The Guildfordian 2022

LOOKING FORWARD

THE SCHOOL MAGAZINE SINCE 1891 I THE ROYAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Inclusivity

We remain loyal to our founding principles to educate bright local students, irrespective of background or financial circumstances, and we inherently believe in establishing a culture of diversity and acceptance, and in educating our students in a welcoming, tolerant community where each individual is valued and enjoys a deep sense of belonging.

Scholarship

We encourage the growth of intellectual curiosity, independence, creativity, innovation and habits of learning within a scholarly community through inspirational subject specialists who provoke and stretch the students’ minds and inculcate a lifelong love of learning.

Integrity

We promote the development of self-discipline and responsibility, spirituality and a personal moral code, and cultivate an ethos where enduring qualities of decency, honesty, courtesy, humility and good humour are celebrated.

Respect

We nurture an atmosphere of mutual respect between all members of our community, and foster self-respect and self-esteem in terms of physical health, emotional maturity and personal well-being, while establishing lasting friendships in a positive, happy environment.

Courage

We develop leadership, teamwork, resilience and life skills through a diverse range of activities where all students, regardless of their talents and attributes, are encouraged to challenge themselves, take appropriate risks and work hard to fulfil their potential.

Collaboration

We work closely with others for mutual enrichment, and encourage a spirit of generosity and service, a sense of perspective, and a firm belief that we can work in partnership with others, locally and internationally, to make a difference and have a positive impact on society.

Aschool magazine traditionally is reflective in its outlook, celebrating the many and varied successes, achievements and events of the preceding twelve months. Indeed, this archival aspect of The Guildfordian has provided us with an invaluable record of school life at the RGS throughout the generations. This edition, however, as well as embracing the past, unashamedly looks forward to the future.

The pages of this publication make inspiring reading: boys excelling in a range of curricular and co-curricular activities, individuals embracing a richness of opportunity, but, most importantly, doing so with enjoyment and good humour. If this edition, however, were to be placed within the context of the national and global context, it would be a far more challenging picture. The last twelve months has seen the tragic passing of Elizabeth II; financial and political uncertainty, with the cost of living continuing to dominate the headlines; the continuing repercussions of the pandemic; global uncertainty as tension and conflict affect nations; very real concerns about the environment and the climate: the front pages of the daily newspapers rarely make pleasant reading.

As a result, you might expect the younger generation to look on the future with a certain amount of fear and trepidation, and yet as the pages that follow highlight, this could not be further from the truth. Our students appreciate that they have a responsibility as the next generation of leaders to make a profound impact. Our Learning Habits and our School Values provide the range of transferable skills, the moral compass, the humility, the sense of social responsibility - and a commitment to

equity and equality, diversity and inclusion -to give them the confidence that they can facilitate meaningful change. Far from rhetoric, the students of all year groups voice these very sentiments:“The people who can really make a difference aren’t the people who you see yelling their heads off, the glory hunters, but quiet, hard-working normal people” ; “With the right people around me, and the right mindset I know I can achieve whatever I decide.” ; “What matters is achieving what you want to achieve and leaving a positive legacy for others to benefit from." If these are the comments coming from the mouths of our students, then this should give us all great hope in the future.

I offer my sincere thanks to all those who have contributed to such a fulfilling and enjoyable year at the RGS. I would also like to express my genuine gratitude to Mrs Webb who has produced such an inspiring and varied edition of The Guildfordian; I very much hope you enjoy reading it.

Dr JM Cox Headmaster

With thanks to Mr JW Pressley and Miss JE Marchington Journalists from The 1509 Club with special mention to Alex Vale L6-12 and Tom Postance 5P Title pictures by The Photography Society Design, artwork and editing by Mrs GM Webb Printing by Colourgraphic Arts

Cover Illustration by Afra Jamshaid 5P

SALVETE

MR M BAGGS Head of Lower School and Head of PSHME

Which university/educational institution did you attend? Oxford Brookes University.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

A Kindle.

Favourite film?

Good Will Hunting / Point Break (the original).

MRS A BATTERSBY Teacher of Biology

Which university/educational institution did you attend? Oxford.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island? Lip balm.

Favourite film? The Dark Crystal

MRS GS BOWNES Teacher of Economics

Which university/educational institution did you attend?

I read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

A coffee machine!

Favourite film?

Top Gun: Maverick (closely followed by Netflix's The Sea Beast for its young-child-entertaining properties).

Which book would you recommend to others?

In Black & White : The untold story of Joe Louis and Jesse Owens. Fun fact?

This is my second Salvete in The Guildfordian.

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

Which book would you recommend to others?

Skippy Dies , by Paul Murray. Fun fact?

I recently became Irish (and a member of the EU again!)

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

Which book would you recommend to others?

Freakonomics is a good place to start for a fun and accessible way of thinking about Economics. Fun fact?

In my past life as a corporate lawyer, I once went from London to Delhi and back in a day for meetings.

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

MRS C BOTTARI Library Assistant

Which university/educational institution did you attend?

University of Turin, Italy. What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

A solar panel powered heated blanket, so I could stay warm in the cold nights on the island. Favourite film? You’ve Got Mail

MRS N CRIVELLARI Head of MFL

Which university/educational institution did you attend?

I did my degree at Bristol University, Masters in Linguistics (MFLE) at Paris

Vll. Paris was the most fun of all! I recommend going there as a student any day. Bristol was a good laugh also. Amazing music scene back in the 90s and probably still now.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

If size doesn’t matter, my grand piano! If size does, then perhaps 'how to' guide to making things.

Favourite film? The Deer Hunter for sure. Emotional,

Which book would you recommend to others?

Any book by Elena Ferrante, simply amazing. Fun fact?

I hate rain more than anything else… and still I live in the UK.

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

intense, amazing soundtrack and has some of my favourite actors. Which book would you recommend to others?

Jung Chang: Wild Swans. Chang tells her family story through the centuries. Very informative about Chinese history from a personal perspective. Fun fact?

I’m not very fun to be honest, I suppose this is one: I once entered a university challenge to hitchhike to Paris from Bristol with a bunch of First Years and we ended up in Birmingham!!

In one word, what do you live for? Am I allowed to say the holidays?!

MISS

E CUTHBERTSON Teacher of Biology

Which university/educational institution did you attend? Oxford, Merton College.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

I would take a sketch pad and some pencils!

Favourite film? Anything Quentin Tarantino.

MR S GAYNOR

Assistant Director of Sport

Which university/educational institution did you attend? Bristol (UWE).

What luxury item would you take to a desert island? My Golf Clubs.

Favourite film? Ready Player One, 2018 Film directed by Steven Spielberg.

Which book would you recommend to others?

Stormlight Archive (fantastic fantasy trilogy for above 14’s). Fun fact?

I used to work at the RGS 2011-2016. I have taught for a year in Japan and 4 years in America, Washington State.

In one word, what do you live for? Adventure. Which book would you recommend to others?

The tattooist of Auschwitz, Heather Morris. Fun fact?

I am the proud owner of three National One winners’ medals, which also regrettably means I have been relegated from the RFU Championship on three occasions.

In one word, what do you live for? Manchester City Football Club.

MRS AN GOLDING Classics Teacher

Which university/educational institution did you attend?

Bristol.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

Chocolate. Favourite film? (Currently!) Top Gun: Maverick .

MISS EH HOLMES PA to Deputy Head - School Development

Which university/educational institution did you attend?

After leaving Stage School at the age of 16. I found an Agent and worked professionally whilst also working in a children’s theatrical agency.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

Lifetime supply of bottled water.

Favourite film?

Home Alone 2.

Which book would you recommend to others?

Gone Girl, The Couple Next Door. Any thriller book that I cannot put down, I love!

DR S KHAN Teacher of Chemistry

Which university/educational institution did you attend?

Imperial College London for my BSc and PhD and King’s College London for my MSc and PGCE.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

Embarrassingly, it's probably my firestick with all my streaming subscriptions.

Favourite film?

Princess Mononoke

MS F KHAN-EVANS

Teacher of Art

Which university/educational institution did you attend?

Camberwell College of Art (BA hons) and Wimbledon School of Art (Masters).

What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

Swimming goggles.

Favourite film?

National Velvet

Which book would you recommend to others?

Homer’s The Iliad. Fun fact?

I used to work in a pizza restaurant. In one word, what do you live for? Tea.

Fun fact?

Attended my first Soap Awards at the age of 15, held at the BBC studios. The gift bags from awards ceremonies are insane – that was the highlight.

In one word, what do you live for? Family, friends, holidays and generally working hard but finding the balance to enjoy all the nice things in life.

Which book would you recommend to others?

Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa.

Fun fact?

I taught in a British International School in Malaysia for three years and would recommend working abroad at some stage if you get the opportunity!

In one word, what do you live for? It’s a tough one between ‘Travel’ and ‘Food’, I’ll go for travel!

Which book would you recommend to others?

When Broken Glass Floats , by Chanrithy Him. Fun fact?

I love trail running. In one word, what do you live for? Seasons.

DR L KURIAN Teacher of Mathematics

Which university/educational institution did you attend?

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Indore.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island? A diamond sword which I am sure would be handy!

Favourite film? The Man Who Knew Infinity .

MS CQ LI Mandarin Teacher

Which university/educational institution did you attend?

SOAS University of London.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island? I may have a phone.

Favourite film? Forrest Gump.

DR SK MAISEY Teacher of Biology

Which university/educational institution did you attend?

Loughborough University to study Human Biology and St Georges, University of London to study Medicine.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

Whilst there are many sensible and useful luxury items one could take to a desert island, what would keep me happy would be an endless supply of chocolate (in some kind of solar powered fridge of course!)

Which book would you recommend to others?

Non-linear Parabolic and Elliptic Equations by CV Pao (!)

Fun fact? My first pet was a monkey!

In one word, what do you live for? Love, Peace and Happiness - sorry I couldn’t pick one!

Which book would you recommend to others?

Watching the English: the hidden rulers of English behaviour by Kate Fox. Fun fact? It has always been a dream of mine to travel the world in a caravan. In one word, what do you live for? Moment.

Favourite film?

The Sound of Music - I watch this whenever I feel unwell or sorry for myself! It's a classic.

Which book would you recommend to others?

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Fun fact? I love to play hockey and played at national league level whilst at university in Loughborough. Before and since my university days I have played for Teddington Hockey Club - the oldest hockey club in the world!

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

MISS J MCALLISTER Headmaster’s PA

Which university/educational institution did you attend?

The University of Nottingham and Kingston University.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

A sound system so I could listen to music.

Favourite film? Casino Royale.

Which book would you recommend to others?

The Cicero Trilogy by Robert Harris.

DR C MCGEADY Teacher of Chemistry

Which university/educational institution did you attend?

Imperial College London for both my undergraduate and postgraduate degree.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

A good book and sunscreen.

Favourite film?

I don’t really have a favourite film, but I do enjoy the Marvel movies.

MRS C MOON Teacher of English

Which university/educational institution did you attend? UCL.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

A hunting knife with unlimited streaming capability!

Favourite film?

I have an MA in Film Studies - so I could be really pretentious here - but I would have to plump for some ‘80s cheese. Anything along the lines of Top Gun, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Great Outdoors, Ghostbusters, Big, The Goonies

Three books of page-turning historical fiction on one of the most renowned Romans of all time, and life in Ancient Rome as it might have been experienced.

Fun fact?

My maternal great grandfather was an engine room artificer on the RMS Titanic. He did all the engine testing up and down Belfast Lough before she set sail. Luckily, he declined to go on the main voyage!

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

Which book would you recommend to others?

The Penguin Lessons by Tom Michell.

Fun fact?

I love to bake and decorate cakes, most recently producing a 3D solar system in fondant icing.

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

Which book would you recommend to others?

Fiction: Orlando by Virginia Woolf. Non-fiction: ‘Waterlog’ by Roger Deakin.

Fun fact?

I used to be a rowing coach.

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

MS FN PEI Mandarin Teacher

Which university/educational institution did you attend?

Westminster University.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island? A large solar panel.

Favourite film? It's a wonderful life (1946).

MRS RI QUINONEZ Learning Support Administrator

Which university/educational institution did you attend?

University of North London. What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

Music player of some kind, assuming there was some way to plug it in or a wind up radio if not.

Favourite film? Shawshank Redemption.

MR I ROSSITER Teacher of Biology

Which university/educational institution did you attend?

Strangely, both Oxford and Newcastle! I started off my uni days at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, where I studied Physiological Sciences. I did that for a year, but (long story short…) ended up deciding a course that had transpired to be medical research really wasn’t for me. So, I left Oxford and soon enough I was starting afresh studying Biology at Newcastle University (where I met my now wife! Funny looking back on that 15 years on…)

What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

A bodyboard!

Favourite film?

Depends what mood I’m in… Feel-good option it’d have to be Return of the Titans (killer soundtrack). I also loved Minority Report as a teenager, so I’ll chuck that in there, and you’ll do well to beat Up. Just saying.

Which book would you recommend to others?

The Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin.

Fun fact?

I once juggled two tennis balls with one hand for over a hundred times. In one word, what do you live for? Love.

Which book would you recommend to others? Happy Sexy Millionaire by Steven Bartlett. Fun fact? I’d like to be a strictly dancer. In one word, what do you live for? Not one word, but to have a ‘purpose driven life’.

Which book would you recommend to others?

When Penguins Stopped Play (Harry Thompson). Laugh out loud funny. I’d challenge anyone to not have their mind blown by Bill Bryson’s The Body… a great, accessible read. I also loved a book recently by Professor John Lennox called Can Science Explain Everything? (spoiler alert… he argues no!)

Fun fact?

I once had a chat with Roger Federer. At Wimbledon. In the loos. Pretty surreal. In one word, what do you live for? Ahh toughie! Faith? Hope? Love? I’m going to simply say the one who I believe embodies all that: Jesus.

MRS HE TARASEWICZ Teacher of Geography

Which university/educational institution did you attend?

Cambridge (St Catharine's College).

What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

Dark chocolate.

Favourite film?

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (although I'm prepared to debate whether The Return of the King might be even better!)

MRS A WOODMAN Temporary Teacher of Geography

Which university/educational institution did you attend?

University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

A lifetime supply of Lindt dark chocolate.

Favourite film?

Shawshank Redemption , a timeless classic!

DR J VARNEY Teacher of Mathematics

Which university/educational institution did you attend?

Undergraduate Warwick, PhD Surrey.

What luxury item would you take to a desert island?

An Infinity Pool.

Favourite film?

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1

Which book would you recommend to others?

It depends on who I am recommending it to, but Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari would certainly be near to the top of the list.

Fun fact?

I used to be a professional triathlete. In one word, what do you live for? Geography, of course!

Which book would you recommend to others?

The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. Fun fact?

I once had breakfast on the top of a glacier in New Zealand, having been dropped off there by helicopter.

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

Which book would you recommend to others?

Any Dirk Pitt adventure by Clive Cussler.

Fun fact?

I played Ultimate frisbee for GB. In one word, what do you live for? Jesus.

RESPECT

Shawn Ma 1P

“ ”

In my future, I would like the world to understand that they are the next generation of life and that the people who can really make a difference aren’t the people who you see yelling their heads off, the glory hunters, but quiet, hard-working normal people.

RESPECT

The 1962 edition of The Guildfordian magazine published a poll to show the opinions of students at the RGS. The students from 2022 give their take on this survey to reflect tastes of students today. A noticeable change is caused by the impact of technology which influences career choices and popular culture especially in the Lower School.

The Guildfordian magazine 1962

What career do you intend to follow?

Year 2 1. Engineer.

2. Robotics Engineer/Author.

3. Something related to cars.

4. Banker. Year 4 1. Vet. 2. Doctor/Surgeon.

3. I am not really sure at the moment, I hope it involves Classics.

4. Business owner.

L6 1. In the field of Artificial Intelligence.

2. Medicine or Dentistry. 3. Architecture. 4. History.

Where did your inspiration come from?

Year 2 1. My love of F1 cars.

2. My parents and School Technology Department.

3. Top Gear and other car magazines. 4. Being rich.

Year 4 1. I don't want an office job.

2. My mother is a doctor, I have an autobiography called Gifted Hand by a surgeon.

3. I am not sure as I love all different subjects.

4. I always wanted to own my own product.

Do you have a favourite Podcast?

Year 2 1. Ancient mythology 2. No. 3. Top Gear Podcast. 4. No. Year 4 1. That Peter Crouch Podcast. 2. No. 3. You're Dead To Me - is hilarious and historically acurate. 4. What's Good Podcast. L6 1. No 2. No 3. No 4. No

How often do you download music?

Year 2 1. Everyday. 2. Not much only a few times. 3. Everyday. 4. All the time. Year 4 1. I have Spotify.

2. Not very often, however sometimes I listen to favourites.

L6

1. An interest in new possibilities with technology.

2. From work experience and attending medical events detailing what the career entails.

3. Grand Designs and seeing architecture everyday.

4. Always been my passion, always loved ancient mythology and studying the past.

3. Rarely although I love it. 4. Never. L6 1. Regularly. 2. Hardly. 3. Daily. 4. Very often.

What is your favourite genre of music?

Year 2 1. EDM.

2. Pop. 3. Classic Rock. 4. All genres.

Year 4 1. Pop. 2. Pop/Hip-Hop. 3. Classical Music. 4. Drill.

L6 1. Indie Pop/Rock and EDM. 2. Hip-Hop. 3. Hip-Hop. 4. Indie/Pop.

What is your favourite track?

Year 2 1. Taylor Swift - Blank Space.

2. The Script - Hall of Fame. 3. Muse - Knights of Cydonia or AC/DC - Highway to Hell . 4. Any Radiohead track.

Year 4 1. Mr. Brightside - The Killers.

2. I don't particularly have a favourite track title.

3. Prokofiev - Montagues and Capulets . I am playing this on the cello and the music is fascinating.

4. You've Got a Friend In Me - Toy Story.

L6 1. I Won't - AJR. 2. I do not have a favourite track. 3. Doo-Wop (That Thing) - Ms Lauryn Hill or Shygirl. 4. Easy Life - Gorillaz.

What is your favourite book?

Year 2 1. At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie.

2. The Explorer by Katherine Rundell/ The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien .

3. Alex Rider by Anthony Horowitz.

4. The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell.

Year 4 1. Gone by Michael Grant.

2. Alex Rider by Anthony Horowitz.

3. Eagle of the Empire series by Simon Scarrow.

4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling.

L6 1. If You're Reading This, It's Too Late by Pseudonymous Bosch.

2. Bodyguard Ambush by Chris Bradford.

3. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossieni.

4. A Song of Fire and Ice (Game of Thrones) by George RR Martin.

What

is your favourite film?

Year 2 1. James Bond films as I like the atmosphere of Mexico and Rome.

2. All Harry Potter films

3. Le Mans 66 / The Italian Job because of the cars.

4. Dragon Ball Super: Broly.

Year 4 1. Top Gun: Maverick.

2. Shang-Chi , I enjoy the fast paced action.

3. Police Academy 2 . Whenever I am tired or stressed it puts me in a calm and humorous mood.

4. Kung Fu Panda because I've loved it from an early age.

L6 1. Tenet - every time you rewatch this you notice something that you previously missed.

2. Black Partner 1 - The most gripping film I had seen and overall very well directed.

3. Les Intouchables - perfect mix of humour, action and really interesting plot.

4. Pulp Fiction or Isle of Dogsincredibly memorable and important to me.

ACADEMIC

MATHEMATICS

Mathematics Challenges

The Junior Maths Challenge took place in April and 96% of the Second Form achieved an award: 59 Gold, 45 Silver and 24 Bronze Awards with six boys qualifying for the subsequent Olympiad round and 32 boys for the Kangaroo round.

The Intermediate Challenge took place in February with just over 100 students from Third to Fifth Form participating and 92% achieving an award. There were 45 Gold, 33 Silver and 15 Bronze Awards

with nine boys qualifying for the Olympiad round and 38 boys the Intermediate Kangaroo round where half the qualifiers achieved a Merit (the highest Kangaroo level).

In the Olympiads Yuvan Raja, Ronit Sachdeva and Joseph Ryan all achieved Distinctions, while Henry Fleming and Will Fish achieved Merits in their respective papers. Freddie Weir and Henry Franke particularly excelled, achieving Distinctions and medals for coming in the top few students nationally.

The Senior Maths Challenge had

79 entries this year: mostly Sixth Form but a pleasing number of Third to Fifth Formers had a go too: 91% of entries achieved an award. There were 24 Gold, 33, Silver and 15 Bronze Awards with 5 students qualifying for the British Mathematical Olympiad and 19 students qualifying for the Senior Kangaroo. Congratulations must go to Efe Görgüner, Finn Gosling, Ishan Nathan, Tom Postance, Thomas Thevenon and Michael Wu who all achieved a Merit, the highest award possible in the Kangaroo round.

“Henry Franke (5H) achieved a distinction with a medal: this puts him in the top 100 mathematicians in the country. ”

It was business as usual this year in RGS Mathematics, with the department able to get back to its busy best with challenges, competitions, clubs, outreach and trips. It was also another year of outstanding public examination results: all this in addition to the 392 weekly timetabled Maths lessons!

House Maths

The Olympiad is a demanding three and a half hour paper consisting of six problems: the four RGS boys who took it did themselves proud. James Aberdour (L6) qualified, Sam Astles (U6) achieved a Merit (top 50%), Yuvan Raja (3P) achieved a Distinction and special congratulations must be given to Henry Franke (5H) who achieved a Distinction with a medal: this puts him in the top 100 mathematicians in the country, a superb achievement given that he is in the Fifth Form in a competition aimed at Sixth Form and had 200,000 entries!

The Ritangle Mathematics Competition

Four students in the Lower Sixth, captained by Thomas Thevenon, took part in Ritangle, a national Maths competition which took place between October and December. They successfully navigated their way through 32 complex questions as well as the fiendishly complicated final task. Ultimately, they narrowly missed out on first place, but they did come runners up out of 714 schools!

Given that they are in the Lower Sixth, this is extremely impressive.

House Maths

House Mathematics returned once again, providing boys in all year groups and all six Houses the opportunity to compete against one another for mathematical glory. While Mathematics isn’t about speed, rivalry or showboating, it is nice to have some friendly competition every now and again! This year Beckingham won with a strong showing in all three age groups.

Royal Holloway University ‘Exploring Maths’ Trip

We were really pleased to see the return of the Exploring Maths event held at the Royal Holloway University and Mrs Busby and Mr Crew were able to accompany a group of Lower Sixth to attend in person. The highlights were the lectures such as The Mathematics of the Enigma Machine and The Music in a 2000-year-old proof. Areas covered included coding and how important information security is even today and an exploration of irrationality, proofs and their intersection with musical intervals.

Students were also able to choose to attend various small talks in break

out rooms, with sessions including Probability in Financial Markets, Mathematics at University, The shape of space and the age old question of How big is the universe

Michael Wu, Owen Marlovits, Alexander Atkinson, Thomas Thevenon and Efe Görgüner thoroughly enjoyed the visit and commented: “The day gave me a better opportunity to ask questions than the Internet would, and also gave a sample of what taking Maths at university in person would be like. We were also directed to useful resources (such as the Chalkdust magazine). I feel like it was a great use of my time because the talks were interesting and motivated me further to study Maths.”

Clubs

Coding clubs continued this year, as well as the launch of our revamped lunchtime Maths clubs. The Ramanujan, Noether and Turing clubs were well attended over the course of the year with students clearly enjoying the challenge. They helped prepare students for the Junior, Intermediate and Senior Olympiads with several students in these clubs achieving awards in these challenges as noted above.

Mr SG Black - Head of Mathematics House Maths

Following a two year hiatus it was good to be able to get back to live theatre again. We kicked off the academic year with an A Level English Literature trip to see Hamlet at the Young Vic in London. This gender-blind production provided students with an insightful, modern interpretation alongside their own readings of the play as studied in class.

In March we held RGS World Book Week to coincide with World Book Day. In order to get as many people involved as possible, the English department invited staff from other departments in the school to select and recommend one book for students to read. The Mathematics Department recommended Measuring the World by Daniel Kehlmann; the Science Department recommended Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham; the Classics Department recommended Medusa by Jesse Burton; the English

Department recommended the graphic novel The Magic Fish and the History Department suggested The Path to the Spider’s Nest by Italo Calvino. The reading list was shared to students and staff in January, giving everyone plenty of time to read their chosen book ahead of World Book Week. With such an eclectic collection of literature, there was bound to be something for everyone. During World Book Week each department held a ‘book group’ for which staff and students would gather to discuss the book. These discussions were insightful and informative, and a great opportunity for staff and students to share their thoughts and feelings about the book. It was great to see staff from different departments discuss books and promote reading: hopefully they have ignited the reading bug in some of the students too!

World Book Week

Poetry by Heart

With four new teachers joining the English Department this year, we had plenty of opportunity to introduce new and exciting co-curricular clubs and initiatives. Poetry by Heart saw every pupil in First and Second Form memorise and recite poetry, with the finalists and their parents invited to a soiree in Big School to perform their poems in front of the judges. It was fantastic to hear so many students deliver sometimes quite challenging poems with such confidence, which had the audience in raptures. Other opportunities for performance were afforded to students during the year, from House Reading to House Debating. The Debate Society, led by Mr Muchmore and a team of Sixth Form leaders, participated in debate competitions against other schools

as well as internal competitions. SPOPS, overseen by Dr McEwan, saw Sixth Form students deliver lectures on areas of interest as varied as Dr Who to Karl Marx. The English Society, headed by Mr Patel, invited students to participate in lectures on a range of literary topics such as a Postcolonial reading of Shakespeare’s plays and a showing of Macbeth in the Auditorium starring Denzel Washington. Finally, the English Department launched the school’s first student-read, student-led digital newspaper, The 1509. This initiative gives students the chance to write and publish articles on a range of topics that interest them, from current affairs to popular culture, sport and satire. The paper is edited by Sixth Form students but we have writers from all ages across the school.

Ms TT Wijesinghe - Head of English

Poetry by Heart

BIOLOGY

Periwinkles, limpets, crabs, and top shells: it was wonderful to run two academic field trips to Dale Fort Field Centre on the gorgeous Pembrokeshire coastline. With field trips curtailed due to the pandemic, it was brilliant to be back out in the field, rummaging away for life along the rocky shores again.

We launched the RGS dissection club this academic year, and despite a few logistical issues with the delivery of the specimens from abroad, students in the Third and Fourth Form have learnt about the anatomy of squid and pigeons. I would like to thank the four Sixth Form helpers for organising the club so well – Alex Atkinson (L6-8), Boldi Paladi-Kovacs (L6-5), Tom M Humphreys (L6-6), and Mustafa Yousaf (L6-1). In the academic year 2022-2023, we look forward to expanding our dissection club offering so that it runs more frequently, and we can learn about other extraordinarily interesting organisms.

Dale Fort Field Centre

Congratulations to Alex Atkinson (L6-8) on his successful application for the Young Darwin Award from the Field Studies Council. This is a prestigious award that will give Alex the opportunity to attend a five-day field course to learn more about British ecology and conservation techniques. He will also hear from interesting and distinguished speakers and lecturers from this field.

Our L6 students enjoyed success in the Biology Olympiad (a gruelling set of questions on the weird and wonderful aspects of the subject), obtaining 3 Gold (Ferdy Al-Qassab (L6-11), Efe Görgüner (L6-2), and Ben Vary (L6-5)), 3 Silver (Patrick Majumdar (L6-3), Max Nickless (L6-1), and Tom Millar (L6-1), and 2 Bronze (Nathan Cantor (L6-1) and Boldi Paladi-Kovacs (L6-5) awards. There were also students who achieved Commended and Highly Commended awards. Congratulations to them all!

The department said goodbye to two admired teaching colleagues, Mr Richards (JJR) and the legend,

Mr Dubois (AHD), both of whom will be missed in the department, and to both we would like to thank them for their unwavering hard work and support of both the boys and the department. We also said goodbye to our wonderful Biology Technician, Ms Way (HW). If boys think of their experience with experiments throughout their time at the RGS, it has been Ms Way responsible for putting them all together so that their experience of Biology is as great as it can be. We would also like to thank her for everything she has given to the department over the year - especially the chocolate biscuits!

As we look ahead to the new academic year, we have an ambitious program of co-curricular opportunities for students at the RGS, so do keep your eyes posted for events in the RGS Today. It has been fantastic to be back on-site for a full year, and we really look forward to bringing Biology to life for all our students.

S Burns - Head of Biology

Mr

“It has been fantastic to be back on-site for a full year, and we really look forward to bringing Biology to life for all our students. ”

RGS Dissection Club

CHEMISTRY

Distinctions in Chemistry Competitions

e were amongst the 750 schools taking part in the UK Chemistry Olympiad and obtained 7 Gold, 20 Silver and 14 Bronze Awards in an exceptionally difficult paper. Jan Czarnek took the exam a year early and still came top in the RGS. Michael Wu was the other Lower Sixth Former winning gold and Freddie Weir, taking the test two years early has gained an excellent silver. 20 students from the Fourth Form participated in the RSC Chemistry Challenge, and the top

Wteam consisting of Zac Warham, William Holmes, Thomas Dowson, William Bayne, and Alfred Hong progressed to the regional final. They enjoyed solving a series of practical challenges and were awarded prizes by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

We ran our own version of the Unsung Heroes of Science which was mirrored on the Oxford University competition. The Fourth Form team consisting of Michael Goncharuk, Alex Judge and Alex Mann were awarded prizes for their video on Eunice Foote. Foote theorized the effect of carbon dioxide on atmospheric temperature

rights.

Our greatest success was in the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge. This is the most demanding Chemistry exam designed for the Lower Sixth and over 8400 students took part nationally. Freddie Weir won the coveted Roentgenium Award which is a truly remarkable achievement. Indeed, he is one of only four students in the Fifth Form to win Roentgenium in the UK this year. (Alex Thow was the only RGS Fifth Former gaining Roentgenium previously and he went on to become the top Briton in the International Chemistry Olympiad!) Freddie has been invited to attend a residential chemistry camp in Cambridge in recognition of his success. Unfortunately, Jan missed out on Roentgenium by a single mark. Andrew Zhang also had the Distinction of making the top 100 in the UK. 14 students won Gold Awards which is easily a new RGS record. In addition, we have also obtained 10 Silver and 6 Copper Awards.

of Chemistry

Mr WS Lau - Head

“Our greatest success was in the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge. ”

RGS chemists have once again achieved outstanding successes in our first ‘normal’ academic year since the outbreak of Covid-19.

and was also a campaigner for women’s

Chemistry Olympiad gold medallists 2022

Freddie Weir Cambridge Chemistry Challenge

ORIS AWARD ORIGINAL RESEARCH IN SCIENCE

Would it be exciting to carry out scientific research that no one has done before? You can if you participate in ORIS during the summer holiday of your Lower Sixth.

ORIS, an RGS initiative, is an acronym for Original Research in Science. Students need to complete a minimum of two weeks of original research in any area of science at a university or in industry to qualify.

This year, 11 Sixth Form students have carried out ORIS projects which is remarkable as research institutions have not fully recovered from the effect of Covid-19. The work was carried out in a number of universities including Cambridge, Bath, London, Bristol, Nottingham, Surrey and Debrecen. The breadth of research was very impressive and spanned the whole of science. Topics studied include computer science, aeronautic and aerospace engineering, astronomy, metal-organic framework materials, molecular genetics and the impact of light environment on subjective alertness and well-being.

The students have demonstrated extraordinary scholarship and held their own against much more experienced researchers. A selection of the extremely positive feedbacks we have received from the research institutions are shown below:

“His work contains potentially publishable ideas and is on par with the kind of projects produced by the very best final-year students at university level. In my 30+ year career, Thomas is the most impressive 17-year-old I have ever met in terms of his knowledge and ability in theoretical computer science. If he is interested in a PhD position once he finishes university, I would be delighted if he would apply to work with me.”

“It is no exaggeration to say he is on a level that would compare favourably with many of my better Master’s students. Michael’s online survey is research-level calibre, and the methods and results from the experiment can (and will) be submitted to a journal.”

“The quality of the work was more similar to what I had imagined would be an undergraduate summer project than a high school project.”

“The impressive amount of work that Boldizsár did was quite valuable, since it will be used in the coming months to publish a research paper in a top journal like Nature, Science, or Evolution”

“… he performed at a significantly higher level than expected from a pre-university student and it is possible that his work will form part of a journal article in the future. I am confident that he will make an excellent chemistry undergraduate student and that he has a very bright future ahead of him.”

“After few weeks, the result was amazing. The resulting project is an excellent work surely at the level of top BSc third year projects. Simply put, Efe is an exceptional student with impressive potential to become a scientist. I believe he deserved to attend UK top universities for his brilliance and enormous potential.”

Professor Graham Hutton, University of Nottingham

Dr Andy Hill, Surrey Business School

Yinuo Han, University of Cambridge

Oscar García Miranda, University of Debrecen

Professor Andrew Burrows, Head of Chemistry, University of Bath

Professor Ginestra Bianconi, Queen Mary University of London

PHYSICS

It has been a pleasure to have a more ‘normal’ year in the lab. Our exam classes exceeded expectations in difficult circumstances, but the highlight has been inspiring each and every student with hands-on practical work which we have been able to do far more of again. The return of trips and competitions has also been very welcome. I’m especially grateful to the staff team for all their efforts. Special mentions to Mrs Whitehead (retiring) and Dr Calverley (Head of Physics at Surbiton High) who have made immense contributions over the years - we wish them all the best.

suitable technologies, materials and designs, before making a model of their ideas, preparing a report and presenting to a panel of judges from industry.

The year kicked off with Student Robotics – an annual competition to design a robot to complete a specified task, faster and better than other teams! Ably led by Mr Holland, our team of Aaron Chamberlain (L6-4), Efe Görgüner (L6-2), Owen Marlovits (L6-5) and Ashwin Vishwanath (L6-13) built and coded a robot that could collect and turn over tin cans and bring them home. After a valiant effort our team reached the quarter finals.

Our Third Form students had the chance to take part in the Industrial Cadets Bronze Project. George Hewlett, Finn Heath, Luke Mills-Hicks (all 3E) and Zaki Mian (3L) were asked to design a sustainable building whilst Ayaan Bhagat, Jago Halliwell (both 3L) Max Lerchster (3E), Peter Hallas (3R), and Abel George (3C) were tasked with designing a sustainable island. Both teams were supported by mentors from GSK, giving useful advice and insight into the role of engineers as well. The teams had to research

In no small part due to Dr Calverley’s enthusiasm and coaching, we continued to enjoy success in various National Olympiad competitions. Janek Czarnek (L6-2) received a Distinction in the Astro Challenge (impressive for a Lower Sixth!). In the Junior Astro Challenge 40 students from First to Fifth Form took part, achieving 5 Gold Awardsremarkably, First Former Eric Zhang (1L) achieved the highest mark. In the Intermediate Physics Challenge 21 out of 28 students entered achieved a Gold, though progress through later rounds was hindered by a clash with GCSE mocks. At the top of the school 21 boys entered the British Physics Olympiad: a Top Gold for Alex Jones (U6-5) continues the recent trend of top 100 finishers. Gold Awards from Lower

Junior boys and the electronic Christmas cards they made at Junior Science Club

Our student robotics team, and their robot, discussing tactics for the next match

Sixth Formers Efe Görgüner (L6-2) and Thomas Thevenon (L6-13) and a Silver from Fifth Former Freddie Weir (5N) suggest a bright future too. Alex Jones qualified through later rounds of the competition and was selected for the UK Astrophysics team, competing in the International Olympiad on Astronomy & Astrophysics in Georgia in August, ending up with a Bronze Medal – an exceptional achievement. Janek Czarnek (L6-2) and Andrew

Zhang (L6-13) were both invited to the Isaac Physics Senior Physics Challenge (residential) at Cambridge University - a rare feat to have two delegates out of only 50 nationally.

Trinity term saw the welcome return of Physics trips. Fourteen Lower Sixth physicists attended a Particle Physics Masterclass resumed in person at Imperial College with Mr Unsworth and Mrs Whitehead; talks ranged from the physics of sub-atomic particles to current research at CERN and the opportunity to see and discuss a wide range of undergraduate experiments in Particle Physics carried out by Imperial College students - this latter part was particularly inspirational to many of our students.

Twelve Fourth Form students again had the opportunity to go on the Physics Engineering trip at the end of term with Mr Burbidge and Dr Patel, visiting Bletchley Park, Jodrell Bank, Manchester Ship Canal and Silverstone over a four day trip.

Mr JP Hood - Head of Physics

Alex Jones (left) and his British team-mates at the International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad in Georgia

“We continued to enjoy success in various national Olympiad competitions. ”

Fourth Form Physicists admire an F1 car at Silverstone on the Engineering trip

CLASSICS

The First Form enjoyed a Field Day trip to Fishbourne Roman Palace and Bignor Villa. The very fact that the boys were outside on a beautifully sunny day on a trip out of school made them appreciate the amazing Classical sites even more. The department hosted two external lectures this year. Professor Michael Scott, who leads the Classics

Department at Warwick university and is a well-known television presenter, gave an outstanding talk on the Olympic games. The number of questions after his lecture demonstrated how much he inspired his audience.

In the Lent Term Dr Matthew Nicholls, from St John’s College Oxford, gave a talk on the buildings and architecture of ancient Rome. His 3D video reconstructions of Rome were spectacular and showed the grandeur of the city in all its glory. My thanks go to Dr Giulia Fanti for running the Senior Classics Society and organising these lectures.

The Lent term saw the Guildford Classical Association Latin and Greek reading competition, held this year at St Catherine’s Bramley. This year’s competition was the first to be held face to face for two years and it was great to see the boys interact with the competitors from other schools and discuss their shared love of the subject. Well done to all the boys who took part in the competition!

Several boys gave talks in the lunchtime Senior Classics Society sessions. The highlights of the year included Aidan Beaumont’s talks on his top ten myths and on Roman slavery and Mattie Sutton’s talk on Alexander the Great. The boys’ talks were well-researched and their presentational skills ensured that they kept the audience’s attention throughout.

For the first time since the pandemic the Classics Department has been able to have face-to-face lectures, competitions and external trips. This normality was hugely appreciated by both staff and students alike and it showed the real importance of shared group activities.

Aidan Beaumont addresses the Classics Society

Competitors at the Classics reading competition

Fishbourne Roman Palace

Mosaics at Bignor

My thanks go to Sarah Besly-Quick who joined forces with Nuria Wilson in the MFL Department to coach the boys for the Linguistics Olympiad. Junior and senior boys took part and enjoyed the weekly sessions and a number of boys entered the competition at the end of the year. Congratulations to Aaron Venter who achieved the silver award and Alex Atkinson and Dev Atara who achieved bronze.

As part of the National Book Week the boys enjoyed reading Jessie Burton’s classically-inspired book Medusa. The book explores the myth of Medusa from Medusa’s own point of view. I thoroughly enjoyed joining the boys for the discussion session, led by the English Department, in which the boys talked about how they had found the book. The points made by the boys were most impressive and demonstrated a real understanding of the finer points of the novel!

My thanks go to both the staff and boys for their hard work and enthusiasm this year, both in and out of the classroom. Particular mention, however, should go to Mr. Woolcott, who retired in December following thirty seven years of service to the Classics Department. David’s sense of humour, his camaraderie, his love

This year’s competition was the first to be held face to face for two years and it was great to see the boys interact with the competitors from other schools and discuss their shared love of the subject. ”

of Classics and his care and attention for his classes will be sorely missed and I thank him for everything he has done for the Department.

Mr EKD Bush - Head of Classics

“

Mr Woolcott’s leaving dinner

The Classics reading competition

International Book Week discussion session

ECONOMICS

There has rarely been a more compelling time to study Economics than right now.

Although it initially appeared that many economies had successfully navigated the troubles brought on by the pandemic, the onset of the war in Ukraine exposed faltering bottlenecks in global supply chains. This has allowed the record numbers of over 150 RGS students studying Economics currently to watch their lessons play out in the news each day, as they read about spiking inflation rates and previously flat-lining interest rates being revised on a monthly basis. Although as economists they are finding it fascinating to analyze current trends and make predictions on the future, as young men they appreciate the uncertainty that many families face as they look ahead to the future.

34 of our boys are looking ahead to our first residential trip since 2018, which will take them to the Cities of Brussels and Amsterdam. We hope they will glean greater understanding of how different Economic policies are put into practice, see how global supply routes enter the World’s largest Economic region and learn how Amsterdam is trying to become an

Economically sustainable city. Closer to home we welcomed the return of a regular guest speaker, Professor Neil Rickman of Surrey University, who explained how Nobel Prize winning Economist Gary Becker was able to model the economics of crime.

Despite the external turmoil, we are grateful that what doesn’t change is our students’ passion for the subject and their ability to push themselves to scholarly achievements. Congratulations to Sam Hinton on being short-listed for the highly prestigious John Locke Institute Essay Award, where he attempted to determine whether Bitcoin was a Blessing or a Curse Congratulations also to Louis Wilby, whose multi-disciplinary ILA essay explored the Economical and Philosophical case for Economic sanctions against Russia, and was our highest scoring submission this year. We would like to thank Economics subject prize winner, Joe Colton, and the other outgoing Economics Society student leaders for their hard work and contributions during their Lower Sixth year. They are fully responsible for coordinating our internal speakers during the year and we look forward to seeing a new team replace them shortly.

Mr JD Stratford - Head of Economics

“34 of our boys are looking ahead to our first residential trip since 2018, which will take them to the Cities of Brussels and Amsterdam.”

GEOGRAPHY

In the superpowers unit, our study of conflicts on Russia’s western border coincided with Russian troops gathering in Belarus for military exercises. We watched, waiting to see whether Putin would make the next move across into Ukraine. After listening to the Guardian online conference Will Russia invade Ukraine? with the U6 Form, we decided that perhaps, unbelievably, it would. As we studied the Geneva Convention, we heard about the role of social media in the real time documentation of war crimes. Similarly, the energy pathways that we study have been under the spotlight as pipelines are used to exert influence on both sides. Finally, we listened carefully and hoped for good news as Glasgow hosted leaders from around the world for COP27. Never has the subject felt quite so relevant for understanding the world in these turbulent times.

Closer to home, we have enjoyed being able to extend our fieldwork programme once again as Covid restrictions ease. After being stuck in the planning phase for almost

three years, it was good to finally launch the Third Form trip to the Lake District. This complemented a module of the GCSE course that we start in the Third Form which looks at the UK’s physical landscapes. We based ourselves on the coast in the picturesque Grange-over-Sands, staying at FSC Castle Head.

Saturday and Sunday saw the groups alternating the two main activities: One group followed the River Eea from a very dry source to its mouth in the saltmarshes of Morecombe Bay. The long grass was a haven for ticks and a confused frog and the boys were very interested in a parasitic worm that they found in the water. The day’s objective was to study how the channel characteristics of the river (depth, width and velocity) changed as we moved downstream.

“After being stuck in the planning phase for almost three years, it was good to finally launch the Third Form trip to the Lakes.”

The past twelve months have felt as though they had been planned by Edexcel Geography examiners.

Relaxing Grange-over-Sands

The other group travelled to Coniston, putting the brilliant drivers from Safeguard through their paces as they navigated difficult lanes complicated further by a triathlon race. Despite not being able to go ghyll scrambling, we were able to hike up to the Tarn lake (Levers Water) above Coniston via the still active slate mines and disused copper mines. This gave the boys the chance to see the landforms in the flesh that we have studied in the classroom: Cols, truncated spurs, a U shaped valley, roches moutonnée, ribbon lake, corrie, aretes and tarn lake and understand how people have used the environment and its resources.

As brilliant as the geography was, I think the most valuable aspect of the trip was that the boys learned a lot about their friends, enjoyed being together somewhere new and by the last day everybody was in the right place at the right time! Taking such a large group away was certainly a challenge. Mr Yetman’s assistance in getting the trip off the ground was invaluable and Mr Fishpool did an amazing job organising all the boys’ rooms and leading one of the coaches. Dr Patel and Mr Cowx were expert in their dealings with ticks and Senora Wilson, Mr Powell and Mr Lemaire were brilliant throughout. All worked tirelessly to ensure that everything went smoothly and that the boys had a great time.

Mrs RG Waters

In June the Lower Sixth Form Geographers ventured down to Swanage on the south coast to investigate sand dunes, coastal defences and their sustainability. We arrived at school early and packed the equipment into the minibuses before driving to Boscombe Bay where we conducted a pilot study to collect data for an Environmental Quality Assessment (EQA). We continued on to Studland Bay to study the sand dunes and the human impact on their formation. We then drove to Swanage Bay for an introduction to different types of coastal management systems as well as giving us a chance to take some photos to use in our A level coursework.

The Heights Hotel, where we were staying was on the island of Portland. That evening we reviewed the EQA data through a heat map analysis of Boscombe Bay as well some photo analysis of Swanage. Before we turned in for the night we were introduced to Digi-mapsa program that we would use in our coursework to illustrate where we took our data points.

After a good night’s sleep we had an early rise, and were greeted by a delicious buffet breakfast. We headed to Lulworth to study its geological processes. In the afternoon we boarded an exhilarating Rib charter in Weymouth that took us along the coast to view the well-known

landmark, Durdle Door, close up from the water. We then returned to the hotel and went for a walk guided by Mr Cowx around the fascinating cliffs of Portland Island.

The following day we collected further data on coastal erosion and were introduced to various methods of statistical analysis. In the evening we then prepared for the crucial coursework data collection the next day.

On Saturday morning we left the hotel very early and went straight to Swanage Bay in order to maximise the time for our data collection. We implemented the techniques we had been practicing on the trip so that we could obtain accurate and reliable data. We then returned home having learned a great deal, after an intense and very enjoyable four days on the south coast.

James Caulton L6-8

“The most valuable aspect of the trip was that the boys learned a lot about their friends, enjoyed being together somewhere new and by the last day everybody was in the right place at the right time! ”

Close up of Durdle

Door, Dorset trip

Copper Mines Coniston

HISTORY

‘Looking Ahead’ is a somewhat challenging theme for a History teacher to write about, nonetheless, there are exciting times ahead for the department.

It was with pleasure that we welcomed Michael Riley, from the Institute of Education and formerly director of the School’s History Project, to review our curriculum and help work with us to further develop our History provision. This comes at the end of a three year review and update of our Lower School curriculum offer and provided an excellent opportunity for us to reflect on the great work that we have done as a team, and also plan future projects. We are excited to continue to deliver a rich and diverse curriculum to the boys. Some of the key new topics which have been introduced to develop a greater understanding of global history are: Medieval West African History, Golden Age China and the Mughal Empire In addition, we have developed our provision of British History with broad overviews of Medieval Social Life, Warfare Between the Napoleonic Wars and the Development of Representative Democracy

From the Michaelmas Term, we will be launching a new GCSE with the Fourth Form which covers a variety of different topics which we feel will benefit the boys going forward. We are drawing on the strengths of the outgoing GCSE, with units relating to the Cold War and the Russian Revolution, which have proved hugely popular. We are then introducing a new topic of Health and the People, which will have brilliant cross-curricular links with the sciences, as students consider key advances in medical knowledge and how this impacted the treatment and prevention of disease, along with developments in public health.

Furthermore, our A Level offering has never felt so current. Many of the lessons echo the current political discourse: Economic Uncertainty, Political Scandal and Polarisation of Politics. Below are some reflections from our current Lower Sixth on the relevance of the Making of Modern Britain course:

Reflection on Political Scandal

As we reflect on the Conservative government under Boris Johnson…parallels can be made with the cabinet of Harold MacMillan. The various scandals of this period can be mirrored by those in the late 1950s and early 1960s, for example the Hancock affair with the Profumo affair in terms of public outrage.

Reflection on Recent and Ongoing Labour Divisions

The divide of the Corbyn-led Labour Party exhibited the division and infighting of preceding Labour governments on the course.

Broader Reflections on Contemporary Britain

The Modern Britain history course is crucial in understanding the position of today’s society. In particular, the reforms brought in by governments under Attlee, Wilson and Thatcher play a massive role in shaping how we see British society today.

I believe that history is centrally important to a well-rounded education, and it is heartening indeed to see the Lower Sixth Form reflecting on this.

As this academic year ends, and we prepare for the next one, we will continue to look back and look ahead.

Mr JM Davies - Head of History

“We are excited to continue to deliver a rich and diverse curriculum to the boys.”

First Former preparing a History display on Mansa Musa

MODERN LANGUAGES

This year has been pivotal for the Modern Languages Department. After the recent moratorium on excursions and trips abroad, the team got creative to ensure exciting, purposeful, outside-the-classroom immersion for the boys in languages celebrating and embracing culture - complementing and enhancing our forward-thinking and ambitious linguistic curriculum.

Spanish linguists a much-desired trip to Mexico, we took them to the next best thing: London’s fully immersive Mexican Geniuses art exhibition which brings to life with music, moving projections and a VR experience, the art of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Cementing their appreciation for Hispanic history, culture and art, the boys spoke Spanish throughout the day and were treated to an authentic tapas supper at the Mesón Don Felipe. Who needs to go to Mexico!

The Spanish Department were able to take our very willing Sixth Formers to the Cervantes Theatre, an old haunt in London for Spanish lovers. The boys were able to watch a live performance of La Casa de Bernada Alba which is a literary work that the boys study during their A level course. Productions at the Cervantes Theatre are consistently outstanding and Lorca’s play was enacted with the intensity and nuance needed to impress on our young audience, the worthy theme of female repression in Southern Spain at the start of the twentieth century.

Later in the year, as we were unable to promise our dedicated

On a number of occasions during the year, Sixth Form linguists hosted debating soirées at the RGS, inviting in German, French and Spanish students from GHS, Woking and Reed’s. The girls and boys participated in heated speed debates on a variety of topics ranging from the protection of historical buildings, to immigration and policy, to endangered languages to transgender role models. With 60 students, three languages and plenty of food for fuel, we collectively solved some of the world’s greatest problems!

More debating was to take place with the Lower Sixth German debating team who historically have enjoyed success at the prestigious Goethe Institute online debating competition. This is a London-based tournament where schools enter teams and are judged by an independent panel of specialists. Our team were pitted against an all-girls team from Aylesbury High School and were tasked with arguing against the notion that school canteens should serve exclusively vegan and vegetarian meals. They explored the right to self-determination and the importance of fostering cultural diversity. Despite strong opposition they were announced the winners and proceeded to the second round against Queen Elizabeth’s School Barnet where they gave sterling performances and proved that they could use their language skills to have meaningful, current, possibly world-changing discussions: True language leaders of the future!

Casa de Bernarda Acting Up Workshop

Authentic Tapas Supper Together

Debating

Our biannual MFL highlight is our Foreign Language Drama Production. Mr J Machiafava works tirelessly to create innovative and culturally rich productions in a wide range of languages involving boys from across all key stages. In March, rehearsing began for the ambitious production of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables in French and an apt filming shoot through the cobbled streets of Guildford enabled the cast to bond as a team through collaboration and leadership, to produce a short amuse-bouche film for the up and coming performance in 2023.

Events came flooding hard and fast for Middle and Lower School students who enjoyed an interactive German theatre performance, a film study day at the BFI and numerous

GCSE speaking speed dates events.

Celebrations from across the globe were also a good excuse for the department to share with the RGS community, culturally important dates in the calendar. For example, colourful dragons were draped around the department and in other areas of the school encouraging boys to inform themselves about the Chinese Lunar New Year. An Arabic town was created around the Third Floor with a mystery Arabic scavenger hunt which sent boys searching all corners of the school for Arabic clues, thus celebrating Eid-Al-Fitr.

Our events were synonymous with some impressive academic acolades. Rish Das was awarded the Translation prize in the prestigious National Translation challenge, and Dev Atara was able to take away the prize for the Environment Challenge (Business Language Champions). The judges’ comments:

“This is a really impressive entry for a Year 11 student. Very fluent and only a few grammatical errors. We liked the dramatic emphasis given to the speech which made it come over extremely well and the pronunciation is also very good. It was confidently delivered and very informative. Well done”!

Finally, we ended the year with a bang with our first ever MFL disco with some 300 students attending from RGS and local girls’ schools. Ticket sales were stated to be: ‘harder to get than Glastonbury’, by parents, and they deemed the event: “the social event of the year!”

The MFL department cannot wait for 2023 where we will be taking boys to Northern France, Paris, Granada, Gerona and Berlin and many more places besides! No time to waste!

Mrs N Crivellari - Head of MFL

‘Les Misérables’ Filming Trip

BFI Trip

Andrew Kuang Winner of the Arabic Prize

Chinese Lunar New Year

MFL Disco

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

As the year drew to a close, the Academic Physical Education Department reflected on another superb year for our ever growing cohorts of GCSE and A Level students here at the RGS.

All students continued to thrive in the classroom, under the stewardship of the Academic Physical Education staff, and benefitted greatly from the vast array of experience of the RGS Sports Department. Thank you to Mr B Dudley, Mr C Mullon and Mr RC 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 Mrs GM Richards, Mr JJ Richards, Mr SL Dennett, Mr SJH Yetman, Mrs FM Wimblett and Mr JC Witts, for the time they have given coaching and assessing the boys in athletics, basketball, skiing, swimming and sailing respectively.

Mr ST Walsh continued to support the athletic performance of our cohorts through the strength and conditioning programme. This undoubtedly greatly enhances the boys’ athletic capabilities, and thus assists them in reaching their potential in their chosen practical activities.

With twenty-nine boys opting to take GCSE Physical Education, we continued to run two classes in the Fourth Form, taught by Mr JDN Lythgoe and Mr GDG Cover. The boys spent the year building their knowledge around some fundamental topics, such as anatomy and nutrition, within the world of physical activity and sport.

As a way of consolidating knowledge, the boys completed a project related to each field of study. Below is an excellent example of movement analysis project.

A movement analysis of a sprinter - Ollie Brown 4A

As the boys entered the Fifth Form, they began to examine both the psychology and sociology of sport. In psychology, topics such as arousal and stress management gave boys an insight into the pressures around sports performance, and critically, outlined ways in which these pressures can be managed. In the field of sociology, the boys examined the barriers to participation in physical activity and sport, investigating which groups of society are affected and how these inequalities can be rectified. These studies culminated in the boys creating some very entertaining, yet educational, podcasts including titles such as: Expert or beginner - how should we coach?, Decision making - the most important asset of a sportsperson?’ and Are athletes born or made?

As Covid restrictions began to ease, the Sixth Form boys were able to enjoy an exciting introduction to A-level Physical Education, with a visit to the Surrey Human Performance Centre. The day was led by Dr David King and included the boys administering and being subject to an number of different physiological tests. The use of light gates, spirometer traces and VO2 max testing equipment, gave the boys an invaluable understanding of how components of fitness can be tested in laboratory conditions.

As we say goodbye to our outgoing Upper Sixth Form students, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Upper Sixth Form A-level Physical Education cohort for their diligence, commitment and good humour; they have been a pleasure to teach.

Mr JDN LythgoeHead of Physical Education

A VO2 max test performed on a treadmill – Tom Humphreys L6-6

“The boys spent the year building their knowledge around some fundamental topics, such as anatomy and nutrition, within the world of physical activity and sport. ”

POLITICS

Most years, this is an opportunity to reflect on the political year that has passed, and that would be very easy to do, what with Covid, Brexit and Ukraine defining so much of what has happened. However, with some degree of optimism and confidence, I decided to ask my Lower Sixth Form students to ‘look ahead’, rather than back, and to give us some of their predictions for where we will be in 12 months’ time (summer 2023).

H ere are some of their thoughts:

USA

“In a year’s time, Trump will unfortunately grow in popularity among the already incompetent Republican Party due to Biden’s inability to act decisively.”

“Trump will be running for re-election.”

Ukraine

“Russia will have withdrawn from Ukraine and realised NATO’s unity.”

“China might use the Ukraine situation as a chance to have Taiwan. Putin might die and if he does there will either be a western-backed, or China-backed leader. China will get closer to becoming the next world superpower.” UK

“Keir Starmer would have been replaced due to increasing pictures being released of him drinking. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson would have further divisions in his party, as a general election becomes more likely.”

“Cost of living crisis will get worse, but rich people won’t care’.”

“Boris Johnson will still be PM, and the cost of living crisis will still be a problem.”

Other

“More bad climate change stuff, but as a whole people still won’t care.”

“China will get closer to becoming the next world superpower.”

“I believe that the world will look very similar to now.”

Meanwhile, a couple of students used this as an opportunity to make a plea:

“Throughout the next 12 months, I hope to see respective governments across the world make a true, genuine effort to improve the lives of the people they represent. I want to see the end of disruptive government corruption, in which our leaders prioritise their friends over their citizens. I want to see greater acceptance of people who have been through immense hardships, instead of the utter rejection of different cultures. I want to see the media represent the concerns of the wider population and not just the self-interests of their wealthy owners.”

“Politics is distorted at the momentwhile there are massive changes being made globally, most of these changes are, unfortunately, bad ones. To select a few: the government doesn’t even try to hide its lying anymore; families around the UK are unable to buy food; and in so many other countries people have it even worse. So, where to go from here? Can we even see beyond the pathetic state of current global politics? How are such large populations controlled and manipulated by so few in power, and is it even worth considering the concept of ‘fairness’ in the current climate? To paraphrase Tony Blair: educate, educate, educate. Teach people how to make a change, and maybe they’ll do just that. Politics

Young people are important - after all, its today’s teenagers who will be running the country in decades to come, and it’s imperative that they can adapt to the world around them while not just going along with the crowd.”

at RGS is a beacon of this - teachers encourage students to think critically, to reject black-and-white information regurgitated to them by their chosen media outlet, and to have opinions informed not by head-in-the-sand ideology, but by nuance, looking at the facts, and making up their own minds. Young people are important - after all, its today’s teenagers who will be running the country in decades to come, and it’s imperative that they can adapt to the world around them while not just going along with the crowd. Politics at RGS rewards individuality; debates in lessons often provide much more exam-worthy content than just reading from a textbook. The longer this continues, the more pleasant the road ahead begins to look.”

It will be interesting to see how these predictions stand the test of time; meanwhile I hope, like some of these students, that we can find ways to return our political discourse to something more productive, inclusive and democratic – ‘looking forward’.

Mr TJJ Owens - Head of Politics

“

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

The year began with a celebration of the outstanding exam results achieved by the GCSE and A Level students, whose resilient response to the challenges of the previous two years of study under Covid conditions made their achievements all the more impressive.

The changes to the Third Form curriculum saw the introduction of two new courses: compulsory Religious Education and the optional Religious Studies. Both were a great success and allowed a much stronger focus on the spiritual and moral education of boys in the former, and a clearer academic focus in preparation for GCSE in the latter. This kind of strategic and innovative whole-school revision of the curriculum to give boys both greater academic choice and fuller opportunity for personal growth is to be much welcomed.

This year we have run three discussion societies: Junior Philosophy Society, the Middle School Aquinas Society, and the Senior School Hume Society. Attendees of these three societies have been able and more than willing to debate and discuss controversial and complicated philosophical and theological issues including: when life begins, what makes something a person, what makes an action right or wrong and the relationship between faith and reason.

Students attending Aquinas and Hume Society were able to enter Cambridge University’s National Film Competition. When commenting on this year’s competition, a judge said that there were a record-breaking number of entries. This makes it even more impressive that several boys won prizes. Merits were awarded to Kian Serpant, Krish Lukha, Zac Warham, Louis Wilby, Olly Putland and Thomas Bamber, and Special Mentions were awarded to Harvey Laing, Sam Pearce and Patrick McKendry. Finally, Seth Cade, Andrew Brett and Stuart Brown managed to win the Key Stage 4 section of the competition for their video entry on how artwork has shaped modern Christianity. Interest and participation has also grown significantly this year in Puzzle Club, with the students making significant progress towards completing the sizeable jigsaw puzzles, each with a religious theme. Not only does this offer fun, teamwork, and relaxation during a busy day, it also fosters wider discussion of the topics in question. We look forward to seeing the completed puzzles adorning the walls of the RS rooms, and the boys taking pride in their creations.

Mr RB Meadowcroft - Head of Religion and Philosophy

have run three discussion societies: Junior Philosophy Society, the middle school Aquinas Society, and the senior Hume Society. ”

This year

“

we

THE MALLISON LIBRARY

At long last we were able to welcome authors back to school to meet boys face-to-face. The First Form, with pupils from Sandfield School and RGS Prep, heard Chris Wakling talk about his collaboration with Wilbur Smith, and the whole school had the chance to meet two exciting science fiction writers, K L Kettle and Sarah Govett, as part of World Book Week. The Fourth Form benefitted particularly

from Sarah’s masterclass on Writing Dystopian Fiction, which enriched their preparation for their English GCSE.

The theme of National Poetry Day was Choice and as ever the quality of the entries was superb; we also had some thoughtful and inspiring entries for the Show Racism the Red Card competition. Our Lit Quiz teams took second place in the online National Reading Champions Quiz and joint third in the CWIZZ, which took place at Emanuel School for the first time in three years. Both quizzes require teams of students to answer questions in themed rounds, under such diverse titles as Characters, Clothes and Props, Sensational Schools and Pets! so the Lit Quiz Club works hard to practise between competitions.

Aside from the events that the Library has organised or supported this year, we have been working hard to improve the service to the school

as a whole, reflecting the School Values. We have signed up to the Decade of Diversity, a commitment to ensure that the library’s collection reflects the diversity of the school and the wider world, and have begun the process of reviewing and refreshing the book stock with this in mind. A new staff book group has been set up to share the enjoyment of reading amongst colleagues, and we launched two collections of resources as digital Focus Boards on the Library management system: Wellbeing and LGBTQ+. Sadly, Miss Varley left us in January, but Mrs Bottari has proved to be an excellent replacement, particularly in collaboration with the Modern Languages Department. As the new year begins, we are looking forward to developing some exciting projects.

Mrs TF Farthing - Head of Library

Author K L Kettle

Author Sarah Govett

Left to Right: New Year New You display Read with Pride, COP26 display

CWIZZ Team B (First Form)

National Reading Champions Quiz (First & Second Form)

MFL promotional display

National Poetry Day

Choice

Its more than just a word, Its something to be seen, something to be heard, We have choice to live, We have choice to die, We choice to be the weird but funny kind of guy.

Life is a multitude of choices, They define who we are, Or who we want to be, Or tell us there is more to see, In this world , A world of catastrophe, We need to be, The best we can be.

Jola Akin-Olugbade, 2P - Lower School Winner

Oyster

Unknowing fingers plucked the shell from the sand, thumbing the wrinkles as if the torn ligaments might flinch and jerk the aged lines awake. Instead, the index delicately stroked the rim of the shell but found the tip of his fingernail snagged on a crack. The shell was dropped to the floor, so the sea washed it away with the stories that the shell had prepared. Greying tales of the Creation, when the sea burdened the sky with raindrops, and the raindrops fell like pebbles, which became pebbles. Blind rocks which shrunk to a fine powder, a silty, sandy, dirty, stuff. And from them, plants grew – indistinguishable life to the tide which drifted in and out regardless of the leaves’ needs.

And from life grew life, cells ate cells, and were eaten, and became animals.

And some animals returned to the sea, grateful to the Creator for the life she unwittingly endowed them with. One of those animals had a shell which one day slipped off. No blame on anyone. Only the tide, which swept the shell into unknowing fingers again.

Ollie Liversedge

U6-1

- Senior Winner

Choice

“The quality of the entries was superb.

”

From when the sun rises high Until the end of the day is nigh, Choices to fall and to rise, Choices to reach for the skies.

When the weather is cruel And rain makes a dark pool, Choices to shelter from the storm, Choices to stay in and keep warm.

Through paths in the night Every turn left and right, Choices for which way to go, Choices to adventure from the routes we know.

Choices are made through our lives

From the moment we learn how to crawl, A choice is made in answering questions, Do we really have any choice at all?

Theo Carraretto 1C - Lower School Runner Up

Choice

Life is full of choices, big and small, Which school? Which job? What to eat? Should I take the call? How do I know which path to choose, There’s not always an answer, You don’t necessarily lose.

Sometimes the choice is yours, Sometimes fate decides, But having a choice definitely opens doors.

Theo Damaskos 2P - Lower School Winner

Ollie Lane

Show Racism the Red Card

The Paradox

Do You really have choice, Or are You controlled, To do as Elon Musk Tweets, Or follow as Donald Trump Alludes, None of us have a voice.

They bait us with votes Making us think that we matter That we influence our lives Figureheads twist our reality With contorted, symbolic quotes.

Companies control You, You are sucked in to pay For services that appear needed Yet are an unnecessary expense You think there is an escape, Yet You are stuck. You think You have a choice To swap providers or plans Yet You have none.

Or are You defined By a Master Of all Realities, Those discovered and those not. Or were the Ancients Right, Your fates woven by Fate You may Choose To believe in one or more of these ideas But if you do Did you really Choose?

National Poetry Day 2021 Competition winners

Key Stage 4/5

Show Racism the Red Card

You cannot erase things you have said to me, You cannot say it was a joke You cannot keep on doing this. It is written all over my heart, In dark black ink It cannot be rubbed out. It doesn’t pass by saying sorry, But gradually fades over time Yet it will never disappear!

Although you may apologise every day, It will still leave a faint scar And stay somewhere in my heart! Racism is a dagger in the heart, Show Racism the Red Card!

Robert Storey 5H Senior Runner Up

Thomas Bailey 1C

Justin Rosengarten 1L

“

We also had some thoughtful and inspiring entries for the Show Racism the Red Card competition.”

The Human Dream

There was once a world, a planet, a globe, Where a black, white and mixed Man, woman and child, Sat, thought and dreamt Looked, saw and felt Like humans, like humans, Together in peace, For there was nothing to divide them, Nothing to separate them, Apart from the way they looked to each other Different in colour, similar in values Different in origin, alike in dignity But then all three of them noticed it, Their judgement, clouded by it, Their mind focussing on what differentiated them, Not what united them as a race

The human race, The race that built together, Hoped together, dreamed together, Saw right and wrong the same, But that is not what they thought of. Now, when they looked at each other, They took notice of their skin, race and looks, They did not see what they should have seen in each other, And then months, no years, no decades later, A man woke up to this and spoke of his Dream.

Krish Bijlani

Racism

It’s all round us but many can’t see it, It lingers in the air like a deadly virus, And slowly eats away at people’s lives seeping through the fabric of society-unnoticed, Only the victims can truly understand.

The qualities you possess are waved away, Stripped of opportunities so others can strive, A breeder of hatred, violence, inequality, Sinking communities to the very depths of their potential.

Those who aren’t affected quick to dismiss, Bystanders to other people’s problem, Whilst perpetrators go unchecked.

The remedy to this worldwide plague is in everyone’s hands, To make a difference, to cure our world for generations to come, Don’t stand, watch and be afraid to be bold, Do your part for the benefit of us all.

Jamie Nkrumah

1E

the creative

ArtWe have all embraced an uninterrupted full year back in the studios, using all the brilliant facilities The RGS Art Department has to offer. Junior students have been busy filling the Ceramics Studio with new and wonderful structures; many prints on the press; exam students have been challenging themselves with large scale paintings, standing at easels and enjoying the peer-on-peer critical appreciation. Our four extremely talented U6th Form A Level students relished the opportunity to learn oil painting techniques from Mr Rozier’s hands on, masterful approach in his final year at The RGS. Their paintings are incredibly skilful and show an understanding in still-life oil painting that is rare to witness at such an age. The GCSE students have thoroughly enjoyed both a creative and traditional approach to producing Art, building up personal projects and resolving them in outstanding ways. The gallery is again filled with wonderful new paintings and the sculpture cabinets are bursting with new work. We were able to have our traditional end of year Private View, a long-awaited evening celebrating all the exam students’ work. Studio walls are hung with fresh, exciting junior work including a wonderful display of House Smoothey Art Competition entries. Mr Rozier and Mr Davidge have made it their priority to thoughtfully hang students work in the main school for all to see, creating colour and talking points for those who pass it. All in all, the department is buzzing and brimming with creativity and imagination.

As we say farewell to Mr Rozier who retires after 35 years of teaching Art at The RGS, we welcome Ms Farida Khan-Evans to our team. I embrace taking on the role of Head of Art and will continue the passion and commitment to maintaining and building a rich and exciting department. Thank you to Mr Davidge, Mrs Wood and Mr Trim for their continued dedication, enthusiasm and joyful approach to helping the boys fulfil their potential.

Mrs RF Shepherd - Head of Art

26 Mat Luther - Creative Painting 1

Mat Luther - Creative Painting 2

Mat Luther - Observational Pastel Drawing

Mat Luther - Final Observational Painting

Mat Luther - Final 4th Form Exam

1 Theo Odhams 1E 2 Sam Chapman 5N 3 Chen Liang 2R 4 Arthur Taylor 4P 5 Laurent Spilstead 3R

The response to the first Smoothey House Art Competition was not exactly overwhelming, but the standard was very good generally.

The winner of the Junior category was Theo Odhams 1E, with his immaculately crafted, felted sculpture of a Hare. Mr Rozier has had a go at felting (a fairly accurate Christmas pudding tree decoration) and so could instantly see the amazing subtlety and skill of Theos’ creation. A remarkably impressive piece.

In the Senior Category Sam Chapman 5N was the winner with his imaginative, expressively colourful acrylic painting of the connection between petroleum products and the health of the planet. The strident use of colour adds to the dystopian scene.

Honourable mentions go to Laurent Spilstead 3R, Chen Liang 2R in the Junior Category and to Arthur Taylor 4P in the Senior Category.

Mrs RF Shepherd - Head of Art

Smoothy Competition

Design and Technology

BRUCE BEHN U6-1

A design for a computer input device for use by people using flight simulators on desktop computers. It would be programmable. The main arm simulates the landing lever of a real aircraft. For a prospective pilot, this was a project I very much wanted to work on.

My design for a work-station/tool storage system for people doing DIY is designed to enable you to work on it to cut, drill and clamp wood whilst also providing room for storage of the tools. It can also be reconfigured into a little trolley to enable it to be rolled away.

Students this year had the additional difficulty of having to fully resolve their design ideas through maquettes and drawings but without the need to build a finished product (due to changes to the coursework requirements in order to deal with problems caused by Covid). This is actually very difficult because it is in the building of a substantial prototype that little problematic details are brought to light. The projects shown illustrate some of the ways that RGS students dealt with this issue. The boys rose to the challenge with 3D computer aided design being a particularly helpful technique to virtually build the projects. Students also made particularly good use of drawings and sketches to formulate and iterate their ideas. Next year we are back to building completed prototypes so it will be interesting to see how the boys approach the projects differently.

Mr JB Kelly - Head of Design & Technology

GCSE SETH CADE 5H

Geometrical explorations for a bird feeder.

GCSE

CORREIA 5N

A boom in home gym sales caused by people wanting to keep fit and active during the pandemic have led to people weightlifting alone with no second safety spotter present. My design attempts to decrease injuries by electromechanically releasing some of the weights when people are in difficulty.

When people go on holiday the plants in their garden can suffer from a lack of water. My design, shown in an exploded view, automatically waters potted plants. It uses sensors to detect when the plants are too dry and can control water for up to four plants.

MALACHY DOYLE 5A

GABRIEL

JOSHUA INGLESFIELD

5A

My design for a portable barbeque suitable for a family of four is lightweight, with heat-insulated parts and a large cooking area using materials unlikely to warp under heat. It has a Bauhaus inspired aesthetic form.

My design is for a portable cooking kit with fire lighting capabilities which will be a more attractive option than single use disposable barbeques.

ESA MITCHELL 5B

GCSE

Design development workcorner brackets for portable camping shelving.

CHARLIE ROBERTSHAW 5A

Design ideas for a pull up counter.

TOM POSTANCE 5P

OSCAR SMITH 5H

Many people who workout struggle to keep correct form. My product helps to monitor and correct bad form by sensing the tilt of a weightlifting bar and then displaying the angle off level through a bar array.

TOM STORK 5A

My design for an outdoor wooden chair, shown here in exploded form, would be comfortable to use due to the shape of the chair. It has a location to store cushions to protect them. The cushions slide in underneath the seat platform from the back.

Drama

Around The World in 80 Days

Phew, with great sighs of relief the Drama provision was happily returned to full strength following the Covid hiatus. We kicked off the year in Michaelmas Term with the GCSE cohort devising and performing their exam pieces followed by a spectacular production of Around The World in 80 Days involving 40 middle school boys directed by Ms McClean. This was a fun filled frolic, a gentle pastiche of Jules Verne’s novel and was full of energy, enthusiastic performances and delivered laughs aplenty.

“A fun filled frolic, a gentle pastiche of Jules Verne’s novel . ”

Field Day 1: Drama ran the exciting skilled packed workshops with Splendid Theatre performing their version of Alfred Jarry’s Ubu followed by a practical workshop with our boys and GCSE and A level girls from Tormead also participating.

Field Day 2: We ran our ever popular stage fighting workshop (real swords!) with Mark Ruddick of Squires Stage Combat teaching, and we combined this with a puppetry workshop taught by Russell Dean (OG) of Strangeface Theatre.

Mr Meadowcroft directed DNA by Dennis Kelly with a cast of senior boys producing a disturbing and tense experience that fully realised in horrific detail the undercurrents of violence encountered by a group of dysfunctional teenagers. We launched ourselves back into running a full programme of theatre trips and took exam cohorts to see Ocean At the End of the Lane and all of our Third Form Drama students to see The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Little Shop Of Horrors

In Lent Term the long postponed Joint School musical Little Shop of Horrors was staged at GHS. This was a superb production, absolutely brimming full of professional standard performances, with Parus Mehra particularly noteworthy in the main role as Seymour and Jack Fuller voicing Audrey the plant with such skill it sounded like the original!

production, absolutely brimming full of professional standard performances.

“A superb

”

Field Day 3: This was a practical trauma and fantasy make up day with the boys thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to explore some truly gruesome effects.

Junior Drama Club and junior curriculum classes were full of new and exciting topics including a puppetry project and some specialist stage fighting sessions.

“It is wonderful to be back to ‘normal’ and to be able to involve so many boys in such valuable drama activities. ”

House Drama

LAMDA exams yielded fantastic results in both spring and summer sessions with most boys achieving Merits and Distinctions for acting and public speaking exams. Our GCSE Drama cohort performed their scripted exam pieces which were filmed and sent off to the exam board rather than performing live to an examiner as Covid restrictions still prevented school visits.

Trinity Term included a theatre trip to see Oklahoma! at the Young Vic Theatre as well as an A Level trip to watch Jerusalem.

Field Day 5: The whole of the Second Form took part in the annual Mime in a Day competition with Valpy winning first place with their strangely macabre story of cannibalistic chefs! This was closely followed by the main House Drama competition where six different script extracts were directed entirely by Lower Sixth boys and performed for a panel of judges, including guest judge Jack Bardoe (OG) who is currently a successful actor due to perform at the National Theatre in Othello as this magazine is published. Again Valpy’s extract from The Odyssey was a deserved first place with polished and inventive staging.

It is wonderful to be back to ‘normal’ and to be able to involve so many boys in such valuable drama activities, ones where life lessons are learnt, friendships created and fun is always had. Lastly a thank you to all the boys who, with the help of Mr Gyford, are our unsung heroes of the technical theatre department. Despite a two year interruption to hands on work, they have been as willing and keen as ever!

Ms N McClean - Head of Drama

Music

Joint Schools’ Chamber Choir

Having given its last public performance in St Alban’s Cathedral back in early March 2020, the newly reformed Joint Schools’ Chamber Choir was back in action this year. Comprising the best singers from both the RGS and GHS, the choir travelled to sing Evensong in Chichester Cathedral in November. After such a prolonged period with relatively little singing, the group rose to the challenge and sang to an exceptionally high standard before a large congregation. Noble’s grandiose setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in B Minor, with its simple yet expressive approach to word-setting, filled the glorious acoustic of the Cathedral magnificently. This was followed by Bairstow’s anthem, Save us, O Lord. Here the choir managed the transition from the hushed opening melodic lines to the more vigorous and bombastic central fugal section with real skill. Singing of such a high standard was met with many lovely comments from the congregation and cathedral clergy alike and we look forward to returning to Chichester again in the future.

In March, the group ventured to Winchester for their first visit to sing Evensong in the Cathedral since 2016. This magnificent building, which has been at the heart of Christian worship for over 900 years, contains a unique heritage of the life of the English nation and its stones tell the stories of Kings and Queens, and politicians.

From the opening responses to the closing anthem, the choir was on top form and sang with a real sense of poise and sensitivity. The repertoire included the soaring lines of Howell’s beautiful setting of the Magnificat and Nunc DimittisCollegium Regale, which filled the awe-inspiring surroundings. The musicianship of the choir was impressive throughout, but mention should be made of Noah Campbell who sang the Tenor solo in Howell’s Nunc Dimittis with real tenderness. The musical part of the service closed with Stanford’s anthem Lighten our Darkness. Written during the Great War, this wonderful setting seemed particularly apt for such troubled times.

Next year, the choir can look forward to performances in both Keble College, Oxford and Clare College, Cambridge.

Chamber Choir Winchester

Chamber Choir

“

All of the adjudicators were immensely impressed by the sheer breadth and depth of playing in each of the classes.”

Market Day Lunchtime Concerts

The tradition of the RGS performing a lunchtime concert in Holy Trinity to coincide with the monthly Farmers’ Market continues and throughout this year it has been a fantastic showcase for some of our ablest musicians. After two years of either virtual concerts or performing without an audience, it was terrific to be back in front of a loyal and appreciative audience. Whilst there have been many memorable performances from boys across the entire age range of the school, one particular highlight was the recital given by Callum Champion (OG) in June.

Music Competitions

Whilst music competitions have always been part of the musical calendar, the pandemic gave us an opportunity to look at these afresh. In a new approach this year, competitions were reorganized with separate competitions for each instrumental section (allowing competitors to receive feedback from an instrumental specialist) and also linked to the House system, giving students the opportunity to win points for their respective Houses. Throughout the year, we were delighted to welcome some highly esteemed musicians to adjudicate each of the competitions. In the Michaelmas Term we welcomed Jessica O’Leary and Amanda Hurton to judge the string and piano competitions respectively. It was the turn of the woodwind and brass competitions in the Lent Term and it was an honour to host both Paul Harris (esteemed clarinetist, composer and educationalist) and Mike Lovatt (Professor of Trumpet at both the Royal Academy and Royal College of Music and Principal Trumpet of the John Wilson Orchestra) to the RGS to adjudicate these. All of the adjudicators were immensely impressed by the sheer breadth and depth of playing in each of the classes and many of the competitions were hotly contested with some truly remarkable playing on display.

Music Competitions

Masterclasses

In a new initiative for the department, we were excited to host our first masterclasses this year. Kicking off in the Michaelmas Term, we were delighted to run Woodwind and Brass Masterclasses in a joint venture with RGS Prep. Open to all junior woodwind and brass players from both departments, boys were able to perform a piece and receive feedback from two distinguished musicians - Noel Langley (regarded as one of the finest trumpeters in Europe, Professor of Trumpet at the Guildhall, and guest principal trumpet or soloist with all of the major symphony orchestras in London including the LSO, RPO and the London Sinfonietta) and James Rae (saxophone professor for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and one of Europe’s most published writers of educational wind music).

In the Lent Term, we were privileged to welcome Chenyin Li, an acclaimed international concert pianist, to give a masterclass for six of our most talented young pianists in the Recital Room. Chenyin listened to performances ranging from Mozart to Gershwin and was astonished at the musicianship and ability on display, and gave each individual valuable, high-level guidance on their playing to challenge and develop their interpretations. Chenyin, who also teaches at the Guildhall Junior Department, was impressed with how responsive the boys were, and was very touched by the clear dedication and hard work that each had put into their performances. She said she had been ‘exhilarated’ to find that the craft of Classical pianism was still flourishing and wanted me to pass on her thanks to the boys. The participants were George Christiansen, Ruvin Meda, Alfred Hong, Rohan McCauley, Joseph Howes, and James Dicker.

All three events were huge successes and we are very much looking forward to repeating and expanding this programme of masterclasses in the coming years.

Concerto Concert with Southern Pro Musica

In September, in front of a packed audience, we returned to Holy Trinity church for the premiere event in the Music Department calendar, the Concerto Concert, which featured seven astonishing performances from U6th musicians accompanied by Southern Pro Musica, the professional orchestra for Guildford. This was the third attempt to put the concert on, thanks to Covid, and the whole evening was a complete celebration of the wonderful talent of our musicians, Ruben Berstecher (piano), Solomon Poole (horn), Salvatore Nigrelli (oboe), Harry Hodge (piano), Stan Lawrence (trumpet), Henry Forrest (Saxophone) and Alex Thow (piano).

The standard of playing took everyone’s breath away and the atmosphere and support from the audience was overwhelming, with standing ovations galore for every performer. It was thrilling to hear such powerful live music played exceptionally by these young men, who have now left RGS with a memory that they will treasure for the rest of their lives.

Main picture and right:

Joseph Ryan (Violin) and Mr Clive Williamson

Below: Felix Johnson (Violin)

Thomas McLean (Trumpet) Joseph Howes (Saxophone) James Dicker (Piano)

Musician of the Year

Since its inception over twenty years ago, the final of the Steynor Prize or RGS Musician of the Year has undoubtedly become one of the highlights of the musical calendar. Established to showcase the extraordinary abilities of some of the school’s most able musicians, this year’s final, held on the evening of Wednesday 9 February, was no exception. After a hotly contested preliminary round, five finalists were selected - Joseph Ryan (violin), Felix Johnson (violin), Thomas McLean (trumpet), Joseph Howes (saxophone) and James Dicker (piano). Together they performed a recital that was remarkable, not only in terms of the breadth of its musical programme, but for the outstanding levels of musicianship on display.

The School was delighted to welcome as adjudicator Mr Clive Williamson, one of the country’s foremost pianists and former Director of Performance at the University of Surrey. Selecting a winner at a competition where the overall standard is so high is never easy, but this was made even harder when each of the performers tackled extraordinarily complex music and performed it with such astonishing accomplishment. However, by the narrowest of margins, the adjudicator awarded The Steynor Prize to a performer who exhibited both technical prowess and exceptional levels of musicianship, Joseph Ryan. Congratulations to Joe, and to all the finalists who can each be immensely proud of all they have achieved. Special thanks must go to Jan Newman, whose faultless and skilful accompaniment enabled each boy to perform to their full potential, and was, as always, a highlight of the evening.

Musician of the Year never fails to deliver the most wonderful music but for this to be achieved with such a youthful set of finalists is simply extraordinary. Yet again, this incredibly special concert proved to be an exceptional evening of music making which had the appreciative audience enthralled from start to finish.

School Choir

Commemoration Service and Carols from the Cathedral

The School Choir continues to be one of the largest school ensembles. With only a matter of a few weeks to prepare for its first performance at the annual Commemoration Service in Guildford Cathedral, it really has to hit the ground running. In a slightly revamped Service, the choir took a more prominent role with three musical items including Gordon Jacobs’s setting of the National Anthem, John Rutter’s setting of The Lord Bless You and Keep You now in addition to an anthem. Accompanied by brass and organ, the choir rose to the challenge of singing Parry’s I was Glad, which made a suitable magnificent return to live music making after such a prolonged period with no singing at all. It was fantastic to welcome choristers from RGS Prep to join us in the choir stalls and I very much hope that this will establish a new tradition of the two departments coming together at such an important occasion for the RGS community.

With the imposition of new restrictions towards the end of the Michaelmas Term, the difficult decision was made to cancel the Cathedral Carol Service this year. Instead, a pre-recorded performance by the School Choir was produced and released to the RGS community entitled Carols from the Cathedral, enabling the School Choir to put all their hard work preparing for the services to good use. The choir was on fine form, and received many delightful comments regarding the high levels of musicianship on display from the boys involved.

During the Lent Term, the choir turned their attention to a performance of John Rutter’s Feel the Spirit - a report of which can be found as part of the orchestral concert report.

Commemoration Service in Guildford Cathedral

“

It was such a treat to welcome back in-person concerts once more.

Piano Concerts

Two Piano Concert

Thursday 14 October, Jan Newman (Head of Keyboard) and Maureen Galea (Teacher of Piano) gave an exceptional recital of music composed for two pianos. The programme included Libertango by Astor Piazzola, Schubert’s Fantasie in D Minor (dedicated to John Simpson) and Rachmaninov’s Suite No 1 for Two Pianos. The evening also included the premiere of a work composed for the duo by Peter White. The rapturous applause that was received at the end of the evening was rightly deserved and yet again affirmed how lucky we are to have two such astounding musicians within the department.

Junior Piano Concert

It was such a treat to welcome back in-person concerts once more and in November, over thirty young pianists turned out to play in the Junior Concert, which is traditionally our first public concert of a packed musical school year.

The Recital Room was filled with supporters, friends and family of the participants, and it was so gratifying to meet so many new fresh faces as well as pianists from the second and third form, and all under one roof once again.

The programme of pieces was incredibly varied, ranging from players relatively new to their piano studies to boys who were already approaching Grade 8, performing pieces that were impressive and well presented. Many performances were from memory, and so much of the playing promised well for the future, as the enthusiasm and keenness to participate was clear to see.

Senior Piano Concert

During the Lent Term, the Senior Piano Concert took place after a Covid hiatus of two years in front of a full audience in the Recital Room. It was an impressive event that showcased over sixteen performances from pianists from the Fouth Form to the Upper Sixth Form and was made all the more remarkable by the contributions from the Fifth Form as they have been sitting their mock GCSE's over the past two weeks - reason enough to have stayed at home! For many of the performers, this was their first opportunity to play in public for two years and it spoke volumes about the boys that they were fully supportive and engaged throughout the entire concert, which lasted for an hour and a half due to the demanding standard of repertoire on show. There were some hugely impressive, musical performances all of which were thoroughly enjoyed by the appreciative audience with the highlight being the wonderfully energetic and characterful performance of the 3rd movement of the Gershwin Concerto, given by Joseph Howes, that brought the evening to a close.

Senior Piano Concert

ORCHESTRAL AND CHORAL CONCERTS

Michaelmas Term Orchestral Concert

It was fantastic to host our first orchestral concert at the end of the Michaelmas Term. Despite the return of several restrictions, it was lovely to be able to welcome many parents, staff, and supporters to watch both the RGS Symphony Orchestra and Concerto Consort make their return after such a long period of time. After a term of intensive rehearsals, the audience was treated to music making of the highest standard. Opening with Rossini’s overture to The Barber of Seville, the Symphony Orchestra quickly showed that they were back on fine form with notable solos from Lorcan Reed (4A), Tom Millar (L6-1) and Seb Dye (U6-5).

The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the performance of Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns. Under the baton of Head of Strings, Dale Chambers, this was the perfect piece to showcase the sheer depth of talent of both our String and Piano departments. Interspersed with Ogden Nash’s humorous poems, masterfully read by Jack Fuller (L6-5), 14 of the department’s ablest pianists performed this work with a breathtaking display of talent and musicianship. Both Robbie Mackay and Evan Amiss deserve mention for their exquisite renditions of The Swan and The Elephant respectively. Following a brief interval, the Senior Woodwind Ensemble made its first appearance with three movements from Mozart’s Serenade in B flat major, Gran Partita. This was difficult music to pull off, but under the instruction of Iona Garvie, Head of Woodwind and Brass, the boys rose to the challenge. The Symphony Orchestra returned to conclude the evening with a performance of Shostakovich’s Jazz Suite No 2. The expansive and often difficult string writing, coupled with some technically demanding woodwind passages, were handled with skill. This feat was more astounding given the relative youth and inexperience of many of the players. It certainly bodes well for the future of orchestral music at the RGS. This was a true celebration of the return of live music making at the RGS and each performance was met with rapturous applause and standing ovations aplenty.

“We were honoured to welcome the internationally acclaimed mezzo soprano, Melanie Marshall.”

The Lent Term concert opened with Florence Price’s Concert Overture No.2. This symphonic overture for orchestra is typical of Price’s musical style and draws its melodic inspiration from three spirituals, Go Down Moses, Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit and Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen. The Symphony Orchestra deftly negotiated the demands of Price’s score, playing with both warmth and rhythmic energy. The depth of orchestral sound produced by such a young group of performers was truly impressive.

Under the baton of Dale Chambers, Concerto Consort took the platform with performances of Astor Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. Originally composed as four separate pieces for violin, electric guitar, double bass, and bandoneon, it was not until various ensembles began to perform arrangements of these pieces that parallels to Vivaldi’s group of eighteenth-century violin concerti were made. This arrangement includes interpolations of Vivaldi’s original with notable solos for violin and cello. Featuring a range of demanding extended instrumental techniques, this is challenging music, but the players rose to the occasion with aplomb. Joseph Ryan (3R) and Robbie Mackay (L6-2) deserve praise for their notable solo passages. Switching from the intoxicating rhythms of Argentina to eighteenth-century Venice, there followed a rendition of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Cellos in G Minor. Featuring Noah Campbell (U6-5) and Sebastian Dye (U6-5) as the soloists, these performers exhibited great instrumental control and dexterity.

In their first major concert performance of the year, the Lower School Choir, under the direction of Lorraine Wild, performed two short choral works - Sarah Quartel’s See the Light and Peter White’s Vent Frais. The choir were on top form and performed with real sensitivity, handling some tricky harmonic passages with ease.

The highlight of the concert was undoubtedly the performance of John Rutter’s Feel the Spirit. Featuring the combined forces of the Lower School Choir, School Choir and Symphony Orchestra, this exhilarating choral work is a cycle of seven familiar spirituals, expertly arranged by the composer. We were honoured to welcome the internationally acclaimed mezzo soprano, Melanie Marshall, to join us as the soloist in this performance. This was a particularly special treat as the work was written especially for her and she gave the premier performance in the Carnegie Hall in 2001. From the rousing opening of Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho to the more sensitive movements such as Steal Away and Deep River, this performance was one that will be remembered by all lucky enough to be there. The 200 performers involved clearly enjoyed this fantastic piece, taking their lead from the inspirational soloist. Melanie remarked that this was the youngest group that she had ever performed this piece with and was blown by away by the outstanding level of musicianship on display.

Both concerts were truly fantastic evenings of music making of the highest quality.

Wind and Brass Ensembles

The three Ensembles’ Concerts throughout the year are the perfect platform to showcase our Wind and Brass Ensembles. Of all the instrumental families, Wind and Brass Ensembles were perhaps the most problematic throughout Covid. However, working within limited numbers and restricted to year group bubbles, these were able to continue. This meant that when Concert Band, Big Band and Swing Band were reformed in September, the standard of playing was in very good shape. These groups are always the most fun and participation amongst the boys has been at an all time high. Highlights from their performances this year include I’m a Believer, Big Band Signatures and Hudson Parkway Drive. Big Band is very much looking forward to their first overseas tour next July.

Samson

On Monday 27 June, a large and appreciative audience was treated to the first performance of Samson by the renowned choral composer, Jonathan Willcocks.

This project was conceived just before the pandemic began and sought to draw many of the strands of the RGS community together in one place to make music. Culminating in a performance at Guildford Cathedral, this concert combined not only the musicians from the RGS Lower School Choir, First Form singing classes and Lower School Chamber Orchestra, but the RGS Prep Choir, and professional musicians from Southern Pro Musica. We were also delighted to be joined by twenty-five members of our Strictly Strings orchestra, comprised of pupils from Years 5 and 6, who have recently graduated from our String Scheme, which delivers free string tuition across several primary schools in the local area.

The concert opened with four short choral pieces performed by the RGS Prep Junior Choir under the direction of Sian Ford. This outstanding performance, all performed from memory, was truly impressive. With some notable solos from such junior boys, the future of singing at RGS Prep and, in turn, the RGS looks bright and assured. The RGS Lower School Choir followed and, under the baton of Lorraine Wild, they sang Peter White’s Vent Frais and Benjamin Britten’s The Ploughboy. The choir was on top form and performed with real sensitivity, handling some tricky harmonic passages with ease.

Then it was the moment that we had all been waiting for – the first performance of Samson. This new choral work, composed especially for the music departments of the RGS and RGS Prep, took the biblical story of Samson and Delilah for its inspiration. The Old Testament is full of dramatic stories and that of Samson has it all – bitter rivalries, romance, betrayal, and destruction. Willcocks’ score masterfully navigates these extremes of human emotion from the outset. We were delighted to welcome Hugo Herman-Wilson, fresh from his performance at Glyndebourne, to sing the role of Samson. Hugo’s powerful voice left us all shaken in his depiction of the destruction of the Philistine’s temple. Hannah Dienes-Williams’s portrayal of Delilah beguiled the audience in her tender love duet with Samson, whilst her anguish at her betrayal of her lover was agonisingly depicted in her grief-stricken vocal laments. The final movement saw everyone present come together to sing the final verse of John Chadwick’s hymn, Eternal Ruler Of The Ceaseless Round. This rousing performance, with performers and audience alike united in song was a fitting conclusion to what had been an inspirational afternoon of music making. The performance was met

with rapturous applause and standing ovations aplenty, which was deeply gratifying for the performers and composer alike.

With around 200 performers involved, to say that this was a logistical and musical challenge is somewhat of an understatement. However, every single performer rose to the challenge, giving their all in a performance that left both audience and performers alike with a sense of pride and awe at what had been achieved.

Academic Report

The Music Department enjoys a thriving academic life. Throughout the year, boys in the First Form learnt numerous songs and developed their creative skills. All boys performed in Big School on 30 June, as part of a fantastic Music assembly in front of their peers and teachers. The performance really sparked the students’ imagination and fostered their sense of collaboration. The Second Form classes also ended the year with an ambitious project, for which they composed their own soundtrack for a James Bond trailer. The Third Form Music course also gave students the opportunity to engage critically with the subject beyond the classroom. This year, they organised their own lunchtime concerts, as part of their academic lessons, to celebrate the end of the Trinity Term. Through the study and performance of a variety of musical styles, students developed their practical skills, theoretical understanding, and cultural awareness.

GCSE Music students’ hard work and dedication paid off with some outstanding achievements to celebrate. More than 95% of them achieved a Level 8 or 9, despite the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic. The exam board moderator was particularly impressed with the standard of their submission “It was felt that most of the pieces justified full marks as they were stunning examples of GCSE work. [...] It was delightful to hear such a range of genres [...]”.

The impressive A-Level results (100% A*-A) demonstrated how our teaching enriches and extends our students’ understanding of many aspects of the subject, taking them well beyond the examination syllabus and inspiring them with a life-long passion for music.

Mr SJ Orchard - Director of Music

Miss LJA Wild - Assistant Director of Music

ACTIVITIES

Position Points

Points Position Points

Points Sports Day 1 12 2 10 5 4 3 8 4 6 6 2 Art 6 1 5 2 4 3 1= 5.5 1= 5.5 3 4 Badminton 2= 4.5 4 3 2= 4.5 5 2 1 6 6 1 Basketball 2 7.5 3 6 6 1.5 4 4.5 5 3 1 9 Chess 2 5 5 2 6 1 1 6 3 4 4 3 Debating 6 1 2 5 3 4 1 6 5 2 4 3 Drama 2= 6.25 2= 6.25 6 1.5 5 3 4 4.5 1 9 Cricket 1 9 3 6 4 4.5 5 3 2 7.5 6 1.5 Golf 1 6 2 5 3 4 4= 2.5 4= 2.5 6 1 Maths 3= 3.5 1 6 3= 3.5 5 2 6 1 2 5 Music 6 1.5 1= 8.25 1= 8.25 5 3 3= 5.25 3= 5.25 Fencing 1 6 2 5 5 2 6 1 3 4 4 3 Football 4= 5 2 10 4= 5 3 8 1 12 6 2 Hockey 1 12 3 8 2 10 4 6 6 2 5 4 Quiz 1 6 5 2 6 1 4 3 2= 4.5 2= 4.5 Reading 5 2 6 1 3 4 4 3 1 6 2 5 Rugby 1 12 2 10 3 8 4 6 5 4 6 2 Shooting 5= 1.5 2 5 1 6 3= 3.5 5= 1.5 3= 3.5 Softball 1 12 4 6 3 8 2 10 5 4 6 2 Squash 6 1 5 2 1 6 3= 3.5 2 5 3= 3.5 Swimming 3 6 5 3 2 7.5 6 1.5 1 9 4 4.5 TableTennis 2 5 6 1 4 3 3 4 1 6 5 2 Tennis 1 6 4 3 5 2 6 1 3 4 2 5 X Country 1 12 3 8 5= 3 4 6 5= 3 2 10 Totals 143.75 123.5 105.25 102 112.25 94.75 Final Position 1 2 4 5 3 6

SENIOR HOUSEMASTER’S REPORT

In looking forward, the theme of this year’s The Guildfordian, one can often learn by ‘looking back’, to understand our rich history, the reasons for certain traditions, and thus shape the future in keeping with the values of our school. Following two years of lockdown disruption caused by Covid, the centenary anniversary of our House System, during the 2021-22 academic year, allowed the opportunity to celebrate the successes of this system, and ensure it was meeting its original aims by affording all students the opportunities to 'take a more vigorous share in out of school activities.' (The Guildfordian, 1919). During the early years of the competition, students had the opportunity to compete in 12 events, mostly with a sporting theme. The victors were awarded the Hardy Cup, in recognition of a trophy that was kindly donated by Messrs B Hardy and S Hardy in 1923. This was the norm for the following two decades until mention of the overall House championship faded from our historical records.

A House report from the 1962 edition of The Guildfordian contains the first mention of a Cock House. It seems this was a more widely used term, particularly in schools

at the time in which cock denoted confidence or dominance. Thus, the Cock House would be the dominant House, the one which won most of the individual events, or overall championship. Whilst the exact etymology of the term is rather varied, an article in The Journal of British Studies examined the cultural history of playground violence in Britain during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Through frequent playground fights, children would compete for the title of cock of the school, the term attached to the best fighter. By the mid-twentieth century, it is likely this term had evolved into the House systems of many schools in Britain. Considering this origin, we decided to make a change. The name of our House trophy should not be rooted in power, dominance, and winningrather, the very ethos, central to the system, is about respect, teamwork, and fun. Therefore, as a tribute to the kind donors of the original trophy, we resumed the tradition this year and competed, once again, for the Hardy Cup. Today, there are over 20 different competitions, several that are

not restricted by year groups. The recently reintroduced music, for example, is undertaken by grade, not age, and with over 150 participants spread across different instruments, boys had the opportunity to perform publicly, often for the first time since lockdown. Indeed, debating, quiz, and the newly introduced golf, further increased the opportunities for vertical integration and greater team spirit. This is important because at the heart of the House system is the promotion of skills and values, not simply the championship. However, that said, clearly part of the fun is seeing your House name engraved on both the cup, and on the board in Great Hall - giving OG’s the opportunity to revel in their past glories during reunions at the School!

The winners of the first Hardy Cup in 1923 were Austen, and it was fitting that they finished this year as victors yet again. They flew out of the blocks, taking several of the major events during Michaelmas Term and didn’t look back. Well done to Austen and their debutant leader Mr T Vickers, indeed to all students from every House who eagerly participated and enjoyed the year. Sincerest thanks to all the Housemasters and Deputy Housemasters for their boundless enthusiasm and dedication, and for making this a wonderful system for the boys.

Mr K TayarSenior Housemaster & Housemaster of Nettles

AUSTEN

After a disturbed year of House events caused by the infamous Covid, the 2021/22 school year promised a fresh start to the House Competition programme. Fittingly this timed in alignment with the rebirth of the Hardy Cup and Mr Vickers’ debut year as Head of Austen, eagerly looking to replicate the success of Mr Dubois’ Cock House Cup performances through the years.

Led by House Captain Kassir, Austen boys across all age groups were raring to begin the year strongly in the Michaelmas Term. The notorious Table Tennis competition marked a strong start for the House after achieving second place, which was duplicated in the chess, thanks to star players Atara and Sachdeva. Success continued for Austen in the Rugby with fierce lower and middle school sides and there was a fantastic number of runners in the House Cross Country.

Using this momentum, we began the Lent Term as the front-runners,

picking up more House points after finishing runners-up in Basketball and winning the Fencing, Quiz and Hockey with special mentions going towards Law, Al-Qassab and Perryman respectively. With Austen’s first Hardy Cup victory looking likely, there was certainly signs of Powell and Beckingham closing the gap after an out of character performance in House Football.

The Trinity Term was perfectly poised, with availability for House competitions at a high. Results continued to go Austen’s way, becoming champions in the Cricket, Tennis (featuring Caulton) and Golf (with Wiles and George excelling) before performing well in House Swimming across the year groups. This left Sports Day. The Grand Finale. Exceptional efforts and numbers resulted in Austen lifting the Sports Day Trophy and rounded off an exceptional year leading to Austen winning the rebirth of The Hardy Cup after a number of years.

Ollie de Gentile-WilliamsHouse Captain

BECKINGHAM

As we return to school and we head into another year of exciting Hardy Cup action, it is important to look back, reflect and appreciate the efforts of all members of Beckingham and their successes last year.

Last time out we achieved 2nd place in the Hardy Cup competition -a brilliant show of resolve and persistence to bounce back from the prior year and achieve one of our best finishes in years. We managed this feat through dominance both in the classroom and on the sports field with wins in maths and music and 2nd place finishes in football, golf and rugby just to name a few. Our struggle, which put the well-oiled machine of Austin under the most pressure they have experienced for years, was helped by the superb efforts of the First and Second Forms who performed to the highest standard consistently across an immense variety of events.

In particular, our Sports Day success winning nearly all the relays to storm from the middle of the pack to take second place, will be remembered for a long time. A number of records were broken in Beckingham colours, and we hope this dominance in track and field can continue through to next year.

It is also important to mention the individual successes of those in Beckingham. Congratulations go to Johnny Kershaw in the Fifth Form as well as Ollie Cronk in the Upper Sixth Form who both achieved the Beckingham contribution award at Senior Prizegiving. Congratulations also go to our Junior prizewinner, Dylan Fuller. Finally, a big thank you must go to former House Captain Kiran Wright as well as deputies George McGrath and Faaiq Ali and Housemasters Mr Holliday and Mr Mullon, whose hard work last year can be attributed as a big reason for our success last year.

For now, I’m grateful to take over as Beckingham House Captain and join the other Beckingham leaders, Cassian and Tom, as we look to the future and aim to enjoy another year of success.

Ro Wright - House Captain

HAMONDE

have allowed Hamonde to function so successfully.

In addition to the fine tutors, Hamonde has also been lucky to have Austin Humphrey serving as House Captain, his inspirational speeches have always worked to encourage the younger Hamondites. Thank you, Austin.

This year Hamonde hasgone from strength to strength, continuing its trend of improvement from last year. This year saw the addition of new events to the Hardy Cup Competition and Hamonde has tackled these with enthusiasm and success, for example, the Hamonde boys gave excellent speeches in House Debating narrowly missing out on the finals in both age categories.

Hamonde has also seen some amazing sporting successes this year. From winning House Shooting to coming second in House Badminton, Hamonde boys continue to demonstrate their skill and commitment. Other notable mentions include winning the House Music competition and a hard fought third place overall in House Rugby.

Although I run the risk of missing the names of many boys, I would like to highlight some who showed outstanding contributions and commitment to House events:

First and Second Form: Billy Hauck, Alex Wang, Freddie

Masefield, Theo Odhams.

Third Form: Thomas McMurray, Joe Pontin, Zack Grover.

Fourth Form: Ollie James, Dewi Phillip, Alex Mann, George Christiansen.

Fifth Form: Max Hackett, Ben Bury, Jack Williams, Robert Storey.

Sixth Form: George Williams, Elliot Sinclair, Barney Doyle, Ishan Nathan, Oliver Waghorn, Boldi Paladi-Kovacs (new House Captain) and Seb Lear (new Deputy House Captain) and our departing leaders: Austin Humphrey (House Captain), Barney Doyle and Lawrence Duggan (Deputy House Captains).

Perhaps the most important thing to celebrate is the exceptional House spirit that defines the very nature of Hamonde. This year has seen the boys improve their sense of camaraderie and commitment both within year groups and more importantly across year groups. Indeed, Hamonde was able to field full teams for all events. A special thank you must go out to the superb Tutors that Hamonde is lucky to have, especially to Mr Casale (Housemaster) and Mrs Wilson (Assistant Housemaster) whose tireless enthusiasm and dedication

He has now handed the reigns over to me, Boldi Paladi-Kovacs, as House Captain and to Seb Lear as Deputy House Captain, who are excited to keep improving this great House. We know that through dedication and hard work from all, Hamonde can continue to climb in the rankings and return to its rightful place. Go Hamonde, go!

Boldi Paladi-Kovacs - House Captain

NETTLES

The 2021/22 year was full of enjoyment for everyone in Nettles. A year of individual and team highlights and achievements, but also a year of learnings.

There were strong efforts in the art competition with us finishing joint 1st with Powell - special mention to Sam Chapman (5N) who won the Senior category. The Fifth, Fourth and Third Forms were also strong in the table tennis being the outright winners of the middles category and also the winners of the shooting. A middles team of Alex Judge, Jago Halliwell and Mahil Vasanth; coupled with Junior team of Calum Badenoch and Joshan Mangat were fantastic in the debating, winning the event. Very promising signs for the year ahead. Chess being a notoriously strong suit for Nettles, with the infamous Golding brothers leading the charge, resulted in a comfortable 1st position. The Fourth Form impressed once again with a joint 1st finish with Powell in the football helping Nettles to finish a valiant 3rd overall.

Sports Day, possibly the biggest House event of the year was full of drama and excitement as always. Joe Thorneycroft (4N), a superb athlete, won both the 100m and 200m, helping to lead his Fourth Form to second overall. In the lower years, Harry Lock won the first year long jump and Ted Edwards-Davies threw an excellent 21.04m to win the javelin. The biggest performances were perhaps in the open events where all sprint races, A and B string, were won by a Nettles runner. This was expertly backed up by Louis Wilby, Seb Correia and Robbie Timberlake in the throwing, contributing towards a convincing open victory. While we only finished 3rd overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable day for all those in attendance.

All the successes of the past year couldn’t have been possible without the leadership team of Matt Slominski, Dylan Toulson and Matt Lovell. They were always encouraging and dedicated towards the House being a perfect example for everyone to follow. One person who followed closely in their footsteps was Alex Judge who,

having worked hard all year, was deservedly awarded the Nettles award. As their time has come to a close it is onto the coming year where we will no doubt face some challenges but the most important thing is that we embrace these and be proud to represent Nettles.

Tom M Humphreys - House Captain

After two years of interrupted school life due to Covid, it was great to have the House events back in full swing this year allowing the Powell boys to show off their superb grit and determination. Our teamwork and enthusiasm, along with Mr Cowx’s and Mrs Rathmell’s great encouragement, gave us a year that Powell should be proud of.

The year had a promising start with House Table Tennis, where our Senior team were the first to compete and finished in first place after a strong performance. This set the standard for the lower years, who rose to the occasion and Powell were able to take first place overall. In the second half of the Michaelmas Term, House Rugby took place and after many passionate performances on the pitch, we finished a slightly disappointing fifth place. This meant we had to play catch up in the subsequent terms.

However, the Lent Term got off to a rocky start as we came sixth in House Hockey, but the Powell boys were not put off by this and achieved first place in both House Reading and House Football, getting some much needed points on the board for Powell. This gave the boys renewed motivation allowing us to carry momentum into the Trinity Term.

Sports day was the main event on the horizon as we entered the Summer Term, but despite Mr Cowx’s wise words we only managed a fourth place with Austin taking first and running away with the overall lead. However, the year was not over as we took a superb first place in House Swimming, putting us in third place at the end of the year. Having finished the year off with such success, I cannot wait to see what Powell can bring in the 2022/23 season.

Mr WD Cowx - Housemaster

VALPY

another triumph, with Valpy coming second in that. Therefore, whilst things did not go our way in the softball and ultimately we finished lower than we hoped we were able to hold our heads up very high.

Our first uninterrupted school year since the 2018-19 season was truly an eventful one for Valpy. The return to normal House Assemblies greatly contributed to augmenting our House spirit and that newly revived House spirit could be seen in our initial results in Michaelmas Term. Strong performances across the years in the cross country meant we achieved second place in that competition. In subsequent competitions, it was great to see the resilience of Valpy boys as we never came last overall in any competition that term, coming fifth in table tennis and fourth in House Chess… until House Rugby. Rugby has often been a fickle friend of Valpy’s, and this time unfortunately rugby simply did not go our way-although it is notable to mention the tremendous efforts of the Sixth Form team which fought their way valiantly to win their competition.

Coming into Lent Term, things were most definitely looking up for Valpy, for Lent Term contained the majority of the competitions Valpy thrives at. Strong performances across the years in House Quiz helped us attain an excellent second place and similar strong

performances helped us attain the same standings in House Reading as well. We absolutely steamrollered the opposition in Basketball achieving our second victory in that competition in two years. Unfortunately, our main undoing was the House Football. Confusingly, coming last in that competition was enough to relegate Valpy from a strong third place to sixth place in the Hardy Cup standings! However, what was encouraging was how close the competition was- a mere five points separated Valpy from third place.

Coming into the summer there were plenty of activities to look forward to. The newly returning House Debating was an exciting competition, and the men of Valpy did not disappoint. Our Lower School debaters had an incredible performance to come first in their age category. However, in the sweltering June sun, on a day where temperatures reached 34 degrees Celsius, despite such amazing efforts and individual performances, we came sixth on Sports Day. After these unlucky results, the new fight to escape last place in the newly renamed Hardy Cup ensued… Valpy blew away the competition in House Drama through excellent individual and collective performances, easily coming first. The House Maths was

After such an enthralling year, there was no better way to end it than through a Valpy ‘party’, to celebrate 100 years of the House Cup. It was wonderful to see so many boys from Valpy come along to help tie off a great year for Valpy, even if the scoreboards would try and suggest otherwise.

Patrick Majumdar - House Captain.

HOCKEY

Another enjoyable season of RGS Hockey has come and gone. The leaving Sixth Form can be exceptionally proud of their time representing the RGS.

The 1st XI exceeded expectations in the 2021/22 season. Coming into the season on the back of the pandemic with all its difficulties - least of all with less club hockey having been played – we fully expected a slow start. However, the boys’ collective spirit was not deterred and we enjoyed some fantastic results against good sides. Particular highlights include a brave comeback to win

the match from two goals down on three separate occasions: against KCS Wimbledon, Reigate and Reed's. In addition, the 1st Team won the St George’s College 6s competition for the first time - a commendable achievement at this annual tournament which has been running since 1978. This year, there were 28 teams in attendance.

Another first for RGS Hockey; the U15A team were entered into the Independent Schools Cup this year. They were knocked out on penalties at Warminster School, during the third round. This is an exciting addition to the program offering more competitive playing opportunities for our boys.

1st X1 vs St Georges'

1st X1 vs St Georges'

“The 1st XI exceeded expectations in the 2021/22 season. Coming into the season on the back of the pandemic with all its difficulties. ”

The First Form were given fantastic opportunities to play for the school in the Lent Term. On the first weekend, RGS put out eight U12 teams to play against Guildford Hockey Club in a friendly fixture.

To highlight just a few individual achievements is always difficult. Ben Jansen (U6-10) received a handful of Premier League Caps for his club side, Old Georgians Hockey Club. Thomas Bull (5B) and Ehsan Anwar-Khan (L6-1) were crowned National Champions with their club U16 team for Guildford Hockey Club.

A special thanks to Mr T Owens, who went over and beyond to ensure that the Senior Hockey boys had a season to remember.

We are grateful to both staff and parents who continue to support and encourage the boys to take part in and enjoy. Thanks to all for an excellent season.

Mr

C Mullon - Head of Hockey

Guildford HC

Guildford HC

RUGBY

Several RGS boys have been selected for representative sides this season; 1st XV player Tom Humphreys represented Harlequins U17’s whilst 1st XV teammate Max Birtley regularly featured for Surrey U18’s and narrowly missed out on London and Southeast divisional selection. We have an exceptionally talented Fourth Form cohort, and this

After a Covidenforced break in 2020, it was fantastic to return to rugby action for the 2021 season. It was difficult to predict with any real certainty exactly how this hiatus would impact on participation, but I am incredibly pleased to say rugby has remained extremely popular at the RGS. In fact, absence seemed to make the heart grow fonder and we experienced unprecedentedly high numbers of boys attending training throughout the season. This enabled us to field more than 20 teams and provide competitive opportunities for approximately 400 boys across all age groups on a regular basis.

Whilst summer travel restrictions disrupted many holiday plans, it did provide the games department with the opportunity to run a comprehensive pre-season training program which was very well attended by boys in all age groups. Pre-season gave coaches valuable time to work with players, improve fitness and help boys to safely prepare for their return to contact rugby.

After missing their South Africa tour and the entire 2020 season, members of the Sixth Form were determined to make 2021 a year to

remember and they certainly achieved this.

The 1st XV produced several outstanding performances to record a 30th place final ranking in the Daily Mail Trophy Merit Table and victory over St Paul’s for the first time in a decade was undoubtedly the standout moment in a memorable season.

There have been many other highlights; the resumption of our annual First Form Super Friday participation event, the dominance of our U15 teams, the increasing standard and popularity of the new non-contact House Rugby events and the 2nd XV victory over St Paul’s to record a rare double to name just a few.

has been recognised by Harlequins who currently have seven RGS boys involved in their U15 Developing Player Program. Archie Hosking’s (OG18) impressive form for Exeter University led to his inclusion in the Exeter Chiefs Premiership Cup Squad in November and former 1st XV captain Luke Wyllie (OG21) recently represented Oxford University vs England U20’s.

B Dudley - Head of Rugby

Mr

1st XI vs Reed's

1st XV Rugby vs St Paul’s - Final Score

1st & 2nd XV Rugby Final Home Game

FOOTBALL

Asuperb year of RGS Football saw over 150 RGS students playing football each week, from the Fourth Form’s attempts to dodge freezing weather on the AWTA, to Senior Footballers playing competitive fixtures across seven teams. Perhaps most encouraging were the enthusiasm and enjoyment on show across all age groups, especially seen in the large numbers of @ RGSGFootball Fourth Form regularly attending morning training sessions. The Fifth Form footballers were equally committed, and performed exceptionally in a series of challenging and enjoyable matches. Lead by Captain Berty Chilcott, there were also stand out performances from talented footballers like Paddy Kerr and Kian Moodley.

The Senior footballers again lead by example, playing over 75 matches against footballing powerhouses such as Hampton, Charterhouse, Westminster and Bede’s. The commitment, application and skill on show were superb, and some of the football played was genuinely exceptional. Highlights came thick and fast throughout the season, including a Mattia Santoni 2nd XI inspired 3-1 win against Kingston Grammar School, a Jonty Durie brace in a dramatic U17 XI 4-3 victory against a combined Old Boys XI, but a superb 4th XI 2-1 victory against Cranleigh with Patrick McKendry and Ben Thomas netting the winning goals was hard to beat.

1st XI Football vs Westminster - All players & ARL

1st XI Football vs WestminsterAlexander McDougall (L6)

At 1st XI level, a hugely successful year saw players and the team excel, and a 2-1 win against Westminster in the final game of the season really did showcase the talent on show and the progress made. Players of the Season Sam Astles (Captain) and Dominic Stagg shined, and Ben Yates secured the RGSG Golden Boot… from right back!

A final huge thank you to coaches Mr Williams, Mr Presley, Mr Vickers and Mr Dodd, who gave up a huge amount of their time and showed great passion for, and knowledge of, the game.

Mr AR Lowe - Head of Football

1st XI Football vs Westminster - Ben Yates (U6)

1st XI Football vs Westminster - Luke Galpin (L6)

CRICKET

After two years of disruption to cricket fixtures, it was a real pleasure to see a full season played out this year without interruption as the weather behaved impeccably.

The 1st XI had a good year playing seventeen matches and winning twelve of these. Stand out results were against Hurst, Dulwich and KCS Wimbledon. A special mention should be made to Henry Amis and Rohan Gupta who scored their maiden 50s and 100s respectively and Ed Eves, who took 5 - 51 against Hurst, whose team contained four players who had represented Sussex 2nd XI the day before. Captain Tom Humphreys has also impressed with scores of 89*, 88, 78* and 59 - averaging 52.9. Opening Bowler Seb Stuart-Reckling enhanced his claim as an allrounder with a powerful 57 vs St Pauls. Unfortunately, the 1st XI were unable to defend their RGS Festival victory of 2021, despite winning 4 of their 5 matches; a loss to Lancaster ensured that the trophy didn’t return to Guildford.

The 2nd XI produced some really encouraging performances over the summer. Victories against Hurst and Dulwich were highlights. Nidhish Gonella, who scored 73 and 64*, Anu Rathore with a score of 83 runs, Malachy Talty for his impressive 5-4 vs Dulwich and Will Wieland’s awe inspiring 75*.

The Under 15 year group had mixed fortunes although there were some impressive individual performances. Special mention should go to Thomas Bull who scored 382 runs with an average of 54.6 and Ollie James for his 5-11 vs Hurst and 4-35 vs Trinity. In the Bs, George Wilson scored 54 vs KCS and Noah Bourne-Waterhouse took 5-16 vs St Pauls.

The U14s had an outstanding year with some memorable individual and team performances. Highlights included block victories over Trinity, Dulwich and Cranleigh and a brilliant knock of 100 from Sam Bagley vs Epsom College in the cup, and an unbelievable spell of 6-6 for Leil D’Souza in the Cs.

All of the Under 13 teams had a tough season playing against some really strong opposition. The moment of the season was the brilliant cup victory vs Reed’s where Harry Griffiths made a great 56 ably supported by Under 12 Ollie Pickup who finished on 83 en-route to a mammoth team score of 218 from their 20 overs.

The 12As reached the Quarter Finals of the T20 cup, only losing to Reed's in a super over. Ollie Pickup’s 50s vs Trinity, KCS Wimbledon and Dulwich College, and an amazing spell of 5-0 against Howard of Effingham were all very impressive. U12D and E teams also played this year with fixtures against Aldro, GHS and Highfield. It was pleasing to see so many in the year group representing the school.

This season the following boys also achieved well-deserved 50s: Toby Rathmell, Barney Sutton, Soj Ghosh, Tom Baker, Arran Chandran, Alex Kay, Alex Jourdan, Cameron Brown, Saul De Gruchy, Zak Tinkler.

Mr RC Black - Head of Cricket

1st XI vs Reed's

U15A vs Reed's

There has been a good turnout at badminton club on Friday afternoons and Wednesday lunchtimes with some very strong younger players who will be looking to play for the teams next year. The Wednesday sessions run by Dr Patel for the First and Second Forms has ensured that students of all abilities from First to Sixth Form have had the opportunity to partake in this sport as a co-curricular activity.

There have been Under 19 and Under 16 matches against Wilsons and Reed's. The Under 19s lost to Wilsons but beat Reed's. The Under 16s lost both of their matches. The badminton season finished with a series of nter-House matches. There were four competitions: the Sixth Form competition was won by Powell; the Fifth Form was won by Nettles; there was a combined Third and Fourth Form competition which was won by Hamonde; and the combined First and Second Form competition was won by Austen.

Outside of school this season Sid Shirol is to be congratulated on having won the U13 English National Badminton Championship in both the Singles and Doubles Mixed events. In recognition of their success in playing for the school for a number of years and for representing the U19A team, Theo Collins and Lawrence Duggan were awarded their half-colours. Full-colours were presented to Sam Baker, Faaiq Ali and Pravinth Aravinthan.

Sam Baker, who has a national ranking, has always been willing to help others improve their game. In recognition of his commitment and leadership as the School badminton captain, Sam was awarded the Lawson Cup for services to badminton.

Mr AB Kirkland - Head of Badminton

“

Sid Shirol is to be congratulated on having won the U13 English National Badminton Championship in both the Singles and Doubles. ”

Sid Shirol

BASKETBALL

This year saw the return of regular Basketball training and fixtures for both the U16 and U18 age groups.

The U16s put on an impressive display against Guildford County School, winning 71-56. With many impressive performances throughout, it was an opportunity for the team to build chemistry and look ahead to a full season of fixtures as they enter the U18 squad. Meanwhile, the U18s enjoyed their first full season of Basketball fixtures since the return to school following the various lockdowns. With the main core of the team having played together for several years, the on-court chemistry proved to be an invaluable asset in the face of adversity in many games. Their most impressive performances came against local rivals Guildford County School and Charterhouse, with the win against Guildford County School acting as a defining moment for Basketball at the RGS.

I would also like to take this opportunity to further extend my and Mr J Richards thanks to the outgoing Upper Sixth. Your ongoing dedication to the club and the spirit in which you play has inspired many of the Second, Third and Fourth Form to take up Basketball, and pushed those already playing in the Fifth and Lower Sixth Form to become better players. Your commitment to the sport and its development at the RGS speaks volumes about your character as individuals. From everyone at the club, we all wish you the very best for the future.

Mr SL Dennett - Head of Basketball

Team photo

Fin Laffan (U6-9)

Efe Görgüner (L6-2) and Jack Doyle (U6-13)

This has been another memorable season, and we have achieved notable successes in county, national and international levels. In the Surrey championships, we won two silver and two bronze medals, with Valentine Wallin finishing on the podium for both foil and épée in the U12s. Felix Johnson won silver medal in the Surrey men’s intermediate épée.

Freddie Cheng was selected to represent Southeast in the prestigious Cadet Winton Cup. The competition is named in memory of humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton who organised the rescue of 669 children in the Second World War. It is a real delight that Freddie’s team won both foil and the overall cup.

The Public Schools’ Championships resumed in 2022 after an absence of two years due to Covid-19. The best result was Ronit Sachdeva earning his first bronze medal in a major individual event. Ronit managed to win 11 straight fights in a row before losing the semi-final to the top seed in the U14 épée. Zed Law also won a prize by making the quarter-final in the U18 foil. However,

things did not go our way in the U16 foil, and it was disappointing that we did not make a medal position.

House Fencing was keenly contested this year and Austen were the overall winners. Powell won both the junior and middles categories and Beckingham was victorious in the senior.

Xavier Wallin became the fourth RGS fencer to be selected for the U17 national squad, and he represented GBR in both Bratislava and Paris. Xavier achieved a particularly good placing of 106th out of 280 in the Paris Marathon International.

Ronit Sachdeva, bronze medallist in the Public Schools’ Championship

Freddie Edgecliffe-Johnson on the piste

Freddie Cheng’s team winning the Cadet Winton Cup

Valentine Wallin with a medal in Surrey Epee

Public Schools’ Championships Plaques

Zed Law in the Public Schools’ Championships

The last national competition of the season was the British Youth Championships in May. Five RGS fencers qualified to represent the Southeast for the event. Xavier came 7th in the U18 foil and defeated the reigning Public Schools’ champion convincing along the way. Zed Law also made the Last 16.

The season ended with the Surrey Team Championships and the RGS competitors fenced with their stablemates from

Cobham Fencing Club. We won an impressive hoard of medals with Xavier and Freddie winning gold medals in the U18 team foil. Felix won a gold medal in the U18 team épée and Ronit’s team was in second place. Josh Hine made his debut in a county event and teamed up with Valentine in the U14 foil. They also came second and only lost to the top team by a narrow margin.

Perhaps more important than winning medals and trophies is the enthusiasm shown by the boys learning to fence for the first time in Fencing Club. Many of the beginners have enjoyed taking part in House Fencing and there is no doubt that they will be highly successful in competitions in the future.

It is a pleasure to thank our fencing coach, Mr Bengry, for training our fencers both in the RGS and in Cobham Fencing Club. My thanks also go to Leo Kamstra (OG) for his coaching in the Public Schools’ Championship.

Mr WS Lau - Head of Fencing

RGS fencers with our coach in the BYC

Felix Johnson on the piste

Xavier Wallin silver medallist in Surrey

Valentine Wallin (R) scoring a hit

The 2021 and 2022 season had a lot to live up to following the comprehensive success that was the previous year and a cloud had already shrouded RGS sailing… With our sailing superstars in the U6 occupied by exams and work (a strange thing in these times) there were several large gaps in the first team, and the rumblings of long serving members of the team, Henry Hawkes and Ben Shackleton, was clear to hear. The ever present threat from the speedy Rutland team or the dominance from Sevenoaks were striking fear into the hearts of the sailing squad. The impact of Covid was rearing its ugly head again as we had not had a chance to incorporate newer junior boys into the ranks, things seemed desperate.

However, new hope was just over the horizon. As long days of the autumn term turned short we were undergoing a recruiting drive. New sailors were being found and developed. The like of Harry Simmons, Oscar Lay, Ben Goldsmith, Alex Judge to name but a few, were coming to the front and learning from the outgoing masters. Perhaps the situation was not as bad as first thought. As we approached the summer events the team knew there was work to be done, but they were not about to shy away from the challenge.

the water again at our home event. Fifth Formers fresh from the recent GCSE exams stepped back into the fold, but the hours spent behind books had done nothing for our confidence or performance on the water with the team ended up fifth.

The BSDRA Southerns, the traditional first fixture in the calendar saw one or two of the U6 prised from the revision books and a typically stella RGS sailing performance followed with the team grabbing 3rd place. The weather took its toll on the Easterns and so it was off to Bristol for the Westerns with a youthful team and some good learning. Half Term came and went and before all too long we engaged on

The team decamped to Itchenor for its traditional week of racing on the sublime waters of Chichester Harbour, staying once again at the 5* Dickinson House complete with pool, table tennis and large lawn for rugby in the evening. It was wonderful to be back after 2 years away due to Covid. A host of new junior and middle school boys tasted their first experience of this fantastic event, while some old hands taught the new apprentices the art of the tide. A fantastic week was had by all. As we approached the climax of the season the National Schools Team Racing Finals, I knew we would not be the powerhouse we once were, but I was confident we would find a solid midfleet placing. However as so often happens at the RGS the boys stepped up to the challenge and produced some strong racing to finish 5th overall and 4th School Nationally. Henry Hawkes led from the front and was ably assisted by Rob Mawdsley and Josh Inglesfield. With the team staying consistent into the coming year I am hopeful of some useful gains in 2022 and 2023.

Mr JC Witts - Head of Sailing

Ben and Harry during the BSDRA Finals

Alex and Haytham at Itchenor Juniors

the BSDRA Finals Team

Jago and Olly powering along during Itchenor Seniors

SHOOTING

Despite not being able to participate in the sport for about twenty months prior to the start of the academic year it proved to be a strong year for shooting. Success was had in the Michaelmas and Lent terms with wins over Lancing College, Wellington, Epsom College and St John’s Leatherhead. Special mentions go to Scott Swanepoel (5A) and Adam Zhang (5V) who scored 98/100 against Bradfield College, to Third Formers Finn Heath (3E) and George Hewlett (3E) for competing against Wellington College and to Joshua Myers (4H) in the Fourth Form who scored a maximum of 100 while in the VIII during the Lent term. The big event in Lent was the British Schools’ Divisional Championship. The B team won

their division, ably led by top scorer Tyron Anderl (L6-13). Congratulations also go to Brandon Tan (L6-5) for placing in the top ten nationally. At the end of the Michaelmas term we bid farewell to D J Woolcott who retired after serving twenty years as Head of Shooting, the range has been renamed in his honour.

During the summer term we competed in the CCRS Club Matches. Special mentions go to Dan Cobley (U6-8) for winning the Nash trophy for individual firing in the Clayton Challenge and to Bruce Behn (U6-1) for winning the Surrey Rifle Association individual trophy. The results also came in this term for the BSSRA International. Bruce Behn (U6-1) competed for the England B team who won their match with a total score of 1,927.

In July, fourteen boys from Fourth Form to Upper Sixth took part in the Schools’ Meeting at Bisley. Despite a lack of experience in the team the boys did a sterling job. They did not come away with the Ashburton Shield this year but Joshua Myers (4H), Peter Carvell (U6-5), Ben Vary (L6-5), Tyron Anderl (L6-13) and James Nicholas (4V) all placed in the top one hundred cadets. Joshua Myers (4H) placed fifth in the Cadet Grand Aggregate with a score of 278.19, achieving the highest number of v-bulls in the competition. The VIII won the Green Howards Country Life trophy, the East Surrey Bicentennial Bowl and the Queens Regiment Cup. Tyron Anderl (L6-13) came third in the Elizabethan and Freddie Weir (5N) came first in the reserve aggregate with a score of 103.3, in comparison to second place’s 98.5.

My sincere thanks go to S G Black, E K D Bush, J Underwood and M Whicher for the colossal amount of time and effort they invest in the sport every year and for making my first term as Head of Shooting a very enjoyable experience.

Dr EA McEwan - Head of Shooting

(Back row) Capt. Black, A Zhang, B Vary, F Weir, 2Lt McEwan, P Carvell, T Anderl, J Myers, Sgt Whicher, (Front row) B Cunningham, J Bowater, Raahul Pulendraraja, James Nicholas, Jonathan Lee

Ben Vary (L6-5), Tyron Anderl (L6-13), Brandon Tan (L6-5) at Bisley

Shooters and coaches at the CCRS Club Matches

Dan Cobley (U6-8) and Bruce Behn (U6-1) at the CCRS Club Match

SKIING

Friday afternoons in the Trinity Term saw 22 boys from the First to the Sixth Forms training at Alpine Snowsports in Aldershot in preparation for the ESSKIA Schools’ Championships. 5 teams took part in the regional qualifier in September with good performances all round. At the end of the day, both of our U16 Teams qualified for the English Finals in Norwich where

the A Team was placed 5th. The following day, we had 2 teams in the English Open Championships and British Qualifying race. Both

Teams were placed in the top 13 and thus qualified for the British Championships to be held in Llandudno at the end of November. Sadly storm Arwen had other ideas and with trees down on the access road the event was postponed until March. The team consisting of Charlie Lock, Will Gossage, Jack Weeks and captain Charlie AldridgeBate went to Llandudno to compete in the postponed British ski racing Championships. Teams from England, Scotland and Wales took part and after good performances by all we were placed 7th in Great Britain. This is an excellent achievement. Congratulations also go to Jack for being placed 11th in the individual event. This was Charlie Aldridge-Bate’s last time in the finals for us, having been selected in our British Team every

year since he was in the First Form. By coincidence, his race number in both the first and last events, six years apart, were the same. Congratulations to all who took part in the race series.

In November, we also entered the Surrey Schools’ Race Competition, with our A Team being placed second. Congratulations to Jack Weeks who had the second fastest time in the event.

Mr SJH Yetman - Head of Skiing

ESSKIA Qualfiying Round - Aldershot

British Finals Team

Will Judd Racing in the Regional Races

U16 Teams at Norwich

Surrey Schools Competition Medal Winners Charlie Aldridge-Bate and Oliver Atkinson

Charlie in the First Form in 2015

TENNIS

This season has been notable for the enthusiasm of the boys and their parents to get stuck into normal life again post pandemic.

Weekly tennis club sessions at Woking and on the AWTA have been fully subscribed all year around. The summer curriculum games sessions have also been hugely popular. Over 60 boys from the sixth form opted for tennis this year as their games option and we have had to use all the courts that are available including Stoke Park to accommodate them all.

This year we were able to reinstate the annual pre-season tennis and surfing trip to Cornwall. Again, fully subscribed with 24 Third Form boys making the journey to Newquay for five days of tennis and surfing tuition.

The Heron Tennis Academy have got planning permission to build Padel courts this year which will be exciting to have available to us next Easter.

The teams competed in the Lawn Tennis Association leagues as well as the Surrey Schools league, the Glanville Cup, The Rootham Shield and the Surrey Pairs competitions.

There have been many great performances throughout the year, however the U15s and U14s deserve special mention: Harry Caulton, Ethan Davey, Aidan Crouch, Joel Sellers, James Trowbridge, George Christiansen, Thomas Dowson, Julian Lewicki, Oscar Gilliam, Alex Talbot, Ollie Southwell, Eddie Banks, Will Hopwood, Daniel Ward and Archie Attwood. The under 15s finished top of their group in the LTA Teams tennis competition.

The best individual performances were from the U15 pair of Harry Caulton and Ethan Davey who performed extremely well in the Surrey Schools Pairs Festival where they won through the group stages to qualify for the quarterfinals against very tough opposition.

I would like to thank all the staff who have helped keep this season running so smoothly, namely: Mr Presley, Mrs Wilson, Mr Lemaire, Mr Wakeling, Mr Eburne, Mr Thomson (LTA coach) and Mr King (Grounds Manager).

Full colours were awarded to James Caulton for his high standard of play and his commitment to the team. He is also appointed Captain of Tennis for next season.

Half colours are awarded to Owen O’Shaughnessy and Seb Lear for their excellent performances and commitment to the team.

Mr JA Casale - Head of Tennis

Third Form at the Heron Tennis Academy, Newquay

COURAGE

Max Baker 2P

“ ”

I think I would like to be a presenter so I could show people the world, help solve the climate crisis and generally make the world a better place.

Co-Curricular Activities

CCF RN Section

The RN Section is thriving with more cadets selecting it as a first choice and more cadets choosing to stay on as NCOs. The leadership team ably led by CPO Dan Cobley with POs Elliott Sinclair and Matthew Warner were supported by an enthusiastic L6 team who show much promise for the year to come. We worked hard to make Period 8 sessions practical and interesting and were also especially pleased to engage a full programme of Field Day activities.

On Field Day 1, we travelled to HMS Excellent on Whale Island in Portsmouth Harbour to join our craft and skippers for the day: two 52’ Fast Motor Launches, a 49’ Halberg Rassey Yacht and a 38’ Sigma yacht. Conditions were outstanding with F3 to 4 northerly winds, calm seas and sunshine. Following induction and brief training, all crews headed out into the Solent heading West with the tide and all made it to Cowes for lunch. One comment was "the best Field Day ever!"

For Field Day 2, our Fourth Form Recruits completed their RYA Power Boat Level 1 qualification at SWAC on the River Itchen in Southampton. An exercise in controlled use of power the cadets carried out a range of complex manoeuvres in ribs such as high speed S-turns (fun!), low speed manoeuvres (parking and not crashing!), and essential safety procedures such as man-overboard recovery. Then for Field Day 3, they travelled to Woodmill Activity Centre where overcast skies and persistent drizzle did not dampen their spirits. The cadets enjoyed a competitive morning of kayaking the River Itchen with Cdt William Holmes found to be both the most powerful and stroke-efficient kayaker. In the afternoon, the cadets demonstrated their creativity with some innovative (if unconventional) raft-building.

FD2 - Fifth & Sixth Form Obstacle Course

FD2 - Fifth & Sixth Form Field Gun drills

FD1 - Fifth Form Sigma 38 Yacht

FD2 - Fifth & Sixth Form Collingwood Leadership

At the same time, the more senior cadets journeyed to HMS Collingwood in Gosport to undertake leadership training via Field Gun, Low Ropes and Obstacle Course exercises. The Field Gun run was the highlight for me; this new venture mimics the traditional field gun races comprising a physical and mental challenge of complex sequences and manoeuvres to move, dismantle, rebuild, fire and return the gun, safely working as a team under time-pressure. After lunch the cadets were encouraged to think about leadership, teamwork, delegation and safe working using physical challenges on the low-ropes course to enhance teamwork and leadership. Finally, the day ended with a run through the Collingwood Obstacle Course where all encouraged to challenge themselves and to support each other; highlights included the 10-foot wall and the RAS-line across the deep water.

Creek nature reserve on the way to Yarmouth for a much needed thaw and hot chocolate in a café. Then back to the mainland with Max Watkinson guiding the pilotage into Lymington before Will Eyles blasted East up the Solent at 35+ knots. The cadets undertook a tablet based treasure hunt in Cowes and then Luke Ong powered back to Southampton in the welcome sunshine. What a great day out!

To round off the year, the whole section travelled to HMS Excellent on Field Day 5 for afloat training aboard two 52’ Fast Motor Launches, a 38’ Sigma yacht, and two 21’ micro-yachts. The wind was strong at F5 to 6 and the smaller yachts had an exciting sail exploring the Portsmouth Harbour channels while not running aground or hitting anything in the gusty conditions. The larger craft braved the choppy Solent conditions exploring the forts, Seaview and even Cowes in the motor cruisers.

None of this would have been possible without the weekly support of Mr Eburne and Mr Muchmore and I thank them for their commitment to the section.

Lt TW Shimell - CCF RN

During Field Day 3, the more senior cadets undertook a Solent RIBEX and after our initial brief and a short planning exercise in the warm and dry SWAC classroom we donned every item of clothing we had including full sailing waterproofs and headed out into Southampton Water. Within five minutes we were drenched by sideways rain and flying spray as we slammed back down off the choppy waves caused by the strong southerly. In the poor visibility and holding on tightly we buoy-hopped as planned with Aaron Chamberlain shouting out the bearings as Alessandro Harker did his best to see where he was going on the helm. Conditions calmed as we reached the lee of the Isle of Wight and we visited Newtown

FD3 - Fouth Form RYA Power Boat Level 1 Course

RAF Section

For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, the RAF Section was able to operate relatively normally, with regular Period 8 and Field Day activities. The NCO team was superbly led by Omid Hariri, who demonstrated outstanding organisational skills and always led his team of NCOs from the front. The success of this year was very much down to Omid’s hard work and enthusiasm for the RAF and I thank him for everything he has done for the RAF Section. My thanks also goes to Pilot Officer Busby and Flying Officers Woodman and Wimblett for their help in both Field Days and Monday Period 8 sessions. Thank you to Flying Officer Wimblett in particular for her years of service to the RAF and I wish her a happy retirement.

The cadets cover the RAF syllabus provided for us by Headquarters Air Cadets including flight simulator training, airfields and aerodromes, principles of flight, ranks of the RAF, the history of the RAF, aircraft in the RAF, aircraft recognition and flight safety. The variety of the topics covered combined with the excellent presentations by the NCOs led to a very successful year’s training.

Field Days included paintballing and high ropes, indoor skydiving at iFly in Basingstoke, a field-craft and navigation day at Bramshott Common, and museum trips to the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon and the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum. Unfortunately due to the pandemic, the flying and gliding did not come on stream this year, but the RAF have confirmed that Air Experience Flying at RAF Benson will commence for our cadets in September 2022, which is great news!

Sqn Ldr EKD Bush - CCF RAF

Drill practice

On exercise in Bramshott Common Shelter building on Field Day

Leadership tasks on Field Day

Indoor skydiving

Tangmere aviation museum

The RAF memorial at Tangmere

Army Section

FIELD DAYS

This year it was pleasing that the Army section of the CCF have returned to training at numerous local training areas and facilities. Field Day 1 saw the Fifth and Sixth Forms fine tune their marksmanship skills on

the dismounted close combat trainer at Pirbright before live firing on their 100m range, supported by upgrading their practical first aid skills. On Field Day 2, the senior cadets spent the day on exercise on Bramshott Common. Having carried out a close target recce, the sections then planned and carried out an assault on the enemy. The new joiners were trained and tested on the cadet rifle in preparation for future Field Day activity. On Field Day 3, all the cadets spent the day on Bramshott Common taking part in Exercise Solid Foundation. The boys carried out training in camouflage and concealment, movement in the field and some low-level tactics before putting

them into practice, along with their basic skill-at-arms using the cadet general purpose rifle in numerous blank firing scenarios. They mainly demonstrated good skills which was particularly impressive considering the weather on the day.

On Field Day 4 the Army section carried out their annual 24hr fieldcraft exercise. Once rations had been supplied and the cadets had been upskilled in carrying out ambushes on the Allen House field, they departed for Bramshott Training Area in Liphook. On arrival, once rifles and other equipment had been issued and the safety brief completed the exercise began with a patrol into a harbour area, setting up of BASHAs before practising platoon attacks and the fire and manoeuvre skills learned on Field Day 3. After that the boys enjoyed cooking and eating their rations, which most found surprisingly good. Just after nightfall the platoons moved out to carry out a deliberate ambush of a narrow valley. All ran to plan and having achieved the objective, they returned to their harbour and the comfort of their BASHAs for a good night’s sleep. At 0620 and completely rested, both platoons went out and carried out two separate platoon attacks before departing the training area to return to school and clean their rifles.

In the field

Cadets depart the HQ on FD3

The attack on FD4

In field training on FD2

On Field Day 5 the day was split with half a day taken with Laser Tag Rifle and Paintballing Bramshott Common where the boys practised their combat skills under the supervision from the team at Battlesoft and the other half live firing on the ranges at Longmoor. The boys fired at 100, 200 and 300m, with some impressive scores by some. The final activity of the day was MTA leadership tasks. These large Meccano-style kits always prove to be a hit, especially with a competitive component.

SUMMER CAMP

During the first week of the holidays, 15 cadets from all three sections spent the week on the 11 Brigade CCF Summer Camp held at Crowborough Camp taking part in an excellent and varied training package. The first two days were spent on fieldcraft training with a reminder of basic fire and manoeuvre before progressing to assaults in built up areas before a platoon attack on numerous enemy positions. This was complemented by survival stands, laser quest fieldcraft and a night in BASHAS. The next training serial was adventurous training based both on the water (kayaks, rafts and SUPs) and land-based: archery, climbing and mountain biking. There was then a day training in camp where the boys went paintballing, learned about weapons of both the British and other armies, firing on a dismounted close combat trainer, clay pigeon shooting before learning to assemble a field gun and go over an army assault course.

The final day was competition day which covered all of the above activities and also a drill competition.

The boys worked hard as a team all week and were proactive and effective throughout. In the end, the Contingent were placed 3rd out of the 12 teams overall in the competition, which was an excellent result with such a young team. We also won the assault course event and came second in the shooting with very positive feedback on the drill.

LtCdr SJH Yetman - Contingent Commander CCF

Summer Camp

Team Building Challenge on FD5

Summer Camp Laser Tag

Assault course

Axe throwing & Archery

Climbing

Chess

to famous chess matches of the past. As is usual, he used the last session to play a simultaneous game against all of the boys at once, which is always good fun! Our very own Mr Foster also delivered after school coaching sessions in the Trinity Term.

After a considerably more ‘remote’ chess season last academic year, RGS Chess was delighted to resume its busy over-the-board schedule this year.

Unusually, due to the pandemic, the entire Surrey Schools’ League schedule was squeezed into the Lent Term this year. Our 1st and 2nd VIs competed in Divisions 1 and 2 respectively with our 3rd VI playing shorter rapid-play matches in Division 3. We continue to be very lucky to have the Briant Poulter Surrey Schools’ League, which seems to be the only school chess league of its kind remaining in the country. We plan on having three teams enter again next year.

Chess Club continued to run each lunchtime during the Michaelmas and Lent terms, open four days a week to all ages and abilities. The generally relaxed and unstructured nature of the lunchtime sessions allows boys to simply play chess for enjoyment, with groups of four students often electing to play ‘Exchange’ chess for a bit of variety!

Once again, Ken Coates came in and delivered a series of eight coaching sessions to a group of around 20 keen chess players after school. He discussed various things, from opening and endgame theory

The second ever RGChess tournament took place this year. This took place over several weeks and gave any RGS pupil the chance to throw their hat into the ring and play some chess against fellow students. The matches happened at lunchtimes and the winners of each section were announced in final assembly. We had over 40 boys take part this year.

Our 1st VI have once again seen success in the National Schools Competition, making it all the way to the National Finals (top 20 teams in the country) competing in a swiss-style format over two days to determine the best of the best. The tournament took place in Stratford-upon-Avon this year and, in an incredibly strong field, our 1st VI did remarkably well finishing in a tied 4th place.

Mr HWJ Hadley - Head of Chess

Tournament

Simultaneous

Climbing

It has been difficult not to enjoy the year of Mountaineering and Climbing. Monday afternoons were spent on indoor walls, developing technique and strength. This sounds very focused and intense, but the enterprise is carried out in a relaxed atmosphere of good conversation and mellow tunes that the climbing option is able to offer a welcome break from other challenges in the weeks.

Some RGS climbers are pushing climbing grades that require significant physical ability and presence of mind, while others are getting to grips with technique and learning to push their limits. It is very encouraging to see character among the students: there is much good-humoured teaching and learning that takes place among the group without needing any influence of staff, so that none are left out of the camaraderie.

In the warmer field days we have taken trips to Harrison’s Rocks, a sandstone outcrop near Tunbridge Wells, and trips to Stanage and Portland Island on the south coast. Climbing outside is a different experience and calls for a cool head. The waves pounding the cliffs at Swanage add to the drama; all the more so coasteering at Portland, climbing in caves and navigating underwater clefts in the rock.

The positive mindset of the RGS climbers - students and staff - and the willingness to make the best friendships and days, have made the year a great success. Indoor training, coasteering, bouldering and cliff-climbing are all rewarding and liberating in their own right, but doing so in good company is a rare privilege. My thanks go to Mr Holland and students of the climbing group.

Mr MRF Royds - Head of Climbing

Big moves on the overhang

Crack climbing

Abseil on Dancing Ledge

Cross Country

races and were selected to represent Surrey in an inter-counties race.

Congratulations are also due to all the boys and staff that ran in the Max Windle Trust cross-country race at the end of the Lent Term

Overall much to be pleased with and an encouraging return to normality.

Mr W D Cowx - Head of Cross Country

Cross Country is a sport where many teams compete at an event. It is therefore not a surprise that, this season, there have been some notable cancellations due to the impact of Covid. The situation was made worse by the fact that many schools hold their races in public open spaces, sometimes these were just not available.

Having said that the RGS was fortunate to be able to host our annual Haskell Cup event on Merrow Downs, back in November. Ever a popular event it attracted around 20 schools with close on 50 teams and as always enjoyed by all. In recent years we have also included a girls race within the event.

Despite these constraints, quite a few fixtures have taken place and we have seen some excellent running, with notable successes with the Junior Team, this is very encouraging for the future. Including: the first race of the season where our Juniors won at Charterhouse, back in January, at the Sevenoaks Junior Knole Run, in a quality field of nearly 40 schools, the RGS Juniors were 6th overall, South London Harriers event near Croydon, the Juniors were an impressive 2nd, only beaten by Judd who are the top cross-country school in the country, in March the Juniors visited Danes Hill and from 16 schools the RGS were runners up, an excellent performance, in the English Schools Cross Country Cup, a national event, our Junior Team won the local round and made it to the SE Regional Finals, finishing 4th, just missing out on competing in the National Finals in Cornwall.

A large contingent of RGS boys ran in the Guildford District championships. Around 10 boys were then selected to represent the district in the County Championships at Reigate. Eddie Wilson in the Second Form and George Vickers, First Form ran excellent

Duke of Edinburgh Award

This year has been a busy year for DofE expeditions with just under 400 students on expeditions from the Third, Fourth, Fifth, L6th and U6th Forms as we had some expeditions which we had delayed so we could run fully and free from Covid expedition variations. The report below runs in chronological order.

ignore the frenzied and continuous braying of a nearby donkey. After a good night’s sleep they cleared camp and started their 20km hike back to Guildford. The majority of the teams did very well, being relatively self-sufficient for their expedition and reaching the standard required for the bronze DofE Award, which most are registered for.

Silver Practice Expedition - Fifth Form to Brecon

At the start of Half term 30 pupils and six staff departed for the Black Mountains to complete a two day and three night expedition. On the first day, the teams were accompanied by staff and completed the required

Bronze Qualifying Expedition - Fourth Form in September to Surrey Hills

On the Sunday and Monday of FD1 141 boys from the Fourth Form, supported by 13 staff, completed a two day expedition on the hills and heathlands of Surrey. The day started with rain, which is always good from a training point of view and a staggered start from Hindhead. After issuing the final kit, completing the safety brief and ensuring that they looked like accomplished walking teams, they departed on their route from the Devil’s Punchbowl, across the navigationally challenging Hankley Common to arrive at the campsite in Tilford 15km later. Here the boys completed a revision on campcraft and cooking before putting both skills into practice before settling in for the night, attempting to

in field training before being supervised more remotely. The sunny and clear conditions on the first day were not replicated on the following ones with some wet and challenging conditions. Most of the teams rose to the challenge and by the end were in a position to proceed to Exmoor in July for their Qualifying Expedition. The movement from Practice to Qualifying is not a given and two teams were given action plans and further training to complete in order to meet the required standard.

The day after the Silver practice returned, two of the Silver staff, accompanied by two additional staff returned to Wales, this time the Brecon Beacons with 18 members of the U6 to complete their Gold Qualifying Expedition. After a night in a bunk house, the teams departed for their four days away, where they experience cold, wet and windy conditions to complement the stunning Brecon landscape. The teams performed well and exceed the standard required.

The Fourth Form depart on this Bronze expedition dressed in their Hawaiian theme

If it isn't raining it isn't training!

Third Form celebrate a birthday on their Bronze Expedition

At the end of March, it was the turn of the L6 to head to Brecon for their Gold Qualifying Expedition. Having had a day to recover from the Lent Term, the 34 students in six teams and five staff met in North Court at the leisurely time of 9.45am on the first Sunday of the holidays for the start of their Gold Qualifying DofE Expedition. Although the clocks had changed the night before, so it was actually earlier than it seemed, the boys enthusiastically and without complaint unpacked their meticulously packed rucksacks to allow the staff to complete the required kit check before they reassembled all they required for their three-night and four-day expedition.

The boys then completed their four-day expedition around the Brecon Beacons in what was the most fantastic weather conditions, with glorious sunshine for much of it, some wind and only a little rain on their last night. This little rain turned to light and then heavier snow for the last day, which pleasingly gave the teams an insight into how quickly the weather can change and helped reinforce why hats and gloves were on the kit list, although the clear and cold first two nights had already probably done this. It also pleasingly arrived as the teams were descending to the end point!

After an excellent journey, the teams were established in a bunkhouse in the Brecon Beacons which was to be home for the night before the expedition started. The bunkhouse location, nestled on the shores of Pontsticill Reservoir provided a fantastic backdrop for the teams to enjoy a fish and chip supper, sitting outside under a cloud-free and starry sky, around a roaring fire, impressively constructed by Messers Royds and Shimell.

groups of L6 Formers developed into teams and rose to the challenge of the award, all being successful having completed a route of approximately 80km and over 3km of ascent over the four days and carrying all that they needed to be self-sufficient. It was good to see how well they got on together, helping each other through the harder times, with this spirit continuing on our return to Guildford, post-expedition, with the cleaning and hanging of kit in preparation for its return to the store.

The

Gold Camaraderie in Brecon

Gold Qualifying - Fish and Chips by the fire before the expedition begins

The Gold Team reaches Pen-y-Fan

Bronze Expeditioners at Tilford

On Field Days 4 and 5, the Third Form, in two halves, met members of staff at the Devil’s Punchbowl in Hindhead for their Bronze qualifying expeditions. Both expeditions followed a similar pattern.

Shortly after 10.30am, the boys with their rucksacks, laden with essentials began to arrive. After being registered and marshalled into the clearing in the woods where rucksack fitting and overall appearance was checked. Once in their teams, they collected their maps and route cards for the day, along with survival bags and compasses.

Next stop the holding area, where teams were released at 5 minute intervals to complete a short loop through the NT grounds for a final check on their navigation skills before being allowed out to head towards Tilford and the campsite.

Although it was only another 16km or so there was plenty of space for the teams to test their navigation across Hankley Common, the golf club and onward past Tilford green (where a cricket game was underway) to their campsite at Garners field. Once in camp and the kit check complete, tents went up and dinner was cooked. The light evening made it ideal for their own game of cricket, until lights out at 11.00pm. Monday morning was a very early start, mainly because of the early sunrise and certain fowl that like to wake up super early! By 6.00am, nearly all the teams were up and about, making breakfast and taking tents down. After breakfast, the industrious activity continued, cleaning Trangia’s (until they had a mirror like finish) and handing them in. Their second set of route cards and maps issued as the team made their final preparations for the long walk ahead (this time about 18km, unless of course they went wrong!). By 07.30am, several teams were waiting to go. With the first team released at 7.55am, all the teams were soon on their way for the second day of their expedition.

As we got to the halfway point in Puttenham, the rain had started but still, the first of the teams arrived in good spirits, if a little wet. Waterproofs on and they were sent on their way and it was only 10.50am.

The last of the teams were through the checkpoint by 2.00pm, by which time the first team was safely back at school having finished their expedition. Over the next two hours, the rest finished, tents put up to dry and all on their way home!

The Final expedition of the year, was the Silver Qualifying Expedition for 22 members of the Fifth Form, accompanied by three staff. The four teams enjoyed fantastic conditions on Exmoor and all the successful teams met the requirements.

There is no way that we could run such a wide ranging and varied programme without the support of the staff team. We run all the expeditions in house and I am grateful for the assistance of the core team of regulars supported by a large number of other staff for the Field Day expeditions.

Mr SJH Yetman - Head of DofE

A Silver Team enjoy the sunshine on Exmoor

The successful Silver Teams

Hiking

Despite a few cases of inclement weather, the past year has yielded some fantastic locations on Field Days and period 8 hikes. The first Field Day hike presented the group with panoramic views of the Surrey Hills around the Devil’s Punch Bowl, whilst several other routes (both Field Days and period 8 walks) were accompanied by the River Wey.

Since the Monday period eight hikes are set in and around Guildford, the Field Days allow for a pleasant change of scenery. For instance, the second Field Day offered a memorable hike around a rather wet Wimbledon Common, which was then followed by a sunny circuit of Richmond Park where we saw many deer and distant views of St Paul’s Cathedral. After a few indoor Period 8 Ordnance Survey lessons in the Lent Term, the group set out to the North Downs on Field Day 3. The 18-kilometre hike starting and ending at school was plagued by heavy rain, but morale remained high as a total ascent of 348 metres and an average of 26,800 steps were accomplished during the day.

In terms of weather, the Trinity Term was much more forgiving. As if the first Field Day hike around Haslemere had not been hilly enough, the Field Day 4 hike took place around the now-infamous Box Hill. The 13-mile route began with the initial extremely steep climb from the A24 to the top of Box Hill. A stiff start with rewarding views! By contrast, Field Day 5 presented a largely flat and sunny route along the River Wey from West Byfleet to Guildford. The chance to work the locks to allow canal boats to pass through was a highlight and rounded off a very enjoyable year of hiking.

Tom Streatfeild U6-7

Enjoying a view of the North Downs

View from the sunny Haslemere hike

Mountain Biking

Mountain Biking as a period 8 option returned after a forced pause due to Covid and enjoyed a great session at the RGS. With weekly sessions taking advantage of the school’s proximity to some great terrain around St Martha’s Hill and Newlands Corner, we try to mix things up by working on both our fitness and our riding skills. The local area is full of hilly and challenging routes that get the heart pumping; the traditional starting climb up to Pewley Down being a case in point. During the weeks either side of Christmas we also add in a little gym and spinning.

Field Days are a chance to stretch our legs a little more and visit the Hurtwood area, Holmbury Hill and Swinley Forest, places that have a national reputation for off-road cycling and some excellent cross-country and downhill tracks. We have also visited two purpose built downhill areas that challenged everyone in the group. Rogate and Tidworth Bike Parks both pack in a huge variety of tracks that include twisty berms, technical rooty sections and some huge jumps (if that is your thing). Our visit to Rogate back in March was particularly challenging, with wet weather gradually causing the conditions to degenerate to a point where the bikes could hardly make it down the hill. It is in conditions like this that the boys really show their best; everyone rides to the best of their ability, we all help and support each other and this makes every Field Day, regardless of the weather, hugely rewarding and great fun.

The boys have been truly outstanding this year; the occasional fall is to be expected but another year has passed without a serious injury in the group. Rider of the year goes to Tom Stork, who came riding even when he was on Study Leave!! Finally, huge thanks to Mr Mullon and Mr Gray for their help and company throughout the year.

Dr JS Braithwaite - Head of Mountain Biking

Outdoor Pursuits

The Field Days continue to be an excellent source of fun, and also provide the opportunity to enhance relationships, try new activities, and develop key skills; namely teamwork, communication, leadership, and resilience. The electric go-karts at TeamSport, Farnborough, allowed for plenty of chaotic driving, spins, and superb lap times – special mention has to go to to Jake Szekeres, who posted a blistering 43.9, just a tenth of a second slower than F1’s Alonso’s time! The knee-boarding at Thorpe Lake certainly

With a return to normal school life, we were able to resume a full programme of Outdoor Pursuits activities. 120 students, from both the Fourth and Fifth Forms, commenced half-termly Period 8 rotations of: Ultimate Frisbee, street dance, Siege Machines (building trebuchet style catapults), cooking, archery, climbing, and the newly introduced board diving at Guildford SpectrumStar Diving club offered excellent, tailored tuition to help the boys grow in confidence as they worked their way higher up the different boards. Cooking this year has also been enhanced courtesy of catering manager Karen Riches and her team. Students have produced various dishes including: stir-fry, pizza, homemade burgers, and a Christmas treat - impressively decorated gingerbread houses!

tested the boys’ resilience - some suffering multiple face plants before they successfully managed laps of the lake –but none gave up, and several successfully graduated to the wake-boards by the end of the day. We were also treated to some rather impressive wake-boarding jumps and tricks by Jacy Williams, one of the top boarders in the country for his age group, and Mr Vickers who had a few moves up his sleeve too!

With Bushcraft at BigHat Bushcamp and paintballing completing the Field Day offerings, the boys have certainly had an excellent time. My sincerest thanks to all the staff whose enthusiasm and support make OP a great success.

Mr KP Tayar - Head of Outdoor Pursuits

Calm before the storm

Fourth Form enjoying Thorpe Lake

Ready to hunt the teacher

Lifesaving and Surfing

Field Day 1 (September 2021): 20 boys from the Lower Sixth and 6 from the Upper Sixth Monday 8 Lifesaving and Surfing group travelled to Mawgan Porth for surfing lessons. The weather was excellent and there was masses of surf. The boys battled hard in tricky conditions. The beach was red flagged on two of the days due to strong rip currents, but as the boys were with a recognised surf school and with their lifeguards the lessons were allowed to continue. Rip tides are essential for surfers. They use them to their benefit to 'get out back' before surfing the waves back into the beach. So, all was well, and a great time was had by all.

Field Day 2 (November 2021): Before our departure, excitement ran high as we had dreamy conditions forecasted. How little did we know as by Thursday morning the conditions had drastically changed with 27mph wind expected and 18ft waves. However, as has become a norm our enthusiastic and knowledgeable surf instructors at Kingsurf found the perfect locations to score good waves.

On Friday morning Porth welcomed us with unspoiled long rides while shielding us from the wind, the sun helped us warm up after a chilly start. With no shortages of waves, the boys excelled themselves in their efforts

as we were chasing the tide for our afternoon surf at a different location: Harlyn. Here we were reminded of the importance of respecting the power of the sea, when conditions changed, we ended the session just before the beach turned into a giant rip. In the evening we were fortunate to have the use of a local indoor pool for our enjoyment and recuperation, followed by a delicious meal at a local restaurant before a strongly contested table tennis competition back at Mawgan Porth Village Hall. On Saturday morning we returned to Porth Beach and once more it didn’t disappoint. The boys again excelled themselves in effort, perseverance, and good company, not to mention their exceptional skills as DJ’s.

Field Day 3 (March 2022): A hardy group of 18 Lower Sixth Form Lifesavers and Surfers braved the elements to take an extended field day trip down in Newquay. The weather conditions were warm but breezy. With 12 foot waves pounding the exposed beaches we took sanctuary in Porth Beach where the waves were smaller and more manageable if somewhat choppy due to the extreme conditions. The boys did very well both in and out of the water. The RGS Dryrobes being essential to keep warm in between sessions as indeed was the double pasty lunch. Patrick McKendry, Jonty Durie and James Aberdour impressed with their skill and determination, but all the boys caught great waves and made good progress.

FD1- Cornwall

Field Day 4 (May 2022): The Lower Sixth Lifesaving group travelled to Mawgan Porth for three days of great weather and very manageable surf. Although the regime of a long journey, sleeping on the floor of the village hall and grazing on a diet of McDonalds and cornish pasties may not be conducive to explosive power in the waves the boys were as ever superb. They displayed endless energy in the sea and likewise on the beach with football and other high jinks. Despite their exhaustion, they managed to surf everyday and sang the entire way home in the minibus. McKendry, Banks, Durie, Galpin and Pearce excelled as did Zhang who was trying surfing for the first time.

Field Day 5 (June 2022): An 8-man crew of hard-core L6 surfers journeyed to Cornwall and braved the seas at Mawgan Porth in sizeable waves. It was hard to find a clean green wave in the first few sessions as the sea was turbulent with wind and swell. However, on the

last day the waves relented a fraction and the boys’ skills improved such that most were able to make it out the back. Here they were greeted by the infamous steep and fast Mawgan Porth low tide left hander. James Aberdour and Tom J Humphreys excelled themselves by getting out to the green waves on a regular basis. The others in the group persevered in the reforms and improved their confidence and consistency considerably. Despite the surf induced exhaustion each day, the boys managed to play football on the beach, pitch and putt and table tennis before relaxing at the cinema which we set up in the village hall.

My thanks to Mrs Wilson and Mr Crew for making these trips possible.

Mr JA CasaleHead of Lifesaving and Surfing

FD4 - Cornwall

FD5 - Cornwall

SCHOLARSHIP

Zac Warham 5P

“ ”

In the future I want to go into medicine. In my view one of our main purposes in life is to show kindness to others and for me, the best way to do this is through becoming a doctor and helping people.

SCHOLARSHIP

THE SCHOLARSHIP CONFERENCE

The Scholarship Conference, in its fifth year, is one of the pinnacles of the RGS calendar, and this year was no exception. Despite two disrupted years due to the Covid pandemic, we returned ‘in-person’ to the Auditorium to welcome five speakers, experts in their respective fields.

Senior Prefects and event organisers - left to right

Front: Dilan K Patel, Alex Jones, Tom Wright, Ishan Nathan, Aradhya Soneja, Moog Clyde.

Back: Mattie Sutton, Cam Allan, Ollie Liversedge, Seb Norris, Matt Scully, Benji Chapman.

Our theme for this year’s Scholarship Conference was The Unimaginable, and so we were really setting our speakers up to fail by attempting to ‘imagine the unimaginable’ in their talks! Nonetheless, they all spoke with real insight and excitement, one commenting that it was novel to be talking to real faces, not just “blobs on a computer screen!”. P rofessor Melanie Bailey from the University of Surrey spoke with real poise about how our fingerprints can convey information which would have been unimaginable in forensic science a decade ago; Martin Harris OBE brought with him his ‘diplomatic bag’, and spoke with passion about the unimaginable atrocities in Ukraine, and how our security in Guildford is dependent on the security of those people in Ukraine. We were privileged to welcome two Old Guildfordians to speak, too. From the University of Cambridge, Dr Gareth Conduit (OG 2002) relived memories of battles between the Chemistry and Physics departments to see who could produce the largest explosion, before explaining how his

company is quickening the process of drug synthesis using machine learning, and Rabbi Alexander Goldberg (OG 1993) told the audience how cohesion and reconciliation can occur between communities who believe they have unimaginable differences. We finally heard from Professor Guy Leschziner, Consultant Neurologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals, who stunned the audience by explaining that sometimes we genuinely cannot imagine something before we react to it, and how our brains can trick us into believing things we would not initially deem imaginable.

Mr ST Herman-Wilson - Head of Scholarship

Left to right: Mr Harris OBE, Dr Conduit, Professor Leschziner, Rabbi Goldberg, Professor Bailey

Mr Harris OBE on ‘What’s in the Diplomatic Bag

Academic Prizes

(Simpson)

Aradhya Soneja Electronics (Lazenby)

(Leech)

Alastair Stenning English (Simpson)

Ronan Lenane Geography (Feaver)

Oli Rathmell History (Green)

Dominic Stagg Mathematics (Bailey)

Sam Astles Modern Languages (Broadbent)

George McGrath Physics (Morden)

(Strick) Jack Doyle Co-curricular Contribution (Young)

Dilan K Patel Service to the School (Bowey)

Matt Shaw Service to the School (Hardy)

Tom Wright Service to the School (Daniel)

Ishan Nathan

JUNIOR PRIZE WINNERS

PRIZE

Tutor’s Award for Scholarship

Nnabuife Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Miranda Tutors Award for Contribution to the School

Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Tutors Award for Contribution to the School

Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Tutors Award for Contribution to the School

Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Hyde Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Tutors Award for Contribution to the School

Meadowcroft Tutor’s Award for Scholarship

Ward Tutor’s Award for Scholarship

Sachdeva Tutors Award for Contribution to the School

Chilcott Tutor’s Award for Scholarship

Jones Tutor’s Award for Scholarship

Brown Tutors Award for Contribution to the School

Adrian Groenewald

Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Aidan Grieve Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Percy Fisher Tutor's Award for Contribution to the School

Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Henry Hebburn Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Tristan Lee

Jack Thompson Tutor's Award for Contribution to the School

Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Jamie Withers Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Ben Wilce Tutor's Award for Contribution to the School

Jack Thomson Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Krish Amin Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Thomas Fish

Tutor's Award for Contribution to the School

Calum Badenoch Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Stirling Gauld Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Andrew Kuang Tutor's Award for Contribution to the School

Oscar Hodges

Henry Neal Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Tutor's Award for Scholarship

Dylan Wall Tutor's Award for Contribution to the School

James McIntyre

Special Awards

PRIZE YR NAME

Tutor’s Award for Scholarship 1 Theo Carraretto

Tutor's Award for Scholarship 1 Joshua Broadbent

Tutors Award for Contribution to the School 1 Thibault Amiel

Tutor's Award for Scholarship 1 Theo Odhams

Tutor's Award for Scholarship 1 James Kelynack

Tutors Award for Contribution to the School 1 Ethan Logue

Tutor's Award for Scholarship 1 Thomas Willmott

Tutor's Award for Scholarship 1 Jack Worthington

Tutors Award for Contribution to the School 1 William Richardson

Tutor's Award for Scholarship 1 Alex Hinton

Tutor's Award for Scholarship 1 Ethan Inthirarajah

Tutors Award for Contribution to the School 1 Arthur Ford

Tutor's Award for Scholarship 1 Michael Needham

Tutor’s Award for Scholarship 1 Idris Iqbal

Tutors Award for Contribution to the School 1 Suhaan Kandel

Tutor’s Award for Scholarship 1 Julian Zou

Tutor’s Award for Scholarship 1 Andrew Wang

Tutors Award for Contribution to the School 1 Oscar Yorke

Contribution to Music 1 Adrian Bahari Excellence in Music 1 Nicholas Yang Sportsman of the Year 1 Jake Grant Sporting Excellence 1 Oliver Pickup

Sport

Music

UNIVERSITY DESTINATIONS

LEAVERS DESTINATIONS

Ahluwalia, Amardip Oxford Classics and Russian

Al Jenabi, Arthur Newcastle Chemical Engineering

Aldridge Bate, Charles Nottingham Politics and International Relations

Alford, Matthew Exeter Sport and Exercise Medical Sciences

Alharbi, Saed Post A Level Application

Ali, Faaiq LSE Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method

Allan, Cameron Leeds Geography with Transport Studies

Aravinthan, Pravinth Surrey Economics with Foundation Year Ashwell, Matthew Bath Chemistry (with placement)

Astles, Samuel Warwick Mathematics, Operational Research, Statistics, Economics (MORSE)

Baker, Samuel Cambridge Modern and Medieval Languages

Ball, William Oxford Engineering

Beach, Dominic Bristol Philosophy and Politics

Behn, Bruce Flight School Apprenticeship

Berman, Ethan Durham Physics and Astronomy

Birtley, Max University of British Columbia Bachelor of Arts

Brackstone, Joseph Nottingham Geography

Braithwaite, Alexander UCL Economics

Brosnahan, Frederick Exeter Biological Sciences with Professional Placement

Buckland, Henry Bristol Economics

Burrage, Seb Bath Mechanical with Automotive Engineering (with placement)

Burrows, Jack Exeter Flexible Combined Honours with Work Abroad

Byrne, James Nottingham Trent Business Management and Accounting & Finance Campbell, Noah Manchester Music

Carvell, Peter Post A Level Application

Casale, George Reading Real Estate

Chan, Ashley Bristol Mechanical and Electrical Engineering

Chapman, George Lancaster Geography and Economics

Chapman, Benjamin Bristol English and Philosophy

Clyde, James Durham Natural Sciences

Cobley, Daniel Cambridge Natural Sciences

Colby, Tom Nottingham Aerospace Engineering

Collins, Theo Nottingham Physics with Theoretical Physics

Combes, Oliver Imperial Materials Science and Engineering

Conquest, Vincent Leeds Politics

Craven, William Nottingham Geography

Cronk, Oliver Oxford Brookes Business Management and International Relations

Dewar, Joseph Exeter Flexible Combined Honours with UK Work Experience

LEAVERS DESTINATIONS

Dimov, Philip Liverpool Medicine

Downey, Alexander UCL

History with a European Language (4 years)

Doyle, Barney Manchester Sociology and Criminology

Doyle, Jack Sheffield Medicine (Phase One)

Drury, Yazan St George's Biomedical Science

Duggan, Lawrence Durham General Engineering

Dye, Sebastian Bristol History

Edgecliffe-Johnson, Frederick Nottingham

Politics and International Relations

Eisinger, Harry Exeter Modern Languages

Elliott, Darcy Post A Level Application

Evans, Sebastian Oxford Biology

Ford, Thurston UCL Medicine (6 years)

Forshew, Jack Edinburgh Social Anthropology and Politics

Goldberg, Yoel Nottingham Electrical & Electronic Engineering

Golding, Alexander Surrey Computer Science

Gosling, Finn Oxford Mathematics and Philosophy

Gray, John Durham Accounting and Finance

Gray, Matthew Cambridge Natural Sciences

Grosso, Massimo Bristol Economics and Management

Hafiz, Zain Loughborough

Construction Engineering Management (with placement year)

Hall, Oliver Bristol Economics

Haque, Thaqib Warwick Biochemistry

Hariri, Omid Liverpool

Horgan, Laurence Post A Level Application

Accounting and Finance with a Year in Industry

Humphrey, Austin Bath International Management

Ishaque, Hassan Post A Level Application

Jones, Alexander Cambridge Natural Sciences

Kassir, Matthew Bristol Economics and Politics

Kim, Zion Post A Level Application

Krawczyk-Lee, Tristan Imperial Medicine

Laffan, Findlay Bristol Business and Management

Latham, Henry Sheffield Medicine (Phase One)

Laxton, Oliver Kiyoshi Bath

International Management and Modern Languages - German Lenane, Ronan Exeter Philosophy and Sociology with Study Abroad

Levesque, Gabriel Exeter

History and Politics

Liversedge, Oliver Cambridge English

Lovell, Matthew Oxford Brookes

Economics Politics and International Relations

Matthews, Ollie Nottingham Mechanical Engineering

LEAVERS DESTINATIONS

Mattison, Callum Exeter

International Relations McGrath, George Manchester Geography

McNally, Michael Exeter

Flexible Combined Honours

Mitchell, Alex Cambridge Human, Social, and Political Sciences

Morris, Ptolemy Bath Computer Science

Mueller, Ben Tufts (USA) Bachelor of Arts and Sciences

Mughal, Zain QMUL Accounting and Finance Muntaser, Ziad Bath Management

Murrin, Alec Bristol Economics with Study Abroad in a Modern Language

Naharki, Suyog KCL Medicine

Naidu, Parthiv UCL Biomedical Engineering

Nathan, Ishan Warwick Mathematics and Physics

Nielsen, William Durham General Engineering

Norris, Sebastian Oxford Classics

Osborough, Edward Durham Natural Sciences

Patel, Dilan K UCL Medicine (6 years)

Patel, Dilan R Leeds Sport and Exercise Sciences Perryman, Toby Durham Law

Pressley, Jacques Cambridge Engineering

Rathmell, Richard Durham Geography

Rathore, Anu Post A Level Application

Robinson, Oliver Warwick Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE)

Rooke, Samuel York Film and Television Production

Scholfield Pérez, Alejandro UCL Medicine (6 years)

Scully, Matthew UCL English

Shaw, Matthew Exeter Economics

Shipp, Joshua Birmingham Economics

Sinclair, Elliot Leicester Geography

Slominski, Matthew St Andrews Neuroscience

Soneja, Aradhya Cambridge Economics

Stagg, Dominic St Andrews International Relations and Modern History Steele, James Bath Economics

Stenning, Alastair Nottingham Electrical & Electronic Engineering

Sung, Daniel LSE Finance

Sutton, Matthew Oxford Classics

Taylor, Alexander Nottingham Geography with Business

Toulson, Dylan Exeter Geography

LEAVERS DESTINATIONS

Troman, Chris Post A Level Application

Vejendla, Teja Warwick Economics

Walker, Ned Bristol Economics

Wang, Leo LSE Geography

Ward, Tom Post A Level Application

Warner, Matthew Durham

Modern Languages and Cultures (with Year Abroad)

Watson-Hart, Luca Bristol Psychology

West, Daniel Durham Mathematics (3 years)

Wieland, William Bath Economics

Williams, Max Post A Level Application

Williams, George Post A Level Application

Wood, Louis UCL Medicine (6 years)

Woodfine, Charles Exeter Biological Sciences

Wright, Kiran Dyson Institute Apprenticeship

Wright, Thomas Exeter Business Economics

Yates, Ben Exeter History

POST A LEVEL

Christie-Verma, Kush Durham Mathematics

Geoghegan, Joseph Birmingham International Relations Hill, Harvey Bristol Business and Management

Jansen, Oliver UCL Medicine

Pearson, Alex Sheffield Mechanical Engineering

Price, Oliver Liverpool Medicine

Reid, James Southampton Electronic Engineering

Shah, Eishiv Birmingham Business Management

Thilakawardana, Chanuth Durham

Modern Languages and Cultures

INTEGRITY

Jay Postance 3E

One day I want to find a job that I do not for money or because I have to, but because I love what I do and it helps the world.

BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

SOCIAL INTEGRITY

&

in the development, marketing, and selling of the product. Every member of the team was committed to stepping out of their comfort zone to learn new skills required for bringing the business to life. From social media marketing to LinkedIn messaging to report writing, the team collaborated to grow the business and grow tremendously as individuals.

The Southeast England Finals gave us some invaluable final interview practice against some of the best companies around the region all showcasing their exciting products.

The journey of Young Enterprise has been an unforgettable experience for our team, ShowerSmart We have all learnt so much as a team and grown as individuals thanks to the challenges we faced in creating our products.

To say that it was a slow start from September 2021 would be an understatement. While other teams were beginning the production and selling of their products, we were still discussing what we wanted to create and what impact our business should have. We did, however, all know that we wanted to create something that was innovative, solved a real-world problem, and something that would challenge us all to give our best.

It was under these values that the original ShowerSmart Showerhead was born. It was designed to be a smart and eco-friendly showerhead that could integrate into any home system and give accurate data on how much water people were using while taking their showers. By

doing this, the idea was to change consumer behaviour and encourage people to take shorter showers, reducing both their impact on the environment and how much they spent on water bills. We designed a fully functional web-app to accompany our showerheads so that customers could easily see their own data.

Our first iterations did not match the standards we had set for ourselves and were often laughed at. However, the team endeavoured to embody the spirit of a start-up company – belief. We persevered to improve our product in time for the Dragon’s Den and Surrey competitions. While we were proud to come away from both these competitions as overall winners and winners of the innovation award at the Surrey competition, feedback from the judges and our customers signalled the need for a totally new concept. Thus, the ShowerSmart Mini was born.

With an innovative concept with plenty of room to elevate, the team had their work cut out for them

The tense final moments of that competition made what had once been a distant dream for all of us at ShowerSmart into a reality – we were through to the National Finals.

After facing an interview with a panel of judges, creating a promotional video, and writing a 10-page business report, we are proud to have come away from the competition with the prestigious Innovation award. The National Finals were undoubtedly our highest moment.

We spent months sitting together in our boardroom sharing ideas and laughs in equal measure. Each of us could not have had a more rewarding experience throughout our entire Young Enterprise journey as we all learnt skills which will help us in the real world.

A heartfelt thanks must go to Mrs Timberlake and our business advisor, Max Beech, for their tireless efforts to help us succeed. We simply would not have got to where we did without their guidance and support throughout the process.

Dan Taylor L6-11

COLLABORATION

Alex Kay 4H

“ ”

I don’t know what I want to do when I’m older, but with the right people around me, and the right mindset I know I can achieve whatever I decide.

COLLABORATION

CHARITY AND VOLUNTEERING

This academic year has seen many new initiatives as well as old favourites. In the Michaelmas Term, the Race Across the World with our International Schools saw students travelling as far as they could over one weekend, using innovative non-motorised methods of transport. Our Christmas Fair proved to be as popular as ever with the tombolas alone raising over £1000 thanks to the incredible generosity of the parents. In the Lent Term, we held many sporting events in memory of Max Windle, and to raise funds for his Memorial Trust. Over a hundred students were involved in the swim, X-C run and football. Thirty-five Second Formers slept out overnight in cardboard shelters to raise awareness of homelessness and funds for Transform Housing. Fortunately, all boys and staff volunteers were still intact and smiling in the morning and over £5000 had been raised.

T he Trinity Term saw our annual Bake Off with a Jubilee theme, expertly overseen by Mrs Sweet. Mrs Wilson and Mrs Rathmell ran a popular MFL Charity disco and Mr Owens coordinated a collection for the North Guildford Food Bank. Overall, this academic year, we have raised £25,000 for our nominated charities; Max Windle Memorial Trust, Alzheimer’s UK and Compassion as well as Transform Housing and the DEC.

Max Windle Memorial Run

Race Across the World

Homelessness and Transform Housing sleep out

All our volunteering initiatives have proved popular and successful. Two trips to Pilgrims Wood have taken place to entertain their residents and three working parties with the Blackwater Valley Countryside Trust to plant saplings and dig a pond. Overall, an excellent year and my gratitude to all boys, staff and parents for their commitment to our charity and volunteering initiatives.

Mrs RJ Rathmell - Charity Committee

Pilgrims Wood: Carol Singing Entertainment Event

MFL Charity Disco

Blackwater Valley Pond Digging

GUILDFORD PARTNERSHIPS AND OUTREACH

Partnerships and Outreach typically involves our students and staff getting out into our local community or welcoming others to our school; therefore, unsurprisingly, the past couple of years have made this very difficult. I’m pleased to say that in the 2021-22 year although we started with some restrictions, by the end of the year we were back to full operation and had even added a few new links.

On four Saturdays in Michaelmas, we were delighted to host the RGS Masterclasses for over 100 Y6 students from a wide range of schools. The boys and girls attended classes in one of either Creative Arts, Humanities, Modern Languages, Mathematics, Science or Technology. Our team, led by Mrs Timberlake, of over 20 staff and 50 Sixth Form students were inspirational and the students and parents were effusive in their praise: “Florence came out of her humanities class buzzing with energy and excitement - what a fun and creative way of teaching.”

During General Studies time throughout the year, Sixth Form students from RGS & GHS engaged with a variety of community option choices including, chess clubs at Sandfield and Holy Trinity Primary Schools, oral histories at Abbot’s Hospital, gardening club at Loseley Fields Primary School and visits to Pilgrim’s Wood care home.

During Period 8 activities Fifth and U6th RGS students were also able to volunteer to help others and pass on their enthusiasm. The P8 Kings Maths group welcomed a minibus of Y9 Kings College pupils to RGS each week to deliver stretching problem solving Maths; The P8 Holy Trinity Maths Group travelled to deliver support and stretching Maths clubs with Y5-6 pupils; and the P8 Sports Leadership Group travelled to Holy Trinity Primary to deliver a weekly KS2 hockey club.

There were two new successful ventures this year as well. Eight Fifth Form students volunteered to help mentor Y5 and Y6 pupils at Sandfield Primary School. This programme was developed in partnership with the Sandfield Headteacher who wished to support certain boys with their learning by providing inspirational male role models. The RGS students attended training in mentoring and safeguarding and then independently walked to Sandfield during their lunch break. The scheme was reported in the Sandfield newsletter. Separately, Northmead Junior School asked us if we could help in a similar way with reading support with Y5-6 boys. Three Third Form students attended Northmead before school to deliver their support sessions and still make it back to RGS for lessons. Both of these schemes had a significant impact on the primary pupils and demonstrate the positive effect regular volunteering can make.

Masterclasses

Also worthy of note was the success of the Guildford 11-19 Partnership Interested Motivated & Able (IMAG) programme. The RGS administer and organise this scheme as part of our contribution to the G11-19 Partnership. Member institutions host events and open them up to the whole Guildford school pupil community publicised on the www.imag.co.uk website. Last year IMAG hosted twelve events at seven different locations with a total of over 200 students attending from nine different schools.

During the Summer holidays we were also delighted to be able to share our facilities with two local charities. On Tuesdays throughout the summer holidays, the Sixth Form Centre and quad hosted the GUkraine organisation for a drop in Ukrainian Hub. Each session saw about 100 people - mainly women and children –for a variety of activities from art/craft to chess to nail/ beauty to table tennis and, of course, shared food, drinks and chat. The final Tuesday had a party atmosphere with live music, balloons and cake; The Mayor and Mayoress (Denis and Mary Booth) attended as guests of honour. Debra of GUkraine commented: “We cannot thank you and RGS enough for the amazing support you have given to GUkraine and the Ukrainian community in Guildford and surrounding villages. Without you this would not have been possible. The final party was amazing, but so too were each of the Tuesdays in their own way.”

We also hosted the Big Leaf charity to run an informal evening of football. Big Leaf work with 16-25 year-old displaced people from any country. Local accountancy firm Aristar Accounting sponsored the event and their staff and some RGS students participated.

In addition to these short vignettes: we also ran a few Primary Tudor visit days; The RGS String Scheme continued to teach over 200 Year 4 to Year 6 pupils violin & cello and took part in the Samson Opera (See Music section); We relaunched International charitable expeditions in partnership with Tormead; about 20 staff acted as Governors at others schools; pupils from local partner schools were invited to events such as the careers fair and seminars, university preparation interviews and author visits; Mrs Shepherd designed and painted a mural at Stamford Green Primary School; Mr Holland taught A-Level Physics at Fullbrook School, Mr Marchiafava taught French at Sandfield Primary, Mr Unsworth taught Physics at Kings College, Dr Patel ran STEM sessions at several Primary schools, Mr Hanak-Hammerl ran Maths sessions at Busbridge Primary; The Enquiring Teachers Programme in partnership with the Learning Partners Multiacademy Trust facilitated teachers taking part in action research in schools and we hosted the end of programme celebration; and we have also joined discussions to join a West Surrey Partnership to find more ways to connect our pupils to each other.

RGS String Scheme

As we emerge from the pandemic, we have never been busier and our desire to be a part of our community embedded in the heart of Guildford has never been stronger.

Mr TW Shimell - Head of Partnerships

Mrs Shepherd and mural at Stamford Green Primary School

INCLUSIVITY

L6-9

“ ”

The truth is, everyone is going to die at some point, and I think what matters is achieving what you want to achieve and leaving a positive legacy for others to benefit from.

Gabriel Meadowcroft

INCLUSIVITY

DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI

Our relationships with boys, parents and staff continues beyond their time at the School. We hold many events to bring friends together and relive shared memories. It is the strength of these friendships that forms the heart of our fundraising for the bursary campaign. The RGS is remembered as a unique experience that offers scholarship and opportunities that our supporters are keen to gift to the next generation of RGS boys to ensure every bright local boy can benefit from an RGS education.

Dr Jon Cox, the Headmaster, launched his ambition to make the School open to all boys who merit a place, irrespective of his financial circumstances, in 2016. We have come a long way since then and we are thrilled that our community now sponsors 20 boys at the School. Boys that will leave as young men equipped with intellectual curiosity and a determination to do the right thing. These are the young men who will become the leaders, the philanthropists and the changemakers of tomorrow.

In the last financial year, 1361 people have made a gift to the RGS Bursary Campaign, an incredible 13% of our community. Thank you. We are incredibly proud that you, our supporters, believe in meritocracy and want to pass on their own good fortune. But there is still more to achieve. Later in the year we look forward to launching our ‘Road to 2035’ campaign, the next phase of our open access ambition.

The ‘Road to 2035’ is our vision to create an endowment fund for the RGS that will allow our bursary programme to become financially secure. To do this, we aim to raise £13 million by 2035.

If you would like to join us, you can read more about our Bursary Campaign and the work of the Foundation office here: www.rgsg.co.uk/support-us

“Education is the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.”

K. Chesterton

Monica Popa is an experienced fundraising director, who has brought the community together in support of our Bursary Campaign.

This year, we have opened our doors and welcomed back many of our community to a number of lively events which celebrate the friendships forged at the School with boys, staff and parents. These include reunions, sporting and musical events and supporter receptions. Our diary includes socials for university students and those who left the School decades ago, and we welcome parents and staff at many of these evenings. Many former students return to the School to share their knowledge of what happens next, or to give insights into their chosen career, to current students.

We also provide a closed digital network platform -RGS connect - accessible after A Levels that gives members direct access to over 2400 Old Guildfordians, and current and former staff and parents.

Because of our close relationship with the RGS community, we can ask representatives from a broad range of industries to help guide current students through their career choice. Here Dr Arjun Odedra OG 2010 gives one aspiring student an insight into medicine.

Reunions are always big occasions. The Classes of 1971 & ’72 enjoy reminiscing about their RGS days in Old School.

Peter Dunscombe, Director of Higher Education, welcomes back two undergraduates he helped navigate through their sixth form years.

Graduates enjoy a spirited speech from the Headmaster at an event held at one of the UK universities.

RADA alum Jack Bardoe OG 2014 returns to the School to help judge House Drama.

Football commentator and voice of FIFA, Martin Tyler OG 1964, greets the RGS boys after his King’s Lecture evening.

Miss HS Dixon - Marketing for Development and Alumni

CAPTAIN’S f arewell

As my time at the RGS draws to a close, it is a privilege to write the final farewells and reflect on what has been an incredible past seven years.

As School Captain, I have been in a unique position of intermediary between students and staff. The responsibility has provided me with an insightful outlook into how much work goes into every decision from teaching, music and sports to pastoral care and the rest of daily school life. I will miss the school’s deep-rooted sense of community, the teachers’ outstanding abilities to convey their knowledge, and the countless opportunities presented to us along the way. Seeing the positive attitude of the boys, not just towards their endeavours but towards one other, is something truly great about the ethos at the RGS, and I feel lucky to be part of such a motivated, inspirational community.

Every moment serving as School Captain has been a great honour, and I would like to thank Dr Cox for appointing me to the role. Likewise, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my trustworthy Senior Prefect team. Their continued support and dependability were appreciated immeasurably, whether it was stepping in last minute to give a reflection in assembly or touring guests’ and Governors’ on a Thursday evening. I would like to thank them for their service, carrying out their duties and creative ideas which contributed to our success as a team. They were impeccable role models and set the highest standards for the rest of the boys at the school. In particular, I would like to thank Tom Wright, Matt

Shaw and Dilan Patel for their efforts and commitment throughout the year which made the year run smoothly. The invariable dedication of the whole team is greatly appreciated, and it will be a tough act to follow.

I would also like to thank the Senior Management Team. Mr Woodman and Mr Williams, for your invaluable guidance and support over the last year. Mr Gough and Mr Lythgoe for organising the weekly leadership sessions, which were immensely valuable, not only in aiding our personal development and growth, but also to excel within our roles as Senior Prefects. Thanks must also go to Mr Pressley and Mr Dunscombe for their words of advice: always willing to guide us and lend a hand when needed.

To Louis, the new School Captain, I wish you and your team the very best of luck in leading the school - you will do an amazing job.

As I reach the end of my time at the RGS, a part of me looks forward to new beginnings and starting university, but another part of me never wants to leave! I am so grateful for all the school has done in preparing us for the next stage in our lives, providing us with the foundation and skills to achieve our ambitions.

To my fellow 2022 leavers, it has been a great pleasure to have been through the school alongside each and every one of you. I wish you the best for the next chapter in your lives and look forward to staying connected with you all as we transition to becoming Old Guildfordians.

Ishan Nathan - School Captain 2022

VALETE

STEVE BLOUNT Expeditions and Activities

Mr Blount first worked for the RGS in October 2011 when we had a team of boys wishing to do their Gold DofE on bikes and we needed a subject matter expert to assist. His planning, delivery of training and management of the pupils was second to none and a few years later, our paths crossed at a CCF conference creating an opportunity to work together again. We needed someone to temporarily cover the SSI post and Mr Blount’s 22 years’ experience serving with the Royal Engineers and more recent CCF experience with a nearby school meant that he more than fitted the bill.

Since that time, Mr Blount assisted with the setup of the EXAD programme in 2013 and looked after the daily running for many years and took on the logistics for all DofE Expeditions, as well as working within the CCF running numerous range days, fieldcraft exercises and summer camps and managing our climbing and AT equipment stores.

He has an organised mind and high standards and a generation of DofE expeditioners will themselves have high expectations of how to clean a Trangia!

During Covid we had to create new expeditions which fitted the guidance at the time and on each occasion Mr Blount forged a plan that allowed the boys to complete the Award. In his final year he staffed 7 expeditions creating over 400 participant places.

We thank him for his hard work and dedication to ensure the delivery of our programmes was at the highest level. The time spent planning and preparing, with a keen eye for the detail and recognising what was important, set up the boys to succeed on all occasions whether it was a DofE expedition or a CCF camp. The staff too, were grateful for his experience, wisdom and sometimes dry humour!

We wish him well on his retirement.

Mr SJH Yetman

TONY DUBOIS Biology Teacher Head of Integrated Science

You cannot replace a teacher like Tony Dubois: he has over 30 years’ worth of teaching experience and an absolute goldmine of biological information. Prior to teaching at the RGS, Tony worked at Whitgift, and international schools in both Singapore and the Seychelles. Alas, the golden beaches of the Seychelles were no match for the Surrey hills and Tony joined the RGS in 1994. It is incredible to think about the numbers of doctors, dentists, natural scientists, and biologists that he would have taught over the course of 28 years, and I have no doubt that they will remember his engaging lessons, the stories he uses to bring the subject to life, and of course, those absolutely

marvellous drawings he produces on the whiteboards. In addition to all his teaching responsibilities, he was also Housemaster of Austen for 20 years, and thoroughly enjoyed being a part of RGS life beyond the classroom. After many years of missing out on the Cock House Cup, Tony was absolutely delighted to win it for 3 consecutive years, including in his final year running the House. Whilst Tony has given much of his time and energy to ensuring that the boys’ experience is varied and exciting, he leaves us now for a well-deserved and well-earned retirement where he can spend more time with his grandchildren. We wish you well, Mr Dubois!

Mr S Burns

MARY BUYLLA PA to Headmaster

Mary was exceptional in every possible way, not just in her extraordinary efficiency and attention to detail, but also in the manner in which she looked out for people. She truly was the ‘mother’ of the staff here and so many have benefitted from her kind words of support and advice.

cross word, an argument, or a falling out, which, when you consider that I spent more time with Mary during term time than I did my with my wife, is remarkable.

It is with a real sense of sadness that I said farewell to Mary Buylla, my extraordinary PA, in December 2021. Mary and I enjoyed 15 years of working as a closely knit team.

Before I started at RGS, I had a chat with my predecessor, Tim Young who had appointed her and worked with her for three years. I remember that he described her as ‘a gem’, a description which I can only but echo.

I cannot begin to tell you what a support she was for me over the past 15 years. She supported, reminded, reminded again, cajoled, comforted and organised in equal measure. Mary shared some of my best times at the RGS and she was there for me during some of the worst times, and she was always a friendly face, an encouragement and an absolute rock.

I can say, quite honestly, that in fifteen years Mary and I never had a

I have valued our professional lives together but also Mary’s friendshipand it is this which I miss most. I am delighted, however, that Mary will continue to be an important cog in the RGS machine as our new Archivist, so we will continue to see a lot of each other.

I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to Mary from us all; from the staff, from the Governors, from the parents, but especially from me, for all that Mary has done over the past 15 years for me personally.

Mary is a one-off and I feel very fortunate and privileged to have worked alongside her for so long!

Headmaster

DEWI EBURNE

Chemistry

Dewi has two distinguished periods in the RGS, with the first as a pupil from 2007 to 2014. It was immediately obvious to all his teachers that he was someone with exceptional potential. He was outstanding academically and won every major prize that the school has to offer. I had the enormous privilege of teaching him both GCSE and A level and can remember Dewi achieving the top exam mark every year. The Biology Department’s first, second and third choices for the Robins Prize was Eburne, Eburne and Eburne! He was also a talented musician and performed in numerous concerts. Dewi achieved the ATCL diploma in the clarinet, won the Bentall Music Prize and sang in the choir. For the sake of completeness, he was also a member of the rugby and hockey teams and played Nicely Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls. Dewi was appointed School Captain and served with true dedication. However, it was his personal qualities that earned him

such high regard with the boys and teachers. Dewi shows great empathy towards others and is one of the kindest people I know.

He went on to Cambridge University as a Choral Scholar and read Natural Sciences. Dewi was subsequently elected to an academic scholarship, won a prize as the top student in the System Biology course, and was awarded first class Batchelor’s and Master’s degrees. He made just a single job application after graduation and got his first job as a Forensic Services Associate at PwC. However, Dewi soon realised that a career in the city does not lead to the fulfilment he was looking for, and he decided to return to the RGS to train as a teacher. His second period in the school started in 2019.

The RGS was naturally delighted to welcome back one of its finest lieutenants. Dewi is indeed a natural born teacher, and it is an honour to work with him. His infectious enthusiasm for chemistry and his capacity for hard work are greatly admired by the boys. He has fully involved himself in all areas of school life and is Master i/c of both the U12C Rugby and U14D Hockey in addition to being Assistant Housemaster of Austen. Dewi is also keen to take on responsibilities in the department which included the teaching of Oxbridge lessons, writing the 13+

scholarship papers and running the RSC Challenge. He is a fantastic Form Tutor, and it was astonishing that 26 boys have asked for him to be their personal tutor. It is remarkable that he even found time to achieve the two targets which eluded him as a pupil: getting a Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award and passing Grade 8 for the piano.

Dewi is a committed Christian and his faith is a cornerstone of his life. He was the leader of the Christian Union as a pupil and took charge of the society when he came back as a teacher. Dewi is a section leader with Urban Saints and spends his Friday evenings helping teenagers explore Christianity. He has also organised numerous Christian camps during the school holidays.

I must thank Dewi on the behalf of the school for the tremendous contributions he has made both as a pupil and as a teacher. I also owe him a huge personal debt of gratitude for helping me on so many occasions. Dewi leaves us to join Westminster School to broaden his horizons and will be sorely missed by the boys and colleagues. There is no doubt he will be promoted very soon, and he should become a Headmaster one day. We wish him every happiness in the bright lights of London and look forward to seeing him again in OG events.

Mr WS Lau

VALETE

HENRY GRAY Chemistry

Henry first joined the RGS as a pupil in 2012 and enjoyed a very successful school career. He was the chief editor of the Guildfordian, played in the rugby 2nd XV (player of the season) and was a keen rower. Henry was also strong academically and held a scholarship. During the summer holiday of the Lower Sixth, he carried out a CREST Gold project in Surrey University which confirmed his decision to read

Chemistry. We were delighted that he subsequently went on to win a place at Oxford. Henry continued to row and was a member of the Oxford University crew.

After finishing a stint of four years in Oxford, Henry returned to the RGS as a replacement for Ed Batchelar, his former chemistry teacher, who has been promoted to Deputy Head in Oxford High School. Henry was an excellent appointment for us, and I felt a real sense of pride that a former student has developed into such a fine chemist.

Henry has changed remarkably little since leaving the RGS as a student and is a confident individual with a good sense of humour. The boys really like his straightforward approach, his relaxed manner in class and his enthusiasm for

chemistry. He is keen to be involved in activities and is Master i/c U12D Rugby. Henry has almost unlimited youthful energy and can lighten the mood in any situation. In one Development Day (aka staff INSET), Henry’s interpretation of 'smart casual' is to wear a sports jacket in combination with his cycling shorts! Old Guildfordians returning to the RGS (quite rightly) never stay for very long as they need to move on to gain new experience. Henry will be embarking on a career of ICT and will be starting his training in machine learning. Although his time as a teacher in the RGS will be brief, Henry has made a real impact on the boys and will be missed. We wish him every success in his chosen career and hope to see him in future OG events.

Mr WS Lau

GRAHAM OLIVER

Geography

Graham Oliver joined us in September 2019, making the long journey south from his home in Edinburgh. Fortunately Graham recovered quickly from the initial shock of being categorised as a Chemistry teacher in the 2019 edition of The Guildfordian, and he was quick to get stuck into teaching Geography in the classroom and out in the field. Thanks to Graham,

many RGS students now know that a 'jotter' is a term used to describe an exercise book in Scotland and his book Beautiful Scotland was a prominent feature on his shelf in the department base that didn’t attract any attention whatsoever from Mr Witts and his post it notes. With Mr Cowx supporting Wales, the Six Nations tournament became a rich source of benign discussion in the base.

Confusion did arise on occasion. One evening he arranged to meet Mr Fishpool for a drink in The Kings Head but they both had to make do with nursing a pint on their own at the opposite end of the High Street. Fortunately Mr Oliver’s knowledge of Guildford’s Geography improved over time despite lockdown sending

him back to Scotland where he watched from afar over Teams as his hair grew longer and longer. Aside from the Geography Department, Graham made many contributions to the wider life of the School. From the Environment Committee to partnerships with University of Surrey and the games department where he oversaw many rugby and cricket fixtures. Graham was a force full of energy and we will miss him, but wish him all the very best for his position at Dollar Academy.

Mrs RG Waters

KAREN POON Front Office Lead

Karen has made a hugely valuable contribution to the smooth running of the school office in recent years, and her warm approachability meant that boys, staff, parents, and visitors were always met with a friendly smile and a willingness to help. Karen was compassionate, understanding, and fair, and her caring presence will be much missed. Her kind nature served

to relax and reassure, and, for many staff members, passing Karen’s desk was a bright moment in the day where words of friendly conversation were exchanged, and photocopying favours sought. She was the queen of printing booklets and exam papers, could laminate in seconds, and guarded the stationery cupboard with all necessary resolve! Her upbeat spirit and wonderful sense of humour made for engaging company; she had a great relationship with the boys, and the office was often full of laughter. Karen had very good leadership skills too: allocating and explaining tasks in a way that made those around her feel they had ownership but could ask for help if needs be. Karen was equally committed to streamlining the office’s

JOSH POWELL Geography

We were hugely relieved when Josh answered our call in summer 2021 to come and join the Geography department the

JOSH RICHARDS

Biology

Josh is going to be thoroughly missed by both the Biology staff and by the boys. He is an exemplary teacher and has worked incredibly hard to ensure

following September. Fresh from his degree course in Durham, it was brilliant to have a new member of the department who could enthuse the boys with his passion for the subject. New to the teaching profession, Josh took to it like a duck to water and he was quick to make his presence felt in the department despite having to work so closely with so many of his former teachers.

We’re very grateful to Josh for his calm manner in the classroom and on the many fieldtrips that he

practical operation and she oversaw a refurbishment that has made our administrative support fully fit for purpose. This new look has refreshed and repurposed arrangements to great effect. Karen leaves behind a team that is in great shape, and an office that runs very efficiently, but her guidance and companionship will be missed, and we are naturally sad to see her leave us. Her concern for the wellbeing of her colleagues meant that they felt understood and appreciated by someone who was a manager but also a friend. We all wish Karen every success for the future and thank her for all she has done for the boys and staff at the RGS.

Mr NE Wild

helped us to run throughout the year, his patience steady even when mistaken for another pupil on more than one occasion. Perhaps inspired by Mr Cowx’s wild tales of travel and misadventure, Josh leaves us to spread his wings beyond the RGS bubble; we look forward to hearing his own stories in the future. It has already been good to receive messages from him at an altitude of 5100m upon a glacier in Peru!

Mrs RG Waters

that his students have a real love for the natural world. His lessons always flowed beautifully, were fun, and our inquisitive boys felt it was an open space to ask interesting questions about the weird and wonderful. Josh is an invaluable member of the department, and we cannot thank him enough for what he has put in to make Biology at the RGS an enjoyable experience for those who have been in his class; indeed, being a former RGS pupil himself, he knows exactly what brings RGS boys alive in lessons!

We also admire Josh for the time he gave to participate in overnight school trips, such as the Duke of Edinburgh award and the Biology Field trip, and for the time he gave to taking sports teams on the weekend. One of the things Josh can be most proud of, is that he started the school’s basketball club, which is one of the fastest-growing sports clubs on-site. Josh leaves us to pursue a new adventure, and whilst this is a huge loss to the education profession, we wish him all the best for the future.

Mr S Burns

ALASTAIR ROZIER

Head of Art

For most people, the year 1987 is synonymous with the country being hit by the Great Storm, but for the RGS it was a double-whammy with the arrival of Ali Rozier. The bearded, brooding, corduroy-clad 26yr old had driven his canary yellow Lada to school, with no inkling that he would still be there 35 years later. He actually drove for 3 hours to get into school after the storm, having been assured that even acts of God didn’t prevent RGS teachers from attending. The place was empty.

The RGS was a very different place then. Ali joined as part of a two-man team in the Art Department, being given an A4 piece of paper with 36 titles such as ‘Parthenon’ and having no idea what he was supposed to do with it. This was the first year of the new GCSE exams and Ali took around a year to write a modern curriculum with drawing at its core and more than a nod to Bauhaus educational principles. The department went from strength to strength with strong results a consistent feature of his career. When Andy Curtis came in as the new Head of Art, he sensibly left Ali in charge of preparing boys for A Level (and the new AS Level). The pair formed a productive and long-lasting partnership until Andy’s

retirement, when ANR was appointed Head of Art just in time for the tricky Covid years. Ali enjoyed his time as HOD, creating a thriving creative and artistic environment where all staff had scope to express themselves in a happy spirit of cooperation.

Soon after his arrival, Ali initiated the annual Art Exhibition and Private View, which are still the way the School celebrates the fantastic achievements of our artists. Many of Ali’s students have gone on to use their artistic talents in their careers, some indeed as professional artists. He has always built a good rapport with his students, and many are still in touch decades after leaving the RGS. Ali has been a Sixth Form Tutor for over 30 years, enjoying the role and taking pleasure in helping to prepare these young men for life beyond School.

Ali was deeply touched when one of his former tutees contacted him to express his gratitude some 13 years after leaving the School and presenting him with two season tickets to watch his beloved Arsenal with his son William.

When the School celebrated its 500th Anniversary, staff and students were asked to contribute ideas, and Ali suggested having a new School Charter created. The original was barely legible, but using digital editing, Ali was able to take the result to the College of Heralds where they accepted the commission and produced the beautiful version on display in the foyer.

Ali has always kept his own painting going, working alongside students in the Sixth Form Studio and is very much looking forward to creating a

studio at home to keep him busy in retirement. A regular of Friday football for 25 years, Ali is still not able to recall Jimmy Pressley passing the ball. Ali coached the U14 Basketball team for 7 years, an approach based on discipline and teamwork rather than individual brilliance, brought 4 league titles and 3 near misses.

Ali contributed ideas for the design of the new Art School and after several designs were rejected, the brilliant new building opened in 2007. The Art Department staff gradually expanded to include a technician, relieving Ali of some of the work involved in framing and putting up exhibitions, a task which he has thoroughly enjoyed over the years, but is grateful to have Craig Davidge’s help with.

Ali has formed many friendships during his long career at the RGS and will very much miss the, often hilarious, morning chats and lunchtime jollity; the Bridge Club was a source of relaxation and education for many years, as was the Crossword Corner.

We therefore say farewell to Ali Rozier, whose caring, cajoling and captivating spirit has taught literally thousands of OG’s to master so many techniques in the Art Studios. His astounding Art Historical knowledge and fine attention to detail through observational drawing and painting is a legacy he will leave through the awe inspiring A Level and GCSE works of art in the RGS corridors. We wish Ali a restful and enjoyable retirement.

Mr RF Shepherd

CHARLOTTE SMITH French

Charlotte will claim that she first joined the RGS in 2005, but, as I constantly reminded her (in order to make me seem younger!), she actually started the year before as a Maternity Cover teacher in the MFL Department, kicking off an impressive 18 year stint at the RGS.

You will have to travel a long, long way to find as talented a linguist as Charlotte -in fact, her accent and knowledge of French are unequalled and better than most native speakers! It’s no surprise that Charlotte soon became an indispensable member of the MFL Department, teaching inspirational lessons with humour, flair and elan and even stepping up as a successful Head of French. Her warm and kind nature was evident in everything she did. Her students loved her lessons and her

genuine care and willingness to always go above and beyond and to give up her time willingly.

In the MFL Department, Charlotte leaves a massive hole and we will all miss her hugely. Her genuine care for others and positive nature made the base a better place, and nothing was ever too much for her – always there with a kind word, an ear to listen or a ridiculously unnecessary amount of 70%+ dark chocolate and flapjacks!

Throughout the School and her years teaching here, it is impossible to find another staff member that doesn’t have glowing comments and memories of Charlotte. She has contributed so much to the life of the School, and not just through teaching, trips, sports teams and more…..but through the lasting positive impact and memories that she leaves with students and staff alike. We’ll all miss her here!

Mr AR Lowe

TOURNIER Head of MFL

Audrey started at the RGS back in March 2009 as an NQT, and it was clear from the beginning that she would go on to leave a lasting impression on not only Modern Foreign Languages but also life at the School.

Audrey was a hugely talented linguist - a native French speaker with superb subject knowledge, a great knowledge of German and, although she was far too humble to admit it, she was even able to teach Spanish. She had a serenity and calmness that was unequalled and, with her ability to get on well with everyone, yet take tough decisions, and to never seem flustered, it came as no surprise that she quickly rose to Head of Department. In fact, Audrey had that unique quality to make everything seem easy and relaxed…..I can’t believe we let her leave without finding the secret!

Passionate about languages, yet an excellent listener and cool in every situation, she had an excellent eye for detail. Her dedication to her students was reflected in her superb lessons and willingness to always go above and beyond. She always had time for everyone – students, colleagues and even bees (yes –bees…..not many people have a bee hive!). It is safe to say that she will be missed in the School by the students and she leaves a big gap in the Modern Foreign Languages base, not only as 'The Boss', but more importantly, as a friend!

Mr AR Lowe

AUDREY

BETH-ANNA VARLEY Library Assistant

Beth-Anna joined us in January 2021 and could not have had a more challenging start to her time at the RGS. After only one day in school, the second lockdown began and we reverted to remote working. Not only that, but a few days later I was moved to 80% furlough, so Beth-Anna had to take on the bulk of the library service until we could return in March. She rose to the challenge with characteristic competence, not only supporting

online English lessons, presenting reading suggestions and launching the Show Racism the Red Card competition, but also organising and managing virtual author visits for the Lower School and creating a video Assembly for World Book Day. Beth-Anna brought with her a great deal of knowledge and experience of public libraries, which she put to good use to expand our own service, by introducing the boys to Surrey Libraries’ e-books and audiobooks and to the Click and Collect and Ready Reads services during lockdown.

As we gradually returned to normal Library life, more of Beth-Anna’s skills became apparent. She is passionate about both diversity and wellbeing and worked hard to improve the range and visibility of our stock in those areas. She also

ensured that boys were provided with trusted sources of information and support through the extensive LGBTQIA+ and Wellbeing focus boards that she created on the library management system. Library displays and documentation were greatly improved by her rapid adoption of online graphic design software, while she ably dealt with the day-to-day challenges of updating stock and displays and managing the use of the library. It was unfortunate for us that so soon after she joined us, Beth-Anna was offered the chance to work full-time for Surrey Libraries, closer to her home. Opportunities to advance in the library sector are rare and so we knew that she could not pass up this offer. I wish her all the very best for the future.

Mrs TF Farthing

DEBBIE WHITEHEAD Head of Lower School Teacher of Physics

incredible advocate for the pastoral side of the School and was appointed the first Head of Lower School, having held positions as Head of First Form and Head of Admissions.

and instilled her professional standards across the whole school body with positivity and kindness and was very well respected by her colleagues.

Debbie joined the Physics department at the RGS in 1998 and has given 24 years of dedicated service to the School. Having spent a year in industry working on nuclear fusion, she decided to move into the education sector where she honed her craft in two state schools, leading a Physics Department in only her second post. Once at the RGS, Debbie sought to involve herself in as many facets of school life as possible and as one of a handful of female staff at the School, helped bring about some really positive and much needed change. She was an

Debbie has a natural ability to connect with young people, partly through her commitment to working with them outside the classroom; supporting the Cross-Country team for years and leading it for a time, supporting the extra-curricular work of the Physics Department, Junior Science club or attending school trips in the UK and abroad. Trips really were a highlight of her career, whether it be on the NASA trip or helping the Cambodia trip on two occasions and seeing how transformational these experiences were for young people. This care and passion for the pastoral care of students enabled her to lead the Lower School Team with aplomb and be a very effective Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead. Debbie had very high expectations of students

From her first foray in the classroom, she has embraced change throughout her distinguished career, moving from chalk and blackboard to the digital technology age. She was one of the first teachers to trial the BBC Microcomputer in a classroom and has seen widespread use of computers right through to Microsoft Teams and online learning!

Debbie has had such a positive impact and influence on the young people in her care. We wish her well in the next phase of her life and hope she keeps us informed of all her adventures around the UK and beyond in her beloved campervan. We thank her for all her service to the School and the incredible support she has given so many students and colleagues over the years.

Mr AU Woodman

FIONA WIMBLETT Mathematics

Fiona joined the RGS in 2015 from Lady Eleanor Hollis School, seeking a move to the countryside and a switch to teaching boys instead of girls – although as she correctly pointed out, she was still teaching Mathematics and it does not change so the gender of the pupil is largely unimportant. Nevertheless, it took a couple of months before she stopped reacting to proposed department tests with a comment about how “you can’t possibly ask the girls a question like that, they’ll get upset”.

A passionate academic Fiona was loved by her students for the commitment she showed to helping them achieve their very best. She was a teacher who was always at the forefront with innovation, and her background as a Head of Computing was evident as she used various software and technology to bring lessons to life. Pleasingly, though, it was always under careful planning to ensure that challenging and interesting Mathematics was at the heart of each activity.

Fiona was highly respected by colleagues who would seek her

advice and she would always ask the most pertinent questions about schemes of work and mark schemes, her keen eye for detail proving a real asset to the department. The wider school community admired her enthusiasm for throwing herself into all aspects of school life: she was an officer in the RAF section of the CCF, an active musician who sang and played in a number of school productions, and an outstanding Head of Lower Sixth for a time. I think, though, that her development of the Swimming Team was perhaps the most impressive achievement: she took on the role knowing nothing of the sport but her hard work managed to get a school that does not even have a swimming pool to become regular national finalists.

Fiona is retiring to spend more time with her family enjoying her garden and trips around the country. We wish her all the very best and hope to still see her and her husband David helping with school activities on occasion.

Mr SG Black

DAVID WOOLCOTT Classics

David joined the RGS in 1984 and worked tirelessly for the next thirty seven years in a multitude of roles. Throughout his teaching career his love of Classics has been clear to all and he is a passionate defender of the subject. Indeed in his leaving speech he was true to his beliefs and warned about the ill effects any reduction in the teaching of Classics might cause. In the classroom David always wanted his students to enjoy the subject and to have the same passion for Latin and Greek as he did. His lessons were vibrant and always memorable, and many an Old Guildfordian on revisiting the school fondly remembered David’s lessons. David has always been very generous with his time and he staffed and organised many Classics trips both in the UK and abroad. His knowledge of the Classical sites of Italy and Greece is encyclopaedic and I witnessed at first hand David bringing to life archaeological sites and holding the boys spell-bound with his stories and explanations.

David is an outstanding linguistic and for many years taught the most challenging parts of the curriculum, in particular Sixth Form Latin and Greek language. Many a Classics teacher, both those new to the profession as well as the most experienced, have approached David for him to explain a particularly challenging grammatical construction. David’s approachability and affable nature made it a real pleasure to work with him. He really did make the Classics base a brighter place! David was also the go-to member of staff on matters concerning Latin and Greek pronunciation, and for many years he prepared boys for the local Classical reading competitions. David’s love of performing also came to the fore in his memorable performances in the staff Christmas pantomimes. On several occasions he really did steal the show! It is now common for RGS departments to work with local state schools, but David was a trail-blazer in this respect and several years ago taught a beginners’ Classics class at Boxgrove Primary School once a week. Several boys from this school went on to the RGS and remembered David’s passion for Classics in these Boxgrove Primary lessons. David is an accomplished sportsman and he has coached cricket A Teams, he has been Master in Charge of Hockey, he has coached many rugby teams as

well as refereeing football to a high level. However possibly his greatest sporting contribution at the RGS is in shooting. David was Master in Charge of Shooting for twenty one years and in that time RGS helped establish its reputation as one of the best schools at shooting in the country. Indeed under David’s management the shooting team has won every major national competition and a number of boys have gone on to represent Great Britain at shooting. David spent many a lunch break, after school session or Saturday to ensure that the shooting team could perform at the very highest level. For his whole teaching career David was an Army Officer in the CCF and for a number of years he was Contingent Commander. David even passed his HGV licence with the Army in order to drive military vehicles to school camps. This is typical of David going above and beyond what is expected! However, despite all the above achievements and accolades, what David will be most remembered for is his camaraderie, his good humour, his friendship, his occasional eccentricity, his love of Classics and his loyalty to the RGS. For this David, you will be truly missed. It has been a real pleasure knowing you and your family and I wish you a very happy retirement!

Mr EKD Bush

HENRY XUAN Economics

Email from dsjw@rgsg.co.uk to Henry Xuan, 28 March 2019, 9.43pm.

“Hi Henry – long time no speak. Hope your time at Oxford is going well and you’re on your way to nailing your PPE. Just wondered what your plans were, following graduation…?”

And so it started. The Economics Department was struggling (again) to hire high-calibre candidates and as we looked through the list of excellent former OGs who were due to graduate, Henry was an obvious former student to contact.

Those of you who have had the pleasure of meeting Henry will probably be surprised the response came back at 9.56pm. Henry doesn’t normally take 13 minutes to do anything. An e-chat led to a coffee in Starbucks, an interview, an offer and an acceptance. Henry seemed quite pleased, the department was delighted and so a career in teaching was born.

Henry immediately established a great rapport with the team, no more so than with Matthew Cornwell, a fellow OG and the Mitch Buchannon to Henry’s Matt

RICHARD YARDLEY

French, German, International Links Coordinator

Brody. Henry has gone on to become a highly-respected member of the staff body and is similarly popular with his students.

As a colleague, Henry impressed from the outset. A deep thinker, he demonstrated maturity beyond his years and was never afraid to challenge the status quo. He has made a significant impact on what and how we teach Economics, in particular his impact on promoting diversity not only within the department but to the whole school. His own experiences in life have shaped his thinking and sharing his experience as a student of RGS made a significant contribution to the school community.

Of course, there is more to Henry than an excellent Economics teacher. Mr Black commented that “Henry is one of a very select group of Economists that the precious Maths department actually trust to teach Mathematics at the school”. I had to ask if I was included in this list (I taught GCSE maths for them in 2014), but Mr Black seems to have forgotten to reply.

Anyhow, Henry established similarly strong links to the Maths Department, which were impressed by his legendary work rate. As a pupil at the school he typically asked for extra morning Maths lessons just to complete a supplementary Further Maths qualification; as such it amused the team each time he prepared to teach a new topic to the Fourth Form. “I’m sure they will have seen this before so I

just thought I’d throw a few of these really hard problems at them and see how they go”. After a few entertaining scenes Henry quickly realised that not all students are as gifted as he is and so he worked out how to scaffold and structure topics while still maintaining that impeccably high standard as the goal for all of his students.

Henry has shown great commitment beyond the classroom, no more so than RGS Hockey. As a student he was a brick wall in goal for the U15A team, alongside several RGS legends. Mr Mullon commented that he “…would love to know how many times Henry let the likes of Burrage, Sweet and Sturridge hide behind his goal during fitness sessions... Henry was a member of a team that made my time as a young teacher so enjoyable”.

We are so very sorry to see Henry leave us, but at the same time so proud that he has found a career in teaching and that he will be sharing his enthusiasm, dedication and talent with others. Obviously we would not have been able to forgive him had he moved to a local competitor school, but he is off to teach Economics in Singapore, so that’s OK. There is a rumour that Mr Mullon is arranging the 2023 Hockey and Football tour there, just to be reunited with ‘The Wall’.

Henry has made an indelible mark in the Economics Department and the School, and we wish him the very best for the future.

Mr DSJ Wright

Richard, who joined the RGS in 2018, has international travel and Modern Languages running through his bones: he is one of a small club who can teach both French and German to A Level, has taught in the Bahamas and Dulwich College Shanghai, and

is more than a little proficient in Mandarin, thereby running an exciting General Studies course on China. Thus, he was an obvious choice to become International Links Coordinator in 2020, a role he strived to develop despite the untimely Covid limitations. The Race Across the World charity event with our international schools was a particular highlight. Richard was also a caring Third Form tutor, a keen supporter of tennis fixtures, a hands-on staff member on trips abroad and a creative contributor to the Great RGS Bake-Off (his anti-Brexit cake was as ingenious as it was tasty).

Greatly respected by the boys for his top-notch linguistic skills, high standards

and engaging language games, Richard got the very best out of his students at all levels, and inspired many to continue their study of German and/or French at A Level and university. Within the MFL Department Richard was known and loved for his professional, calm and grounded manner as well as his excellent sense of humour. He was a good friend to us all and the announcement of his departure was met with much dismay and more than a few tears. Richard leaves us to take up a post at Shrewsbury School in order to raise his daughters closer to extended family. We wish him the greatest happiness in this new life chapter.

Dr MM Creagh