As ever, it has been a pleasure to see our pupils making the most of their opportunities at St Benedict’s. Many who took part in the excellent production of The Tempest were new to Shakespearean drama. In sport, we have seen our established players progress, while those new to team sports have represented the school in competitive fixtures. In music, pupils of all ages performed at the St Cecilia Concert. At half term, Geography students explored the Azores, A Level Politics students visited New York and Washington DC, and the CCF engaged in cadre training. And visiting speakers have further broadened our pupils’ education, offering insight into subjects such as the persecution of Christians, and the UK’s world-leading COVID-19 research. It has been a busy term!
I wish you and your families a very peaceful and Happy Christmas.
Best wishes,
Andrew Johnson Headmaster
Dear Parents,
It has been a busy Michaelmas term. The creative curriculum topics have been greatly enjoyed by the children, and the school trips that took place early in the term will long be remembered. Book Week was as stimulating as ever, with authors sharing their passion for writing and telling stories. It has been so lovely to engage once more in a full programme of music and sports activities, too.
The Nativity plays and the Carol Service provided a beautiful end to the term. Thank you for being so supportive of the Advent charity fundraising for The Passage and for providing the contents for the Christmas Hampers that will be distributed by the Society of St Vincent de Paul.
I wish you and your families an enjoyable and peaceful Christmas and New Year.
With best wishes,
Rob Simmons Junior School Headmaster
St Benedict’s joined the Aid to the Church In Need ‘Red Wednesday’ campaign on November 23rd, which aims to shine a light on the injustice of Christian persecution throughout the world.
We were privileged to welcome Bishop Jude Arogundade from Ondo, Nigeria, who spoke at assembly. Forty people died in his diocese in June when gunmen opened fire during the Pentecost Sunday service.
Yet his message was one of hope: “You are the 10% of young people in the world who are well educated, in a safe, secure, beautiful environment. To whom much is given, much is expected. Care for the poor. Fight persecution and injustice. The world is in your hands.”
Benedictine education is about knowledge, formation, and transformation, he said. “Be open to formation and transform the world.”
St Benedict’s students have achieved excellent A Level and GCSE results, in another challenging year for examination candidates.
At A Level, students achieved 62.9% A*/A grades and 85.4% A*/B grades.
At GCSE, 47.6% of all papers were graded 9 8 (formerly A*) and 69.3% were graded 9 7 (formerly A*/A).
“I am hugely proud that St Benedict’s A Level and GCSE students have achieved such outstanding results, through hard work, determination, and dedicated support from their teachers. Academic performance at St Benedict’s continues its strong upward trajectory and these results are the best ever achieved in a year when examinations were taken under normal conditions.”
Andrew Johnson, Headmaster
80% of St Benedict’s students secured places at the UK’s top 30 Russell Group universities, with the majority (78%) going to their first-choice university. Five students have taken their places at Oxford, reading Physics, Classics, Geography, Modern Languages and Engineering, and five are studying Medicine – at Bristol, Glasgow, King’s College, Manchester and Nottingham. Two students have been awarded places at the prestigious Kingston School of Art Foundation Courses, and one has a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art on a BA Honours course in Technical Theatre and Stage Management.
St Benedict’s well-established exchange partnership with a German Benedictine school continues. In September, our German GCSE students spent a week in Meschede, in the west German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, having hosted their exchange partners in London in March.
Joe Crammer (U5) reports: We met our teachers at St. Pancras Station at 7am and set off on the Eurostar to Brussels, where we changed for Meschede Hauptbahnhof. When we arrived, we were warmly greeted by our partners and their families before being whisked away to their homes for a nice relaxing evening.
The next morning, we played mini golf, watched a handball game and went to a German fete where we were able to try delicious dishes such as Currywurst and Schnitzel.
On Monday, we were given a tour of the school by our German partners, and then joined them in their lessons. When everyone was finally at home, we all had a pleasant evening, adjusting ourselves to this new German school routine.
On Tuesday, after lessons, we were given an interesting and informative talk and tour of the Abbey by Pater Klaus-Ludger. At 2pm it was time for the Exchange pupils to take on the home team in a football match. Things got off to a good start, with goals from Rory Johnston, Jamie Porter-Thomas, and Felix, one of our German partners. However, a loss of momentum allowed the home side to take control and win the match.
Wednesday was a completely different day as we visited an alpaca farm and then headed to a wildlife park.
On Thursday, we went into Dortmund and visited the German Football Museum where we learned about many of Germany’s amazing players and even saw the World Cup. Some decided to go shopping and some whizzed around the beautiful city on E-scooters. It was an amazing visit and I’m sure we would all love to go again.
When Friday arrived, we spent the whole school day in lessons with our partners. Afterwards, we all headed to Hotel Waldhaus Föckinghausen for some traditional German food such as Bratwurst and Kartoffeln - a nice end to a brilliant trip.
Our German exchange partners treated us like family, and I hope we all keep in contact with our newly made friends.
Lord Patten of Barnes, alumnus and Patron of St Benedict’s, was guest of honour at the annual Academic Scholars’ Evening in November, attended by scholars from Form 3 to Upper Sixth and their parents.
Lord Patten paid tribute to the excellent teaching he had received at St Benedict’s, saying that it had inspired and enabled him to go to Oxford University. Addressing the students, he said: “Go on being educated throughout your lives. Take every opportunity you can to develop your interests. St Benedict’s is a wonderful school, and you owe it to your teachers, your parents and the broader community to make the most of what you’ve been provided with.” Lord Patten added that, while there is much to be concerned about in the world, he believes that the future will be better, as younger generations use their knowledge and talents to address the many challenges we face.
Chris Patten is Chancellor of Oxford University and a cross bench member of the House of Lords. He was the last British Governor of Hong Kong and a Conservative politician until 2011.
St Benedict’s GCSE and A Level geography students went on an unforgettable trip to the Azores at half term in October.
Staying on the Azorean island of Sao Miguel, they experienced the changeable weather of a tropical climate and enjoyed many activities. These included an amazing whale-watching trip; visiting the thermal springs of Caldeira Das Furnas; exploring caves, arches, stacks and stumps carved out from volcanic basalt; sampling pineapples at a local plantation; and touring lava tunnels.
This year’s Azores trip was extremely enjoyable and included a range of activities with a perfect balance of education and fun. A particularly good educational experience was the lava tunnels, which was very interesting and engaging. However, my favourite activity has to be the whalewatching, which was an amazing experience where we saw several hundred dolphins in several pods as well as a distant sighting of two whales. It was an extremely fun and exciting trip, both educational and entertaining.
Freddie Ruzicka (L5)
The Azores are a set of Portuguese volcanic islands off the coast of Portugal, approximately a third of the way to America. It was a long trip to get there and back!
Because the Azores are in the middle of the Atlantic, the weather changes rapidly. The first day it poured one moment, then windy and sunny the next. We did so much during the trip; it was amazing and an experience I will remember for life. We visited three currently dormant volcanoes, natural hot springs, amazing coastline and walked through volcanic basalt tunnels carved by lava. I absolutely loved our boat trip when we saw two whales and two pods of dolphins which swam alongside the boat. They were beautiful. We also swam in a natural iron oxide pool; it was freezing, and the water felt odd. We all came out bright yellow!
Apart from the trip itself, I made a lot of new friends from older year-groups who I would probably not have got to know otherwise.
Nattie Thompson (U4)
The annual St Cecilia Concert took place on Friday 18th November, with excellent musical performances given by St Benedict’s musicians from Form 3 to the Sixth Form.
The programme included a wide range of musical styles and genres: expressive ensembles, powerful orchestral music, virtuosic solo performances, accomplished jazz playing, and vibrant singing.
Erin Roberts (U6) reports: The New York and DC trip in the October half-term was a huge success. As the flight arrived at JFK airport, we were able to see a view of the skyline of the city. Looking out from the top of the Empire State Building was an incredible first experience of NYC and gave us a real sense of Manhattan as an island.
Throughout the trip we all gained a deeper understanding of both American and international political institutions as well as US history and culture. Going to a talk with a member of the World Bank in Washington gave us insight into their work and how the organisation has shifted its priority to an emphasis on global poverty reduction in recent years. Another talk given by a leading member of the Atlantic Council, again in Washington, educated us in the workings of a think tank engaged in US foreign policy; we were able to ask questions on various topics that interested us in their frame of work. They explained how they must work with US administrations with vastly different priorities – for example Trump and Biden. This gave us a realistic idea of what their work is like.
Visiting the United Nations was an incredible experience; after learning about it as part of the Global Politics A Level course we were able to combine real experience with our theoretical studies. We were given a tour in groups by an employee of
the UN who gave us a real insight into the workings, successes and limitations of this iconic global political institution. A highly memorable part of the visit was seeing photos of people helped by the UN; of peacekeepers protecting those most in need, and the horrors of different weapons used in conflicts throughout the world. A global defence spending tracker showed that $50,000 a second is spent on defence globally. Sitting in the famous UN General Assembly, a room in which speeches have been made by those ranging from Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama to Emma Watson and Greta Thunberg, was awe-inspiring.
The first night in Washington we watched an NBA game –Washington Wizards vs Detroit Pistons. Being able to go and watch a sport that is so popular in America, in one of their own stadiums, was not only fun but allowed us to experience more of the American lifestyle. After the match we walked back to our hotel, going past the
iconic Capitol building which was lit up in the dark.
We stood in the shadows of all the major memorials in D.C. including on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King addressed more than 200,000 people in his famous ‘I Have a Dream Speech’ in 1963.
In New York, we experienced an enthusiastic, entertaining and highly informative civil rights tour of Harlem. Having grown up there himself, our guide gave us an in-depth description of the persecution and discrimination that people living in the neighbourhood received. This tied in with the tour of the African American Museum in D.C. later in the trip as we could link the history of African American civil rights with the improvement of civil rights and how they have shaped the Harlem of today.
We returned to the UK on a night flight after a week of learning about the importance of American and international politics and an immersion in the exciting culture of the USA today.
On Armistice Day, St Benedict’s remembered those who gave their lives in the First and Second World Wars and prayed for people suffering in current conflicts worldwide.
This year’s Lower Fifth and Middle School Production was Shakespeare’s magical play, The Tempest
The opening storm, conjured by Prospero (Aimee Paget: L4), immediately transported the audience to Shakespeare’s enchanted island, setting the scene for this intriguing play. The Ensemble of Island Spirits and Prospero’s spirit-servant Ariel (Louis DanielsShayvard: U4) combined to create an otherworldly atmosphere as they encircled the shipwrecked survivors as fluidly as mist, casting spells, conjuring love, thwarting attack, and sweeping away props with mesmerising speed.
As well as magic, revenge and redemption, there is plenty of humour in The Tempest and this production made the play’s comedy shine through – especially as Prospero’s slave, Caliban (Ranveer Singh: L5) conspired with the staggering, rum-soaked Stephano (Stan Watts: L4).
And romance, as the King of Naples’ young son Ferdinand (James Bedwin: U4), thought to be dead, falls in love with Prospero’s daughter Miranda (Jessica Williams: L4).
The action was punctuated by six narrators, who explained the motives, relationships and ambitions of the characters.
Congratulations to all involved for this highly enjoyable production!
Director Head of Drama: Mark Randall
Assistant Director: Toby DanielsShayvard (U6)
Lighting and Sound: Phelim McAleenan and Raania Ansari (U5)
Backstage crew: Helina Solomon, Klaudia Cifliku and Serene Hines (U4)
Professor Anthony Gordon (Imperial College London)
Professor Anthony Gordon’s lecture captivated all who attended. He began by describing his work as a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) professor, and Chair of Anaesthesia and Critical Care at Imperial College London.
Both exciting and innovative, his research is conducted through use of clinical trials, known as REMAP-CAP (Randomised, Embedded, Multi-factorial, Adaptive Platform Trial for Community-Acquired Pneumonia). Going into detail about the trials, he explained how drugs were developed and tested to treat the COVID-19 virus.
Professor Gordon also talked about Artificial Intelligence as a focused way to treat patients and store their monitored data in a safe and reliable way. He explained that, using AI, doctors are now able to collectively use their experience and treat patients in a precise, and personalised way.
This was a fascinating and insightful talk. Professor Gordon’s work in developing drugs has saved many patients suffering from COVID-19. The subsequent impact of his team’s discoveries worldwide as recognised by WHO is commendable.
Zach Khan (Lower Sixth)
Form 3 honed their artistic skills on ‘Big Draw’ day, in a series of art workshops held in the Cloisters. Using viewfinders, pencils and oil pastels, everyone created colourful compositions inspired by the interesting tones and shapes within two vibrant ‘still life’ arrangements.
“The Form 3 Induction Day was challenging, especially the climbing area. It was scary at first but now that I’ve done it I would love to do it again.”
InaIliovski
“The Induction Day was very fun, especially the activity when we had harnesses and climbed, jumped and balanced on and off the high wooden structures. However, it was also the most challenging.”
Christopher HannaEveryone in Form 3 enjoyed a fantastic Induction Day of teamwork and challenges in September, at High Ashurst Outdoor Education Centre in Surrey.
“My Induction trip was thrilling, enjoyable and intriguing especially the ‘leap of faith’ (walking along a large log high up and jumping off in a fun way). However, it was slightly frightening because of the heights. I persevered with the help of my friends, teachers and the supervisors there. I gained and expanded my knowledge of maps, directions, teamwork, and made new friends.”
Clea KaradimouUpper Prep saw some amazing animals and plants at The Living Rainforest, learning about the location, features, environmental change and sustainability of rainforests – their topic this term.
PP2 and PP3 explored Kew Gardens, as part of this term’s creative curriculum topic, ‘Into the Woods’.
An expert guide introduced the children to a variety of plants which thrive in temperate and tropical biomes, talking about factors such as climate, soil and conservation. As well as having the opportunity to peer at hundreds of different plants from all around the world, everyone loved spending time around and beneath Kew’s many different trees.
Upper Prep went to Woburn Safari Park as part of their ‘Out of Africa’ creative curriculum topic this term.
The children were not only treated to seeing and learning lots about animals native to Africa – including witnessing actual zebras creating a zebra crossing (much to the amusement of the children!) – but they also learnt about the importance of taking care of animals’ environments and why it is necessary to reduce human impact on the animals’ natural habitats and food chains.
St Benedict’s Senior Decans attended a retreat at Douai Abbey, near Newbury, in early September.
The peaceful, rural setting provided the ideal space for the 22 Upper 6th students, who play such a vital leadership role in the school community, to reflect on their role in the academic year ahead.
“I really enjoyed the day, which was a great bonding experience and time to get know some of my peers I didn’t know that well. My favourite part of the day was the walk, which gave us time to reflect and work as a team to read and understand the map. Creating new ideas for ways we can contribute to life at St Benedict’s made me excited for all we can achieve together as a team.”
Destiny AttramThe renowned theatre company, Frantic Assembly, ran a dynamic workshop at St Benedict’s in November. Drama students experimented with movement, touch and lifts, learning to create engaging physical theatre ahead of their A Level and GCSE devised performances later in the year.
Ross Welford, author of The 1,000-Year-Old Boy, explained to Forms 1, 2 and 3 how his passion for magic and science inspired him to write books on immortality, time travel and parallel worlds.
Sam Sedgman, author of the Adventures on Trains series, captivated the Junior School with his passion for trains and detective stories, and taught Form 1 how to write their own mystery tales.
Sam Copeland, local author of the humorous Charlie Changes into a Chicken books, amused everyone from Lower Prep to Form 2 with his tales and quizzes on curious facts.
Storyteller Kevin Graal ran a day of interactive sessions with Form 3 in the library, keeping them on their toes with riddles, rhymes, songs, and longer stories for them to ponder.
Upper Sixth students Max Worrall and Laurene Pratt interviewed Ealing author Alex Gerlis about his espionage thrillers, and how he balances historical fact with writing a compelling story.
St Benedict’s rugby returns with a huge amount of energy and enthusiasm following a successful 15-day tour to South Africa in the summer: 42 players and 4 members of staff travelled to Cape Town for some very competitive fixtures against some of the most committed school rugby teams in the world.
This term, we have had notable success in 1st XV wins over St George’s Weybridge followed by New Hall in the National Plate Competition. Our U16s have also had impressive wins over Aylesbury and St John’s Leatherhead with both the A and B team. Alongside this, there have been several exciting opportunities: 1st XV travelled to Merchiston Castle School (Edinburgh) to participate in their
National Schools Festival; and the U15s competed in The Langley School National U15s Festival, where they narrowly missed out on winning the National Plate Festival Competition.
On November 29th the U15s beat Hampton, London Oratory and Gunnersbury in the Middlesex Festival to become Middlesex Champions!
1st XI
Having won the London County round, beating Ibstock Place 4-0, the 1st XI travelled to Eltham College to play in the London Regional round to go forward to the National finals next term.
All the girls who selected Netball as their games option have had the opportunity to represent the school, providing an inclusive programme from Upper Fourth through to Upper Sixth. All teams have shown great progression and resilience this term, as we recorded our best set of results in the opening weeks of the season.
The 1st VII have made it to the 3rd round of the Sisters and Sport Cup competition (the first time a St Benedict’s team has advanced this far).
The U14 As made it through to the plate semi-final at National Schools tournament, narrowly missing out to Notting Hill and Ealing.
The U15 As and Bs had an outstanding performance against Grey Court and Downe house.
Saoirse Remmer (F3), Marti Barbieri (U4), Ivy Melton (L5) and Francesca Newbold (L6) have been selected onto the performance academies for London Pulse and Saracens Mavericks. Carmela Remmer (L4), who was awarded the Rising Star award at
The girls played some excellent hockey which enabled to them to win their first 4 matches.
In the final against Mill Hill the girls ran out of steam and we eventually lost 3-0 to a very good side. The girls were awarded
the Girls’ Sports Dinner last May, has been announced in the U13 England Netball Performance squad.
Congratulations to OP21 Emma Thacker who represented Senior
silver medals as the runners-up. They had given everything, but sadly missed out on a place at the Nationals. A special mention to Gabby Giles who scored 9 goals in 5 games for us.
The U13s won the In 2 Hockey London County Tournament on 29th November to become County Champions!
England Rose at the Fast Five competition in New Zealand in November. She achieved 100% shooting stats against the world number 2 New Zealand in a nail-biting game.
We hosted our annual Junior School Hockey U11 Tournament on the 30th of September. The girls played some excellent hockey to win the tournament again. They breezed past their first two opponents with easy victories. Then came the tougher games which were a lot closer. Notable contributions from Maria SzyszkoWalls and Amelia Marron enabled us to win all four group games.
Scores: St Benedict’s 5 - St Augustine’s 0 St Benedict’s 5 - Northwood College 0 St Benedict’s 1 - Belmont Prep A 0 St Benedict’s 2 - Highgate 0
Once again St Benedict’s Junior School had a successful day at the Ealing Cross Country event in early October. The girls placed 5th overall with both Anastasia Norman (8th) and Kaya Stojsavljevic (10th) placing in the top 10 in Form 1, and Maria Szyszko-Walls finishing 6th in the Form 2 race.
The boys had an even better performance to finish 3rd overall with George Girgis (9th) and Kenshiro Said (10th) finishing in the top 10 in the Form 1 race, and Jack Salem finishing 8th in the Form 2 race.
When combining the scores, St Benedict’s places third overall out of 25 schools.
The Junior School rugby players have made a good start to the year. The Form 1 and Form 2 boys have been particularly successful this term in various fixtures against schools such as St John’s Northwood, UCS, Haberdashers and Belmont Prep. Form 1 have played exceptionally well, with particularly strong performances from Freddie Codrington and Rian O’Sullivan.
Form 2 had a very challenging game against Belmont but worked hard to stay competitive. The boys continue to develop and learn (most notably Byron Williams-Iglesias who has been working his way up the squads) and there have been strong performances from Wilfred Holland, Joe Bolden and Cyrus Drandakis.
We are looking forward to seeing how the boys continue to develop next term and are excited to see how they fare at some of the upcoming festivals.
In the final St Benedict’s played a physically strong Orley Farm team. They had lots of good chances to win the game outright, but they could not find that elusive goal. With the game ending in a draw they had a tense penalty shoot-out. Mia Maryniak was excellent and made two superb saves. The penalties from Maria SzyszkoWalls and Claudia Scott were exemplary, and their accuracy enabled us to win the shoot-out 2-1.
St Benedict’s Junior School won 2-1 after penalty strokes.
After winning their own U11 tournament the girls embarked on the IAPS tournament. They came 3rd in their pool of 6 and went into the Plate competition, missing out on a place in the Cup competition by one point.
Quarter Final: St Benedict’s beat Chesham Prep 2-1 on penalty strokes after the game ended 0-0.
Semi Final: St Benedict’s lost 1-0 3rd/4th place play-off: St Benedict’s beat Edge Grove 7-6 on penalties after the game ended 0-0.
The girls played with energy and commitment throughout, which bodes well for the future of St Benedict’s hockey.
Dear Parents,
Thank you to everyone who supported and attended our annual Fireworks party which helped to raise nearly £8,000 towards this year’s Annual Fund projects: the annual Bursary appeal, Climate Research station and additional equipment for our Gym & Fitness Suite.
I am delighted to let you know our new music studio (Annual Fund 21/22) is up and running and students are already benefitting from the state-of-the art production and composing equipment we have been able to purchase thanks to your generosity. This new space will no doubt have an enormously positive impact for all our students.
It is wonderful we have been able to reach our target of raising £120,000 to mark our 120th anniversary year. The funds raised will ensure we can provide a fully funded bursary place for a deserving young person who otherwise could not access a St Benedict’s education.
In some other good news our Bursary Film, made in support of our 120th anniversary year appeal, has been nominated for a Smiley Charity film award. You can vote for us by using the QR code alongside.
I am very grateful as always to our Society of Parents & Friends committee (SPF) for their tireless support behind the scenes with all the Development Office events.
Finally, I would like to take the opportunity to wish all our families a very Happy Christmas and New Year.
Our Bursary film and podcasts are available via the School website.
St Benedict’s Connect
If your son or daughter is in the Sixth Form, please do remind them to join our alumni platform –St Benedict’s Connect. The platform provides a Group to join for every university in the country that offers great advice and insights plus access to our mentorship programme which had over 1,000 Old Priorian members.
We were delighted to welcome BBC Meteorologist, Tomasz Schafernaker, to deliver the Richard Baker Science Lecture. This lecture series is generously endowed by Dr Francis Cuss (OP 72).
ST BENEDICT’S SCHOOL a m i n i m is i nc ip e
Eali n g • Lon d o n • W 5 2E S • V 020 8862 2000 M enquiries @ s t b ene di ct s .org.u k
F S t B ene di ct sS choo l • L s t b ene di ct s
