What’s Inside
Insight SUMMER 2021
the Bancroft’s newsletter
Pastoral News Music Fame - Sixth Form Musical Sport In Sunlit Uplands - Prep 2 Production Outdoor education at the Prep
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INTRODUCTION
Introduction At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this has been one of the strangest years ever at Bancroft’s. During the summer term 2020, school was almost empty but we were all hoping that things would be back to some kind of normality by September and the start of a new school year. Sadly, the autumn term ended rapidly with our buildings once more devoid of pupils and staff who were all forced back into virtual learning from home. Since March, we have been trying to find our way back to being together as a community which offers a multitude of rich provisions both inside and outside of
our classrooms for all pupils. Restrictions have changed so many aspects of school life this year: no whole school events such as Visitation Day or Sports Day; no House competitions like drama and music which cross year groups; no live productions or concerts; no school trips and visits. It has only been at the very end of this year that we have been able to tentatively take part in competitive sport once more or venture outside the school gates for DofE or CCF. This issue of Insight tries to give an overview of the past months; please forgive us if almost every article contains a reference to restrictions, bubbles or Covid. Together these have shaped the school year. One thing which we hope shows through all these articles is the creativity which our staff and pupils have shown over the year: a creativity which has meant that so many areas of school life have continued.
In Memoriam: Professor Peter Kopelman Mr S Marshall, Head of Bancroft’s It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Professor Peter Kopelman, Chair of Governors. Peter had been undergoing treatment over the past year for a recurrence of leukaemia and he announced shortly before the end of term that he would be retiring from his position and from the Board of Governors. His death comes as a huge shock to all of us at Bancroft’s. Peter had been a magnificent and devoted supporter of the school for many years, first as a parent, and latterly as a Governor and Chair of the Board. We will greatly miss his exceptional educational vision and experience, his extraordinary sense of duty, and his kindness. Having had his wise counsel and great medical expertise during the current crisis has been an invaluable asset to the school. Our thoughts are for his wife, Sue, and with his family.
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Cover artwork: Eleanor (U6S)
COMMUNITY
Congress 2020-21 Rebekah Wright, L6N When we (Katie, James, Kabelan and myself) first submitted our applications to be part of School Congress I think we can safely say we were a little apprehensive. I, for one, had no significant leadership experience; nothing akin to that which School Congress would place in my hands. Over the past year, we have conducted two whole school surveys regarding the school’s Covid procedures and mental health provisions. We’ve reviewed the mobile phone policy and the behaviour policy and we’ve constructed criteria and drawn up designs for a new award within the school – the Community Colour.
One of the things I have noticed is just how much precision is used to perfect every tiny detail. This has particularly come from our interaction with Middle School Congress and Junior School Congress, new Covid-friendly creations that have allowed us to keep in touch with the rest of the school without bubble-bursting. We’ve been very fortunate to have discussions with them about the survey feedback we received and their contributions have been invaluable to us. I was also surprised by the breadth of experiences that School Congress has generated, probably best highlighted by the opportunity I had to design the new badge for Community Colours. I didn’t anticipate that I would be able to be so artistic. James also had to maintain contact with the badge production company and it was quite empowering to be part of such a hands-on experience and be entrusted with such a great responsibility. Lastly, much of our time has been used interviewing potential candidates for jobs within the school, most notably Deputy Head Academic. This has probably been the best experience. It has been so interesting to meet so many new people and understand the interview process that they must go through to get the job. It feels like a really important role to be able to have some say in who might teach the next years of Bancroft’s pupils. Congress has allowed us all to gain both leadership and teamwork experience and it’s fantastic that positions have been created lower down the school as well. It’s definitely worth considering and we would all encourage younger pupils to put in an application when the opportunity arises!
Inclusion and Diversity Ms G Chana This year we have had to be more creative to mark our annual celebrations of Black History Month, International Women’s Day and Pride. From an online careers fair for IWD, to photographing year groups in bubbles for Pride, we have managed to raise awareness of important issues. Dr Showunmi spoke to the Sixth Form about identity and led workshops on how they see themselves both individually and within the wider community. We were also delighted to see the Pride flag flying over Bancroft’s this year to mark Pride month. Florence Thomas curated the largest edition of the IWD magazine to date, including articles from students, staff and even an interview with a parent. Our careers event hosted an astronaut, a robotics engineer and also one of our very own Prep parents (amongst other very talented women) to show students that women can occupy top positions in the STEM field. They offered our students invaluable advice, and we were very grateful for their offers to mentor our students. EqualiTea society has grown from strength to strength. Amala, Zakir and Emily have led engaging discussions attracting large audiences of Sixth Formers and staff. We started with a discussion about Islamophobia in France where our language assistant,
Walid, was able to share his experiences in Paris.The Chairs and members have always chosen current issues such as ‘cancel culture’ and ‘positive discrimination’ and most recently discussed the issue of universities favouring state school students. Discussions on the gender pay gap in football and sexism surrounding the death of Sarah Everard were two of our most popular topics. Our members have been able to lead their own discussions, such as Marisol’s talk on indigenous communities in America. Students have enjoyed a welcoming space to talk about these issues and to learn from each other. Some of the students attended an online forum hosted by the boys at Eton College who were keen to learn about the experiences of girls following Sarah Everard’s death. Staff have also contributed to EqualiTea society this year, with teachers coming together to speak about the origins of their names. We already have exciting events lined up for next year, including a talk from Solutions Not Sides about the Israel-Palestine conflict. Interviews are underway for our new Chairs and we cannot wait to see how they will nurture the EqualiTea society next year. 3
PA S TO R A L C A R E
Pastoral Mrs E Channer, Deputy Head Pastoral What an extraordinary year it has been! It has been wonderful to see the children returning to a sort of normality, throwing themselves into the social whirl and participating, where possible, in co-curricular activities. Simply seeing children playing on the field and running around in the sunshine made school feel whole and alive again. There has been much talk in the last year about the fragile mental health of our young people. Whilst it is true and understandable that there was a spike in anxiety on returning to school in March, this trend seems to be diminishing. It is important to remember that children, probably far more so than adults, are very resilient. They tend to dwell less on some of the things that preoccupy us and focus instead on their daily routine, their friendships and what is for lunch! But with the well-being of our pupils in mind, I wanted to let you know about some of the many exciting and valuable pastoral initiatives and projects that we have undertaken this year. Pastoral care can be a reactive business and the very nature of adolescence means that poor judgement, risk-taking and jockeying for social position can result in situations requiring considerable time and effort to unpick. We cannot eliminate this, but we are also working very hard to ensure that we inculcate proactively into our pupils principles which will enable them to navigate all sorts of relationships and, most importantly, to forge and nurture healthy ones. Our Learning for Life programme (formerly PSHE), has been integral to this. Mrs Whitbread, Head of Learning for Life, has produced a rich and diverse curriculum for the 3rds to 5ths. She has worked together with Simrat Khera, who has undertaken training of designated staff to facilitate more skilled and specialised delivery of sensitive topics such as consent, pornography, sexual harassment,Youth Produced Sexual Imagery (sexting), contraception and STIs. These are also tackled in a more advanced manner in the Sixth Form, something that has been overseen by Mrs Abbott and the Sixth Form team. In addition to the curriculum, the latter part of the summer term has seen a number of pastoral drop down mornings, designed to address important wider issues, an understanding of which is essential for young people to flourish.
The Thirds enjoyed a fantastic Learning for Life drop down morning on Thursday 10 June, the aim of which was to build resilience and self-esteem. It kicked off with a presentation from each of the three school counsellors entitled ‘It’s Good to Talk’. They outlined the principles of counselling, and, crucially, busted some myths about it. A survey conducted by School Congress in the spring term revealed that there are many misconceptions about counselling provision among parents and pupils and we felt it important to demystify the process. There followed a captivating session delivered by Rob Higgs on bullying behaviour and the need to call out nastiness as soon as it happens. Rob emphasised the importance of not falling into the ‘victim narrative’, but instead developing strategies to boost resilience and self-confidence. Pupils then produced their own drama pieces on this theme and were specifically encouraged to turn negative thoughts into positive ones. The Removes and L4th received a session from an organisation called It Happens on online safety and positive gender identity. The engaging speaker led an interactive workshop tailored to the pupils’ questions and concerns as the session evolved. In addition to this, Mr Barr and Mr Foley spoke with both year groups about recognising and combatting public sexual harassment. During the pastoral drop down morning for U4th in June, I spoke to the year group about the nature of pastoral care, the fears and insecurities that all pupils have in common and the greatest impediments to delivering good pastoral care. Amongst these are notably a lack of openness on the part of pupils, a fear of reporting or speaking up and a reluctance to take responsibility for their actions. Police Constable Sacha Laurie from the Metropolitan Police spoke powerfully about the legal and personal implications of Youth Produced Sexual Imagery (sexting). Finally, the tremendously charismatic Alex from the Self-Esteem Team had 130 U4ths absolutely rapt when he spoke about body image and the need to learn to compliment qualities which do not pertain to either looks or ability. He examined the effect that this can have on young people and it really resonated with them. We will continue to focus next year on issues of diversity and inclusion, helping pupils to navigate relationships and to have the courage to stand up for what is right in a balanced manner and informed by proper understanding.
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MUSIC AND DRAMA
Music
Mrs J Whitbread, Head of Music I think it goes without saying that this has been a very difficult year for the music department. This term, I feel we have certainly made the most of the good weather and rehearsing in bubbles has not been such a chore. Although we planned for and looked forward to an outdoor Festival style concert to celebrate the end of this momentous year, the weather forecast was against us. It was necessary to move “Summerfest” into the Great Hall. This was then live streamed into classrooms. The Soul Band’s rendition of Floreat proved to be a unique end to a unique year.
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MRS J WHITBREAD
This is possibly the first time that Rhianna and the Arctic Monkeys have featured in a Drapers’ Hall Concert.
We have been very fortunate to be able to fit in four sessions of live ABRSM exams this year and I am extremely grateful as always to the visiting music teacher team who have worked tirelessly in person and online to keep individual music lessons going. We are saying goodbye to a very talented and loyal U6 year group, some of whom have been making music at Bancroft’s for eleven years. As their musical swansong, thirty of the U6 spent a day at Drapers’ Hall first rehearsing and then recording for a special concert, which has been added to our YouTube channel (https://youtu.be/RZ8JzimLsp0). Our super talented music scholars performed solos and we had contributions from various choirs and ensembles. In a departure from the usual Drapers’ Hall concert programme, three pupil led bands (CrocSoc Workshop,The Florida Boys and The Pepper Grinders) “took the stage”.This is possibly the first time that Rhianna and the Arctic Monkeys have featured in a Drapers’ Hall Concert. Thank you to our departing music scholars: Siobhan, Martha, Emilia, Mya , Shreya, Arisht. They are a multi-talented bunch (Siobhan plays at least six instruments). Good luck, too, to Lucas who is going on to study music production at university. We are already planning a bumper year next year (bubbles permitting) and I look forward to seeing you at concerts, hopefully, in more normal times.
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MUSIC AND DRAMA
Drama Drama is so dependent on people working together and feeding off each other’s emotions which means that it has really suffered over the past months. Since we physically returned to school, Drama as part of the curriculum has continued albeit with social distancing in place. We have also been able to run Drama Clubs within our year group bubbles. It is live performance that has most suffered. At the start of the year Ms Middleton started rehearsing for a senior production of the musical Fame. She cast it with the U6 taking the lead roles while the L6 was to be the ensemble. She hoped to rehearse the groups separately and then, in a triumph of planning, use clear screens to keep the bubbles separate on stage. However, her plans were put on hold following the new restrictions from December to March. Ms Middleton was determined, however, that “the show must go on” and so put her plan B into action. To avoid any bubblebursting she regretfully dropped the L6 chorus and focussed on a smaller group of U6 performers. Over a manic three days in June, she worked tirelessly with the cast to work on putting together a musical in a weekend. Two days of rehearsals – including music and dance – were followed by a long day of filming. While Ms Middleton worked
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with the cast, Mrs Foinette worked with a team of musicians. Days proved long but incredibly productive and a real company spirit grew amongst cast, musicians and crew. Many of the performers have been stalwarts of Bancroft’s productions over the years so it was good to be able to mark their final year with us. Well done to the cast of Emily, Theo, Kyrill, Gauri, Martha, Ben, Hanna, Siobhan, Lucas, Dharun, Tallula, Sheyra, Meera, Sonia, Abby, I-Cenay, and Sophia. A huge thank you to Ms Middleton for her vision, Mrs Foinette as Musical Director and Mr James for his technical prowess, as well as the musicians and the back stage crew who made this project come to life. We were able to hold a special outdoor screening of the resulting film of Fame for a small audience of Sixth Formers, their families and staff in July. A further opportunity to see this unique school production was offered when it was broadcast “for one night only”
via Planet E-Stream. Sadly, complex licencing regulations mean that we are unable to put this on a public platform. A number of our Sixth Form have seen successes in the field of drama over the past months. Congratulations to Hanna for being selected as part of the National Youth Theatre; to Marisol for her continuing participation with the Almeida Young Company and to both Emily and I-Cenay for having their plays longlisted in the National Theatre’s New Views young playwrights’ competition.
SPORT
Mrs J Fryer-Green, Head of Department
Sport
Summer term arrived and with it a welcome change to play some competitive fixtures for the first time in over a year. Recently pupils have been busy on the tennis courts, the cricket pitch and the athletics field. In addition, in a move to capture the enthusiasm of our nonteam players, the games department have looked to introduce lots of new sports that individuals are more likely to continue once they leave school. This has been a huge success and this summer we’ve had pupils from the U4 upwards participating in term-long courses of golf lessons, rowing, boxing, dance, climbing and crossfit. Success has been measured by the number of pupils who have decided to keep their activities going outside of term time.
Sports Day looked a little bit different this year with each year group having their own inter-house athletics afternoon. This allowed for greater levels of participation from individuals and there were some fantastic performances in track and field events.
Athletics
Mrs H Marchant, Head of Athletics
The level of participation in athletics this term has been inspiring and I hope this level of commitment continues moving forward. Congratulations to all the 3rds and Removes who have had a busy term on the athletics track. The athletes have competed at the Lee Valley Schools Track and Field Cup as well as the English Schools Track and Field Cup. We even managed to secure a friendly fixture with our local rivals Forest School at Ashton’s Athletics track.
Some highlights included a spectacular run and personal best in the 100m for Caitlin, running 13.3 seconds, and Natasha running superbly in the 800m with a time of 2.28.8: some exciting talent. We must also congratulate Maisy and Isabella for being selected to compete at the Essex Schools Well done to Caitlin, Natasha, Adeline and Ahsen who represented Redbridge in the Year 7 Essex Schools County Championships. 7
SPORT
Mr C Greenidge, Head of Cricket
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We were blessed and, at the same time, not quite so blessed with cricket being the first sport allowed to take part again in inter-school fixtures. Although this was fantastic news for everybody, it came with a plethora of challenges that we had to meet head on.
We somehow got through the summer term relatively unscathed and actually managed to put out more teams than we have ever done in recent times. A big thank you goes out to all of the staff who have contributed to making that happen. The increased participation was due in part to the inability to mix senior bubbles until the last few weeks of term but gave opportunities to players who otherwise may not have played and for that we are thankful. Our junior cricket was very strong this summer and Mr Flaherty and Mr Faiers have both enjoyed very successful seasons with the U12A and U13A teams respectively. In the last game of the season for the U12s, Zareb took a hat trick. This is a feat that hasn’t been achieved for a number of years at Bancroft’s and a moment to cherish because it so rarely happens at any stage of anyone’s sporting journey – congratulations Zareb. The U13s are a particularly strong year group for all sport and Mr Faiers has done a sterling job managing the A team so that duties were shared around. He was also helped by a maturity within the peer
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It has been so great to see the girls’ game become very popular amongst the Bancroft’s cricketers.
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Cricket
group that bodes well for them in the future. The U14s have had a very successful season and have made steady progress under the watchful eye of Mr Foley with Louis emerging as the batter of the year scoring consistently throughout the season with one half century. The U15s have had a turbulent season but have matured into a group of players who look ready for senior cricket. In short, cricket is still strong at Bancroft’s, and long may it continue.
It has been so great to see the girls’ game become very popular amongst the Bancroft’s cricketers. With the weather not being on our side this summer, the girls have still remained as keen and motivated as ever. We even saw the first girls’ games to take place during cricket week when Bancroft’s took on Forest at school. Well done to all girls from the U12A, U12B, U13A and U13B teams, who all represented Bancroft’s this cricket season. The attitude and commitment to cricket has been brilliant. Keep up the good work girls!
SPORT
Tennis Miss M Wainwright, Head of Tennis After a year without Bancroftian footsteps on them, the West Grove tennis courts must have wondered what hit them this term, as Tennis Club was back with a vengeance and there were fixtures a-plenty both home and away for the U12, U13, U14, U15 and Senior teams. In all, we had 122 pupils regularly playing in the club sessions and we competed in 40 fixtures with many more wins than losses! Highlights of the season include the U12 FUNbledon Doubles Tournament which marked the start of Wimbledon and saw 40 of the 3rds involved in some lovely doubles play; very well done to Nikki and Esha who made it to the final and to Varun and Raihan who took the winners’ trophies. A combined U12/13 mixed team shone at the Haileybury Tennis Festival and the U14/15 girls put on a dominant display against St Edmund’s. The U14 Road To Wimbledon Tournaments were won by Lorena and Freddy who go on to play in the County phase of the event where victory would see them competing on the hallowed grass courts of the All England Club! The U13 boys team are the “The Team of the Year”, remaining unbeaten
in seven fixtures and making it through to the County quarter final stage of the National Team Tennis Championships. Captained by Krishan, the team of Aryaan, Luca, Johnny, Xav, Julius, Benji, Mieszko, Joseph, Devesh and Nishaan have been a delight to watch.
The final word should go to the departing U6th tennis team, who have been one of the strongest year groups we have ever had. Spearheaded by David and Abby, their final match against Forest was one to put a smile on everyone’s face as it represented what Bancroft’s Tennis is all about…FUN!
Sports Successes Huge congratulations to Grace (L6N) who has been selected for the England U18 hockey squad. During a period of such upheaval, this is a real tribute to Grace’s commitment. As an U16 player, Grace was the top goal scorer for England during the 201819 season with a total of nine goals. Mrs Fryer-Green says, “It’s been a very tough year to stay focused and committed but she’s done it! I’m so pleased for her.” We look forward to following her progress.
Although football is not a major sport at Bancroft’s, we are delighted to report on the success of two Bancroftians in this sport. Kieran (5W) leaves us to follow a professional football career with Swansea Academy. Emilia (U6E) has recently signed for QPR ladies and has already found her way onto the score sheet in preseason friendlies. Best wishes to both of them: we will be watching their careers with interest.
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CO-CURRICULAR
Duke of Edinburgh Award Covid hasn’t meant a stop to the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme at Bancroft’s, far from it. It just means that, thanks to #DofEwithaADifference, everything has just adapted a little. The DofE certificate of Achievement was introduced to acknowledge the hard work young people have put in to complete their Skills, Volunteering and Physical sections of the Award, even if their expeditions or Gold residentials were not possible. This certificate is a formal recognition of everything they have achieved in these sections. Participants were able to continue with these sections, perhaps adapting them so that they could take place online, or they could put them on hold for a later date. Expeditions were quite a different matter. We had completed a Bronze training weekend back in early March 2020, and our then U4s were able to use this as their qualifying expedition. After this, expeditions were frozen and we were left with a considerable backlog of expeditions which needed to be completed before Bancroftians could complete their full awards. As things eased up a little during the summer term, we were able to make full use of the wonderful resource of Epping Forest which is on our doorstep. Since May half term, we have held three expeditions in Epping covering all three
levels of the award. These comprised of circular walks from the school on both a Saturday and a Sunday. On their Saturday return to school, the Bronze participants had to put up a tent and cook a meal, just as they would have done on a “real” expedition. The main difference was they could retreat to the comfort of their own beds before returning to school for day two. For those participating in the Gold Award, it was quite comforting to return to the area familiar from when
they experienced their first taste of a DofE Expedition. Mr Argyle, Director of DofE at Bancroft’s, is confident that these expeditions still gave the groups the chance to develop the skills essential for any successful DofE Expedition: team work, problem solving, resilience and navigation. Plans are currently being made to take the Silver and Gold groups to the Black Mountains of South Wales at the end of the summer holidays, where they will be able to undertake their “proper” qualifying expeditions. By the time a further Gold expedition has taken place in October half term, the two-year backlog will have been dealt with and DofE at Bancroft’s will be back on track. Next academic year will pose a new challenge for the DofE team at Bancroft’s, what Mr Argyle describes as “the double bubble”. For the first time, the whole of our L4 will take part in the Bronze Award along with members of the U4. This gives us a Bronze cohort of potentially 250 pupils. Having overcome the challenges of the past months, it is likely that Mr Argyle and his DofE team will take this new challenge in their stride.
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CO-CURRICULAR
Scouts Mr M Balchin, Scout Section Leader, 4th EFS Covid restrictions have meant that we have not been able to go sailing, however we have some full days sailing planned for over the summer. Over the twelve weeks of the summer term the scouts have had lots of fun and tried out various forms of paddle sports, including open top canoeing (two person), kayaking and paddle boarding. Our scouts normally start with varying levels of experience and confidence on the water but by the end of this term they had all mastered the skills to manoeuvre each type of ‘boat’ as well as how to fall out safely and get back in again. They also gained the confidence to play some fast and daring games out on the water. They have all achieved a range of water activity badges, which are equivalent to the various levels of the national governing bodies for paddle sports.
Going online for many Scout groups in the UK has been challenging and in many cases groups have reduced drastically in numbers and even closed. This year we saw higher numbers than usual move to join the CCF in their last year of Scouts - although we do have scouts who take part in both. We had, however, our largest intake from the Cubs and Thirds and so the Troop continues at its maximum capacity with more requests to join.
At the start of the summer holidays, two thirds of the troop packed for camp (with no more space for their kit for the week than a DofE Bronze/Scout Gold award sized rucksack and no mobile phones). This year we were in the heart of the New Forest. Camp activities included: a 10k hike (ending at the beach for beach games and fish and chips); off-road cycling; a night hike; axe throwing; axe handling; building survival shelters; large scale pioneering and raft building. There were also several nights where the scouts cooked their own food over the camp fire as well as plenty of time for them to chill out and relax.
The most popular term for us is, of course, the summer term when we spend the whole term on the water. Despite the restrictions imposed due to Covid and Redbridge council taking the decision not to re-open our normal base at Fairlop Waters until their big rebuild of the park, we have still been able to get onto the water. This summer we have run an extended term and alternated year groups. To get to our temporary water base in Her tfordshire we have had to travel directly after school by minibus, which clashed with the many activities that go on directly after school across different year groups. We have to thank the staff involved in both the Prep 2 play and the swimming team for helping us with logistics. We have had some excellent and noisy renditions of World War Two songs from the Prep School scouts, however ; their spirits as high as ever, despite the difficulties this year. 11
CO-CURRICULAR
Combined Cadet Force Almost more than any other co-curricular activity, the CCF programme depends on our year groups mixing together as it is the senior cadets who teach the new recruits. When pupils speak about the enjoyment they gained from the CCF so often they mention the inter-year group friendships which develop. Under Covid, this was not to be. When we were able to run CCF activities in our normal Tuesday evening session, they were largely run by the staff rather than by the Sixth Formers. Our U6 cohort were very involved in representing the CCF in the Remembrance Day service held at School which was streamed both in school and beyond. After that, the year group’s involvement in the CCF was very limited. The L6, unable to teach, put together an introductory video showing what the CCF does. This is now on the School YouTube channel https://youtu.be/ZY9n1pXgrhA. The younger year groups were able to follow their regular CCF syllabus, so that the 5th Form still undertook their method of instruction course (BITS) which will enable them to teach younger
cadets once we no longer need to operate under the year group bubble system Two field days were organised during the year.The L4 recruits had a school-based day in October with various challenge stalls, as well as laser quest on the field.This served as a good introduction to the CCF.The second field day came on a very wet day in June, when the L4, U4 and L6 went to Stubbers Activity Centre in Upminster for a full day of activities: axe throwing; laser quest; rafting; canoeing; climbing and crate stacking. Getting out and being active came as a very welcome change to them all, despite the atrocious weather. Two highlights of the CCF year – Adventurous Training in the Lake District at Easter and the RAF and Army Camps in the summer holidays could not take place. As a small consolidation, cadets who had signed up for camp had two days at the end of term: one at the Viking Laser Sports in Norfolk and the other at Frimley Park Cadet Centre. All cadets and officers are looking forward to resuming business as usual next year.
Young Reporter Scheme I originally signed up for the Young Reporter Scheme because, I assume like any others, I was enthralled by the idea of having my writing displayed on a national news website. By the end, however, I was given the opportunities to review a Christmas concert hosted by the charity Calcutta Rescue and interview its organiser and former Surrey Comet Journalist, Sean Duggan. The scheme starts in September and runs throughout eight months of the school year with students submitting one article every month. Competitions are rife throughout the scheme with the chance to interview new small business owners, charity organisers and review plays and pantomimes (now all via Zoom, of course). At the end of the scheme students can enter the overall competition and there is an awards ceremony for the winners. The scheme also gives students the opportunity to enter a competition for article of the week, which was once won by East House’s Holly for her article ‘Swimming Clubs are Struggling’. 12
Rebekah Wright, L6N
I personally learnt a lot through my interview with Sean Duggan. His life experiences working for Calcutta Rescue were certainly both fascinating and inspiring. Not only that, but through my reviewing of the Christmas concert he organised, I have also developed somewhat of an affinity for Calcutta Rescue. Two of the Bancroftians on this year’s scheme were named in the annual Young Reporter Awards. I received a commended award in the interview category and Holly was highly commended in the photographic session for this wonderful image of Bancroft’s by night.
CO-CURRICULAR
Outreach The disjointed nature of the year has meant that our normal outreach programme has been equally disjointed. It has not been possible to hold our Saturday Challenge for local primary schools nor has PHAB been able to hold its regular Monday meetings in the Prep School. PHAB did manage to get together for a proper meeting in late June, when members and volunteers went for a walk in High Beech. Pre-Christmas saw collections for Redbridge foodbank and also the Salvation Army’s toy bank. We also asked pupils to donate any new or pre-read books for the Children’s Book Project. Plans for a big summer charity day organised by the pupils had to be abandoned with the news that restrictions to bubbles were not being lifted in June. We have continued to hold “dress down days” which have supported a number of organisations. We raised £1470 for Barnardos in October; £1740 for local adventure playground ELHAP in November; in May £700 each for the
Theatre Artists Benevolent Fund and Chickenshed Theatre. A rainbow themed own clothes day was held to celebrate pride with over £800 raised for the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard and ELOP (a Walthamstow based lesbian and gay mental health charity). We were delighted, too, that Ray Lodge Primary School was able to make use of our West Grove playing fields for its sports day this year. The pupils all had a great time as shown by some of their comments in the Ray Lodge newsletter: “Sports day was perfect, everyone was smiling and having
so much fun!” and “We enjoyed using Bancroft’s playing field and we got to do so many new activities.” Looking ahead to next year, Pool Schools has already been recruiting Bancroft’s volunteers to help with the weekly swimming sessions they hold for pupils from Little Heath Special Needs School. We are sure that many of our pupils will have the opportunity once again to be involved in community projects during the coming academic year.
CPR Training This year our School Nurse, Mrs Hancock, has worked with two set of Sixth Formers on vital CPR training. The courses led to certificates from the British Heart Foundation. The U6 sessions originally began before the last lockdown, so have been spread over several months. The sessions were later extended to members of the L6 and at these sessions Mrs Hancock was assisted by two of the U6 “graduates” from last year’s course, Eleanor and David. Mrs Hancock, who stresses the importance of this life saving skill, described the pupils as “a delight to teach”.
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AC A D E M I C
Maths The Mathematics Department was delighted to announce the results of the Intermediate Maths Olympiad and Kangaroo (IMOK) competitions. These are the follow-on rounds of the Intermediate Maths Challenge (IMC) which took place in February for pupils from Lower Fourth and Fifths. Participation is by invitation following achieving a very high score in the IMC. In normal times, the results would be expected within just a few weeks of the competition date, but the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust has only recently released the results. So, with a delay of a few months, we were happy to celebrate the achievements of some of our best young mathematicians. Despite the less than ideal circumstances for the event, Bancroftians won ten Merit awards. Particular congratulations go to Shivan (5S) for achieving a Distinction, Medal and Prize. His achievement places him within the top 50 for his age group, at a national level, to be compared with roughly 200 000 who sat the IMC.
The Bancroft’s team reached the final of the prestigious Hans Woyda Maths Competition in 2020 but, unfortunately, it was never possible or safe to hold the final before the school year ended. The organisers recently made the decision to have joint winners: Bancroft’s School and St Paul’s School. Congratulations to the team of: Alex (OB), Jathusan (U6S), Shivan (5S), Akash (U4E)
Modern Foreign Languages
Just before the end of the Christmas term, three pupils – Shravan (RE), Aroush (RN) and ZaIna (RN) - competed in the finals of this year’s Year 8 Modern Languages Spelling Bee. Having learnt the spelling, pronunciations and meaning of a set of 200 words and phrases, they were subjected to a quick fire, against the clock test. There were 30,531 pupils across the languages who started the competition of whom 71 competed in the national final.Very well done to Aroush who emerged as the national runner-up in the French competition.
Our team of U6 Modern Foreign Language Leaders was named as the Runner Up in the languages category of Pearson’s annual World Changer Awards. The competition is open to individuals, student groups and even whole schools who consider themselves to be world changers. Well done to Harriet, Davina, David, Theo, Chase, Louis, Maiya, Lola, Hanna, Eleanor, Numayer, Davissen, Alex, Siobhan, Vishali, Gauri and Orla who were recognised for their promotion of cultural awareness and understanding.
Well done to our Thirds linguists who performed extremely well in the regional round of the Year 7 Spelling Bee. Olakitan (3W) won the French competition and we had a first place for Thihansa (3S) and a second for Leon (3N) in the German competition. They have now proceeded to the national finals. The deadline for entries to be recorded and submitted for these was July 22, so they won’t know if they have been successful at national level for some time.
Jonathan (RN) entered the Spanish Flash Fiction Competition run by the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages at the University of Oxford and his entry was highly commended in the Year 7-11 category. Even if he was not the winner, this is a great achievement particularly as Jonathan is only in the Removes and one of the younger competitors.
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AC A D E M I C
STEM Following the disappointing news that the annual Biology A Level field trip to Norfolk had to be cancelled because of Covid restrictions, undeterred, the L6 biologists found themselves carrying out field studies in Epping Forest during the weekend of 26 and 27 June. A range of organisms were found and identified, including a number of newts and huge dragon fly nymphs. Reasons for the differences in habitats were discussed and then written up by the students to contribute to the practical component of their A Level.
Many congratulations to Ben (L6) whose design for a bicycle fridge took him into the top five entrants in the Big Bang Young Engineers Prize 2021. He was eventually awarded the runners-up prize. The idea for the fridge, which was part of Ben’s GCSE work, came about from his own cycling experiences and the need to keep refreshments cool in the summer months. Ben says that he has always enjoyed designing and building and likes to work on projects which resonate personally. This year 1,616 pupils from 270 schools from the UK, and others from a few schools overseas, participated in the British Physics Olympiad (BPhO) Round 1. This paper sets out to challenge a range of knowledge, preparation and ability, allowing access for good students, whilst also aiming at stretching and challenging the top young physicists in the country in a national competition. Congratulations to the following members of the U6 for achieving the following: Kyrill (Gold), Dharun and Max (Silver) Matthew (Bronze I), Eaman and Varsha (Commendations). Congratulations to the twenty members of the Fifth Form who received medals in the Physics Olympiad and well done to Mr Ceeraz for encouraging so many of them to take part. We had an impressive number of Gold medallists (8): Shivan, Miles, Haseeb, Oscar, Zaki, Aveneet, Nathan S and Erin. Silver medallists were: Anish, Maanvii, Advay, Ishani, Aliesha, Lakshmy, Sejal, Seun, John, Krishan, Priyen, Christian, Sarah, Yuvraj, Nathan T and Matthew. Ambar and Taraniga were awarded Bronze medals.
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AC A D E M I C
English Congratulations to Fawzan (L6) who was one of the Key Stage 5 Classic and Celebration finalists for Poetry By Heart 2021. Fawzan took par t in the national showcase event at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London on 19 July, when he recited Ozymandias by Shelley. Contestants choose, learn and perform two poems from the Poetry By Hear t website, one published before 1914 and one published in or after 1914. Fawzan had taken par t in our internal round of the competition back in the autumn term and Miss Evans reported that the standard was exceptionally high this year. The competition’s organisers wrote, “The judging was incredibly tough and we will be sending lots of Highly Commended
and Commended certificates to students whose performances were all uniquely special.” Well done to Fatima (RE) who was the runner up in the Henry Williamson Society Schools’ Writing Competition, open to Year 8s and Year 9s. The theme was ‘Nature, Conservation and the Environment’ and entrants had to choose from two titles: ‘The World is Waking Up’ (Fatima’s choice) and ‘The Trees are Talking’. The competition is held every two years and the judges were looking for a fictitious, imaginative, creative piece of nature writing within a conservationist environmental viewpoint. Fatima’s piece successfully mixed the creative with the philosophical.
Economics A team of Ben, Dharun, Matthew and Christopher in the U6th made it through to the national final of the ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales). BASE competition. Well done to them. Their task was to formulate financial and strategic advice for a business and present their recommendations via video to the ICAEW judges. They were competing with Sixth Form teams from schools across the country and participated in a ‘live’ online final in June. The competition’s organisers wrote, “We received a large number of applicants this year and the standard of entries was particularly high. It is a fantastic achievement to reach the final and all your students should be very proud of their hard work.”
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PREP SCHOOL
Prep 2 Play – In Sunlit Uplands Mr T Paramour Earlier this year, two months into the second national school closure of the past eighteen months, I must confess I found myself feeling somewhat dejected.Teachers are well-known for their somewhat sardonic sense of humour but the truth is that we love what we do.We missed being at school with the children. The energy and excitement of school life is what makes our jobs worthwhile. I found the healthiest thing to do was to keep looking forward- hope is a powerful weapon in difficult times. So, among other things, I started having discussions with colleagues about what would be possible in terms of a Prep 2 production this year. Time was limited and we had no idea what the world was going to look like when the summer term came around.
As a result, I decided to write a play myself that would support the Prep 2 curriculum in other areas, especially history and music, but also in English and Art. This overcame the time constraints we faced and it meant that the process of preparing the performance would have been a valuable one even if we were never able to perform it to a live audience. The obvious focus for the production was the Second World War- Prep 2’s history topic this term. However, I also wanted the production to achieve some of the goals usually served by the leavers’ assembly- to mark the end of Prep 2’s journey through the Prep School and to look ahead with hope and optimism at the challenges ahead. In Sunlit Uplands tells the story of Joan Everett, who we originally meet as the 93-year-old great grandmother of Ben, a boy in Year 6 who is worried about the transition to senior school. Joan tells Ben a story about her own childhood in an effort to make him feel better. When she was eleven, Joan was evacuated to the countryside to keep her safe during the Blitz. Frightened and alone, Joan befriended Karl, a German
refugee brought to Britain in the Kindertransport. Together, Joan and Karl discovered that there are forces in the world more powerful than Nazi bombs- forces which will be just as important to Joan’s great-grandson in the Twenty-First Century as they were to her in the Twentieth. We were delighted that, it was possible to perform In Sunlit Uplands to a limited, socially-distanced audience including representatives from all of the Prep 2 children’s families. It has also been gratifying for me personally to see the idea I had back in February made real in our school hall. A huge share of the credit for that must go the incredible people I have the privilege to work with every day. Miss Adams has masterminded the organisation of the production, including the huge amounts of communication and coordination involved, and it is largely thanks to her hard work that it was been possible at all. Mr Pearson did sterling work organising most of the props and costumes and assisting with many of the technical aspects of the production. Mr Baum selected and arranged the music and, along with Miss Akroyd, did a fantastic job teaching the songs to the children and providing live music on the night. Thanks also need to go to Jenny Tarrant, Joshua James and, of course, to Mr Layburn, Mrs Life and the office staff for helping to plan the logistics of the evenings themselves. However, more than anyone else, I am grateful to and so incredibly proud of the children in Prep 2. They have been a wonderful year group to work with and we will miss them enormously as they move on to senior school. Over the past eighteen months, they’ve faced challenges no one could have imagined when they (and I) first arrived at the Prep School four years ago. Witnessing the cheerful determination with which they have faced those challenges has filled me with nothing but optimism and their performances in this production are the perfect example of that. We live in uncertain times and the world can be a pretty scary place. However, if you’re in search of a bit of hope, you need only look to the younger generation. Furthermore, if you want to know why Bancroft’s Prep School is such a special place to work and such a special place to learn, you need only look at our brilliant Prep 2 children. 17
PREP SCHOOL
Outdoor Education at Bancroft’s Prep Mr C Hall
Prep 1s were able to raise butterflies from tiny caterpillars in the classroom and look at life cycles. Nell in 1KY said, ‘I was able to have a closer look at the butterfly’s life and get emotionally involved, as when we let them free I felt proud of how we were able to look after them from caterpillars to butterflies. The best thing for me was watching them grow from specks to large caterpillars, to chrysalises and, finally, to fully grown vivid Painted Ladies’. The excitement and wonder when the class let them fly away was great to see. Risha, who took some home on the last day of term said, “I cared for them at home and was excited to see one hatch and I took multiple photos of it. I loved the butterflies.” Well done Prep 1! Prep 2 entered into the culinary world, preparing, cooking and eating plant based kebabs and vegan nachos. Our chef, Matt, had them chopping up veggies, adding spices and making some giant kebabs, whilst teaching why plant based food is good for the environment. Tristan said, “I didn’t know plant based food existed, it tastes quite nice.”Clara said, “I especially liked the vegan nachos and the guacamole I made.” The main response was that making food themselves inspired them to try something new. Matt was impressed with the enthusiasm, engagement and initiative our pupils showed.
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Alphas, in co-ordination with their science lessons, looked at life cycles and planted some beans and peas in our new vegetable plot. They began studying the seeds in the classroom. They then prepared the vegetable patch, clearing it and turning the soil over, ready to plant the crops. They have been looking after them so well, watering them every day and we look forward to trying some of our very own Bancroft’s produce. Harris said, “You should grow your own food
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SOPHIA
It is also a good way to help the wildlife as the vegetables produce flowers that butterflies and bees like to dance around
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This year, more than any other, has compelled us to appreciate our local environment and understand the benefits of getting outside. This has been evident at Bancroft’s Prep, where the introduction of Outdoor Education has fired the imagination of pupils to develop their knowledge of how to help and protect the environment, learn practical skills and appreciate the benefits of getting outdoors.
because instead of buying plastic packets in supermarkets, you can pick straight from your garden.” Sophia said, “It is also a good way to help the wildlife as the vegetables produce flowers that butterflies and bees like to dance around.” This project has inspired her to grow other things like chillies and rosemary at home, which is fantastic.
PREP SCHOOL
Looking ahead to next year, we have some wonderful opportunities planned for the pupils. Trips to the Lambourne End Centre for Outdoor Learning; cooking a range of healthy foods; team-building exercises and learning practical skills such as first aid and gardening are all on the agenda as part of an enriching new curriculum. Continuing the theme of outdoor learning, Prep 1 went on an outdoor adventure to Epping Forest. Percy wrote, “We collected our lunches, activity sheets and equipment. Our
first activity was to find everything on the scavenger hunt list. Our target was sixteen things which included three types of leaves, four types of birds, a squirrel and moss on a tree, to name but a few. We were given credits for all we found. We arrived at Warren Pond and used magnifying glasses to look at the creatures we had collected using the pond dipping nets. Arush and I found a frog and Rian found a rat-tailed maggot. We returned everything to the pond before moving on. We spent time drawing a still life scene around Connaught Waters. We then had an unexpected den-building House competition. Each den was either a tent or teepee shape and had their own features to set them apart. Manor came 1st, Monkhams 2nd and joint 3rd were Hereford and Knighton. We collaborated together to do our best and it was an exciting part of the day. Mrs Clark was the judge. All the Houses deserved to win. On the way back Mrs Strong bought all of us an ice cream, which was delicious and then we headed back to school. Over the course of the day, we walked 12,000 steps! It was a lovely day out. Thank you to all the teachers who planned the day and got us out of the classroom to have some fun in the sun!” The Betas visited Epping Forest Filed Study Centre to learn about bugs and their habitats. Sana wrote, “When we got there, we went pond dipping! We found many interesting creatures including pond snails, dragonfly nymphs and three species of newts! My group found a palmate newt, who we named Jeff and another group found a smooth newt who they called Isaac Newton! We also took part in another activity called Field Sweeping. We ran around with nets, trying to catch bugs and other critters. It was a lot of fun, and we found some unique looking beetles, grasshoppers and a small green slug! Next we went into the forest to find bugs that liked living in dark places. We found some very funny looking bugs and many huge, black slugs. We made sure to handle the little beasts carefully in each activity and released them back.”
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High Road, Woodford Green Essex, IG8 0RF SENIOR SCHOOL 020 8505 4821 | bancrofts.org | office@bancrofts.org PREP SCHOOL 020 8506 6774 | bancrofts.org | prepoffice@bancrofts.org Social icon
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