to grow in confidence.

Unfortunately, our match against Sedbergh was rained off so we had to wait until touring side Altringham came to visit.

They stayed for two nights which gave us the opportunity to play them in a 35 over game and a T20. The spoils were shared with Durham winning the 35 over game and Altringham winning the T20.

The team then went onto a run of victories against Yarm, Ampleforth, RGS and an Indian touring team.

In the 35 over game Prajwal scored 61 not out and Thomas Reynolds got 39 not out. Blake Vassallo was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets.

Special thanks again to Mike Hirsch and Tom Balkwill for all the hard work they did with the team.

The U14 Cricket Team had a tough start to the season losing their first 6 games.

As a cricket team, the boys have ability but their batting was a weakness.

Jye Richardson captained the team and hopefully next season with some good preparation, they can continue with that form into the U15s.

Mr M. Fishwick Our penultimate game came against a strong NSB U16 side.

We added a few U16s in to the team and performed well.

An impressive 149-7 off 20 overs appeared to be a winning total, but some excellent batting from the opposition got them over the line with one over to spare.

This has been a challenging season for the U15 team but they should be credited for the improvement they have made. Thomas Reynolds has captained the side very well and he has really developed his knowledge of fielding positions, as well as impressing with the bat and ball. He has been supported by a new addition, Jack Stephenson, who has performed well with the bat. Lots of boys have had an opportunity to bowl with Sam Brown and Matthew Heywood really impressing. Behind the stumps, Ewan Greenlaw has done a good job, keeping bravely and really improving. If the boys keep working hard on their cricket, they will continue to improve and start beating the teams who have previously beaten them. I have enjoyed coaching this group of players and I am looking forward to seeing how they develop.

Mr P. Dias

Junior Cricket U13s and U12s

Junior cricket at Durham School was really enjoyable for everyone involved.

The fantastic summer enabled every fixture to be played on good wickets, in sunny warm conditions.

The school has a lot of talented cricketers in both Y7 and 8 so the future is bright for Durham School cricket. Timon Basu captained the U12s and Callum Brown captained the U13s.

Both boys represented Durham CCC in their year groups.

The U13s P13 W 6 L6 T 1 with some fine victories against NSB, RGS, Woodhouse Grove, Terrington and Ampleforth. They also went on to win the Durham School six a side competition.

The U12s P12 W7 L5.

These excellent results showed everyone that cricket was a game that these boys are very good at.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

99

S P O R T

U12 Hockey

U12 Cricket U13 Hockey

U13 Cricket They competed against and beat some strong schools.

The team had excellent wins against Ashville College, Woodhouse Grove, RGS, Yarm and NSB.

U15 Hockey

Mr M. Fishwick

Boys Hockey

The Boys’ Hockey Season was severely affected by a cold winter with most games having to be cancelled. The First XI, captained by Danny Paterson, only got to play two fixtures which was disappointing as the team all worked hard at training.

They lost both games but played really well, showing good technical skill ands real passion for the game.

The U15 team showed a lot of potential with all the boys playing hockey as a second sport . They also worked hard at training to develop a skill level that enables them to enjoy the game and compete. U12s and U13s both played some good hockey with the U12s having a 5-1 win against Choristers which gave the team a lot of confidence. The U13s played some excellent hockey beating Barnard Castle 5-1 and NSB 4 nil.

Rugby

The 2017/18 Rugby season was yet again a challenging one, with over 100 fixtures played by the 12 teams in the school. There were successes at each age group and every player improved which is the main aim of the programme.

This is epitomised when we see our players get selected on developing player pathways, or for County and Premiership academy honours.

100

With every season there are memorable moments. The 1st team beating Barnard Castle on the Playground 36-10 showed this team at the best of their ability. The u15’s cup run to the last 36 of the Natwest Cup showed what an improving side they have. The u16’s also made it to the last 36 of the Rosslyn Park Sevens with the 1st team disappointingly exiting the competition to the eventual winners in the last 16.

A lot of these successes were celebrated at the annual end of season dinner at the Ramside Hall Hotel. The captains of each team did a fantastic job, summarizing their team’s ups and downs with great humour and excellent presentation in front of 200+ people.

Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti has had a fantastic season for both school and the Newcastle Falcons and must be congratulated for his selection in England U18s for the second season running. He is a great talent and has been rewarded for all his hard work with the opportunity to play professionally at

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P O R T

the Newcastle Falcons. We wish Cameron all the best, but also to all our leavers, I hope you continue to enjoy your Rugby at whatever level you play.

1st XV Rugby

The 2017/18 season was met with confidence by a squad with plenty of 1st team experience from the previous season.

Pre-season training was lively and fast, showing the squad’s strengths to be open and attacking Rugby.

This was evident in victories over Stamford School, Norwich and Hill House as the team prepared for the first game of the season against RGS Newcastle at Kingston Park. A lack of dominance at the breakdown and set piece meant that the team played much of the game without the ball. The scoreline of 3-13 was a reflection of a hugely valiant defensive display, but highlighted that as a team a more structured approach to playing territory was needed.

Two more losses followed to GSAL and St Peter’s York in very close games with the squad’s confidence taking a huge knock.

The scorelines of 20-27 and 14-16 showed how close the team was to success.

A midweek Natwest Cup game against Dame Allans proved to be a good opportunity to up the team’s confidence and they played some great flowing Rugby to eventually finish the game winning 64-12. Reece Amir and Jack Holmes providing a great platform to play off with strong ball carries.

The confidence gained from this was evident as the team went on to beat Hymers 55-0 on the Saturday. More control at the scrum and lineout allowed the team to manage possession and it was hoped this would benefit our performance against a very strong Sedbergh team who were being touted as the best in the country.

For those spectators on the playground on that Saturday afternoon, for the first 25 minutes it looked like this Durham team had the potential to spoil the show winning 6-0.

Captain William Jewitt was leading the team with passion and performance, but unfortunately in a freak incident he was tragically injured, dislocating his elbow. This stoppage gave Sedbergh the opportunity to regroup and the game eventually ended up 28-6. This was the lowest winning margin that this team won by all season as they went on to win the Daily Mail Trophy easily.

1st XV Rugby

The win against Dame Allans gave the squad the chance to play RGS Newcastle again, but before this they had the small task of playing the Noel Shearing Memorial match against Ampleforth College in front of a large OD crowd.

The emotion of this game never fails to bring out the best in our teams and the 46-5 win showed the crowd how much the wider community means to the club. It was great to see Max Weightman back on the pitch in this game after a long and annoying setback with injury.

The Wednesday game against RGS proved another hugely frustrating affair with missed opportunities and a lack of territorial dominance in trying conditions costing the team.

With 5 minutes left the game was 6-6 with a draw good enough to take the team through to the next round. RGS mounted a final push and after 15 phases they broke the line to take victory 13-6.

After Half term started on a positive note with a comfortable win against Yarm with many of our academy players being rested. This proved to be poor preparation to play a very physical Woodhouse Grove team away. Missed opportunities were the difference between the teams in a very entertaining game of schoolboy Rugby. The score line of 15-29 flattered our opponents as they scored a converted intercept try as our team chased the game.

The weather then started to play a negative role in the season with Cancellations and postponements being caused by frost meaning that we lost our Saturday fixture against Dame Allans and the ability to host travel to Edinburgh for our Crombie Quaich game against Edinburgh Academy. We were however lucky enough to pick up fixtures against Billingham RFC Colts and Ripon Grammar with each game ending vicytoriously.

This left just one Saturday fixture remaining and the team saved their best performance for last as they dominated Barnard Castle to win 36-10.

Special thanks must go to William Jewitt for his leadership of the team even after injury. He was ably assisted by his vice-captain Rob Milbanke and leadership team of Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti and Reece Amir. It was great to have Sam Newton and Phil Chapman involved again this year who were happy to move between squads for the benefit of the club. The finishing ability of Alex Dryden, Ryan Gerrard and Harry Jackson benifited from the playmaking skills of Max Weightman, Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti and James Coxon.

All of this can’t happen without the hard work of the Forwards and Niall Pace, Will Hodgson and Niall Greenlaw epitomised this all season.

Many of the squad will look onto the 15 a-side season with a feeling of regret. At times we played some very good Rugby, but struggled to pack the killer punch in pressure circumstances. I do however, hope that for the members of the squad who move on from School into University and Club Rugby that they remember their time at the school with fondness. The leavers have been a great bunch of players to coach. Their passion for the school over the years has led to some brilliant journeys and some fantastic results.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

101

S P O R T

On behalf of myself, Mr Dias, Hall and Dave I would like to thank the boys for making it such an enjoyable year.

Mr M. Bedworth 1st XV Coach

2nd XV Rugby

The Hawks started the season with ambitions of a winning season after a couple of fallow years. Our first game was a real highlight, playing on the hallowed (synthetic) turf of Kingston Park. This was to be the curtain raiser for the first XV. The Hawks set the tone for the season, running the ball from everywhere, off-loading in contact with some outstanding support lines. James Wood finished off what was probably the try of the season as Durham ran the ball from their own 22, 3 offloads in contact, with the final one from Steele Barker being a particular highlight. Durham ran out comfortable winners against a large RGS side. The following week we travelled down to play GSAL who were also a very large team.

Despite their size superiority, Harry Thompson dominated the scrum, winning 3 penalties and numerous scrums against the head. Durham failed to capitalise on their superiority in the set piece and ran out narrow winners in what should have been a formality. Our poor finishing and inability to play a grinding rugby style came back to haunt us the following week. St Peter’s York ran out winners in a tightly contested game.

Knocking on with the line beckoning, SPY used their ball to their advantage and went down the other end to score. An interception try whilst chasing the game gave SPY a gap that Durham just couldn’t close. This game set us up for the rest of the season. We realised we needed to improve our tactical kicking and when we should and should not play ‘too much’ rugby. The next 2 games gave the Hawks a chance to work on these factors and we ran out comfortable winners versus a strong Dame Allan’s side. The Hymers fixture was a serious display of attacking rugby, with Adam Morris losing count of tries scored. Next up, Sedbergh! Our displays over the last 5-6 years had been vastly improved against our toughest opposition and the Hawks went into this fixture with real confidence and a chip on their shoulders from the SPY game.

It is fair to say the Hawks have never run as hard, tackled as hard and shown intensity like this before. The effort displayed was summed up by Will Dexter who was sick through exertion but decided to play on. The addition of Max Weightman at 10 gave some much needed calm to the attacking display.

Nathan Bushnell gave much needed steel at 13 and the forwards from 1-8 (especially captain Rob Tomlinson) were outstanding, with no easy yards given up to Sedbergh at all through the game.

This result was probably the biggest win for some of our lower sixth and will remain long in the memory. The remainder of the season went from strength to strength. There were multiple 50 points margin victories, with a very tight game against Wood House Grove in the middle. This game was capped off with an outstanding catch and drive with the maul moving close to 25 yards for the score. The team were a pleasure to coach throughout the season. Galvanised by Captain

102

Hawks XV Rugby Rob Tomlinson, they trained hard and played with an edge throughout the season. The record reads: played 10, won 9, and lost 1, with 3 teams pulling out after seeing our record!

The boys scored 412 points and conceded only 115. This was a truly memorable season. There are too many individual performances to recognise in this report but I am sure any of the squad would be more than willing to regale tales of the ‘almost invincibles’.

To the upper sixth, I hope you have enjoyed your time playing rugby at Durham School. To the lower sixth, many of you will feel unlucky not to have more caps for the first XV, but your time will come next year. As a wise Hawk once said, “Hawks fly together, Hawks die together, Hawks for life.”

2nd XV Captain Speech

Rob Tomlinson’s speech from the Annual Rugby Dinner and Awards ceremony held at Ramside Hall Hotel.

Rob was awarded The Gerrard Trophy. The trophy is for the player in the club with the best attitude – it can go to any player, of any team, of any age. The trophy was presented to the school by St Andrew`s Cathedral School, Sydney in 2011 at the end of Mr. Gerrard’s fourth tour with Durham School to Australia. Good evening ladies, gentlemen and fellow player.

It has been my honour and privilege to captain the Hawks, in what I believe to be the best 2nd team Durham School has ever had, winning 10 out of 11 fixtures.

Our first game of the season was against RGS Newcastle at Kingston Park. Despite a slow 10 minutes at the start we grew confidently into the game, with Ben Scott, Archie O’Dair and Stephen Leung getting themselves tries. A particular highlight of the game was Steele’s try in a great counter attach with the ball being offloaded three times from the floor. This convincing victory of 33-5 showed we has some great potential for the forthcoming season.

After as win of 19-5 at Leeds Grammar the following week the Hawks faced a very strong St. Peter’s side. After some good phase play, Jo Hogan hit a great hard-line through the middle scoring under the posts. A great try from a supposed wannabe-hairdresser. In a game that could have gone either way, Peter’s executed their chance leaving the final score 24-7 to them. Our next two games against Hymers and Dame Allen’s were both fixtures where we stuck over 40 points in each game winning them convincingly. Ewan Greenlaw got himself two

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P O R T

tries as did Sett Khant. To this day I’m certain that Sett doesn’t understand the rules of rugby, but it takes at least three people to bring him down. Both of Durham School’s oldest pupils, Philip Chapman and Sam Newtown, turning 25 this year both got themselves tries in these games.

and on the field. Also, a huge thanks to the parents who supported the team both home and away.

At the midway point of the season we faced a very strong Sedburgh side at home. I don’t think I can emphasis the effort that every single player put into this game. Straight from the kick off we pinned them in their 22 with some outstanding defence, some excellent turnovers by William Dexter led to a penalty which Nathan Bushnell capitalised on putting us 3 nil up. Again it was Nathan who after Max Weightmans quick thinking got over the line. Sheer determination in defence meant Sedburgh were unable to get over our line. Eventually after attacking the 9-10 channel via strong forward play a gap opened up with Adam Morris fixing a great 2 on 1 with Stephen Leung to score in the corner. What a time for Adam Morris to actually pass the ball! It’s almost as rare as Mr. Burke getting a good haircut.

Sedburgh got themselves a try back but it was too little too late for the Browns. Luke certainly made sure that the Sedburgh’s playmaker, number 10, could no longer cause trouble by lining him and completely nailing him. Defence like this showed the energy of the team. We ended up winning this game 16-7.

A tough pre season at School was rounded off with a good fixture against Stamford. This gave us the opportunity to test out different combinations and put in to play what we had been working on. The performance showed that we had plenty of attacking ability, but also that we would need to work hard on our defense. Stamford ended up winning the game 45-35.

Following this some of the Y12 egos were completely through the roof and they had been chirping to Mr. Bedworth all night at the Rugby Tour do. Mr. Bedworth then decided to a put on a friendly game between the Hawks and the 1sts. At half time the 1st were just up 1 try and Bedders came up to me and had a quiet word, requesting that the Hawks ease up at bit as the 1st team boys can get quite emotional. Only joking Mr. Bedworth! Seriously though, the fact that we were able to have competitive training sessions between the 1 XV and 2 XV was beneficial to both teams. I am sure that Mr. Burke and Mr. Bedworth would agree.

Following a big win against Ampleforth with strong performances from Dylan Fleming-Jones, Alex Kobylka and Andre Robson we travelled away to play Woodhouse Grove.

Harry Thompson who suggested he only plays rugby for the scrums and had been quoted as saying that he purposely knocks the ball on, opened the score against Woodhouse after going two tries down for the first time this season. It looked like our heads had dropped. However, a clever kick from Dylan Fleming-Jones saw Steele Barker catch it to score under the posts. In the last 5 minutes a maul led to a try which more or less secured the victory. This game ended 20-12.

I wish all the boys next year the best of luck.

U16 Rugby

Our first block fixture was away at RGS Newcastle. The team put in an excellent first half performance with Jared Warby, Jonny Bushnell and Niall Butler offering a lot of attacking threats. The second half was a different affair; we lost Jonny Bushnell to injury (this put him out of most of the season) and we seemed to lack the required level of fitness to match a resurgent RGS team. Nevertheless the boys defended well and we secured an impressive 29-15 win.

Leeds Grammar School were the teams next fixture. We fielded a much weaker side, with many players injured and others unavailable. Leeds were a powerful outfit and subsequently we found ourselves on the wrong end of a 70-0 score-line.

The team then went on to lose in a tight match against St Peters York. The 12-37 score-line definitely didn’t reflect the close nature of the game.

Probably our worst performance of the season came against Hymers, where we went in to the game a little too complacent and made basic errors. Our fate was sealed when Joe Huston had to leave the pitch with a cut to his head after some friendly fire from one of the Durham players boots!

Our match against Sedbergh wasn’t close. Almost half of the team that had beaten RGS were unavailable but credit must be given to those who took the field. Their effort and never say die attitude was fantastic and I was really proud of them that day.

Jared Warby, Conor Dougall and Ewan Lydiatt were excellent.

Following the Sedbergh defeat, we started to get a fair few of our injured players back. The boys worked hard in training and they were rewarded with a much improved second half of the season.

In the final game of the season we faced Barney on the Playground. Again we comfortably won by more than 50 points. James Hughes added extra points by sharing his great football skills.

I’d firstly like to thank Mr. Burke for all the time he spent with us and the effort he put in. Despite the suggestion of getting him a real hawk, we did get him a gift to show our appreciation. I would like to thank Mr. Dias and Mr. Bedworth too for the time they trained us this season both in the gym

U16 ‘A’ Rugby

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

103

S P O R T

Against Ampleforth we dominated possession and had the upper hand in the forwards. Will Liversidge carried well and he was ably supported by the rest of the pack. This freed up the space for the back to run in some well worked tries in the second half. Final score; Durham 49 Ampleforth 0.

The ESF Lions came to Durham School and played the U16 team on the Playground. The players worked really well together and scored some excellent team tries. Another pleasing point was the defensive effort shown, with strong tackling and excellent effort. End score 57-10 win.

Unfortunately the next three fixtures against Yarm, Woodhouse Grove and Dame Allan’s were cancelled, so the boys had to wait a little until they got to play their next game against Barnard Castle. This match was away and was played a great conditions for running rugby. The game was scrappy but it was a dogged defensive effort and we ran out worthy winners 29-18.

The final game saw us play Ripon Grammar School under lights down at Durham City. This proved to be a tough fixture as Ripon looked to move the ball at every opportunity. To their credit, the team dug deep and pulled out a very good performance winning 19-7.

This capped off a mixed 15 a-side season for the U16s.

A brilliant start against RGS was then followed by a flurry of injuries which really hampered the team. To their credit they continued to work hard and managed to turn things around after the half term break, winning all of their games.

U15 Rugby

The U15 team made excellent progress throughout the season and ended up having an excellent cup run in the National Schools Cup competition. A thrilling early win against RGS Newcastle filled the team with confidence, however a narrow defeat to Leeds Grammar School, followed by a poor performance against St Peters York, brought the team back to earth. They regrouped well to record excellent victories against Ampleforth, RGS Newcastle (again), Ripon Grammar School and Hymers College. Ewan Greenlaw, Ollie Bosanko, Jack Moralee and Sam Turnill produced some outstanding performances to really drive the team forward during this period.

The season curtailed with a very brave performance in defeat U15 Rugby

104

against Woodhouse Grove. We had already been heavily defeated earlier in the season so an away trip on a freezing cold afternoon in Bradford could have filled the group with trepidation. The team produced a hugely courageous display of defence and attack but were narrowly defeated 12-8. Even though the boys were defeated, they could be very proud of their efforts.

U13 Rugby

The U13s has a mixed start to their rugby season, starting with a heavy defeat to RGS Newcastle 0-60. It was clear that we were going to have to work hard on our tackling and ball retention if we were going to challenge the top teams on our circuit.

To their credit the boys worked hard in training and they were rewarded with a good win against Kings Priory. During this game there was lots of good running and support play from Dylan Eyers, Callum Brown, Sam Stanford and Scott Rochester.

Aysgarth posed a very different challenge to Kings Priory and the boys were brought crashing back down to earth. Despite a one-sided score-line, the team never gave up and battled right to the final whistle.

The rollercoaster season continued, this time with a 50-10 win against Harton, where there was some excellent tackling from the team and good evasive running from Daniel Hogg.

The Ampleforth match was one which the team really should have won, it ended up a 20-20 draw with both teams battling right to the final whistle. Had a few more passes gone to hand in the first half, I think we could have won this one.

Bradford Grammar came to Durham to play on a Wednesday morning, where we were blessed with a sunny day and excellent rugby playing conditions. The running, handling and support play from both sides was excellent, but the same couldn’t be said about the tackling. A high scoring, end to end game ensued, with Bradford running out 50-20 winners.

The U13s best performance of the season came against a strong NSB side. Despite losing the game we showed excellent contact and handling skills in very difficult conditions. Toby Seymour ran well on the wing and Matthew Esisi carried the ball well in the centre.

U13 Rugby

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P O R T

Against Woodhouse Grove we seemed to adopt the same mindset and tactics as we did against Bradford Grammar; support the ball, move it quickly, but make very few tackles!

Woodhouse adopted a similar approach, but finished on the better side of a 70-40 score-line.

The team rounded off the season with two convincing wins against Yarm and Barnard Castle. Both of these games highlighted the improvement that the team had made and were a reflection of their efforts in training. I think this group of players will have a successful time with their rugby if they keep working hard in training. I am looking forward to seeing how they progress. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Callum Brown for his efforts as captain.

Mr P. Dias

1st 7s Rugby

With the Sevens season being so badly affected by the weather over the last few years it was decided by the HMC Schools to start in January with some Tens Tournaments to allow the none academy players with a platform to build into the sevens season and maintain fitness.

The first tens tournament of the season was played at Pocklington School in late January. With 5 of the squad involved in Academy games it proved a great opportunity for some of the Hawks XV players to make a claim for places in the sevens squad. During the day the team played 6 games, winning 4 drawing 1 and losing by 2 points to eventual winners Mount St Marys.

The second tournament was hosted by ourselves as a replacement for the Bain Sevens due to unavailable dates in the calendar. It was a great day for the squad who rose to the occasion with victories over Barnard Castle, Ampleforth, Gosforth, Mount St Marys and in the final beating Sedbergh 17-5. This was for some of the squad, the last time they would play a competitive game on the Playground. A nice memory to end on.

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

The official sevens season started at the Hill House Sevens. It was again a depleted squad, showing our strength in depth as the team moved into the semi-finals with wins against Mount St Marys, Birkdale and Woodhouse Grove. In the semi-final the team didn’t adapt well to Worksop College’s differing style of play and let their opponents have a 19-0 head start. The team pulled it back to 19-17 only for a handling slip up to gift Worksop passage to the final.

The weather then ruined the season causing all major tournaments to be cancelled leading up to Rosslyn Park. This lead to some emergency emailing between coaches and a training competition between ourselves, Sedbergh, St Peter’s York, RGS Newcastle and Barnard Castle. This was a good

1st VII Rugby

run out for all the teams and with our squad winning all their games, there was much confidence as we moved onto the National Sevens at Rosslyn Park.

The first day is always a challenge as you never know the real strengths of your opponents. On paper our group was very strong with our likely competitors being Bromsgrove School.

Routine wins against Campion and Regents House warmed the team up for this game. In a hugely physical game of sevens it went down to the last kick with Bromsgrove missing for us to win 20-19. This left a tricky game against Brynteg to qualify as group leaders. A poor performance to win 26-14 meant that we had qualified for the 2nd day. Bishop Wordsworth were now the team that stood in the way of this being for the cup or the plate. On the main pitch the team showed all their qualities to win convincingly 31-7. What we didn’t realise at the time that this qualified the team into the last 16 group one that was pitched as “the group of death”. Durham, Cheltenham College and Blundells.

All three teams had impressed in the first day and it was felt that the winners of this group would go onto to win the competition. This prediction was correct, but unfortunately Blundells were the winners. With the team losing 24-19 to Cheltenham and 29-14 to Blundells.

The group of players in this final squad had an amazing journey in their sevens careers at the school. Roughly the same squad made the quarter finals in the u16 age group at Rosslyn Park and won the vast majority of games they played as a team, winning many tournaments on the way. They must be congratulated for all their efforts and I hope the next teams follow in their passion for the game.

Mr M. Bedworth

U16 7s

The sevens campaign started in the Easter term in very contrasting conditions to how it would finish.

The 7s squad went to RGS Newcastle and played well in very wet conditions. They progressed in to the semi final only to lose narrowly to Worksop in the last play of the game.

Poor weather continued and a number of competitions were subsequently cancelled. Nevertheless the boys trained hard and we travelled to Sedbergh for our next competition. It was a tough start losing to both St Peter’s York and Sedbergh.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

105

S P O R T

Good performances were then put in against RGS Newcastle and Ripon Grammar School. This meant that we would play RGS again in the 3rd place final. The boys performed really well, with Conor Dougall tireless in defense and Ollie Bosanko and Ewan Greenlaw combining well to score some great tries.

Owen Vsssallo put in some dominant tackles. The final result was a 24-19 win.

U15 7s Rugby

The Pocklington 7s provided a timely hit out for the boys before going to the National 7s at Rosslyn Park.

We made an excellent start, beating Woodhouse Grove 1412, but then we produced our worst performance of the day losing to Worksop 26-5. Sedbergh were next and we started brilliantly, taking the lead and pressing them defensively.

Unfortunately we couldn’t match their speed and the ran out 24-17 winners. Considering we lost 41-0 to Sedbergh in a previous tournament this was a sign that we were really improving.

The team finished the day by comfortably beating Pocklington and Barnard Castle.

The U16 season finished with a fantastic trip to Rosslyn Park.

Unfortunately we were missing Owen Vassallo, but otherwise we had a full strength squad with the addition of a few U15 players.

Rosslyn Park is the biggest school boy 7s competition in the world with close to 150 teams entering. The boys did brilliantly well to make it to the last 32, only to lose narrowly to Epsom College 22-27. The highlight of the day came against Harrow School; physical in stature and blessed with plenty of speed.

After two minutes we were down 14-0 and staring at a quick exit from the competition. To their credit, the boys then played out of the skins and pulled the scores back to level at half time.

Jared Warby then showed his pace at the end of the game to secure a fantastic win 24-14. The other wins in our group came against Weston College 39-0, Sutton Valence 29-5 and Newhall 27-0.

I have thoroughly enjoyed coaching this group of players and I have been delighted with the commitment, endeavour and improvement that they have shown over the course of the season. If they continue to demonstrate these traits then they will make a successful 1st XV and 1st XII in their final two years. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ewan Lydiatt

for his excellent work in captain the side, and also Conor Dougall and Niall Butler in his absence. I would also like to congratulate Conor Dougall on his selection for the Lambs Independent Schools team and also Ewan Lydiatt, and Owen Vassallo on their selection for the Falcons Academy. Niall Butler also captained the County U16 team.

U15 7s

Unfortunately, the 7s season was completely ruined by the weather with only one tournament taking place. The Bradford Grammar 7s tournament was not one to remember for the boys, as strong performances in the group stages were compounded by a lacklustre effort in the Cup quarter final.

We eventually exited the competition after losing to Mount St Mary’s.

U13 7s

The U13s 7s season was hugely affected by the terrible weather that we had in the Easter term. We were able to play in the Hill House 7s, which was an excellent tournament.

Our fitness was lacking in some of the tougher games, but the boys gave a good account of themselves, especially against Bradford Grammar School and Mount St Marys.

The only other 7s competition that went ahead was the Durham County 7s. The team comfortably won their group and progressed in to the final against Barnard Castle. Some strong physical running from the opposition was the difference between the two teams, with Durham losing out by six tries to one.

Mr P. Dias U13 7s Rugby

U16 VII Rugby

106

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

D U R H A M A W A R D S

Durham Awards Colours 2017 School Colours HALF Seb Baldwin Simon Turnbull

Drama FULL James Coxon Alex Dryden Stavros Gidopoulos Ben Prentice Rob Tomlinson Dan Taylor Gabi Watson Lauren Watson

HALF FULL Kari Dougall Ben Pulman Emily Pehrson Stavros Gidopoulos Jessica Appleby Isaac Wang Daniel Coleman Simon Fascione Aasha Venkatesan Monica Speed Joe Winetroube Lilly Kennedy Sam Hall

FULL Phil Chapman James Coxon Alex Dryden Nathaniel Evans Cameron Fyfe Ryan Gerrard Niall Greenlaw Zara Hudson Will Jewitt Cameron Nordli Kelemeti Danny Paterson

Music

Sports HALF Laura Maxey Grace Carr Julia Gledson Grace Bradley Katie Nesbit Megan Harvey

HALF FULL Connie Barraclough Sam Palmer-Muttitt James MacNaughton-Jones Christine Zhang Kevin Zhao Zoe Banks Piers Oxenham Thomas Reynolds Anthony Panke Joe Winetroube Will Palmer-Muttitt

LAMDA (London Academy of Dramatic Art) – Examination results Level 2 Award in Performance (Grade 4) Level 3 Certificate in Performance (Grade 8) Level 2 Award in Performance (Grade 5) Level 1 Award in Performance (Grade 3) Level 3 Certificate in Performance (Grade 8) Level 3 Certificate in Performance (Grade 8) Level 1 Award in Communication (Grade 3) Level 2 Award in Performance (Grade 4) Level 2 Award in Performance (Grade 4) Level 1 Award in Performance (Grade 3) Level 1 Award in Performance (Grade 1) Level 1 Award in Performance (Grade 2) Level 2 Award in Performance (Grade 5) Level 1 Award in Performance (Grade 2) Level 2 Award in Performance (Grade 4) Level 2 Award in Performance (Grade 5) Level 1 Award in Performance (Grade 1) Level 1 Award in Performance (Grade 3) Level 3 Certificate in Performance (Grade 6) Level 3 Certificate in Performance (Grade 6)

Andrew Ai Megan Brown Daniel Coleman Sebastian Collins Stavros Gidopoulos Aleks Gorgadze James Green Dolly He Edward James Grace James Theo James Izzy Metcalfe Vincy Qu Madeleine Yuill-Rostron Pranav Sambamoorthi Monica Speed Raheem Sultan Joe Winetroube Christine Zhang Jeff Zhang

Acting Grade 4 - Solo Acting Grade 8 - Solo - Gold Medal Acting Grade 5 - Solo Acting Grade 3 - Solo Acting Grade 8 - Solo - Gold Medal Acting Grade 8 - Solo - Gold Medal Speaking Verse and Prose Grade 3 Acting Grade 4 - Solo Acting Grade 4 - Solo Acting Grade 3 - Solo Acting Grade 1 - Solo Acting Grade 2 – Solo Acting Grade 5 - Solo Acting Grade 2 - Solo Acting Grade 4 - Solo Acting Grade 5 - Solo Acting Grade 1 - Solo Acting Grade 3 - Solo Acting Grade 6 - Solo - Bronze Medal Acting Grade 6 - Solo - Bronze Medal

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

Pass with Merit Pass with Merit Pass with Distinction Pass with Merit Pass with Distinction Pass with Distinction Pass with Merit Pass with Merit Pass with Merit Pass with Distinction Pass with Distinction Pass with Distinction Pass with Merit Pass with Merit Pass with Distinction Pass with Distinction Pass with Merit Pass with Distinction Pass with Distinction Pass with Merit

107

D U R H A M A W A R D S

Music Examinations NAME Zoe Banks Eve Clark Andrew Collins Sebastian Collins Sebastian Collins Kari Dougall Sean Fu Na’il Goodwin Hannah Gordon Hannah Gordon James Green Peter Guan Henry Hudson Gavin Nui Piers Oxenham William Palmer-Muttitt William Palmer-Muttitt Anthony Panke Letty Peng Luca Regan-Teasdale Milly Rochester Pranav Sambamoorthi Eva Tipper-Booth Joseph Winetroube Zoe Banks Megan Bonner Sarah Bradley Flora Bridges Georgina Brown Emba Anne Cairns Kari Dougall Isabelle Ford Sean Fu Sean Fu Dolly He Grace James Emily Pehrson Letty Peng Oscar Priestley Ben Pulman Jeff Zhang Ethan Baker Megan Bonner Alexander Bowen Sara Brizzi Annabelle Brookes Helena Campbell Andrew Collins Hannah Gordon Hannah Gordon James Green Lucas Howe Holly Leckie James Macnaughton-Jones Elise Robinson-Towers Pranav Sambamoorthi Katharina Sheen Ruth Sinclair Ruth Sinclair Emily Whitfield Ellie Wilson Joe Winetroube Phoebe Yau Madeleine Yuill-Rostron Henry Zhang Zoe Banks

108

INSTRUMENT Trumpet Singing Piano Piano Violin Alto Saxophone Piano Piano Piano Violin Violin Cello Singing Piano Alto Saxophone Piano Clarinet Violin Singing Piano Clarinet Piano Violin Piano Trumpet Piano Singing Piano Singing Piano Singing Singing Piano Violin Piano Singing Singing Singing Singing Singing Piano Piano Violin Clarinet Singing Flute Flute Clarinet Piano Violin Violin Singing Singing Flute Singing Piano Harp Piano Singing Piano Singing Alto Saxophone Piano Singing Piano Theory

GRADE SCORE 03 124 05 116 02 102 03 105 03 106 05 120 02 134 01 105 03 122 03 106 02 113 02 131 08 106 02 132 05 112 06 125 05 130 06 110 06 130 02 106 01 134 01 111 01 111 03 105 04 125 04 127 08 124 03 116 08 117 06 115 Ar 041 01 114 03 127 02 131 08 133 01 116 08 130 08 126 01 100 08 135 08 120 01 127 03 132 02 106 01 124 01 122 Ar 047 02 127 04 115 04 106 03 111 01 125 02 134 08 121 02 100 02 100 01 130 03 118 01 130 05 109 06 135 05 124 07 120 01 125 01 128 05 96/100

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

LEVEL Merit Pass Pass Pass Pass Merit Distinction Pass Merit Pass Pass Distinction Pass Distinction Pass Merit Distinction Pass Distinction Pass Distinction Pass Pass Pass Merit Merit Merit Pass Pass Pass Merit Pass Merit Distinction Distinction Pass Distinction Merit Pass Distinction Merit Merit Distinction Pass Merit Merit Distinction Merit Pass Pass Pass Merit Distinction Merit Pass Pass Distinction Pass Distinction Pass Distinction Merit Merit Merit Merit Distinction

D U R H A M A W A R D S

Durham Sporting Achievements HONOURS BOARD Rugby Captain Cricket Captain Maurice Bell Award Whitfield Cup Gerrard Cup Swainston Run Dunelm Run Boat Club Captain

2017/18 – William Jewitt 2018 – Cameron Fyfe 2017 – Jonny Bushnell 2017/18 – William Jewitt 2017/18 – Rob Tomlinson 2017 – Piers Oxenham (S) 18.41 (Amended Course) 2017 – James Hughes (C) 32.38 (Amended Course) 2017 - Alasdair Richardson 2018 – Joe Stelling

Girls Sporting Awards COUNTY Phaedra Davies Rhianna Ballantyne Lottie Holmes Isabelle Ford Maddy Holmes Isabelle Metcalfe Madeleine Yuill Rostron Jessica Bramwell

Hockey Hockey Hockey Hockey Hockey Hockey Hockey Netball

INTERNATIONAL K. Dougall

England Senior Shooting Squad Great Britain Emerging Shooting Squad British Champion – Senior 25m Sport Pistol British Record – U21 10m Pistol

REGIONAL Olivia Graham

Hockey

Boys Sporting Awards RUGBY U13 DPP

U14 DPP Durham County U15

Durham County U16

Durham County U17

Durham County U18 National Lambs XV

Newcastle Falcons Academy

Scott Rochester, Dylan Eyers, Callum Brown Alex Mitchelson Connor Charlton, Kiran Hope, Max Eyers, Sam Turnill, Oliver Bosanko, Jack Moralee, Ewan Greenlaw Niall Butler (vice captain), Joe Houston, Ewan Lydiatt, Phil Greenbank Luke Pearson, Will Dexter, Harry Thompson Nick Blowey, James Coxon U16 – Conor Dougall U19 – Sam Newton U15 - Sam Turnill, Oliver Bosanko, Jack Moralee, Ewan Greenlaw, Kiran Hope, Oscar Arkley U16 – Owen Vassallo, Ewan Lydiatt U18 – Reece Amir, Will Elliott, Harry Jackson, Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, Nick Blowey

Yorkshire Carnegie Academy

U16 Lambs (Independent Schools XV) England U18 England Students 2018 CRICKET Durham County Cricket Club

Durham Academy

U17 – Alex Kobylka, Steele Barker, Andre Robson U18 - Andre Robson Conor Dougall Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti J. Elliott, J. Ellwood

U11 - George Fishwick, Patrick Hogg U12 - Timon Basu U13 - Callum Brown U17 - Leo Giacomelli, Jonny Bushnell, Sol Bell U19 - Cameron Fyfe, Jonny Bushnell, Sol Bell 2nd XI - Sol Bell Sol Bell

KARATE England U13 Ekam Singh Takhar Canadian National Karate Champion – (Kumite)

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

109

D U R H A M A W A R D S

ROWING NATIONAL COMPETITIONS AND REPRESENTATION GB Junior Trials Julia Gledson DiSE – Diploma in Sporting Julia Gledson Excellence – GB Rowing Junior Inter-Regional Regatta, Sam Turnill, Sam Hall, Dan Coleman Northern Team, Regional Will Carmichael, Alex Mitchelson, Regional Nail Goodwin, Will Panter, Harry

Cameron, Alex Cooper

J15 4x+ Sam Turnill, Sam Hall,

Dan Coleman, Will Carmichael (cox)

4th ( A Final)

J14 4x+ Alex Mitchelson, Nail

Goodwin, Will Panter, Harry Cameron,

Alex Cooper (cox) 4th (A Final) Durham University Junior Julia Gledson, Grace Bradley, High Performance Academy Katie Heslop, Sam Turnill, Sam Hall Henley Women’s Regatta JW4+ Katie Heslop, Julia Gledson,

Katie Nesbitt, Grace Bradley,

Heidi Rochester (cox) British Rowing Championships WJ18 8+ Julia Gledson, Katie

Nesbitt, Grace Bradley, Katie Heslop,

Heidi Rochester (cox) BRONZE

J15 2x – Sam Turnill 9th (B Final)

J15 1x – Sam Hall 16th (C Final) National Schools Regatta WJ4+ Katie Heslop, Julia Gledson,

Katie Nesbitt, Grace Bradley,

Heidi Rochester (cox) 14th (B Final)

J15 4x+ Sam Hall, Sam Turnill,

Dan Coleman, Will Carmichael

(cox) 4th (A Final) Schools Head of the River WJ18 4x- Katie Heslop, Julia Gledson,

Katie Nesbitt, Grace Bradley 11th

WJ18 4x- Megan Harvey,

Heidi Rochester, Simone Hardy,

Lilly Beveridge 19th

J15 4+ Sam Hall, Sam Turnill,

Ross Mushsens, Dan Coleman,

Ben Lumsden (cox) 2nd DOMESTIC HEAD RACES South Hylton LDS Sen 4x Joe Stelling, Dave Rumble,

Ryan Bewick, Thomas Panter

J15 2x Dan Coleman, Sam Hall

WJ17 2x Julia Gledson, Grace Bradley Durham LDS J15 4x+ Sam Hall, Sam Turnill,

Dan Coleman, Will Carmichael (cox)

WJ17 2x Grace Bradley, Julia Gledson

WJ16 1x Katie Heslop Tees LDS WJ18 2x Julia Gledson, Grace Bradley Tees SBH WJ17 4x Julia Gledson, Katie Heslop,

Katie Nesbitt, Grace Bradley Durham Small Boats Head O4x+ Sam Hall, Dan Coleman,

Dave Rumble, Will Ben Lumsden (cox)

W4+ Katie Heslop ( J16 JIRR Boat) York Small Boats Head J16 4x- Sam Turnill, Sam Hall

WJ17 2x Julia Gledson, Grace Bradley

W4x+ Megan Harvey, Simone

Hardy, Heidi Rochester, Beth Yates

WJ16 1x – Katie Heslop DOMESTIC REGATTAS Durham City WJ18 4x- Julia Gledson, Heidi

Rochester, Katie Heslop, Katie Nesbitt

J15 4x+ Dan Coleman, Cameron

Reagen Teasdale, Sam Hall, Ross

Mushens, Will Carmichael (cox)

J15 2x Sam Turnill

110

Sen 4x+ Dave Rumble, Ryan Bewick,

Paddy Kell, Thomas Panter, Ben

Lumsden (cox)

WSen 4x+ Megan Harvey Simone

Hardy Beth Yates Heidi Rochester

Catelyn Hardy (cox)

WIM4+ Julia Gledson, Heidi

Rochester, Katie Nesbitt, Grace

Bradley, Ben Lumsden (cox)

WJ18 2x Julia Gledson, Katie Heslop

J14 4x+ Oliver Chapman, Harrison

Conlon, Cole Bartlett, James Green,

Sam Gordon(cox)

W4x+ Megan Harvey, Simone Hardy,

Beth Yates, Heidi Rochester, Catelyn

Hardy (cox)

J15 1x Sam Hall

WJ18 1x Julia Gledson

W 1x Katie Heslop

WJ15 4x+ Johanna Debus, Rhianna

Ballantyne, Pheadra Davis, Freya Court,

Helena Shen (cox)

WJ15 1x Johanna Debus Tees Regatta W4x+ Megan Harvey, Simone Hardy,

Beth Yates, Heidi Rochester, Catelyn

Hardy (cox)

J15 4x+ Sam Hall, Sam Turnill,

Dan Coleman, Will Carmichael (cox)

J15 2x Sam Hall, Sam Turnill

WJ18 2x Julia Gledson, Katie Heslop

WJ15 1x Johanna Debus

WJ15 2x Johanna Debus, Josefin Debus

W4+ Julia Gledson, Grace Bradley,

Katie Heslop, Katie Nesbitt, Heidi

Rochester (cox) Durham Regatta WJ18 4x- Julia Gledson, Katie Nesbitt

Grace Bradley, Heidi Rochester

WJ18 2x Julia Gledson, Katie Heslop

WB 4+ Megan Harvey, Simone Hardy,

Katie Nesbitt, Grace Bradley, Heidi

Rochester (cox)

WElite 1x Katie Heslop

WJ15 4x+ Johanna Debus, Rhianna

Ballantyne, Pheadra Davi,s Freya

Court, Helena Shen (cox)

WJ15 4x+ Johanna Debus, Rhianna

Ballantyne, Pheadra Davis, Freya

Court, Helena Shen (cox)

J15 2x Sam Turnill

J15 4x+ Sam Hall, Dan Coleman,

Ross Mushens, Max Taylor, Will

Carmichael (cox)

J15 4x+ Sam Hall, Dan Coleman,

Ross Mushens, Cameron Reagen Teasdale, Will Carmichael (cox)

J15 4+ Sam Turnill, Sam Hall,

Dan Coleman, Max Taylor,

Will Carmichael (cox)

J16 4x- Sam Turnill, Sam Hall

J14 8x+ Alex Mitchelson, Oliver

Chapman, Harry Camerson,

Harrison Conlon

J14 8x+ Nail Goodwin, Will Panter,

Harry Spooner, Cole Bartlett,

Alex Mitchelson INTERNATIONAL HONOURS 2018 GB Universities Team Nicole Lamb OD

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

D U R H A M A W A R D S

Speech Day Prizes NAME OF PRIZE The Stationers’ Prize for Printing The Chaplain’s Prize The Sidney Dunn Prize for High Achievement in the use of Digital Media The Senior PE Prize The Senior Prize for Art The Portwood Prize for Computer Studies The Morley-Wells Prize for Geography The Senior Theatre Studies Prize The Senior Prize for English Recitations The Tristram Prize for Academic Excellence in Science The Hodgson Prize for English The Reader Prize for Spanish The Richardson Bunbury Prize for Modern Languages The Gawan-Taylor Prize for English Essay The Mitchell Prize for Service to the School The Senior Prize for Music The Robert Dunn Prize for Drama - Senior Drama Cup The Lowson and Salkeld Prize for Chemistry The Senior Additional Mathematics Prize The Henry Smith Prize for Physics The Durham University Prize The Green Prize for Classics The C.H.A. Howe Prize for Practical Skills The Robson Prize for Outstanding Contribution to the Sixth Form The Senior Business Studies Prize The Reader Trophy for Leadership The Ker Memorial Prize for Modern History The Lord MacKenzie Prize for Politics The Ian Nuttall Prize for Biology The Senior Prize for Economics The Metcalf Prize for Mathematics L6 Geography Prize L6 Biology Prize L6 Classical Civilisation Prize L6 Chemistry Prize The Scott Latimer Prize for Modern Languages The Gough Prize for English Verse The Raynor Prize for Religious Studies L6 BTEC Prize The Fred Hurrell Prize for Music The Jackson Prize for Latin Prose The Vernon Ferens Community Service Award The Special Prize for Excellence in English The Tom Percival Prize for History The Bell Prize for Politics The Marsden Public Speaking Trophy (Senior) L6 Economics Prize L6 Mathematics Prize L6 Physics Prize The Peter Lee Prize for International Pupils L6 Computer Studies Prize L6 PE Prize

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

PRIZEWINNER Elizabeth Akalumhe Faith Benson Freya Bowen Kari Dougall Teresa Esisi Teresa Esisi Cameron Fyfe, KS Stavros Gidopoulos, KS Stavros Gidopoulos, KS Rehmat Goodwin, BS Sophie Hogg, BS Sophie Hogg, BS Beata Juricova Beata Juricova Daniel Paterson, BS Ben Pulman, KS Ben Pulman, KS Ben Prentice Ben Prentice Ben Prentice Ben Prentice Joseph Stelling, BS Daniel Taylor Daniel Taylor Daniel Taylor Robert Tomlinson Robert Tomlinson Gabriella Watson Gabriella Watson Lauren Watson, BS Max Weightman, KS Beryl Yan Thomas Bell Jennifer Bolln, BS Jennifer Bolln, BS Hal Burke, BS Maya Chukujama Tereza Cillikova Caitlin Hardy Megan Harvey Dolly He (Xi Yiu He) James Heydon Fern Hodgson Elise Hunter, BS Elise Hunter, BS Elise Hunter, BS Elise Hunter, BS Linda Lin (WanShu Lin) Linda Lin (WanShu Lin) Linda Lin (WanShu Lin) Linda Lin (WanShu Lin) Ben Lumsden, KS Laura Maxey

111

D U R H A M A W A R D S

L6 Psychology Prize L6 Business Studies Prize L6 Theatre Studies Prize The Design & Realisation Prize The Special Prize for Services to Drama L6 Art Prize The Middle School Drama Cup Katem Prize for Endeavour in Learning The Junior Art Prize Year 11 Prize for Academic Achievement The Middle School Prize for Music The Marsden Public Speaking Trophy (Intermediate) The Junior Prize for English Recitations Year 10 Prize for Academic Achievement Cecil Yuill Prize for Academic Progress in Year 10 Yearr 9 Prize for Academic Achievement Cecil Yuill Prize for Academic Progress in Year 9 The Removes Prize for English Recitations Year 8 Prize for Academic Achievement The Marsden Public Speaking Trophy (Junior) The Keeton Prize for Removes Music The Johnson Perkins Prize for Fieldwork in Biology in the Removes Cecil Yuill Prize for Academic Progress in Year 8 The Bell Twins Prize in the Lower Remove The Junior Drama Cup Year 7 Prize for Academic Achievement Cecil Yuill Prize for Academic Progress In Year 7 The Robin Myerscough Cup for Singing The Chadeyron Music Junior Competition The Chadeyron Music Intermediate Competition The Chadeyron Music Senior Competition

112

Patrick Miller, KS Don Ossou Emily Pehrson Heidi Rochester Isaac Wang Xing Ru Zhu Jessica Appleby Katie Colborn Ewan Fox Robbie Fyfe Jonathan Anstee, KS Daniel Coleman Max Hodgson Maggie Qian (Youqi Qian) William Zhang (Feilian Zhang) James Green, KS Asia Koltai-Newton Sebastian Collins, KS Sebastian Collins, KS William Palmer-Muttitt, KS William Palmer-Muttitt, KS William Palmer-Muttitt, KS Elise Robinson-Towers Oscar Jordan Ruth Sinclair, KS Nathan Brown Nathan Brown Megan Bonner Connie Barraclough Lottie Holmes William Palmer-Muttitt, KS Ben Pulman, KS

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

C

R H A

S

M

14

L

D

U

H O O 14

Bow, Durham

The Magazine of Bow, Durham School 2017-18 Edition Floreat Dunelmia

The north east’s first in bespoke affordable interiors 10TH AVENUE WEST | TEAM VALLEY | NE11 0HL | 0191 491 3836 OPPOSITE RETAIL WORLD GR E A T L O O K .C O .U K

S P E E C H

D A Y

Speech Day Mrs S L Harrod, Head of Bow Mr Chairman, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. It is an honour and a privilege to be addressing you this afternoon as the Head of Bow, as our academic year comes to an end. This is an opportunity not only for us to reflect on the past year but to look forward to the next.

All of you sitting here today have done so very well in very individual ways and have helped and contributed to make Bow the unique and special school that it is. Whether you are in Early Years, Pre-prep or Prep you bring to school your unique personality, skills, talents and interests. Reflecting on a year is difficult … Where do we begin? Boys and Girls, you have achieved so much and have taken advantage of so many opportunities.

Last week saw the amazing production of ‘Pirates of Penzance’.

Every child in the Prep department had the chance to be on stage. It was incredible – a fine example of the confidence and talent nurtured. Likewise, the Nativity at Christmas and the Spring concert gave opportunity for every member of the Pre-prep department to perform.

At the beginning of the year, our Choir members headed off to the Ryton Music Festival. They competed against a number

of other local junior school choirs. We were delighted that they performed exceptionally well and thoroughly enjoyed their experience. Impressive results were awarded with two firsts and a second place in. Other music and drama opportunities have seen Ensemble groups, Recital Concerts and individual exams amongst other events. We awarded Music and Drama colours yesterday to some budding thespians and musicians and I can see that as a number of children move up through the years we will continue to see strong talent emerging.

Amongst you are those who have represented the school in a range of sports. You have been ably led in your team sports by your Captains. The Sports Tour, Lindisfarne Plate, HMCJ 6-a-side tournament, Swimming Gala, the Race for Life Steeple Chase and, of course, two Sports Days are just a few of the successful events that have taken place. Sport at Bow is moving from strength to strength and we are proud to be holding a strong presence in the area for not just participating but hosting highly regarded tournaments.

This year, we have delivered a new curriculum which has inspired and engaged our young learners. Creativity has been at the forefront of this and it has been wonderful to see the activities of our Creative Curriculum going on both inside and

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

3

S P E E C H

D A Y

than deep fried saves us all a few calories for the delicious sticky toffee pudding.

My sincere thanks go to all Bow staff for their continued effort and enthusiasm. That is at the heart of what has inspired the children! Their tireless commitment to everything that they do shines through every single time. I feel fortunate and proud to be leading a team that not only have the children’s best interests academically at heart but who also are a staff who really do care. My thanks also go to Mr Ribchester OD, Chair of Governors and Mr McLaughlin for their trust and confidence in my leadership. They challenge and question me but also allow me to shape the school in a forward thinking and progressive direction.

outside of the classroom. Just yesterday, we saw a swathe of colour in school as Y2 enjoyed their Fabulous Finish with a Hawaiian Beach Party. Last week, Y1 amazed me with their knowledge of going to school in a Victorian classroom and every time I have visited Y3 this term, I have smiled as I have ducked through the jungle doorway to enter Where the Wild Things are.

Our Maths scheme has also been reviewed this year with a renewed approach to mastery and understanding. The development within the younger years of using a concrete and pictorial approach will embed learning for the children to then master the abstract concepts. We have already seen a significant rise in our academic achievement as a result.

Curriculum enrichment and extra-curricular clubs have evolved far beyond what I could have hoped for from the Y5 and Y6 Residential to Kingswood, trips into the local area, to visiting speakers and workshops. All of these opportunities have brought the curriculum to life for you.

We have a very healthy interest in school and over the last couple of weeks I have enjoyed touring a number of prospective families. I often speak of the confidence that evolves from life at Bow and this is so very true. Our youngest children in EYFS will always greet me with a smile and tell me all about what they have been learning. A happy child is a learning child and this is an important message to keep in the forefront of our minds. Next year, we look forward to fresh ideas and development to takes us on another step.

We have driven the school forward in so many ways over the last couple of years that I need to rewrite my development plan this summer; but how fantastic to have achieved so much.

We will look to further develop the provision for varying learning needs with intervention and support strategies to help target and support, as well as identify opportunities to extend and challenge learning further. I am looking forward to launching our School Newspaper Club and finding the budding reporters amongst you.

Following on from the success of Performing Arts this year, we also look forward to finding further opportunities to enhance our Arts, Music and Drama.

Our commitment to Charity this year deserves recognition and we have raised money for charitable causes both locally, nationally and internationally. Every fundraiser we embark

Beyond the teaching and learning, a group of very special people work tirelessly behind the scenes. Mrs Green is the engine room of Bow, how she manages to achieve all she does with virtually constant interruptions I do not know! I occasionally ‘man the desk’ for an hour at lunchtime and am always very relieved to head back upstairs to the isolation of my quiet office.

The grounds and buildings are well maintained thanks to the Estates and Domestic teams. And our fantastic catering team have served wonderful food every day. Particular highlights have been their theme days and of course Wednesday night’s Y6 Leavers’ Dinner. To the majority of children at Bow, food is the single most important factor of the school day. Yes … we know the fish has changed but the oven baked variety rather

4

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P E E C H

D A Y

Bow Choir

on is backed with enthusiasm from everyone and children, your empathy and willingness to help shines through each and every time. One of our most significant fundraising totals was following the Christmas Events when we raised money for the Great North East Air Ambulance and we were able to present a cheque for over £630. Shoebox donations, harvest produce, cake sales and sports fundraisers have all been part of the charity work this year and have been excellent examples of how we think about and support others beyond our lives.

In recent weeks, we have also been delighted to welcome an OD, John Gillette into school. John is the founder of a charity called the Zambezi Sunrise Trust. They are a charity who, amongst other projects are building the Linda Community School in Zambia. We are keen to join the Senior School to raise money to adopt a classroom there. In addition to that, it is an exciting partnership where we can forge links to learn about diversity and cultural differences.

This time of year is always tinged with sadness as we say goodbye to some of the school community. Three members of staff are leaving us and to pay tribute to their contribution to school is impossible in just few lines. But I draw on some of the tributes that staff have written…

Mrs Champion, it is fair to say, will be sorely missed. She started working at the School 26 years ago, before a nursery at Bow even existed. She was instrumental in setting up the original ‘Badger Class’ and in the small room that is now her office! It has changed a lot since those early days but through her dedication, motivation and commitment, she has driven the nursery, and indeed the school, forward. The nursery has grown in size and popularity; families join the school not only based on its wonderful reputation, but because of its outstanding results, which is testament to the job that Mrs Champion has done. It is hard to imagine Bow, Durham

School without Mrs Champion being a part of it. Pupils, staff and parents will all miss her greatly but she has certainly earned a well-deserved rest. We wish her a very happy retirement as she leaves us to enjoy some quality time at home, and on holiday with her family.

Miss Balls joined Bow in October 2017 with such energy and enthusiasm. Little did she realise, in her new role as a teaching assistant, that she would be turning her hand to such a variety of tasks, from enduring wintry playground duties, sorting out Nativity costumes and teaching phonics, to the major task of helping Mrs Davies plant a large willow classroom in the school grounds.

Georgia has embraced life in the Pre-Prep department and has made an enormous and valuable contribution. We are very sorry to be losing her, but we know that her sense of fun, commitment and willingness to have a go will take her far when she embarks on her teacher training and future career.

Mrs Summers came to our rescue when she stepped into the role of Y4 Teacher and Y6 English Teacher. Cherry is a fantastic teacher with endless amounts of energy, enthusiasm and talent and the children have loved their lessons with her. Her contribution to the school has been impressive in such a short period of time. As a keen musician, she has accompanied children at recital concerts and she has played a major role in organising this term’s fantastic Prep production.

A couple of our children move on to new schools and our Y6 all take their next step here at Senior School. It has been a privilege to have you at Bow. You will be missed but we know you are all well prepared to take on new challenges and start the next chapter of your school lives. To you, and all of our children, be proud of who you are and what you have achieved.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

5

S P E E C H

D A Y

Guest Speaker Guest of honour Claire Hawthorn OD (Pimlico, 2001-6) Good afternoon everyone,

You’re all doing it right now. Everything you do, every day, makes a little piece of who you are.

I’d first of all like to thank Mrs. Harrod and Bow Durham School for inviting me here to speak to you all today. The last time I was standing in this marquee was 12 years ago, and in fact there are some teachers here today who were there then. I was a little further ahead than you are now - I was finishing my time at school and I was about to take my first steps into the world. I came to Durham School when I was 13 years old. Back then there was no social media thank goodness - and there were hardly any girls at all.

There certainly weren’t any at Bow school - so it’s lovely to see so many girls here today. It’s an honour to be invited back here to tell you a little about my life and career, especially because much of it has been influenced by those years here at Durham School.

Before I came to Durham I was a very shy girl with not much self-confidence, who just wanted to play sport, read books and write stories. But, playing sports, reading books and writing stories are all important things. In fact, I now have a little girl myself who’s just coming to the end of her first year in primary school and one of the things I’m most proud of is that I’ve managed to instill in her a love of books like I had as a little girl. She also loves to tell stories. But you don’t have to do sit and write a book to be able to write a story.

6

Playing with your friends helps you learn how to understand people and how to behave; what happens if you’re mean… and what happens if you’re kind. Doing your lessons at school helps you learn about the world, they help you find out what you enjoy, what you find interesting, what you’re good at, and what you need to work a little bit harder at.

Bow and Durham School Give you experiences and teach you things that other children aren’t always as lucky enough to be able to experience.

Right here, right now you’re surrounded by your friends …. other children in your school, teachers, parents, professionals and the people on the stage, standing up here, higher than you, who probably look quite serious - and you have to learn that when someone’s speaking to you, you generally need to listen.

You get to see how grown-ups and all the other children behave. And that carries on throughout your time at Durham School, you’ll learn to get the confidence to be in any situation and be sure of yourself and know what you can bring to that situation. Be sure of yourselves.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P E E C H

Those of you in your final year of Bow, moving up to Durham School will probably be nervous - you’ll be going from being the oldest …. to the youngest. But your time at Bow school has prepared you in more ways than you will realise for Durham.

It took me quite a long time while I was at school, to know what I wanted to be when I grew up. I had a go at lots of things. I played a lot of Hockey, Netball and Tennis, but alas - as you can see - I’m not playing at Wimbledon this week. …I’m there next week.

But the one thing that stayed with me all the way from when I was a little girl, was story-writing. As I turned into an emotional teenager that became diary writing, poetry even. And I think as cheesy as it might sound; I was in some way born to tell stories.

D A Y

with you throughout your life - far more than just being useful for passwords. So, to what I do now. In the same way that I said it took me a while to work out what I wanted to do when I was at school; it was exactly the same once I’d left school.

At first I was determined to become an interpreter in the European Union - That’s someone who listens to the speeches leaders of foreign countries give in their language, and then says it in English so that other people can understand them.

It’s like translation, but translation is where you change the language of something that’s written down, like re-writing a German book in English. Not a lot of grown-ups actually know that difference, so there’s something you’ve learnt today.

There was something else that came into my life while I was at school which turned into my second passion. When I was about 15 years old I suddenly found that I was quite good at foreign languages.

So I took French and German for A level, and I also joined the Italian club, because - I’m not sure if it is now - but Italian wasn’t an option back then. Mind you it did involve more drinking tea and eating biscuits than learning a huge amount of Italian!

But In fact, it was when I was in my first year of doing my A-levels that a teaching position opened up in the languages department here at Durham School for a German teacher.

And as part of the interview process the candidates had to give a lesson which was watched by the head of department.

Now my class - in which there were only four of us who’d decided to take German for A level - was used as the guineapig class for this practice session.

So there we were, 16 years old, rather intrigued and deciding how difficult to make this man’s life, when in he walked in a tweed jacket, carrying a brown leather briefcase with quite a posh southern accent. At the end of the class, once he’d left we were asked what we thought of him and whether we’d like him to teach us.

So Dr. Alderson, Deputy Head of Durham School you’re welcome, for your career here which I’m personally taking credit for. Also, on a side note - I think I may still have one of your German Grammar books at home.

In all seriousness though, it was the likes of Dr. Alderson who really nurtured my love of languages which was born here at Durham School. And that’s one thing which Durham and Bow School give you which you won’t get anywhere else. The dedication of all the teachers who come here, and the desire to get the best out of everyone, is what this school is all about.

They’ll encourage you, they will challenge you and they will always support you. In fact, Dr. Alderson you’ve been the answer to many of my secret questions for online passwords where you get that one asking about a school teacher.

What your teachers give you here at Durham and Bow will stay

I went traveling, I lived in Germany, in Australia, France briefly.

I had a curiosity for different places and different types of cultures and people that I couldn’t get enough of. By the time I’d left Durham I was very confident and self-assured, I was no longer the shy little girl with her head in the book.

In fact, I suspect I was probably known amongst staff as being the talkative one who would never shut up - it’s just an inkling since they always moved me to the front of the class on my own where there was no one within at least two seats who I could try to talk to… A tendency which anyone who knows me now will tell you I haven’t grown out of… but one which is very useful in a job where you need to talk for a living.

After University and learning a few languages and a few jobs using them, I decided my storytelling urges were still there.

And I made the choice to go back to university and train to be a journalist.

Now I’m what’s called a Broadcast Journalist - I’m a radio journalist for companies like the BBC, capital fm and heart fm.

I go out and I speak to people about their stories and I turn it

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

7

S P E E C H

D A Y

into audio for people to listen to on the radio and in the news.

It’s audio-storytelling. My curiosity and nosiness is actually my best asset when it comes to being a journalist.

But it’s not about just trying to get a story for the sake of having a story - even though that’s how we make a living.

The way I see it is that we are the link between the public and organisations that are beyond the public’s reach. And especially in the world today where there’s a lot going on, it’s more important than ever for journalists to be able - and allowed - to tell the public the truth about what’s going on in your area, in your country and in your world.

There are some countries where the leaders have so much power that they choose exactly what you know and what you don’t, what goes in a newspaper, or on the news, and what doesn’t, so that they can influence everything. We’re very lucky that we live in a country where you have journalists who protect your right to know what’s going on. And that’s what we try to do every day.

A lot of you probably don’t even listen to the radio, but your parents might. And I hope that when you’re older the radio is still around and that you do choose to listen to it because it’s great.

Good radio is like having a friend in the corner catching you up on everything you’ve missed that day. I also now sometimes read the news on BBC Newcastle, and I’m very proud to have achieved that and I’m proud that my daughter can see that if you work really hard when you find what you want to do and you love it, you’ll succeed.

If there’s one thing I wish I could go back and tell myself when I was a girl - and I think it’s even more important now with social media and everyone being able to see everything about each other’s lives - it would be this: don’t compare yourself to other people.

You may look at your friends or other people in your school and wish that you had something that they have, or could do something as well as them. But you know what, everyone’s different.

I didn’t always fit in with what everyone else was doing. I wasn’t always interested. People often ask me how I learnt to speak three foreign languages. How did I do it? How long did it take? Am I fluent? And what I always say to them is first of all yes, I am fluent - although that’s something that’s very difficult to measure - but when they ask me how I did it I say: I can just do languages. It’s not what they want to hear often, they want me to tell them some sort of secret method that I used so that they can quickly become fluent in French or something, But it’s not like that.

I used to think it might sound arrogant if I said that, I used to say long-worded answers about teaching myself and so on.

But the truth is just that I’m good at them. If you’re good at something, you should be proud of it. And if someone else is good at something and you wish you were as good, it might just be that you’re better at something else that they’re not.

People might look at me and wish that they could speak other languages like me. But do you know what? Who’s good at maths here?

Do you know what? I am absolutely, completely and utterly useless at maths. Durham school did their best with me and I managed to pass my exams but I struggle with really simple maths like adding up how much change I’m supposed to get.

My brain just doesn’t work that way. Now that doesn’t mean that you can just say ‘I can’t do maths, so I’m not.’ what it means is you have to work a lot harder at it - like I have to.

Do you know what else? I’m really bad at being tidy. I have to work really really hard to be tidy, because it doesn’t come naturally to me. So we all have strengths and we all have things we need to work at. So don’t compare yourself to other people.

Focus on what you want to be, on what you love and what you enjoy, and not what others are doing. Because humans are so different. Trying to compare yourself to someone else, is like trying to compare a car with a rabbit.

Use your time at Bow and Durham school to find the things you love, the things you’re good at and the person you are not the person everyone else seems to be.

Be good, be kind, work hard and always ask questions.

Everyone is different, we all have skills - yes I worked very hard to learn my languages, and it took a lot of time and effort. But, I have a natural ear for them. I understand them well, I remember them and I can make the sounds - it’s just something I’m good at. BUT it’s taken me a long, long time for that to be my answer.

8

Floreat Dunelmia.

Oh and also, in case you didn’t know, football’s coming home.

Thank you.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P E E C H

D A Y

Head of School’s Speech Lucas Howe, Y6 THE BEGINNING I started at Bow in 2009 in Badgers Nursery with Mrs Champion and as we approach the end of Year 6, I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every step of my journey through the school.

• Understand the importance of friendships • And more importantly…have confidence for life to believe we can achieve anything!

Friendships are important and I would like to think that I have made friends along the way and I hope that whatever happens in the future these friendships last a lifetime.

THE CHALLENGES There have been many challenges including: • School work – obviously!

• Developing sporting skills • Taking part in plays and concerts

THE NEXT STEPS As we look forward to Year 7 and the different challenges that await us, I have mixed emotions. I feel sad that I will leave friends behind, but excited and may be a little unsure, of what is to come. Yet it is incredible to think we are now going in to Big School.

My humble advice to everyone is don’t stop believing in yourself and don’t let people tell you that you CAN’T achieve what you want to!

THE SUCCESSES There have been numerous successes including: • Representing the school in sport and singing • Being part of rugby/cricket and football teams that have developed over the years • Supporting new pupils in the school…to name but a few!

BUT WHAT HAS BOW DONE FOR ME / FOR US? Bow has provided my fellow pupils and I with opportunities I did not think I would have. These opportunities have developed us in different ways but I believe they have allowed us to: • Try new things • Take responsibility for our own actions • Respect others and understand that we are all different

I would like to finish with a thank you to all those who have made my time at Bow so enjoyable! From the teachers (past and present), you as my friends, Damian the groundsman, the two Karens, Janet, Dionne, Beverly and of course Mrs Green – where would we be without Mrs Green!

A special mention to Mr Muchall and Mr Fishwick for making me a better player, Mr Campbell for his personal support and super Science lessons and Mr Browbank who has always made me laugh and given me the odd mince pie!

I will finish by saying a big thank you to Mrs Harrod and that I have been honoured to act as Head of School and I hope I have helped others.

Thank you.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

9

W P RE EL -CPOR M E PE

Pre-prep Events Pre-prep Nativity

In December, the Pre-prep department presented their annual Nativity. ‘Mary’s Knitting’ told the traditional Christmas story from the perspective of Mary, as the time for the birth of her baby was drawing closer.

On her way to Bethlehem, Mary decided to knit a blanket for her new baby. She was uncomfortable and hungry, but with the help of five happy sheep, some nearby shepherds, a few wise men and a bright shining star, her knitting needles managed to keep ‘clickity-clicking’ all the way, so that the blanket was completed just in time for the arrival of the very special baby.

The role of Mary was confidently performed by Olivia, ably supported by James as Joseph. The entire cast, from the youngest FS1 children giving their debut performances, through FS2, Y1 and Y2, treated the audience to clear speaking and superb singing, and Durham School chapel provided the perfect setting.

Pre-prep Spring Concert

Creepy-crawlies of all descriptions appeared on stage in the Adamson Hall at Bow at the end of the Spring term. It was, in fact, the entire Pre-Prep department in disguise – dressed as all sorts of minibeasts for the Spring concert. After an opening song, ‘If I were a minibeast’, the children in FS1 and FS2 sang songs about ladybirds, butterflies and a snail. Year 1

10

entertained the audience with two songs and a rhyme on the theme of caterpillars, and Year 2, as well as singing songs about bugs and ants, performed a play based on the story ‘The Bad-Tempered Ladybird’. In addition to the singing and acting we were also treated to some excellent solo instrumental performances on guitar and piano. The afternoon’s entertainment was rounded off with another song involving the whole cast.

Pre-prep Sports Day

Glorious June weather set the scene for an afternoon of running and field events. Teachers, teaching assistants and a very able group of Y6 pupils were all drafted in to help guide Pre-prep children through a ‘World Cup’ themed Sports Day. This year the children not only competed for an array of stickers, but for those pupils in FS2 - Y2 there was an opportunity to compete for their House, scoring points for those that placed in bronze, silver or gold medal positions.

Well done to Dunstanburgh House who, after a very close battle, were victorious!

This enjoyable afternoon ended with a very welcome ice-lolly for all the girls and boys. Thank you to everyone that came to support.

EYFS ‘Into the Woods’

The winter term in the EYFS is always a busy and vibrant term with the excitement of making new friends, settling into new

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

W P RE EL -CPOR M E PE

routines and moving to a new classroom and teacher. We went ‘Into the Woods’ as part of our topic focussing on stories such as The Gruffalo and Little Red Riding Hood. In November, as a fabulous starter to our ‘Festivals’ mini-topic the children thoroughly enjoyed a trip to the Oriental Museum at Durham University for a Diwali drama and craft workshop. We learnt about how Hindus celebrate this festival and this visit helped to bring this topic to life for the children.

Christmas quickly arrived with lots of seasonal crafts to be made as well as many songs to learn for our Nativity production ‘Mary’s Knitting’ in Durham School Chapel. All the children excelled themselves and performed brilliantly, they were so confident and happy throughout the performance.

Parents and children enjoyed refreshments afterwards in Big School, a truly lovely event.

In early December, the children were thrilled to visit the theatre in Durham; we all enjoyed watching the production of ‘Mrs Claus’ Kitchen’ and finding out her perfect recipe for a fabulous Christmas.

To end our term, ‘The Friends of Durham School’ arranged for a magician to visit the department, the children were very excited to see him. They all enjoyed taking balloon animal home. A lovely finish to a very busy and exciting term.

‘Once Upon a Time’

The children were very excited to start their new ‘Once Upon a Time’ topic and the new weekly ‘Outdoor Learning’ sessions. After working out how to put on our new waterproof dungarees the children wrapped up and took part in lots of different learning activities in all weathers. The children’s enthusiasm for these sessions was contagious and it was great to see all the team work and learning taking place as they made warm and cosy shelters for the Gingerbread Man, 2D shapes from sticks and number bonds to 10 using natural materials. Then ‘The Beast from the East’ arrived and the children had a fabulous session building snowmen and making snow angels.

Just when we thought things couldn’t get any better Mrs Davies arranged for an incubator and some eggs to be delivered to our department. The children were fascinated to find out about the changes taking place inside the eggs; asking lots of questions and explaining how they might look after the eggs and the chicks that would hatch. Three weeks later, they couldn’t believe it when they arrived at school to find nine chicks to look after.

To finish off what had been a wonderful topic we had a trip to the National Trust property, Gibside in Rowlands Gill. We took part in a ‘Story Tale Trail’ and a ‘Celebrate the Seasons’ workshop. The children spent the day with the fabulous staff at Gibside taking part in fun activities to support our learning about ‘Traditional Tales’ and the changing seasons.

Finally, the day of the Spring Concert arrived, the children demonstrated their confidence and ability to perform in front of an audience. It was a fantastic afternoon enjoyed by children, staff and parents alike.

‘Dinosaurs’

This is always an exciting term with lots of learning still to take place as well as transition activities; meeting their new teachers and enjoying many experiences in their new classrooms.

Our topic this term was ‘Dinosaurs’. This really captured the imagination of the children and they were really excited to take part in activities such as ‘Dino Digs’, role-playing the part of a Palaeontologist and Volcanic eruption science experiments.

In the ‘Outdoor Classroom’ the children in FS2 worked as a team to make a 6m long model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex out of natural materials, they were very proud of their work. They were surprised to find out that he should have been 12m long!

To end the term the Pre-prep department had a visit to Adventure Valley which was a fantastic day out. The children went home on our last day fully prepared for their move to the next stage in their educational life.

Year 1 ‘Magical Meals and Fantastic Feasts’

The Autumn term began with Y1’s topic based around food.

They learnt about how to stay healthy, sorting out healthy and less healthy foods. Everyone was very keen to try the vegetable soup that they had helped to make. Healthy eating was also the theme of a class visit to the Tesco superstore in Durham, where the children each created their own healthy snack. On a visit to Pizza Express in Durham, the children had a cookery lesson, making their own pizzas. It was a great treat to return to school with the cooked pizzas and eat them for lunch in the classroom! For our “fabulous finish” to the topic, the children organised an Around-the-World banquet. On the day of the banquet, everyone contributed food from different countries and came dressed as princes and princesses. It was a grand way to finish the term!

‘Down in the Wild Woods’

Y1 had great fun in the Spring term with their topic about the woods. The topic began with a snowy treasure hunt in the school grounds, searching for some woodland creatures. At the Durham Botanic Garden, they learnt all about how plants stay alive through different seasons and in different climates and countries. Another day was spent in Durham Cathedral’s outdoor classroom, learning about the plants and wildlife that can be found in the woodlands and riverbanks. They had a go at measuring the height of trees and played a game to learn about how the woodlands help to protect sparrows from sparrow hawks. To conclude their topic, the children presented everything they had learnt about woodlands in an assembly for their parents.

‘The Mysterious Suitcase of Memories’

At the beginning of the Summer term a mysterious suitcase appeared in Y1’s classroom. It contained some photographs and artefacts from the past and the children wrote letters to the senders of the suitcase to find out more… In the following weeks, as more artefacts appeared in the suitcase, the children gradually gained more and more information about what life was like for children in the past. The curriculum was enriched by visits to Palace Green Library – where real maps

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

1 1

P R E - P R E P

Through studying the Great Fire London the children discovered the importance of fire fighters. The children took part in a Durham University workshop to take them back to 1666.

‘Flying to the moon!’

To start the topic, the children were lucky enough to visit Tim Peake’s space capsule ‘Soyuz - TMA19M’ which had landed at Shildon at the beginning of term. This golden opportunity captured the children’s attention which led to many questions and inspired their learning. Tim Peake even retweeted our tweet!

and artefacts from the past were examined closely – and to Beamish Open Air Museum. At Beamish our trip focussed on life in the Infant classroom, and in the Edwardian schoolroom they experienced some lessons that were very different to their own lessons at Bow. The term ended with a very exciting Victorian Day. Everyone came to school in Victorian costume (including Mrs Ketteridge and Miss Balls) and a series of lessons, a picnic lunch and craft activities - making Victorian toys - made the day a special one.

Year 2

Y2 had a blast! From flying as a Superhero in the first term, to flying to the moon in the second term, and finally flying around the World in the third term.

‘Flying like a Superhero!’

During the first term the children were able to learn, engage and have fun with the curriculum, whilst learning from an engaging topic ‘Superheroes’.

The year began with their very own Superhero training; the children were given several tasks to test their strength and motivation to see if they had what it takes to be a superhero!

Throughout the term, the children conducted many scientific experiments linking directly to Superheroes, such as: which material would be best the best to insulate Ice Man’s hands?

Can you make a floatation device for your superhero?

Which material would be the best to fly? The children had the opportunity to predict, record and analyse their experiments through hands on learning.

Their learning was supported by a successful and enjoyable trip to Seven Stories. The children had the opportunity to visit a brand new exhibition celebrating the creativity of comic book art. They explored iconic comic art, whilst creating their very own settings, characters and stories using playful props and costumes.

Our very own school nurse visited Y2 to give us some basic first aid training. The children learnt what to do in an emergency, how to support the patient in various scenarios including CPR. After all, a Superhero needs to know how to save people!

1 2

Following on from this event, we were very fortunate to have ITV’s Rachel Sweeney visit us to help deliver a piece of news based on Tim Peake. She taught the children how to present themselves in front of the camera. The children had a chance to perform and the winners were awarded a special ITV prize

by Rachel Sweeney.

We are fortunate enough to have an outstanding Cosmology Department right on our doorstep! Our links with the University enabled us to make the most of this, by spending an afternoon in the department. The children learnt first-hand what it takes to be an astrologist and were inspired by current cutting edge technology, they experienced ‘Virtual Reality’, visited the supercomputing room and created their very own universe!

A gigantic Science Dome was erected in the School Hall which provided an exciting opportunity for the children to explore our solar system. The children were taken on a panoramic tour of the major planets; Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, as well as other major aspects in the solar system such as our moon and other planets moons.

In addition to this, the children were introduced to stargazing and the night sky. Children were taught the stories of the night sky and the constellations they apply to. This gave an up close and realistic experience.

This topic provided many extra curricula experiences that stimulated not only their imagination but their creativity, learning and enthusiasm that exceeded our expectations.

‘Flying around the world in 55 days!’

Based on the fictional character Phileas Fogg and his adventures Around the World in 80 Days, the children set off on their final term to travel the world in 55 days. They visited all seven continents of the world, investigating countries within each one, looking at famous landmarks, population, geographical features and much more. They had the opportunity to investigate a wide variety of animals and their habitats and researched into food chains, looking specifically at producers and consumers.

For the fabulous finish, we landed in Hawaii! We had a Hawaiian themed beach party where children and staff dressed up in bright colour floral shirts and grass skirts. It was an energetic and a fabulous end to a wonderful year!

Mrs Johnson and Mrs Younger would like to thank all the children for an outstandingly brilliant, very enjoyable and an extremely successful year!

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

P R E P

Prep Year 3

This year was our first year of delivering our new creative curriculum. Each term we studied a different Topic and we covered all areas of the curriculum within that topic. This has given us the opportunity to learn in a fun, imaginative and creative way!

‘Globetrotters’

The children became explorers and had their ‘Sensational Starter’ with a trip to the Captain Cook Museum in Middlesbrough to learn about the famous explorer and what life was like living on a ship and discovering new lands. They created some pictures in the style of aboriginal art and got to dress up as if they were Captain Cook and the people he met on his adventures.

children could choose to come to school dressed in clothes linked to a country of their choice.

Time Detectives

Within the first half of this topic, the children studied the Stone Age to Iron Age. They made their own Woolley Mammoths, wrote instructions on how to wash a Woolley Mammoth and made their own Stone Age houses.

In the second half, the children learnt about Ancient Egypt.

This incorporated our Science lessons on the Sun, linking it

Within their Science lessons the children were studying Rocks and Fossils and went on a Fossil hunt and found some interesting rocks in the grounds of Bow! For the ‘Fantastic Finish’ to this topic they had a week learning about different cultures in different countries, some of these included India, Australia, Trinidad and Germany. Some of the children also gave their own input into these lessons.

The children attended a glass workshop at Durham Chilli Art Gallery to make their own tree decoration when studying Germany and Christmas traditions. At the end of the week the

Culture Week

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

1 3

W E PL RC EOP M E

engaged in their own learning. They experienced so much that has laid the foundations for moving on into Y4. The enthusiasm from the children has been infectious and made it a wonderful year!

French

Time Detectives

Y3 danced and sang their way through French lessons as well as throwing themselves enthusiastically into the more formal activities. Once again, they were helped by Claude, our resident French puppet. Two highlights of the year were visits from a French theatre company. During the Spring term we had been preparing for a performance of ‘La Chanson du Retour’ about a girl that gets dragged into her Wii game. Unfortunately snow and then illness meant that we couldn’t see the whole show but we had interactive workshops with some of the cast and pupils had the opportunity to act out many of the parts. During the Summer term we were treated to a great show that used live action, puppetry and catchy songs to act out some magical tales from around the French speaking world, including Canada, Africa and the Caribbean.

Year 4

Oriental Museum

It has been an exciting year for Y4. With a variety of scheduled trips and visits amidst a creative and challenging curriculum, we were set for a fun filled year. We began by taking a step back in History, reading the novel ‘Fair’s Fair’ in English and discovering the weird and wonderful times in Tudor England, as part of our Humanities topic. We ventured across the river to Palace Green, where we took

to the Sun God Ra and we also learnt how to mummify an apple in our own Canopic jars! We visited the Oriental Museum and carried out a workshop on the Afterlife of Ancient Egyptians, ‘mummifying’ one of our pupils along the way!

Our Topic’s ‘Fantastic Finish’ was presenting an assembly to the rest of Bow, taking them back in time to meet Tutankhamen and other Ancient Pharos.

During this term we also celebrated World Book Day, dressing up as our favourite character!

‘Where the Wild Things Are’

We used our topic of ‘Plants’ in Science and incorporated this into our final Creative topic of the year. Our ‘Sensational Starter’ involved a trip to the Botanic Gardens in Durham where the children explored the woods and held various creatures!

We also enjoyed some First Aid Training from our School Nurse and the children learnt what they needed to do should an emergency arise.

We created our own ‘Wild Explorers’ Club where we used the outdoor learning environment to create, amongst other things, a bug hotel, a den and outdoor games. Our ‘Fantastic Finish’ saw the children enjoying a ‘Wild Explorer’ Day. The children thoroughly enjoyed their year in Y3 and being

1 4

Paper Challenge Activity

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

W E PL RC EOP M E

Wild Explorers Club

part in a Tudor workshop, which included activities such as dressing up, role-play and examining primary sources and in Art, we designed a large Tudor rose, which took pride of place on the Tudor display wall. Once again, we celebrated the European Day of Languages and we were lucky enough to have a taster Spanish session instead of their usual French lesson on that day! With the end of term approaching, we managed to fit in Bow’s world famous Christmas lunch and some Christmas parties too, where we ate lots of popcorn and had to make a snowman using toilet paper only!

including a trip to a CrossFit Gym, a Treasure Trail around Durham City and an Escape Room came into school, providing us with some very tricky problems to solve. We ended the academic year with a great family picnic and celebrated individual and whole school successes in the marquee at Speech Day!

During the Easter term, we explored the rainforest and produced leaflets showing the four layers of the forest and the types of wildlife that live there. This was followed by a visit from ‘Zoo lab’ who brought with them creepy crawlies, some of which came from the rainforest! After half term, World Book Day outfits were on the agenda and we all enjoyed dressing up as our favourite characters; ‘Gangsta Granny’ being the most popular choice this year! In Maths, we learned to match equivalent fractions together and took data from the school community. We were very interested in the school’s most popular chocolate bar!

We were lucky to have two visits from our favourite theatre company T.S.F. In March, the children took part in interactive workshops and acted out scenes from ‘La Chanson du Retour’ which tells the story of a young girl who is dragged into her Wii game. Much fun was had by all, and Luke was marvellous in the role of the ‘baddie’!

The Summer term began with an Ancient Egyptian workshop, held at the Oriental Museum, where we enjoyed seeing a real life sarcophagus and learned all about the mummification process. We enjoyed our ‘Stories from other Cultures’ topic and gained an understanding of the people living South Africa through the story ‘Journey to Jo’berg’.

We finished the school year with a variety of activities

in Y4 science, the children investigated augmented reality and explored prehistoric times using the latest computer software, and saw it brought to life through the visiting Zoolab.

They also completed a periodic table challenge.

During French lessons this year, Y4 have covered classroom objects, weather, time, parts of the body, clothes and many other topics. In late September, we celebrated the European Day of Languages, and Y4 enjoyed a taster Spanish session.

During the Summer term, we were treated to a great show drawing inspiration from various tales from around the French speaking world. There was live action, puppetry and catchy tunes including our favourite, ‘Diggy ding dong dong’.

They explored the Universe by the visiting the planetarium, and participated in the build of the “BowBot”.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

1 5

W E PL RC EOP M E

a spot of cookery, baking their very own Roman cookies.

Y5 worked hard in their French lessons throughout the year.

They began using text books for the first time and were introduced to a lot of new grammar. However, there was still plenty of time for fun activities and pupils enjoyed doing role plays and acting out new vocabulary. Once again, we celebrated the European Day of Languages and we were very lucky that Mrs. Collins (mother of Andrew in Y6) came and led a very informative session on her native Romania.

Another highlight was a visit from a touring theatre company that has visited the school many times before. Pupils took part in interactive workshops and tried their hand at acting as well as learning many catchy songs.

Roman Cookery

Year 5

This year was action packed with a wide variety of events across the academic and sporting spectrum. For the first time, Y5 were able to join Y6 on both the Hull and Kingswood residential trips. The Y5 pupils took this in their stride and excelled in attitude and behaviour as they made the most of these opportunities. They were fearless in Kingwood as they tackled the rope courses and high wire slides, and enjoyed the matches of rugby, hockey and 10-pin bowling at Hull.

The trip to The Deep was educational and fun with the added bonus of a slime workshop!

The pupils made great progress in their lessons, and the diverse and varied curriculum has seen all pupils going from strength to strength. Topics covered everything from ancient history and archeology, brought to life through visiting speakers and trips to the Palace Green library, to futuristic investigations with innovative psychology, robot building and constructing their very own ocean grabber.

The ancient Latin language is available to Y5 and Y6 to study using the Minimus and MInimus Secundus textbooks.

Y5 were introduced to the language gently to develop their understanding of the language by encouraging them to greet and introduce themselves to each other and to study basic grammatical concepts such as nouns, irregular and regular verb endings and adjectives. The pupils were also taught nonlinguistic topics related to the ancient Romans such as learning about what types of food that they ate and read numerous mythical stories. Students were asked to design their own birthday cards and posters representing a section of a mythical story, perform re-enactments of these stories as well as enjoy

1 6

In History Y5 studied the Victorians and the Ancient Greeks.

They learnt about who the Victorians were and what era they belonged to, famous inventions, Victorian schools, children at work, examples of Victorian toys for the rich and poor and the work house. For the topic of Ancient Greece, the pupils studied the Greek gods and related myths in detail, the ancient Olympics, they also had the opportunity to learn about the layout of a typical house, the process of an ancient sacrifice, where this would take place, the different parts and general layout of an ancient temple, as well as how the lives of men, women and children would have been very different from each other’s and from modern day life. During the course of the year, the children took part in a number of activities including designing their own Victorian houses and toy inventions, creating their own museum advertisement, designing an Olympic banner and conducting group work to create a Greek god rap.

During Geography lessons this year, we studied map skills, such as compass directions, grid figure references, co-ordinates and map symbols. We also examined the water cycle and looked at individual case studies about water usage in both England and Bangladesh.

We also undertook a variety of enjoyable activities to enhance our learning, including designing our own treasure map, completing puzzles, researching major capital cities and rivers around the world and undertaking investigations into how rivers flow from their upper to lower courses, using sand, pebbles and water.

Year 6

By the end of the year, our pupils are firing on all cylinders, ready to face the challenges of Big School and the world beyond. We wish everyone the best for the next step of their educational career and look forward to reading more about their achievements in future editions of The Dunelmian.

During Y6, pupils develop their Geography skills further by revising 4 and 6-figure grid references, directions and how to read maps using the key and their knowledge of symbols.

They also learnt about environmental sustainability with particular concentration being devoted to energy saving techniques and fair trade. The pupils were very enthusiastic about creating their own energy saving rap and designing an energy saving house and creating a fair trade recipe.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

W E PL RC EOP M E

In the later terms, Y6 explored the topics of the Earth’s structure and mountains, concentrating on the formation and eruption of both earthquakes and volcanoes as well as the different parts of a mountain and how tourism can affect mountainous areas.

They have continued their knowledge of the Latin language by revisiting the grammar topics of verb endings in the present tense, irregular verbs, how to recognise whether a noun is masculine or feminine and how to identify an adjective in a Latin sentence. During the year, students learnt about impersonal verbs, infinitives, and pronouns. Pupils also had the opportunity to study more mythical stories in detail and learn about Roman Britain, mainly the life of a Roman soldier and Hadrian’s wall.

Both Y5 and Y6 took part in an internal Latin recital competition. Working in groups they all undertook a challenging piece that Y7s would have been asked to attempt.

The children coped very well with this task. Their dramatic performances were very good as well as entertaining and their Latin pronunciation was even better!

The winners were in Y6 were Lucas, Innes and George; Kate, Amy and Jasmine were runners up. Mason, William, Aashan and Fergus were the overall winners for Y5, while Sophie, Georgia, Annabelle and Katie were the runners up. Well done to everyone for taking part!

Enthusiasm and commitment has been displayed in French lessons by Y6 during their final year at Bow. They even embraced the learning of lots of irregular verbs. Once again,

Latin Recital Competition

we celebrated the European day of languages and we were fortunate that Andrew’s mum gave up some of her valuable time to come and talk to us about the culture, geography and language of her native Romania. Thank you very much Mrs. Collins! During the Spring Term the fabulous touring theatre company T.S.F. visited the school again and the pupils had a great morning taking part in interactive workshops and trying their hand at acting. It was great to see them singing catchy French songs with such great gusto and dancing along too!

I am sorry to see them go but I know that they will enjoy the new challenges that the Senior school offers.

Bonne Chance!

Y6 Scientists have investigated augmented reality and explored the solar system using the latest computer software and simulations. They performed an actual dissection of a heart to gain a better understanding of its inner workings.

They explored the universe in the visiting planetarium and studied thermochronism and participated in the build of the BowBot. In the Zoolab they travelled with Darwin to see the new and exciting creatures he discovered on his journey on The Beagle.

As part of their History curriculum, Y6 have studied the Romans with particular emphasis on Julius Caesar and the invasion of Roman Britain. During the Spring term they studied the Anglo-Saxons, how and when they invaded England. The Anglo-Saxon culture and lifestyle was further explored by the students conducting their own research, undertaking archaeological and historical investigations and designing their own adverts or posters.

Transition Day

They then went on to study the Great War with particular emphasis being paid to the reasons for the outbreak of war, who was involved and what life was like in the trenches. During the summer term a guest speaker from Durham University visited the school to talk to the students about World War 1 in more detail, giving them the opportunity to handle artefacts and take part in their own debate as to whether General Kitchener was a good or bad leader.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

17

C O - C U R R I C U L A R

Co-curricular During 2017-18, we have expanded our extra-curricular provision to cater for the needs of our pupils. During lunchtimes, we offer the following activities Brain Busters, Basketball, Latin, Choir, Reading, and Library.

In May, Y5 and Y6 spent three days at Dukeshouse Wood, an outward-bound activity centre run by the Kingswood group, a short distance outside of Hexham. Here they tackled numerous activities designed to encourage teamwork and leadership skills as well as overcoming personal phobias.

After school we are able to offer even more fabulous opportunities including; Cricket coaching, Horrible Histories, Karate, Band, Dance, Science Club, Netball, Hockey, Rugby Training, Table Tennis, Craft, Yoga, Lego, and Early Years football run by Sunderland AFC.

It was a fantastic opportunity to get away from the technological hustle and bustle of everyday life. Every child gained a lot from the experience and returned to school a more rounded individual.

Y6 & Y7 Transition day

On Tuesday 18 June, Y6 and 7 went on a transition trip to the Palace Green Library to learn about the Romans in more detail. Divided into groups, the students spent the morning exploring the museum for evidence of the Romans, playing Roman games, handling ancient archaeological artefacts as well as making their own ancient mosaics. There were lots of smiling faces and the students had a lovely time becoming more acquainted with each other as well as learning fascinating facts about the ancient world! My thanks go to the staff at Palace Green library and to Mrs Fletcher, Mrs Gordon and Mr Hughes for accompanying us on this trip.

18

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

C R E A T I V E

The Pirates of Penzance

Creative The choir had a busy start to the autumn term with Harvest Festival and the Autumn Recital Concert, with ‘Bare Necessities’ being a huge hit with the children. They also had the exciting opportunity to perform as part of the Friends of Durham Cathedral Concert. They sang joint numbers and carols as well as their own songs, ‘Patapan’ and ‘The Holly and The Ivy’, demonstrating in the latter impressive three-part canon. It was a huge honour to perform in such a magnificent setting along with such excellent musicians as St Chad’s College Choir and the Consett Salvation Army Band.

and ‘Break Out’ and song class, singing ‘Grizelda’ and ‘I am a small part of the world’. The icing on the cake were the trophies; The choir won the hymn-singing class and best set song. Our soloists also did brilliantly; Lucas Howe won the boys 11 years and under solo with ‘Abdul the Magician’, and Jack Carlin and Alexander Kerr came joint second. Huge congratulations too to Charlotte Cheesey (2nd in 12 years and under girls with ‘Lullaby’), Hannah Thompson, Jasmine Anna Beresford, Bluebell Hawkins and Niamh Kerr for their lovely performances.

For their end of term production, the prep children took us on a fascinating journey for Christmas Around the World. Every child contributed individually, whether through an instrumental performance, singing solo, speaking or representing a country.

A festival of music and dancing from a huge variety of cultures, from Mexico to Nigeria, ended with a rousing Christmas version of a Status Quo classic, Christmas all over the World. It was an uplifting event, particularly in the way pupils, parents and different departments all contributed. Special thanks must go to Mrs Collins for her Romanian platter and the Art Department for organising the flag-painting.

The uptake of instruments and progress of our musicians has been going from strength to strength, and the introduction of a new Brass scheme to support and encourage new brass players has been a great success. We are hoping to develop complimentary schemes in the coming years.

The House Carol Competition has become a big event in the school calendar, a hard-fought battle in which the staff are just as invested as the children. This year we had some talented sixth-formers, Ben Pulman and Emily Pehrson, to judge the performances. All the houses sang their hearts out, with great attention to detail. Although it was an incredibly difficult decision, Dunstanburgh were finally declared worthy winners. All the rehearsals for this made for some beautiful singing at the Prep Department Carol Service, which also featured Mrs Summers’s class performing carols on the hand bells. The Christmas term was rounded off in great festive spirit with a Christmas Carol sing-along, accompanied by the senior school Brass Group, led by Mr Lewis on trumpet.

The Spring Term began with preparations for our first venture to Ryton Music Festival. The choir and vocal soloists really enjoyed performing in front of a new audience, meeting and listening to musicians from other schools and hearing the wise words of the adjudicator. The choir performed in two categories, hymn singing, for which we sang ‘Like a Mighty River Flowing’

The beginning of the Summer Term was extremely busy, with our second Recital Concert featuring soloists on a wide variety of instruments including drums, vocalists, the choir and bow band with a rousing performance of ‘We Will Rock You’. The choir had a fun outing to Yarm School for a big sing-along with other HMRC schools, singing a huge variety of entertaining songs in up to four-part harmony.

Preparations soon began in earnest for our production of Pirates of Penzance in the Luce Theatre, accompanied by a student band from the senior school. It was difficult to work out whether the policeman in Forms 3 and 6 or the pirates in Forms 4 and 5 had the most fun! Highlights included Andrew Collins (The Pirate King), Anna Beresford (Frederick) and George Fishwick (The Nurse) performing with great wit and humour ‘A Paradox’ and Lucas Howe’s tongue-twisting ‘Major General’s Song’, but all the pupils put their hearts and souls into the production and wowed the audiences over both nights of the performance.

Many of our musicians took ABRSM prep tests and grade exams this term; they all did extremely well and had the opportunity to show off their talents at Speech Day. We wish all the talented musicians who have moved on this year, whether to Durham School or to further afield, the very best of luck in all they do.

For those at Bow, another exciting year of musical experiences and opportunities awaits!

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

19

P A S T O R A L

Pastoral It has been a busy year for Alnwick, Bamburgh, Dunstanburgh and Warkworth House. A recycling hero poster competition kicked off the term, where children could only use recyclable material to make their hero. There were lots of entries, with the winners Sophie (Y5, Dunstanburgh), Emile (Y3, Warkworth).

Towards the end of the Autumn term all houses took part in the House Carol competition, which was judged by Senior School Music pupils. It was a tough competition with houses singing their carols beautifully, but Dunstanburgh were eventually crowned Carol Champions for the second year running!

Geography to Current Affairs and ended with a huge ‘deciding question’ that Warkworth got correct and succeeded in winning the overall quiz.

On Speech Day the overall Lauds trophy was won by Bamburgh, with the highest lauds achieved by Sean Fu. A big thanks goes to our House Captains from last year – Innes – Alnwick, Anna – Bamburgh, Luca – Dunstanburgh and George – Warkworth.

The Spring term was heavily based around Sporting contests with House Basketball and House Football taking place. We also enjoyed a Buddy lunch that involved a member of Y3 or Y4 eating lunch with an elder house member.

The Summer term was an exciting time with the Swimming Gala, Sports Day and the famous ‘ Mr B’s House General Knowledge Quiz’. The swimming gala was won by Bamburgh with an outstanding performances from Anna in Y6.

The Sports Day was very well attended, and although a range of pupils achieved individual success, Alnwick were once again awarded the Sports Day trophy.

Last but not least was the House General Knowledge Quiz, hosted by Mr Browbank. The questions ranged from

20

2 0 1 76 - 2 0 1 87

S P O R T

Sport Bow have had a successful year on the games field. The children have had the opportunity to compete in swimming galas, basketball matches, cross country events and athletic meetings. The major highlight of all our sporting success was winning the Lindisfarne Plate. This is only the second time in history that the School have won this prestigious athletics competition.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

21

S P O R T

Boys’ Sport Rugby

The U11s have had an excellent season. They have improved emphatically throughout the term and worked so well together as a group. They had three excellent victories against Dame Allans, Newcastle Prep School and Polam Hall. The boys did have four defeats but each game was a closely fought battle.

I would like to thank all of the boys for the tremendous effort they each displayed. A special mention goes to Lucas Howe for captaining the side fantastically, leading by example both on and off the field.

The U10s have had a less successful season, partly due to a couple of players being called up to the U11 team. However, they were victorious over Sedburgh.

The U9s had a fantastic season playing in three festivals at Mowden Hall, Cundall Manor and Yarm. They won all but one of their matches. In the individual fixtures, the boys had two excellent victories over Choristers and Newcastle School for Boys with a draw against Yarm.

The U8 boys had their first introduction to tag rugby, playing in two festivals and four individual fixtures. Scores are not kept at this level but there is a lot of potential in the year group. It was also great to have all of the Y3 girls playing in the Cluster Festival.

Football

The U11 footballers had a tough start to the season but improved with every game. The highlight was our own tournament, where we played our best football and finished fourth out of twelve schools. With the heavy snow this year, many of the fixtures were unfortunately cancelled. The

22

most disappointing of these was the HMC tournament at Hymers. The U9s have had another promising season after an initial defeat to Argyle House in the first game. They had excellent results over NSB, RGS, Terrington and Choristers.

Unfortunately, two of their tournaments also fell victim to the weather. The boys played well in the Yarm Tournament and were a little unlucky to lose 3-2 in the semi-final. We got through to the Plate final against RGS, which we drew and shared the Plate.

Cricket

The boys had an excellent summer term. The U11 cricket team had a slow start, losing a couple of close games early on but learnt some valuable lessons. They finished the season on a real high winning their last four games. The boy’s performances in the six-a-side competitions have been outstanding. Every member of the side really contributed in the HMC six-a-side Plate victory with notable wins against Bradford Grammar School and the Grammar School of Leeds.

However, the performance in our own six-a-side was the most pleasing. We won the competition and were unbeaten against some very strong sides. We had previous defeats to three of the teams earlier in the term. George Fishwick captained the side brilliantly, always leading by example. His full-length diving catch to win the game by six runs against Barnard Castle epitomised this. He thoroughly deserved his selection to represent the Durham County U11s. The U9s have been fantastic with only one defeat to RGS in a close encounter that could have gone either way. We did get our revenge in the RGS six-a-side competition, winning our group game against them in another close game by two runs. We proceeded to win the competition in addition to our own six-a-side festival at Bow.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

S P O R T

Girls’ Sport It has been an exciting year of Sport for the girls at Bow this year. With more fixtures than ever played in a variety of sports including Netball, Hockey, Kwik Cricket and Athletics, Bow has firmly put themselves on the map as a school fielding quality girls teams. The U11 Hockey team had a great season, winning five of nine matches. With two defeats to begin the season it was third time lucky for Bow, with a 3-0 victory against Teesside High, and great teamwork meant the success really lifted their spirits! Throughout the season, Bow played a number of competitive games against their rivals, The Chorister School, who are always a great team to play.

An initial defeat only made the team more determined to succeed and following some hard work in training they did and won 5-0! This was a fantastic result and it was great to hear such a positive report delivered at the following Monday morning’s assembly. The start of 2018 brought further victories, which included a final 1-0 win at Durham High School that was a great end to the season.

weather with several matches cancelled, an indoor tournament was held at Durham High where the girls practiced their skills, with the team gaining a victory against The Chorister School.

To end the season, Bow played Red House School where they played fantastically well, wining 10-3.

Netball for the U11 team was a little more challenging this season and with 10 fixtures and tournaments to play, they started the season a little slowly. Not losing hope however, they persevered through the term and eventually ground out a 6-3 win against Teesside High. Following a period of tough winter

Sports Tour to Hull

The summer term brought a glorious few months of great weather and it was a fabulous time for playing Rounders matches. Winning 5 from 7 games the U11 team proved to be a great team both in the batting square and in the field.

Notable victories against St Martin’s, Ampleforth and Barnard Castle proved we were a quality team with the ability to score rounders, finding holes in the field to place the ball.

For the U9 teams, the focus for all fixtures is to gain experience of a match environment and all children got to travel to an away game, play against a team, enjoy match teas and travel on the bus to and from the venue.

On the 7 March, Y5 and Y6 went on a Sports Tour to Hull.

We made a fleeting visit to Lincoln Minster School on the way, which was the Mrs Harrod’s previous school, and we played some football and netball matches. Following a yummy pasta tea, we travelled on to Hull, where we settled into our Travelodge. The evening’s events took place at a Bowling Alley, where we enjoyed a game of bowling as well as an exciting laser tag competition. Lucas was ‘Champion Bowler’ with Miss Plummer not far behind!

In the morning disaster struck and Hull was hit with a cold and snowy weather front that meant the HMC tournament at Hymer’s Hull was postponed. The staff were quick to adapt and organised a trip to the Deep, an aquarium where you got to see a variety of sea life, and we made all sorts of slime during a workshop. Even though we were sad to not play the tournament, we enjoyed what replaced it and will remember the trip long into the future.

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8

23

P R I Z E

Speech Day Awards Form prizes

Form 2J Achievement

Industry

Improvement

Lauds Form 2Y Achievement

Industry

Improvement

Lauds Form 3 Achievement

Industry

Improvement

Lauds Form 4P Achievement

Industry

Improvement

Lauds Form 4S Achievement

Industry

Improvement

Lauds Form 5 Achievement

Industry

Improvement

Lauds Form 6 Achievement

Industry

Improvement

Lauds The Lauds Trophy

Sports awards Swimming

Steeplechase

Rugby

Football

Cricket

Netball

Hockey

Rounders

24

Senior (McIntyre Cup) Junior (Melrose Cup) Best Improver (Iain Shepherd Trophy) Individual Medley (Luke Cup) Senior Junior (Lynch Cup) Colts Rugby Trophy (Adamson Cup) Most Improved Senior Most Promising Junior Rugby Player (Timm Cup) Colts Football Trophy Most Improved Footballer (The Cronin Cup) Most Promising Junior Most Improved Senior Most Promising Junior Colts Cricket (Davison Challenge Cup) Senior Girls Netball Award Junior Girls Netball Award Senior Girls Hockey Award Junior Girls Hockey Award Senior Girls Rounders Award Junior Girls Rounders Award

W I N N E R S 2 0 1 8

Alice James Jack Armstrong Alfie Sammons Chloe Wang Annabel Troughear Lucy Cleave Jack Blyth Zac McNally Tom Richardson Emile Basu Ellis Hazell Sean Fu Bluebell Hawkins Toby Huntley Logan Bartlett Thomas Rochester Oliver Thomas Darcy Holmes Niamh Kerr Tom Bastey Fergus Foster Georgia Metcalfe Kate North Oliver Sanderson Anna Beresford Innes Fordyce Lucas Howe Andrew Collins Sean Fu

Anna Beresford Hannah Thompson Lucas Howe

Academic Awards

Noble Cup for English Parton Cup for Improvement in English Gazzard Cup for Maths

Maths Improvers Cup Mason Cup for Science Cross Cup for Practical Science Benson Cup for History Coggings Cup for Geography Raine Cup for R.E. Henegan Cup for French Latin Cup Ford Cup for Computing Debenham Cup for Music Art Cup Senior Drama Cup Junior Drama Cup Mishreki Cup for Good Citizenship Prep School Award for Endeavour Thomas Payne Memorial Shield Special Award for contribution to school life Headteacher’s Award for Outstanding contribution to the school

Anna Beresford Isabella Moyes Andrew Collins Tom Marley Milly Rochester Jasmine Johnson Lucas Howe Luca Regan-Teasdale Andrew Collins Anna Beresford Anna Beresford Ethan Baker Sohan Mussunoor Anna Beresford Milly Rochester Lucas Howe Bluebell Hawkins Tom Marley Amy Whitefield Archie Ford Flourish Atse Kate Pehrson Milly Rochester

11+ Awards for entry to Year 7

Anna Beresford, Andrew Collins, Jasmine Johnson, Sohan Mussunoor, Kate Pehrson, Jared Pringle, Luca Regan-Teasdale, Milly Rochester

Representative Sports Honours

George Fishwick was selected to represent Durham County U11 Cricket team.

Anna Beresford Innes Fordyce Logan Bartlett Lucas Howe Innes Fordyce Tom Bastey Jared Pringle Innes Fordyce Lewis Saxton Andrew Collins Tom Richardson George Fishwick Anna Beresford Hannah Thompson Bella Moyes Charlotte Cheesey Milly Rochester Darcy Holmes

2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8