School Development & Alumni Relations

AGS is passionate about providing an education that truly transforms young people. The challenges facing school funding are not going away and so when we do return to a semblance of how we were, we still need to try to provide the very best facilities we can.

•AGS remains one of the lowest funded schools in

Buckinghamshire.

•AGS remains in the bottom twenty least-funded state secondary schools in England.

•Despite this, we are one of the top performing schools in the country.

•For Value Added at A Level, AGS is the top performing grammar school in Buckinghamshire.

•At the time of writing we receive £4760 annually from the Department of Education to educate each student in Years 7 – 11. We receive just £4000 for each student in Years 12 & 13. • Funding just about covers our basic operating costs through efficient financial management.

•We have been on this site for over a century and many of our learning and teaching spaces are in dire need of attention.

•We have a detailed School

Development Plan but there are no funds available within our budget to update, refurbish or develop our school site.

Over the years our fundraising effort has focused on different areas of the School based on priorities at the time. Past donations to the School have enabled us to refurbish our Science Centre, our Sixth Form Centre and our Library, in addition to smaller scale refurbishment and development projects including the Foundation Hall, the Fitness Suite and IT Rooms. Last year we refurbished the entire Maths department with money raised from our Aylesburian Annual Fund and our students benefit every day.

This year we have turned our attention to the much-needed refurbishment of our Art, DT and Engineering classrooms which are no longer fit-for-purpose for teaching the modern curriculum.

The fundraising objective is £450,000 to complete the entire refurbishment. At the time of writing we have raised £65,000 in gifts and pledges, having already received a substantial donation from a local trust (The John Mason Raven Trust) of £300,000. This means we have £85,000 left to raise to complete the project. The long-term impact of COVID-19 is not yet fully understood for schools but we simply have to keep trying to raise the funds. Our School will be here long after the crisis and our students still need to be educated in facilities that are fit for purpose. With the support of our community, I am sure we can do something important to enthuse our future artists, engineers and architects – it just may take a little longer!

We now have over 1,545 registered Old Aylesburians on our community database and over

2,500 connections on Linkedin. We actively communicate via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to reach as many of our Old Aylesburians as possible and we are delighted to report that many OAs now actively engage with us - proactively offering their time and expertise on a regular basis.

On Monday 9th September our senior students, families, staff and guests enjoyed another fantastic Senior Prize Giving celebrating our student’s numerous achievements - both academic and extra-curricular. A huge thank you to our brilliant OA Steve Cooper (Ridley ‘91) who

delivered a strong message of opportunity, curiosity and finding your path. It was wonderful to welcome him back. Steve has enjoyed an interesting and varied career to date and has worked with some pioneering and dynamic brands and indeed sportsmen, combining his passion with this role. As a boy, Steve could scarcely have dreamt that a childhood spent playing with racing cars, space crafts and paintbrushes would help land him a full-time job – let alone allow him to forge a full-time career with a worldchampionship winning Formula 1 team. After leaving Aylesbury Grammar School and graduating from Leeds University with a degree in art history, Steve began actively pursuing his childhood dream of becoming a Formula 1 journalist. Starting on the bottom rung of the journalistic ladder, he quickly started scaling its heights, becoming Grand Prix editor for Autosport magazine – the industry’s most authoritative voice – before joining legendary team McLaren to work alongside world champions Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso. The growth of social media, and its embrace of multi-media, allowed Steve’s passions for music and film-making to flourish, and he became centrally involved in creating, devising and commissioning all McLaren’s brand content, including a series of award-winning films and a string of highly successful car launches. In his current role, Steve is head of international communications for Europe’s biggest touring car series, DTM, employing his background in journalism and storytelling to build the global brand. With a lifelong commitment to ‘the story’, he continues to explore and develop narrative storytelling techniques across the constantly changing media landscape, while ensuring his work remains engagingly human.

At the start of the autumn term we were delighted to see Amith Anilkumar (Lee ‘18) and Dylan Kanapathipillai (Hampden ‘18) who launched the Medical Society Thursday lunchtime talks for this academic year by chatting about their first year at Med School and answering a vast array of questions. In October we welcomed back Mark Gill (Lee ’01) to share his expertise. Mark is Operations Director at Goddard Veterinary Group, he originally trained as a vet and is now a director in a large multi-site veterinary practice. Tom Clark (Paterson ‘12) also returned in October, Tom is now working as an F1 doctor in Sheffield having studied at Leicester Medical School. Towards the end of the autumn term Charlie Sellar (Paterson ‘18), a recent leaver, shared his experiences of his first year at Medical School. Our sincere thanks to our Old Aylesburian community for continuing to support our Medical Society which continues to go from strength to strength.

Also in October Wing Commander Lee Cobley (Hampden ‘76) and Mrs Anne Cobley returned to adjudicate Senior Public Speaking. Our congratulations to Phillips House who won the annual competition and our thanks to Mr Warner for his continued commitment to public speaking at Aylesbury Grammar School.

In November we held our third Medical School Interview Practice Session event. Our Sixth Form Study Area was set up with a series of MMI (Mini Medical Interview) stations and our students were questioned as they would be at interview for Medical School. Each medical professional who volunteered ran one station, essentially to their own style. Topics included consent, clinical ethics, teamwork, work experience, role play, hot NHS topics, problemsolving, breaking bad news and data interpretation. It gave our students great insight and helps to prepare them for the rigour of a successful medical application. We simply could not create this opportunity for our aspiring medics without the tremendous support from OAs and parents who so generously gave up their time to help our current students prepare. Our community giving time, expertise and energy to support the next generation of aspiring medics is fantastic - thank you to everyone who supported this worthwhile event.

In December we welcomed Sean Flynn (Ridley ‘78) back to school. Sean met up with AGS Squash Coach Darren Withey and enjoyed a tour of our impressive squash facilities - where his career began. Sean was a professional squash player, inspired by his time here, and has numerous titles to his name including winning the under 16 Bucky County Junior Event (1974/1975), and Southern Area Championships Under 16 (1974/1975). Many more titles followed including representing Bucks Senior men’s A team and a selection for National Junior training squads, and selected for the England Junior team and unbeaten in three matches in the Home International event (1975/1976). Post AGS Sean was the French National Squash Champion between 1985 to 1988. He was a Member of the French National Team in both European and World Team Championships for 8 years and received the “Medaille de Paris” the English equivalent of the CBE from President Jacques Chirac for services to sport in France.

At the end of December 2019 we bid farewell to Vanessa Kennedy, Headmaster’s PA, after 32 years at AGS. On Saturday 14 December Nessie and her husband hosted a wonderful retirement lunch in the Foundation Hall for over 100 family, colleagues and friends to help celebrate her time at AGS. A fitting celebration of Nessie’s time at School, the hall was buzzing with chat, there was delicious food catered by Ashridge Delicious and we were thrilled to be joined by a staff band led by Director of Music Mr Craig Nathan who delighted the guests with their compilations.

House Music was held on Thursday 30 January and was, in the words of Headmaster, “simply sensational”. House Music has always been

one of the most fiercely fought competitions in the School calendar and this year was no exception with over 280 students taking part at the magnificent Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury. We were delighted to be joined by OA George Moore (Ridley ’05) who was adjudicator for the evening. George studied Music, French and Spanish at A Level. From Year 7 he was very involved in music at AGS, playing in various school ensembles throughout his school years. He was involved in Ridley’s House Music entry every year (which they won on one or two occasions…) and he was also involved in other student-led ensembles performing at the first ever Cabaret night in 2003. Following his time at AGS George pursued his passion for music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and did a BMus in Jazz Piano for four years. Since then he’s worked as a pianist, musical director, arranger and more recently as a songwriter and producer with a wide range of artists, including Florence and the Machine, Clean Bandit, Jorja Smith, Paloma Faith, Camila Cabello, Mura Masa, All Saints, Tom Misch, YEBBA, Kwabs and NAO, whose album “Saturn” which George worked on was recently nominated for a Grammy. From 2012-2014 he taught at ICMP in London on their undergraduate and diploma programmes. In 2018 George was signed as a songwriter by Warner Chappell Publishing and continues to work with them on various projects, collaborating with artists at his studio in East London. Our congratulations to Ridley House for winning the event with their performances of “Just the two of us”, “Sunny” and “Spain”. It was a remarkable showcase for all that is wonderful about our School.

The start of the spring term saw several OAs return to AGS to chat to our Sixth Form about careers, be part of our Inspirational Speakers programme or simply pop in for a coffee and a catch up. Our former student are always very welcome. Henry Allmand (Lee ‘06) caught up with Development Director Alison

Cox to discuss his new role as Chief Executive Officer at Hearts of Bucks, a Community Foundation for Bucks. Henry studied Criminology at Manchester University and then went on to complete a degree in Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. We were delighted to learn that an Old Aylesburian is now heading up an important local organisation. Robert Churchill (Paterson ‘16) returned to AGS

in early February. Rob is now a Graduate Surveyor at Savills and joined our Sixth Form students to share his expertise about a career in property and the routes available including apprenticeships or university and graduate training programmes. Simon Parr (Denson ‘79) spoke to our students in early March and gave a great insight into the world of policing, challenges, opportunities and careers. Simon

read Spanish at the University of Manchester and then entered the Police on a Graduate Training Scheme. His talk to AGS Sixth Form students was engaging and thoughtful. He talked life, death, goats, pigs, floods and royalty. He also discussed explosions, murder, suicide, sport and mental health and finished the session talking about politics, riots, planning for riots and terrorism and then held an interesting question and answer session with some great questions posed by our Sixth Form Students.

We were delighted to receive a message from OA Adrian Lack (Denson ‘62) regarding his father Dennis Lack’s 100th birthday in

March. Dennis was Denson House Master and Art Master from 19561982. He emigrated to Australia three decades ago but returned to the UK for a visit several years ago and took some time to return to AGS and meet with staff and former students who left the school in the mid 1960s. A post on our social media accounts confirmed what an incredibly popular member of the OA community Dennis is and it was wonderful to be able to pass on the numerous memories and messages of congratulations.

We now have an Old Aylesburian Oscar Winner - Mark Taylor (Paterson ’85). Mark received his third Academy Award nomination at the 92nd Academy Awards earlier this year and won for Best Sound Mixing for the film 1917. In addition to this recent achievement Mark has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, the first in 2000 for his work on RKO 281 and his second a few years later in 2002 for Band of Brothers. In 2014 Mark and his fellow sound mixers were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing for the films Captain Phillips and The Martian. Our congratulations to Mark from all at Aylesbury Grammar School.

On Friday 13 March we were excited to host “An evening with David Millar” (Phillips ’94) - a sensational evening of interest, intrigue and honest reflection. David had quite a story to tell and our 220 guests were silent as David shared his journey with humility, explaining the difference between suffering and hurting, the pressure of being at the top of his sport, how winning only means something when he was riding clean, and how nothing is impossible. In 2004 David was arrested for doping and it was an event that would define his career and his life. He then chose a path that was unprecedented for a professional cyclist – and remains rare even now – in opting to come back after his ban, acknowledge his guilt, express profound regret, and work hard to rehabilitate himself and his sport. It was a privilege to welcome David back to his former School and for him to take the time to share his experiences with us. The event truly extended to the wider community and our thanks to the PTA, staff, students, parents and OAs who made the event possible. A special mention to Mr Trevor Foley for hosting the evening as our MC

and to David for reengaging with Aylesbury Grammar School, offering to come back to talk to us, and for being part of our Aylesburian community.

On Friday 20 March we said farewell to our Year 13 students at a time of great uncertainty. It certainly wasn’t the leaving day we had planned but our outgoing Year 13 students will always be part of our AGS community and in the words of our Sixth Form Leaders “You are all amazing and we are so proud.” We have affectionately named our leavers this year as our ‘lockdown leavers’ and hope to be able to share their reflections of this unprecedented time within our community in the years to come.

Our usual summer events were cancelled this year due to the Covid-19 crisis but one initiative that went ahead was our Inspiring Year 12 Event. Instead of inviting our alumni community to return to School as in previous years, we asked our recent leavers to create recordings talking about their journeys post AGS. Over 22 Old Aylesburians sent recordings to us – ranging from those who were still at University, those that had changed their path of study or indeed their career path, those that took a gap year and those who had several years experience in the world of work. The recordings were informative, thoughtful, honest and inspiring and will be a fantastic tool for our current Year 12s as they move towards their next steps post AGS. Our sincere thanks to all those

Old Aylesburians who took part.

The whole School joined together in November to reflect and

remember those who gave their lives to protect our freedom. Our thanks to everyone who was part of an exceptional and moving Remembrance service, it was a wonderful example of our core values from the whole school.

Our class of 2018 went on to

study at 50 different institutions embarking on 140 different courses, some took a gap year whilst others took apprenticeship positions or commenced full time employment.

Aberystwyth University Aston University

University of Bath

University of Birmingham

Bournemouth University University of Brighton University of Bristol

Brunel University London

University of Cambridge Cardiff University Coventry University De Montfort University Durham University University of East Anglia UEA University of Edinburgh University of Essex University of Exeter

University of Glasgow University of Gloucestershire Imperial College London

University of Kent King's College London, University of London Lancaster University

University of Leeds University of Leicester University of Liverpool

Accounting and Finance Economics and Management, International Business and Modern Languages, Engineering and Applied Science Foundation Programme Accounting and Finance (with professional placement), Aerospace Engineering (with placement), Business Administration (with professional placements), Mechanical Engineering (with placement), Economics (with placement) Integrated Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Social Policy and Criminology, Mathematics with a year in industry, Business Management (with a year in industry), Law, Medicine, Economics, Political Science and International Relations, International Business Adult Nursing Geology Maths and Philosophy, Mechanical Engineering, Medicine, Engineering Mathematics, Mathematics Economics and Mathematics with an Integrated Foundation Year with Placement Year, Engineering with an Integrated Foundation Year, Financial Mathematics with Placement Year, Physiotherapy Law, Mathematics (3), English, Natural Sciences Business Management (Marketing) with a Professional Placement Automotive Engineering Business and Management (2) Business and Management with Placement Year, Liberal Arts, Accounting and Finance Molecular Biology and Genetics Economic History International Relations (Including Placement Year) Medicine, Physics with Astrophysics, Politics and International Relations with Study Abroad, Economics, Geology Zoology Sports Journalism Materials Science and Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Medicine, Aeronautical Engineering Economics with a Year in Industry International Relations, Geography

Computer Science and Mathematics (Placement Year), Mathematics, Computer Science, Business Management (Industry), English Literature with Creative Writing Economics (2) Accounting and Finance (2) Computer Science (2), Medicine, Accounting and Finance

London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London Loughborough University

University of Manchester Newcastle University Nottingham Trent University University of Nottingham

Oxford Brookes University University of Oxford Actuarial Science

Business Economics and Finance, Finance and Management, Geography and Management (2), Architectural Engineering and Design Management, Accounting and Financial Management, Commercial Management and Quantity Surveying, Construction Engineering Management, Chemistry, Financial Mathematics, International Business, Computer Science with a Foundation Year, Chemical Engineering, Economics and Management and Economics English Literature and French Economics Business Management and Economics, Economics with Business, Business Management (1 year in company) Politics and International Relations, Computer Science with Artificial Intelligence, English and Philosophy, Law, Economics, Sport and Exercise Science, Industrial Economics with Insurance, Mechanical Engineering (2), Mathematics and Economics, Law, Chemical Engineering with an Industrial Year, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Industrial Economics, American Studies and History, Architecture English Literature French and German, Classical Archaeology and Ancient History, Law, Materials Science, Physics

Plymouth University Dental Surgery

University of Portsmouth

Business and Management Queen Mary University of London Geography, Economics University of Reading Politics and International Relations Romanian-American University Management and Marketing Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London Performance Arts Royal Veterinary College, University of London Veterinary Medicine Sheffield Hallam University Quantity Surveying, Mathematics University of Sheffield International Business Management with Study Abroad, Biochemistry, Quantitative Social Sciences, Economics

University of Southampton Mechanical Engineering with Industrial Placement Year, Medicine, French and German, Aeronautics and Astronautics

University of Surrey University of Sussex Swansea University

University of Warwick University of Westminster, London University of York Accounting and Finance, Computer Science History Biology with a Foundation Year, Accounting and Finance with a Foundation Year, Software Engineering History, Biomedical Science, Discrete Maths Architecture and Environmental Design

Natural Sciences (2), Biochemistry