THE
Bulletin
ISSUE 234
FROM THE HEADMASTER
Being a teenager has arguably never been so challenging. If you lay aside for a moment the global challenges – conflict and tension, financial instability, the climate, environment and sustainability, inequality, poverty and health, to name but a few – our young men have countless issues of their own to navigate. Their daily lives are played out publicly with social media, phones and cameras. Teenagers have to navigate sensitivities and subtle nuances; they are expected to have a broad, mature and sophisticated moral compass and a developed sense of what is right and wrong, what is acceptable and unacceptable. They are challenged to conform and yet to be individual. They are asked to challenge and yet to be respectful and empathetic. They are expected to be tolerant and inclusive and yet decisive and willing to take action. I passionately believe in Inclusivity, one of our six School Values. Our society has changed fundamentally and we need to change with it. Our school community thrives on diversity, and values tolerance and kindness. All our students have a multitude of talents, come from a multitude of backgrounds, and have a multitude of perspectives. Celebrating that diversity and fostering inclusivity within our school community helps create an environment where everyone feels valued, respected and heard. When we embrace inclusivity, we break down barriers and develop connections. As Martin Luther King once said, “Build bridges, not walls.” Last week, the RGS hosted the latest in the series of termly Feminism and Equity Seminars in conjunction with students from Guildford High and Tormead, with the panel comprising two representatives from each school. In front of a capacity audience – highlighting the engagement of all our students – the seminar did not shy away from controversial topics and asked attendees to debate questions including: Do we live in a male-centric country?; Do single sex schools foster a culture of misogyny?; Pornography: sexual liberation or objectification of women?
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Our society has changed fundamentally and we need to change with it.
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The panel chaired the discussion with aplomb, ensuring that the attendees had a chance to discuss each question amongst themselves and then allowing them to share thoughts and ideas, in an open, safe space. Attendees were both respectful towards each other and articulate. The end of the seminar finished with some well-considered ideas for how to engage younger students in these discussions and how all our students can show allyship and support for each other and to challenge discriminative language and actions in others, as well as their own prejudiced thoughts. Student voice, student leadership, collaboration: our young people may have difficult waters to navigate but they also, undoubtedly, have the empathy, the energy and the commitment to tackle these challenges head on. The seminar was a fantastic event and all participants should be extremely proud of the manner in which they discussed these issues and listened to each other. Being open to different, even conflicting, opinions has arguably never been more important; after all, it takes both sides to build a bridge. As we break up for half term today, as always, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the students and parents, my staff and the governors for all they have done to make this such an enriching first half of term. I hope we all have a chance to recuperate and spend quality time with friends and family. I look forward to seeing the students returning refreshed and ready for the second half of the Lent Term.
SCHOOL PRIORITIES 2022-2025 Our current RGS school development priorities are Diversity and Inclusion, Collaboration, and Student Experience. These priorities run on a three-year cycle.
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION We have focused on student and staff voice, as well as experienced external providers, to inform our strategy which is currently centred around staff diversity; developing a more inclusive curriculum; and providing additional training and support for staff and students with the aim of making our whole community more tolerant and inclusive.
COLLABORATION We are focusing on four areas: staff collaboration to develop and improve teaching and learning; sharing best practice between RGS and RGS Prep; co-educational opportunities and links for our students socially and academically; and linking with our international schools to provide students with cultural and academic exchange opportunities.
STUDENT EXPERIENCE This is an area of continual development; however, our current focuses are on student appearance; the reporting process; academic tracking and reporting; co-curricular participation; literacy; pastoral support; reviewing the Sixth Form curriculum provision; and effective use of student devices and the possibilities that AI offers.
THE GALLERY
LATEST NEWS MODEL UNITED NATIONS RGS students went to Wycombe Abbey for their annual WASAMUN residential conference and engaged in a variety of debates, including: the legal status of abortion; the illegal arms trade; UN humanitarian assistance; the use of drones in conflict; and the question of deep-sea mining, to name just a few! Our students impressed collecting a succession of awards: Zac Warham Commended, Leo Manolis and George Christiansen Outstanding Delegate Awards, and Josh Inglesfield a Special Commendation for his role in the prestigious Arctic Council. A really successful and enjoyable event, the RGS emerged having won more awards than any other school present.
RGS MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR Established to showcase the astonishing talent of our students, RGS Musician of the Year is one of the undisputed highlights of the School’s musical calendar. This year’s final, held in Big School, was particularly noteworthy as it marked the 25th anniversary of the prize’s endowment by former parents John and Hilary Steynor. To mark this special occasion, we were also delighted to welcome back several former winners including Thomas Hansell, Emmanuel Bach, Andrew Tyler, and Ed Ball. Following a fiercely contested preliminary round earlier in the term, this year’s finalists were Joseph Ryan (piano), Thomas McLean (trumpet), Oscar Trott (piano), Joseph Howes (piano), Alexander Gillan (violin) and Rohan McCauley (piano). Together they performed a recital that was astonishing, not only in the breadth of its musical programme, but for the outstanding levels of musical accomplishment on display. Professor David Owen Norris had the unenviable job of selecting a winner from the six exceptional and equally deserving finalists, all the more challenging as each of the students performed such complex music with dazzling displays of technical accomplishment. David’s entertaining and insightful commentary remarked on the broad aspects of each performer’s formidable technique and musical shaping. However, by the narrowest of margins, he awarded The Steynor Prize to a performer who not only displayed technical prowess, but to someone who gave the most convincing musical account of the music, Rohan.
LATEST NEWS SCHOLARSHIP CONFERENCE The theme of this year’s RGS Scholarship Conference was Breaking Boundaries. A fascinating range of talks addressed this theme from a rich variety of angles, including artificial intelligence and the use of satellite imaging to monitor progress towards sustainable goals. Head of Scholarship, Mrs Tarasewicz, stepped in at the last minute to deliver a truly inspiring address on her reflections as a professional triathlete, before Old Guildfordian, James Miller, spoke on climate change and former Head of Biology, Dr Elodie Hudson, shared her journey through academia, finance, scientific research, teaching and now data science, interspersed with many happy miles on her bicycle. She encouraged the students to appreciate the boundaries provided by school and education, but also to imagine beyond our preconceived limits, and go searching for boundaries to break that we may not even have considered.
SCIENCE OLYMPIADS Our students performed with distinction in the British Physics Olympiad. From well over 3,000 entrants, Freddie Weir and Yuvan Raja secured Top Golds (in total, only 184 students achieved this noteworthy level); the fact that Yuvan won this prestigious award while still in the Fifth Form is an exceptional achievement. In addition, RGS students won 3 Golds (Gabriel Correia, Alexander Davies, and Rex Attwood), 5 Silvers, 18 Bronze awards, and a number of Commendations! In the online Senior Physics Challenge, RGS students secured 7 Golds and 4 Silvers; of note, Piraveen Thayananthan entered this Sixth Form challenge as a Fourth Former and was awarded a Bronze award. Finally in the Intermediate Physics Challenge which is aimed at Fifth Form and below, the RGS performed impressively to win 7 Golds, 9 Silvers, and 2 Bronzes.
SPORTS NEWS
CHESS Highlight of the last fortnight was a good win for our 2nd VI Sutton Grammar School with Umun Atara winning both his games and Aditya Sengupta going undefeated.
FENCING In the Surrey Youth Foil Championship, at U14 level Lucas Ngai finished as bronze medallist, having, unfortunately, had to withdraw during the semi-final due to a knee injury. Then, in the Newham Swords Foil Series at Under 14 level, Lucas Ngai secured Gold. In the South East Youth Championships (BYC Qualifier) at U14 Foil Valentine Wallin came fifth to qualify for the British Youth Championships.
FOOTBALL The 1st XI took on last year’s national League winners and National Cup runners-up, Charterhouse School. After creating the two best chances in the first 25 minutes, pressure took its toll and Charterhouse scored twice in three minutes, and again in the second half, eventually winning 4 – 0. The 3rd XI, however, secured an accomplished 5 – 1 win including James Patterson’s second brace in just three days; this was then followed by a free-scoring 8 – 1 victory over St George’s College, Weybridge with Luc Pressley and Arthur Taylor both scoring a brace.
GOLF The RGS golf team comprising captain Ollie George, Filip Wang and Henry Wigg took on Gordon's School in the regional final of the ISGA knock-out competition, around the beautiful Worplesdon Golf Club. The match came down to the final game and Henry held his nerve to win one up on the final green, going round in level par. The RGS team now progresses to the national finals for the first time, playing against other regional winners from all over the country at the prestigious Players Club just outside Bristol.
RUGBY SEVENS The senior RGS Sevens squad travelled down to Portsmouth Grammar School for the South Coast Sevens and their hard work paid off as they secured a clean set of victories to take home the silverware.
SHOOTING
The RGS hosted St John’s Leatherhead for a head-to-head Grouping, Rapid and Snap match. The pair of Akshay Wechalekar and James Brindle fared very well with a score of 145 out of a possible 190. The RGS VIII showed consisted shooting and achieved 663 out of a possible 760, enough to claim victory. Joshua Myers impressed, scoring 94 out of 95.
HOCKEY In the block fixture against Seaford College, the heavy frost once again took its toll on the fixture list; however, the Under 15s and 14s survived the weather to record five out of five wins. The free-scoring Under 16As enjoyed a 8 – 1 rout against Lord Wandsworth College to round-off a good set of results. The Reigate Grammar School block equally saw a succession of competitive, enjoyable fixtures. The 1st XI game saw out a tightly-contested 1 – 1 draw, while the Under 15As and 14As continued their excellent recent form with 3 – 0 and 5 – 1 wins respectively.
SWIMMING Our very best swimmers represented the RGS in the Surrey Schools Individuals, held at the Guildford Spectrum, against over 30 schools. It was a hugely successful evening, with the Junior Boys retaining their trophy, the Senior Boys reclaiming a trophy they had not won for quite a few years and the RGS holding on to the Overall trophy, which we have now won for the last four years! Of particular note, Alex Song (Junior 200m I.M) and Thomas Fowler (Senior 100m BK) achieved gold medals; Freddie Browne (Intermediate 200m I.M), William Browne (Junior 100m BR) and Zack Grover (Senior 200m I.M) gained silver medals; and Dylan Fuller (100m FLY) achieved a bronze medal.
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