Old Birkfeldian Newsletter Lent 2022
Message from the Principal Dear Old Birkfeldian I hope you and your families are well and managing to navigate ‘living with Covid’ and the new landscape in which we find ourselves. The College remains a vibrant, inclusive and close-knit community with its values of Fides Labore et Tenacitate resonating as strongly as ever. With Chapel, the Rugby Festival, Sport, trips & visits and the annual musical all up and running again, life on campus is busy and exciting. I hope this newsletter will help bring you up to date and introduce you to some of your fellow Old Birkfeldians. You will see OBs come in all shapes and sizes, and all ages; some of the more recent models are female! We remain keen to build up our bank of registered OBs as the more we are in contact with, the better we can serve the OB community. Registering is only a click away, using the form here. If you know of any OBs who might be interested in this newsletter but are not in contact with St Joseph’s College, please pass it on. We particularly value your news and your memorabilia. Do let us know what you have been up to since leaving the school and where you are now. If you feel you have hung on to that old yearbook or theatre programme long enough, our archive is waiting. We have dedicated OB social media platforms, too, and your old photographs – especially informal snaps – generate a lot of interest. Please contact Mrs Lindy Rodwell – l.rodwell@stjos.co.uk. Warm regards Mrs Danielle Clarke Principal
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Wish you were here?
St Joseph’s College is a busy place. So what have our students been up to this term? For starters, our Years 7, 8 and 9 students made mini tours of London, between them visiting the British, Science, Natural History and V&A museums, Tate Modern, the London Dungeon, the Tower and three West End shows. We have celebrated World Book Day with videos and a parade of story-themed dioramas. Our published author, Tianna (Y7), shared her experiences with the children of Years 3 and 4. Meanwhile artist Georgia (Y7) has had her work chosen from a field of 5,000 entries by Eileen Cooper RA in the Young Art competition. Our Chinese heritage Sixth Formers ensured the Prep children had a memorable Chinese New Year, with a traditional dragon and red envelopes. The campus is becoming more biodiverse and has a buzzing garden especially for the bees. The birds haven’t missed out either - students have made nesting boxes from scrap wood. We have all celebrated British Science Week and OB visitors have helped (see pages 4 & 5). Our debaters have had the last word, with the Intermediate team becoming East Anglian champions. The Seniors have also done extremely well, being pipped to the post by half a point. The St Joseph’s College boarding community has added ice skating at Chelmsford to the programme of weekend activities and it has been as popular as the annual go-karting experience. All that and - not to forget - a full time table of lessons, regular sports fixtures, a huge number of extra curricular clubs, and varied performances and rehearsals. 3
Medics Turn Out For British Science Week When surgeon Jonathan Hobson (pictured on our front cover) started at St Joseph’s College in 1985 as a boarder at Elwyn House (55 Block), he had cousins on both his mother’s and father’s sides already at the school. He came on an Assisted Place, via a government scheme which provided free or subsidised places at fee-charging independent schools for clever children. ‘I have nothing but very fond memories of St Jo's… except for the sport!’ Jonathan told a group of Sixth Formers during a Zoom call with them as part of British Science Week. But he went on to concede that now his eldest son was playing rugby for Manchester Grammar School, he had begun to appreciate the game. ‘And although I used to hate cross country in particular; next weekend I’m doing a half marathon,’ he added ruefully. ‘I had some fantastic teachers at St Joseph’s. When I was 12 the French teacher asked us what our parents did for a job. I suppose it was to increase our vocabulary and not just to be nosey! My friend Will said his dad was a surgeon and I was pretty starstruck. From the age of 12 onwards if anyone asked I said I wanted to be a doctor or a surgeon. I never wavered except for a brief flirtation with the idea of finance after a father in finance came to the school in a Porsche in 4
the Yuppie ‘80s, but it only lasted for about three weeks,’ he told the Science students. Jonathan rose to become Head Boy of the College and achieved nine GCSEs and A-levels in Chemistry, Biology, Maths and Further Maths, with a career in Medicine firmly in view. He told our Sixth Formers that Chemistry was the most important, although they might have supposed Biology would be. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever studied harder than when I studied for my A-levels; I worked into the night,’ he told them. He considered Sheffield University Medical School, St Bartholomews, Oxford and Cambridge but applied to Cambridge and took up a place at Caius College, beginning with a pre-clinical course in biochemistry and physiology, including dissection. ‘I was at Caius for three years. Although Cambridge is probably not a great deal larger than Ipswich it seemed much bigger. They were three fantastic years. Most of my friends were not medics. I did quite a lot of acting and producing with the Footlights, and was there at the same time as Richard Ayoarde OB. My friends included Olivia Colman, Mitchell and Webb, Jimmy Carr… My family get fed up to the back teeth when I go on about who I knew!’
He moved to Oxford for the next three years of his medical degree, which was then fairly standard practice. He told the students ‘Medicine is quite a hard slog. You have to be pretty dedicated to it but if you can get through your A-levels you will have no problem.’ Having qualified, he applied for jobs in London, where his demonstrator - an assistant to a professor of anatomy, surgery, or other discipline, who prepares dissections for lectures and instructs small classes - was fellow Old Birkfeldian Jim Wimhurst, Head Boy 1985-6. Mr Wimhurst is now a consultant trauma and orthopaedic surgeon. As a junior doctor, Jonathan trained in various specialisations on rotation, and eventually decided to make his career in ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat). He finished training in 2009 and specialises in thyroid surgery and noses. Why ENT? ‘It is all encompassing, from babies still in the womb to 100-year-olds. It is incredibly rewarding. You can help people breathe, you can restore their hearing. Head and neck cancers and thyroid cancers are covered. It’s a great speciality for the work life balance. I can usually finish at 6pm and am only on call for a week every eight or nine weeks. It is also good for private work.’ Jonathan went on to say those were the positive reasons for his choice. Earlier he had been attracted to cardiothoracic surgery – the crème de la crème of surgeons - but he had done a placement with a team of three and realised they were not people he wished to emulate. ‘Whatever you want to do in life, to an extent you will become the people you aspire to be,’ he warned.
In answer to a question about his morning routine preparatory to a day in theatre, he replied that he had no particular routine other than ensuring a good night’s rest. He was familiar with the patients on the list and knew what procedures he would be performing. He reckoned he had now carried out something like 7,500 operations. St Joseph’s contemporary, Mr Dom Briffa, our Head of Science, thanked Jonathan for opening the eyes of our students to the world of medicine and the life of a doctor. Earlier in Science Week two other Old Birkfeldians working in healthcare came into school to talk to our Year 10s. Therapeutic radiographer Jennifer Cook OB, who gained Maths, Physics and Chemistry A-levels, explained why she had chosen her field and gave insights into her working day. Her talk included a Macmillan Cancer Support video about therapeutic radiography and featuring a throat cancer patient. She stayed behind after the talk to speak to students who wished to discuss any issues raised privately. Sports physiotherapist Jonathan George OB, practising locally and already familiar to some of our rugby fraternity, talked about his career to date - including contracts with QPR and Formula One. He warned the students there was no harder course to get on to than physiotherapy and urged them to gain as much experience as possible of different settings, such as residential homes, to broaden their experience. Jonathan studied Geography, Biology and PE then stayed on at St Joseph’s for a further year to add A-level Physics. He had considered a career in medicine but chose physiotherapy, with its applications in every branch of medicine, including women’s and men’s health, the elderly, orthopaedics, oncology and HIV. 5
One Man and His Dog
Mark said, ‘St Joseph’s College literally laid the foundations for my life as a police officer. The compassion that I have stems from the school, Brother David, and RE teacher Mr Conway, who kept me under their wing.’ He continued, ‘I firmly believe St Joseph’s College provided me the foundation to move forward and be successful both personally and professionally. I believe it laid the foundation as I continued in higher education. I hold a BS in Business Administration with a minor in Communications, an MS in Criminal Justice and a PhD in Public Policy Administration in Criminal Justice. Students leave St Joseph’s College fully prepared to further their education and as I continue to watch closely, it is clearly evidenced with numerous success stories.’ He managed a normal boyhood at St Jo’s too, captaining the chess team from Oakhill to Lower Sixth and enjoying tennis in particular.
A return to St Joseph’s College was an emotional event for United States police officer, Mark Hake OB, because the school became his full-time home when he was 16. ‘I can’t thank St Joseph’s enough,’ he said. The boy who had started at Oakhill Prep School and moved on to the Seniors did well at St Joseph’s, which provided much needed stability away from a difficult homelife, but matters came to a head when Mark was physically assaulted. He decided he could remain at home no longer and rang RE teacher Mr Hockley from a telephone kiosk in town to ask for advice. Mr Hockley contacted Brother David, the Head. Without delay they found Mark a place in a boarding house and contacted his father in America to let him know his son was safe. Gradually, with the help of the school, Mark built up a tentative relationship with his father, whom he had not seen in many years, but it was St Joseph’s College that came to be home – even pocket money was found for the year-round boarder. Brother David also played a part in determining Mark’s future after leaving school in 1988 by persuading a member of his own family to contribute towards the young man’s air fare to the USA. Mark went on to serve in the US Army, including in Iraq. His service dog from that tour of duty now shares the home of Mark and his wife Ginger in Olympia, Washington, with three other Shepherds, including Dutch Shepherd Iggy, Mark’s police dog. Having transferred to the Police Service, Mark is both a canine and patrol officer. 6
‘I firmly believe St Joseph’s College provided me with the foundation to move forward and be successful both personally and professionally. I believe it laid the foundation as I continued in higher education. I hold a BS in Business Administration with a minor in Communications, an MS in Criminal Justice, and a PhD in Public Policy Administration in Criminal Justice. Students leave St Joseph’s College fully prepared to further their education and as I continue to watch closely, it is clearly evidenced with numerous success stories,’ he said Having come back and toured the campus for the first time in more than 30 years, Mark was very interested to return to his old bedroom in The Mews and to have memories jogged as he walked the school corridors again. Among those stopping for a chat were longserving Business Studies teacher Mr Edwards and Old Birkfeldian and Maths teacher Mr Battye. In fact, Mr Battye was a couple of years before Mark at the school but was followed by two brothers who were Mark’s contemporaries. Lots of names and memories were shared. School friends have remained important to Mark. The two days prior to the Hakes’ visit were spent in Ireland with Mr Conway, and OBs Ali Feltwell and Guy Greenfield were also on the visiting list. Before returning to the States Mark and Ginger were looking forward to a performance of Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare’s Globe. Mark is pictured with the third K-9 he has worked with, his current partner K-9 Iggy, a two-year-old Dutch Shepherd trained in narcotics.
A Little Time Travelling into the Past
Leo Bignell OB returned to St Jo’s to visit the Art department and catch up with old friends. Fingers crossed, we might be seeing more of him and his work in the near future. Artist Leo staged an amazingly successful exhibition in Sardinia last year and is now at work on new pieces.
Fifty years on. It was a great pleasure to welcome Mr Bozi Mohacek and brothers Richard and Robert Finch back to St Joseph’s. Fair to say none remembered his schooldays with enormous pleasure but they enjoyed revisiting old haunts and agreed the school of today exceeded all expectations. Richard wrote after the visit, ‘The contrast between my time as a student at Holy Jo's and the happy and polite students that I spoke to on Saturday couldn't be greater; you are clearly proud of the facilities and atmosphere in the school and of the achievements of your students, and deservedly so.’ Thanks Richard! And thank you all for donating archive materials.
Has St Joseph's uniform been seen in a grander setting? Here is Mr James O'Neill OB returning to England on board the SS United States in 1964. Look who came to see us on Valentine’s Day: OBs Reagan Hao and Tiffany Huang revisited teachers, Sixth Form and boarding. Reagan has graduated from UCL with a first class degree in Chemical Engineering, whilst Tiffany is in her final year of Marketing and Management at Essex University. We can’t wait to see what they do next!
'We were travelling First Class and this was the Captain's Dinner, where one had to dress of course. As can be seen, I'm in my St Jo's uniform as is my brother Steve, who was a pupil at St Joseph's Beulah Hill (which I attended after Ipswich); sisters in party dresses. Missing is Mum and infant brother who were in the cabin. Mum had suffered seasickness from the first lunch.' Poor Mum - but what a lovely family shot! 7
Menswear Designer Cuts a Dash London-based menswear designer and fashion lecturer Basil Lam OB returned to St Joseph’s College to talk to Textiles, Art and Photography students. Along the way he offered much encouragement and many useful insights into getting yourself known in the world of fashion design. Basil, who left the College in 2015, was extremely popular at St Jo’s and made an almost royal tour around the site, greeting old friends amongst the staff and new ones amongst the students. He gave his talk in the Textiles studio, using slides to illustrate his journey from broad inspiration to finished concepts as he worked on ideas including turning ties into garments, redefining the trench coat and the influence of film noir. He described the long process of working up initial concepts into finished designs, with the fitting process becoming increasingly important as he reached MA level. He stressed the power of social media in getting one’s work a wider audience.
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Our students were particularly interested in hearing about fashion shoots – the choice of locations (beware, these could appear very altered at different times of day) and the selection of models (Basil favoured professional dancers who not surprisingly added dynamism). One student asked how he coped with rejection and he replied it was in the nature of the creative industry that not everyone would love your work. You might retreat into yourself for a couple of days but you just needed to get on with it – find self-belief, accept honest criticism and plough on. ‘Try everything! Everything will benefit you,’ he urged. Basil also pointed out that students won’t always make the right choice first time. He said he had embarked on a degree in fashion marketing but soon came to realise it was the design side that captured his imagination. He had also come to reassess his ability as a draughtsman. He once saw drawing as a personal shortcoming but necessity and practice had changed his view. Another useful piece of advice was the importance of research. This could not simply be done on computer – screens offered little idea of texture or weight, for example. Even mainsteam museums and libraries were not enough; creativity was best served by students going out and about, finding specialist galleries, and seeking out museums and collections devoted to particular cultures. ‘You will never get good outcomes from a laptop alone,’ he said. Basil’s label, ka.wai.lam, has already featured widely in top flight fashion press, including Vogue Italia, which published part of his graduate collection, Melancholy for Lost Youth, and Fashion Crossover, a website dedicated to showcasing the best upcoming designers. Following a BA in Fashion Design from Regent’s University, London, Basil went on to secure an MA from the University of Westminster. Conscious of his ‘privileged’ years in education he decided he wanted to ‘give back’, and has been teaching students at the highly diverse University of East London. But he is the first to say his students’ stories frequently leave him feeling humbled.
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Rugby Festival Back bigger and better than ever, St Joseph’s College National Schools Rugby Festival returned after last year’s cancellation due to Covid, and it was a defining moment of the term. The College smoothly reinstated all the valued rituals, including the naming of the team, the presentation of match shirts, and the squad singing of Jerusalem, the St Joseph’s hymn, to the assembled school. Sixteen schools took part, including the previous winners, Wellington College, and the competition was strengthened with the inclusion Cheltenham College (replacing John Fisher School) and Kings School Worcester (replacing St Peter’s York). Welcomed back with messages of support from schools and colleges across the country, this ‘king maker’ in the sporting calendar means almost as much to the wider community as it does to Joeys across the globe. Livestream views of the games topped 100,000. The Festival also bolstered the local community, with hotels sold out and food concessions doing a roaring trade.
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Wilf Kemsley OB puts his famous voice to good use on the commentary tower.
‘Sport, and rugby in particular, is so much more than physical exertion. It’s the distillation of hard work, commitment, resilience and camaraderie. It is the stuff that puts the hairs up on the back of your neck!’ said Mr O’Riordan, the Director of Sport. On the pitch Millfield won a sensational final with a tense 10-7 victory over Brighton College, to clinch a record seventh title. St Joseph's College's 1st XV performed gallantly throughout the event, loosing narrowly to both of the eventual finalists before going on to win the Shield competition. It was wonderful to welcome so many Old Birkfeldians back to the campus for their own games as well as the Festival proper. The Old Boys rugby match was a massive success and the Old Girls bucked tradition with a netball game instead of the usual hockey. Among our OB visitors was last year’s Head Boy Harri Williams, now playing for Scarlets and Wales, who generously donated a match shirt to the College. Ben Sams OB, Gabe Jones OB and Louis Martin OB all forging careers with our partners Ealing Trailfinders/Brunel University also came to watch the action. Fellow Trailfinders signing Jarno Longaretti OB and Northampton Saints Prop Leroy O’Neil OB, both joined us, too, as did Saints and England professional Lewis Ludlam OB. The Festival was as ever a brilliant example of #teamstjos. There are more expressions of gratitude required than could reasonably be listed here, but to everyone who played a part, from our sponsors to our groundsmen, our tireless ball boys and ball girls to our caterers, our housekeepers, announcers, scorers and parking attendants thank you all!
We are extremely grateful to GLO, main sponsor of the Rugby Festival and sponsor of the Old Boys’ game. CEO John Parnell OB is pictured with St Joseph’s team captain Ryley Stiebens-Brown.
The inaugural St Joseph’s College Netball and Rugby 7s Tournaments will be taking place on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 May respectively. Even more for the wider St Jo’s family to celebrate together.
Under 23s captain Will Tillett shakes hands with Over 23s captain Ash Clark, after the younger men’s convincing victory.
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We take happiness seriously At St Joseph’s we support the intellectual, spiritual, physical and emotional growth of every pupil. Children who thrive are the happiest of all.
PREP OPEN MORNING Saturday 14 May Family tours also available, to find out more please visit stjos.co.uk or email admissions@stjos.co.uk Independent day and boarding school for boys and girls aged 2–18 Nursery open all year round
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