St Paul's News Autumn 2017

ST PAUL’S NEWS Issue 07 I Autumn Term 2017 I St Paul’s School, Lonsdale Road, London, SW13 9JT I www.stpaulsschool.org.uk

RACING Team Firefly

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ACADEMIC Symposium

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DRAMA Thinking Queer

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Autumn Update from the High Master The new library and classroom building – which opened on scheduled time after the Remedy break – are proving very popular and highly functional. Staff and visitors have commented repeatedly on the heavy use of the seminar rooms and breakout spaces, which are crowded with pupils working collaboratively or individually out of lesson time. These complement similar spaces in the new science building, and add to the ‘university’ feel of the School. The architect, Michál Cohen, will be meeting with pupil councils in the near future to discuss how we can make even better use of these areas, including additional and perhaps different furniture.

Now that the majority of marking reviews have been completed, we have published the School’s results in public examinations in 2017 on the website.

Another very good year, with 47% of all A Level grades at A* and 97% at A*AB. The former is the best outcome since 2014. 78% of all GCSE grades were at A* and the average Pauline obtained 11A*s and an A. I have already thanked and congratulated pupils and staff on these excellent achievements. Less obviously, the latest value-added data reveal that Paulines in the lowest quartile of the school ability range – as indicated through the national MIDYIS test – sitting GCSEs in 2017 obtained a whole grade higher in each subject than the average UK pupil with the same MIDYIS score: a convoluted way of saying that such pupils perform far better here than their counterparts in other UK schools.

This edition of the News contains a wide range of successes and curiosities.

A clutch of the successful rowers at the National Schools competition in May went on to win Great Britain honours over the summer, and have followed up with victory in the Youth Eights at the Head of the Charles in Boston (only the second UK school to achieve this), then to win both the Junior quads and the Junior coxed fours at the Quads Head of the River last month (again, only the second school ever to do so).

In September four Upper Eighth Form pupils launched the Thomas Gresham Bursary fund, a pupil-led initiative to fund a bursary pupil through the School from 11+ next year. In that one night, they exceeded all of our expectations by raising enough funds to cover almost two years’ education for an incoming SPJ pupil, and now are looking to build upon their flying start by recruiting other pupils to maintain the fund in future years. We are currently overhauling our Outreach programme for local primary schools with a view to greatly extending the provision from September 2018, so that more children can attend, and more opportunities are provided for participation by Paulines. Ellie Sleeman, our new Head of External Relations, is also working on an expanded programme of events for the whole community, to be published in the New Year.

Do enjoy the Christmas and New Year break when we get there.

Mark Bailey, High Master, St Paul’s School

REDEVELOPMENT

New General Teaching Building The new general teaching building was opened to all pupils and staff following Remedy on 30 October 2017. The centrepiece of the new building is the Kayton Library, extending over two floors facing the Thames and including two seminar rooms, the Brian Schofield Rare Books Room and the School Archives.

Both the Library and Rare Books Room are named after OPs who left generous legacies to the School. Direct access is now provided from Founder’s Court into the Milton Building and onto the river frontage. Extensive landscaping of the old north access road has created an attractive space linking the Drama Centre and Wathen Hall to Founder’s Court.

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MUSIC

Scintillating Strings Thirty-six boys and girls from around 20 local schools participated in an enjoyable String Afternoon on Saturday 28 October.

Participants rehearsed a variety of music in both medium and large-sized groups, including movements from a Handel Concerto Grosso and a Kurt Weill song arrangement. Players ranged from grade 3 to grade 8 standard and both groups delivered confident performances at the end of the afternoon, with a combined group featuring all the players performing at the end. A number of Pauline musicians were on hand to act as mentors, so special thanks must go to Stephen Carrabino, Sebastian Thomas and Theo Williamson for their assistance during the afternoon. Many thanks also to the coaches who included Joel Sandelson OP and former Assistant Director of Music, Robin Wedderburn.

The combined string group rehearsing Kurt Weill

Paulines and Paulinas Unite in Sibelius and Mozart

The annual Joint Concert, held this year at St Paul's Girls’ School on 14 September, brought together a large Symphony Orchestra and choir to perform Mozart’s Coronation Mass (conducted by Director of Music, Mark Wilderspin) and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1. The Mozart Orchestra was led by Tom Liu (U8) and featured soloists Daniel Atkinson (tenor) and Tom McGowan (baritone). A full Great Hall seemed to enjoy the programme, which continues to kick off the musical year in style.

Scholar’s Stravinsky Stuns Steinway Hall Outstanding Oboist is NYO Principal Daniyal Sachee (U8) was recently appointed principal oboe of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. This is an outstanding achievement placing Daniyal among the very best oboists in the country for his age. He will be performing Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle at

Music scholar Noah Zhou (L8) attended a workshop for schools at Steinway Hall on 12 October. Presenting two movements from Stravinsky’s fiendish Pétrouchka, Noah was coached by Steinway artist Charles Owen, who was impressed by Noah’s technique and musicality. Indeed, Noah seemed in his element surrounded by the many fine instruments around the show room, including having a go on the soloist’s piano used at the BBC Proms! Staff at the Hall were so taken with Noah’s playing that he has been invited back to make use of the artists’ rehearsal space free of charge in preparation for his January recital.

Barbican Centre with the orchestra on Sunday 7 January 2018. He will also get to perform with the orchestra at the prestigious NYO Prom at the Royal Albert Hall in summer 2018. This is Daniyal’s third year as a member of the NYO.

A Cappella Sessions with Princeton Tigertones On Friday 3 November, St Paul’s Music Department were privileged to play host to one of Princeton University’s leading all-male a cappella groups, the Tigertones, a group that has sung to no fewer than two US presidents. They gave a workshop to the combined forces of the Junior a cappella and Concert Choir who had the

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opportunity to sing with the group as well as to hear them perform part of their London tour programme. It was an inspiring, exciting event and it was very clear that the pupils relished the chance to work with this exceptional ensemble.

PUPIL ACHIEVMENT

Young Environmental Photographer of the Year

Eighth Form pupil Umer Hasan was crowned the Young Environmental Photographer of the Year for his image ‘Karachi Wildlife’.

professional and amateur, national and international photographers of all ages to showcase the very best in environmental photography.

The accolade was awarded by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM), which opens the competition to all

With Karachi facing a crisis with stray dogs, thousands of citizens are subjected to dog bites and as a result, hundreds of the animals are either poisoned or shot.

Umer explained, “Such problems are prevalent in third world countries across the world, and neither the people nor the animals deserve this. My photo shines a light on this important matter.”

Umer took the photo, east of the Malir River in Karachi, Pakistan, in August 2016 using a Nikon D5200.

OUTREACH

AWARDS

Paulines Volunteer in Sri Lanka & Zambia

Shortlisted for TES Wellbeing Award St Paul’s is delighted to be nominated for the TES Independent Schools Awards in the ‘Wellbeing Initiative’ category.

This nomination is important recognition for the pupils who have driven the MindMatters initiative over the last year or two; working tirelessly to promote positive wellbeing and end mental health related stigma.

By organising events and initiatives such as the School’s first virtual assembly (on how excessive social media use can affect wellbeing), the MindMatters group have helped make St Paul’s a place where

Over the summer holidays, 10 Paulines participated in the second Sri Lanka Link School trip in conjunction with the Senahasa Trust. The boys spent two weeks in Galle, situated in southern Sri Lanka, helping to teach English to primary school students in the morning and assisting with sports activities for secondary school students in the afternoon.

Building on this, the Fifth Form have been busy fundraising for Senahasa this term ahead of the U15 cricket tour to the region at Easter. Furthermore, a group

pupils feel able to talk about their problems. The nomination also reflects our growing desire to share what we have been doing with the wider community; the factsheets and videos the pupils put together on social media and technology have been shared with all local schools and we have been training up non-St Paul’s teachers to be Mental Health First Aiders.

The winners will be revealed on Thursday 8 February 2018 at the Grosvenor House Hotel.

of Paulines will be visiting Zambia this summer to do similar work in support of Beyond Ourselves, a like-minded charity based in the Copperbelt region.

St Paul’s aim is building long-term sustainable partnerships with both these charities and Mr Taylor has been appointed to co-ordinate the programme.

A whole community fundraising walk for the project will take place on 29 March. If you’d like to find out more, do get in touch with him: TaylorRJ@stpaulsschool.org.uk

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RACING

Team Firefly Formula 24 Update

St Paul's School’s Team Firefly recently competed in the International Final of the Greenpower IET F24 championships. Rebuilding, reworking and innovating on their car, the team attended four heats overall this season (twice at Goodwood, as well as Dunsfold Park and Castle Combe), coming 47th out of 199 and securing their position as fourth best newcomer across the entire season.

After intense last minute preparations, the team arrived at Rockingham Motor Speedway – one of Britain's most prestigious racing venues – to take place in the International Final, facing teams from across the UK as well as racers from as far afield as Poland and Brazil. Despite some initial issues, the team displayed their most advanced data and racing setup yet, building an excellent grounding for next season’s work – whilst also taking a moment to drink in the atmosphere of racing in a truly professional circuit!

Buoyed up by their success, the team has now expanded into three divisions – the original team, now in the Lower Eighth, is entering the senior competition of F24+, while the more-than-capable hands of a new junior team take the reins of the old car in F24 – as well as looking to expand into the Kit Car division.

With a promise of more racing and more success ahead, the future looks bright for SPS's Firefly Racing.

THOMAS GRESHAM BURSARY AWARD

Quiz Night At the start of the academic year, four pupils from the Lower Eighth organised a whole school community Quiz Night, raising in excess of £34,000 for what will be the School's first named bursary.

Conceptualised by Roma Rodriguez, Leo von Malaisé, Luke Summers and Jonathan Routley, the Thomas Gresham

Award will be awarded to the highest performing state school boy in the 2018 11+ entrance exams, who is in need of a 100% bursary.

“All four of us love St Paul's dearly, as it has shaped us into the people we are today, hence we hope that by creating a scheme like this we will allow for incredibly intelligent boys,

who would otherwise not be able to afford the school, to prosper in the same environment that we have for the last four years.”

The winner on the night was Team Pymont, who won the exclusive prize of dinner at the High Master’s house in the spring term.

ROWING

Head of the Charles The senior contingent of the Boat Club was out in force over the Remedy. Fresh from winning junior pairs at the Pairs’ Head, they boarded the plane for their annual foray into American rowing: the Head of the Charles Regatta.

Three bountiful days’ training in Princeton was followed by a stint in Boston, both accompanied by stunning weather. Star man Calvin Tarczy’s appendectomy demanded short-notice changes, and they lined up to race in fairly new

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combinations. The Youth Four acquitted themselves superbly, beating last year’s best-ever finish of 23rd to come 12th.

The Eight, bristling with returners, stormed to an 11s win and a course record by 35s, becoming only the second British school to have won the event.

In the event’s 53 year history, only two other teams - both West Coast clubs with countywide catchment areas – have ever won Youth Eights.

PARENTS’ GROUP

A Warm Welcome to New SPS Parents!

The SPS Parents’ Group welcomed arriving parents to the School with two events in September. The New Parents’ Supper gave Fourth Form and new Lower Eighth Form parents a chance to meet with the Senior Management Team in Founder’s Court for drinks, then enjoy dinner together in the new dining hall.

Guests were able to meet the parents of the other boys in their child's class,

ACADEMIC

hopefully forming useful contacts and new friendships. The New Parents’ Coffee also provided an opportunity for sharing early impressions of the School and asking those questions that one can only ask of another parent. The boys seem to settle into life at St Paul’s so quickly that parents can sometimes feel left behind. These events give parents a chance to acclimate as well!

High Master’s Prize On 12 October, three Upper Eighth Form pupils – alongside three girls from St Paul’s Girls School – treated an audience of pupils, parents, teachers and governors to a fascinating symposium of presentations on their academic research. The boys’ presentations marked the culmination of the High Master’s Prize competition at St Paul’s, capping off a season of activities and events that celebrate the best of Pauline scholarship. The pupils are invited to take part on a purely voluntary basis, researching a topic that they have independently chosen and investigated over the summer. The High Master’s Prize gives the pupils two opportunities to excel: the first is through their written submissions; and the second is through their presentations of their written work through a symposium.

Scholarship is at the heart of a Pauline education, and the High Master’s Prize provides a vehicle for boys to roam far and wide in their academic interests, unconstrained by the sometimes narrow constraints of exam syllabuses.

This year over 100 written submissions, artefacts and musical compositions were received, a record for the competition.

Of these incredibly wide ranging entries, four were chosen as winners of the High Master’s Prize: Max Hart “How do butterflies produce colour?”; Paul Heller “Understanding the Terminator”; Timothy Kang “Solving equations by origami”; and Alex Viviano “Why new sanctions on Iran should not be implemented”. In addition, Daniel Atkinson, Jonathon Clark, Max Heitmann, Nicholas Heymann and Matteo Perper all received commendations for their work.

The competition does not simply award prizes to a few winners, but gives all pupils the opportunity to demonstrate the scholarship, determination and individuality, that should be a hallmark of Pauline intellectual life. Most of the boys who produced written submissions also chose to present their work during the all-day symposium earlier in September, held in the Pepys Theatre and Wathen Hall and attended by pupils from all year groups. The very best of those presentations were selected for the joint symposium held with the girls’ school, with Luke Summers, Paul Heller and Daniel Atkinson being selected for the event’s finale on 12 October.

COMMUNITY

Act of Remembrance Service

On Friday 10 November, the whole school gathered in Founder’s Court for the Act of Remembrance. The School Chaplain focused his homily on the 500 Old Paulines and Old Coletines who never returned from the battlefield during the First World War. In particular, we remember that those young men left easy, promised-filled lives, and went to the worst places on earth to answer the call of their country and to be with their friends. In 1914, the High Master, when

asked “what are they doing it for?”, wrote: “These young men understand the difference between what is worthy and what is mean, they can distinguish between justice and oppression, that liberty has not become a cant word to them, that they can understand what duty to friends is, and that they can feel with a sensitiveness which many of the great intellectuals cannot emulate”.

We will remember them.

SPS – DATES FOR THE DIARY TRIPS

Start of Spring Term Wednesday 10 January

Bouldering The School’s annual bouldering trip to the beautiful forest of Fontainebleau, just south of Paris, was a great success. The ‘Boulderbus’ – a great big tour bus that had had Sigma, the famous UK drum and bass act, on board just beforehand – picked the boys up from school on a Friday evening, and brought them to the forest in time for fresh pastries on Saturday morning. The onboard bunk beds were not particularly roomy, but enough sleep was had to be enthusiastic about the climbing, despite grey skies

and the threat of showers. The party consisted of several strong-men and some outstanding problems were climbed, including the outrageously overhanging route above, as well as the compulsory ‘dyno’ route, the horrendous slab – which Dr Duits finally conquered after three years’ worth of attempts – and the mandatory hole route, in which we nearly lost Daniel Lu two years ago.

The boys were back at school exhausted but ‘psyched’ by late Sunday evening.

REMEDY Monday 12 February – Friday 16 February End of Spring Term Thursday 29 March *Dates and times correct at time of print

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– CANSAT

Lower Eighth Pupils Design Quadcopter for Aerospace Contest A team of four Lower Eighth pupils have designed and built a quadcopter as competitors of the CanSat aerospace competition, run by the ESERO. The competition sees students build a soda-can sized container filled with electronics (which is launched in a rocket or dropped from a drone) in order to complete two missions. The primary mission, which is set by the

organisers and is the same for all teams, was to record pressure and temperature data and send it down to a base station on the ground.

The secondary mission, chosen by the team, was autonomous landing to a pre-designated location. The team, consisting of Luke Andrews, Thomas Dhome-Casanova, Kit Treadwell and George Worledge, worked through various design

iterations but settled on a quadcopter design. Having secured sponsorship from four companies – Gearbest, Polymaker, Prusa and E3D – they are now working on improving the design of the quadcopter and carefully testing and choosing components to make sure that the final design has the greatest controllability, yet still fits inside a can. Their can will be launched at the UK finals in March 2018.

YOUNG ENTERPRISE

Spotlight on SureLight A group of nine Lower Eighth pupils decided to combine their passion for cycling with a new product to improve cycling safety and represent the School in the national Young Enterprise Company of the Year Competition. From their personal experience, the daily commute has become very dangerous with an increasing lack of understanding between cyclists and other road users. So, the team developed SureLight to help solve

this problem. The smart bike light identifies when a cyclist is braking using acceleration-detecting technology and changes its lighting appearance to alert other road users.

From this competition, the boys aim to not only progress far and develop their business skills along the way but also improve their leadership and teamwork skills, working in a business environment.

So far, the experience appears to have been challenging but immensely exciting and enjoyable.

The SureLight team is: Ben Ray, Luke Andrews, Thomas Dhome-Casanova, Alessandro Farace di Villaforesta, Ariff Castronovo, Felix Craig-McFeely, Daniel Craig-McFeely, Jonah Vairon and Oscar O’Brien. Visit their website to find out more www.surelight.bike

TRIPS

Economics and Traditions in Japan In October, the Economics department led a group of 27 Upper Eighth economists to Japan. The trip started in Tokyo, where pupils heard from a range of speakers including the esteemed Fujimaki-san, who is a member of the House of Councillors. He spoke of the grave dangers that Japan would face when the government wind up the quantitative easing programme. Fears were later quelled by all the other speakers, who seemed to disagree with his politics. These other high profile speakers also provided valuable insight into the economics and politics of Japan and they included a journalist from the

SCIENCE

Cambridge Chemistry Conquest Each year the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge – a national, competitive problem solving exam for Lower Sixth pupils, sat the end of the summer term 2017 – attracts thousands of entrants.

In this year’s challenge, Teddy Smith and Henry Hampson (now Upper Eighth) won Roentgenium prizes – the preserve of only the top 50 or so competitors – and went on to attend a chemistry training camp in Cambridge over the summer led by renowned chemist and

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author Peter Wothers. Teddy and Henry were followed up by 20 Paulines winning gold awards, 36 winning silvers, and 16 winning coppers. That made for 88% of the Paulines who entered winning awards. The official statistics from Cambridge show that, as a group, Paulines won 4% of all the gold and 3% of all the silver awards that were made in this year’s competition, which attracted 7,056 entrants nationally.

FT, a member of the Japanese foreign office and the head of JP Morgan in Japan.

After all the economics talks were over, the pupils delved more into the culture of Japan. Some highlights included a sushi making class, a day trip to Hiroshima and visits to many ancient shrines and temples. The trip was highly successful with the group gaining a much deeper understanding into the Japanese economy as well as an appreciation of Japan’s unique cultures and traditions.

TRIPS

Sixth Form Italian Trip to Alghero TRIPS

Fourth Form Weekend Away On the August bank holiday weekend, 155 new Fourth Formers and 22 members of staff headed to Hindleap Warren, excited and apprehensive for the annual ‘Weekend Away’ trip. This excursion, designed to allow pupils to get to know one another before the start of the new term, proved to be both exciting and enjoyable and resulted in many new friendships being formed.

Activities started with some groups going on the forest adventure walk, which culminated with a jump into a large mud pool, and others trying their skills with problem solving. After dinner, the evening activities included an anti-bullying

workshop by guest speaker Rob Higgs who used past experiences of his own to outline the differences between bullying and teasing.

Over the October Remedy, 29 Sixth Form Italian students and three members of the Italian department spent a week in the seaside Sardinian town of Alghero for a homestay/study trip. The trip offered Paulines the opportunity to consolidate and expand their understanding of Italian with morning lessons at a language school, followed by afternoon activities which enabled them to learn more about the culture of the island. These activities included a boat trip with visit to the

majestic Grotte di Nettuno, a treetop adventure course, a drama session on Italian gestures, a guided tasting of Sardinian specialities in a local salumeria, and finally a football match with the Algheresi. Students gained first-hand insight into Italian family life, with many forging lasting friendships with their hosts and coming away with an increased confidence in expressing themselves in Italian in everyday situations.

On the final evening, the Surmaster came from London to speak to the pupils about their careers at St Paul’s, and the values and opportunities that lay in front of them.

A huge thanks must be given to all the staff who not only organised this trip, but also gave up their bank holiday weekend to help, and to the boys who participated and embraced all the activities.

ECONOMICS

St Paul’s School Placed Second in Schools Economics Challenge ENGINEERING

SPS Engineering Trip During the half term, a dedicated group of Eighth Form engineers went to EngFest 2.0 (a festival of engineering organised by the IET) where they listened to a series of fascinating lectures about the future of engineering. The pupils discovered how bacteria can be used in concrete to create self-repairing bridges (Mark Miodownik), how 5G could bring about the ‘Internet of Skills’ (Mischa Dohler) and, perhaps the most exciting, how they could volunteer to be part of the

first colony on Mars (Bas Lansdorp, CEO of Mars One). They also worked with The National Grid, puzzling over how to create the most efficient way of powering a city.

At the end of the day, everyone agreed that they could not wait for next year, roll on EngFest 3.0!

To keep updated with SPS Engineering’s exploits you can follow them on Instagram – @spsengineering.

A team of Upper Eighths were awarded second place in the Schools Economics Challenge (SEC).

This year’s theme was ‘My city – its social commentators – and our contribution to the global community’.

The SEC is a group video project based around CORE Economics open to students from across the world.

Students (up to year 13) from the USA, Australia and UK were asked to collaborate and create a short video or podcast within teams. This had to focus on a topic relating to their city, one of the listed thinkers, as well as to any part of the opening unit of the CORE textbook (capitalism, growth and inequality).

The St Paul’s team of Josh Agrawal, Ed Ashtakov and Adam Treger were placed second internationally, with first place going to The Academy at Penguin Hall, Massachusetts, US. The judging panel comprised of Wendy Carlin, professor of Economics at UCL and CORE Director; Gill Hammond, Director, Centre for Central Banking Studies, Bank of England; and Raphael Fischer from EconFilms, and they praised the video for its script and its alignment with footage, and good context for Adam Smith’s thoughts.

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DRAMA

Thinking Queer Season

To mark the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales, the School hosted Thinking Queer, a fortnight of events to celebrate gay culture in the UK, battle homophobia and provide support for the LGBT members of the Pauline community.

The season began with a lecture from internationally renowned human rights activist Peter Tatchell on the political and social changes that gay men and women have experienced in this country over the last 50 years, as well as reflecting on the work that lies ahead. Following this,

Hollywood actor Rupert Everett appeared in conversation to discuss his own contribution to the representation of gay life on stage and screen, through roles in Another Country and My Best Friend’s Wedding, as well as the forthcoming biopic of queer icon Oscar Wilde. A celebration of the music of composer Benjamin Britten, reflecting on his relationship with lover and long-term collaborator Peter Pears, was staged in the Wathen Hall, and a series of lunchtime lectures on queer artists and writers, from E. M. Forster to Francis Bacon, were delivered by members of staff.

The fortnight ended with Talking Queer, a new verbatim drama written and directed by Christian Anthony, exploring the coming out process from the point of view of members of the Pauline community both past and present.

A cast of Sixth Form actors lip-synched to a recorded soundtrack of interviews which poignantly explored the evolution of gay rights across the years in the UK. In total, the events raised just over £2,000 for the Terence Higgins Trust.

THEOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY

Eva Schloss Returns for Human Rights Conference The annual Fifth Form Human Rights Conference took place this November, with the return of Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss.

TRIPS

Japan Exchange Trip In mid-October, four Paulines and two members of staff began their journey to Nagoya, Japan to explore its customs and traditions. Alongside pupils from St Paul’s Girls’ School and Otto von Taube Gymnasium, the group were part of a cultural exchange with Jishukan High School.

Over the week, the group participated in cooking classes, after school clubs (which ranged from calligraphy, a traditional Japanese tea ceremony through to more conventional clubs like soccer), and aerobics. The week concluded with a resounding karaoke session involving all twelve visiting students and their hosts, followed by a farewell dinner.

Outside of school, boys enjoyed excursions to Kyoto and Tokyo, visiting the Tokyo Skytree (the tallest structure in Japan), and Senso-ji Temple (Tokyo’s oldest temple).

Eva’s presence has always been a highlight of the event and this year her story was presented in the form of a play, And Then They Came for Me, performed by an external theatre company. This was then followed by a question and answer session with Eva. Fifth Former Hassan Sachee commented that “she highlighted the importance of having a kind, tolerant and peaceful mindset as this is what is needed

to maintain peace in the world today.”

The earlier half of the day saw talks from the School’s Theology and Philosophy department and Will Allen and Paul Heller in the Upper Eighth. Will and Paul challenged the audience to consider whether there are situations where it is actually acceptable to torture another human being (a terrorist, for example) and the claim by some countries that human rights represent a western conception of morality which does not apply to them and their differing cultural views and attitudes.

Tom O’Driscoll said, “The students and staff at Jishukan High School and our host families welcomed us into their school, their homes and their lives, gave us a unique glimpse into Japanese culture, and provided us with a home away from home.

The privilege was enormous, the experience extraordinary, and we are looking forward to welcoming students back to London and giving them a fabulous week at SPS in March.”

CHARITY

Staff Run for Little Jimmy In October a group of seven members of St Paul’s staff participated in the Royal Parks Half Marathon, joining 100 other runners to raise awareness for the Little Jimmy Brighter Future Fund which supports the work of Great Ormond Street Hospital.

With finishing times ranging from 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours, the team managed to raise an incredible £3,352.

A few days earlier, following the John Colet Day Service, the team

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supported the initiative by running from St Paul’s Cathedral back to school. Teacher of History Mr Joy, who ran at both events, gives an account of the day: “I hope you had a nourishing John Colet Day? My experience was a little different…

Breaking with tradition, I swapped a pint glass for a pair of running shoes and met Mr Young on the Cathedral steps, ready to run back to SPS. With the sun beaming down and the wind in our faces,

the adventure began: Weaving through the tourist littered Thames Path, we pushed on, making good time. Finally, battling heavy wind and Mr Young’s philosophical questions, we made it to the gates of SPS and our ultimate destination: the John Colet statue.

And, no, we did not succumb to temptation and jump on the tube (how dare you, Mr Flute!)

It was a lovely run, for a compelling cause.”

ST PAUL’S JUNIORS NEWS TRIPS NASA

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SWIMMING League Victory

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PARENTS’ GROUP Christmas Fayre

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Foreword from the Head of St Paul’s Juniors What is success? Each week we have a theme in our assemblies, to focus the boys on one characteristic that they need to develop, in their tool kit for success. The theme of ‘Independence’ gave rise to an assembly on Growth Mindset. It was interesting listening to the boys, as they talked to each other about times when they felt they had shown a growth mindset approach. None of them had! They talked about working hard to win, normally in a sports context, or revising hard to do well in a test.

None of them recognised the need to talk about failure.

This is one of our trickiest challenges with able young boys and men. They can succeed to a high level and often do not see the need to push themselves out of their comfort zones. They are unwilling to take a risk in case they fail.

They therefore missed the whole point of the assembly, that failure is an important part of success and that in the tortoise and the hare analogy the tortoise will win because he is determined, resilient, and not complacent about his talents. He entered a race in which all felt he would fail and overcame the disadvantages that he had, to succeed.

This is not an easy nut to crack with our boys. I currently teach them maths and I could simply push them to harder and harder concepts and topics, which I know that many of them would relish, but this is not the answer. I want to see them thinking outside the box, investigating their own ideas, suggesting alternative strategies rather than looking for the ‘right’ solution. There is a real reluctance amongst some of these young men. They want the fastest way of doing it, relying on the mechanics that they have been taught, with the focus on an answer rather than the journey to a solution. They are bemused when I celebrate the methods used by some, which may lead to the wrong answer, over their neat, perfunctory but accurate mathematics.

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill Clearly, we need to temper failure. Churchill’s quote is a little brutal for a seven year old; the need for success is natural and we must celebrate and allow our youngsters the opportunity to achieve. However, as our boys grow and develop, we are planning more and more for failure.

It is a salutary lesson to remember that some of the greatest entrepreneurs and successful faces we recognise today, were deemed failures at school; Richard Branson, Jon Snow, Alan Sugar and Claire Balding to name a few...

One hurdle to engendering a growth mindset in some of the boys can occasionally be exacerbated by parents, who may be overly competitive on behalf of their sons and see success as getting high marks in exams, rather than

improving and refining the learning, taking risks and recognising that errors are a hugely important part of the process. We can therefore have a fair bit of unpicking to do, to allow the boys to see us celebrating failure and to ensure that they are comfortable with and indeed embracing tasks at which success may be beyond their reach. It is a challenge that we relish!

My maths’ set always love it when I join in with the games we play and I do not win. Modelling failure, as a Head, is a powerful example to our young men!

Maxine Shaw, Head of St Paul’s Juniors

TRIPS

ASSEMBLY

Basing House Visit

Success Stories

On Friday 8 September, over a hundred Upper Third pupils from the Juniors visited the site of Basing House, to walk in the footsteps of Oliver Cromwell, Elizabeth I, Mary Tudor and Henry VIII. Love him or loathe him, Cromwell did a very good job of raising this country manor to the ground, breaching the walls of the new house in October 1645, following a protracted siege. Today, little remains of the five-story private home, which in its heyday would have rivalled Hampton Court. The integrity of the site

Immediately after the Remedy, St Paul’s Juniors hosted the first ever Success Stories, a series of talks for the Upper Third Years to encourage them to rethink the metrics of success.

makes it a worthwhile visit for the up-and-coming historian. Using various methods of study including archaeology and GPS navigation, the pupils were able to infer what life was like in the Civil War and gain a better understanding of the Battle of Basing.

Oliver Powell of U3Y said of the archaeology study, “I found it fascinating because it was the real artefacts not replicas, so you really felt the history of the things you were holding.”

The inaugural talk saw a visit from Justin Hast, former professional rugby player now CEO and Founder of SkinJam. The pupils took part in asking their own questions before participating in an interactive careers workshop afterwards.

Of the event, Harry Hickles, expressed that it was “very, very interesting and he was very cool” while Max Melton said it was “inspiring”.

Amirzhan Aldiyar summed it up by saying, “The key to success is sticking to what you say you will do.”

Look out for future visits in the weekly Grapevine.

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WELLBEING

Anti-Bullying Week St Paul’s Juniors fully embraced National Anti-Bullying Week earlier in the term. The message was clear throughout: Bullying will never be tolerated at St Paul’s Juniors.

The week kicked off with an assembly introducing the different types of bullying and explored the profound impact bullying can have on individuals and communities.

The assembly for Third Year pupils looked at cyber-bullying and also challenged pupils to think before they act. Later in the week, First and Second Years showcased the work they had produced with their buddies. Prior to the assembly, First and Second Years had spent time with their buddies exploring this year’s theme: all different, all equal. The poems, videos and posters communicated a very clear message about celebrating diversity and equality.

Throughout the week, every pupil produced a pledge, promising not to tolerate bullying at St Paul’s Juniors and offering advice for those who may be affected by bullying. On the last day, Friday 17 November, pupils wore blue and brought in £2 each to raise money to support the purchase of a friendship bench on the playground. The bench will be a place for pupils to go and sit if they are feeling lonely or are without someone to play with, so that pupils and staff can buddy them up with someone else easily.

The School Council will be involved in selecting the bench and deciding where to place it on the playground.

Overall, it was a thought-provoking week and all pupils engaged brilliantly with the themes and conversations shared.

All different, All equal

by James and Hamish Everyone’s special Everybody is different We are all equal No one is the same All different, all equal We deserve a chance Stand up to bullies If we were all the same then The world would not change

TRIPS

Behind the Scenes at the Home of NASA During the October Remedy, two groups of pupils travelled to Florida to visit the Kennedy Space Center – home of NASA.

investigation at the Orlando Science Center; indoor skydiving at iFLY Orlando; and a fun stop at the Universal theme park.

At the Space Center, one group of five teachers and 39 Young Paulines saw rockets that have actually returned safely from space flights, met astronauts, including Ed Gibson, saw a space shuttle, and received an exclusive tour of the launch area from where 106 space vehicles have been launched (pad 39 A).

Rohan George was very enthusiastic about the visit, saying, “For somebody who aspires to be a theoretical astrophysicist, it was a dream come true to visit the home of shuttle launches and the pioneering Apollo missions. So a big thank you to my teachers and everybody who was involved with the trips. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend the trip to anyone who gets a chance.”

The trip to the Center was preceded by alligator-watching at Boggy Creek; a forensic

All Different, All Equal

by Aarush and Ishan Difference is good.

Always show your true colours.

You are your own self.

Difference is good I am my own self Fun is essential You should have fun Everyone is different.

Rumours don’t spread Everyone should feel safe No one should be bullied True colours are important.

Here are two poems written by pupils based on this year’s theme:

HISTORY

Time Capsule Challenge This term, pupils at St Paul’s Juniors were invited to send in their proposals on what should be considered for the SPJ time capsule.

A time capsule will be buried under the foundations of the new St Paul’s Juniors Pavilion so all pupils were encouraged to consider what should be included in the lead box to best represent the history of the School. They were also told to consider whether data would be accessible from a

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USB stick or equivalent in 100-500 years or so.

There were many excellent entries but Sam James (L2J) and Noah Stoll (L1A) particularly impressed the panel with their detailed and thoughtful proposals.

The School Council have added some suggestions of their own and will look to firm up the items to be included in the capsule in early 2018.

DRAMA

Scrooge!

We had a sensational show week at SPJ, with our latest drama and music collaboration, Scrooge! by Leslie Bricusse. Sixty-one children from St Paul’s Juniors and St Paul’s Girls’ School joined forces to create a real Christmas cracker of a performance, that will not be forgotten any time soon.

What a privilege to facilitate such a talented cast – with just eight weeks rehearsal and lots of musical numbers, this production was not without its challenges, but the pay-off was abundantly clear: the smiling faces, the new-found friendships, the unlocked creativity, and the boost in confidence and skill that comes with committing to a creative project.

It has to be said that this show was a real collaborative effort, and each member of the creative team has gone above and beyond to ensure the best and most professional experience can be enjoyed by all. Elliot Squire (Grimm Tales and Peter Pan, Chichester Festival Theatre) created a steampunk-esque monochrome design, which set

the scene perfectly. Layered with Miss Bower’s costumes and Mr Duke’s lighting, the aesthetic of the whole show was spectacular. The choreography from Iona Holland (Little Women, Jungle Book and Goodnight Mister Tom, national tours) and the musical solo / company numbers were ambitious, but a challenge the cast rose to with great effect.

Both Scrooges blew us away with their performances, and were supported by an immensely talented troupe – the characters of Nephew, the Cratchitt’s, Tom Jenkins and the Fezziwigs (to name a few!) were all superb.

However, it has to be said that the congress of phantoms and company members were all exceptional on stage. Together, these children formed an immensely strong cast, presenting a superb show, of which I and the creative team are incredibly proud. It was a remarkable performance, worthy of a professional stage – well done to all involved.

SPARTA

SWIMMING

Graffiti Workshop Swimmers Down Record to Take On Saturday 11 November, 16 enthusiastic graffiti artists attended the SPARTA Graffiti Workshop. The first aspect of graffiti the pupils were taught about were the different types of cans and their caps. This was closely followed by a quick demonstration by Leon (the graffiti master) on how to apply the paint.

It was then time for the students to demonstrate what they had learnt on their own blank canvas, beginning with marking out some boxes and filling them in with their chosen colours. The next stage was applying stencils over the

background, before we added lettering to our pieces. Leon helped with the finishing touches to add depth and shadows to the boys’ artwork.

While the artwork was left to dry, the pupils moved on to a group piece themed around Remembrance Sunday. All the colours, textures and words came together to create a very meaningful piece. The workshop was immensely entertaining and all the boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

London Schools’ League Victory St Paul’s Juniors claimed a resounding win at the first round of the London Schools’ Swimming League in November, as the Lower Seconds eviscerated the 4x25m medley relay record to launch the new season in sensational style.

Competing at home against Pembridge Hall, Fulham Prep, Ravenscourt Park Prep and King’s College, SPJ emerged victorious over their nearest rivals by significant margins in some seven out of the eleven relay events contested.

The jubilation reached its peak when Anderson Daffey and Theo Martin, who earlier took second in the open 100m individual medley and 25m butterfly respectively, joined Wilder Daffey and Andrew BerkoBoateng to compete in and win the medley relay.

seconds off the previous mark from 2014.

Elsewhere, there were dominant swims from Andy Wang (Lower Second) in the 25m butterfly, while both Justin Li (Lower Second) and Jason Huang (Upper First) put in impressive efforts in the 25m breaststroke.

Although given stiff competition in the initial stages by eventual second-place finishers Pembridge Hall, the quartet soon found a higher gear to touch first in one minute 21.85secs and shave three

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PARENTS’ GROUP

500 CLUB

Autumn Term Events

Winners

The SPJ Parents’ Group’s goal is to enhance the School’s sense of community through activities which bring parents, pupils, their families and staff together throughout the year.

This term, the Parents’ Group has organised the First Year Parents’ Supper, hosted a number of coffee mornings for new parents, helped with the Junior Harvest Festival and staged the Christmas Fayre. We have enjoyed seeing so many of you at these events and look forward to many more such joyous occasions over the course of the school year.

SPJ First Year Parents’ Supper The First Year Parent Supper on 7 September epitomised the spirit of SPJ – its wonderful sense of community. On the night, the Parents’ Group welcomed all First Year parents to the School with a delicious feast in the brand new dining hall.

Lower Second parents prepared the lovely dinner, from decorating the tables, to cooking the actual food and providing the service throughout the evening, while former Lower First parents made all the desserts. More than anything else, the evening was about sharing and getting to know each other (and the form tutors) in a relaxed setting.

June 2017 1st prize 2nd prize 3rd prize 4th prize 5th prize

Mrs Linda Leaney Mrs Lindy Ackrim Mr D W M Menhennet Mr J G Patel NO WINNER

July 2017 1st prize 2nd prize 3rd prize 4th prize 5th prize

Mr G Hughes Mrs G Warder Mr B M Thomas Mr R J Fernandez Mr D P Viles

August 2017 1st prize 2nd prize 3rd prize 4th prize 5th prize

Mr M Diaz Plata Mr D Benello Mr K Khairallah Mrs C Gardey Mrs E Choi

September 2017 1st prize Mr D W M Menhennet 2nd prize Mrs B Karayi 3rd prize Mr & Mrs J R B Whale 4th prize Mr & Mrs G E J Saidenberg 5th prizE Mr & Mrs R Tanielian

SPORT

PARENTS’ GROUP

Autumn Review

Harvest Festival

With 149 games played, home and away, against many of the most notable sporting schools around, as usual the pupils from St Paul’s Juniors have done themselves and the School proud. Some 65% of the games have been won so far, which is no mean feat considering the quality of our fixture card. I’m sure those of you who keep up with the weekly sports results via SOCS and The Grapevine and the many of you who come to cheer on your sons will see that rugby is in safe hands for the future.

One of the highlights of the term is always the St Pauls’ U10 Rugby Festival, hosted in early November. On a crisp Saturday morning, seven teams arrived to take part in a two pool waterfall

tournament. St Paul’s drew Donhead, St George’s and St Thomas’, Clapham. The boys played well to defeat both Donhead and St George’s but came unstuck in a closely fought affair against Thomas’.

The final game was against King’s House, again another closely fought game that ended in a one-try defeat as King’s scored with the final play of the game.

In late September the new Lower First parents and the Parents’ Group helped stage SPJ’s Harvest Festival.

The Lower First parents decorated the stage beautifully with a wide array

of fresh produce and the pupils’ fabulous art.

Thanks to everyone’s generosity, we collected an astonishing 1.34 tonnes of food on the day, which was donated to the Hammersmith and Fulham Foodbank.

October 2017 1st prize Mr S Karayi Mr R Goldstein 2nd prize 3rd prize Lady Faulks 4th prize Mr K F Barnfather 5th prize Mr & Mrs C L van Lanschot

SPJ – DATES FOR THE DIARY Start of Spring Term Thursday 11 January

REMEDY

Of course, it’s not all about the rugby and it’s pleasing to note success at U11 and 13 in the Richmond Borough Cross Country Championships and continued dominance locally in various swimming galas home and away.

Monday 12 February – Friday 16 February

End of Spring Term Thursday 29 March

Well done to all those who continue to give their best in all sports for St Paul’s!

Dates and times correct at time of print

PARENTS’ GROUP

Christmas Fayre On Sunday 26 November a committee of parent volunteers – supported by pupils, teachers and staff – transformed the School into a winter wonderland. It was a day of fabulous fun and festivities, which everyone seemed to greatly enjoy.

In addition to the wonderful traditional

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range of activities – such as the Hamper Raffle, Sports Tombola, Lapland games, Grandmaster Chess, Bake Off, Take-onthe-Teacher table tennis, and the wide array of outside stalls – there were also a range of new activities including a games bus, a photo booth, an inflatable snowboard simulator and sumo wrestling.

Moreover, the new dining hall presented itself in all its glory, offering a delicious range of food and beverages, whilst hosting sales of SPJ merchandise, second hand books and, for the first time, second hand skiwear.

The Fayre would not have been possible

without all parents’ generous contributions and spending on the day.

The profit that was raised will go towards supporting three local charities – the Lowther Primary School, the Castlenau Community Centre and Parkhouse Dinners – as well as projects around school.

© St Paul’s School, December 2017. St Paul’s School is a charitable company, limited by guarantee, registered in England.

Registered office at Lonsdale Road, London SW13 9JT. Registered Company Number 6141973. Registered Charity Number 1119619.