The Guildfordian 2019 by RGS Guildford

Staff Editor: Mr Amis Editors-in-Chief: Matt Dodds, Alfie Cherry and Utkarsh Dandanayak Editors: Sam Baker, Henry Benett, Andrew Florescu, James Golding, Alex Mitchell, Nicholas Scott, Aradhya Soneja, Matthew Sutton, Thomas Wolfe Thanks also to: Winston Laing, Thomas Lindley, Tom Hardy, Anushan Sivanathan

To order copies of the group sports photographs, go to www.schoolphotographs.co.uk Click on Order Now and enter Photo ID: xWahPk59 Photo Key: GXSNPWyv

GUILDFORDIAN 2019

CONTENTS

HEADMASTERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FOREWORD ... . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2 LETTER FROM THE EDITORS... . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3 SALVETE... . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4 FEATURES ... . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 8 HUMANITIES... . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 20 STEM.. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .32 ACADEMIC PHYSICAL EDUCATION ... . .. . .. 42 ARTS .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .44 MODERN LANGUAGES AND CLASSICS ... ...62 MALLINSON LIBRARY ... . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 69 CELEBRATING ACHIEVEMENT .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . 71 STUDENT VENTURES.. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .80 PERIOD 8... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..83 HOUSES... . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 97 SPORTS .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 104 VALETE .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .138

HEADMASTER’S FOREWORD

2019 marks a significant milestone for The Guildfordian as it celebrates its centenary in its current form. According to the school archives, the school magazine started life as The Royal Guildfordian, the first edition of which was in 1891 under the Headmaster John Charles Honeybourne. After a turbulent period, the magazine was relaunched under Headmaster AJB Green in 1919 and was marked as Volume 1, Edition 1. As the editorial noted: “The Guildfordian with this issue will take on a new lease of life – a life which we hope will be long and prosperous. There was a Guildfordian in bygone days, but it died an untimely death.” Melodramatic? Perhaps!

Pleasingly for the editor, no such fatalistic outcomes have befallen this publication and it remains in rude health. Why has it enjoyed such an unbroken sequence of 100 years? AJB Green articulated his hopes: “I trust it will interest you who are now in the school as being a record of your own doings and, in some sense, a history of your own lives. And it will interest you still more in future years to take up a copy of this magazine and call back to mind the forgotten past, the things you did, the friends you knew, and the victories you won in those distant days.” As I read through this historic 2019 edition of The Guildfordian, I am, as always, struck not only by the sheer diversity of experiences but also by

the spirit of creativity, innovation and friendship which epitomises so much of school life at the RGS. I offer my sincere thanks for the energy and commitment of all those in our community who have contributed to such an exciting and varied year. I would also like to express my genuine gratitude to Mr Amis and to the three editors-in-chief, Alfie Cherry, Matt Dodds, and Utkarsh Dandanayak. Whether you are reading this now or dusting off this copy from your bookshelves and reminiscing about distant days, I hope the memories bring equal pleasure and sense of pride. And here’s to a long and prosperous next 100 years of The Guildfordian!

Headmaster

LETTER FROM

THE EDITORS This past academic year has been overshadowed with uncertainty across the global stage. With tensions rising between countries and new political blocs forming, to the UK’s strained negotiating over Brexit — the world is filled with unpredictability. Closer to home, recent calls for the addition of VAT to independent school fees (or indeed the cessation of independent schools altogether) have caused uncertainty amongst the school and its community. What does the future hold for RGS? As part of a future vision of needs-blind admissions, the RGS, under Dr Cox’s headmastership, has put a key focus on widening access to lower-income families in recent years. Bursaries have been extended thanks to numerous income channels, from our expansions overseas to generous Old Guildfordians helping a new generation of boys achieve their full potential. Our current controversial investment in Qatar, and our planned investment in Dubai, is allowing the school to offer bursaries in greater numbers. In a world full of uncertainty, the school is offering some stability and peace of mind to those who might otherwise not apply or could struggle with paying the full fees once enrolled. With the current Upper Sixth starting to send off UCAS applications to universities, many of us are filled with uncertainty — What degree should I do? What should I put in my personal statement? Do they really care about my Gold DofE sailing? Last year’s Upper Sixth have headed to destinations as diverse as Princeton, Tokyo, British Columbia, LSE, and the mainstays of Oxford and Cambridge. This high achievement has caused some competition amongst the current Upper Sixth, with nearly

two-thirds of boys applying to Oxbridge. While some await offers from universities with fierce competition, such as Oxford (Brookes) and Bath (Spa), the directions of their futures are still in the making. Whilst many students may be sick of hearing it, everyone at The RGS is lucky to have access to an education of such high quality, an education which effectively prepares them for future success. One of the biggest strengths of The RGS is the fact that it prepares students to not only be ready for uncertainty, but to thrive in uncharted territory. This can be seen in its most basic form with the internal end of year examinations; whilst giving up May half-term to revise is a devastating prospect at the time, especially when students from other schools have the luxury of freedom, it gives us valuable experience in preparing for and dealing with the unpredictability that comes from public examinations. Furthermore, it is imperative that the supportive nature of The RGS community continues to be celebrated, as without such strong camaraderie, tragedies such as the loss of Upper Sixth former Clay Cerveny last year would be impossible to cope with.

One aspect of the future that we can give a definitive answer to is the role of The Guildfordian in the future of the RGS. As in previous years, this publication continues to serve both as an archive and as a means of celebrating the RGS community. This year, however, has seen a redesign of The Guildfordian; we have focused on emphasising that The RGS is so much more than an exam result factory that simply churns out GCSE results and university offers. The RGS’s success comes from the community within it, and so for The Guildfordian to be successful, we must focus more on the work of our school body as whole. To reflect the increasingly participative nature of the boys in all aspects of the school environment, we have realised that The Guildfordian should be by the students, for the students. Whilst this shift away from the chance for teachers to wax lyrical about the success of their department has had a degree of controversy, we are certain that it is not only an appealing change, but also a necessary one. As we have demonstrated, there is growing doubt surrounding what our future may hold; from our Prime Minister displaying an alarming disregard for our political norms, to a fear surrounding the sustainability of our planet itself, there are so many possibilities for the years ahead of us. It is now more important than ever to ensure that we are prepared for whatever unpredictable events we are faced with. This issue of The Guildfordian has tried to give an insight in to the many ways in which The RGS allows students to thrive and flourish despite the complexities of everyday life in the modern world. We would like to give thanks to everyone who has written articles or provided pictures in order to help make this year’s Guildfordian what it is. We would also like to extend our thanks to Mr Amis and all The Guildfordian team for their time and effort in editing this year’s edition, and we hope that they have success with all the future editions to come.

Matt Dodds, Alfie Cherry and Utkarsh Dandanayak Editors-in-Chief

NEW STAFF INGRID BUSBY MATHS What university did you go to? Georg-Simon Ohm Fachhochschule, Nuremberg What luxury item would you take to a desert island? Family photo

Which book would you recommend to others? Who moved my cheese Fun fact? I love swimming and diving In one word, what do you live for? Family and friends

Favourite film? Finding Nemo

HENRY (MATTHEW) CORNWELL ECONOMICS What university did you go to? University of Exeter What luxury item would you take to a desert island? Electric Toothbrush Favourite film? Hot Fuzz Which book would you recommend to others? 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

DEWI EBURNE CHEMISTRY What university did you go to? Cambridge What luxury item would you take to a desert island? Yacht Favourite film? Johnny English

Fun fact? I once ate a meal of sea conch, jellyfish and turtle back entirely with chopsticks. In one word, what do you live for? God

Which book would you recommend to others? Bible

Fun fact? Jeff Bezos earns $3,182 a second. It takes a minimum wage worker min the US more than two months to earn what Bezos makes in 1 second. In one word, what do you live for? Integrity

GIULIA FANTI CLASSICS What university did you go to? I did my BA and MA at the University of Pavia in Italy, and my PhD at the University of Cambridge What luxury item would you take to a desert island? I would probably bring an authentic Italian moka pot!

Which book would you recommend to others? The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Fun fact? I’ve lived in 8 different cities and 4 different countries In one word, what do you live for? Travelling (and books!)

Favourite film? La Dolce Vita; Dead Poets Society

TIMOTHY FOSTER RELIGION & PHILOSOPHY What university did you go to? University of Oxford (St John’s College; I studied Philosophy and Theology)

Which book would you recommend to others? The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is an easy choice (but please don’t make me choose which one!)

What luxury item would you take to a desert island? A Staunton chess set

Fun fact? I am a casual anime fan. Anime I enjoy include: Yugioh, Fullmetal Alchemist, Dragonball Z and Avatar: the Last Airbender

Favourite film? The Dark Knight (2008) - for me, this movie has everything: great philosophical ideas, excellent character development, great soundtrack and of course, a memorable villain.

In one word, what do you live for? Tomorrow

DAGMAR GERICKE ENGLISH What university did you go to? Rhodes University, South Africa

Fun fact? About 700 grapes go into one bottle of wine

What luxury item would you take to a desert island? A helicopter

In one word, what do you live for? Family

Favourite film? Pulp Fiction Which book would you recommend to others? Only one? Margaret Atwood – Surfacing

CHARLIE GRIFFIN ENGLISH What university did you go to? Exeter, Oxford and UCL What luxury item would you take to a desert island? Flip Flops

Fun fact? I once cycled to Asia! In one word, what do you live for? Dogs

Favourite film? Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Which book would you recommend to others? Homage to Catalonia- George Orwell

DANIEL JACKSON MATHS What university did you go to? Bristol and King’s College London. What luxury item would you take to a desert island? A sound-system with a large selection of music Favourite film? Top Gun

Which book would you recommend to others? Wolf Hall / Bring Up the Bodies - a fascinating insight into the time of Henry VIII and the transfer of power. Fun fact? I’ve been on the front page of a national newspaper. In one word, what do you live for? Happiness

GRAHAM OLIVER CHEMISTRY What university did you go to? University of Aberdeen – BSc Geology & Petroleum Geology University of Aberdeen – MSc Hydrocarbon Exploration University of Strathclyde – PGDE Geography What luxury item would you take to a desert island? Jet Ski Favourite film? That Awkward Moment

Which book would you recommend to others? Fatty Batter: How cricket saved my life (then ruined it). Hilarious story of one man’s life lived through cricket. As a rotund cricketer, certainly a lot to relate to! Fun fact? Have dismissed England Test Captain, Joe Root, not once but twice… We can ignore the fact this significant event happened more than 10 years ago, at an Under 13 tournament in Yorkshire. In one word, what do you live for? Adventure

MICHAEL ROYDS PHYSICS & MATHS What university did you go to? University of Surrey and an obscure teaching college in New Zealand.

Which book would you recommend to others? The Travels of Marco Polo (numerous and dubious authors)

What luxury item would you take to a desert island? Assuming essentials like surfboard are a given, probably pen and paper to get creative.

Fun fact? I have a scar from a spider bite. (True.) Shooting webs remains disappointingly elusive.

Favourite film? I don’t really have a favourite but I do find myself returning to Kung Fu Panda surprisingly often.

In one word, what do you live for? God.

KATHLEEN TAYLOR MATHS What university did you go to? Bristol University (Maths) and Leeds University (Philosophy)

Which book would you recommend to others? We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

What luxury item would you take to a desert island? Kindle, of course

Fun fact? I got my grade 8 on the flute when I was 12 (the practise wasn’t particularly fun though!)

Favourite film? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

In one word, what do you live for? Adventure

ALISON WOOD ART What university did you go to? Manchester University

Which book would you recommend to others? Tess of the D›Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island? Snorkel, flippers, and underwater camera.

Fun fact? Art used to be an Olympic event! In one word, what do you live for? Creativity.

Favourite film? The Big Blue by Luc Besson, a stunning film about Free diving.

HENRY XUAN ECONOMICS What university did you go to? University of Oxford What luxury item would you take to a desert island? Foam Roller Favourite film? Shawshank Redemption Which book would you recommend to others? Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Fun fact? One of the major causes of drought in Australia is the introduction of Daylight Saving Time exposing the land to more sunlight. In one word, what do you live for? Insight

FEATURES OLD GUILDFORDIANS & PHILANTHROPY AT THE RGS

PHILANTHROPY AT THE RGS Philanthropy at The RGS is focused exclusively on widening access to our School and improving local social mobility through the expansion of The RGS Bursary Programme. To do this, we are growing the support of the parents and Old Guildfordians who recognise the value of an RGS education and are keen to Pass it On. The School’s long-term ambition is that every boy who earns his RGS place is able to take it up. We are one of only a handful of independent schools in the UK to have set such a goal. The first step is our Twenty for 2020 Campaign which aims to create 20 transformational new bursary places by 2020. In 2018/19, we were supported by over 450 members of community - up from 286 supporters in the previous year. Together they are funding 12 transformational bursaries.

69 boys benefitted from The RGS bursary programme last year. Over half of these bursaries were transformational, offering fee support of 80% or more. Following in the footsteps of the Class of ‘87 Bursary last year, OGs raised over £75,000 at a lunch on 1 March 2019, to create a 50% bursary for a boy starting in September 2019 and for the seven years of his RGS career. Similarly, parents from the Class of 2019 came together to create a bursary in the name of their sons. Giving just £7pcm for seven years, the collaborative effort of this year group had already created a 45% bursary at the time of going to print. These collective endeavours showed once again the power of many supporters each giving what they can, on a regular basis. You can read more about the School’s Pass it On activities at www rgs-pass-it-on co.uk.

Combined with support from the School, Jim Pearce OG‘91 and Chris Alder OG‘92 alongside Will Carling and John Inverdale at the Big City Lunch which raised a 50% bursary.

In the last three years donor numbers have increased 145%.

145% In 2018/19, 451 members of the RGS community funded 12 transformational bursaries.

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THE TOOLS, EDUCATION AND CONTACTS YOU CAN DERIVE FROM YOUR TIME AT THE RGS WILL BE VALUABLE IN AFFECTING CHANGE IN THE WORLD.

THE WIDER RGS COMMUNITY Our alumni relations programme works with a 5,000 strong network of Old Guildfordians, spanning more than four generations, in over 40 countries worldwide. RGS Connect (rgsconnect.com) connects the knowledge, skills and experience of the RGS community. Its key feature is a directory of trusted individuals willing to help with work experience and internship opportunities, careers and university advice, CV reviewing and interview technique - perfect for recently graduated RGS pupils. The online RGS community is growing fast with over 1650 users now online - over 80% willing to help. RGS Connect (rgsconnect.com) welcomes OGs and parents.

Golden Garden Party

OG HIGHLIGHTS This year has proved wonderfully busy. Alongside our annual ‘Class of ...’ reunions, we hosted a Golden Garden Party for OGs who left the school at least 50 years ago, and a reunion for recently retired staff, our first OG City Lunch in aid of the RGS Bursary Programme and our first official overseas OG event in Singapore. Here is just a snapshot of what some of our OGs have been up to individually this year: Alfie Johnson OG‘19 Signed one-year contract for the England Men’s Rugby Sevens. Joe Morwood OG‘09 Came sixth in the non-elite section of the London Marathon 2019.

Alfie Johnston

Barnaby Blackburn OG‘06 Wrote and directed his film WALE, which was nominated in the Short Film Category for this year’s BAFTAs and long-listed for an Oscar (live action short). Jonathan White OG‘01 New Director of Religious Music at Montreal’s downtown cathedral. Simon Blanchflower OG‘81 Appointed first Chief Executive of newly created East West Railway. Professor Peter Haynes OG‘76 has been made a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Professor Peter Haynes

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RGS CONNECT IS A GREAT WAY TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH THE SCHOOL AND TO GIVE SOMETHING BACK. (HENRY WHORWOOD OG‘10 HEAD OF RESEARCH & CONSULTANCY, BEAUHURST)

PARTNERSHIPS & OUTREACH

The number and scope of our Partnership and Outreach projects continued to grow sustainably and carefully as more staff offered to be involved in projects and events. Our core projects are as strong as ever but it was pleasing to see new growth in the 2018-19 academic year with successful launches of the RGS String Scheme Orchestra, the Kings P8 Maths Project and the Guildford Schools Mathematics lecture. In January, the ISC Census required calculation of the amount of time staff spend on outreach per annum. I am pleased to report that by my reckoning The RGS staff contributed over 3000 hours per year to our community through

partnership and outreach projects - this does not include any charitable work or individual volunteering undertaken by our staff and pupils. This is a huge commitment and a figure of which we can be rightly proud.

These brief reports do not do justice to each individual project but I hope give a flavour of the scope of our outreach activities which we undertake.

Mr TW Shimell, Assistant Head Partnerships

PRIMARY SCHOOL PROJECT Every Monday during the Michaelmas and Trinity terms, The RGS welcomes a class of primary school children from local schools for a Tudor Experience Day. This ties in with their curriculum syllabus and helps support the teaching they receive at their respective schools.

Over the year around 600 children attend from 8 local schools. The day starts with a talk by the Headmaster about the school in Tudor times and a visit to the Chained Library and then there are classes on Tudor music, portraits, an art session learning about anamorphosis, tudor weapons

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and finally culminates in the children putting together movies of their day. As ever, the project itself is thoroughly enjoyed by the children and for many visiting teachers is their trip of the year.

THE RGS STAFF CONTRIBUTED OVER 3000 HOUR PER YEAR TO OUR COMMUNITYTHROUGH PARTNERSHIP AND OUTREACH PROJECTS

PRIMARY MASTERCLASSES The Masterclass programme was held every Saturday morning over four consecutive weeks during November and December. The subjects offered were within streams of either Mathematics, Science, Technology, Creative Arts or Modern Languages. A total of 120 Year six pupils attended from 27 various primary schools in the area. It proved again to be a great success and generated some very positive feedback. 29

GENERAL STUDIES

TECHNOLOGY PRIMARY PROJECT

members of teaching staff took part, along with over 20 RGS boys volunteering their time on Saturday mornings. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thank you for giving my child this fantastic opportunity. Each teacher made the children very welcome and at ease whilst treating them with respect. The Sixth Formers did a sterling job too and also had a lovely rapport with the childrenâ&#x20AC;?

PERIOD 8 PROJECTS Each week during P8, Sixth Form accompanied by RGS staff either travel to Primary schools or, for the Kings Maths Project, remain at The RGS to deliver afterschool clubs. Mr Jessett led the Primary Maths Project at Holy Trinity, Pewley Down, Mr Lythgoe and Mr Dudley led the Sports Coaching Project at Sandfield and Miss Ward led the Kings Maths Project. The purpose of these projects is to inspire the participant students, to encourage scholarship and enrichment in an extracurricular setting and to provide leadership opportunities for the RGS boys who act as role models for the younger pupils as well as improving their own preparation, presentation and communication skills.

STRING SCHEME & WORLD MUSIC The String Scheme has grown and matured over the course of the year. We welcomed Boxgrove School into the fold for this academic year, growing the numbers of children who are taught each week by ninety. This would not have been possible without the indefatigable support of Julia Pearson, wife of one of our governors, Henry. Julia runs the Investec International Music Festival and, together with generous donations from Community Foundation for Surrey, she has raised money for a four-year project at Boxgrove including the cost of buying an additional ninety instruments. The scheme now operates at Lanesborough, Boxgrove, Sandfield and St Thomas of Canterbury Schools and reaches over two hundred and fifty children each week. One of the results of this expansion, and contact with the International Music Festival, was that String Scheme pupils met Nicola Bennedetti in May to hear her rehearse with the Philharmonia and then to chat with her about

such diverse subjects as practice, her violin and her life as a travelling musician. We formed a new orchestra based at the RGS of string scheme continuers (plus a few keen ones from Year 4 and below) in all of our schools, coming together once a week to rehearse on a Tuesday at 5.15 and gave our first concert in July. Seasoned String Scheme continuers also performed with the Southern Pro Musica in their Family Concert at G Live, where current RGS pupils also helped with the hands-on workshops before the concert. The String Scheme is an amazing opportunity for all who are lucky enough to fall within its remit and the RGS is profoundly grateful to its sponsors and donors for all of their support, faith and encouragement.

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THE STRING SCHEME IS AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL WHO ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO FALL WITHIN ITS REMIT

The RGS continued its World Music outreach programme with Samba, Steel Pan and African workshops. This year, we worked with the Guildford Education Partnership (GEP) and travelled to Losely Fields, Guildford Grove and Sandfield for whole school, day long workshops introducing the joys of percussion to the young. We are grateful to our commercial partners Inspire Works and also to Southern Pro Musica for their support in these endeavours.

TWS

GUILDFORD EDUCATIONAL PARTNERSHIP (GEP) The GEP is a Guildford-based multi-academy trust (MAT) including: George Abbot, Kings College, and Fullbrook Secondary Schools; Boxgrove, Sandfield, Loseley Fields and Guildford Grove Primary Schools. The RGS is an associate member of the GEP and our partnership seeks to cooperate for mutual benefit and provide strategic focus for outreach activities. Two examples of our involvement are the Enquiring Teachers Programme and the Kings College Partnership.

ENQUIRING TEACHERS PROGRAMME: Mr Wissen oversaw the ETP partnership between RGS, GEP schools and St John’s Leatherhead which supports staff in conducting educational action research projects during the course of an academic year. The research is supported and guided by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) and the projects are published in an annual journal. In 2018-19 three of the ten projects were at the RGS: Mr Wright and Mr Wissen investigating effective marking practices for A-Level Economics, Mrs Rathmell and Miss Spencer investigating opportunities for Service at the RGS and Ms Newton and Mr Bailey investigating the digital lives of our pupils. At the end of the Summer Term the RGS hosted the third ETP celebration dinner which was attended by teachers, headteachers and governors from six different Guildford schools. The GEP CEO commented that “the ETP programme is highly unusual in that it brings teachers together to exchange ideas and, in some cases work cooperatively, across primary and secondary,

maintained and independent schools.” Additionally, we welcomed educational researcher Lesley Saunders to the RGS. She is a distinguished educationalist who holds fellowships or visiting professorships at several institutions including Oxford, the Institute of Education and Newman University. She visited to assess the School for the NFER Research Mark, which will act as a form of accreditation to demonstrate our commitment to engaging with research – both conducted externally and in-house through the Enquiring Teachers Programme – and which will also provide us with valuable feedback as to how we can further improve our engagement. This should help to maximise staff and student benefit from a ‘research-active’ approach to education over the coming years. Lesley was effusive in her praise of the School and the partnership and result of her recommendations is that the RGS has been awarded the ‘established’ level of research engagement.

KING COLLEGE PARTNERSHIP Since our initial engagement in 2017 and Ofsted re-rating the School at ‘Good’ in 2018, we have been working to widen the scope of the RGS contribution at Kings College. Kings Headmaster, Mr McKenzie, commented: “We are delighted with the way the two schools have been working together in the interest of stretching students. As well as projects with students, staff from the two schools have been sharing curriculum and

pedagogical knowledge. Kings continues to go from strength to strength with the partnerships with RGS and the University supporting their development.” One example of our engagement is the Physics department contribution, coordinated by Mr Hood, sharing the delivery of teaching the GCSE Physics additional content with Kings

RGS STAFF:

students at the RGS on Thursday evenings. This was specifically aimed at their most able pupils to enable them to sit the separate science qualification. They travelled over by minibus each week with the Kings Head of Science. These classes were popular with the Kings pupils, provided CPD for the Kings staff and, crucially, were also effective at raising the attainment of each pupil by over half a grade.

OUT & ABOUT

EVENTS

Although not well-known, a number of RGS staff also teach in primary and secondary schools in Guildford on a regular basis. For thirteen years now, Mr Woolcott has taught Y5 boys and girls each week at Boxgrove Primary - they follow the ‘Minimus’ course and it is part of their languages provision. Mr Marchiafava also embarked on a new engagement at Sandfield School teaching French to both Y5 and Y6 classes as well as also supporting their teaching by generating material which their normal class teacher can use in between the sessions.

It always gives me great pleasure to see us hosting events which benefit the local community as well as our pupils and staff. Last year was no exception - we hosted: A Rugby Masterclass, Economics Speakers Day, the Modern Foreign Languages Conference, Guildford TED talk, Lectures for the Classics Society, Guildford Geographical Society & Scientific society, the Careers Fair, author visits, drama performances, the Guildford Schools Mathematics lecture a Surrey Arts Music Hub conference, String Scheme concert, a clay sculpture workshop … and more.

CLAY SCULPTURE WORKSHOP In the Easter holidays families came along to the RGS Sculpture Studio to make ‘Gurgling Gargoyles’ out of clay. We all had lots of fun, children and adults alike; some who participated surprised themselves with hidden talents which hadn’t surfaced since their school days! As you can see, some gruesome, wacky and grotesque gargoyles were made.

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IT WAS GREAT FUN! MY GARGOYLE LOOKED SUPER CREEPY.; I MIGHT EVEN PUT IT UP AT HALLOWEEN.

HARLEQUINS RUGBY MASTERCLASS With support from Chris Alder (OG’92), Harlequins’ Dave Ward and George Merrick trained U15 boys from the RGS and other local schools St Peter’s, George Abbot and The Howard of Effingham. The event was a rare opportunity for these youngsters to experience

the kind of training premier level players take part in every week. The boys were put through their paces, playing a variety of conditioned games and looking in detail at aspects including tactical technique and offloading. Mr Shimell, said of the day: “Seeing the boys training and

learning together in a cohesive unit regardless of their school affiliation was really heartening. We have all really enjoyed being part of this amazing opportunity and it exemplifies the type of local partnerships which can bring significant benefits to the young people of Guildford.”

INTERNATIONAL LINKS:

NEPAL

At the end of March, the RGS was privileged to host student visitors from our partner school in Besisahar, Nepal for the first time ever. Following our successful expedition to Nepal in October 2018, four of the students from Bhu Pu Sainik School who had worked alongside our students in that expedition came to the UK, accompanied by their Headteacher. They were hosted by families from RGS and Tormead School, whose sons and daughters had met the students in Nepal last year. A two-week itinerary allowed for a week of school-based activities and a week of activities further afield, which included watching Brighton FC; visits to central London and Legoland and a few days away in Dorset. Not only did all the Nepalese guests say what a wonderful time they had enjoyed in the UK, but all the families and RGS students who were involved in the exchange reported what a delightful and fascinating experience hosting our guests was. Their Headteacher has also been in touch to say what a fantastic impact the trip has had on student motivation back at Bhu Pu, and we are looking forward to repeating the visit again soon.

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I would like to thank all the boys, their families and staff who showed such kindness towards our visitors, whether it was hosting our guests; being involved in activities during the fortnight or so kindly donating towards the projects.

AJS

A DELIGHTFUL AND FASCINATING EXPERIENCE

INTERNATIONAL LINKS:

CAMBODIA In what is now an established trip; this Summer, 29 boys left for four weeks in Cambodia. Their month long itinerary sees them visiting all four corners of Cambodia and undertaking both a four-day jungle trek and a week teaching in United World Schools-built primary schools near the Laos border. As is now tradition, the boys keep a detailed blog of their expedition, which can be found online at: rgscambodia2019.home.blog The rest of this article is simply some of the best bits from that blog. AJS

PHNOM PENH

TIEM KRAM

We made our way to S-21, the former prison and now genocide museum. The audio-guided tour proved a powerful, moving experience and was a great insight into Cambodia’s tragic past. After the tour, we set back to our hostel with a slight detour to get some local phones for the group for emergency use, however slight turned into lengthy as the language barrier began to cause issues. We also ventured into the market to suit up in the lowest quality ‘Gnucci’ and ‘Kevin Klein’ gear we could find and then snack on some quality street food.

After our welcome the previous day, everyone was looking forward to our first full day in Tiem Kram. However, before we all got up, I was experiencing some problems of my own: the school had numerous holes in the roof and my hammock was unfortunately underneath. To cut a long story short I ended up sleeping further inside, on a wooden bench about a foot wide with just my fleece for comfort!

In the morning, there were fewer children due to the rain because, as one of the UWS staff explained, they need to work on the farms when it rains. Nevertheless, everyone enjoyed the lessons and generally found the children were enthusiastic about our presence and especially the songs we performed.

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SURPRISINGLY, DRAGON FRUIT IS ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD…

LEAVING THE SCHOOLS We then travelled by 4×4 over what should be really a rally stage to a hotel where UWS had laid on a buffet lunch. We were all excited by the idea of no rice for once, but it was in the end – although with chips and spring rolls too, so we were happy. We then spent the rest of the afternoon recovering in our hotel, relaxing and doing some much needed washing. It is fair to say we all reeked. We headed back out for dinner where we had lunch of noodles and rice. Again. And dessert of dragon fruit and watermelon. Surprisingly, dragon fruit is actually really good…though I, like majority of us, am still hoping for a steak.

COOKING LESSONS A short bus journey brought us to the amazing boat where the cookery course was to be held. Five dishes were cooked by groups of three, they were fish amok (the national dish of Cambodia), spaghetti and tomato sauce, sweet and sour pork, stir fried vegetables with cashew nuts and a banana flower and chicken salad. All the dishes were excellent and everybody seemed to really enjoy the course. Salvatore displayed some impressive cooking ability and ended up being named Star Chef. There were however some less impressive performances; Theo managed to smash an egg all over the table and floor, with his excuse being ‘the shell was too thin’. The cookery course was followed by lunch on the boat, where we ate the delicious dishes we had cooked whilst cruising along the river.

ENGLISH It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was another year of English at the RGS. As subject areas each reflect on their own year of teaching and learning, it is interesting to consider what we do in English in light of other academic approaches. A simple calculation suggests that if each RGS boy writes a modest 200 words in each English lesson, that’s roughly 4,000 words per class and, with consideration to library lessons, around 12,000 to 16,000 words each week. Across the year this is roughly half-a-million words that are written and read. A survey of last year’s public exams revealed that the average word count for an A*, in one component, was 706 words. That’s roughly 400,000 words written by the RGS boys every time they sit a full set of English Literature mocks or final exams. It’s lucky we love reading! We continue to support the boys to develop their own love of reading with the Reading Challenges and time spent in the well-stocked school library because: Even if we read books and talk about them for four years, and then do something else more obviously remunerative, it won’t be time wasted. We need the humanities not because they will produce shrewder entrepreneurs or kinder C.E.O.s but because … they help us enjoy life more and endure it better. The reason we need the humanities is because we’re human. That’s enough (Adam Gopnik, 2013).

Michaelmas saw the traditional House Reading competition take place with a range of poetry, prose and drama performed with a range of passionate gestures and dramatic pauses. This followed hot on the heels of an author visit from

Mo O’Hara, a published writer who ran some creative writing workshops with the first form boys where she encouraged them to develop superhero pets with outlandish, and very particular, superpowers to be exercised in dramatic scenario of their invention. The boys’ imagination was both amazing and disturbing at times! The creativity continued with National Poetry Day, where the English Department embraced the event’s theme of change by swapping classes for a day. Instead of their usual teacher, the boys found a fresh face at the front of the class encouraging them to read, write, share

and perform favourite poems. The corridor was alive with the voices of Rosssetti and Rich, Hardy and Housman, Armitage and Auden. Even David Bowie joined in with the ch, ch, changes. At assembly, Mr Whitaker set the tone for the day by reading ‘Front Door’ by Imtiaz Dharker, a poem that reminded the boys how we change and adapt ourselves all the time, particularly as we cross the threshold between home and school. At lunchtime, a workshop, open to all, focused on some familiar sayings about change: ‘Be the change’; ‘a change is as good as a rest’; ‘if nothing ever changed there’d be no butterflies’ – the result was some fresh work with the boys experiencing the exhilaration and pleasure there is in stitching words together. We also celebrated Jamie Hancock (OG’16) whose poem, High-Tide, was included in an anthology called Melting Ice which highlights the issue of climate change. Jamie read his poem at the National Maritime Museum at an event organised by the Young Poets Network. The anthology can be read by following this link: hiips://issuu. com/poetrysociety/docs/melting_ice_poetry_ anthology Also, during the Michaelmas term, six Sixth Form boys (Sam Cherry, Cameron Gardner, Peter Heylen, Alasdair Hopwood, James Macdonald and Alex Norris) took part in the LSE Schools Debating Competition. Following British Parliamentary Style, this intense 10-hour competition brought together a diverse range of schools to argue

A Wraith in the Snow The graves were lined in neat rows. White crosses bearing the marks of death. And silently stepping between them, A grieving wraith in the silky snow. For hours on end she walked, slow: Having no purpose and no goal. Except to mourn those who died. So many years ago. She represents the brothers: so many dead. The cries of the mothers, the sisters, the friends. Those who visit day by day. Families with holes. Wounds filled with longing, not sons instead. And from the sky, the crystal tears. The lives falling ceaselessly. Becoming thick upon the ground, A cover to hide the rips and tears. Among all this she walks though. Searching for a single name. Quietly praying as she walks along, A grieving wraith in the silky snow.

topical motions: America’s rightful role as a global superpower; the impact of gentrification on urban communities; whether media outlets should be compelled to give equal coverage to both sides of the political spectrum; and whether this House regretted the commercialisation of Feminism. The boys debated in a variety of roles throughout the day. After a hesitant start, Peter and James scored a stunning first place victory in the media coverage debate and were complemented for their eloquent conceptualisation of the motion. Meanwhile, Alex and Alasdair were consummate professionals, always finding a sideways route into the motion and structuring their arguments with both logical progression and incredible clarity of expression. Sam and Cameron gave a rousing performance as the closing opposition, arguing their support for the USA’s legitimacy as a superpower: they scored a respectable second place. The boys were remarkably eloquent and astutely aware of the need for good oracy to be grounded in evidential support throughout. They impressed with their ability to reflect on their approaches in order to improve during each subsequent round. The boys also entered the Oxford Schools Debating Competition: On the evening of 26th February, eight RGS boys attended the Oxford

Schools Debating Competition held at GHS. It was a tough field, with 80 teams competing in this regional heat for just eight coveted places in the national final. The RGS boys have been working hard to hone their debating techniques since our last competition: signposting their arguments; providing real-world examples to elucidate abstract concepts; and connecting with the emotional appeal of their position. The hard work paid off and they debated with real flair; notable was Peter Heylen and Hugh Jones’ impassioned argument about the necessity of separate arts awards for both genders. Sam Cherry and Cam Gardner also gave convincing speeches about the benefits of reinstating National Service. We didn’t make it through to the final on this occasion, but with such a young team of now seasoned debaters we look forward to building on this experience over the coming academic year to hopefully bring home some trophies! Not everything is competitive, of course, and during the Trinity term Ms Clarkson took a few hardy Sixth-form boys to a very damp performance of Twelfth Night at Guildford Castle: It seems inevitable and fitting that a play which starts with a shipwreck should be performed at the Open Air Theatre on what was one of the wettest Junes on record. However, this did not dampen the spirits of the Lower-Sixth English Literature students who went to see the play performed by the Guildford Shakespeare Company. Ms Clarkson and her charges were part of a very select audience who sat through the wind and rain enjoying the fun and frolics of the talented cast which included an OG, Alex Scott Fairley, playing the part of Sir Andrew Aguecheek. The company used the bandstand as the main stage which worked well. It was a thoroughly good production; the Castle Grounds certainly added to the magic of the performance. The English Department would certainly encourage boys and their families to take advantage of the many theatrical opportunities on our doorstep regardless of the weather!

HISTORY It has been an exciting and eventful year for the History Department, both inside and outside of the classroom. We have lost a member of staff, gained one, visited the resting places of OGs on the battlefields of the western front, enjoyed competition success, seen superb scholarship, conquered castle ruins, and met Stasi survivors. Most importantly, it has been a year where the boys have shown real maturity, sensitivity and insight in studying a wide range of challenging topics. The always popular Fourth and Fifth Form trip to Berlin in October saw Mr Bass, Mr Holliday, Mr Yardley and Mrs Creagh accompanying an elite band of historians and linguists through some incredible sites across the German capital. The Reichstag, Sachsenhausen concentration camp, the Olympic Stadium, Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall, and Checkpoint Charlie to name a few. Our tour guides were superb, the weather held up and all the boys were a real credit to the School.

Having been nominated as an ILA finalist for his research on medieval Venice, U6 historian Harry Dennis delivered a thoughtful and poignant Remembrance Day speech on behalf of the History Department. The school lost 58 OGs in the Great War and Harry reflected on both the local and international dimensions to all conflicts since. The beginning of 2019 saw the annual Fourth Form pilgrimage across the channel to Belgium. The impressive sites of Notre Dame de Lorette and Vimy Ridge Canadian Memorial highlighted the diverse contribution made in the Great War. At Thiepval Memorial, as well as Tyne Cot Cemetery, a wreath was laid in memory of fallen OGs. This, for many of us, is the most moving and important opportunity offered to pupils in their time at the school. The History Department has been commended in recent years for the calibre of its A Level coursework â&#x20AC;&#x201C; this year was no exception. Lawrence Piper produced a superb piece of research on the nature of total war between the French Revolution and the Great War, whilst Kit Edgecliffe-Johnson produced an impressive study on British rule in India up to 1947. For many pupils, this is a chance to produce undergraduate level work, and they did not disappoint. Work of a slightly less academic, but nonetheless equally enjoyable and challenging nature, was carried out by the First Form in their annual castle competition: some concentric castles made of chocolate,

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THE BOYS HAVE SHOWN REAL MATURITY, SENSITIVITY AND INSIGHT IN STUDYING A WIDE RANGE OF CHALLENGING TOPICS

and motte and bailey castles made of Lego and marshmallows.

become a permanent fixture in the school calendar.

At the end of April, the new Third Form trip to Paris saw Mr Holliday, Mr Shakeri and Mr Fishpool visit a range of fascinating sites including Place de la Concorde, Place de la Bastille, Notre Dame, La Concierge and Les Invalides. The trip proved incredibly popular among staff and pupils alike and will hopefully

One of the best attended History Society talks of the year came from L6 historian Alfie Cherry on â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Secret Societiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; as part of LGBT+ History Month. It was a well-researched and impressively delivered presentation which saw many Fifth and Sixth Formers in attendance. We look forward to further meetings and discussions in the future.

The First Form trip to Battle and Bodiam in May was blessed, again, with bright sunshine and eager pupils. We were greeted with TV cameras (had they heard Mr Owens was with us?) which turned out to be for an upcoming documentary on life in medieval castles. Once pupils had stopped trying to get into shot, they discovered every inch of the castle, enjoying the spectacular views across Sussex from the top, and identifying key flaws in the castle design. We were delighted to hear that two L6 historians had experienced success in the highly prestigious Vellacott History Essay competition, run by Peterhouse College, Cambridge. Alex Norris was selected as a winner for his essay (Were the Germanic invasions a cataclysm for the Western Roman Empire?) and Alfie Cherry (Was there a fascist international?) was one of a very small number commended for their work. Richly deserved recognition for them both, but the sheer number of L6 Historians

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THE UPPER SIXTH HAVE LEFT A STRONG LEGACY. A NUMBER OF THEM LEAVE THE RGS TO PURSUE HISTORY OF HISTORYRELATED SUBJECTS

who submitted impressive essays was incredibly pleasing to see. The year finished with our newly established June trip to Hampton Court. Each of our Second Form groups was able to explore the gardens, kitchens, cellars and the famous maze, with more than one or two also finding time to purchase an ice cream by the River Thames. In the warm weather everyone kept their cool, and thankfully no one lost their heads. One of the things that brings great joy in the last weeks of school is the great range of work going on. First Formers producing some quite stunning and elaborate historical (and hysterical) board games, the Second and Third Form producing historical work on topics ranging from the significance of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, to the influence of Helmuth von Moltke, to Joan of Arc, and the Lower Sixth putting the finishing touches to ILA titles ranging from the growth of civil rights, to the communist threat in post war America, to the development of militarism. The Upper Sixth have left a strong legacy. A number of them leave the RGS to pursue History or History-related subjects at Cambridge, LSE, KCL, Exeter, Nottingham, Birmingham and Liverpool â&#x20AC;&#x201C; testament both to their own hard work and the work of their teachers. We wish them all the very best of luck in their future academic endeavours.

JARB

TRIPS The past year has seen RGS Geographers working all around the world doing what we do best – fieldwork! First and Second Form have carried out local fieldwork while the Fourth Form went to contrasting areas of Guildford to examine housing inequality. Fifth Form donned their wellies (and in one case, fins) to study the River Tillingbourne. The Lower Sixth capped off a trip to the London Olympic park in Stratford and London Docklands with a curry in Brick Lane- which was an excellent opportunity to immerse themselves in multicultural London. The department also took the Upper Sixth Form to Barcelona, where Miles Horton Baker reports:

“We were thrown straight into the topic of water security and a short coach ride took us to the Llobregat Delta just along the coast from the city centre. We visited a number of bore wells, desalination plants and a nature reserve throughout the day as we learnt how the city generates a supply of fresh water.

The following day we studied urban regeneration strategies in El Raval, a neighbourhood near the centre of Barcelona. Each night consisted of a follow up of the day’s activities with a university style lecture and review session, and given the tour leaders were so knowledgeable in the topics, there was a mountain of information to be gleaned to help us in our exams. The next day comprised of rural regeneration in the Priorat region, famous for its worldwide distribution of fine wine under the Priorat seal. On the final day we travelled back into Barcelona to look at the impact of globalisation in the Sant Martí district. This area is a hotbed for the creative arts and as such innovative new buildings have sprung up to cater for this industry. Downtime and a game of volleyball on the beach ensued before we left for the airport.” The Lower Sixth trip to Dorset remains a highlight. Good food courtesy of the Heights Hotel on the Isle of Portland sustains the boys through four days of intensive, hard work where we conduct a series of pilot investigations in locations such as Studland, Ringsted Bay, Furzy Cliff and also study coastal geomorphology at Lulworth Cove. The kayaking trip from the cove

GEOGRAPHY

to Durdle Door remains a highlight of the week. In the last two years, the trip has now been re-structured to enable boys to focus on their NEA (coursework) and all the teachers were impressed by buzz each evening as boys worked hard on their fieldwork proposals. Our final trip, organised by Ed Pearson, was an optional trip for Third and Fourth Form Geographers to the Azores, where we explored the dramatic volcanic landscape with a trek around calderas, bathed in hot geothermal springs, learned how the island obtains much of its power from geothermal sources and learned about the lifecycle of a pineapple.

SEYMOUR SOCIETY A group of Upper Sixth Form Geographers led by Miles Horton Baker, Ciaran Taylor and Henry Doyle set up a Geography Society. The society has run on most Monday lunchtimes and is entirely led by pupils. Each week different students have presented on an area of the subject that interests them most with topics as diverse as the future of skiing, the impact of palm oil on rainforests and sustainable cities. This year the society is be led by Matthew Deatker.

GEOGRAPHICAL ASSOCIATION Elsewhere in Guildford, along with the Guildford County School, we hosted the annual Geographical Association lectures which included talks on the geopolitics of the Arctic; climate change and the UK’s energy mix; earthquakes, and cities in the twenty-first century.

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THE LOWER SIXTH TRIP TO DORSET REMAINS A HIGHLIGHT ... FOUR DAYS OF INTENSIVE, HARD WORK WHERE WE CONDUCT A SERIES OF PILOT INVESTIGATIONS IN LOCATIONS

RELIGION & PHILOSOPHY The year began with the exciting news that the first set of Pre-U students had far exceeded our hopes and expectations, with a set of results that both validated the risk that the Department had taken in rejecting the new A-Level syllabus for this very different and more intellectually stretching course, and rewarded the focus, commitment and hard work of this first cohort of students. Taken together with a set of GCSE results for the redesigned specification course that were the best the Department had seen for a number of years, this set an academic foundation for the year on which teachers and pupils anticipated being able to build with enthusiasm, fun and success. Our move to a new suite of rooms in the heart of the main building may have led to a moment of sadness as we bade farewell to the North Building’s air-conditioning system, but the new classrooms with their greater space and airiness, as well as the facility to have break-out spaces in the GCSE and 6th Form classrooms, was a real highlight. Boys have been able to enjoy lessons with a much greater range of activities and teaching styles, and the clubs, societies and activities run by members of the Department have benefited enormously as well. We are very much looking forward to being able showcase the new spaces and the opportunities that they bring with greater student focussed interactivity at this year’s Open Day. Junior Philosophy Society continued to flourish under the watchful eye of members of the Upper Sixth led by George Tench, with freeflowing discussion on a wide range of topics including Zeno’s Paradoxes and the idea of beauty in art. To complement the rumbustious

debate of Junior Philosophy Society, Mr Tayar introduced Puzzle Club to the R&P department this year, allowing junior boys to work in teams on three thousand and five thousand piece jigsaw puzzles of religious art and architecture whilst discussing the images and preparing the finished puzzles for display. The Senior Philosophy Society saw some academically impressive talks led by students at the start of the year before undergoing an exciting transition by the summer into two mutually supportive groups. One, The Forum, to undertake debate and argument, the other, The Discussion Group, to be more investigatory and discursive. Both groups welcome a number of students who do not study the subject in the Sixth Form, but who relish the opportunity to engage with philosophical ideas. The engagement of students beyond the classroom was evident in the real excellence that we saw in the ILAs that were submitted to the Department, in the impressive performances in external essay competitions, as well as in the award-worthy submissions to our first ever Junior, Middle and Senior essay competitions. Although the entries were small in number in this first year, the entries by Boldi PaladiKovacs, Woo Kim, Mattie Sutton and Charlie Buckingham were all insightful and thoughtful discussions of right and wrong, beauty, and truth that were well deserving of their prizes.

ECONOMICS WHAT DO YOU GET IF YOU PUT 10 ECONOMISTS IN A ROOM? 11 OPINONS Now this may be one of the oldest jokes about the ‘dismal science’, yet it typifies the appeal of the subject to many of our Sixth Form students investigating which A-levels to study. When asked ‘Why economics?’, answers typically include terms like “curious”, “interested” and “trying to make sense of things”, and as they progress with their studies they develop their own views in terms of how to tackle some of the problems we face. And how could we let this Guildfordian pass without some passing comment on the B-word… Brexit. This is a topic where we have seen most consensus amongst our profession (economists are substantially pro-Remain), and this year our students have been able to establish their own views, guided by talks from George Osborne (former Chancellor of the Exchequer) and Georgina Wright (Institute of Government). Opinions drive Economics. Hopefully these opinions have been established through research, analysis and discussion. Our students have had the opportunity to listen to a range of interesting speakers on a number of relevant topics. John Martin, CEO of Ferguson plc provided his insights into the motivations and mechanics behind the growth of companies. Our students attended the Marshall Society Conference at Cambridge University and listened a number of other speakers including Professor Adrian Wooldridge (Editor of The Economist) and the author Dr John Kay, both of whom spoke

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on Capitalism. The highlight was the opportunity to attend the Keynes Society at Eton and listen to the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, reflect upon his time at the Bank, and how they navigate the stormy waters of the global financial system. Economics at the RGS is more than just listening to other people speak, and we have enjoyed many student-led activities during the year. Our own publication, The Ricardian, was produced by Utkarsh Dandanayak and Winston Laing and presented a fascinating mix of topics. Many of these articles were derived from the Independent Learning Assignments undertaken by our Lower Sixth during the Trinity Term, and these included from an analysis of the economic impact of Artificial Intelligence, studying psychopaths on Wall Street, and assessing whether Islamic Finance can teach us to prevent recessions in the future. Whilst we enjoyed reading a rich, diverse range of topics under the ILA programme, our students have been able to express themselves in other ways. Our Economics Society has continued to flourish, with lunchtime meetings held to discuss themes such as Universal Basic Income and Environmental Economics. We have also enjoyed some success in national competitions, with Utkarsh’s entry into the Financial Times’s blog competition on the ‘Future of Money’ (as one of two runners-up) being published by the FT.

DANDANAYAK: ONLY WITH THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY CAN WE MITIGATE THE ADVERSE EFFECT OF TECHNOLOGY 29

Mini factory: Making great cras, (hopefully) for many more years to come

With the world evolving at such a pace it can be hard to keep up, and we aim for our students to obtain as much first-hand experience as possible. Our Upper Sixth went to the Mini Factory in Oxford, which is of great practical insight. With recent announcements around the closure of car plants (Honda in Swindon, Ford in Bridgend) we are hopeful that this annual trip remains intact. This year sees our inaugural trip to Geneva – what can we learn from the Swiss in developing a trading relationship with the rest of Europe? None of these events are possible without the goodwill of the Economics Department, and I would like to thank them all. Mr Gough and Mr Presley for their ongoing care and commitment, and Mrs Brooks and Dr Wisson who leave us this year, and whose testimonials are contained within the Valete. We couldn’t do any of this without you.

DSJW

POLITICS To say that the past eighteen months have been politically unstable would be an understatement. Two seismic phenomena have defined nearly all that we can observe, Brexit and Trump, and these have undeniably shaped how we have taught the subject and added new aspects to established arguments and theories. Thus, as we have embedded a new course this year, we have had to reconsider the complex relationship between the Executive and the Legislature, as Theresa May fought (and failed three times) to gain the parliamentary support she needed for her Brexit solution; likewise, as we followed the Midterm elections in November 2018, we were reminded of the ‘checks and balances’ nature of the US political model, as the Democrats gained control of the House of Representatives to offer a structured challenge to Trump, beyond ‘fake news’. So that has been the landscape for teachers and students alike this past year – rich in extraordinary anecdotes, perfect for enhancing any A Level essay, but often with a worrying sense that politics is broken or going through a fundamental shift, either to the left (see Corbyn) or to the right (see Farage). What then has happened at the RGS politically, in this time? Has it been quite as volcanic as external events, or has ‘calm and sensible’ prevailed? Thankfully the latter has largely been the case, with two particular highlights. The first has been the superb Politics Society events, particularly in the customary June to November slot, as those tasked with leading the Society head towards Oxbridge applications and, dare I say it, enhanced personal statements! Thus, we had four external speakers in, to present to both RGS boys and the wider Guildford student body. Anne Milton, our local MP, and Jonathan Lord, MP for Woking, gave excellent Q&A sessions, reflecting on their roles and the impact of Brexit on current parliamentary life. Lord Sales (OG), recently appointed to serve on the Supreme Court, gave us a fascinating insight into the role

that the senior judiciary fulfils, as an increasing check on parliamentary power. Lastly, we had the pressure group, Unlock Democracy in, to show how external pressure can be applied to politicians and to highlight some of the genuine concerns about flawed aspects of our system. The second highlight was the inaugural Politics trip to Washington DC and Philadelphia, for five days in October half-term. Thirteen boys, plus Mr Owens, Mr Nathan and Mr Dodd had a fantastic time in the US capital, followed by twenty-four hours visiting the birthplace of American democracy, Philadelphia. Visits to Congress, the Pentagon, the major memorials, Arlington Cemetery, the Supreme Court and the White House dominated our DC time, while Independence Hall and the National Constitution Center were our primary focuses in Philly. All of the sites offered a fantastic opportunity for the boys to see politics come to life, and to be suitably awed by the grandeur and magnitude of these beacons of democracy. It would be silly to ignore several other ‘beacons’ of our trip - the wholesome cuisine (particularly in all-you-can-eat restaurants!) and an NBA game the undoubted standouts. Finally, several noteworthy academic successes have been achieved – a first prize in the Corpus Christi Bacon Politics essay competition for Kit Edgecliffe-Johnson; meanwhile, four boys have received offers from Oxford (for PPE) and Cambridge (for HSPS). The academic year ended with ten Tory MPs fighting it out to become the next Prime Minister, and Trump expressing more outrage at any attempts to constrain him. It looks like next year will be a belter too.

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THE LANDSCAPE FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS ALIKE – RICH IN EXTRAORDINARY ANECDOTES, PERFECT FOR ENHANCING ANY A LEVEL ESSAY, BUT OFTEN WITH A WORRYING SENSE THAT POLITICS IS BROKEN OR GOING THROUGH A FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT, EITHER TO THE LEFT OR TO THE RIGHT.

MATHEMATICS The Mathematics Department at The RGS prides itself on their ability to stretch and challenge all pupils in the subject, enabling the boys to achieve their full potential through enjoyable and challenging problem solving. Sparking pupils’ interest in Mathematics through the inherent elegance of the subject is very important to the department: providing boys with the inclination to pursue the subject further outside, or indeed after, their time at The RGS. We provide the boys with the opportunity to showcase their knowledge and talents through a variety of competitions throughout the year, as well as aiming to share some of our time and expertise with local schools and communities. The boys’ passion and abilities continue to shine through each year, reflected through consistently impressive public examination results, and large numbers of boys choosing to pursue Further Mathematics A-level.

MATHEMATICS COMPETITIONS The RGS competed in a variety of both individual and team Mathematics competitions this year, doing themselves proud in each event. On an individual level, RGS boys achieved a total of 229 awards out of 250 entries (92%) in the UKMT Mathematics Challenges (a feat that is only achieved by 40% of entrants nationally). 112 boys achieved a gold award (45%), compared to the national average of 7%. Fifteen RGS boys even qualified for the extremely high-level Olympiad papers, a paper only sat by around the top 1000 pupils nationally within each age bracket. On a team level, the First to Fourth Form competed in the Guildford Schools’ Maths Quiz.

In a competitive field, the boys all gave a good account of themselves, with the Third Form team achieving third place and the Second Form team winning their competition. In the Sixth Form, RGS finished in fourth place in the Senior Team Maths Challenge, whilst RGS also remain reigning champions in the SATRO AS Maths Challenge.

OUTREACH AND THE COMMUNITY

The Mathematics department has thoroughly enjoyed giving back to the community through its Mathematics Projects this year. The Maths Primary Project sees twelve RGS boys plan and deliver around fifteen sessions at Holy Trinity Primary School each week for two terms. Each RGS pupil is assigned two mentees, with whom they work throughout the year with, aiming to develop their number skills and confidence within the subject. Holy Trinity have commented how much they value the project, remarking on the noticeable change in confidence in some of the pupils during lessons. It has also been a great opportunity for our boys to develop their communication and leadership skills. The Kings Maths Project sees eight RGS boys plan and deliver around twenty sessions throughout the year, to Year 9 and 10 pupils from Kings College School Guildford. They aim to support and develop the pupils’ problemsolving skills, in order to help them succeed in the subject. It is also a chance for the RGS boys to learn techniques to plan and resource lessons, identify and address common mathematical misconceptions and support students. The department also continues to provide mock Oxbridge interviews, as well as tests and marking, for pupils in local schools.

CO-CURRICULAR MATHEMATICS Maths Club for First to Fifth Form has been running throughout the year, providing an opportunity for boys to be stretched and challenged by some fun and tricky problems. A house Mathematics competition has also been introduced this year, whereby teams of boys from each house compete to solve problems against one another. The department continues to provide regular Oxbridge and STEP sessions for boys. In these sessions the boys have a chance to tackle questions beyond the difficulty of A-Level Mathematics and Further Mathematics. They

are intended to challenge the boys as much as possible and aid them in their applications for mathematical courses at top universities.

ONE YEAR IN NUMBERS n

Approximately 10,669 lessons

196 pupils taking A Level Maths

58 pupils taking Further Maths

112 UKMT gold awards

77 UKMT silver awards

40 UKMT bronze awards

15 Mathematics Olympiad Qualifiers

Approximately 1,013,712 equations solved

15 different public examinations taken

16 Mathematics Teachers

4 Oxbridge offers in Mathematics or Computer Science

MASTERCLASSES The Mathematics department delivered their annual series of four masterclasses during the Michaelmas Term. On four consecutive Saturday mornings, a member of the department runs a session for 36 primary school children with the help of a handful of Sixth Formers. This year the sessions were delivered on Animal Numbers, Codes, Fibonacci Numbers and Probability Games. The aim is for the children to experience a fun and interactive session, while still learning lots and being challenged mathematically. It was great to see the enthusiasm of the children for the subject, and impressive to see the level some were working at.

ADA LOVELACE LECTURE Following success in the individual and team UKMT Mathematics challenge, The RGS were invited to attend a lecture in London’s Science Museum. Eight further mathematicians attended, and the lecture

explored early computer programming and the remarkable work of Ada Lovelace in coding, with one boy commenting on the ‘inspiring Maths’ she carried out on the mathematical machine known as the Analytical Engine.

BEN SPARKS LECTURE The RGS had the pleasure of hosting around 150 students from eleven schools at the Guildford Schools Maths Lecture. The event saw Ben Sparks of the University of Bath speaking on the History of Numbers, taking the audience from the origin of counting to fractals via the death of Hippasus (the first but not only mathematical murder). Aradhya Soneja 4B wrote that the lecture was a ‘melody of Philosophy, Mathematics and History, uniting them into one engaging, humorous and thought-provoking talk’, with some boys even commenting that it has encouraged them to pursue the subject further in the future.

ROYAL HOLLOWAY TRIP Seven of our Lower Sixth Form Further Mathematicians enjoyed a day exploring

Mathematics at Royal Holloway University. Highlights included a talk from Professor Rüdiger Schack about Music in a 2000-year-old proof, which gave the boys a glimpse into the connection between music and mathematics; Matt Parker gave an entertaining talk entitled Hidden Maths in Technology; and Professor Jens Bolte gave an informative talk about Mathematics at university. Other inspiring mini lectures which the boys enjoyed included; The Shape of Space and The Mathematics of the Enigma Machine. One pupil, in particular, noted how interesting he had found the Big Numbers and Securing the Internet talk, commenting that it had ‘provided some meaning’ on the importance of prime numbers.

PHYSICS It has been another busy year in Physics, with success in several national and regional competitions. As well as the usual classroom experiments and academic learning, highlights included a record-breaking year for the Physics Olympiad and the NASA trip to Texas. At the end of the year, we bid farewell to our technician, Mrs Styles, who had had a huge impact on the department over the last five years. We wish her well as she embarks on teacher training next year.

FURTHER PHYSICS & OLMPIAD The “Further Physics” extension course continues to go from strength to strength; now in its second year a hardy group of fifteen Lower Sixth boys form a solid core of regulars. Upper Sixth graduates of the first year of the course managed to obtain our best results in the British Physics Olympiad, with five receiving the accolade of “Top Gold” (top 100 in the country). One boy, Freddie Floydd, made it to the third round for the British Astronomy & Astrophysics Olympiad to compete for a place on the UK team. We’ve also had an excellent take up in competitions offered further down the school, notably the Physics Challenge, taken by a mix of Fourth and Fifth Form: over 10% of all the Golds in the country went to RGS boys! Andrew Florescu was in the top five nationally, meaning that he was invited to a special ceremony at the Royal Society to receive his award – the first ever RGS boy to do so for this competition! He also achieved a silver award in the main Olympiad too, despite only being in Fifth Form.

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ANDREW FLORESCU WAS IN THE TOP FIVE NATIONALLY, MEANING THAT HE WAS INVITED TO A SPECIAL CEREMONY AT THE ROYAL SOCIETY TO RECEIVE HIS AWARD

Go4SET CHALLENGE Go4SET is a scheme run by the Engineering Development Trust for Third Form students interested in STEM careers. This year’s Go4SET team had a challenging brief: what is a robot and how can we use them to help in the school environment? The team of Joe Perry, Boldi Paladi-Kovacs, Parus Mehra, Michael Wu, Andrew Zhang and Tom Millar, after interviewing members of staff for ideas, came up with a design for a robot-controlled board cleaner that would use a BBC Micro:bit to control the cleaning mechanism. Over the ten weeks, they carried out research, designed and programmed the device, while overcoming problems along the way. With the prototype being almost ready for final test before the assessment day, a little too much power resulted in a puff of smoke! The team could explain the principle but unfortunately could not demonstrate a working device. The project gave the team the excellent opportunity of being assessed for a Silver CREST award.

NASA TRIP 2019 One of the most extraordinary school trips that the RGS offers saw Sixth Formers heading for the Texas town of Galveston. The cancellation of the outbound flight gave an added frisson to the start of the trip, but ultimately was just a minor irritation with the airline able to find us seats on other providers. Students attended a five-day engineering course at NASA’s facilities. Highlights included witnessing astronauts doing a practice spacewalk in the world’s second largest pool, the Neutral Buoyancy Lab. This contained full-sized replicas of all the segments of the International Space Station. In addition, the students designed, built and launched two-stage rockets; built and piloted mini Mars rovers; and had brunch with astronaut, Mark Polansky. The trip concluded with a trip to Houston to watch a basketball match, the Rockets against the Knicks on Friday night; a Saturday morning surf and an afternoon at the pleasure pier.

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ONE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY SCHOOL TRIPS THAT THE RGS OFFERS SAW SIXTH FORMERS HEADING FOR THE TEXAS TOWN OF GALVESTON

ELECTRONICS Electricity is integral to modern life â&#x20AC;&#x201C; power generation, transport, medicine, quantum information, computing, artificial intelligence, cryptography, robotics, the list is endless! Electrical engineers deal with the supply and flow of power; electronic engineers create the electronic devices we use every day.

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THE COURSE IS INTERESTING AND VERY HANDS-ON, AND ALMOST ALL THE STUDENTS GO ON TO STUDY ELECTRONICS OR COMPUTER SCIENCE AT UNIVERSITY

At the RGS, Electronics has been taught as an A Level subject for over 30 years. The course currently taught is a new one designed by Eduqas, which is part of WJEC, the Welsh exam board. The course is interesting and very handson, and almost all the students go on to study Electronics or Computer Science at university. Many also get involved in the Student Robotics competition, which is sponsored by Motorola and run by Southampton University. Sixth Form students have about six months to design, build and program an autonomous robot to take part in a game against up to forty other schools and

colleges. We have enjoyed significant success in this competition, winning in 2016 and coming second in 2017 and 2018. Robotics has also been introduced lower down the school. Three groups of First Form students were given the opportunity to program the Edison Robot as part of the Junior Science Society.

LMH

BIOLOGY It has been another busy and successful year in Biology. Apart from outstanding results in public exams (36% A* at A Level; 80% 9/8 Grade at GCSE), RGS boys have enjoyed exploring the wonderful world of Biology.

Highlights include the Second Form trip to Marwell Zoo, and the L6th field trip to Dale Fort in Wales. The Fourth Form all carried out individual research projects into cardiovascular disease, inspired by an assembly from heart surgeon Simon Redwood (father to Josh). In addition, Ed Ferguson won the school’s ILA competition for his essay on bioengineering, with Gabriel Johnson a finalist with his essay on sugar consumption, and several boys completed CREST projects in biological subjects. The Fourth Form performed exceptionally well in the Biology Challenge winning 13 Gold, 16 Silver and 23 Bronze awards. The Lower Sixth did equally well in their Biology Olympiad with 2 Gold, 5 Silver, 1 Bronze and the A Level biologists who took the Senior Olympiad competition won 7 Gold, 5 Silver and 12 Bronze awards. Biology staff and boys were inspired and entertained by Adam Rutherford’s talk at the RGS as part of the Guildford Book festival and our own

budding naturalist and campaigner, James Miller (now in Upper Sixth), who has been busy shaping policy with Chris Packham and video conferencing with baby sloths. We have many keen biologists moving through the school, who we are always happy to encourage and support – Boldi Paladi-Kovacs is currently running home experiments with our petri dishes and microscope and we look forward to hearing of his results. The Biology Department has continued to contribute to the wider community by donating Biology textbooks and microscopes to Malawi, and Josh Richards has been teaching A Level Biology at Fulbrook to assist with their staffing shortage. We are very proud of the boys going on to study Biology related courses at university – Gabriel Johnson, Josh Mulligan, Joe Ruddy, Oscar Atkinson, Harry McGrath and Nathan Seto to Medicine, Fergus Middleton and Aston Barringer to Dentistry, Henry Stuttaford to Veterinary Medicine, Roshan Patel, Janesh Mistry, Will Vaughan, Thomas Leyshon, Sanjith Aravinthan and Sam Muller to do Biology in some form or other. We wish them well.

CHEMISTRY This has been another fine year for Chemistry successes. 7,036 students from across the country took part in the UK Chemistry Olympiad and we have achieved four Gold, nine Silver and thirteen Bronze awards in an exceptionally difficult paper. Tom Moores, Henry Thake, Harry Grieve and Freddie Floydd were the gold medallists. We hosted a regional heat for the national ‘Top of the Bench’ competition and eleven schools took part. Our formidable RGS team, consisting of Jan Czarnek, Michael Wu, Aradhya Soneja and Salvatore Nigrelli, demonstrated impressive practical skill and chemical knowledge; they were rightly rewarded with victory in the heat and a second-place finish regionally. Charlie Dorkins spent a month working in Dr Eakins’ research group at Oxford University as part of his CREST Gold award project. This work was judged to be of extremely high standard by expert assessors and Charlie was invited to the final of the Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Competition. Remarkably, this is the eighth consecutive year that RGS boys have made the final of this prestigious event.

Top of the Bench

Tom Moores and Harry Grieve also carried out research CREST Gold projects in Chemistry. Tom worked in Sir Chris Dobson’s group at Cambridge University investigating an alpha-

Top of the Bench

Chemistry Olympiad 2019

Salvatore Nigrelli CREST Award

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HIS SUPERVISOR COMMENTED THAT HIS WORK WAS ON PAR WITH SOME OF THE FOURTH-YEAR UNDERGRADUATE REPORTS SHE HAS REVIEWED.

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IMPRESSIVE PRACTICAL SKILL AND CHEMICAL KNOWLEDGE

Fourth Year holding model of polythene

synuclein variant linked with Parkinsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disease; his supervisor commented that his work was on par with some of the fourth-year undergraduate reports she has reviewed. Harry was supervised by Prof Whittlesey at the University of Bath and studied the reactions and catalytic properties of novel nickel compounds. Professor Whittlesey commented that Harry will be an author to a scientific paper, which he will be publishing on nickel chemistry! Salvatore Nigrelli also carried out a very impressive research project on the synthesis and analysis of aspirin and paracetamol to obtain his CREST Silver Award; this was followed this up with a Gold Award carried out with BP. In 2019, we will be launching the new ORIS scheme, a collaboration between the RGS and the University of York. ORIS is designed to give even greater recognition and reward for the extraordinary scholarship demonstrated by the RGS boys.

The Cambridge Chemistry Challenge is the most demanding Chemistry exam designed for the Lower Sixth and more than 9,000 students took the test. Amazingly this year, it was our Fifth Form boys taking the limelight. Alex Thow achieved an incredible 77% and came ahead of all the Lower Sixth Formers! He was one of only four students below the Sixth Form in the UK to be awarded the coveted Roentgenium Award. Alex has been invited to a residential training camp at Cambridge University and will receive a trophy featuring an atomic orbital. Henry Benett and Salvatore Nigrelli received Gold and Silver awards respectively and their achievements were also unprecedented for Fifth Formers. The best performing Lower Sixth students were Luke Nelson, Ben de la Court-Wakeling and Jordan Martyn. In total, we won one Roentgenium, seven Gold, nine Silver and ten Copper awards.

Transition metal compounds

WSL

Using a NMR Spectrometer in Surrey University

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ONE OF ONLY FOUR STUDENTS BELOW THE SIXTH FORM IN THE UK TO BE AWARDED THE COVETED ROENTGENIUM AWARD.

C3L6 2019

CREST GOLD Would it be exciting to carry out scientific research that no one has done before? You can if you participate in CREST during the summer holiday of your Lower Sixth. CREST is an acronym for Creativity in Science and Technology and you will need to carry out two to four weeks of original research to qualify for the prestigious Gold award. This year, twelve Sixth Form students carried out research projects in a number of universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Warwick, Bath, Surrey and London. The breadth of research was very impressive and spanned the whole of Science. Topics studied include: activation of phosphines by Ni(NHC) complexes, evaluation of a novel urinary cancer biomarker for cancer surveillance, investigating power loss in the lines of a power plant in Brazil and High dimensional cytometry of T cells. A selection of the extremely positive feedbacks we have received from the research institutions are shown below:

“ He fitted in well with the researchers in my group. His efforts were of such a level that when it comes to publishing all of the work on our nickel chemistry, his contribution will be such that he will have his name as one of the authors!” Professor Whittlesey, Bath University

“ Despite the short time-frame of his internship, he proved to be a quick learner and demonstrated a great ability

to perform experimental work with precision and his care is reflected in the quality of the data he obtained.” Dr Kumita, Cambridge University

“ Wow - well done, this is a great report (honestly - on par with some of the fourth year undergraduate reports that I have reviewed!!), I’m really impressed!” Dr Kumita, Cambridge University

“ He has quickly learned to use different computational methods and tools to analyse these data and successfully completed a set of data analysis independently which was impressive. We were very impressed with his enthusiasm and willingness to learn and found him a very bright student. He was also very sociable and communicated well with other members of the team.” Dr Kordasti, Kings College, London

“ He performed very well, showed enthusiasm and motivation to

Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Finalist

understand what is quite a complex field, and very good technical skills at the bench. His report was written to a high standard with evidence of critical appraisal. He has been a credit to your school” Professor Pandha, Surrey University Charlie Dorkins spent a month working in Dr Eakins’ Group at Oxford University on his remarkable project “Measuring the dynamic strength of metals using the reverse Taylor impact test”. This work was judged to be of extremely high standard by expert assessors and Charlie was invited to the final of the Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Competition. Charlie’s work was showcased to more than 70,000 people in the Big Bang Fair from 13th to 15th March in the Birmingham NEC. Remarkably, this is the eighth consecutive year that RGS boys have made the final of this prestigious event. In 2019, we will be launching the new ORIS scheme is a collaboration between the RGS and the University of York. ORIS is designed to give even greater recognition and reward for the extraordinary scholarship demonstrated by the RGS boys.

WSL CREST and ORIS Awards

ACADEMIC PHYSICAL EDUCATION As the academic year draws to a close, the Academic Physical Education department reflects on its inaugural cohorts of GCSE and A-level students here at The RGS. Our GCSE cohort comprised of thirty-three boys. Nineteen Fifth Form boys have now completed all aspects of the course, with a further fourteen Fourth Form boys keenly following in their footsteps.

A-level student, Harvey Marchant (U6), begins his V02 max test

All students have thrived in the classroom, under the stewardship of the GCSE PE academic staff, and have benefitted greatly from the vast array of experience of the RGS teaching staff in supporting their practical activities. Thank you to Mr Dudley, Mr Mullon and Mr Black, who continue to contribute enormously through their programmes to support the boys being assessed in rugby, hockey and cricket. A special thank you, must also go to Miss Clements, Mr Armstrong, Mr Yetman and Mr Richards, for the time they have given coaching and assessing the boys in athletics, climbing, skiing and basketball respectively.

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THE FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT FOR ACADEMIC PHYSICAL EDUCATION AT THE RGS 42

A-level student, Ben Stott (L6), gives it his all on the leg dynamometer test

An addition to our GCSE course this year, has been the inclusion of a strength and conditioning session with Mr Walsh. This has undoubtedly enhanced the boys’ athletic capabilities, and thus assisted them in reaching their potential in their chosen practical activities. This is an opportunity afforded to GCSE Physical Education students in very few schools, and we are very grateful to Mr Walsh for his continued support of the course. Although small in number, our inaugural cohort of A-level Physical Education students have worked diligently this academic year. A highlight for staff and students alike was the visit to the Surrey Human Performance Institute at Surrey Sports Park. Our day at the institute included, seminars from the resident specialists from the University of Surrey, and numerous opportunities to undertake physiological tests in the laboratory. Students and staff took part in experiments measuring V02 Max, body fat, lung efficiency, leg strength, speed and reaction time to name but a few. As hoped, this visit tied in seamlessly with our module on ‘technology in sport’ and through experiences such as this, and the unwavering support of A-level academic staff, all A-level boys have thrived throughout the school year.

GCSE PE students, Chris Ratcliffe and George Sherwin (5), keep Mr Walsh on his toes during their strength and conditioning session

With an ever-increasing number of boys opting to take both GCSE and A-level Physical Education, the future looks bright for Academic Physical Education at The RGS. Finally, I would once again like to thank all staff involved in the course for their diligence and support, without which, our ongoing success as a subject area would not be possible.

JDNL

A-level students, Matthew Chan and Harvey Marchant, take part in a seminar on physiolgical observations

ART & DESIGN A LEVEL

Miles Horton-Baker Exam - A-Level

Tom Perceval Final - A-Level

David Hilditch Final - A-Level

Miles Horton-Baker - Portfolio Work 4

David Hilditch - A-Level Exam

Tom Chua Acrylic Development - A-Level

Tom Bates Development - A-Level

Tom Chua Acrylic Development - A-Level

Tom Chua Exam - A-Level

Miles Horton-Baker - Portfolio Work 3

Miles Horton-Baker Final - A-Level

Tom Chua Final - A-Level

Tom Chua Final 2 - A-Level

Miles Horton-Baker - Portfolio Work A-Level

Louis Boyton Exam - A-Level

GCSE

Christopher Wright 8614 - Modello Exam GCSE

Kasper Wiltshire 8655 - Still Life GCSE

Tom Jones 8550 - Exam Piece GCSE

Cameron Philp 8580 - Exam Piece GCSE

Michael Gatzoulis 8632 - Still Life GCSE

Will Drayton 8626 - Creative Piece GCSE

Ethan Game 8529 - Exam Piece GCSE

Alex Jenkinson 8548 - Creative Piece GCSE

Cameron Philp 8580 - Creative Development GCSE

2019 SMOOTHEY WINNERS WINNER William Holmes 2P

HIGHLY COMMENDED Benji Chapman 5N - graffiti Killian Hess 2P – face painting Jensen Andersen 2P – silver birch collage Charlie Locke 2P – Chinese dragon

COMMENDED Shrey Henry Fleming 2P psycholodelic computer work James Nicolas 2P acrylic painting landscape James Harvey 2P - acrylic painting landscape

William Holmes 2P

Talus Kent 2P collage sunflowers Jake Szeles? Light interative peg sculpture

Charlie Locke 2P – Chinese dragon

Jensen Andersen 2P – silver birch collage

Killian Hess 2P – face painting

Benji Chapman 5N - graffiti

MUSIC BIG BAND The Big Band started the year with a reunion concert for the fantastic tour we had to Catalonia in July 2018. Despite the fact that we lost a number of really terrific players from last

RGS Chorus & Orchestra year’s Upper 6th Form, the band has performed at all the Ensembles Concerts throughout the year and has been as good as ever with many of the younger players stepping up to the mark.

Gloria

Fauré Pavane Mozart Impresario Overture Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings

Wednesday 13th March - 7.30pm Holy Trinity Church, Guildford Admission by programme £5

VIVALDI GLORIA On Wednesday 13th March in Holy Trinity Church The RGS Orchestra and Choir were joined by a Parents’ Choir of made up of over 100 people to perform Gabriel Faurė’s much loved Pavane (in its original version with chorus) and Vivaldi’s Gloria. The massed forces produced a rich sound and the warm acoustics of Holy Trinity Church were perfect for the long romantic lines of the Fauré. In the Vivaldi, an excellent group of soloists, Matthew Sergeant (OG) countertenor, and Dannielle Green and Isabel Morgan sopranos, joined the huge forces. Although extremely popular, much of the chorus writing in this work is quite challenging, and the chorus overcame the difficulties of the enormous space between all the performers and the significant reverberation in the church, to produce a performance of real energy and crispness.

MARKET DAY CONCERTS The tradition of The RGS performing a lunchtime concert in Holy Trinity Church to coincide with the monthly Farmers’ Markets continues and throughout this year it has been a fantastic showcase for some of our ablest musicians. There have been many memorable performances from boys across the entire age range of the school and the concerts continue to be supported by a loyal, as well as hugely appreciative audience.

The orchestra took to the stage for Mozart’s exhilarating but little-known overture The Impresario. Also there was an excellent performance from the Concerto Consort who performed Elgar’s Serenade for Strings and the Senior Wind Quintet, coached by Dr Thackrey, who gave a beautiful performance of La Cheminée du Roi René by Darius Milhaud.

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THE MASSED FORCES PRODUCED A RICH SOUND AND THE WARM ACOUSTICS OF HOLY TRINITY CHURCH WERE PERFECT

THE CONCERTO CONCERT Now well established in The RGS musical calendar, the Concerto Concert yet again proved to be an evening of dazzling music making by some of our most talented boys. There were impressive performances from no less than nine boys with Tom Chua playing the Kabalevsky Violin Concerto; Thang Tu,

the Larsson Trombone Concertino and Angus Miller, a movement from the Weber Clarinet Concerto; Philip Bowler (voice), who won the Steynor Prize for Musician of the Year, gave a compelling performance of Sondheim’s Ballet of Sweeney Todd, and maintaining the American theme, Stan Lawrence (trumpet) gave a wonderfully entertaining performance of Bernstein’s Red, White and Blues orchestrated by Peter White. Henry White (violin) tackled the demanding Symphonie Espagnol by Lalo and Eddie Emmett (flute) gave a delightful performance of movements from John Rutter’s Suite Antique. The highlights of the evening were undoubtedly Ridley Hymas’s assured performance of the Saint Saens Cello Concerto and Sam Jones masterful reading of the virtuosic Piano Concerto by Ravel.

SCHOOL CHOIR The School Choir has to hit the ground running with just a few days to prepare for the annual Commemoration Service in Guildford Cathedral. The 2nd Formers did a magnificent job and it was also great to have a large number of staff

joining us for a rousing performance of the Howell’s Jubilate. Later in the term the two carol services also provided a great platform for the choir which was on top form particularly for the Cathedral service.

In March the choir was joined by the 100 strong RGS Parents’ Choir for a concert in Holy Trinity Church that included Vivaldi’s Gloria and Fauré’s beautiful Pavane in the not often performed vocal version.

CONCERTO CONCERT The Concerto Consort performed in several concerts throughout the year, most notably giving a performance of Tchaikovsky’s fabulously difficult and beautiful Serenade for Strings in Holy Trinity Church. Ably led by Thomas Chua, this particular group of boys featured an unusual number of 6th Form boys, meaning that there were no rehearsals or concerts in the summer term. Special mention must go to Tom Moores, who began his string playing career on the very first String Scheme at Lanesborough, and Ridley Hymas who similarly passed through the Lanesborough String Scheme. Ten years is a long time, but a mere blink of an eye when learning something as difficult as a string instrument and it is so rewarding to see boys grow from small beginnings to Tchaikovsky and beyond. Nicola Benedetti visits the Primary School

THE JOINT SCHOOLS’ CHAMBER CHOIR The academic year started early for the Joint Schools’ Chamber Choir with our first visit to Westminster Abbey to sing Evensong in August. This was followed by evensongs in Keble College, Oxford in November and a

return visit to St Paul’s Cathedral in March. The choir maintained its standard of excellence throughout the year and celebrated its outstanding achievements with a fantastic tour to Tuscany in July.

OPERA IN THE COURTYARD Basking under clear blue skies and melting in two of the hottest days of the year so far, two audiences were treated to wonderful performances of John Blow’s Venus and Adonis. Ridley Hymas performed the role of Adonis, and his mournful final lament was captured outstandingly. The School was delighted to welcome back Bethan Thomas, who took the role of Venus, and Matthew Sargent, who reprised his role of Cupid.

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR There are four music competitions each year, but the Steynor Prize for The RGS Musician of the Year is undoubtedly the most important and each year the contest provides one of the most memorable musical events of the school calendar. This year, out of a first round of sixteen pupils, six finalists competed for the award. There were quite remarkably assured performances from all the finalists: Philip Bowler (voice), Eddie Emmett (flute), Ridley Hymas (cello), Sam Jones (piano), Stan Lawrence (trumpet) and Roshan Patel (piano), but in the end the adjudicator chose Philip Bowler’s remarkably mature and warm bass voice recital as the winning performance.

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Elliot Latham (recipient of the Arkwright Engineering Scholarship), Fifth Form: Garden tools storage:

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How best to clean your dog’s legs? What about a brush with a hole that you put the whole leg through? Brilliant. concept courtesy: William Lawson: Fifth Form.

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“This project has been a success. I completed it on time and it completely fulfills the specification. It works very well in the garden environment. In many cases it succeeds the specification for example: it has to withstand winds of up to 20 mph and it could withstand much higher. It is completed to a very high standard and the individually components look fantastic. I am very happy with how it looks and the colour scheme. However there are some weaknesses to my project. Although it is stable enough to withstand high winds it may not survive force from a human if pushed with enough force.

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I was really n happy with the ldi o f : final look of my baby 6 l monitor, apart from some g an F defects around the edges of the n Tia 3D printed parts. The units worked smoothly and perfectly, and synchronized together. When the infant started to roll around, the monitor detected this noise and signalled to the other monitor (placed in the parents’ bedroom) which glowed orange. Et hip) s r ola

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“The design of my dressing table allows me to easily move it through narrow doorways and up stairs because it comes apart. It is designed for speedy assembly and my client put it together in ten minutes. I was inspired by modernist designs of the past. The final design evolved largely through making models.”

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This phone holder was inspired by a boat crashing over a wave. The project went well as it fullfiled every point in the specification and most of the newer phones are compatible. It is designed for phones to be propped up and protected when in use.

Design a product which helps cyclists carry heavy tools to fix their bike in a way that doesn’t uncomfortably obstruct the rider.

Charlie Goldring, 5th form: Automatic Cat Feeder.

Cat feeder with timed, motorised opening and closing covers to the food pots.

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My inspiration Se for my ukulele was the copyright symbol: ©, hence the laser etched © in the soundboard. To add some color and pop, I covered it in colorful stickers which also signified the brand: “Supreme”, which has been talked about as one of the most popular brands on the teen clothing market but also as its copyrights have failed it, allowing many replicas to be made legally and other brands to capitalize on the brand name. Throughout the design phase and the making process I learned many useful manufacturing and design techniques. The

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tools need to be easily accessible whilst not compromising the riding experience.

Bic sy ycle Bla ste t c m ool km . sto ore D ra , A ani ge Le el ve l:

Oscar Smith 2nd form: Boat Phone Holder

It needs to store a range of tools and spares for a wide range of problems a cyclist might encounter.

DRAMA

We have had a packed schedule of events in Drama this year; the splendidly slick and fun-filled Michaelmas production of Emil and the Detectives showcasing some very talented and keen young actors. In the same term, our GCSE and A Level Drama cohorts produced their practical devised pieces, which revealed tremendous creativity and imaginative responses to the tasks. Oddly enough, both pieces explored dysfunctional, totalitarian societies with great style, aplomb and humour. Onto the Lent Term where the joint Guildford High School and RGS Biennial Musical Rent was hosted at RGS. This was a brave and brilliant choice; marrying entertainment and stunning performances with heart-rending and thought-provoking issues. A real highlight of the year. This term also saw the A Level and GCSE boys produce their scripted scenes for examination. GCSE boys performed extracts from three plays: Equus by Peter Shaffer, A Bucket of Eels by Robert Holman and A Butcher of Distinction by Rob Hayes. A Level boys performed extracts from Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Both groups of students produced excellent work that could only be described as polished, confident and assured. The Modern Foreign Languages Department staged Don Quixote, at the start of the term; a splendid Spanish frolic adapted from Cervantes with an impressive Spanish speaking cast. In Trinity Term, an abridged and adapted version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Goes Wrong!) was performed in glorious sunshine on

the Headmaster’s Lawn as a fitting and fun end to our performance year. Alongside productions, there were exciting co-curricular opportunities for groups of boys. The Field Days included practical trauma stage make up with Kate Griffiths (ever popular for the unbelievably gory effects) and a workshop

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MARRYING ENTERTAINMENT AND STUNNING PERFORMANCES WITH HEART-RENDING AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING ISSUES

ten-minute script which they have to cast and rehearse before the day. The resultant performances are judged on quality of acting and directing and we were very pleased to have William Pinhey (OG) return as our guest judge.

by Kill the Beast Theatre company on creating theatrical comic horror. Students used one of the Field Days to create, rehearse, film and edit a short “documentary” on a pertinent issue that boys in the Lower School might find interesting. Two theatre trips to see The Trench and then The Curious Case of Benjamin Button both at the Southwark Playhouse were great examples of imaginative and unusual work. The Trench used physical theatre and was entirely written inverse whilst Benjamin Button was a Celtic musical! The final Field Day allowed the Lower Sixth boys to create their own “silent movie” in a day, mirroring the Second Form House drama competition. House Drama this year followed the winning formula of the Second Form using Field Day Five to work in House groups with six professional mime artists leading them to create a “silent movie” in a day. The resulting quirky performances were judged in the afternoon with prizes and House points being awarded. House drama for the rest of the year groups took place on the final Friday of term. The format for this involves Lower Sixth boys being allocated through a lottery a short

Boys who were interested and motivated to discover more about the craft of playwriting signed up at the start of the year to New Views; The National Theatre’s annual competition to coach and encourage new writing. We were very pleased that Olly Pinhey’s play Hypnic Jerks made it to the long list. Olly was subsequently invited to a Masterclass day to work with established playwrights at the National Theatre in September, as his writing was deemed to show much promise. As part of the GCSE and A Level provision the Drama department take pupils to a wide range of plays. This year we saw The Trench, The Jungle (Playhouse Theatre), Hadestown (National Theatre), A Very Very Very Dark Matter (The Bridge), The Unreturning (Chichester Theatre), Jesus Hopped the A Train (Young Vic), The Animals and Children Took to The Streets (Lyric Theatre), Bouncers (Guildford Fringe Festival), Stones in His Pockets (Yvonne Arnaud). We also had a specialist workshop leader (from the original West End cast) to work with the GCSE boys on their set text The 39 Steps. LAMDA results are again excellent this year with over fifty boys achieving the top grades in public speaking and acting exams. Junior Drama has been ever popular with a core group of younger boys who unfailingly turn up every week for creative and fun games and improvisation sessions.

NCM

EMIL & THE DETECTIVES Our Michaelmas production this year was Emil and the Detectives. The challenge in putting on this production was how to capture the bustling energy of a huge city and tell the story of a little country boy who chases a villain across the width of Berlin by train, foot, tram, bike and into the depths of sewers. Therefore, as a chorus of actors we used physical theatre to create a human body tram, umbrellas to create the train, suitcases for the taxis and hula hoops and torches for the sewers. The ensemble actors Thomas Postance, Hugh Crutwell, Malacky Doyle, William Hargreaves and Samuel Heatley were excellent in taking on the roles of the children drawn into Emil’s gang against Mr Snow whilst providing a backdrop to 1920s metropolitan Germany. Emil played fantastically throughout by Gabriel Meadowcroft opened the show by defacing the statue of Duke Augustus a crime that haunts his character throughout the play. Alex Vale played Inglebert Tischbein Emil’s father with a gentle softness that perfectly portrayed his worry for his son travelling to Berlin unaccompanied.

Ronan Lenane was incredibly funny in the comic role of Mrs Wirth describing vividly to Emil how “delinquents and hoodlums” will “slice the clothes right off your back” in Berlin. On the journey to Berlin, Emil meets two old ladies, Mrs Jackob played by Reuben Anthony and Mrs Keuchen played by Charlie BuchananRobinson, and a goat called Heinrick played by Kurt Brodersen. These comic performances brought a light hearted relief in contrast to the evil villain Mr Snow excellently portrayed by Alejandro Scholfield Perez who brought out Mr Snow’s fiendish and vile nature superbly. Along the way Emil collects Berlin children who enter his gang of detectives to thwart the dastardly Mr Snow. James Majumdar who played Toots, Joss Beedie playing Pony, Jack Fuller as the Professor, Parus Mehra as Tuesday, Zach Khan as Hilde, Charles Robertshaw as Arnie, Christian O’Connor as Silent Isaac, Jack Williams as Petzold and Hugo Maguire as Gerda. Fantastic performances all round as they each brought their quirky characters to life with exceptional acting.

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THE DESIGN CONCEPT TOOK INSPIRATION FROM GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM

The older members of the cast brought the adult world of Berlin to life brilliantly with Aaron Venter comically portraying Grandma, Oliver Robinson playing Mr Schlesinger & Mr Tuesday, Kurt Brodersen as Mrs Tuesday & Bank Guard, Gabriel Levesque as Officer Weiss & Mr Gans, Omid Hariri as The Man from the 177 Tram, Vinny Conquest as Mr Kloss and Benji Chapman as Mr Zettle. To aid the sense of awe and intrigue Emil has of this huge city the design concept took inspiration from German Expressionism an artistic movement that reached its peak in Berlin during the 1920s. Dr Whall, Mrs Besly-Quick and Dr McEwan worked tirelessly to dress the cast in authentic costumes capturing the rural

countryside of Neustadt and the bleakness and grayscale of a great bustling city. Mr Kelly and Mr John of the technology department spent hours creating the stylistic set making hotel doors that spin, expressionistic lampposts on wheels that could be moved into different positions to represent all the different streets of Berlin, and perspective bending flats that gave depth to the stage drawing the audiencesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; eyes into the world of the play. Finally, the performance could not have run as smoothly without the incredible input from the backstage and technical teams run by Peter Carvell, Sam Rooke, Seb Norris, Sacha Meadowcroft, James Turner, Benedict Cox, Ewan Franklin and Jim Reid. A last but not least mention to Ms McClean for being an excellent assistant director and backstage crowd controller and also to the work of staff who volunteered to help in various roles as ushers and front of house.

SJC

MODERN LANGUAGES This year has been one of exciting changes for The RGS Languages Department. Not only did we move upstairs to our new, shiny floor with a beautiful view over Guildford but also welcomed a number of new members of the department. It was a busy year for language students at The RGS, as they had available to them a full programme of cultural opportunities to allow them to explore many aspects of ‘language’ alongside the more formal, academic side of the subject. Below are just a few highlights of what has gone on: In the first half term of the school year, the Lower Sixth language students, alongside 20 students from Tormead took part in the annual Lower Sixth Modern Languages Conference. Our keynote speaker was Miss Rena Smith who works as Digital & Social Media Editor at Elite Model Look, a model contest run in 35 countries by Elite Model Management; Rina gave an enlightening overview of the benefits of being able to speak languages in the workplace. Following the talks, the students took part in some group discussions, analysing literature extracts in their chosen A-level language with a view to making the prospect of studying literature in the Upper Sixth less daunting. Also aimed at Sixth Form linguists, the Modern Foreign Language Debating Society has continued to flourish, headed up by Mrs Wilson. Debating is a skill central to confident and persuasive communication and to do it in the foreign language shows a real willingness for the students to step outside of their comfort zone to further their speaking and critical thinking skills. A number of Sixth Form linguists met at lunchtimes to pit their spoken spontaneity against one another, and also travelled to Reeds and Alleyn’s where they tested themselves against their counterparts at other local schools. In addition, The RGS hosted its own speed-dating event in January with students coming from Reeds, Tormead and St Catherine’s and which was

followed by a Spanish tapas meal at ‘De Nada’ in Guildford. Those that took part in MFL debating club remarked on how much more fluent they had become as a result of their involvement. In the first half of the Lent term, First Form students of French and Spanish and Third Form students of German once again had the chance to enjoy the fantastic foreign language plays put on by Onatti Productions which were, as ever, as amusing as they were good for the boys’ language. Also in the Lent term, there was a very packed week of languages activities to mark our ‘Languages Week’ which takes place in March. It kicked off with the First Form singing competition (1P won the French and 1E won the Spanish) as well as the Sixth Form photo description challenge (won by Germanist Eddie Emmett). On the same day the top five performers for each language in the IGCSE mocks took part in the ‘linguist of the year’ competition which involved some tricky translations as well as an interview of unpredictable questions from the language assistants (Theo Lakin won for French, Ollie Jones for Spanish and Ruben Berstecher for German). On the Wednesday, 15 girls from County joined 15 of our Third and Fourth Form boys for a merengue dance class led by Mr Baker and our Spanish assistant, Marta. The group were very enthusiastic and made great progress once they relaxed! In addition, Mr Lemaire ran

a fun ‘spot the language’ competition open to all students. On the Friday, Mr Marchiafava put together an outstanding Field Day 3 for the Second Form which offered a variety of experiences related to language and culture: the activities included sushi making, sign-language class, African drumming and a virtual reality tour of famous world sites. In the summer term, Mr Marchiafava was also responsible for masterminding the outstanding Modern Foreign Language production of Don Quijote. Preparation for this immersive ‘three hundred and sixty-degree’ production started almost a year ago and the huge amount of work that went in was really evident from the performances. The originality of the sets, meticulous stage direction, the original transitions aided by some hilarious ‘video 6th Form MFL debating

interludes’, and the quality of the actors’ spoken Spanish made this a really engrossing experience for the audience. Here is an extract from the official review:

“Based on the classic seventeenth-century novel by Miguel de Cervantes, the story of Don Quijote de la Mancha tells of a noble man who decides to bring the age of chivalry back to Spain. The novel has a very strong element of the ridiculous to it and this production embraced the fun-factor to the full… Alejandro Scholfield Perez was perfectly cast as the deluded, ageing eponymous hero with just the right amount of nuttiness; Parus Mehra as the subservient and fiercely loyal squire Sancho provided the perfect foil. Among a number of stand-out performances, narrator Gabriel Levesque knitted the story seamlessly together and Benjamin Chapman irresistibly portrayed the coquettish, skittish damsel in distress. The soundtrack by the phenomenally talented Tom Jones on guitar took the audience on a musical journey from the up-tempo and flamboyant to the moody and sultry sounds of Spain. Delicious eccentricity simmered close to the surface throughout and the sense of fun was very much in evidence: everything from hobby horses to a performing lion, from human windmill onesies to a mule driver singing the School Hymn, To be a pilgrim. The climax to the play provided a fitting finale of the absurd, and yet also the touching and the emotive, as Don Quijote is defeated and dies.”

As well as drama opportunities, we have continued to be able to offer a full range of extracurricular languages with plenty of new students signing up for lessons in Russian, Arabic, Chinese and Japanese. A number of students who have had classes for a while have gone on to gain qualifications in their chosen extra-curricular language. There has also been a regular Manga club led by Mrs McQuillan and she deserves special thanks for enabling some of her Japanese students to take part in a number of other Japanese events: the first one was an trip

Sword fighting at the Rikkyo Japanese school

to GLive to watch the Taiko drumming show called Passion by Yamato Drummers of Japan. She also took a small group of 6 students to the Rikkyo Japanese school in Rudgwick. The boys spent the day joining in with regular classes in the morning and then after lunch they had some displays of traditional Japanese martial arts and culture such as kendo sword fighting. Finally, a number of the boys entered a UK-wide speech competition for learners of Japanese. James Harper Jones’ speech was selected as to go through to the final held at the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies at the University of Oxford. This year, the French Department welcomed two maternity cover teachers, Mr Clarke and Madame McLoughlin as well as Anne-Marie, our first ever Quebecoise languages assistant and we are very grateful for their hard work. There have also been a number of important French-specific events: In October, the Upper

6th Form -French Trip to see The Jungle

Sixth boys studying A Level French went to see the acclaimed production of The Jungle at the Playhouse Theatre, London. This was an extraordinary production with the inside of the theatre transformed into the café tables of an Afghan restaurant in the heart of “Dzhangal”(a Pashto word meaning forest). Actors surrounded and wove through the audience in a totally immersive experience introducing the audience to the life stories of the migrants from Eritrea, Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Congo and Syria. Mrs Smith commented that “The cast were superb at capturing the desperation, hope, violence and humour of the situation and the piece exposed and detonated some of the myths that the media pedalled at the time about the camp.” The boys on the visit were genuinely moved and inspired by the play. As part of the A Level course they study contemporary French political issues including immigration, and watching the play ignited a genuine interest and desire to understand the issues in depth. One

6th form Spanish trip to Seville - The Alcazar

pupil commented after the trip: “…to understand the psychological problems that were caused by the trauma experienced by so many young people was extremely powerful”. In December, boys in the Lower Sixth studying French A Level went to the BFI for a French film study day. The boys, accompanied by Miss Spencer and Mr Clarke, enjoyed a stimulating day studying key social themes in contemporary dramas, partly influenced by the Nouvelle Vague. Conducted in French, the morning session’s clip-based presentation introduced the themes which deal with present social issues whilst acknowledging the past. Truffaut’s seminal Les 400 Coups (1959) and Varda’s less well-known Cleo de 5 à 7 (1962) were compared to contemporary films which present current social issues of class and ethnic divisions, such as Kassovitz’s La Haine (1995) and Cantet’s Entre les Murs (2008). Through exploring key scenes and applying textual analysis, the students extended their vocabulary while improving their understanding of film language. After an enjoyable lunch on the South Bank, the boys watched one of the films discussed in the morning and then joined in a Q&A session. The German Department has also seen some fresh faces this year: in September we were delighted to welcome Mr Yardley to the German Department from Dulwich College in Shanghai as well as our new German Language Assistant, Robin Meinert, who joined us for the year from Hamburg. We were also very grateful to Mr Hosier who returned straight after retiring to do two days a week as part of the Head of German’s maternity cover. Following on from our successful Third and Fourth Form visit to Koblenz at the end of last year, highlights of the year for the German Department include the Fourth and Fifth Form History and German trip to Berlin, the Lower Sixth Film Study Day at the BFI, the A Level Study Day at St George’s College Weybridge, and the German Department’s first forays into Speed Debating. In addition, thanks to funding from the Goethe Institute, Sixth Form Germanist Eddie Emmett attended a fully funded work experience

placement at industrial engineering company Fima in Schwäbisch-Hall. We hope that others will follow in his footsteps.

cultural context of the topics and texts they are studying, as well as a taste of the life of an MFL university student.

In October approximately thirty History and German students travelled to Berlin for an exciting whistle stop tour of the city’s key historical sites, including the Olympic Stadium, the Holocaust Memorial, the TV tower and the Hohenschönhausen prison where they were privileged to be given a tour by a former political prisoner of the GDR. There were plenty of opportunities to taste the Berlin cuisine (Döner Kebabs and Currywurst proving firm favourites), and for the Germanists to put their language skills into practice. The BFI Study Day at the end of the Michaelmas Term came at the perfect moment for the Lower Sixth who have been studying Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Oscar-winning Stasi spy film ‘Das Leben der Anderen’. The day offered a fascinating overview of the development of German cinema before sharpening the students’ expertise at scene, character and plot analysis in German.

It was a busy year for the Spanish Department in terms of trips. In the October half term, 31 Fourth and Fifth Form boys went to Madrid to take part in a variety of activities: three mornings of Spanish lessons, a morning at a local School, cultural visits every afternoon and daily speaking challenges to practise their Spanish. Fifth Formers James Bailey and Mylo Farnham delivered a presentation about The RGS to the Spanish school before everyone took part in the speaking activities, including a school tour and a ‘speed dating’-style language exchange with the Spanish students. The afternoon visits included a guided tour of the Royal Palace, a traditional chocolatería, rowing on the lake in El Retiro park, a taster Flamenco lesson and a trip to Toledo; with its multiple architecture styles this last visit was a real insight into the varied and rich cultural heritage of Spain. James Bailey’s comments at the end of the trip summed it up nicely: “Cuando el avión llegó en Inglaterra, todos nos sentimos muy cansados ¡pero habíamos disfrutado de un viaje fenomenal y no me cabe ninguna duda de que me encantaría volver a Madrid.”

We were very grateful to the staff of St George’s College Weybridge and King’s College London for organising their inaugural A Level German Study Day in January which perfectly complemented the A Level German syllabus. Through university-style lectures and seminars, the boys gained a deeper awareness of the

“

STAYING WITH LOCAL FAMILIES GAVE THE STUDENTS A CHANCE TO FULLY IMMERSE THEMSELVES IN SPANISH LIFE, BOTH LINGUISTICALLY AND CULTURALLY.

In the Easter holidays, 13 Sixth Form Spanish students travelled to Seville for a homestay trip. Staying with local families gave the students a chance to fully immerse themselves in Spanish life, both linguistically and culturally. The first day of the trip was spent at the “IES Hepatia” school where the Spanish students did presentations on the different festivals in Andalucía as well as teaching our boys to dance ‘Sevillanas’. The boys really clicked with some of the students and the group met up with them on several occasions later in the week. There were two mornings of language tuition and the

4th and 5th form trip to Madrid - this photo in Toledo

afternoons were spent exploring the many sites, sounds and flavours of the city; some highlights included included climbing La Giralda (the bell tower of La Catedral de Sevilla which was once a minaret), exploring the Alcazar palace, meeting up with their new Spanish friends at the Plaza de España, a guided tour of the iconic Maestranza bull ring, flamenco dancing, churros con chocolate and tapas tasting. On the final day, they took a trip to Cadiz, a small town on the Coast of Spain where they enjoyed some football on the beach before the flight home. The final Spanish-specific event of the year was the Fourth Form trip to La Casita restaurant in Guildford organised by Mrs Rathmell. Twentytwo boys enjoyed a delicious Spanish meal, trying a variety of tapas such as patatas bravas, chorizo, queso manchego, calamares and porras. Boys ordered their drinks and discussed the food in Spanish, practising useful IGCSE vocabulary. Fortunately, none of the vocabulary used to complain was needed!

6th form Spanish students on beach in Cádiz

CLASSICS The year begun with an outstanding performance of the Classics play, Sophocles’ Antigone, directed by Old Guildfordian Matthew Sargeant. Memorable performances included Jack Feakes playing the cold and authoritarian King Creon, Ollie Taylor’s impetuous and principled Antigone, and Paddy Merritt’s humorous rendition of the blind prophet Teiresias.

Creon and Teiresias in Antigone

The boys’ performance was faultless and included some impressive odes in the original Greek by the Chorus, but what I remember most about the play was the sheer joy and camaraderie among the boys that was so evident for all to see.

Bob Bass, the father of RGS’s Mr. Bass, addressing the Classics Society

The RGS hosted the Guildford Classical Association opening party in September in which Professor Edith Hall, from King’s College London, gave us a lesson on how best to survive the trials and tribulations of 21st Century living following the advice of the Greek philosopher Aristotle. In November, Professor Tim Whitmarsh, from Cambridge University, talked about how Homer’s poetry may have been performed in ancient times. Mr. Bob Bass, father of our own JARB and a Classics teacher in Suffolk, addressed the Classics Society on

The cast of the Classics play, Antigone

The 2nd Form enjoying the Field Day at the Roman Baths in Bath

the pronunciation of Latin and Greek. The talk was fascinating and taught us all, pupils and staff alike, about how Classics languages may have been spoken in ancient times. In the everpopular Junior Classics Society sessions, the boys enjoyed watching Classical videos, learning Italian for the Classics trip to Italy, playing Classical games and, of course, eating the refreshments provided. Trips are the perfect way to bring the study of Classics to life and the Classics Department went on several trips, both inside and outside of the UK. The First Form visited Fishbourne and Bignor on Field Day 5, learning about how King Cogidubnus enjoyed a lavish lifestyle in his Roman Palace at Fishbourne and how an ancient community lived a more modest agricultural way of life at Bignor. These trips tie in perfectly with the boys’ study of the Cambridge Latin Course and supplement their

studies in the classroom. The Second Form visited the Roman Baths of Aquae Sulis in Bath, and saw at first hand that the baths were far more than a way of keeping clean, but were the social, religious and cultural centre of the region. The highlight of the year, however, must be the Junior Classics trip to Italy. 87 pupils and 10 staff set out to the Rome and the Bay of Naples in the first week of the Easter holidays. The boys had a whistle-stop tour of Classical Rome taking in the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Forum, the Circus Maximus and the Baths of Caracalla. The boys also visited the best of renaissance Rome, visiting the Piazza Navona, the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. The hotel was conveniently situated near the Vatican City and on the first evening we visited

Mrs. Besly-Quick and the Second Form in the amphitheatre in Pompeii.

St. Peterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Basilica which was beautifully lit up. After two nights in Rome we made our way down to the Bay of Naples stopping at the Villa Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Este on the way. The villa is famed for its gardens and water features and the beautiful views over the rolling hills of Tivoli. In the Bay of Naples the world of Caecilius was brought alive with a trip to Pompeii where the boys saw the well-preserved theatre, amphitheatre, forum, baths and numerous villas. Other trips in the Bay of Naples included Herculaneum, where the ancient houses are preserved to an even greater extent than Pompeii, Mount Vesuvius, the Archaeological Museum in Naples, the third largest amphitheatre in Italy at Pozzuoli and the archaeological site of Cumae near the ancient entrance to the Underworld. On the final day we

On the way to the top of Mount Vesuvius

At the Colosseum

The Junior Classics general knowledge team in action On the street in Pompeii

visited the picturesque island of Capri, where we explored the Villa Iovis, the emperor Tiberiusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; villa and the boys had time to explore the shops and try out the Italian ice cream. The trip was a great success, helped by the amazing sites and the enthusiasm of the boys and staff. The Classics Department also took part in a number of regional Classical competitions. We competed in the Guildford Classical Association Classics reading competition held this year at St. Catherineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bramley. The boys worked hard in the weeks before the competition to prepare their passages of Latin and Greek and their efforts paid off as all the groups performed very well and I was pleased to see how much they enjoyed taking part. Particular mention goes to Alex Norris who won the Greek solo and came second in the Latin solo competition. Seb Norris

also competed in the Greek solo and came second, securing a double for the Norris family. The Fourth Form pairing of Aradhya Soneja and Leo Kamstra impressed the judges with their excellent pronunciation and overall performance as they secured second place. We also competed in and hosted the Certamen Classics general knowledge quiz. The boys had a great afternoon and enjoyed the cut and thrust of the quiz. Both our junior and senior teams made it to the finals and the junior team made up of Zac Warham, Matthew Turner, Marcus Woodhouse were victorious in the junior age group. My thanks go to both the staff and boys for their hard work and enthusiasm both in and out of the classroom for making this year such a success.

EKDB

The Classics General Knowledge Team Winners

The Classics Reading Competition competitors

MALLISON LIBRARY As usual, the Library has organised and promoted a number of events aimed at encouraging reading and writing throughout the school. This year’s Trinity Schools Book Awards ceremony clashed with Field Day and so only two boys attended; Aidan Crouch takes up the story: “The RGS’s competition entries included my creative response to Ink and a book review by Josh McGillivray. On 15 March, Josh and I accompanied Mrs Farthing to the Trinity School Book Awards ceremony at Caterham School. Four of the six short-listed authors were there to answer questions and sign copies of their books. Alice Broadway and Paul Dowswell were announced as joint winners of the award and prizes were also awarded to the pupils that had won in both categories. It was interesting to see the other schools’ entries, particularly in the creative response category as these included poems, paintings, sculptures and a book made of ‘skin’! I also enjoyed meeting Frances Hardinge and getting her to sign my copy of The Lie Tree.” For Valentine’s Day, the Second Form wrote a mixture of heartfelt and hilarious love letters between pairs of literary and other characters, while a number of boys of all ages bravely embarked on a Blind Date With A Book. A small but enthusiastic group of staff and senior boys enjoyed reading and discussing the varied shortlist for the Wellcome Book Prize, so we plan to repeat and perhaps expand that activity this year. Once again staff across the school entered into the spirit of World Book Day in

March and dressed up as characters from Adventure stories, while eager boys raced across the school to try to find all the participants in the English Department’s character hunt. Meanwhile we welcomed two very different authors into school: Simon James Green spoke to Fourth Form boys about his hilarious coming-of-age book Noah Can’t Even, and met members of RGS Pride and others in the Library at lunchtime. Karen McCombie entertained the First Form and visiting primary school children with an engaging talk about her work as a journalist on teen magazines, and about her move into novel-writing, most recently her historical story Little Bird Flies. In the creative writing competition linked to Karen’s visit, Lucas Jensen-Mongiello won the prize for the best story about a journey.

The extension of regular Library lessons and reading challenges to all of the First, Second and Third Forms has made this a busy year in the Library, but it has been wonderful to see so many more boys reading for pleasure. In order to achieve his Platinum Award in the First Form Reading Challenge, William Holmes summed up the values of reading for all of us:

STRESS REDUCTION

“MENTAL STIMULATION

KNOWLEDGE

Studies have shown that reading and being mentally stimulated can slow the progress of (or prevent) Alzheimer’s and dementia since keeping your brain active stops it losing its power.

No matter how much stress you have at work, school or countless other issues faced in daily life, it all just slips away when you lose yourself in a good book. A well-written book can transport you to other realms and distract you from tensions so you can relax.

Everything you read fills your head with new bits of information and you never know when it might come in handy. The more knowledge you have the better equipped you’ll be for any challenge you face.

MEMORY IMPROVEMENT When you read a book you have to remember lots of characters, their backgrounds, ambitions, history, etc. as well as sub-plots. That is quite a lot, however our brains still manage easily. Every memory you make forges new synapses (brain pathways) which strengthen the existing ones.

BETTER FOCUS AND CONCENTRATION On the internet our attention is drawn in a million different directions at once, like checking emails, chatting etc. When you read a book all of your attention is on the book.”

TFF

I got, the clearer I could see; tall mountains with different colours moulding together to the top, purple trees shedding leaves, massive turtle-like creatures with vegetation on their shells, acting as moving hills. I dodged jellyfish that changed colour with every pulse as I cascaded towards the ground. I curled into a ball to maximise the chance of survival from the impact with the ground; I had been so mesmerised by the wonders of this neverseen-before planet that I had almost ignored the frightful danger that I was about to encounter. I braced myself for what could very well be my end. My life flashed before me; every thought I’ve had since I was an infant rehearsed itself in my mind. I felt the rough ground beneath me and everything stopped. That was my last memory. I shot up from my lying position - only to realise what terrible mistake I had made. Sharp pain surged through my body and I slumped back again; every muscle, bone and ligament was roaring with unimaginable agony. Using my fingers, I slowly explored the terrain on which I now rested, feeling every bump and corner of the earthly moisture. The ground was rough at the feel but morbid and soft (probably why I was alive to see the present day).

Karen McCombie and Lucas Jensen-Mongiello

A JOURNEY TO ANOTHER WORLD

Being careful not to do any sudden movements, I slowly got up and begun to trudge through the marsh-like ground, a bit like walking through snow.

A 500 word story by Lucas Jensen-Mongiello 1E I gingerly walked towards it, my palms damp and sweaty. Every cautious step I took, the more intrigued I become. Step by step, coming closer and closer to this unnatural force beckoning me forth. Like a moth attracted to a flame, I fell in and the world as I knew it disappeared. Everything went black. I turned round and round whimpering in fear. I shouted at the top of my lungs in hope that someone was to acknowledge me and come to my needs of escaping this

horrid place, but in return, silence. I was alone. Suddenly, to my shock, a blinding light broke the darkness in the eerie chamber that I was in. I felt a pull towards the light - stronger than when I was still in my backyard, this time more like a sense of gravity. I was falling. Hurtling through the air like a meteorite, coming down on a planet with maximum velocity. A land - no, planet seemed to be getting bigger and bigger, nearer and nearer. The closer

It was now night but there were plenty of light sources, most of which were creatures; fluorescent snake-like organisms slithered past my feet. I flinched at first, however, it didn’t take me long to stand and admire its sheer beauty. Then there were the stars, miniscule specs of a wide variety of colours shimmering in the sky. I wasn’t able to identify any constellations or patterns amongst them so I couldn’t be on Earth, but something inside told me it was alright.

SENIOR PRIZE WINNERS PRIZE

NAME

PRIZE

NAME

Art

Scholfield Perez, Alejandro

History

Farrant, Jack

Biology

Sutton, Matthew (Mattie)

Mathematics

Watkins, Ben

Chemistry

Haque, Thaqib

Modern Languages

Moody, Christian

Classical Languages

Norris, Sebastian

Music

Jones, Thomas (Tom)

Design and Technology

Soneja, Aradhya

Physical Education

Wyllie, Luke

English

Chapman, Benjamin (Benji)

Physics

Florescu, Andrew

Geography

Patel, Dilan K

Religion and Philosophy

Gamble, Jack

History

Levesque, Gabriel

Art

Zhang, Jiechen (Jackie)

Mathematics

Osborough, Edward

Clubs and Societies

Gamble, Jack

Modern Languages

Jones, Alexander (Alex)

Drama

Meadowcroft, Sacha

Music

Pemberton, Joe

Major Sport

Turrell, Henry

Physical Education

Doyle, Jack

Minor Sport

Beaghan, Samuel (Sam)

Physics

Al Jenabi, Arthur

Music

Lawrence, Stanley (Stan)

Religion and Philosophy

van Eykenhof, Luke

Service / Community / Charity

Watkins, Ben

Clubs and Societies

Rooke, Samuel (Sam)

Austen

Atara, Omeet

Drama

Scholfield Perez, Alejandro

Beckingham

Lavery, Joshua (Josh)

Major Sport

Doyle, Barney

Hamonde

Moody, Christian

Minor Sport

Shaw, Matthew (Matt)

Nettles

Goel, Anish

Music

Dye, Sebastian (Seb)

Powell

Bryant, Joseph (Joe)

Service / Community / Charity

Rathmell, Richard (Oli)

Valpy

Varoujian, Casper

Austen

Perryman, Toby

Beckingham

Ali, Faaiq

Art

Coombs, Milo

Hamonde

Duggan, Lawrence

Biology

Miller, James

Nettles

Toulson, Dylan

Chemistry

de la Court-Wakeling, Benjamin

Powell

Naharki, Suyog

Classical Languages

Norris, Alexander

Valpy

Norris, Sebastian

Design and Technology

Fang, Yuntian (Tian)

Art

Philp, Cameron (Cam)

Drama

Taylor, Oliver (Ollie)

Biology

Berstecher, Ruben

Economics

Dandanayak, Utkarsh

Chemistry

Nigrelli, Salvatore

English

Jordan, William (Billy)

Classical Languages

Murphie, Alastair

Further Maths

Rajan, Conor

Design and Technology

Latham, Elliott

Geography

Lonie, Freddie

Drama

Field, Joseph (Joe)

History

Pyper, James

English

Jones, Hugh

Mathematics

Perkins, Oliver (Olly)

Geography

Thow, Alexander (Alex)

Modern Languages

Nelson, Luke

PRIZE

NAME

PRIZE

NAME

Music

Miller, Angus

Music

Jones, Samuel (Sam)

Physical Education

Sweetland, Oliver (Ollie)

Physical Education

Marchant, Harvey

Physics

Heylen, Peter

Physics

Floydd, Frederick (Freddie)

Politics

Cherry, Alfred (Alfie)

Politics

Edgecliffe-Johnson, Kit

Religion and Philosophy

Spence, Henry

Religion and Philosophy

Tench, George

Art

Herridge, Maximillian (Max)

OG Memorial Prise

Shahare, Aadi

Clubs and Societies

Foster, Harry

Drama

Janmohamed, Nathan

Drama

Merritt, Patrick

Major Sport

Eves, Thomas (Tom)

Major Sport

Perceval, William (Will)

Minor Sport

Doyle, Henry

Minor Sport

Harris, Matthew (Matt)

Music

Bowler, Philip

Music

Wright, Jonathan

Service / Community / Charity

Twine, Harrison (Harry)

Service / Community / Charity

Rumler, Felix

Austen

Gonella, Abhay

Austen

Blanford, Harry

Beckingham

McGrath, Harry

Beckingham

Kershaw, Charles (Charlie)

Hamonde

Rosevear, Dominic (Dom)

Hamonde

Brett, Arthur (Roy)

Nettles

Taylor, Ciaran

Nettles

Pyper, James

Powell

Ferguson, Edward

Powell

Martyn, Jordan

Valpy

Edgecliffe-Johnson, Kit

Valpy

Dodds, Matthew (Matt)

Outstanding Academic Achievement: Arts

McKenzie, James (Jamie)

Art

Chua, Thomas

Grewal, Sahej

Johnson, Gabriel

Outstanding Academic Achievement: Humanities

Biology Chemistry

Moores, Thomas (Tom)

Elia, Salvatore

Classical Languages

McKenzie, James (Jamie)

Outstanding Academic Achievement: Sciences

Design and Technology

Blackmore, Daniel

Endeavour

Bates, Thomas (Tom)

Economics

Mayne, Harry

Ambassador

Janmohamed, Nathan

English

Galpin, Kieran

Extra-curricular Contribution

Chua, Thomas

Electronics

Bober-Irizar, Mikel

Senior PrefectÂ Prize

Mayne, Harry

Further Maths

Grieve, Harry

Service to the School [Deputy School Captain]

Tench, George

Geography

Horton-Baker, Miles

Lovatt, Angus

Saxena, Advay

Service to the School [Deputy School Captain]

History Mathematics

Patel, Roshan

Atkinson, Oscar

Modern Languages

Emmett, Edward (Eddie)

Service to the School [School Captain]

JUNIOR PRIZE WINNERS FIRST FORM PRIZES:

Prizes for 2P

Prizes for 1C

Thomas Thevenon

First Prize

Andrew Brett

First Prize

Michael Wu

Second Prize

Christian Downey

Second Prize

Marcus Shields

Progress Prize

Stuart Brown

Progress Prize

Ferdinand Al-Qassab

First Prize

Prizes for 2R

Prizes for 1E John Kershaw

Joint First Prize

Callum Armstrong

Second Prize

Rohan McCauley

Joint First Prize

Nathan Cantor

Progress Prize

James Majumdar

Progress Prize

THIRD FORM PRIZES: Prizes for 3C

Prizes for 1L Thomas Postance

First Prize

Oliver Liversedge

First Prize

Charles Robertshaw

Second Prize

William Wieland

Second Prize

Thomas Stork

Progress Prize

Darcy Elliott

Progress Prize

Prizes for 3E

Prizes for 1P Samuel Fawcett

First Prize

Alex Mitchell

First Prize

James Dicker

Second Prize

Richard Rathmell

Second Prize

Oscar de Gentile-Williams

Progress Prize

Teja Vejendla

Progress Prize

Dominic Stagg

First Prize

Aradhya Soneja

Joint Second Prize

Matthew Shaw

Joint Second Prize

Toby Perryman

Progress Prize

Alexander Jones

First Prize

Ishan Nathan

Second Prize

Alejandro Scholfield Perez

Progress Prize

Lawrence Duggan

First Prize

Faaiq Ali

Second Prize

Sebastian Dye

Progress Prize

Matthew Sutton

First Prize

Dilan Patel

Second Prize

Thomas Sparshott

Progress Prize

Prizes for 3L

Prizes for 1R Hanseng Zhang

First Prize

Peter Jansen

Joint Second Prize

Adam Wang

Joint Second Prize

Gabriel Meadowcroft

Progress Prize

Prizes for 3P

SECOND FORM PRIZES: Prizes for 2C James Aberdour

First Prize

Alexander Atkinson

Second Prize

Reuben Anthony

Progress Prize

Prizes for 3S

Prizes for 2E Akos Paladi-Kovacs

First Prize

Zed Law

Second Prize

Julien Orthen

Progress Prize

Prizes for 3T

Prizes for 2L Joseph Colton

First Prize

Ben Cruttwell

Second Prize

Thomas Humphreys

Progress Prize

ART PRIZES:

GAMES PRIZES:

Gabriel Correia

First Form Prize

Stuart Brown

Peter Hosier Prize for First Form

Michael Wu

Second Form Prize

Oliver de Gentile-Williams

Second Form Prize

Alexander Braithwaite

Third Form Prize

Jack Doyle

Third Form Prize

DRAMA PRIZES: Alexander Vale

Second Form Prize

John Gray

Third Form Prize

PRIZES for OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO HOUSE ACTIVITIES:

CREATIVE WRITING PRIZE: Dominic Stagg

Max Windle