The Aylesburian - 2019/2020 by Aylesbury Grammar School

THE

AYLESBURIAN

2019/2020

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CONTENTS FOR THE

AYLESBURIAN The magazine of Aylesbury Grammar School

Headmaster’s Welcome

A message from the Governors

Staff Leavers

House Life

Sport

School Life

A message from the PTA

School Visits

School Development & Alumni Relations

Prize Winners

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Editor

Copyright © Aylesbury Grammar School 2019. Individual articles are copyright © the author. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing to the school, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographs rights organisations.

Mr G Dallas

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

HEADMASTER’S WELCOME Welcome to the Aylesburian magazine for 2019-2020. Once again, this publication stands as the definitive historical reference for the School and so we hope that you enjoy it. All our thanks go to Mr Dallas and the whole editorial team for this year’s production. It is at times of great challenge that we fall back on the characteristics and values that make us who we are. It has been across this year, most notably since March, that the clichés are dropped and we had to look at the key characteristics of Respect and Aspiration, of Ownership, Motivation, Resilience, Innovation, and Courage, in order that we navigated these difficult times. We were, and still are, all in this together and through our community and commitment were stronger, wiser and re-defined what it is to be an Aylesburian. ‘You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them’ Maya Angelou. An academic year that began with a focus on a new school inspection framework and the reality of a visit from Ofsted and concluded

with 14 school weeks of Remote Home Learning, limited onsite provision and tutorials, cancelled examinations for GCSE and A Level, whilst preparing for a full reengagement with the School community in September 2020.

by the students, our greatest ambassadors, and the staff who have been relentless, restless and focussed in all the prevailing circumstances they find themselves. We are humbled and appreciative of the entire community.

None of us could have foreseen how the year would pan out and how we would all begin 2020-2021 in a new protective environment with measures taken for safety, but realising the need to get back to School. The reality has been one of reflection, admiration for the community and cohesion that makes our School such a unique and wonderful place to learn.

‘Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you’re doing the impossible’ St Francis of Assisi.

In between the planning, responding, preparing and protecting, we continued to evolve the School and achieve some wonderful feats catalogued in this publication. From sporting success, amazing music, drama and art, research and academic success, infrastructure developments, local and international collaboration, the School is moving forwards with exceptional verve and energy. These developments and achievements are made possible

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

We led the year with optimism and interest, looking back on some terrific outcomes for senior students and have ended the year with determination, humanity and hope. Wishing our departing Aylesburians great success in the most difficult of circumstances and welcoming the new students to our community. My sincere thanks to everyone involved in the School for the most challenging year. Reward and recognition can sometimes be lost, but I am privileged to lead this School and hope that this years’ publication of The Aylesburian provides you with a real sense of the impact the School has on our entire community. Thank you to everyone. Mr M Sturgeon - Headmaster

Head Boy’s Reflections 2019 - 20

“This is weird…”. These were the first words in the last assembly I would give the Class of 2020. The 2019-2020 academic year has been very unique, to say the least. From school starters to school leavers, everybody has been impacted by the early closure of the school. Despite this, the AGS community has shown its strengths in such testing times. I, personally, would like to send my best wishes to anybody reading this. You have braved the storm and kept going. Tough times never last, only tough people last. As I endeavour to write this, (the first extended piece of writing I have done in months…) it is, what would’ve been, the last week of the academic year. Now, as I officially

become a member of the Old Aylesburians, it’s fitting that I reflect on my time here. It’s been a great privilege to be your Head Boy for the past year, alongside my fantastic team. I owe my thanks to all student leaders, the prefects, to my deputies, Ben and Dylan. It has been very pleasant working with all of you on various tasks, our cohesion and willingness to help have been integral in the day to day function of the school. To the Head Boys of House, I thank you for your leadership within your houses and for helping me where needed. Your efforts, commitment and passion for your groups have inspired many, myself included.

school. We did this by creating the framework to reform, create and promote opportunities for students to have roles of responsibility. A new sixth form school council was created with greater autonomy for members to research, execute and promote ideas - inspiring leadership within the sixth form community and currently, we are working alongside passionate students to create more opportunities for leadership. It’s my hope that once everybody is back in school, many more are encouraged to become leaders, no matter who they are or where they came from. I’m very happy to see that your new Head Boys are one of the most diverse groups in the school’s history.

Dylan, Ben and I decided our focus was to inspire leadership within the

I owe a massive debt of gratitude to Dylan and Ben this past year. I could

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

not have asked for a better team - the wisdom and dumbfounding intelligence of Dylan and the enthusiasm and untiring energy of Ben has made our little trio great. We will always be the Head Brothers. (Inside joke, you won’t get it). Although I am no expert on how global pandemics will affect your time in school, what I do know is that as a community, we will continue to be guided by the two fundamental pillars of Aylesbury Grammar School - respect and aspire. Respect the hard work that everybody involved in the school has done to ensure that you remain educated. Respect the fact that not everybody’s experience with this situation is the same. Respect the virus as it is still here, so wash your hands and stay safe. Aspire to not allow this roadblock to halt you from reaching your rightful destination. Aspire to, please, for all that is good and holy, wash your hands and stay safe. And so, as I write my final piece to you as a student of AGS, I wish you all the best. You will all forever be in my heart. Thank you, everybody, who has made the last 7 years worthwhile. I wish the best to Tobi, Ben and Albie, they have a great task ahead of them and I wish them every success. And for one last time, thank you. Work hard, play hard and stay safe. Denzel Asamoah - Denson 13

A message from the Governors Many of you will recall the excellent article written last year by my predecessor as Chairman of Governors, Jim Collins, regarding his life and times as both AGS pupil and Governor, and outlining some of the things we do as a Governing Body. We

thought it would be a good idea for me as the (still relatively) new current Chairman of Governors to write a follow up article.

When I agreed to write this back in January I suspect what I would have written would have looked somewhat different. What a challenging period it has been since then for all concerned. The Headmaster, the Senior Leadership Team, all the AGS staff, and last but by no means least, the students (and behind the scenes, their parents) have, in the opinion of the Governors, all risen to the challenge of COVID 19 magnificently. As a Governing Body we have had our own challenges, not least our inability to visit the School and conduct our normal business face to face. We have therefore, as many others have, had to become familiar with the celebrity squares approach of meetings on GoogleMeet and return to the time- honoured practice of putting one’s hand up in order to be able to speak: a real throwback to my schooldays if ever there was one. Our meetings

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normally last for between 2 and 3 hours so we have had to be very disciplined at managing our very full agenda to avoid screen fatigue. Never has it been more important for us to keep abreast of what is happening, and to provide support to the School. Before the School closed in March we formed a small Covid Sub-Committee which has been meeting on line on at least a weekly basis with the Headmaster and Resources Director to deal with the many instant issues and requirements for decisions which the last few months have thrown at us. I would like to place on record my thanks to Andrea Ward (the ViceChair of Governors) and Jim Collins for the many hours they have put in as members of that Committee.

How did I become the Chairman of Governors? One of my three sons Jamie attended AGS (Phillips ’15). When he arrived here in 2008 it was not long before my wife Helen became heavily involved in the PTA. The PTA had been in something of a lull at that time, and a number of committed parents became involved to give it a much-needed boost. It was therefore not long before I was being co-opted into supporting various activities such as helping out at the Summer Fete, assisting at the Summer Ball and the like. Some of you will have seen me regularly tossing coins on Heads and Tails at functions, or making the Toast to the Lassies at Burns Night. Eventually I was approached by the previous Headmaster in 2013 to see if I might like to put forward myself for a role as an Appointed Governor. Initially my reaction was to think I was too busy. However, this coincided with my business adopting a policy to encourage its employees to take 25 hours’ leave annually for activities related to Corporate Social Responsibility. It also helps that I come from an educational upbringing, with my father having taught for nearly 40 years, and my mother having been involved as a governor of various schools in her local area for several decades. Lastly, as a lawyer, used to advising boards of directors in difficult circumstances and with 30 years’ experience of the infrastructure sector and project management

generally, I thought I could add something to the Governing Body. So somewhat to my own surprise I decided to apply, and I was voted in. I later became Chair of the Resources and Finance Committee during which time I was involved in the new Library, the 6th Form Centre and the completion of the Science Labs Project. In December 2018 I was elected as Chairman of Governors. How has the last 18 months gone? Very quickly from my perspective, during which I have experienced moments of great pride, and witnessed huge enthusiasm, dedication and talent, and in latter months seen great fortitude. I began with a 100 day programme during which I introduced some new simple measures such as: weekly meetings with the Headmaster: moving the times of Governor meetings from afternoons to early mornings to fit in better with Governors’ other commitments, and from the end of term to the beginning so that we could be on the front foot with the termly agenda: and encouraging through various initiatives more contact between the Governors and the staff/School generally. I have also taken on the role of Safeguarding Governor, a role that I consider to be of great importance in these times. One of the things that Jim Collins mentioned in his article last year was the work done to formulate a strategy and create a purpose

underpinning it. We have been lucky enough to recruit several governors with backgrounds in business in strategic planning and marketing. With their expert input we have been able to drive forwards the implementation of the strategy and to energise our approach to our marketing of the School. You will have already seen some evidence of this on the new website and in the Headmaster’s updates. There is much more to come. I am genuinely excited at the prospect of our moving all of this forwards, not only enabling AGS to make the most of its traditions, excelling in the provision of education in our local community, but also enabling our young men to meet the modern world and all that it entails with confidence. As governors we are always interested in getting feedback about the School and having discussions with all our stakeholders. You can find out who we all are by looking on the website. Please take the time to seek us out when we have all returned. If you are a parent and interested in taking on this rewarding role there will be a couple of elections coming up this term. Please look out for the announcements and think about whether you would like to join us. May you and yours all keep safe. Richard Williams Chairman of Governors

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

STAFF LEAVERS Vanessa Kennedy

the devastation of one of the worst storms in UK history. I am pleased to say, the calming influence of Vanessa in all her roles across her career here has ensured that we have grown from strength to strength. Before joining the school, Vanessa was a student at AHS. A first-class student for reading, spelling, English and arithmetic, all essential parts of her roles. At Aylesbury College of Further Education Vanessa found her niche in shorthand where her report says she had a ’natural aptitude’, something she maintained throughout.

I feel very privileged to be able to write this short article to celebrate and thank Vanessa for her career and contribution to Aylesbury Grammar School.

I spent just over five years of Vanessa’s 32 years working with her and I am sure that the other fantastic people that she has worked with would do an amazing job of capturing the impact Vanessa has had on their careers and that of the School. On the 20 June 2019, about six months before her retirement, Vanessa passed 1 billion seconds as an employee of AGS. Vanessa’s relationship with the School began on 12 October 1987. Three days after joining the School the Great Storm hit the UK on 15 October. A time when the then weather presenter, Michael Fish, live on BBC Oner explained to a viewer that a hurricane wasn’t coming. The next morning we witnessed

In 2014 I was very proud to be appointed as the School’s Headmaster and began a very special partnership with Vanessa. One we both took time to appreciate and learn. We found a few rules along the journey: make her laugh three times before 9am; make her tea (although she rarely wanted one); and she had to correct my grammar and constantly proofread communications, something she did with masterful accuracy. Vanessa made the transition to the role of Headmaster so easy for me. She was proactive, understanding and always supportive. When people say that it is the administrators that run the school, they are probably right. I couldn’t fulfil the role without her. In our office, the dividing door is nearly always open. This creates the right atmosphere, apart from the fact that Vanessa speaks to herself a lot. Never knowing if she is speaking to me or trying to understand another technical challenge. With the door to the corridor always open, Vanessa is constantly saying

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hello to staff as they arrive each day. We both grew adept at recognising people before they appear from their footsteps – a unique skill that Vanessa had, probably attuned from her appreciation of good shoes. My favourite welcome was always ‘Morning Mrs K’, ‘Morning Mr K’ when Mr Kemp arrived in School. Vanessa certainly wore her heart on her sleeve and that is the finest of qualities. There were tears and lots of laughter, which made the role and our office such a great environment to be part of. I asked some of the staff to describe Vanessa in one word and here are some of the responses: caring, persistent, humorous, approachable, on-it (if that is now one word), intuitive, efficient, supportive, kind, priceless, fierce, stylish, professional, joyous, reliable, linchpin, sassy, wise, welcoming, all-knowing, gutsy, remarkable, loyal, shining, indispensable. From me, it is friendship. Our friendship has grown and I’d like to thank her for being my friend, at some really difficult times and some really great times. To see the dedication Vanessa has given to the School has been a privilege. She showed everyone the right level of care and attention. She deserves her time in retirement, from the years Vanessa looked after her mother, the way she speaks about David, her family and her love of dogs; retirement, I can sense, will be all about family, shoes, and hotel visits across the country. Vanessa so deserves it. Mr M Sturgeon

Jane Pearson

capture in goodbyes the impact staff have had on the whole school but I am certain her presence and experience will be truly missed.

were well considered by the Physics department, leading to well targeted, high quality teaching and exam results that reflected this.

We wish her many happy years of retirement but hope that she stays in touch and comes back often.

Both in terms of his personal teaching and his leadership of the Physics department, Spencer had extremely high standards. He was keen to ensure that all students had the best of learning opportunities and were motivated and encouraged to take personal responsibility, even before the formalisation of these ideas in the AGS Learner.

Mrs L Tangi

Spencer Bowden

In his latter years at AGS, Spencer stepped back from his leadership role, reduced his hours and taught a small amount in the Maths department, whilst continuing to teach within the Physics department. Spencer was always passionate about mathematics and the Physics of the Universe; indeed, it may be true that on occasion, students would ask him to explain an astronomical conundrum and then sit back to see just how much of the lesson that they could listen for. I’m sure that these students, perhaps inadvertently from their point of view, were stretched and enriched by the depth and breadth of Spencer knowledge and understanding.

We are sad to be saying goodbye to Mrs Jane Pearson who will be sorely missed as she leaves to enjoy her retirement. This

dedicated lady has given 24 years service to Aylesbury Grammar School and we are very grateful for the contribution she has made and the care and support she has provided for our students and as a valued member of staff.

Jane has been pivotal in the success of the department, giving up her free time and expertise to help students reach their potential. Over the years Jane has accompanied numerous Art enrichment activities. Annual visits to the Royal Academy of Art and the Tate Modern will never be the same, especially when it was time to take the group photo which she avoided with a passion! I have felt very lucky and privileged to have worked alongside this caring and hardworking professional who has given such a lot to the teaching profession. It is always hard to

As a mature entrant to the teaching profession, Spencer Bowden brought with him both a raft of skills from his previous career and a passionate desire to teach Physics to the highest of standards. As Head of Physics,

Spencer worked hard to ensure that both students and teachers were well supported. In terms of the learning environment, he collaborated with all parties, ensuring that the first waves of the science refurbishment delivered high quality, well-resourced Physics laboratories. He would also ensure that regular curriculum changes

Although a sadness, to lose such a season professional, we wish Spencer well in his retirement. Time to spend with his family, time to ponder further the mathematics of the universe and time to continue to work through his grades in the clarinet. Thank you Mr Bowden, for your many years of dedication. Mr J Kemp

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

STAFF LEAVERS Sarah Giddings

scheme, winning the Innovation Award. She has been a supportive colleague to many of us and will be much missed. All the best Sarah in your new school. Mrs M Wilkinson

Louise Pollard

Sarah has worked at AGS from 2001 -2020. Both of these years have marked significant global issues that have forever focussed the way we view the world. The

wake of change from 9-11 in 2001 may now be receding but the effects of global pandemic in 2020 will continue to affect us for many years to come. Sarah’s contribution to AGS has similarly had a significant effect on the lives of both students and her colleagues.

As a tutor she accompanied two groups to the Ardeche in France on PGL activity holidays. She continues to take an active interest in the lives and fortunes of her first tutor group. She has managed and designed the teaching of resistant materials from 2004, designing new projects year by year at each Key Stage. She has also been seamlessly in charge of running Key Stage 3 D&T since 2008, no mean task in a rotation of 4 subject specialisms. She produced numerous challenging work booklets that oversaw the design education of 3,400 boys. A legacy for the department and in boys’ lives. In 2016 Sarah took over the EES

Louise Pollard joined Aylesbury Grammar School as an NQT in September 2001. She settled effortlessly into the History Department and her sense of humour brightened many a departmental meeting and our Friday breaktime cake sessions. Louise taught across

all year groups with a passion and a real insight for her subject. After several years working within the History Department she took on the additional role of Head of Politics, where students relished the lively debates about modern Britain and America in her lessons. Louise had a unique ability to bring both a sense of fun and enjoyment into

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her lessons, whilst also focusing on the many serious topics involved in her teaching. Furthermore, Louise taught and supervised many Sixth Form students taking an Extended Project Qualification. In addition to her academic teaching Louise played a vital part in the pastoral life of the school in her role as Head of Year, primarily in Years 10 and 11. Countless students benefitted from her advice and support as they progressed through the Upper section of the school. Never one to stand still, Louise completed an MSc in Teaching and Learning at Oxford University alongside her teaching at AGS. Louise also loved to participate in a wide variety of educational visits. She led trips to Poland, including memorable and sobering visits to the Auschwitz concentration camp, whilst she accompanied countless trips to locations such as the First World War battlefields, Eastern Europe and the United States. Louise was a regular member of staff on the AGS ski trips to the USA, which she particularly enjoyed. After 19 years of service to the school, Louise has decided to move back to Yorkshire, to be nearer her family, where she will also begin a new career in educational tutoring. She will be greatly missed by the History and Politics departments, all her other colleagues and the wider school community and we wish her every success with her return ‘up North’ and the next phase of her career in teaching. Mr J Barrie

Sarah Longbridge

Sarah and her young family all the best for the future and we will greatly miss her outstanding teaching and her cheerful and supportive presence in the Department. Mr J Barrie

During his time at the school Adrian has been passionate not only about the learning of his students but his own professional development as well. This has shown itself most obviously through his interest in educational research – during his time at the school he has completed a Masters and a PhD (very well done on that one Dr Twissell) all based around action research at the school. He has also been an active member of the school’s research group over the last two years appearing in the school’s internal research publication.

Adrian Twissell

Sarah Longbridge (née Bridge) joined the History Department at Aylesbury Grammar School as an NQT in September 2010.

Sarah quickly settled in to life at AGS as an extremely diligent and enthusiastic member of the History team. After the birth of her first son, Theo, Sarah returned to teach on a part-time basis. It was quite clear that Sarah established a strong rapport with her students who appreciated her enthusiasm, passion and expertise. Her teaching of our Key Stage 3 classes was a great asset to the department. Each lesson was meticulously planned, using a range of innovative resources. Sarah organised a number of competitions such as building castles, whilst her Year 9 students produced outstanding project work on aspects of the Second World War and the Holocaust. During her time at the school Sarah also taught in the Geography and Classics Departments. In the summer of 2019 Sarah gave birth to a second son, Rory. We wish

in his department have expressed this appreciation of Adrian’s depth of knowledge and understanding of his subject. He has also been a valued member of the school’s tutor team having been one of our Year 7 Induction Tutors for a number of years.

Adrian Twissell joined Aylesbury Grammar School in September 2007 as Head of the Design & Technology Department.

Throughout his time here, he has had to show a wide knowledge of various aspects of DT including graphics, resistant materials and electronics as well as some knowledge of Food & Nutrition. When GCSEs were reformed he had to develop that versatility further with the introduction of Engineering at GCSE which has become very popular with students over the past three years. As Head of Department, not only has he been able to pass on to students a wealth of experience in this variety of areas, he has led and trained others in the department to do likewise. Others

Not satisfied with being an expert in all things Design and Technology, Adrian taught Critical Thinking at A level for a number of years and obviously missed this aspect of teaching when this A level was lost during the government’s A level reforms. To replace it he has taken up teaching A level Psychology for the first time this year and has clearly enjoyed the experience because it is to Psychology teaching that we lose him as he takes up teaching this subject more fully at Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School next year. We wish Adrian all the best in this new role and hope to see him from time to time given that he is just moving to the other side of Aylesbury. Dr K Smith

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HOUSE LIFE Denson House Report What a year this has been! At the start of the year no-one could have predicted the way we would see in the summer.

With the House calendar chockfull of opportunities for student participation, it is always exciting to start with a clean sheet in September. But this was not the position Denson found themselves as September came around. For them it was a matter of getting down to business, the continuation of the blue dominance having won the double-double.

Timman (D10). The boys worked tirelessly during lunchtimes to perfect their speeches and put on one of the tightest Senior Public Speaking competitions for many years. Special thanks go to Dan Compton (D10), Harvey Newland Smith (D13) and Denzel Asamoah (D13) who, despite not participating, turned up to each rehearsal to offer guidance for our speakers along with the wonderful Mrs Farmborough who helped the boys immensely, bringing in her expertise on the matter.

With the cancellation of House Cross-Country (traditionally the first competition of the year) it was Senior Public Speaking that got the Watson trophy under way. Enter Tom Ward, the architect of Denson public speaking. The Denson program of speakers consisted of Tom Ward (D13), Michael Adebiyi (D12), Will Chapman (D11) and Jamie

The next major event of the Watson was House Art. House Art is one of the competitions where much of the work goes on behind the scenes with little acknowledgement. As such I would like to acknowledge and thank the efforts of all of our House Art captains who supported Ben Bishop (D13) and Tae Poompanit (D12) in putting on a brilliant display

this year. A close competition yet again, Denson were delighted with third place - a fitting reward for the brilliant efforts of all those involved. Well done to all of those involved (too many to mention unfortunately), I look forward to seeing what you all produce next year. Next up was Senior House Quiz, a hard-fought test of intellect in which students’ worldly awareness is pitted against those in other houses. A matter of pride for many of those in Sixth Form, it proved to be an incredibly competitive affair with questionable uses of the joker card and plenty of dubious answers. Having to perform well across two teams, success requires a balance of Geographers, Sportsmen, Historians and Movie buffs. It was time for the Denson Sixth Form to shine with both teams achieving second place, ranking them second place overall. A great way to follow on from the strong performance in House Public Speaking and House Writing. This wrapped up the Watson for Christmas with the excitement of House Music come January. Upon our return, post-Christmas holidays, it was a short turn around before Denson took centre stage for House Music. A brilliant evening at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury, the boys did themselves proud putting on a lively performance of Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know led by Flynn Timberlake (D10) and Rumeth Lewliyadda (D7), Lack of Afro’s The Outsider and Fun’s We

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

House football. Unfortunately, the only forms to successfully compete in both were Denson 10 and Denson 11, with Denson 12 and Denson 13 also competing in House Football. ‘Finishing’ the year in second place overall in the Brodie, the boys have done incredibly well and I’m sure will be disappointed to have not been able to see the year through.

Are Young led by Alex Stephens (D12). Special Thanks go to Michael Adebiyi (D12) and Denzel Asamoah (D13) for compering on the night and an enormous thank you to the man behind the music, conductor extraordinaire Jordan Cobley who organised the rehearsals and the boys. The final event of the incomplete Watson calendar was House chess, led by the brilliant Vlad Moiseanu (D13). After the highs of first place last year, it was a shame to fall short this year, but I know the boys are ready to take to the tables to do one better next year. A massive thank you to all of the boys who have taken part in the Watson competitions this year. Unlike the busy Watson calendar this year, the Brodie competition has been hit hard by Covid-19. With the cancellation of House Cross-Country, only House Rugby and House Squash went ahead before the Christmas break.

Following on from an incredibly strong performance last year, Denson finished second overall with outstanding results across the board. Special thanks go to the Squash Captains Lewis Milner (D13), Ryan Connor (D12), Will Chapman (D11), Silas Glover (D10), Tom Whitehead (D9), Alex Glover (D8) and Joshua Jackson (D7). Also, a big thank you to all of you who competed for your forms, we would not have been able to come second without the considerable effort across the house. The only other competition to be completed in competition for the Brodie this year was House Football. Following a fantastic result for Denson 10 who came first, under the leadership of Jason Stephens (D10), Denson finished up in overall fourth place. Thank you to all of you who gave it your all in one of the most brutal fixtures of the calendar. Other competitions this year included House Basketball and

Stepping into the role of Head of Denson House, following in the footsteps of the formidable Mr Streat, was a challenge I couldn’t wait to start. An Aylesburian myself, I had heard things about the might of Denson and had experienced for myself their climb to excellence in recent years but could not wait to get first-hand experience of the Denson way. Under the incredible stewardship of Cam Brooker (Head Boy of House/ Captain Fantastic) and Harvey Newland-Smith and Ben Bishop (Deputy Head Boys) the House immediately set about showing everything they were capable of. I must make a special mention of these three boys who have been absolutely remarkable all year. Their support of myself and the boys throughout the house has been uncompromising, turning up to each and every competition, delivering fantastic assemblies and visiting tutor groups to support those students in the years below. It truly is a shame that their time as Head Boys has been cut short although I know I speak for the house when I say they are more

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HOUSE LIFE than welcome back any time and we thank them for everything they have done this year! I would also like to wish Denson 13 well in their future. They have been a delight to work with this year throughout the UCAS process and as the leaders of the House and I hope they come back to visit the house in the future. It has been a difficult year for them but they have done themselves proud. Hopefully they will get the opportunity to come back and say goodbye properly but until then I truly wish them every happiness. During a very difficult time under Covid-19, it has been great to see the boys being proactive and making the most of the situation. I have been delighted to see so many of them taking part in the weekly Denson Kahoot quizzes, a competition that is currently being led by Denson 12, as well as the photography and cookery competitions. I cannot thank the boys in (light) blue enough for all of their support and smiles (they know the power of a smile) over the course of the year. Denson really is a tremendous force, composed of friendly and dedicated students who will give everything for their house. They are a brilliant group of lads and I am so looking forward to next year.

Hampden House Report It was all shaping up to be such an exciting second part of the year too……..Hampden House were ‘sitting pretty’ in 1st place in the Brodie on 12 points, having won House Squash and House Rugby, in which our new Year 7’s performed incredibly well in both (winning their House Squash competition). Ok, so maybe it’s a bit of a stretch to say that we were going to win the Brodie for the first time since (it would appear) records began…..particularly as we still had 6 more events to finish off, but our Seniors had also won their House Football event, and the Year 11’s had finished 3rd…..oh well, we can only dream about what could have been and hope that this is a good omen for next year….only time will tell. All this means that the focus of this

Mr T Walker

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year’s report is on The Watson Trophy, and it’s safe to say that Hampden House love to put on a show. So, here is how the incredibly strange and surreal 2019-20 year played out, and how we achieved our overall 4th place finish. Public Speaking - 6th Place With the cancellation of this year’s Junior competition, the points totalled by our Senior Boys represented our final score in Public Speaking, and for all those involved a 6th place finish was disappointing, as this didn’t reflect the time and effort put into this competition by all those involved, in the planning, preparation and rehearsal. Tom Kirkpatrick-Brown (H10), Lakshya Verma (11), David Dallas (12) and Theo Nze (13) all represented the House with dignity and a great deal of confidence, irrespective of how

House Music - 2nd Place

they were feeling inside on the day, and a huge thank you goes out to these boys. These thanks extend to Zach Roberts (our Head Boy) and Miss Holliday for all of their work getting the boys ready for competition. A special mention must also go to Lakshya Verma, who got the chance to represent the House for the first time in Public Speaking.

our presentation came together was

House Art - 2nd Place

George Wiggs and Dhruva Menon,

After the trials and tribulations of the previous year’s House Art, in amongst the usual organised chaos (and huge thanks go out to the Art Department, who bring everything together, along with the Head Boys of House and House Art Captains, who act as ‘enforcers’ when required), this year’s competition was comparatively plain sailing. Of course, there were creative differences throughout the process which kept the whole thing interesting for all those involved, but led by the incredible Zak Griffiths and aided by Evie Morris, the way in which

a joy to behold, and for their efforts to be recognised with a 2nd place finish was fantastic…..particularly for Zak, who committed so much time and effort into the project. The work of regular contributors must, as always, be recognised, including; James O’ Keefe, Charlie Gould, and we all look forward to seeing what these guys will produce next year.

It always amazes me as to how much effort goes in to House Music every year. The preparations seem to start earlier and earlier, you can hear students practicing around the school at lunchtimes and after school, and despite this, last minute changes always happen just to spice things up a little more. While this is a competition, the move to the Waterside Theatre made this year even more of a celebration than usual and it was with great pride that Hampden House made such a significant contribution to this special evening. Having suffered a fair few disappointments in recent years when it comes to results, to finish 2nd this year was obviously a real bonus. It’s impossible to mention every student involved in our efforts this year, but I think it’s safe to say that a few stars were born on this night. For pure enthusiasm alone, both Adshayan Kurunchikumaran and James Davies (both H12) were notable for their efforts. For

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

HOUSE LIFE The overall results and scoring was disappointing, especially as this had a significant impact on our overall placing in ‘The Watson’ this year, but the huge amount of hard work needed to put together our submission has to be acknowledged. I would like to especially commend Theo Nze for submitting 2 highquality pieces and Zak Griffith for another excellent piece, as well as designing our cover work for this magazine. Adshayan in particular, to step out in front of a group of musicians and sing on stage for the first time was an amazing effort. The leadership, enthusiasm

musicals talents of AGS. Thanks also to Harry Edmonds and Alfie Purvis, our Deputy Head Boys of House, who compèred our section along with Zach.

and performance skills of Ed

House Chess - 3rd Place

Radcliffe (H13) need to be publicly

I think it’s safe to say that last year’s 2nd place finish came as a surprise to everyone involved considering our record in House Chess over recent years, so to consolidate that this year with a 3rd place finish was fantastic, and recognition of the chess talents that we now have in the House. The contributions and efforts of Jeffrey Tan (H12), Yuv Saxena and Neil Pandit (H9) must be recognised when it comes to our improving performance in House Chess over the last two years.

acknowledged, as he not only performed in two pieces, he also arranged and led these pieces (with the help of Corin Scott - H12) and was responsible for much of the coordination of our overall House efforts. Toby Insley (H13) once again arranged and led the second of our pieces on the night, which was seen as a real musical triumph. The contributions from Shaun Bedwell, George Garman, Theo Cooper Tutton, Leo Pichler, Jude Kayakiran, Will Annat and Sam Clark must also

House Writing - 6th Place

be recognised, as must the vocal

46 pieces made up the entirety of our magazine, based on the theme of ‘Our World’, which were selected by our editing team from the 136 pieces that were submitted via Google Classroom.

talents of Head Boy of House Zach Roberts, whose performance of Hozier’s ‘Take me to church’ was a highlight of an incredible evening of music, and a real showcase of the

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

Having already acknowledged Theo’s contribution to Public Speaking, both he and Zak have made huge contributions to Hampden House since starting at AGS and they will both be sorely missed. Congratulations also need to go to Philippe Pir and Daniel Mousavi in Year 10 for voluntarily submitting 5 and 3 pieces respectively and; Cheka Warnapura, Austin Bhadri, Jacob O’Neill and Tamas Kish all in Year 7, as we appreciate how difficult it is to create a piece worthy of our magazine, especially when you are in your first year at AGS, and all of their efforts were extremely commendable. Then there was our editing team, led by Ted Gundry, our Editor-inchief. The editing team was made up of the following students; Josh Lai, Dexter Dinley, Alex Butler, James ‘Phil’ Phillips, Toby Cook, Jared Samuels, Joe Price, Tom Kemp, Alfie Purvis and James Trott. The work of Lewis Hodges and James Davies (again) deserves special mention for their irreproachable aptitude

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HOUSE LIFE and commitment to House Writing over a number of years, with this year being no exception to that. Our indebtedness also extends out to Mrs Hearn, who selflessly provided us with a strong basis and foundations to build off and was instrumental in guiding and advising us as the editing team. Having appointed a new Head Boy of House (Ted Gundry) and two new Deputies (James Phillips & Joshua Lai) in May, I must say a huge thank you and goodbye to the senior student leadership team, who did such an amazing job of leading us through the year. I hope that I will get the chance to do this formally in a future House Assembly, but I must acknowledge here what an amazing job Zach, Harry and Alfie have done.....they have been awesome and have been everything that I could possibly wish for from a student leadership team. Thank you for everything that you have done, it was a pleasure working with you, and I look forward to working as well with the new student leaders of Hampden House.

Lee House Report I am writing this article at a strange time for us all. We have been in lockdown for a few months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the world could well be a different place coming out of the other side. It reminds me of a quote from Vince Lombardi which I used in a Lee House report several years ago. “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” Aylesbury Grammar School is beginning to open a little more, Year 12 and Year 10 students will have some time in school before the end of the summer term. As a staff we are planning for the next academic year and wonder what that will realistically look like. This is also my final year as Head of Lee, can I take this opportunity to wish Mrs Harris every success in her new role leading “The Yellow Army!” Yet again the year started full of promise, as it has for the past 19

Thank you also to everyone who has made a contribution to the House this year…..hopefully we will see even more from you next year. Mr C McGill

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years of my tenure. Andrew Claassen, Josh Greig and Joe Teckman were our new Head Boys of House and they set their stall out from the start. Leading by example, trying to motivate everyone within the House and keen to try out a plethora of new ideas. As the year unfolded, they showed the true quality of their leadership and I for one will always be extremely grateful for that. During my time in Lee I have worked with twenty different Head Boys of House. We never managed to do the double but got very close on a couple of occasions. As a House we enjoyed success in the Brodie in 2002 and 2017, thankfully the Watson also ended up in Lee’s hands in 2008 and 2013. In writing this, it has allowed me to reflect over the past 19 or 20 years. The role of the Head of House has dramatically changed. We are now responsible for guiding our students through the UCAS process

and everything that entails. It is a tremendous amount of work for everyone involved and extremely time consuming in the Autumn term. I would also say that the leadership skills exhibited by the students has also improved/developed over time. In thinking about this, I wonder if this is an area where the computer and technology has had a positive impact? Assembly rotas are formulated and emailed; team lists are word processed and everyone is on Google classroom. If I had to pick out a few Head Boys of House for special mention, Michael Brand (2001), displayed natural charisma and led the House to its first Brodie success. Austin Harper (2007) and Matt Foster (2008) had obvious leadership skills, Matt like his older brothers Jono and Simon showed the energy and enthusiasm that you need to succeed. Jon Gausden (2013) was truly outstanding, he had a genuine

ability to motivate the other students and made sure that they all felt part of the team. I am really pleased to say that his legacy has lived on, it has undoubtedly been evident over the past couple of years in Cameron MacDonald (2018) and Andrew Claassen (2019); I know Ned Morris (2020) will do an excellent job next year. So, what of this year? House Squash in the first term saw Lee finishing in 3rd place overall. Rugby also culminated in the Autumn term with Lee 10 finishing second in their age group, however across all age groups when all the points for both A and B teams were calculated, Lee could only place 5th, the same as last year.

events. Over the years Lee has achieved mixed results in House Art, but this year under Josh Greig’s captaincy we finished at the top of the pile in 1st place. House Art, as always, started with our theme and this year the students chose “A Night at the Museum”. This broad theme included Prehistoric, Roman and Cavemen! Lee students submitted well over 180 high quality pieces, real variety was evident in impressive models, graphite drawings and multimedia pieces. One of the judge’s favourites was our set design including a 5-foot Easter Island Head and cardboard dinosaurs hanging from the ceiling. For all of this we have Josh to thank and he led Lee to a convincing victory. I would like to thank all the students who contributed, as we could not have won without the sheer volume of great pieces we received. In Chess our Senior team finished 1st, but slightly below par performances by both our Juniors and Inters saw us placed 5th overall.

Basketball is always a popular house competition, our Inters team comprising students from Years 10 and 11 finished in 1st place. In the Watson Trophy, we managed to successfully complete several

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HOUSE LIFE Two other 5th places in Senior

It is difficult for me to conclude this

Public Speaking and the Senior

piece. It has been a strange and, in

Quiz also did not help our quest

many cases a distressing year for

for Watson success. House Music,

everyone.

as always, was a fiercely contested event, held this year at The Waterside Theatre for the first time. After Lee Houses 1st place last year, our musicians once again did us proud finishing 4th on 82 points, just 4 points behind Ridley in 1st place. So, what memories do I take away from nearly 20 years in Lee? Firstly, and most importantly the support of staff and students alike. Can I take this opportunity to formally thank all the Lee tutors past and present, they are true professionals. Can I also thank the Heads of the other five houses for so many years of friendly rivalry? Lastly, may I sincerely thank all the students who have made such a positive contribution over the years.

However, very rarely has anybody commented on an assembly which I have delivered. Many years ago, I led a House assembly and used some of Bob Dylan’s song lyrics in it. A member of staff pulled me aside sometime afterwards and stated that “He had really enjoyed the assembly and had not realised the poetic content of that particular Dylan song”. So, I leave you with the following Bob Dylan quote “Take care of all your memories. For you cannot relive them”. I am left with many fond memories of Lee House. Mr P Dean - Head of Lee House 2000-2020

I also take a great deal of pride in the money the House has raised for a range of charities, particularly the school’s own Malawi Fund which we have supported for so many years. Who can forget the three goats and a donkey we bought as part of Oxfam’s charity initiative many Christmas’ ago? Possibly, not so far away from the founder of the school Sir Henry Lee, who farmed the estates at Quarrendon, and the history books tell us had one of the largest flocks of sheep in the country.

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Lee House Art This year with House Art, myself and the Lee head boys were determined to overcome the drought we had in this competition over the last 7 years and uncover the House’s artistic talent which has previously been left unexploited. After much debate over the theme, we decided on ‘Night at the Museum’, in which our display would act as a museum exhibition containing three rooms from different time periods: Prehistoric, Roman, and Easter island. Our theme was questioned numerous times by the other houses, but we felt that, with effort and organisation, we could make a display worthy of winning. I, along with Head boy Andrew Claasen and deputy Joe Teckman relentlessly pressed everyone in the House to believe in our idea, and

by the time of putting everything together we had collected over 130 pieces, more than I ever thought we could get! Huge credit has to go to everyone who submitted pieces, where for once we had an array of dazzling sculptures and models to work with – we could barely fit them all on the display! Remarkable contributions came from our younger students, in particular Arya Singh, George Greaves, and Adam Burgess in L7, James Davies and Emre Arslan in L8, and Ajan Robertsingh in L9 – fantastic work guys! Work for our display started earlier than any other House, and tireless hours were put in by myself and my team to craft the best display Lee House has seen in years. From the pillars as our museum entrance, to the cardboard T-Rex and pterodactyl, and the 5ft tall Easter Island head, once our display items were finished, we were more than confident that this would be our year – and it certainly was. Additional thanks has to be given to the rest of my team: David Gnanaiah (L13), Jake Field and Qasim Ahmed (L11), and most notably Murray Wakefield and Logan Warmsley (L10), who both gave fantastic artistic advice during the process – our House is in good hands for the future! Thanks again to everyone who contributed and hopefully our success this year can be replicated in future. Joshua Grieg – Lee 13

Thank you Mr Dean…

of Lee House whilst he held the reins.” Lewis Partridge – Lee House 2010-16

The news that Mr Dean would be stepping down as Head of Lee House after 20 Years prompted a wave of thanks and good wishes from current students and the Old Aylesburian (OA) community alike. Here are some of those messages from the Lee House OAs, all proud lifetime members of the ‘Yellow Army’: Jon Gausden - Head Boy of Lee House 2013-14

“Mr Dean’s commitment to Lee was second to none, he’d push all the teams to give their best, and then praise their efforts and achievements. An inspiration to all.” Cameron MacDonald – Head Boy of Lee House 2018-19 “The thing I will remember Mr Dean the most for was the way he treated people. Throughout my time at AGS, I observed that Mr Dean treated everyone as an adult - he respected the view of any pupil he spoke to,

“Mr Dean has rightly become synonymous with Lee, and while I don’t think my form group ever brought home the House Rugby trophy as he would have hoped... it was an absolute pleasure to lead the House alongside him in my final year. Thanks for everything Mr Dean, and wishing you all the best!”

and ensured that student leaders

Jacob Waby - Deputy Head Boy of Lee House 2018-19

mentor, allowing every pupil to see

“For the short time I was with Mr Dean, he was always the beaming face of Lee House, and the man who lifted it up to be a great House. His constant support of not only the Head Boys but of all students is what will be missed the most. It is safe to say I would not be who I am now without him.

success of every student that has

It was an honour to attend Aylesbury Grammar School, and to be a member

of the House were able to play their part. During my tenure as Head Boy, I knew that if I ever needed advice then Mr Dean was available to impart his wisdom, but I was also aware that he would fully endorse any decision that the student leaders made. Mr Dean was a true the extent of their own ability. This mentorship was, and is, key to the passed through Lee House in the last twenty years, and so I thank him for his kindness, sagacity and leadership. I am glad to read that he will be continuing his role in the development of sport at AGS - I will always treasure the enjoyment of House sporting competitions, and Mr Dean is pivotal in his contribution to these events. He is a

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HOUSE LIFE true credit to AGS, and I wish him the best for the future.” Alastair Harrison – Head Boy of Lee House 2002-03 “Very happy memories of Mr Dean coming into our tutor room in the Sixth Form House and asking if I’d like to be the House Captain; it was such an honour to represent Lee House. I remember in the final House assembly it was customary for Mr Dean to present the House Captain with a rugby ball - he thoughtfully broke tradition that year as he presented me with a book instead; this gesture is reflective of Mr Dean’s kind leadership. I’m sure he will carry the spirit of the housemaster with him in the years that follow. On behalf of all the boys in Lee 2003 - you let us be who we were - we remember you fondly thank you and be proud, Mr Dean!” Tom Alexander - Deputy Head Boy of Lee House 2016-2017 “He will be sorely missed, he was a stalwart of AGS and helped me through many a tricky moment as Head of House. He had time to spare for all students and is one of the soundest councils I’ve ever had, I wish the best to him for the future.” Kai Feltham - Deputy Head Boy of Lee House 2013-2014 “Mr Dean was a significant figure for me in my time at AGS, even kindly being on hand to provide advice and assistance for University

applications after I had finished my time at AGS, and begun applications during a “gap year” after changing my own plans. Mr Dean was the first person to recommend considering Lancaster University to me after I had yet to find a university of interest, where I went on to spend 4 fantastic years of Undergraduate and Postgraduate study. Without Mr Dean’s guidance in this direction, I may never have travelled so far north! As Deputy Head of Lee House I shared a lot of time with Mr Dean, none more impressive than our closely fought (and to some controversial) House Music win in 2013!

reminisce about with friends when conversation turns to AGS. I wish Mr Dean all the best, and thank him for all the support he has given to the thousands of students over the year.” Luke Walmsley - Deputy Head Boy of Lee House 2014-2015 “20 years! Mr Dean played a huge role during my time at AGS; from numerous lessons garnered in House assemblies to words of advice regarding studies, sport and careers, Mr Dean helped shape my AGS experience and future ambitions.

Though characteristically straighttalking as ever, Mr Dean was always on hand to help and I have great memories of working together in Lee House, and wish him all the best for the future.”

Following my years as an AGS student, I had the pleasure of working with Mr Dean within the PE department. It is clear that Mr Dean has been instrumental in the school’s recent history, particularly in AGS sporting successes (which are, by all accounts, a true underdog story). Thanks for the fond memories, laughs and guidance.”

James Taylor - Deputy Head Boy of Lee House 2015-2016

Charlie Scott - Deputy Head Boy of Lee House 2018-2019

“During my time as a student at AGS, Mr Dean was always encouraging and determined (even when the House did not do so well!) and made being a member of Lee House a major highlight of my time at the school. It was a great privilege to be a Deputy Head Boy of Lee House in my final year, and taking a leading role in our House Music victory that year is a memory that stays with me to this day, and I still

“Always a friendly face to see around school, whose motivation, experience and respect gave us the opportunity to lead with confidence. Wishing him the best of luck for the future.”

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Paterson House Report Head Boy Perspective: It has been an absolute pleasure being a member of the great Purple Army that is Paterson House for the past 7 years. I have thoroughly

enjoyed it and have made some really great memories with a load of fantastic people along the way. My final year here at AGS seems to have flown by (this could just be because it ended in March), despite the challenges that a global pandemic brought to my last year at AGS, I still really enjoyed my time as Head Boy of House. Although it may seem that my endless attempts at motivational speeches have yielded few firstplace finishes, it was still clear to see Paterson House’s unity and desire to win through the impressive and consistent enthusiasm for participation during key House events. Some highlights for me include the outcome of House Art; given that

pleasure to work alongside the both of you.

Previn Chady sacrificed possibly several nights sleep for us to succeed, I think the result was well-deserved. In addition, the night at the Waterside Theatre for House Music was great to be a part of, especially after months of preparation and hard work by all the musicians, directed and led by Dan Choudhury. Even though this year may be an exception for the House trophies, the effort put in by Paterson House was still very much worth it and you should all be looking to continue this into the future. I would firstly like to say thank you to my two deputies, Olly Cay and Dylan Cleveland, who, despite often writing and contributing to assemblies late on a Wednesday night, have provided huge amounts of support and dedication throughout the year with all the House events, meetings and assemblies, it has been a real

A massive thank you must also go to Miss Chalk who has been a huge asset in driving forward Paterson House. Although much of her work goes unnoticed, she works tirelessly to ensure that the House is running smoothly. Her organisation and motivation has made this last year much more straightforward and I’m sure that without her help, myself and my deputies would have seriously struggled. My final thank you goes to the members of my tutor group for being a group of funny and friendly lads and for providing some great memories over the years. In addition to members of the class, Mr Chappell deserves a huge thank you because, since joining us in year 8, he has not only provided some excellent humour and stories but also key support as well as encouragement to all the students in our class. I wish every member of Paterson House good luck for the future, it has been brilliant getting to know many of you over the past year, and please keep up your unparalleled desire to participate and succeed. Finally, best of luck to the Head boys of House for the upcoming year; Kit, Aidan and Sachin. I am sure you will enjoy this responsibility and should feel proud to be leading such an exceptional House! Thank you. Olly Speake – Paterson 13

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HOUSE LIFE

Head of House Perspective: This has been a very unusual year for everyone and the impact on the House events has been significant. Thankfully, we had managed to complete some events that allows me to be able to report on our progress. The Watson was the least affected of the cups, so the Paterson House review will start there. The Watson Trophy The school started off with the first event in the Watson trophy - Senior Public Speaking. Back in October, our team of Nick Cay (Pa10), Alex Comben (Pa11), Sachin Patel (Pa12) and Aidan Purchase (Pa13) worked hard to research and write their speeches covering a diverse range of topics including the power of thought, perceptions on normality, lessons learnt from mistakes and an interesting speech on the future of society that discussed the ‘fanciful’ possibility of a superbug decimating the world’s population,

which, looking back on now, was quite insightful. Our speakers did a fantastic job and finished in a really pleasing second place. Well done to all the speakers and thanks to Mrs Sampson for all her help and support to the team in preparing for the competition. Moving onto the next event of House Art, as a House we were excited. This is always an event that really brings us together as everyone has the opportunity to participate and be involved in it. Having won the event for the last four years, the pressure was on and the other Houses were working hard to take over the top spot. The Senior Art team led by Year 13 students Previn Chady and Dylan Cleveland, alongside a small group of dedicated Year 12 students decided on this year’s theme: Ancient Egypt. They created an ambitious display that was focused around a tomb

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within a pyramid and with a plethora of art that included over 130 entries that were inspired by Egyptian history as well as items produced using a range of tools including Lego, paint, photography and bread. The students had made a diverse range of submissions for the competition including drawings, jewellery, musical instruments and a cartoon flipbook. We had models made from various materials and Reuben Bithell (Pa8) even used his own forge to create a traditional Egyptian sickle-sword. The results came in and we were awarded 3rd place this year, a little disappointing, but a top three finish in any House competition is a great place to be. Well done to everyone who did their bit to support the House and entered a piece of Art to the competition. Special mention goes to Previn and the House Art Captains who worked tirelessly to organise everything. An additional congratulations goes to our award winners: Double Distinction Awards: Saharsh Tikkireddi (Pa7), Ben Curry (Pa9), Dom Staines (Pa10). Certificates of Excellence: Harry Blowfield (Pa7), Ollie Buckthorpe (Pa7), Senesh Chady (Pa7), Aryan Gorai (Pa7), Ben Hyde (Pa7), Sebastien Jimenez (Pa7), Thomas Ludlam (Pa7), Luke Marshall (Pa7), Armaan Mushtaq (Pa7), Reuben Bithell (Pa8), Ben Jones (Pa8), Hugh Podmore (Pa8), Saravanan Vijay Kannian (Pa8), Toby Yeneralski

(Pa8), Jonny Buckthorpe (Pa9), Eddie Greenfield (Pa9), Ryan Morrell (Pa9), Aki Vuppalanchi (Pa9), George Whall (Pa9), Thomas Young (Pa9), Jay Raj (Pa11), Sam Holcroft (Pa12), Olly Cay (Pa13). Merits: Thomas Lowe (Pa7), Conor Bright (Pa8), Luca Forchione (Pa8), Edward Gibbs (Pa8), Rafik Moussaoui (Pa8), Ben Oakes (Pa8), Saravanan Vijay Kannian (Pa8), Adam Ward (Pa8), Billy Knibb (Pa9), Ollie Main (Pa9), Zach Cooke (Pa10), Leo McIntosh (Pa10), Sanjit Mallya (Pa11), Jay Raj (Pa11), Abdurrahman Aroworamimo (Pa12). In addition, our Senior Captain, in conjunction with the AGS Art Department recognised a number of students for their significant contributions towards creating our House Art display and management of the submissions: Overall Contribution Awards: Olly Speake (Pa13), Dylan Cleveland (Pa13), Olly Cay (Pa13), Aidan Purchase (Pa13), Leo McIntosh (Pa10), George Birch (Pa10), Cyrus Pitcher (Pa12), Alex Marsden (Pa12). Following this, we moved our attention to the House Music event. This was a little different this year as it was going to the held in the Waterside Theatre, which provided an added element of excitement. Our senior music team led by Dan Choudhury (Pa12), spent months planning which songs we would perform and arranging the music ahead of the rehearsals. When the time to draw the performance order

for the event came, we were allocated the opening slot for the evening. Some may have been disappointed with this, but we saw it as an opportunity to set the standard for the event, as well as make a little bit of history to be the first AGS House to perform in House Music at this new venue. After many rehearsals, the Paterson House Music team comprising of 70 members of the House met in the Waterside Theatre dressing room for their traditional pep-talk before the competition from our Captain. Our compères George Atwell (Pa12) and Sam Holcroft (Pa12) made their way into the theatre auditorium to start the night off and introduce our set. With a 60-man choir to get on stage, as well as the musicians the darkness of the stage allowed us to do this seamlessly. As the lights came up, the lead singer for our first piece, Alex Lincoln (Pa12) made his way to centre stage to perform our first song ‘I’m Still Standing’ by Elton John. This certainly got the crowd ready for the exciting night ahead of them. There was then a seamless transition into the technically challenging and somewhat mesmerising ‘Wonderful Slippery Thing’ by Guthrie Govan performed by Dan Choudhury (Pa12), Aidan Purchase (Pa13) and Sam Munday (Pa12). Following this we completed our set with a moving performance of Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’ sung by the extremely talented Theo Parfitt (Pa11). One of the benefits of performing first on the evening, is that the team can then sit back and enjoy the rest of the show!

The results were announced, and we finished the evening in third place, which we were pleased with and we hope to improve on next year. Our Captain had set out from the start of our preparations that he did not want us to be just focused on winning, but he wanted everyone involved to enjoy being part of House Music and from the feedback I have received I can say that absolutely everyone involved had a great time and this for me is the most important aspect of House events. Well done to Dan and the whole music team for making this all happen. The final event to report on is House Writing. This year’s theme was ‘Our World’, which was interpreted in many ways within the 130+ entries the House Writing Editorial Team led by Dylan Cleveland (Pa13) received from across all year groups. A range of different writing styles including poems, diary entries, short stories, limericks, recipes, announcements, haikus, monologues, and news articles were submitted, and these were whittled down to the best entries that would make it into the Paterson House Writing Magazine. These were entries from: Paterson 7 - Anish Jakka, Senesh Chady, Jonny Daly, Ayan Sharma

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HOUSE LIFE House Chess competition, where we finished in 4th place – this is not traditionally a strong event for us, and it seems this year was no different unfortunately. A decision was made to award the Watson this year, as the majority of the events had been completed, meaning that based on the standings for the completed events, as well as partial points awarded for non-completed events we finished the Watson in 5th place. The Brodie Trophy

Paterson 8 - William Johnson, Nathaniel Thomey, Ben McCrory, Nathan Hancox, Rafik Moussaoui, Peter Turland Paterson 9 - Eddie Greenfield, George Mansfield, Pragvansh Bhatt, Ben Curry, Max Ward, Jonny Buckthorpe, Sam Duodu Paterson 10 - Sam Pyefinch, Thomas Hendley, Johann Armah, Dom Staines, Nick Cay Paterson 11 - Kaustubh Singh, Bar Heasman, Samuel Mitev, Nathan Curry, Paterson 12 - Sachin Patel, AJ ElliottGratton, Alex Marsden, Sam Munday, George Atwell, Sam Choudhury, Kit Fairhurst, Shayak Chakraborti Paterson 13 - Olly Speake, Dylan Cleveland, Olly Cay We may not have physically been in

school, but we were able to utilise technologies and the feedback from the adjudicator, award winning writer Matt Brown, was done via google meet. With only nine points separating all six Houses, it was an incredibly close competition and we finished in 4th place overall with a score of 68/90. The adjudicator commended us on the artistic design of our magazine, and thanks and congratulations should go to Sam Holcroft (Pa12) for his impressive artwork that was selected to be used for the cover of this year’s magazine. A number of awards were also presented by the adjudicator: Notable Entries: Senesh Chady (Pa7) and Kaustubh Singh (Pa11) Merit Award: Eddie Greenfield (Pa9) Distinction: Sam Choudhury (Pa12) We also managed to complete the

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The Brodie did not get off to a great start. With the first event, House Cross Country cancelled (twice) due to poor weather and ground conditions we were unable to participate in what is usually a strong event for Paterson House. We focused on the other Brodie events in the Autumn term, Squash and Rugby, where we had 5th and 6th place finishes respectively. Unfortunately, these were the only events we were able to finish this year in the Brodie competition as these are predominantly completed in the Spring and Summer terms. As such, a decision was made not to award the Brodie trophy this year. Remote Challenges In an attempt to maintain some level of House activity during the period of remote learning, we introduced a series of Paterson House Lockdown Challenges for students to participate in and the entries for these were judged by the

Head Boys of House. Well done to all the students who participated in these, and congratulations to all of our winners. Remote Challenge 1 – Prepare a short video to show us how you are preparing for next year’s House events whilst in lockdown Winner: Saravanan Vijay Kannian (Pa8). Highly Commended: Riaghan Matheson (Pa10), Sam Munday (Pa12), Abdurrahman Aroworamimo (Pa12) Remote Challenge 2 – Cook something inspired by purple Winner: Keane Liboon (Pa9). Highly Commended: Tom Blowfield (Pa12), Ben Hyde (Pa7) and Peter Clark (Pa8) Remote Challenge 3 – Create a guide to AGS and Paterson House to welcome our new Year 6 and 12 students in September Winner: Ed Campbell (Pa11). Highly Commended: Luke Marshall (Pa7) and Sachin Patel (Pa12) And Finally, …. The House System at AGS offers so much more than just House events. I am delighted that in Paterson House we have been able to promote a significant number of students to leadership positions including Buddy’s, Junior Prefects, School Prefects and Senior Prefects. We have also raised £353 for this year’s House Charity – Surfers Against Sewage. I would like to offer a particular

note of thanks to Olly Speake (Head Boy of House) and Dylan Cleveland and Olly Cay (Deputy Head Boys of House) who have done a fantastic job in their roles this year, working incredibly hard to run Paterson House in rather challenging and constantly changing circumstances at times. Their commitment and enthusiasm has been amazing and they have been a joy to work alongside. I was especially impressed with the way they maintained their leadership throughout the time of the national COVID lockdown by running sessions online where they offered support to the younger students in the House. Thank you.

you very much Dr Twissell, Mr

I would also like to wish all the outgoing Year 13s all the very best of luck and success in the future. I am so sorry that we did not get to celebrate your time with us in the normal ways, but I am sure we will at some point in the future. They have been a wonderful year group to get to know and I will miss them all as they leave us. Thank you for all the memories and the laughs along the way. You will always be a member of #TeamPaterson. I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all of the wonderful work done by the Paterson House tutors who have worked tirelessly with the students over the last year providing them with an exceptional level of pastoral care and support, and are always such a great support to me in leading the House. Thank

the House, and I am so proud of this.

Nathan, Dr Gardner, Mr McIntosh, Dr McNamara, Mrs Sampson and Mr Chappell. It would be fair to say that this was not looking to be one of our strongest years in terms of trophy finishes based on the events that had been completed, but this is not the only measure of success. The effort and dedication that all students in Paterson House put into events this year has been outstanding. The success we achieved this year may not have been through winning trophies, but through the determination and team spirit displayed by every member of I have been in awe of how well all the students in Paterson House have adapted to the unique challenges that have been presented to them over the course of this year. During the remote learning phase, I was delighted to be able to join in with many tutor group google meets and it was wonderful to see the students during this time and catch up with all the wonderful things they have been doing alongside their learning whilst in lockdown. Such an incredible group of students who have been making the most out of a difficult situation and I hope they bring that determination and spirit to next year’s House events. Miss K E Chalk

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

HOUSE LIFE Phillips House Report The total curtailment of extracurricular and co-curricular school life due to lockdown does not alter the fact that much has been achieved by Phillips House this academic year. Phillips House has

been at the forefront of AGS life and our boys have enthusiastically thrown themselves into every activity and competition on offer, with some excellent results. Once more, this has been a year of ups and downs in the Brodie and Watson with the usual rollercoaster of disappointment and elation, but always with determination and commitment. I want to start by welcoming Mrs Jackson as the new Ph8 tutor and know that she has already made her mark as a firm, fair and thoroughly supportive leader to her tutor group. As usual we have appointed an excellent crop of Junior Prefect,

Prefects and Senior Prefects, who have set themselves up as excellent role models to their peers and juniors. I am also impressed with the Year 8 buddies who have provided vital support to boys in Ph7. Just before lockdown bit into the end of the Spring term, it was my great pleasure to welcome our new Head boy, Chris and his two deputies, Tayo and Ethan. They were selected from a typically highly competitive Phillips cohort and have already shown pro-activity in trying to find ways to connect with the House during the challenges of the Summer term. I would like to give massive thanks to our outgoing Head Boys, Ben, Adam and Max, who gave me outstanding support and really led from the front to give all the Boys of Phillips House something to aspire to.

Brodie Cup Once again cross country fell by the wayside but there were several Brodie competitions on offer in the first two terms. It is fair to say that our results were not what we wanted but do not reflect on the hard work and commitment put in by our teams in what turned out to be really tough events. Squash and Rugby were competed before lockdown. In Squash the results were: Seniors and Inters, 6th, Juniors 5th and a creditable 3rd to Year 7 which deserves real praise. Overall, we came 6th in the squash. In Rugby we faired better with Year 10 coming 4th, Year 9, an outstanding 1st, Year 8 placed 6th and another fantastic performance from Year 7 coming 1st. So, although our overall position was joint 4th, we did see two excellent performances from the teams of Ph9 and Ph7, well done to you all. The basketball competition only had time for the Inters where we came 4th. A fantastic effort from the team, but against good competition, just not quite enough for the highest placings. Overall in the Brodie we came 5th but thank you to all who played and gave of their best. At least we beat Paterson! Well done to you all. Watson Trophy This year’s Watson Trophy saw some outstanding results for Phillips and was a significant improvement on the Brodie results.

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

play by all the boys, Phillips came an impressive 2nd place overall, the highest for some years. House Writing is a competition that has suffered from lack of entries in recent years. This has always been the main reason we have lost points, but this year was different. The editors worked magnificently to rally all and with an excellent cover design and some truly inspired submissions, we came a good 3rd place. Next year, even higher! Without a doubt, our best result was in Senior public speaking. I was blown away by the results where all four competitors from Ph10 to 13 won their age groups to give an overall 1st by a huge margin. Additionally, both Hamza of Ph11 and Kat of Ph13 were awarded ‘best speaker’. This was a truly heroic result and I am sure that had we held a Junior Public Speaking this year, Phillips would have been in the running for victory. As usual, in House Art the boys of Phillips demonstrated creativity, originality and innovation to create a display that was very impressive and it was a shame that we came 5th. Well done to all who submitted work and especially to those who turned up at lunchtimes to help prepare and set up the display. Well done to you all. The Senior quiz proved more successful with an excellent overall 1st place. Well done to both teams which included Adam, Tom, Hirshal, Sam, Ben, Oscar, Freddy, Tayo, Charles and George. You all did yourselves and Phillips proud.

So overall, we came a magnificent 2nd in the Watson with some excellent performances, five points off Ridley’s pace as runaway winners. This gives us huge confidence to go one better next time around!

Musical talent is never in short supply in Phillips and this year was no exception. I was really pleased with the hard work that went into organising and producing our set. It was the first time that the competition has been held in the Waterside Theatre and let’s hope it is not the last! However, it was a shame that in the end we came 5th. It does seem to be that our efforts are never quite rewarded in the marks. Well done to you all though and good luck as we embark on more musical endeavour as planning starts in the Autumn term. House Chess proved more of a success and in a day of intense concentration and highly skilled

I would like to finish by saying a massive thank you to all of you in Phillips House. Without your efforts and skill there would be no competitions. It is of course, not just about competitive events, far from it. I have thoroughly enjoyed some highly stimulating assemblies led by boys from Ph7 to 13. I have also been grateful for the charity fund raising, this year for ‘Clic Sergeant’ as well as all your efforts in bucket collecting for Malawi. Last but not least, thank you from me and on behalf of all the boys for the hard work from our dedicated team of tutors. Lets now look forward to some normality in 2020-21. Mr M Goodchild

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

HOUSE LIFE Ridley House Report As I wrote in my Aylesburian Report last year, 2018-19 was not a vintage year for Ridley House, having finished Joint 5th in the Brodie Trophy and 4th in the Watson Trophy. This year Ridley certainly bounced back, although sadly House events were severely disrupted with the onset of the Covid-19 global pandemic. It was the Brodie Trophy that was most affected by the closure of the school and with a number of the sporting competitions either incomplete or having not even started the decision was taken that there would be no awarding of the overall trophy. Squash was one competition that was completed and Ridley finished 4th overall after the Seniors had got us off to a great start by winning their event. We

shame for the captains who put a great deal of thought and effort into

It was of course such a shame that so many events could not be completed this year. Events such as the House Swimming Gala and Sports Day are always highlights of the AGS annual calendar, whilst the Junior House Football is an integral part of the AGS Fete. The House Tennis always signals the end of another year of intense inter-house competition. Sadly, none of these events could take place. Although the Brodie could not be completed, it was quite clear that Ridley had made a significant recovery in their sporting fortunes. Had we finished all the planned events, we would certainly have been pushing for a top-half finish in the Brodie, if not better!

our exhibition, but we never seem to

The Watson Trophy got off to a poor start from our perspective – last

on lead vocal roles. Well done to

finished Joint 2nd in the Rugby with every age group finishing no lower than 4th and our Year 8s coming runners-up. In Basketball, only the Senior competition was completed before lockdown and we finished a very creditable 2nd place. Ridley had also made a great start in the Football competition with our Seniors coming 2nd and the Inters winning their competition. At the point of the school closure Ridley lay in 3rd place in the overall Brodie standings, but only half a point off Denson in 2nd.

place in the House Art. It was a real

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

do well in the Art. From here on in, it was luckily a story of unparralled success. The undoubted highlight of the year for me was the House Music, with the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre providing a superb venue for the AGS musicians to showcase their many talents. Ridley, expertly led by Dylan Holmes-Cowan and Tom Proctor and supported by a number of committed Year 13 musicians such as Ben Harty and Tom O’Shea were the deserved winners in a high quality competition. It was a superb team effort from all our musicians, but I should also mention both Ishaan Chakraborty and Reuben Cole who both had the courage to take everyone involved.

House Chess was a very tight competition, but with our Junior team coming 1st, Ridley were victorious overall. Special mention should go to our departing players from Year 13, Ayon Bose and Tom Proctor, who have been integral members of our chess teams for 7 years. Our final piece of good news of the year was that the Ridley House Magazine (edited by Tom Selby, Euan Walters, Ollie McKenna and Finn McCourty) was also placed first. Therefore, in an outstandingly successful year, Ridley won 3 out of the 4 Watson competitions that could be completed.

placed 2nd. The Senior Quiz was also completed, producing a bit of a mixed bag. One of our teams won their competition, whereas the other Ridley team came last!

In the Public Speaking, only the Senior competition was completed and our team of Dylan HolmesCowan, Dylan Sellors, Aymaan Sheikh and Aadhav Sakthivel were

Lee – 17.75

With 4 of the 6 Watson competitions complete and the Quiz and Public Speaking part-finished the decision was taken to award the Watson Trophy. After a couple of barren years, it was fantastic for everyone in the House to win silverware. The final Watson Trophy standings were therefore as follows: Ridley - 23 Phillips – 18

Paterson - 17.25 Hampden – 16 Denson - 13

Another highlight of the year was of course the annual Ridley House panto. This year the Ridley tutors treated the Ridley students with our own take on the classic Cinderella – in our case ‘Cinder-Edward’. Both the acting and the jokes were as good (or bad?) as ever and we thank Mr Grant once again for both writing and directing a masterpiece. This year we have supported the mental health charity MIND as our nominated House charity. I must mention Ollie McKenna and Owen Billings in R12 who have both run half marathons in order to support our charity and they have raised a thousand pounds in the process. Of course, our successes this year were very much a collective effort, but I must pay tribute in particular to our fantastic leadership team –

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

HOUSE LIFE 1ST XV Rugby Played 15, Won 13, Lost 2.

Head Boy Ben Harty and his two Deputies, Haroon Raqib Nisar and Tom Selby. They have been without doubt one of the strongest leadership teams we have ever had. I must also thank our fantastic team of tutors. Mrs Harris has sadly left her role as Ridley 10 tutor to take up the position of Head of Lee House. We wish her the best of luck and will certainly miss her. I would also like to thank Mrs Lillywhite for stepping in and tutoring our new Ridley 7 class and we are very much looking forward to welcoming Mrs Smith back in September. Well done to everyone who has contributed towards such a positive year for Ridley and we look forward with optimism to what the next year will bring.

Following on from a successful summer tour of Argentina and Uruguay, we looked ahead at the 2019 season with mixed emotions of excitement and trepidation. Without doubt it was our hardest fixture list for many years. New block fixtures had been arranged with St Edwards School, Oxford, Kings College School, Wimbledon and Campion School from Essex to supplement an already challenging list with the likes of Northampton School for Boys, Magdalen School, City of London Freemans and Merchant Taylors. However, I knew the 1st XV has bags of ability and had the potential of developing into a really good team. We had a gentle transition into the new season with comfortable games against Sir William Borlase Grammar School in the Natwest Vase and St Columba’s School from St Albans. The Borlase game gave

Mr J Barrie

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

me a valuable opportunity to rotate the squad and see as many players as possible, winning 56-5. We then played St Columba’s twice in 10 days, once in a Saturday friendly and once in Round 2 of the NatWest Vase. An aggregate score of 119-0 was achieved across the two games and slowly the team was taking shape. Certain combinations were starting to settle and some players were commanding a starting place. The 2nd row, back row and back three all looked pretty nailed down but in other areas, we were far from sure what our best options were. The biggest dilemma was deciding who would play at fly half. This was a challenge that would continue to cause problems for months to come. Our next game was going to be a real test and we played St Edwards School, Oxford on the artificial surface at Aylesbury Rugby Club. This would be our first chance to see how we matched up to the stronger schools on the circuit and make a statement that we were to be taken seriously.

SPORT We grasped this opportunity with both hands and produced a commanding performance. The forwards dominated and controlled the breakdown magnificently. Lindars and Davies caught the eye with their incredible work rate. The backs looked sharp too and were clinical taking their chances. Two very late scores from St Edwards gave the score line a sense of equality but this was a statement win for us 22-17. It was nice to see Ben Jacobs again, two years after leaving AGS for a scholarship to St Edwards but unfortunately for him, he ended up on the losing side. Next up would be two incredibly difficult fixtures, firstly against Reading Bluecoat School and then against City of London. The Reading fixture was made even more challenging due to the absence of influential captain Joe Chapman, who was struggling with man flu, but Archie Rainbow stepped up to admirably fill his shoes. This really was a game of two halves, mainly due to the wind, and having played against it first half, we were down by 10 points at half time. A crucial score by James Phillips giving us a

welcome boost just before the half time whistle. The second half was mightily impressive and with excellent game management, we played in the right areas and made good decisions. Although we left it late, Ben Mulholland scored the decisive try to grab control of the game with 5 minutes to go. Final score was a 32-26 victory. City of London the following week would be equally tough and they were on top form and the previous weekend had been named ‘Team of the Weekend’ from Schools rugby website. By contrast to the previous weekend, we performed poorly and made a ridiculous amount of errors – missed tackles, poor kicking and a lack of game management through the spine of the team. Somehow, we bravely battled to a 13-10 victory and as you know, it’s the mark of a great team when they can win whilst playing poorly?!

The game away to Merchant Taylors

In Round 3 of the NatWest Vase we

be the key. Having led 7-5 until

played Beaumont School and this proved to be a fairly comfortable

was always going to be one of our toughest and it was a gamble of mine to start with the third different fly half of the season. Chris Bond was given his opportunity to get the backline to function effectively and made his 1st XV debut at 10. There probably couldn’t be a tougher place to make your debut but I had faith in Chris. The game was an absolute dogfight, with two teams battling toe to toe for the full 70 minutes. The game remained in the balance for its entirety and was not settled until the dying moments. The AGS pack were incredible, with Lindars, Archie Davies, Tom Giles, Tom Lane, Jake Graham and Ben Mulholland leading the way with powerful carries and courageous tackling. In terrible conditions, the ability to play expansive rugby was limited and patience was going to the dying moments, it was heartbreaking to concede a close range

experience, winning 57-7 despite

try at the death to lose 12-7. A tough

the sin-binning of Chris Bond for

loss to take as I thought we were

repeated infringements.

the better side but unfortunately,

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SPORT

we were on the wrong end of a

forwards. From here, classroom

the season to go, the 1st XV would

couple of key referee decisions at

theory and analysis sessions

not lose another game on the

crucial moments. But out of every

became a weekly event and we set

Saturday circuit. Major scalps were

about ironing out our deficiencies.

obtained over Northampton School

The brutal statistical analysis on

for Boys, Magdalen College School,

each player provided the extra

Watford Boys GS, KCS Wimbledon

motivation needed to raise the bar

and Campion School.

moment of gloom, there comes light. This loss would become the catalyst for greater things. Having obtained the game footage from the Merchant Taylors video analysis programme, we embarked on a mission to analyse and develop a plan of action to take this team

on performance and admittedly, effected team selection too. With arguably the tougher half of

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

The Magdalen game was one for the purest and it will long live as the finest 3-0 game you’ll ever see.

Defensively, we were improving

misfortune proved to be the making

couple of games. Scrum half Josh

with every game and to nil a team

of others and both Chris Bond and

Alexander was Mr Consistent and

of Magdalen’s quality was a huge

Joe Chapman stepped up. Chris

his excellent service and box kicking

achievement. With further video

proved to be the kicking Fullback we

were key.

analysis, we were working hard

had been looking for, for a long time

to invent a flatter more effective

and why it had taken me so long to

attacking system and it was from

realise Joe Chapman can’t pass is

here that Toby Cook appeared.

a mystery. A player who can’t pass

Toby had proved himself in the

is a winger and that is where Joe

development grounds of the 2nd XV

excelled. What a revelation. In the

and now had to take his opportunity

Campion game, the defence of both

to stake his claim for the fly half

wingers, Joe and Ollie Speake, was

spot. We soon realised that he was

instrumental in securing a huge win

made for the flat line attack we were

against one of the best state sides

seeking to develop and his magical

in the country.

top of Saturday fixtures. In addition

Wins against Watford and KCS

implemented a programme where

feet were the key. Under the greatest of pressure, he consistently managed to dance his way out of trouble and get the backline firing on all cylinders. Dylan Taylor and Ollie McKenna were benefitting from his distribution and wings Alex Butler and Kit Fairhurst running in tries for fun.

As we reflect on such a successful season, it comes as no surprise when you see that hard work has paid off. For the 1st XV, they have committed to Monday rehab sessions, Tuesday fitness sessions, Wednesday and Thursday training days, with analysis/theory classroom sessions thrown in on to this, for the first time, we have

Wimbledon were hugely impressive and a collective squad effort was

senior rugby players have actively worked with the coaching of the

needed. Pat Kelly was dominant in

younger age groups throughout

the front row and the lineout play

the school. You have all been an

of Gus Burnett was superb. The strong running and running lines of Dylan Taylor were magically Welsh,

absolute credit to yourselves and your school. A special thank you to the outgoing Year 13 who have

which is the highest compliment I

played their final games. And to the

Unfortunately, injuries started

can pay. In the absence of James

to take their toll as we entered

Phillips, Shaun Bedwell stepped up

November, and the loss of Archie

and covered admirably and it was

Rainbow and Kit Fairhurst proved

great to have C Mac recovered from

a challenge. However, their

injury and playing again for the last

Year 12’s, we go again next year and look forward to raising the bar even higher. Mr G Ramsbottom

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SPORT 2nd XV Rugby We started a fairly busy term with a large Senior Squad. The players were in pretty good shape, with many having toured South America on the school’s Summer rugby tour.

Others were in good physical condition due to completing early season training, prior to the start of the season. We also had a number of Year 13 student’s returning having played 2nd XV rugby last year. v Reading Blue Coat School won 29-19 Tom Miles scored FOUR tries from scrum-half. Forwards dominated the breakdown; I however felt that a number of good chances were wasted, through handling errors which we certainly need to reduce in order to have a good season results wise. Overall, a very good win against tough, well drilled opposition. v Merchant Taylor’s won 44-5 A TREMENDOUS team effort overall, the score was only 10-5 to AGS at half time. The opposition were extremely confident that they could win this fixture on their home turf. The AGS forwards really worked hard in the second half and bullied the opposition with pick and go ball, keeping it tight; Will Spencer, Owen Billings Adam Gouillon, Ed Birch all had good games. Toby Cook led the backs extremely well at No 10. Another excellent victory by a comprehensive score line. v Dr Challoners’ won 40-24

A poor first half in this Mid-week game. But really started to produce some good rugby in the second half. Challoner’s could not live with the quick tempo. Will Spencer and Ethan White made big impacts in the last 35 minutes. v Magdalen College won 27-12 Another excellent AGS performance. Two tries apiece from James Samsome and Jack Pinder wide out on the wings, were stand out moments. Big game from the pack. Chris Bond had an excellent game at Full Back, George Bates and Jasper Smith played well in the centre, both are powerful and determined runners and caused problems for the opposition all season. Team was well led by Andrew Claassen.

v Campion School lost 7-22 Our first defeat of the season, was marred by what can only be described as one-sided biased refereeing. The penalty count was 19+ penalties to Campion and one yes only one to AGS, over the course of 70 hard fought minutes of rugby played by two very determined sides. The game started so well with the AGS pack bundling over the line after a series of pick and goes. Only for the referee to disallow the try and give a penalty against the spectators!! That set the scene for the whole match and ruined what would have been a very competitive game of rugby. It is impossible to play the referee and the opposition. No more needs to be said.

v Watford Boys won 54-3

Can I thank the entire AGS 2nd XV

A very BIG win in awful conditions under foot. George Plummer led the team from the front as always, before suffering an injury. Two tries from Luke Murray-Russell who initially started the match in the back line. Great displays from both Tom (Skippy) Forrest and Andrew Claassen. Tom Miles and George Bates, also had strong games at scrumhalf and centre. An excellent team performance.

squad for a great season, they proved

v Wimbledon College School won 24-12 An excellent overall team performance, against good quality opposition. AGS once again showed their quality both in the forwards and backs.

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

that they are a high quality and very combative team, with great spirit. Interestingly many of the players saw 1st XV rugby over the course of the season, which was great to see. It has also been a genuine pleasure to coach them and can I thank George Plummer and Andrew Claassen for setting the tone in the leadership stakes. May I wish those Year 13’s leaving us every future success and PLEASE continue to enjoy playing and watching rugby. Play as much as you can whilst you are young and still able, as when you get older you spend a long time watching the game. Mr P Dean

U16 Rugby Unlike many managers and politicians, I am going to start by addressing the elephant in the room. The results table. If you

search up the win rate of these boys, this year, it says 2 wins in 8 games. 4 home and 4 away. In a sporting world dominated by facts and statistics, I have some that I feel are more important. 0 – the number training sessions cancelled 0 – the number of training sessions where the injured players haven’t turned up to see what we were doing. 0 – the number of games we have not had injured players on the sidelines supporting their teams. This team has been incredibly committed all year round. Whether injured or playing fit, the boys turned up to training sessions week in week out. I even had a chat with Sparkey after his pretty bad injury to tell him that he wasn’t required to attend the training session. He still came. As may be the case with many teams who may lose players over the course of the season, our numbers have swelled consistently. Credit to every member of the squad, players have wanted to come to training session and play rugby. Another big stat that has affected us this year is the number of

consecutive games that we put out the same team. 0. Not once did we manage to put out the same team two weeks in a row, due to nothing other than injury. Despite that we had the same players on the coach, as they came along to support their mates. It is this commitment, from the players who knew they would not be playing and would have to stand in the cold, that has meant I have not for one moment resented early Saturday mornings or wet training sessions. During what has been an incredibly busy term, these boys have found respite in rugby and it has been an absolute privilege to see the enjoyment they have taken out of the game that I love! Not one to dwell on negatives, I would like to focus on a game that demonstrates the potential of this team. Rather than put in my words I am going to read the wonderful prose of our own Paddy McNulty. I take you to Thursday 21st November 2019. Location: Top Playing Fields Opposition: Watford Grammar School On Thursday afternoon we arrived to the top field with confidence from our 69-5 win last week against Royal Latin. After a strong team talk from Digby Partridge we started the game well. Going uphill to start, we kicked off and turned the ball over. With some more big carries we were

five meters out from their try line and after strong rucking we won a penalty and decided to kick for the posts. A simple penalty from Paddy McNulty put the score at AGS: 3 Watford Grammar: 0. After a kickoff we ran the ball in to their half before being turned over. Defending against a big team, we unfortunately left an overlap allowing Watford’s centre to run through and score under the posts, 3-7 to Watford. With heads high, we chased the kick off and turned the ball over. Following some big carries from Birch, Dolphin and Sparkle we found ourselves 10 meters from the try line. Spotting a gap in the opposition defence, flanker Digby sprinted to the try line for our first try of the match. 8-7 to AGS, Game On. Watford kicked off and we ran the ball well working for position in Watford’s half. After another turnover Watford had the ball and kicked down to winger Will Greenfield. There was not much space to run to but stepping a number of Watford’s players he made a good ground. Fullback Truman Alvalle picked the ball up well and kicked back to Watford. After a small fumble, Watford’s centre gathered the ball and ran through our defence for their second try of the match. 12-8 to Watford. It was half time. AGS were definitely not out of the game and after dominating for the first half we were determined to get the next score. After the kick-off

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SPORT the likes of Kearney and Byles got

close to the line. With some direct

you who have come along to watch

us past half way with some great

crash balls, we etched closer to

each week, I know will support me

feet and hard lines. After very solid

the line before Max Dolphin picked

in saying this is a team who have

defence Watford turned the ball over

up the ball and dived over the line

come a long way this season. With

and ran well to get back up closer

to make the score 19-18, with 10

unquestionable commitment, three

to half way. Seeing space on the

minutes left in the game. Watford’s

front rows and options at just about

right, Watford fly half passed it wide,

kick off put us under pressure

every position, they have incredible

allowing their very quick winger to

deep into our half with a long way

potential and it is a shame they will

run in their third try of the match.

to the opposition try line. A shock

be divided up next year. For those

After a simple conversion it was 19-8

Watford turnover put us under more

of you who will continue with your

to Watford and we had a long way

pressure, but some phenomenal

school rugby next year, I wish you

back to go.

defence from everyone on the

the best of luck. It has been an

pitch saw us hold out for a much-

absolute pleasure!!

After an excellent, high and short kick off, flanker Matthew Sparke,

needed turnover.

Before moving on to the awards, I

caught the ball and popped it to

Watford were desperate to defend

would like to make some honourable

Max Dolphin who worked hard to

and went offside constantly. Now

mentions. First is the group of lads

make some extra yards. Carrying

close to the Watford 22 and with

around which you build a team.

well, we found ourselves very

time running out we won another

The front row – this year we have

close to Watford’s try line. Then we

penalty for a Watford offside. Aware

been fortunate enough to have a

passed out to the backs and ran

of his team’s penalty advantage, Fly

full replacement at front row. Ollie

right to Wheaton and Sparkle to

Half McNulty saw the space behind

Pepper, who has played in every

get within a meter of the try line.

Watford’s defence and chipped

game this year, Johnny Gopal, who

With the forwards grafting for some

the ball over. Their winger stood

came back to rugby this year and

important metres, we got it out to

to catch the ball but flanker Jack

Herbie Mansbridge have been

the backs for McNulty to pass to

Tominey made a spectacular catch,

awesome. Their combined effort

Tominey who dived over the line for

gathering the bouncing ball. Fending

on the pitch has been exceptional.

a brilliantly worked try. Score: 19-13.

off Watford’s winger Tominey ran in

Finn Spencer, Jack Tominey and

the final try of the match. We were

Anuka Kumarapelli have put in some

on top: 23-19 up with only 5 minutes

serious performances which have

left. Despite Watford’s best efforts,

provided platforms for the team

they failed to make much ground

to excel.

Watford kicked off and we knew we needed another score to get back within touching distance. More solid runs from McIntosh and Kearney moved us up the field, supported well by the immense rucking of the pack. Quick ball and some excellent hand offs from Sparkles caused

and just as they looked to score, centre, Sam Kearney ran across to throw him into touch. That was it, full time. AGS-23 vs Watford-19.

Our locks, have also put in tremendous performances this year in the form of Marcus Birch who provided a highlight of the season

the Year 8’s on the side-line to

Without a doubt, this was my

for me with an exceptional tackle on

jump up and down and laugh at an

highlight of the year. The hard work

our try line against City of London

increasingly frantic Watford. Then

the boys had put in, saw them defeat

Freemans, Daniel Partridge who is

after a run up the wing we were

a well-drilled Watford side. Those of

the very definition of a workhorse

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

and Evan Byles who has been a destructive force at the line out all year. Our back row including Sparkle, Dolphin Hannan and the numerous other players who stepped in have worked doggedly about the park making tackles and hitting rucks. Our Scrum Half Will Chapman has played a pivotal role in our attacks and Paddy McNulty, with the hands of a magician has been instrumental launching our attacks. Our centres of Kearney and Wheaton seem to have no stop button and have worked tirelessly showing great finesse with ball in hand and heroic defence to win it back. Our back three has been ever altering but every player who has represented in these positions has done so brilliantly. Alfie with his phenomenal feet, Will Greenfield with his resilience in contact and sheer refusal to be brought down and Truman Alvalle who was successful in his position as last man standing. It has not mattered who he has played against, he has not been bettered! We have also had performances from Aryan Saxena, Jai Horwood and Jude Guest-Brainch, who have grown in their position, learning the game well. As for awards. This has truly been a monumental task. Fortunately, our first award was chosen for us. Players’ Player. There have been some tremendous performances

throughout the year and a number of students were named for this award. However, there can only be one Players’ Player and this year it is a player who has made some thundering runs down the wing, has captained the team on occasion and I believe, has played every second. Players’ Player is Daniel ‘Digby’ Partridge! The next award is for most improved. An award that often gets overlooked for the other two awards. However, for me it is something much more. The greatest players have to start somewhere and player development is a journey. The player who was chosen by many of his team mates and by myself and Mr Warner has done just that. He has been on a tremendous journey and has gone from a fringe player in the past to one of the first names on the team sheet. A figure around which we compose our set-pieces and who has demolished many an opponent. He is a truly tremendous player and

another strong contender, has been an incredible success this year, with a highlight including 5 turn overs in a single game, one of which was in our dead ball area. Paddy McNulty, has steered the ship, putting ball through the hands or on his boot to look dangerous in attack and safe in defence. Matt Sparke truly has sparkled during the season with his physical dominance and huge hitting, which has seen him suspiciously sin-binned in a game against City of London Freeman’s School. However, we are only able to give this award to one player. This player scored one of the most impressive tries I have ever seen, fending off three players at full stretch and putting the ball over the line from 5 metres out. He has put in some of the biggest hits of the season and has made more yards than almost anyone else in the team. This year’s Coaches’ Player of the Year is Max Dolphin. Mr T Walker

I truly hope he continues on the journey he has on. Evan Byles, you are our most improved player. The final award is for Coaches’ Player. This, once again, could have gone to anyone. Captain fantastic Anuka, has been the thorn in the side of every opponent and referee he has come up against. Not one to keep quiet he has led his term vocally and physically from our first game to our last. Jack Tominey,

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SPORT U15 Rugby It’s safe to say that this has been a season of ups and downs for the Year 10 Rugby ‘A’ team. We

came into the season with a strong squad and lots of confidence after last year’s successes, however there have been ongoing concerns about availability and having the right numbers, due to injuries or players being unavailable due to other commitments, throughout the season. Another contrast compared to our previous successful season, and a big lesson for the squad, is that the physical battle against opponents changed massively. It was hard to get over the fact that we couldn’t just dominate teams without having to really try anymore and this is something that we tried hard to work on as the season went on. Our first match was against St Columba’s School, against whom we recorded a strong 39-19 win, where we showed attacking brilliance from the whole team, and it was a win that put us in good spirits. There were however signs in this game that we needed to improve our defence massively, as well as increase our attacking flow in the game. A cancellation from St Edward’s School left us matchless for a Saturday, until we played Reading Blue Coat, where a very strong pack, as well as quick and powerful backs, left us heartbroken

after a narrow 15-17 loss. It was a game that shocked us all, as we were expecting to win easily. We attacked our opponents magnificently in the second half, bringing the scores closer, but it was a considerable blow to our confidence to lose this game. A special mention however must go to Alex Brown, whose impeccable decision making and control of the back line at 10 really did make a difference to our second half comeback. This year we had the opportunity of participating in the National Schools Cup, but losing 17-10 to a massive Samuel Whitbread School, despite another second half comeback, was obviously disappointing. Despite the result, Morgan Billings (whose work rate and strength was amazing), Dan Sudbery (whose work at the breakdown was so important to our team) and George Wellbelove (who has constantly amazed us with his accurate kicking) deserve a mention. After these losses, we needed a booster which was provided by City of London’s Freemans school, who we beat 52-3. An experimental team needed to go into the next match, against Merchant Taylors, as we lost more than half our training squad to DofE commitments that weekend. While not ideal, the team played exceptionally well, despite the score of 38-3, thanks to an epic performance from Charlie Shepherd and likes of Will (T) Smith stepping up to the A team. This unfortunately

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

was followed by another bad spell as we lost to NSB 42-5, after which things really needed to change, as the squad was struggling to fulfil its potential. In the Natwest Bowl competition, The Perse School proved to be another very difficult opponent. A try scored by Josh Armstrong brought us closer to the 13 point lead the opposition had on us, but despite a variety of different players stepping up to take on the challenge, we couldn’t close the 7 point deficit, which prevented us from moving further on in this competition. Our next game, against Watford Grammar School, was a well needed and well-deserved win (37-0). The man that stood out in that match was Ben Kearney, one of a few players who have reappeared back into the squad after taking an earlier break from playing, who has been welcomed enthusiastically back to school rugby and has provided us with the ability to cause mayhem in opponent’s backs. This game was started and ended well by all the boys involved, including Leo Walsh’s cameo at fly-half, and we were pleased with this result, in particular the way we dictated and arranged our attack and defence. This positive form was taken into our next game, a tough but brilliant match against Wimbledon College School, which we again lost by a very narrow margin (19-24). Our season was quickly coming to an end

and we were still not consistently performing how we wanted to. The match did feature a cracking second half performance from the whole team, and in particular Charlie Shepherd, and we went into our next game, against Campion School with a bit more confidence. What we did not factor in at Campion was a refereeing display that was of such poor quality that our efforts were, at times, in vain, which contributed significantly to another close loss, this time 24-19. We did not help ourselves with yet another slow start to a game, which is an aspect of the game that we need to keep working on for next year. Very disappointedly this proved to be the last game of our season, as both Challoner’s and The Latin cancelled our final matches. The fact that the B Team squad has had such a successful season has obviously been a real bonus, providing players such as Will (T) Smith, Seb Butler, George Wellbelove and Harry Holmes with the platform for them to push for places in the A team squad. It has also been great to see Abshly and Shreeharsh play school rugby for the first time, and see boys like Alex Hamilton, Zac Santos-Carro, Theo Bockmeuhl, Joseph Grapes, Josh Sond and Ben Perkin consistently turn out for school. Next season will be interesting to see as we carry on our rugby journey as a squad, and we will see if we can

regain dominance in games from the word ‘go’. The need to be aggressive and prepare for matches better will significantly change the result of games, as we still feel as if we have the skill, the talent and the drive to take us forward…...we hope that we have learnt what the consequences are about not starting well. I would like to thank all those who have been involved in school rugby over the last two seasons for their hard work, commitment and (on the whole) good humour…..it has been a pleasure and I wish you all the very best of luck in your future rugby endeavours.

It is at this point that I would like to thank the boys who have been training regularly yet have had very little game time. With the calibre of opposition that we play on our circuit and the wide range of experience we have, it has been difficult to keep everyone involved and these boys have continued to work hard, are keen to develop their own game and have shown an extremely mature approach this season. You may notice that throughout this report I am going to steer away from mentioning lots of results and yes there is an obvious reason for that. But the thing is, it is actually not always about the results and that is certainly the case for this Year 9 squad; it is about the progress the team make and about the development each player undertakes and I am pleased to say we have made huge improvements in both areas.

Mr C McGIll Ben Chanter & Josh Armstrong – Ridley 10

U14 Rugby Due to a slight shuffle round with the staff I have been lucky enough to work with the same group of boys again this year.

including boys with very limited rugby experience all the way up to some fantastic and experienced players who have been playing for a number of years.

The forwards:

You may remember me talking about a lack of numbers in Year 8 and a consequence of that, plus the move up to 15 a-side meant that we would only have one team at Year 9 this season. You may think that having only one team makes it easier but actually this was a new conundrum and the truth is we have had around 30 boys coming to training every week since September

The front row: Arya Kotian: the technique and the strength, Alex Davis: the agility and the skillset, Archie Thompson: the adaptability and Daniel Mawdsley: the powerhouse ball carrier. The second row: Harry Elliott; the scrapper and Reuben Hayward-Doyle; the pick and goer.

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SPORT The back row: George Mansfield: all round rugby player, part of the leadership team and occasional kicker, Jason EganSteel: the lover of pick and go and searcher of any contact, and Eliott Godley; captain, skipper, leader of men and excellent all round back rower. Their transformation is nothing short of amazing. A scrum that can compete with any pack we have come across, a signature lineout and maul routine and a group of players who have the discipline and skill set to pick and go over multiple phases regardless of where they are on the pitch. On to the backs: Scrum halves; Sam Johnson; highly technical and part of the leadership team, Jonty Woodward; passionate and a huge potential. Fly half: Ollie Blundell; outstanding with the boot, added variety to his

game, often the last one out of the changing rooms.

Season highlights include:

Centres:

carried over the line by the support

Mattie Ventham; Flanker turned centre with a high skill set and great tackle, Billy Knibb; relentless energy, exciting with the ball in hand and loves making massive hits. Back 3; James Marklew-Brown; great running lines, Will Yarroll; composure under the high ball, Zac Brown; loves a try saving tackle at full back, and Eddie Greenfield and Harry Woodus who are both really strong runners and can do a great job in the forwards too. In truth the backs have spent most of their time focusing on defence this year and consequently organisation and line speed has improved. They have also executed moves from the training pitch, showed much more variety in attack, and on occasions joined the forwards in their mauls and pick and go phases when attacking the try line.

A driving maul that was virtually from the side-lines away at Merchant Taylors. A pick and go master class from the forwards that started in our half and went all the way to the attacking twenty-two in the 2nd half versus Dr Challoner’s. Victory in a close game with Magladen College that saw us take a three point penalty late on in order to put the game beyond their reach. End of season awards: Most improved player: Harry Elliot Players Player of the year: Billy Knibb Coaches player of the year: Eliott Godley At this point I would like to reiterate how much I have enjoyed working with this group of players this year. They are attentive, hard-working, competitive, they have a really high level of team cohesion and both trust and respect each other on and off the field. They are a group of players with a huge amount of potential and I am excited to watch their development over the next 4 years of school rugby. Well done to everyone who contributed this year and good luck in your rugby futures for both school and club. Mr R Rooney

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

U13 Rugby A Team Throughout the season the year 8’s have demonstrated no lack of effort, despite results not always going their way. There

have been times where it would have been easy for the boys to point fingers and blame one another, but thankfully that didn’t happen. There was always a strong and supportive team ethic that ran through the team. Victories against Magdalen College in the dying seconds and Sir Henry Floyd were well deserved and enjoyed as the high points of the season. Close matches with St Columba’s and City of London also showed the potential of the squad. In a number of games we competed well and showed that there is some strong talent in the squad. Captain Matthias Bockmuehl led the side well and demonstrated a resilient attitude to his team mates. Some of the standout performers were Sean Dover who demonstrated innovation and flair, Nat Massa and Sam Griffiths who put in some big hits and showed courage and commitment throughout the season. Also, Ewan Gatt, Ollie Costello and Toby Evans all showed their abilities to beat defenders with pace, movement and skill. If there were areas to focus on for next season I would say tackling and rucking should be top of the list, too often we didn’t compete for

the ball and were too polite when the opportunity to nick the ball was there. When we had the ball in hand, and could keep it for a number of phases, we looked threatening in attack. And I’m sure next season will see a vast improvement in the try scoring column. Mr J Webley U13 Rugby (B Team) Wow, what a season, it really has flown by. It has been an extraordinary year for the B-team. Back in September the fixture list announced that ten games were scheduled, however three of our matches were cancelled, meaning less game time in an already short season. Despite numerous disappointments the team rallied and put their best feet forward. Of the seven games played, we won three, drew one and lost three. We lost our first game against St Columba’s (St Albans). They were very tough opponents. Despite scoring five tries they pipped us to the post with late tries. In our game versus Reading Blue Coat, we didn’t score any tries, but our communication, teamwork and passing was better. If you discount our cancelled fixtures, our run of home games signalled a turning point in our fortunes. Our three wins (a massive achievement considering that we were facing some of the toughest teams in our league)

included matches against Magdalen, Dr Challoner’s and Watford Grammar School. After our City of London Freeman game was cancelled we came back stronger and put in a sterling performance against Clair’s Court our first home game. Four tries were scored, however the final score was a little controversial with the referee ending play on a penalty. This could have been a win to us. Despite a few handling errors, we had a good defence, great communication, better passing, good support, with good rucking and scrums. The best display of teamwork so far. A resounding victory against Magdalen came next - we destroyed them 10-1 and we even held up two tries through excellent defence. Everything came together - good tank balls, brilliant forward rucking, solid scrums - winning ten out of eleven, awesome tackles, a good variation of play and great restart formations. This massive win really boosted our confidence. The match against Watford Grammar was a real AGS team effort. We had a hybrid team. Despite some close calls and AGS dominating possession in the first half we were behind at half time, but wait….what a comeback! We quickly drew level in the second half and went on to win 5-3 as a result of good scrums, better tackling and good calls, also through some special guest appearances from Nat, Freddie, B-dot & Sean.

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SPORT Our last game was one of the toughest if not the toughest, versus Campion. The weather and pitch conditions did not work in our favour. We started well, but their tactical play and passing out to the wing was far superior. There were a lot of knocked on balls (the majority from our hosting opponents). After an inspirational chat from Mr Shimony at half time we were straight back into the game, with better tackles, stronger and quicker rucks and were starting to scare the other team. We were dominant in the scrum winning twelve out of thirteen, using a lot of tank and wing play, but our opponents’ defence was just too good for us. We have improved significantly throughout our seven games. All players have grown and taken a lot away from each game. Initially our strength and successes relied heavily on the skills, determination and resilience of our forwards. What have we learnt: TACKLE, TACKLE, COMMUNICATE …..AND TACKLE!! Some things to work on for next season:

• All players need to tackle • Pass the ball quicker to the wings • Don’t get sucked in at rucks • At kick off get the wingers running

onto the ball Quicker ball out of the scrums and rucks Take advantage of ball handling and errors I was very honoured to Captain the B

• •

Team this season. We were a united, selfless team, with ambition and no matter what obstacles came our way, we grew stronger, working well together, giving each match our all. I’d like to acknowledge some stand out performances and influential play from: Josh David, the Walsh twins, Will Crock, Adam Ward, Oliver Reading and Nathaniel Thomey (second half hat-trick) On behalf of the team I’d like to express our thanks to Mr Shimony and Mr Webley for their continued support and commitment during training and matches both home and away. Bring on next season. James Davies – Lee 8

speed and ability to break the gain line, he also scored an impressive try from an excellent kick chase. At fullback, Cormac Clancy made some important tackles and excellent runs. Overall, the team showed that they could all tackle and was aggressive in the rucks, which was great to see from such a young team. I told the boys that in the early games, they will inevitably make mistakes in my team selections and that they had to stay patient and work hard to get into the A team. Alfie Harris and Charlie KapinskiNoades impressed in the B team so it wasn’t long before they got a chance in the A team.

The season started in early September with a doubleheader against St Columba’s College and Haberdashers and it was clear from the outset that we had the makings of a good team.

Oseratin Erese was available in the next game and he made an instant impact, for such a quiet player off the pitch, he certainly made a huge impression on the pitch. This player can tackle, ruck and run, all with devastating impact. The team was also starting to become more organised and play in a more cohesive way.

Thomas Lowe had impressed in training and was given the captaincy, his understanding of the game and encouraging nature helped to get the most out of his players. There were a number of standout players from the first two games, Fionn Clare’s powerful running and Ollie Jinks’ quick footwork caused the opposition constant problems. Tom Usher also impressed with his

After a convincing win at City of London’s Freemans school, where Harry Baldwin and Cormac got amongst the tries and Alfie Eldridge’s powerful running added to the impressive 8-0 score. The team was starting to play with control and discipline and up next was Claire’s Court, a tough test and a chance for the team to show how much progress they have made.

U12 Rugby

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

AGS arrived at Maidenhead Rugby Club to play on their 4G pitch. The opposition looked good in the warm up, organised and powerful, we knew we were in for a tough game. The first half was tight, but AGS dominated the rucks and were able to apply good pressure. After a scoreless first half, AGS was determined to get the first score and quick thinking by Thomas Lowe gave us our first try. A second AGS try from Fionn put clear daylight between us and the opposition. Strong tackling and powerful running from Osaretin and Fionn continued to apply the pressure. Claire’s Court got a try back from with 5 mins left on the clock, making it a nervy last few minutes. But again our defence was on top and Ollie Jinks found some space and made the game safe. The boys found it really tough against a very strong NSB team and perhaps this game should be used as a benchmark to gauge this teams improvement over the next few years. A tight game and some uncharacteristic mistakes against Magdalen meant we lost a game that we should have won. It highlighted to the boys that we needed to adapt our style of play and capitalise on the weaknesses of the opposition. This game also showed that we had strength in depth in the squad with strong performances from Ollie Baldwin, Saava and Iwan.

Next up was Dr Challoner’s where the team battled to a deserved 2-2 draw and again showed that they could step up and fight to the end. Convincing wins against SHFGS and Watford GS ensured that I (2001) could rotate the team and give some of the B team players a chance to step up to A team level. Ayath and Adi played well and I’m sure will be pushing for a regular A team spot next year. Our last Saturday game saw us lose 3-2 to Campion but in actual fact, I believe this was our best performance of the season. We adapted our style, played tight and direct to compress the opposition’s defence and then tried to play wide when we saw the chance. The difference in this performance from the first few was stark, the group has made excellent progress in a number of areas, and they should be proud of what they have achieved. But they are by no means a complete team, there is still plenty of room for new players to come through and for established players to continue to work hard and make individual improvements. Mr N Gibbs

U12 Rugby (B Team) With many of the boys coming into the school with little to no experience of rugby whatsoever, the Year 7 B team often acts a stepping stone for many of the players to go on and play at a high standard

throughout their future years at AGS. In fact, 48 different boys have featured for the B team over the course of the season. Training every Monday and Wednesday as well as taking part in games lessons has seen the boys progress rapidly and with the help of Mr Mansfield and a number of established rugby players from older age groups, we have seen a complete transformation in regards to both rugby skillset and the way the boys conduct themselves in training and on a match day. Starting the season, a week and a half after the start of term was always going to be interesting. But with the help of an electric performance from Risheet Saboo, scoring 7 tries, we managed to come away with a draw. For a number of lads getting used to the physical nature of rugby can prove to be a challenge. But with the consistent tackling of Austin Bhadri and Harry Noall we have started to form a good foundation of a solid defence. However, it would be unfair to talk about tackling without mentioning Vedanta Warad. A name that strikes fear into any opposition attacker. He never hesitates to put in a big hit to get the team fired up and has always been 100% committed. Quickly the boys realised rugby becomes a lot easier when they start to tackle and we went from a group of individuals, to a team willing to put in the hard yards to help each other out.

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SPORT Strong rucking from Ethan, Abu, Tahseen and Tom resulted in improved ball security which in combination with powerful running from Ayath, Arthur, Jacob and Caleb played a key part in our success. The work of the forwards often goes unnoticed in the younger year groups, however playing against strong and experienced opposition quickly made the boys realise how crucial the forward pack were in getting a positive result. Taking advantage of this increase in possession was never going to be a problem. With captain Ossian and vice-captain Jonny showing leadership beyond their years throughout the season. This allowed us to exploit the quick, tricky feet of Imisi and Ridwan which ultimately resulted in our first ever win. The strong bond the team established was clear for all to see and unfortunately in the case of Mr Gibbs and I, hear. Our ears were often put to the test on the coach as the boys would blast out the national anthem in support of the England rugby team during the world cup. Playing against teams such as Northampton who have been together for multiple years now was always going to provide its challenges and without the players picking each other up during the hard times, we wouldn’t have got to experience the many highs as well. As you may expect, running a squad of Year 7 boys every Saturday, has led to a season filled with mixed emotions. From the lads celebrating their first ever win against Clare court, Abu Bakr

stating he not only wants to be a NASA engineer in the future, but also a part time rugby player. And finally, Stanley’s Grandad coming to support his grandson. Only to realise he was watching the A team game for the first ten minutes. But I can honestly say its been a pleasure to coach a number of lads through their first ever experience of rugby at AGS. Over the course of the season they have either won or drawn 6 out of their 10 games. I’m confident they can improve this going into next year as they’re a squad with huge potential. They have made my first year of coaching an absolute pleasure and I hope I am only a small part of what’s a long journey in representing AGS rugby. I wish all the boys the best for the future. Mr T Carter

1st XI Football This year the AGS 1st XI Football team has enjoyed another highly successful season. Sadly, however the end of what we hoped would be another triumphant season was ended by Covid-19 and the closure of schools across the country. This season the U18 County Cup was organised into 2 divisions. On the basis of playing records over the last 5 seasons, AGS were placed

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

in a division with the other top 8 ranked sides in the County – which in theory meant less easy games. We started out with fairly routine 5-1 and 6-0 wins against Chesham Grammar and Sir Henry Floyd. We then beat the technically excellent Teikyo team 7-1, although the score line belies what was a hard game for 60 minutes. Mention should go to our goalkeeper Ollie Twidale who managed to get on the score-sheet from a huge goal kick. The team made a habit of coming on strong in the second half of matches and this was the case in a 7-2 win at Denbigh and especially a 4-2 win at Royal Latin, where we were 2-0 down at half-time. The only blip on our 100% competitive record was a 2-2 away draw at Sir William Borlase, where we were a bit unlucky not to win. For the past 2 years we have played Dr Challoner’s in the County Cup final, so our 4-1 win was very pleasing – especially since we had played a tough national cup match only 24 hours earlier. It was certainly one of our best performances of the season. Given the schools we were playing, to finish top of our division with 7 wins and a draw from our 8 fixtures was no mean feat. The benefit of winning our group was that AGS by-passed the Quarter Final stage and advanced straight to the Semi Finals where we met our old rivals, Teikyo, who we had defeated (after extra-time) at the same stage of the competition

last year. The game began in the worst possible fashion and after 25 minutes we were two goals down against opponents with their tails very much up. However, this team never knew when they were beaten and a superb Elton Atat hat-trick secured our passage through to a third consecutive final. As we celebrated a great victory, little did we know that this would be the last game that the team would play. In the National Cup competition, which is a straight knock-out, we began with a comprehensive 10-0 win at St. Gregory the Great. A much tougher game followed at Matthew Arnold School. The game looked to be heading for extra-time before a quality finish from Michael Amaeshike took us through. In Round 3 we met our 3rd Oxfordshire school – Lord Williams’s, Thame, who had knocked us out of the National Cup the previous year. There was to be no repeat as AGS controlled the game to win 4-1. Round 4 brought us an unknown quantity in the form of Ibstock Place School. The terrible conditions did not allow us to play our most fluent

football, but we were the deserved winners courtesy of a Harry Edmonds penalty. The margin of victory could have been bigger. Our opponents did not help themselves by having a man sent off – a rarity in school football. The team now advanced to Round 5 – the last 32 nationally and an away game at Park House, Newbury. In a tight first half AGS took the lead courtesy of an excellent finish from Marcus Waterhouse. Unfortunately, in 10 mad minutes just before half-time we lost our heads and our grip on the game. With 2 players temporarily sin-binned we were reduced to 9 players and in this period, we conceded 2 goals and with it control of the game. We ended up losing 4-2. This was the only disappointment of the season since although Park House were a good side, we could have beaten them. This team was certainly good enough to advance to the latter stages of the National Cup competition.

Waterhouse contributed additional goals and assists. Goals came easily – we scored 85 in 20 games. However, there were other sides to the team, including resilience and a determination to win the ball back when we did not have it. Players such as James Atkinson would always do what the team needed. On occasions our entire back four consisted of Year 12 players, so this certainly bodes well for next season.

As always, the team also played a series of friendly fixtures. One of only two defeats in the season game away at Haberdashers’ where we conceded a careless last-minute goal, but a 6-2 win away at Bedford Modern was another highlight of the season.

Lost: 2

Well done to all those who represented the 1st XI in 2019-2020. The season did not end in a way we could possibly have foreseen and we were denied the opportunity to win a third straight County Cup Final, but it was nevertheless an outstanding season and I thoroughly enjoyed working with all the squad. Played: 20 Won: 15 Drew: 3 Goals For:

Goals Against:

Goal Difference:

+55

Mr J Barrie

This season we were fortunate to have 2 talented forwards in the form of Elton Atat and Michael Amaeshike who scored 43 goals between them. Midfield players such as Ben Ratcliffe, Olly Cay and Marcus

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SPORT 2nd XI Football The 2019/2020 season yielded mixed results for the AGS 2nd team and much like in previous years it was a season that can be broken up into two halves; pre and post Christmas. The

Ben Harty and Jack Burns were typically robust and at times comically reckless in their approach to defending but meshed perfectly with the more technical and calm approach offered by Boysie Morse, Tom Kemp, Sam Woods and Cameron White.

beginning of the season is always difficult; at a time when we are trying to have a look at some new players, settle on a balanced squad and find a formation that we are comfortable with, we are unfortunately faced with our most difficult and challenging opponents due to us often being paired against other school’s 1st teams. This period threw up some heavy defeats and the team found it a challenge to retain the ball and create goal scoring opportunities.

In front of them, the midfield

Post Christmas however, the team really kicked on. A more settled squad operating in a 4-3-3 formation and now facing more evenly matched opponents, the team began to get some joy and both results and performances improved.

Jay Maheshwaran, AJ Gratton, Sam

Throughout the year the core group of Year 13 students - now in their second year of representing the AGS 2nd team - supplemented by a very enthusiastic bunch of Year 12’s were a joy to manage. Edwin Vass was an excellent character to have in the team alongside being a goalkeeper capable of making some excellent reactionary saves.

was also made up of a good mix of tenacious ball winners and technically sound ball players. Luke Alligan, Sam Gibbs, Logan Smith and Dom Boyd combined well together, providing good cover for their back four and supply for their front players. The forward players offered a lot of flexibility to the team, all being capable of playing out wide or through the middle. Tobi Dairo, Holcroft and Alex Butler all had some very good performances during the season and were a threat with the ball at their feet, as well as being a danger for the opposition running in behind. Well done to all those involved in the 2nd team this year and to those who have represented the school in the 3rd and 4th team fixtures. You have shown an excellent attitude all season and have been a real joy to watch and manage. Mr G Davey

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

U16 Football The team started the 2019/2020 season in excellent form with the goal of improving on the progress made in the previous season. After falling at the final

hurdle of the District Cup last season, and being narrowly edged out early of the National and County Cup competitions on penalties the team were set on securing some silverware this season and made light work of the first couple of rounds in both the County and National Cups. Most encouraging was the fact that none of our opponents in these early rounds were what you could consider pushovers but they were made to look very average by AGS. A slight alteration to our formation, moving away from the 4-3-3 and adopting a 3-4-3 allowed us to be more robust defensively and the combination of Sam Hurley-Cook, Ollie Flecknell and Jake Field offered us both steal as well as a lot of quality on the ball with which we could start our attacks. The main benefit of the switch was it allowed us to unleash the attacking qualities of our fullbacks Julien Atat and Dyan Changer. With the extra protection offered by the 3rd centre back, Julien and Dylan had the freedom to get forward more, often to devastating effect. In centre midfield we rotated between Max Cornish, Jude GuestBrainch and Aran Bali who all

continued to demonstrate that they are all excellent footballers with each of them being able to operate as combative ball winners and destructive ball players. In the wide areas, Sanjit Mallya and Harish Ramesh were given the licence to roam and drift into central areas where they regularly unpicked opposition defences with clever runs and creative through balls. Up front, Timi Ashaolu continued to be an immense presence for the team and tormented opposition defenders with his technical abilities and physical attributes. With this strong core group of players supplemented by excellent cameo appearances of Isaac Ayilara and Matt Sparke the team made it to the County Cup quarter final where they faced a very strong Ousedale School who had knocked AGS out in the previous season via penalties. After a close physical encounter, the game again went to penalties and in the dying light of a cold winter afternoon, AGS came away victorious in impressive fashion with a series of impressive penalties dispatched with confidence and precision. It was around this time that due to poor weather conditions resulting in cancelled games the fixtures began to pile up and, with an eye on progressing further in the County Cup, the District Cup fixtures offered a chance to dip into the strength in depth this year group has and get the likes of Tom Smale, Parsa Hariri, Tom McKenna and Dan Hidalgo-Anguera

involved. Although the District Cup campaign would finish with us eliminated in the group stages the competition would produce an excellent battle between AGS and The Floyd. The game was full of crunching tackles, well taken goals and plenty of tension and atmosphere. Ultimately this season became another ‘nearly’ season with the team unfortunately being eliminated in the County Cup at the semi final stage, narrowly losing to very strong opposition. Despite no silverware this season, the team have certainly demonstrated that they are a great bunch of footballers with excellent determination and technical footballing ability. There is no doubt that at senior level they will form a formidable side and go on to be victorious in the County Cup, a competition dominated by AGS over the past couple of years. Mr G Davey

U15 Football I think I’ll always feel quite bittersweet about this past year of football. There is a definite feeling of what could have been. We all know we should have beaten MK Academy comfortably. We were by far the better side throughout the game and could have easily won by five or six. However, as happened throughout the season,

we struggled defensively against one ‘big number 9’. It says a lot that the Sir Henry Floyd side, who we comprehensively outplayed, put six past them. I think we can put the National cup down to the luck of the draw. During the abandoned game, despite missing Callum Kitely and Tom Foley, we were very much in the game, albeit not quite at our best. However, they were simply the better side. I don’t think it would surprise many of the boys that Lord Williams’s advanced a further four rounds in the cup, only losing on penalties to eventual semi-finalists. But we did prove that we can compete at this level, though once again we struggled against a ‘big number 9’. The district cup all really came down to the game against the Grange. The way that we had played in patches against AVA gave large cause for optimism, albeit we should have won the game from 2-1 up, particularly as they had put four past the Grange. Yes, we were outworked and outplayed, but this was in terrible conditions on an awful pitch, as far away from our strengths as possible. I still think if we play that game on our pitch we would probably win it. But once again, the big number 9 was our Achilles heel. Yes, this one was an extremely talented footballer who may well go on to play professionally, and I don’t think many of us will see a better goal than his overhead kick. But we still struggled against him, when the rest of their team was nothing special by comparison.

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SPORT Our final game against the Floyd really proved what we can do, and is probably the most enjoyable game I have ever coached, outplaying county cup semi-finalists. The way we scored all three of our goals was phenomenal, long passing moves building up to great finishes. The work rate was something to be proud of: we pressed better than we had ever pressed before, the full backs got forward, the wingers even tracked back! The fact that they scored with their only real chance showed our defensive prowess, and our ability to dominate possession. This shows what we can do, and our performance would have beaten every side we have played this season. We can compete at a much higher level than we did in the county and national cups this season, despite having two years less experience than most other teams. We just need to replicate this performance. Ben Perkin has held down the number one this year. He is a superb shot-stopper, and I won’t forget the last-minute wonder save against AVA any time soon, whilst his composure and distribution continue to improve. Alex Hamilton has been calm and composed, has great awareness and is very strong positionally, and is improving going forward all the time. Tony Alocious is similarly composed, particularly excelling in the wingback role, even adding some goals to his name. In the middle of defence George Hamer has turned himself into a true all-round centre

half, he is phenomenal whether the ball is in the air and on the ground, his passing improving all the time. Will Cliffe has talent and pace in abundance, and we definitely missed him during his injury. Krishan Mistry has been a revelation, and I still don’t know how he didn’t play school football last year: he is always in the right place at the right time, and an exceptional tackler. Calum Brooke is starting to develop into a strong left back, his performance against the Floyd really showing how much talent he has and why he has been near ever present. In midfield we have Tom Foley. I would say that every team needs a Tom Foley, with his infectious enthusiasm, incredible work rate but also the quality to go with it: he is the only player I have ever seen at any level to give 100% every single second. This was sorely missed in the game against the Grange, and I wish him well in his recovery from injury. Captain Callum Kitely is one of the best passers of the ball who I have played with or coached, his ability with the ball at his feet is exceptional, and has started to add more end product and defensive contribution to his game, while he develops as a leader all the time. Nick Cay is a truly versatile, all-round footballer. He has a skill set so vast that I would be happy to play him in any position on the pitch: he can defend, disrupt, create and score.

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

Teni Oluranti-Ahmed is another versatile player, incredibly powerful but with that bit of finesse when needed. He must be a horrible player to play against (Mr McGill would agree!) Josh Davidson is another workhorse in midfield, with sublime passing and brilliant anticipation. Sam Tung is another powerful, pacey player, and a really strong and skilful dribbler who wins penalties for fun. Joe Barber is a defender’s nightmare, with incredible pace and superb work rate. He has learnt how to use his strength, and is now a constant threat. John McGregor is an exciting player to watch, who has skill in abundance, with great pace as well. His performance against the Floyd will live long in the memory, dancing through four players to assist the first, and with a brilliant volleyed finish for the second. Harry Wilson is another player with terrific pace, and is an extremely composed finisher, while he is improving with the ball at his feet all the time. Honestly, I did not really see Ben Kearney playing a part in the A-squad this year, however Ben is a player that however well or badly he is playing he will always score goals, something invaluable to any team: a truly natural finisher. Despite all of this, I think the thing that I am most proud of is the sheer number of boys training and playing for both teams this year, which is more than 50. This is something incredibly rare in AGS football. The number of players to have played regularly this year, despite not doing

so last year, is phenomenal, and it has been brilliant to see how well you have developed as footballers. There are lots of players who are not far from playing in the A team squad, and the likes of Tom Keane, Ewan Dixon, James Whitehead, and DJ Mentiply, to name but a few, will push hard in the years to come. Above all you have all been a pleasure to work with over the past two years, and I hope you all continue to enjoy your football for many years to come. I’ll certainly keep an eye out on Twitter to see how you get on. Fitz Steger-Lewis – Denson 13

U14 Football Like any sport that was still being played in March of 2020, the Year 9 football season came to an abrupt and inconclusive end. Having played a number of

A and B team friendly fixtures in the first half of the term, a 16 ‘man’ playing squad was working its way (very successfully) through the group stages of the District Cup. While the squad still had 2 group games to play, having won all of their games so far, it was looking extremely likely that this squad would have qualified for a semi-final place (at least) in their first year together as a team. With an initial 30 player squad being selected from what we had seen of the boys during the football

term of Year 8, what became very clear early on was that this squad was keen to train, was willing to work hard and apply themselves with great enthusiasm, and that they were willing to listen to advice and guidance. These attributes continued to be shown throughout the season, making them an extremely enjoyable group to work with. As with every Year 9 team, the friendly games played before half-term were slightly ‘nervy’ and apprehensive affairs, where groups of AGS boys are put together for the first time and asked to play as a team. Keen to see positive individual performances, with players wanting to get on the ball and express themselves, as well as a desire to win the ball back after losing possession, we as coaches saw plenty to be positive about, even if the results for the A team against Reading Blue Coat, Bedford Modern and Abingdon Schools were not positive. The fact that the B team performed so well in these games, allowed us to consider more and more boys when it came to settling on a squad for the District Cup matches. With a squad of 15 selected, which left a few boys disappointed to have not been chosen (but extremely willing to be available if needed), our first District Cup game against AVA could not have gone better. Playing away on AVA’s 4G pitch, we showed great patience and control when in possession, which frustrated our opponents, and our positive attacking play was rewarded with a 0-4 win, with goals

coming from Enaan Hussain (2 including one fantastic free kick), Chisom Okwudili & Tobi Akinwumi. This trend continued into what was a very strange match against our next opponents, The Mandeville School. Again, playing away on an artificial surface, we completely dominated our opponents in the first half (without having to play that well) and thanks to goals from George Whall (2), Spencer Siddall, Enaan, Paolo Gray & Tobi, raced to a 0-6 lead at half-time. Perhaps unsurprisingly, rather than going on to continue as we had done in the first half, our opponents rallied (very well) while our performance and work rate dropped and the game ended 1-6. This game showed that, as a team and in certain parts of the pitch, we were still getting to know each other and that we couldn’t assume that we would get the better of opponents without having to work hard at it. Work hard we did in our next game, again away, but this time on the (long) grass pitch of Sir Henry Floyd, where keeping possession was difficult on a challenging surface and the squad needed to show more of their battling qualities. They did this and a single goal from George Whall gave us a deserved 0-1 win. It was at this point, with games to be played against The Grange and Sir Thomas Fremantle still to come, that the season ended. So, what did we learn about our players this year, appreciating that we didn’t get to see them play in matches that would have hopefully tested and challenged them?

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SPORT Well, in Sam Duodu we have a very accomplished and dependable goalkeeper, which is always a huge bonus at youth-level football. At the back, we have some really good options for what will be a very solid defensive unit, with the ability to turn defence into attack quickly. Billy Knibb, Bertie Heyes and George Bancroft impressed greatly as centre backs, as did Daniel George at both full back and centre back, with Alex Davis looking solid at left back. In midfield, Enaan, Max Ward and (when fit) James Baldwin provided great creativity and delivery in the wide positions, while Billy was a real powerhouse when he was moved into a central midfield position. His partnership with Jonny Buckthorpe worked extremely well in the middle of the pitch, with Joss Kenrick and Paolo Gray providing able support when called upon. In the forward positions, George Whall, Chisom Okwudili, Tobi Akinwumi and Spencer Siddall provided goal scoring threat and a number of different options based on their contrasting skills and attributes. All of this suggests that this squad will do very well in the future and it was a huge disappointment that we were not able to see the 2020 season out. Both Mr McGill and Mr Skinner would like to thank every Year 9 student who represented the school football teams so well this year…... we had great fun working with you and wish you all the very best for next year. Mr C McGill & Mr A Skinner

Handball In its ninth year at AGS, this has been another successful year for Handball when you look at the numbers of students that are either being introduced to the sport, or returning to it for a second and third year. After

the successes of last year’s national championship winning squad at Under 15 level, there was a great deal of excitement as to what the new squad of players could do in this year’s competition, while another new squad of year 8 students were keen to see how they would fair in their competition. U13 Squad: It is safe to say that, having successfully reached the regional and national finals stages of both U13 and U15 boys competitions over the last few years, expectations within students can be very high. This was definitely the case with the Year 8 boys, who attended training at the start of the year in great numbers, and who maintained extremely high levels of enthusiasm and commitment to training throughout. With such large numbers attending training and with limitations on time and space, we attempted to teach the boys the core skills of the game through gameplay. This meant that, at the time of the District Competition in November of 2019, we were able to field two squads of 12 boys per squad, allowing lots of AGS students to gain competitive experience of handball. Results were

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

an irrelevance, as the competition provided automatic qualification for the County Finals, which meant that the two squads could play with very little pressure. Preparation for the County Finals in January went well, and we continued to see very good numbers attending training. This caused some issues, as the rules of the County Competition restrict the numbers of participants in each playing squad to 14, which meant we had to disappoint a fair few students by reducing training numbers in the final weeks before the County competition. The truth is though, on the day of the tournament and despite the significant efforts of the whole squad (and much to the disappointment of everyone involved), we didn’t really perform anywhere near the best of our abilities. Too many basic errors were made, we never really played with the freedom required to create good goal scoring opportunities, and we missed a fair few tackles in defence. As a result we suffered a couple of defeats during the round-robin competition (one of which was a particularly heavy one to a strong John Hampden team) and we failed to finish in the top spot required to qualify for the regional finals. Despite the disappointment, the group’s enthusiasm didn’t drop and it was fantastic to see all the boys who were involved up until the county competition return to training once we got going again, and with this attitude I am confident that we will see this squad get better and better over the next two years if they continue to play handball as AGS. I

would like to thank the following Year 8 boys for the efforts this year: Luke Murphy (GK), Gammy UloyokJob (GK), Ewan Gatt, Sacha Page, Matty Holmes, Matthias Bockmuehl, Freddie Crafts, Pelumi Abioye, Anthony Unugboke, Sean Dover, Ben Giles, Winfred Gotah & Oliver Reading. U15 Squad: The biggest challenge facing this group of players was going into the new season knowing that the previous year’s squad had won the National Schools Competition in pretty emphatic style, but the reality is that each season brings about new teams, new players and different challenges, making the previous year’s competition irrelevant to the current crop of U15 handballers. Having said that, having three players who had been part of last year’s winning squad

(Aryaman Poondy, Joe Barber and Oscar Wellbelove), who had gained useful playing time in national finals matches, was always going to act in our favour, as was the fact that most of this year’s squad had been part of the previous year’s training squad. Having started weekly training sessions in September, the whole squad needed competitive fixtures and it did not help that our District Qualifiers in November didn’t take place, meaning the first meaningful games that we would play would be in January’s County Finals. With a lack of match focus, there was always a danger that the squad could lose focus during a long training period, and after the Year 8 boys found their finals tough, there was some concern amongst the group as to how their county competition would go. In the end, there was no need to be worried as, during their round-robin matches,

they played fantastic attacking handball which they combined with some fierce defending. As a result, they won all of their matches, including a comprehensive reversal of the defeat suffered by the Year 8’s to John Hampden School, who regularly provide very strong opposition. Having been crowned County Champions for 2020, while fully appreciating the bigger picture surrounding the need to cancel this year’s national schools’ competitions at all levels, it has been extremely disappointing and frustrating to know that this group of players did not have the chance to see if they could go on and achieve what last year’s cohort were able to do. There were no guarantees that they would, but it would have been great fun to see them try.

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SPORT I want to say a huge thank you to the following boys, as they represented the school so incredibly well in limited circumstances this year, and I hope that as many of you as possible will carry on playing handball next year: Aaryaman Poondy (GK), Ollie Lemonde (GK), Ben Kearney, Sam Tung, Harry Holmes, Oscar Wellbelove, Alex Davis (Year 9), Alex Brown, Christian Lynch, Ollie Blundell (Year 9), Theo Bockmuehl, Elias McCalla (Year 9), Joe Barber & George Birch Perhaps the achievements of four Year 11 AGS students will inspire the above-named boys to continue their handball journeys, as Sam HurleyCooke, Harry Jones, Sam Kearney and Nathan MacDonald were not only selected to play for the U16 EHA Eastern Region Handball Squad this year, they were also all picked to be part of the England Handball Futures Programme, which is a fantastic achievement. Nathan in particular has had an incredible year as, in addition to his selection for the Futures Programme at U16 level, he also represented Team GB at Under 18 Level. AGS is extremely proud of what Nathan, and all of the students who have been named in this report have been doing on the handball court, and hopes that as many as possible will look to give something back to the school programme in order for the sport to keep growing here.

Cross Country

Young. They all performed very well and secured a place at the regional

The season began in October, where the Junior and Inter Teams both competed in the ESAA Cross Country Cup. The Junior team, which consisted of Adam Bottrell, Freddie Crafts, Toby Evans, Rafik Moussaoui, Joseph Aloluwaloba, and Tom Usher finished a very

finals in Banbury, Oxfordshire. At the regional finals, Nick Cay and Oscar Wellbelove both finished in the top 20 which was fantastic and the team overall finished 6th, but unfortunately, this was not enough in order to qualify for the National finals.

creditable 5th place. Joseph

In February, the Cross Country

Aloluwaloba was the highest placed

squad travelled to Stowe school

finisher in 17th out of 51 runners.

to compete in the Bucks Schools

At the same competition, the inters

individual event and the top ten

faired a little better, placing 3rd overall, behind DCGS and JHGS. The

Championships. This is an finishers earn a place in the Bucks County Team which goes on to

team, led by Nick Cay and consisted

compete at the National Finals. The

of Alex Hodson, Ethan Perry, Oscar

results were as follows;

Mr C McGill

Wellbelove, Sam Wright, and Tom

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

Swimming This year AGS entered teams in the ESSA Regional Championships, Watford. Leading to the ESSA National Relay Championships, London. Year 7 Position

AGS attended the event for the 5th year in a row, hoping to qualify once more for the National finals in November. The Junior Team (Jake Chesworth L7, Daksh Surana H8, Dan Beadle Ph8, Tom Poole D8) was up first and came 3rd fastest in the Medley Relay and 6th fastest in the freestyle. This was good enough for the team to qualify for the National finals in the medley relay. Unfortunately, their freestyle time was just outside the top 30 times nationally so they narrowly missed out.

Time

12 0:07:27 HORNER, Stanley 30 0:07:57 KAPINSKI-NOADES, Charlie 62 0:08:45 BLAND, Alex 74 0:09:03 O’NEILL, Jacob 77 0:09:07 HARRINGTON, Kiran 78 0:09:10 BARTEN, George 88 0:10:41 VUJANIC, Luka Junior Position

Time

24 0:15:10 WRIGHT, Sam 42 0:15:52 YOUNG, Thomas 50 0:16:12 PERRY, Ethan Inters Position

The Inters team (Sam Pyefinch, Carmelo Almadin, Billy Knibb and Murray Wakefield) performed superbly well, winning the medley relay and coming a narrow 2nd in the freestyle relay. The team’s performance meant that they qualified for the national finals in both the freestyle and medley relay.

Time

16 0:21:07 CAY, Nick 18 0:21:25 HODSON, Alex 47 0:25:05 BULL, Pat Senior Position

Time

4 0:18:44 PERRY, Max 9 0:19:16 LINDARS, Ben 13 0:20:01 BELL, Harvey 14 0:20:42 RIZZO-NAUDI, Matt 22 0:23:36 BROWN, Finn A huge well done and thank you to

for those who went on to represent the

all those who tried out for the Cross

school at this year’s events.

Country squads this year and of course

Mr N Gibbs

The Senior Team (Cam Brooker, James Chennells, Tom Selby, Ish Rahim & Nick Reid) arrived at the regionals very confident of good performance and they didn’t disappoint. They won both their races and in new regional record times! This amazing performance propelled them to the national finals, with the 4th fastest qualifying time in the country!

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SPORT

In November 2019, the swimming

qualified for the final, 9th fastest. In

relay for the best chance of placing

squad travelled to the Aquatic

the final, the boys swam quicker than

higher. The heat went well and

Centre in Stratford, London. The

the heat and finished 8th overall

Inters and Senior teams had all had

which is a fantastic achievement. In

they qualified 5th fastest and were

experienced the National finals in

the freestyle relay, they swam well

previous years so looked at home in

but could only manage 20th overall.

this environment. For the Juniors, it was the first time they had reached the finals and they were very excited. They swam well but unfortunately, they didn’t qualify for the final and they ended up finishing 13th overall.

Unfortunately, they were unable to improve on 5th and that was where

The Senior swim squad had high

they finished in the final.

expectations, they were potentially

Overall AGS had all teams finished in

aiming for some silverware. In the medley relay heats the boys swam well and qualified for the final posting the 8th fastest time. In

The Inters team had two

the final, they placed 8th, which is

opportunities to make a final and the

in line with what they hoped and

first came in the Medley relay where

again an amazing achievement. The

they finished 3rd in their heat and

team had their eye on the freestyle

confident for a top three finish.

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

the top twenty, four top ten finishes and one top five finish. For a state school, this again is an amazing achievement and something which the boys should feel immensely proud of – Well done! Mr N Gibbs

Squash report 2019-20 The season started in October with our annual friendly fixture against Harrow. We took the minibus to North London with the 1st and 2nd teams, and we came away with 5-0 wins for both. This was followed by another friendly win for the 1st team against Eton College which set us up for our journey on to National Schools qualification. The regional group stage paired us up with our hosts Abingdon, RGS High Wycombe and Bradfield College. With a fully fit and motivated team we came away with 3 wins and qualified for Stage 2 in the New Year. Continuing on a confident run AGS had a 5-0 friendly away win against Radley College soon after.

We started the New Year with friendly fixtures with an away win over Stowe and another convincing return fixture at home against Harrow. Before National Schools started we had another friendly win against Berkhamsted which gave the team a further confidence boost.

try and secure a place in the Finals scheduled to be played at Nottingham SC in March. Encouraged by being undefeated and aiming for future success the boys overcame all the opposition with 5-0 wins and remained unbeaten in the competition thus far.

Stage 2 of the Nationals had us drawn against John Hampden, Felsted and Colchester. We were given home advantage to

As we all know, fixtures came to an abrupt halt due to the Coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown measures. Despite being very disappointed at not being able to continue the season, everyone understood the decision taken by England Squash to postpone initially, and eventually cancel the finals. Well done to all who have represented the 1st team this season - Lewis Milner, Dan Choudhury, Ryan Connor, Tom Woodage, Ollie Carolan, Callum Egan and Dylan Holmes – Cowan. The 1st team also benefitted by being able to call on Sam Woods & Logan Smith which gave us greater strength in depth. It’s anyone’s guess if the boys may have become CHAMPIONS!

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SPORT Results in the group were always going to be close and despite a 3-2 loss to Wycliffe the team secured 2nd place with wins over Tring and Felsted. After a nervous and long wait for all the results to be collated together, AGS were delighted to hear they had also qualified for finals due to being best runners up overall. AGS now had two teams in the finals which is an extremely good achievement, so it was doubly disappointing that the finals had to be cancelled. Overall, the season has been excellent across all teams with only two losses in all fixtures and the 1st team remaining unbeaten. All the boys also The U17 team also played the National Schools competition and progressed through Stage 1 finishing top of their group with wins over our hosts North Leamington, Myton and Bromsgrove. This was followed by wins over a touring Hunts County Squash Club. Many of these boys also stepped up to play for our 1st team in friendly matches before their Stage 2 matches. The squad were dealt a massive blow due to a back injury sustained by Callum Egan and despite a 5-0 win against RGSHW the boys came a spirited 2nd to John Hampden. Thanks to Ollie Carolin, Callum Egan, Silas Glover, Aaron MacWhirter, Tom Whitehead, Ollie Peck and Harry Cuddy. The U15 squad consisting of Tom

Whitehead, Ollie Peck, Alex Glover, Harry Cuddy, Billy Dodds, Ellison Socrates and Joel Jennings have shown enthusiasm and commitment and were eagerly awaiting their fixtures to begin. Many of these boys played a part in the victory over Hunts CSC and used this as a warm up for their National Schools stage 1 group. They were up against hosts John Hampden, who had an A & B team in this group. The team came away with 5-0 wins against both JHGS and a walkover against the last opponents Berkhamsted who withdrew at late notice. Stage 2 draws were announced and the boys were up against serial winners of national schools in Wycliffe, as well Tring and Felsted.

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

compete in the Bucks Junior League on Sunday afternoons and we had three teams chasing honours with the 1st team top of Division 1, 2nd team top of Division 2 and 3rd team half way in Division 3. Unfortunately the season has now been cancelled and no more fixtures will be played. More success came in the Bucks Junior Closed with title wins for Lewis Milner U19 and Billy Dodds U13 and we send our best wishes and fond farewells to Lewis Milner and Tom Woodage as they leave AGS and enter a new chapter in their lives. Mr D Withey

SCHOOL LIFE Drama Showtime! / Guys & Dolls The Joint school production this year flagged up that I have been in this job too long. We

discussed putting on a production of Guys and Dolls with a joint cast from the Grammar School and the High School. My only hesitation on putting on my favourite musical was that in my mind I had already directed this show for the school fairly recently – when it was pointed out that the last time I had staged the show at AGS in 2000 there was no further hesitation in picking the show to stage once again. The main barrier to re-staging the show actually came down to logistics. When I staged the show back in 2000 the school was a quieter place and the extracurricular events calendar less packed. This meant we had over a year to produce and rehearse the school production. In these much busier times we had only 6 weeks. A smart solution presented itself. We would stage not just one show but two with two casts, two directors and two stage managers meaning we could rehearse two shows simultaneously in different parts of the school. The first 45 minutes would be a showcase of musical theatre talents with pupils singing and dancing show tunes with a live

band. The second half would be a specially abridged version of Guys and Dolls with prerecorded music. As always AGS is blessed with amazingly creative and talented staff. Mrs Isherwood wrote, produced and directed the show tunes part of the school production. Under the title Showtime! Mrs Isherwood skillfully wrote a script that tied together show tunes from Hairspray, Chicago, La La Land, Beauty and The Beast amongst others. She worked with a talented cast of primarily lower school pupils. Some of the older pupils such as Logan Walmsley, Millie Archer, Sarah Nicholls and Lauren Hoft helped out with the choreography. Mr Nathan led a live band comprising of Dylan Holmes-Cowan, Dan Choudhury, Corin Scott, George Garman and Jack Izard. Showtime! was 45 minutes of fast, high energy dancing and singing. It was a real showcase of up and coming talent. There were plenty of

standout moments with Samantha De Castro and Maiwa Banda proving they are going to be stars of the future following their soulful and powerful singing. There were also some surprises – Bolu Oyedepo, Tommy Roberts and Sujatro Dubey had shown up to offer technical support at an early rehearsal and before they knew found themselves on stage as part of a very funny rendition of Moses Supposes supported by Finlay Power and Logan Walmsey. The abridged version of Guys and Dolls was in the safe hands of Miss Treherne. She provided the cast and crew with a great vision for the show. She also has an enviable ability to create dance routines that provide really clear storytelling. The audition process for Guys & Dolls threw up a first. We found it impossible to choose between our leading man and our leading lady. The solution was to give four talented actors a chance to play

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SCHOOL LIFE

the leads. For two performances the parts of Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown were played by Ben Parkinson and Beth Lewin. For the other two performances the parts were played by Zach Roberts and Lucy Sallows. All four gave excellent performances. It was fascinating to watch the different nuances they found in playing the same parts. Ishaan Chakraborty made his AGS debut playing Nathan Detroit. He gave a hilarious performance but also found the right pathos when required. Eve Whittemore was simply stunning as Adelaide and each night she bought the house down after singing her famous lament. There was strength in depth and all the supporting players were superb. The large chorus, thanks to the very

clear direction of Miss Treherne, was

were watching future West End and

always in character and helped to

Hollywood stars as well.

bring the stage to clear, vibrant life. The tech crew was led by Leo Dudfield (who, with Mr Warner helped re-wire most of the hall’s lighting system) and Joe Barnett (who made his debut as stage manager). The crew created a busy but well organised back stage area. The four nights proved to be another spectacular success for AGS and AHS drama and music. We are blessed to have so many talented and hardworking staff and pupils. The last time we staged Guys and Dolls a young Theo James played Sky Masterson – one feels that given the talent on display in Showtown! and Guys and Dolls this time round those in the audience probably

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

Mr R Warner

House Music House Music is one of those school events which has slowly gathered momentum over the 20 or so years that Mr Nathan and myself have been heading up the Music Department at AGS. The largest live event in the House competition programme and in terms of sheer participation and competitive edge, it has arguably grown to become the largest event in the school calendar full stop. And as musical tastes have developed and broadened over time and across the school you are always guaranteed that House Music will bring together an eclectic mix of mainly pop/rock, indie and jazz styles, occasionally with the odd classical (or at least classical crossover) piece thrown in too. This year we were able to finally take the plunge and release House Music from the confines of the relatively cramped capacity of the Foundation Hall and into the much more spacious Alyesbury Waterside Theatre. This created a few logistical headaches in the planning stage and with the added pressure now of having to sell enough tickets to parents and friends of the school in order to at least break even and justify the ambitious move. We needed to sell around 500 tickets

to achieve this but by the time the curtain was raised on the evening well over 600 paying guests filled the stalls of the theatre eagerly waiting to see whether the gathered AGS musicians could do their House proud on literally a bigger stage. With the exciting news of the new venue being confirmed a few months earlier it was around October when the music practise room booking sheets dangling off the music department noticeboard started to resemble a well used and full of holes shooting range target. Numerous names were scribbled on, scribbled out and scribbled on again elsewhere as enthusiastic House music captains frantically tried to organise groups of teenage boys across their Houses. They soon realised how tricky it is to get groups together from several year groups at a time for a quick lunchtime practise session…..welcome to our world said

Mr Nathan and I. But as always, organise they eventually did and by the start of the Spring term in January with less than three weeks to go, wrong notes and questionable tuning gradually morphed into correct notes and confident blending and balancing. It was the previous year where we had revised the marking criteria to focus as much as possible on the overall quality of the music produced. Having performers from as many year groups as possible was still an important aspect but in recent years this had been noticeably become

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SCHOOL LIFE

stage to wander up and down on and a captive audience of 600 or so guests in the stalls and 150 or so performers on the edge of their seats in Circle 1 even managed to smash his PB for the slowest announcing of results ever… too skewed towards a quantity over

When the Theatre doors opened at

quantity ethos. Previously, some

6.30pm the venue was absolutely

Houses had taken the view that if

buzzing with anticipation and that

you cram as many people on stage

did not waver at all throughout the

as possible at all times there would

evening. Mr Nathan, with a huge

be enough of them playing well of all the others……a gutsy plan at times, but ultimately not the best shall we say. So, for 2020 it was again all about the quality and with the promise of a huge stage and professional crew to sort the technical side of things Thursday literally the stage was set. The day started at 9.00am and would not finish until 11.00pm, but what a fantastic day. Each House walked over to the Theatre for their final rehearsals and sound checks and miraculously everything ran to time. Of course we had planned it that way, but this was definitely the first time that had happened in 20 years!

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

JAN 30/20 7pm

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have told him that one day someone will throw something heavy and it will hit him and he’ll only have himself to blame but he just loves his annual Monty Python-esque

that it would cover up the mistakes

30 January trundled into view and

.”And………in……….6th……….place……” I

performance. So my advice would be to bring extra snacks and a pillow next year….oh yes and something both heavy and throwable. We were so lucky to have OA George Moore as our adjudicator this year especially as he is in such high demand as a producer and musical director all over the world. He was in fact due to fulfil the role last year but it clashed with a series of shows he was directing for the band ‘All Saints’ in Australia and New Zealand. If you reading this and under the age of 35 then ask someone older and they’ll tell you who they are!

Chess Club

competition since I took over the club back in 2010. The team has been in the process of rebuilding after the

The AGS chess club on Friday lunchtimes in Hi3 provides a friendly and informal environment for players of any age and ability to enjoy matches with their friends and hone their skills. This year we

loss of several Year 13 boys a year ago. But with enthusiastic and skilled players lower down the school we have been able to quickly restore the ranks with some nice strength in depth evident. Our first outing was to RGS Guildford

have again quickly reached full capacity with over 40 boys regularly attending. We have also welcomed a player from AHS, for the first time in some years. Several boys have used chess as their DofE skill although

on 20th November. It was a long and well fought afternoon during which, to be honest, my main concern was how long the front tyre of the minibus would stay inflated! The team scored its best ever regional qualifier result

George was extremely impressed by the musical talent on show during the evening and gave out suitable words of wisdom for all to take on board. But this was a competition and despite some wonderful performance from all six Houses there has to be a winner and it was Ridley House who claimed the silverware which as it turned out was just one stepping-stone to them becoming overall Watson trophy winners for 2020. Well done to everyone who took part in the House Music event this year and fingers crossed, if the gradual lifting of Covid-19 restrictions continues we will be able to enjoy the event again in 2021.

the current lockdown has prevented

Mr G Dallas

Championships:

the competition than we had for 10

This was an outstanding year for the

about the next round which we knew

AGS chess team who made the best

would be against a really strong

progress in this prestigious national

opponent. We faced Haberdashers’

them from being signed off, let’s

with three matches played and a clean sweep of 18-0. Not to be left

hope we can do this in the Autumn term.

out, our reserves played their own

Once more, we have provided a

won 4-2.

informal game with other schools and

team to compete in the National

After this exceptional performance

Schools’ U19 Chess Championship.

our confidence was growing and the

I am extremely pleased to have recommended a number of boys for Chess Honours over the last year,

next match, the first of the knockouts, was at home to Mill Hill County High on 24th January. Both teams put in

mainly for their commitment to

strong performances but we came

the school team but also for their mature and supportive approach to the weekly club. Well done to Oscar, Sean, Karan, Yuv, Devon, Jeffrey, Yash and Tom. The National Schools Under 19 Chess

through with a very good 4 ½ - 1 ½ . There were excellent wins from Oscar, Yuv, Dev and Jeffrey with a solid draw from Sean. Having now reached further into years, there was some trepidation

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SCHOOL LIFE Aske’s Boys, away. This was a team that we discovered included several England Chess players! Un-phased, on 27th February, we headed south to do battle. The welcome was exceptional and both teams enjoyed a focused but friendly match. Games impressively went to the 2 hour limit but we succumbed 6-0 in the end. So that ended this year’s chess championship journey for AGS but with results to be really proud of.

STEM Club At STEM club, all students participated in the CREST award. I have chosen to write about the range of projects that we have designed, constructed and tested. This involves us looking

‘Mega Final’ held at another school, but alas, as with so many other events, the competition fell foul of lockdown. After a great year of chess, we all now look forward to a new term and the opportunity to welcome new players, especially from the new Year 7 intake.

just making a filter. You need to consider the usability of the filter, the durability of the filter, how hygienic it is, the price of the filter

a criteria. We had to achieve this

and many more factors.

criteria with a project of our own

context of accessing clean water in

Another stimulus some of my friends chose was “Squashed Tomatoes”. In Nepal many farmers living on the mountainside grow fruit and vegetables, including tomatoes. To earn a living they need to sell these at the local market. The problem is getting to the market involves a long, dangerous walk down the mountain side and over a river, at the end of which the tomatoes may well be a bit squashed. So what is the challenge, you might ask? To design, build and test a way of moving tomatoes that

Kenya it enables pupils to model

won’t squash them!

website you can see the plethora of thinking logically, economically, structurally and practically about what prototype you make. I really enjoyed taking part in this and I really look forward to when younger student have the opportunity to join STEM club. The stimulus that I liked the most was “Ditch the Dirt”. Set in the

Mr M Goodchild

is much more to think about than

affordable to the people of Kenya)

of challenges, these all comprise

the winners get to take part in the

water safe to drink. However, there

picking a stimulus, this will follow

In the Spring term we engaged in the

win prizes as they go along. Normally

used to explore ways of making

- based on materials (it needs to

design. When you scroll through the

players compete in a league table and

dirty water cleaner. It can also be

at the CREST award website and

Chess Challenge:

intra school Chess Challenge where

and test filters as a way of making

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

In addition to this, another popular one was “Beat the Flood”. Pupils look at flooding around the world

Year 8 Chemistry at Work Day

then design and build a model of a flood-proof house. Flooding due to climate change can have a devastating effect on people’s lives. Set on the fictitious island of Watu, pupils explore how STEM skills can be used to help communities be better prepared for flooding. The aim is to work as a team, as well as to design and make a model of a home able to withstand the effects of flooding. This can be tested with the use of a hosepipe. Lastly, there was “Wind Power”. Recently updated, this popular challenge introduces pupils to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) and includes a starter activity where pupils simulate how the National Grid supplies electricity to most parts of the UK. Pupils then explore how life for people in the rural mountainous regions of Peru is different as they live without access to mains electricity. In this stimulus you have to design and create a small wind turbine. They learn how small scale wind turbines have changed people’s lives, as with a supply of electricity people are able to light their homes, their school and run small businesses. Ishaan Sehgal – Denson 8

Chemistry at work day was a day that I, as a student, thoroughly enjoyed taking part in. The

teachers of science in our school put together a day full of exciting opportunities and interesting talks from many different people who taught us about their trade. We learnt that day the importance of the environment, poisons, the process of making honey and many other things. We also earned pens as a reward, which was a highlight! In the following paragraphs I am going to elaborate upon what we learnt during chemistry at work day. The first talk we had was concentrating on the importance of keeping the environment breathing and living. We had a representative from the Extinction Rebellion (which made the news) to teach us why we need to help save the environment. The scientist showed us statistics and first proved that the health of the world was deteriorating significantly. He showed us a chart which made us understand the severity of the situation. The next section of the talk helped us understand that change was needed and how to cause change. We learnt that reducing carbon dioxide emissions as a person would change nothing and therefore the only way to save or prolong the

life of the planet is to collectively reduce carbon emissions. He also taught us that small things can make a difference if everyone does it. From this talk we took away a lesson of massive importance: the planet must be saved by a collective action from the world. As a past ECO rep and a reserve ECO rep now I did understand this before, but never clearer than after that talk. It seemed to have lightened up the mood and morale of my group and may have even made them ‘greener’. The talk readied the group for the next fascinating talk by Buckinghamshire Beekeepers. The Beekeepers were humorous and lively people, who talked to us about their bees and the amazing honey making process in a bee colony. The Beekeepers engaged us and kept us focused while explaining to us the anatomy of the bee. We were taught that every bee colony contains 1 queen bee, a few thousand drone bees and tens of thousands of worker bees. We learned that the bees drank and stored nectar in the stomach where inversion takes place with the use of many different enzymes. When the bee is full, it regurgitates (yes that’s right) the nectar and worker bees flap their wings furiously to evaporate the water content from the nectar, which is highly saturated in water. Once a honey is perfect it is stored in a beeswax cell with wax on top . We learned that one bee does not make that much honey at all and it is only collectively that the bees can make up to 200 pounds of honey a year. I

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SCHOOL LIFE

Between the mining experience and the end of the day we had several interesting talks featuring pH levels, pool maintenance and roads. There is one talk I would like to emphasise more about : The talk regarding poison. It had just as much humour as the beekeepers talks and it was just as informative as the talk on the environment.

help us identify the danger of certain products in the future. He showed us the danger of different types of poison, and we were involved in his demonstrations by interactive questions about poisons and dangerous objects. We were told that one of us would be given a very small amount of a poison. I happened to be that person and took a pinch of the aforementioned poison. I was surprised to find the taste of the poison was rather different from expected. The ‘poison’ just turned out to be table salt. All the anticipation and hesitation led to a moment where I just ate a pinch of salt. I was surprised and rather confused at how that had any relationship to poisons! Until our talker explained a terrifying story relating to salt. A woman in America would have salt by the kilo in front of her television and one day was found dead. She had died apparently from a salt overdose. Now I only eat minimal amounts of salt!

We were taught about different types of poisons and their effect on people. This was interesting as it taught us about what had happened in the past and would

Well, it seems that the end of that speech was the end of my day, when I captured this moment in my article, and now that day is over, I shall remember Chemistry at Work Day

recall that the best bit of their talk was the honey tasting we got to do! After this, we had an interesting experience with a renowned miner. An experienced miner had brought with him his treasures from his adventures abroad. He had brought with him many different rocks, fool’s gold, silver and metals which none of us had seen before. We gained knowledge about mining technique, where mining takes place and what is mined. This was an enjoyable experience where I proudly gained a pen as a prize!

for a long time to come. I hope you will remember this experience either through your own participation or through my words. Hrishik Subramani – Denson 8 Year 8 Chemistry at Work Day was exciting for all of us. Although slightly hampered by COVID-19, we took full advantage of the available opportunities. The Royal Society of Chemistry ran the event with Mrs. Parvez, and it went smoothly. We always had fun: from learning about asbestos to poison. We also tried arsenic, but it, unfortunately, turned out to be salt. The trend for free food continued, as we soon taste-tested some local and supermarket honey (the local one was better). Did you know that honey contains two sugars: glucose and sucrose, and the ratio of them controls the crystallization of it. Overall, we had seven different sessions, showing the true nature of the urban world: being complicated. The day was also a hub for fresh ideas and interests. For example, after learning about asbestos, we were continuously on the lookout for a suspected spot. We eventually found a suspicious area, but it was safe. As a year group, we have also gotten into better habits: using electricity more efficiently and eating local produce. In summary, the day enlightened us all: changing our view on the world and making us more knowledgeable citizens. We can’t wait for another opportunity like this. Nirukt Agrawal – Hampden 8

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

Maths Senior Team Challenge - Regionals Leaving school part way through period 4 – to the disappointment of those hoping to miss the better part of the day – we arrived at the John Colet after a short drive. However, in our haste

to not be late we’d unintentionally arrived nearly an hour before the start of the competition.

With the practice questions long done and forgotten and the frigid room having sufficiently frozen us we started slow, answering a question wrong and thereby dropping six marks in the group round. While 54/60 was hardly a bad start, we knew several other groups had full marks and, with the weight of expectations due to the previous three AGS teams reaching the National finals, we knew we’d have to perform on the following rounds. The cross number was next, as the name suggests it’s a crossword but with Maths problems, which we breezed through, filling it out completely without a mistake and with more than 15 of the 40 minutes remaining. While looking around to see other groups still struggling through the questions certainly buoyed our spirits, we were concerned by the round that would come after a brief pause for refreshments.

The third and final round was the shuttle, a round we’d struggled with consistently in practice, never getting more than 45 of the 60 marks available. While we knew it was a tough round and few teams did well on it, the knowledge that we were still not first only increased the pressure. Shockingly we were near perfect on the shuttle, dropping only 3 bonus marks (given for finishing a set of questions early) which we narrowly missed out on by a matter of seconds. With an unexpectedly superb performance on this final round we clinched the competition by a safe margin winning the local heat for AGS once more and reaching the National finals in what will be AGS’s fourth straight appearance. Special thanks go to Dr Manley, without whose time we’d not only likely have been underprepared, but we wouldn’t even have been there. Aidan Manley - Paterson 12

Maths Senior Team Challenge - Nationals Having won the Regionals for the fourth year in a row, the team was eager and enthusiastic to return to the national finals again, with two of the team members having already gone before.

Fortunately we were off to a fairly leisurely start, arriving at the train station at 8:45, the same time school would begin. From there we took the train to Marylebone, and then the tube, to arrive with time to spare at the venue: Lindley Hall. The event was kicked off by the annual poster round, a competition separate from the actual SMTC, in which each team was given 50 minutes to make a poster on a topic we had researched beforehand. (This year, the mathematics behind chemistry.) Due to our preparation, much of which was organised by Fitz and Aidan, the making of the poster was a trivial matter, requiring only the cutting out and sticking down of the pictures, text blocks and diagrams we had drawn up beforehand. The only challenge lay in the three questions we had to solve on the day; because we were in charge of cutting and sticking last year, during the first 35 minutes Fitz and I did the questions, while Aidan and Jamie assembled the poster. Having finished, Aidan then began to tackle the first question, with Fitz and I just finishing up our work on the latter two. However, soon time began to run out, even whilst the first question still remained unsolved; fortunately, with the help of the team, I was able to come up with a last-minute solution, the bell ringing mere moments after I had finished writing it up.

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SCHOOL LIFE

Following this, we met up with our adoptive teacher and began the group round. With a spirited effort from all members of the team, we were able to answer every question; unfortunately, due to arithmetic errors, we dropped quite a few marks. Perhaps the worst was the loss of six at once, due to Fitz mistaking 54 divided by 2 for 28! However, we were soon able to recoup our losses in the following round: the cross-number, where some fast but accurate calculations led us to get full marks with time spare. Unfortunately, from there our performance went downhill rather drastically, losing several marks in the shuttle, and finally, in the relay, only completing half the questions. This led us to get 68th place. However, it should be noted that the team still did remarkably to win the Regional and even get to the National. Everyone who was involved ought to be proud of themselves, especially Dr Manley, for organising the outing and arranging all of our practice questions, doing a brilliant job in lieu of Mrs Smith, who usually runs the SMTC.

English Poetry by Heart competition

didn’t realise I still had a lot of work to do but I carried on practising. With each passing rehearsal, I would come back slightly better than the last, until I finally mastered it just in time for the finals.

When they first announced that we were doing the ‘Poetry by Heart’ competition, I was very excited, as in my old school every year we also had to learn and recite a poem. I practised my

When the time came for the school finals, I hadn’t anticipated the amount of people who came to watch. It was very unnerving but I just tried to remember everything I was told in the rehearsals and tried to forget anyone was there. Eventually, when we finished, all the contestants were sighing with relief that it was over but still very nervous for what was to come. Silence struck the room ... everyone knew it was time: the judging! The tension began to build up and they called out second place. It wasn’t me, the tension rose again. Then, they called out first place…I had done it!

poems every day after I heard the news and was very confident about it. I chose to do the poems ‘Death’ and ‘Matilda’, but apparently I couldn’t recite the very cheerful poem, ‘Death’ in the finals so for my third poem I chose ‘The Moon and the Cat’. When it got to the time to recite our poems to the class we were split up into small groups to see who would do the best. Whoever did the best in those small groups would go against the people in the other groups to see who would go on to the next round. In my group, I didn’t make it through which was quite worrying, but luckily we got the choice to perform anyway ... and I actually made it! Rehearsals were during break and lunch with Mrs Farmborough but it was definitely worth it because I learnt a lot of valuable information that I practised over the next few days. During the first rehearsal, I

Karan Elangovan – Lee 12

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

I don’t think I could have done without my family listening to me rehearsing my poem every night (poor them). Or Mrs Farmborough, my English teacher who helped me with rehearsals. We also had to record my poems to send off to the judges, which was an interesting experience because we couldn’t stop the noise of the rain coming through on the recording. It still wasn’t over, as I had some good Lockdown news in May. I had received a commendation from the national judges of the ‘Poetry by Heart’ competition. This has boosted my confidence that bit more. Enough to try again next year! Iwan Bridge – Lee 7

Maths Puzzle Club

Once you think you’ve solved a

has made running Puzzle Club even more enjoyable as it is challenging my thinking every week too.

puzzle, you enter your answer into a dedicated website and if you’re correct it gives you a key word.

Fun and frustrating Thursday lunchtimes at Maths Puzzle Club. This year, members of Puzzle Club continued to work through the second puzzle book in a series of two that we had started solving the previous year. New members to the club formed a smaller team and started working on the first book from the beginning. These books may not sound like a fun way to spend a Thursday lunchtime to the uninitiated, but they’re a special kind of puzzle book! Called Journal 29 (and its sequel) they contain lots of very abstract puzzles which, at first glance, sometimes leave you

Often you need to use these key words in future puzzles, so you have to work through the book in order.

We can stare at a puzzle, try lots of things to solve it and then someone will have a Eureka moment and suddenly everything will slot into place.

I’ve run Puzzle Club for three years now and always said I would leave

Thank you to all the boys that come

the club and handover the reins to another teacher once we had finished the books. I thought this would be

along to Puzzle Club, who challenge themselves, each other and the teachers. Frustratingly, things had to

around Christmas time. However,

stop during lockdown with just three

in some sessions we have solved a

puzzles to go to complete both books.

number of puzzles and other times

But I’m looking forward to starting up

we’ve been stuck on a particular

again when we’re able to so that we

puzzle for weeks, so I haven’t left

can reach the goal we set ourselves

quite yet!

all those months ago. And then we’ll find the next challenge and then

There has been a dedicated team of boys who have come along every week, eager to see if we could make progress on the puzzles. We’ve also had two other teachers coming along throughout the year to help run the club as the numbers of attendees has

there’ll be even more reason for me to stay… Puzzle hint: to solve the puzzle you need a knowledge of chess. Mrs K Blunt

increased, and for extra brain power. My thanks go to Mr Brittain and Mr Holmes for everything they’ve done for the club and the students this year too.

wondering what on earth you have to do to solve them. I’ve included an example (hint below):

The best part about the puzzle books is that no one knows the answers, so unlike in the maths classroom where as teachers we can usually answer all the students’ questions, with this book we have just as little knowledge of how to solve the puzzles as the boys do. I think this

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SCHOOL LIFE Senior Debating Society

other schools and learning valuable skills along the way. We all shared a desire to improve our debating skills and work together to achieve

Members/Participants: Tom Ward, Aidan Purchase, Harvey Newland-Smith, Brandon Pratt, Harvey Bell, Oscar Almadin, James Sansome, James Farmborough, Alex Hemsley, Glyn Holme, Diogo Cardoso. We started from very humble beginnings in En8 in September for a debate on whether Grammar schools should be abolished. It was so loud, with playground noise to a jazz musical accompaniment that we probably abolished them out of irritation! We threw ourselves into research, learning the format, and practising our debating so that out of this modest start we progressed to have a very successful year competing against dozens of

the best results we possibly could, and after a lot of hard work we are able to look back with a great deal of fondness for what we have achieved. We competed in the ESU Speakers Mace competition which runs nationally, via local, area, and regional heats. Our first outing was on a drizzly day to St Albans High School, and were delighted when we arrived to free cups of tea and coffee from the Starbucks in their canteen! After we’d warmed up it was straight down to business with our first motion of the competition ‘This house would make voting compulsory’ in which we were arguing for the opposition side. Tom,

Harvey, and Aidan put all their hard research into effect and progressed us to the second round of the competition, in which we were to host. Only three of the four teams required to conduct the competition had progressed through to this round, so up stepped a few of our other members, eager to sink their teeth into the competition and provide a swing team for the debate. Possibly one of the most entertaining moments of this debate and of the whole year was getting the chance to chair and co-chair the debates, which four of us managed to do with skill and great aplomb (or at least, we thought so), and this can be a daunting task when charged with the handling of Mrs Farmborough’s debating bell, which is of course the instrument of all power! Our main team of Tom, Harvey, and Aidan progressed through to the regional finals, whilst the swing team (who would be unable to progress regardless) put in a strong performance against a very good team from St Albans School, with little preparation and experience debating in the competition format. In the Mid-South regional final, we travelled to Eton College, which some found an exciting prospect in itself, ready to take on St Helen and St Katherine’s on the motion ‘This House would abolish the House of Lords’. We always knew the teams,

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

motions, and levels of research required would be tougher as we progressed through the competition, however the whole team pulled together to produce a strong set of arguments. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough and our run in the competition ended here, but we could go away with our heads held high at the outstanding effort and performances we had put in throughout. Our year was cut short by the Covid-19 lockdown, but the final event was an Oxford Union School’s Debate competition where we entered four of approximately 100 teams: Tom and Aidan, Harvey and Brandon, Harvey B and Oscar, and ‘Team James’. We sat huddled in the corner of a packed room in the Oxford Union building, notepads and pens in hand, like sprinters on the starting blocks ready to hear the first motion of the evening. The motion was announced as ‘This house would ban climate change denial’, and each team’s position in their respective debates were allocated. After a short walk to the rooms where the debates would take place (during which Harvey and Brandon managed to get lost in Oxford!) we began to rapidly scribble ideas for arguments, points, and counterpoints. The whole event was rapid-fire from the beginning, so the ability to think on our feet was crucial, but we knuckled down

Year 8 Cookery Competition:

and enjoyed lively debates. The second motion of the evening was ‘This house regrets the decline of traditional families’, and after a

‘What’s on your plate?’

scramble similar to that of the first debates, we got into our stride and produced some well thought out arguments. It has to be said that the whole experience was very exciting and generally fun, because we got to discuss, debate, and interact with students from schools across the region. Unfortunately none of our teams progressed to the next round, but special credit must go to ‘Team James’ as this was the first competition they had ever debated in. After an enjoyable year we have grown and learnt so much as speakers, thinkers, and debaters, but we couldn’t talk about our successes without thanking Mrs Farmborough who was constantly on hand to provide guidance, instruction, and advice without which we would never have achieved the results we did. To those debaters leaving for University from Year 13 we wish them well, and we are excited for the new challenges this will present to those who now have to step up and take their place, as well as for

As an avid cook and someone who has represented the school in this field before, I was incredibly excited for Year 8 by the prospect of an inter-school competition that I never got the opportunity for myself. So, when I was then invited back to the place of many of my lower school memories as one of the student judges for the ‘What’s on your plate?’ competition, it was an offer I could not refuse. Culinary geniuses were free to excel but it was the groups that worked in harmonious unison, that were able to pull off the most impressive feats. Team-work, communication and effective time management prevailed as the teams were set with the challenging task of creating, and executing a three-course menu for two in just one hour. With two teams from a form group per lunch time, the kitchen was always full of the friendly, yet competitive spirit that is a signature of AGS. Boys were assessed on the creativity of their proposals and the

the involvement of new members. Hopefully we can take what we have learnt and do even better next year! Brandon Pratt – Phillips 12

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SCHOOL LIFE continue to follow their passion in cooking, as the talent is obviously there. Zach Roberts - Hampden 13

complexity and effectiveness of their execution, as well workspace. Teams were responsible for the entirety of their kitchens, meaning no one got away without a tad of washing up or clearing down. As ever, the boys were learning far more than just culinary techniques and new dishes, as the competition also incorporated nutrition and balance as fundamental judging criteria so naturally, the chefs had to understand their ingredients and flavour combinations that would allow them to show off the maximum of their abilities in three dishes. Happily, for six weeks I was able to guarantee myself a free lunch and I was genuinely staggered by the quality and complexity of what was produced each and every week, and proved to me that food and nutrition has continued to thrive amongst younger years at AGS well beyond my time. I’d like to thank Mrs Wilkinson for her continued dedication to allowing young chefs to prosper and providing new opportunities that I wish were available to myself and others. Additionally, I would like to congratulate all of the Year 8 chefs for exceeding my expectations and providing innovative and incredibly well executed dishes week in week out and I hope that many of them

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

Young Enterprise Report We have had an incredibly successful year for Young Enterprise, with three companies successfully participating in the programme. In the last few

weeks of school before the closure, students had begun to prepare for the Aylesbury Vale Showcase Final, and were making good progress, but were then told they had to submit their evidence digitally as the faceto-face element of the Final event was cancelled at short notice as no large events could take place under government regulations. The teams all pulled through and worked hard to get the required electronic evidence in to the judges to assist with a remote judging process and overcame some real logistical challenges. They had to submit a company report online, then do a video of what their presentation would have been at the final as well as submit a photo of their trade stands to the judges. The AGS highlights from the digital YE Aylesbury Area Showcase were:

• Best Digital Presence – Good Earth AGS

• Best Student Company report – Mindful AGS

• Best Trade Stand – Man Down AGS • 360 Degree Feedback -runners up Mindful AGS

• Overall Best Team – Runner Up – Good Earth AGS

• Overall Best Team – Mindful AGS

This meant that Mindful would head to the UK Regional Finals, held remotely again later in the year. Due to COVID-19 closure, the companies all faced difficulties, but they continued to run their companies virtually during the remote learning school phase and have not let anything stop them. The Managing Directors for each team (Harvey Bell Lee 12 – Good Earth, Sam Holcroft Paterson 12 – Man Down, and Brandon Pratt Phillips 12 – Mindful) did an incredible job of leading their teams through this most challenging experience. The teams all gained unique experiences in their journey this year, which were being replicated throughout the world as companies adapted to new remote working practices, including virtual board meetings and digital selling platforms to allow them to sell remaining stock. I am incredibly proud of how well all team members performed this year and how they adapted so well to such unusual circumstances, and I have really enjoyed sharing this experience with them. I would like to thank all of our business advisors – Kerrie Brindle, Graham Woodage and Babs Cooper for their support. We were also fortunate to have some Year 13 business advisors this year. These are students who participated in the experience last year, and gave up time this year to support our teams with their knowledge and experience of the programme, so thank you to Harvey Newland-Smith (D13), Tom Woodage (Ph13) and Boyzie Morse (Pa13) for

their commitment to enterprise at AGS this year.

ideas which continued to drive us through all the way to the end of our amazing journey. The process

Miss K E Chalk

began with a shared drive to make a difference in an area of growing

Young Enterprise – Company Reviews

concern, mental health, and from this Mindful was born!

Mindful – Company Review

The first steps in the process weren’t easy and we did a lot of learning

Managing Director: Brandon Pratt (Ph12)

when it came to design, branding,

Team Members: Stephan Drotske, Ayush Chourishi, Harushan Sivanantham, Joe Price, Joe Barnett, Keshav Sehgal, Hirshal Patel, Tayo Oluranti-Ahmed, Matt Hobson, Matt Stanbrell, George Garman, Dan Stanton-Tonner, Michael Adebiyi Student Advisor: Harvey NewlandSmith (D13)

selling and much more before we were really happy with our final product - The Mindful Journal. Designed to combine features of mindfulness activity books, thought journals, and diaries it was the product that we believed in and knew could make a real difference to the lives of people suffering with poor mental wellbeing. After

10 months ago we started our Young Enterprise journey as a group of people with virtually no business experience, no idea what to expect, and some of us not even knowing the person sitting next to them. What we did all share, however, was passion to succeed and some great

contacting a local printer, our stock arrived in the new year and we began a journey that would see us attend selling events across the Aylesbury area, at school events, and in competitions across the county, selling nearly 80% of our stock and earning over £700 in revenue.

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SCHOOL LIFE But we didn’t just have sales success, we also learnt a vast amount of valuable business experience in the process. Our trade stand improved rapidly from our first selling event before Christmas to a bold and professional set-up, many of those who wouldn’t even speak at meetings were out approaching the public and selling products, and the message was being promoted across all platforms through a powerful social media presence. Unfortunately our journey came to a somewhat abrupt end as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak meaning that we were unable to progress to many more selling events, or boost our skills even further than we already had, but the experience we did get is invaluable. We managed to reach regional finals, further than any other team from the Aylesbury area, which we are immensely proud of. Of course we wouldn’t be half the team we are now without the support, advice, and guidance of our business advisor Kerrie Brindle, who’s input

and knowledge proved beyond helpful. We would also like to thank our student advisor Harvey NewlandSmith who gave up his time to assist us throughout the process by giving an insight into what the experience would be like. Finally, our centre lead Miss Chalk was always available for sound advice and guidance on everything from running our company to progressing through the Young Enterprise competition. To all three advisors we are immensely grateful! Awards

• Aylesbury Vale Dragons Den

Competition - Overall Winners

• MK Trade Fair - Best customer service winner

• Aylesbury Vale Area Finals -

Overall Winner Best Company, Best Student Company Report Winner, 360 Degree Feedback Runner-Up

• South Central Regional Finals -

Winner Most Purposeful Product

Brandon Pratt - Phillips 12

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

Good Earth – Company Review Managing Director: Harvey Bell (L12) Team Members: AJ Elliott-Gratton, Jared Samuels, David Dallas, Ben Chapman, Will Beddall, Patrick Way, Mattia Hughes, Kai Bailey, George Atwell, Zach Wadud, Abid Mehmood Student Advisor: Boyzie Morse (P13) Good Earth started as an idea scribbled on a whiteboard in a room of arguing teenagers. Nine months later it has grown to be something so much bigger - a team, a community and a force for good. From ideas about bamboo toothbrushes, hand-painted water bottles and even ‘Stewkley Cricket Club’ branded mugs from our very own Kai Bailey, we have built a brand and a message that resonates with other young people and challenges and promotes creativity, social action and ultimately community. Starting through the medium of sustainably sourced fashion we’ve generated thousands of pounds in revenue, provided alternatives to ecologically damaging consumer goods and raised much-needed awareness of important issues in our society from Rough Sleeping to the drastic global effects of the Fast Fashion Industry. Since then, we’ve begun working with local artists, musicians and talent to explore youth culture and issues. We are in the planning stages for a major live event and published a professionally printed magazine.

The Young Enterprise experience has provided a unique platform for every team member’s own personal development and allowed each of us to try our hands at new and exciting things and prepare for life in the wider world. Perhaps most importantly it has also provided a platform for many students to come out of their shell; show passion, commitment and teamwork and excel at something beyond the more conventional and recognised realms of AGS life. The sacrifices, late nights and early mornings have proved to me that all ten of my fellow team members are responsible, driven and more than capable - after all, it takes a huge amount of willpower to stand outside at a trade fair on a freezing December night where unfortunately potential customers unlike us - were deterred by sub-zero temperatures!

A massive thanks must, of course, go to the wonderful Graham Woodage for his belief in our perhaps crazy ideas and all of his invaluable help and expertise, as well as to Boyzie Morse (Pa13) for putting up with us, coaching and supporting us and even modelling in one of our shoots. None of this, however, would have been possible without Miss Chalk who not only had to deal with the craziness of our group but of two others also. We are extremely grateful to all of the encouragement and knowledge she provided on school days, weekdays and cold December evenings alike. I would also like to personally thank every member of my team for the fun, friendship and effort they have all provided.

Whilst every single team member certainly played their part, I would like to give a brief mention to Abid Mehmood who took the program and all of its opportunities and really came into his own and to all the members of the Board - George Atwell, Zak Wadud, Jared Samuels and Patrick Way - who each suffered many a late night and multiple hour-long phone calls to banks, suppliers and providers. Testament to the creative genius of our media and branding team, you can view our lookbook and some of our achievements online and we invite the AGS community to follow our future exploits under our new name “erth.” (The erth. Collective www. erthcollective.uk @erth.uk)

•

Awards

•

MK Trade Fair – Runner-Up Best Trade Stand Aylesbury Vale Area Finals - Best Digital Presence, Overall Runner Up Best Company

Harvey Bell – Lee 12

Man Down - Company Review Managing Director: Sam Holcroft (Pa12) Team Members: Aidan Manley, Abdurrahman Arowaramimo, Ben Redwood, Ben Latham, Connor Fielding, Freddie Perkin, Jack Pinder, Jake Bennet, Kit Fairhurst, Ollie Ellison, Sam Dodds, Sam Ramsbottom, Dylan Sellors, Robbie Lawnes Student Advisor: Tom Woodage (Ph13)

In October last year Man Down made its start as a company operating under Young Enterprise. Our team of 15 boys walked into the AGS ‘cube’ with no idea as to what was going to happen next. With visions of creating a multi-million-pound company and worldwide success still at the forefront of our minds, how naive we were! Having spent many weeks pitching our ideas of products, ranging from biodegradable shoe covers to candles, we were getting absolutely nowhere. Instead we decided to take a different approach and find the most pressing and present issue we could find. The one topic, ironically, no-one brought up ….Male mental health. Man Down was created with the main goal of counteracting this exact issue we had just come across. Men don’t talk about their struggles. We needed a product that was discreet, universal to everyone, but that would ultimately make a change. After endless brainstorming sessions, we developed our coaster. A product that could sit on a table and allow people to start a conversation about mental health over a cup of tea. Whilst extremely subtle, the product was effective and didn’t go unnoticed. Sales of the Man Down coaster began at the Aylesbury Christmas Market where we sold around 150 units almost completely selling out of all the stock we took with us to the event, and revenues only increased from there - selling hundreds of coasters throughout the process. In March, we had around

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SCHOOL LIFE had from our Centre Lead Miss Chalk and our business advisors Babs Cooper and Tom Woodage (Ph13) and we are thoroughly grateful for the time they have put in to help us succeed. It is only right that they get the acknowledgement they deserve. I am fully accepting that as a leader I was not perfect and there was a fair share of ups and downs, but to the 15 boys that finished the process alongside me I am so grateful for 200 units remaining, and we were in discussions with a potential distributor to widen the reach of our product. However, these discussions sadly fell short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

together websites, calling suppliers

Our product was completely handmade by all the members of the team ourselves, in an extremely painstaking process that involved us working for over 400 hours in total to produce the stock we had to sell throughout the process. This didn’t go unnoticed with numerous engagements over social media and feedback from customers on our quality, which, despite increasing our output, only improved throughout the process.

classroom) all singing Frank Sinatra,

and creating business plans the process grew tiring at times, but this was massively made up for by the high points. The lunch times spent in our ‘production centre’ (Miss Chalks whilst from the outside may seem strange and repetitive, was a really enjoyable experience and one that will be remembered by all of us for a long time. This company would’ve been nothing without the endless support we have

As a company we learnt a lot throughout the process and grew a lot as individuals. Our skills within our respective roles improved exponentially, with every team member gaining a vast amount of knowledge about how a business runs in the real world. With long nights spent at home putting

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the work everyone has put in as running the company was a massive team effort. There was not a single individual that put anything less than 20 extra hours of their time outside meetings to support production and attend trade fairs, and for that I am thoroughly grateful. Thank you to everyone involved. Awards

• Aylesbury Vale Area Finals Best Trade Stand

Sam Holcroft - Paterson 12

PTA A Message from the PTA We have reached the end of another academic year. One that I am sure will be remembered for many years to come. Most

of the plans we had last September have changed and our daily lives look nothing like they were a few short months ago. The PTA as with many other charitable organisations has seen a massive reduction in donations. We have worked tirelessly to fund raise where we can to support our school and this year we have reached almost £25,000. This may be far short of last year’s total but in this current climate and with so many households experiencing financial turmoil I feel this is an amazing achievement and will support many important projects throughout the school. We are now looking forward to next year and we need your help. This amazing amount of money has been raised by a small PTA team, one that has become even smaller with a number of key people leaving as their sons’ reach the end of their time at AGS. At this moment in time we have had to cancel several key events. The Art and Craft fair at Christmas and next year’s summer ball are not going ahead and even next year’s summer fete is not definite. This is not because of COVID-19 restrictions, it’s because we don’t have the volunteers to run them.

If we are going to be able to even match this total next year let alone exceed it, we need more volunteers. I understand that everyone’s time is tight, so I am looking at ways to make being part of the PTA less time consuming and easier to fit into your daily life. Our meetings are now hosted on Zoom so anyone can join from any location and a lot of our fund-raising services and management tools are online and can be managed at any time. I am hoping these changes will encourage as many of you as possible to step up and help make a difference to your son’s time at the AGS.

If you feel you can help or would like to know more about what we do then please email: pta@ags.bucks.sch.uk Finally, I would like to thank all of those people currently involved in the PTA, from the core team, event leaders to people who help out at all of our events, thank you for your contribution. And to those who are leaving the PTA this year, Liz Alexander, Nicola Dolan, David Greig and Safiya Raqib, your time and dedication to the team has been greatly appreciated, All of you will be missed. Mr P Tucker – PTA Chair

We need your help, It doesn’t matter how little or how much time you can afford to give, every minute given directly benefits the boys. If you have some specialist skills that you could bring to the PTA you could make a real difference. Currently we have an Author, Business owners, IT Directors who have volunteered and bring a little bit of their specialism into the team.

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SCHOOL VISITS Religious Studies Year 11 visit the Milton Keynes Peace Pagoda The Year 11 trip to the Nipponzan Peace Pagoda in Milton Keynes and the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in Hemel Hempstead was an excellent way to indulge in our study of Buddhism, a key part of the GCSE course. We arrived at the Peace Pagoda first, greeted with a fine piece of architecture which looked to be straight from Japan. The reason behind this turned out to be because it was originally built under the supervision of monk Nichidatsu Fujii, who aimed to spread world peace and unity. We soon explored the surrounding area including the

Peace Pagoda, which had the story of the Buddha sculpted onto it. The relevance of each image around the Pagoda was well explained by Mr Warner and Mrs Crussell, as it helped broaden my understanding of the Buddha’s life. After taking time for a lunch break, we headed to the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery. We were met with a warm welcome, as the monk who showed us around was very endearing. Shortly after greeting him, we were taken to the meditation room. Immediately the overwhelming sense of serenity and peace hit us, as the silence of the meditation gave the room a feel of tranquillity. The monk happily obliged with all the questions we asked him, including detailed questions of what it’s like to be a Buddhist monk. He showed us around the Monastery before ending

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the tour with a small meditation workshop which helped clear our minds and let the day’s events settle in. All in all, the trip to the two sites was an excellent experience provided by the school and really helped build on my knowledge of the Buddhist religion. Lakshya Verma – Hampden 11

Business & Economics Year 13 visit to Brussels A slightly bleary-eyed group of 16 Year 13s met Miss Chalk and Mr Davey at Aylesbury train station early on a Sunday morning in October. We caught the train through to St Pancras from where we took the Eurostar from St Pancras to Brussels. The journey from Aylesbury to the hotel took a total of 6.5 hours and after a quick break in our rooms at “Meininger”, we had an evening walk to and around the medieval square “Grand Place”. This was also where we had our evening meal, at the Hard Rock Cafe. The next day, after a good night’s sleep and a buffet breakfast, we walked to the National Bank of Belgium Museum via the landmark “Manneken-Pis”. Whilst at the

museum we heard a talk about how the Euro currency is printed and distributed, along with an explanation of the role played by the Eurozone. After this we caught a public bus and visited the artisan “Concept Chocolate”. Here we participated in a twohour workshop; using a variety of types of chocolates and toppings we all made a random selection of chocolates. This trip gave us an understanding of how an independent business works in an international market and was very interesting. The visit concluded with the opportunity to make some delicious purchases from their gift shop to take home. Our evening meal was at Chez Leon, a popular Belgian restaurant. On Tuesday we had an early start to visit the Coca Cola Visitor Centre, just outside Antwerp. Here we heard how the company conducts market research and we were given a tour of the factory to understand

the production process. Later in the afternoon, we took a trip to the European Parliament to visit the Hemicycle and listened to a Civil Servant explain how the EU works. Our day finished with an evening meal at the Old Wild West restaurant in the centre of Brussels. Our last morning in Brussels was spent walking around for some lastminute shopping, before catching the Eurostar train back to St Pancras. The connections worked well, even managing to get through rush hour in London on the tube with such a large group with luggage and we were all home early evening. Many thanks to Miss Chalk for organising this trip, it was a great experience. Jackson Maggs - Paterson 13

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SCHOOL VISITS Geography Year 10 visit to the Lake District Fieldwork is an important part of Geography. Much of what we know about the world around us is because at some point a Geographer has gone outdoors and measured it. The skills of

planning an investigation, accurate observation and measurement, and careful evaluation are important ones that we develop at AGS from Year 7’s study of coasts and their trip to Southend-on-Sea up to A-level study where, with pleasing symmetry, we visit the coast again at Barton-onSea. At GCSE we visit the Lake District National Park in Year 10 for three days for the pupils to practice their fieldwork skills ahead of the exam on Geographical Applications in Year 11. Leaving Turnfurlong at 0600 on a Monday in early March, we headed through morning traffic to the M40 where we would drive north-west to Birmingham. Birmingham’s industrial history and one million inhabitants make it a perfect case study for our learning of urban environments. Arriving to Birmingham’s Centenary Square we admired the bold new Library of Birmingham building, the Repertory Theatre and the International Convention Centre. This area of the city is presently overlooked by a building site as

more steel and glass office buildings are constructed. The pupils here were investigating the opinions that local residents have regarding the regeneration of the city. They spent time as we walked asking questionnaires that they had designed in class to the pedestrians we passed as well as completing their own environmental surveys of the area. Our route wound its way along the canals and headed into the centre of Birmingham passing through the Mailbox shopping centre, the impressive redevelopment of the New Street Station and the historical Rag Market before stopping for lunch at The Bullring. The boys always enjoy exploring the Bullring over their lunch break and the Five Guys restaurant is usually very popular. After lunch we made our way through Birmingham University campus towards Curzon Street Station. This is where HS2 is planned to stop when it is built and there are lots of billboards with information on for the boys to see. It is here that we re-joined the coach and

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continued our trip north to the Lake District. The Lake District is a perfect location for completing fieldwork on a range of our GCSE topics. During our time there, the boys complete investigations into rivers, glaciated landscapes, tourism and footpath erosion. Upon arriving late afternoon, the boys are straight out into Grasmere completing surveys on tourism and asking more questionnaires to locals and tourists. For the tourism investigation each group of three or four boys had planned a number of their own surveys to complete in Grasmere. Their aim is to find out whether tourism negatively affects the town of Grasmere and many groups end up focusing on how tourism may impact the environment and what local people think about the thousands of tourists who visit each year. Grasmere is a popular tourist destination in the Lake District as the home to the Wordsworth Museum, the Allan Bank National Trust property, and the world-famous Grasmere Gingerbread shop so there are plenty of people

to interview even on a Monday evening in March. After a busy first day the boys all retired to Grasmere Butharlyp Youth Hostel for their evening meal and base for the rest of the trip. Day two started early to a hearty cooked breakfast at the youth hostel. The running order of this trip is often prescribed by the weather and the Lake District’s famously changeable conditions. Mr Corby, Mr Travers, Mr Walker and I spent much of the previous evening pouring over the MET office website and looking at weather forecasts. We decided that we would climb up to Easedale Tarn to complete our glacial environment study in the afternoon leaving the morning to head out into Grasmere to collect more data. Leaving Grasmere late morning we were grateful for a break in the rain however there was lots of evidence of the heavy downpours from the previous few days as the path and river channel shared the same space. Many of the boys had brought their wellies for the river investigation however they certainly came in useful on the saturated path. Easedale Tarn was formed in the last glacial period when the Lake District as well as much of the rest of the UK was covered in ice. Glacial deposition sediment has its own unique characteristics which the groups were looking to investigate. As we ascended the valley we passed the waterfall of Sour Milk Gill. The wind was beginning to build here and water was whipped up into the air.

The wet weather of the previous few weeks meant that the waterfall was particularly spectacular. The wind at the top of the path was severe and each teacher picked a different hollow to shelter in with their class to brief them on the task ahead. Brief glances into the biting wind to look up at the vertical cliffs of the corrie were mixed with sheltering and holding down hoods to stop them blowing down. The boys hastily took their notes and observations before retreating back down the footpath. On the return trip, each group explored the impact that walkers have on the area by measuring footpath erosion. Returning back to Grasmere many of the groups took shelter into one of the cafes for a hot drink and some cake before heading back out to continue their tourism surveys. The second night at the hostel is always quieter than the first.

than planned, arranging to meet the coach at the bottom of the trail for our return journey to Aylesbury. The Year 10 Geography Lake District Trip is certainly a very busy three days for pupils and staff. It is a valuable opportunity to learn about fieldwork skills as part of the Geography course and to see one of the most beautiful parts of the British countryside. As the organiser of the trip I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the pupils who went to Grasmere this year as they worked incredibly hard in some inclement weather conditions and each of the Geography teachers very much enjoyed teaching them over the three days. I would also like to thank Mr Walker for joining us as without staff volunteering their time, trips like this would not be possible. Mr M Jones

The final day, following another cooked breakfast, we headed out to the river of Little Tongue Gill to complete our river investigation. The classes split to three locations along the river and, using the flowmeters, stopwatches and an orange, each group worked out the average velocity of the stretch of river that they had been allocated. The use of two different methods for measuring velocity gives the pupils an opportunity to compare their results and evaluate their data collection. The rain began to set in and we decided to head back a little earlier

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SCHOOL VISITS Spanish Year 12 visit to Madrid The Spanish trip to Madrid in late February started with an outrageously early morning meet of 3:30am, in order to catch what can only be assumed was an accidentally booked 7:35 A.M flight from Heathrow. A

seamless coach trip and flight saw us touchdown in Madrid by the early afternoon. We began to familiarise ourselves with Madrid on the drive to the hostel, and the subsequent walk from where the coach was parked introduced us to the various quirks of Madrid. Streets in the city centre were almost entirely void of cars, and men dressed as cartoon characters were oddly common. We then found and settled into our hostel, before embarking on a walking tour of some of the city, where we stopped off at various important historical and cultural spots. Having been awake for the best part of 20 hours, we were grateful to catch some sleep after a bottomless buffet at FrescCo. The following day we had another early start, to visit Real Madrid’s home stadium, a fascinating trip for anyone interested in football. The changing rooms were open to have a look into, and we could walk down the tunnel onto the side-line of the pitch as well. After this, we went to a very different but equally interesting tourist venue, El Valle de los Caídos.

The overwhelming size and haunting style of this civil war monument had a great effect on a lot of us and it was strange to see flowers lain on the graves of some of the men involved in Franco’s dictatorship of the 20th century. The final site of the day was El Escorial, an incredible building designed to resemble a grill from above, in honour of Saint Lawrence who was martyred by being roasted on one in the 3rd century. It houses art and books as well as tombs of the majority of Spain’s monarchs from the past few hundred years. The last full day in Madrid began with a trip to Reina Sofia Museum. This enormous collection of buildings celebrates some of the greatest artists ever, both Spanish and international. Picasso and Dalí were well represented, including Picasso’s infamous ‘Guernica’ which, despite the pleas of Mrs Corbould, Mrs Burnett and Mr O’Driscoll, many of us didn’t quite understand. After a bit of tapas for lunch, it was off to the Retiro Park, a vast, 350acre national park, populated by sculptures and monuments, as well

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as an incredible lake. We finished the day’s sightseeing with a trip to the Prado Museum, which is widely considered to house one of the finest collections of European art, including highlights by El Greco and Diego Valázquez. We managed to enjoy the over 10,000 pieces of art despite the tiring day which had preceded it. After a final trip to FrescCo and a visit to San Ginés for some churros, we headed back to the hostel to pack and sleep, in preparation for a day of travelling back home the next day. A huge thank you is owed to Mrs Corbould, Mr O’Driscoll and Mrs Burnett for perfectly organising the trip and guiding us through the various tourist attractions we went to. We hope that another Spanish Trip will be possible in 2021. Albie Whittemore – Paterson 12

Spanish Year 9 visit to Barcelona This exciting excursion to the beautiful city of Barcelona began in the early hours. Nevertheless, excitement was in the air for what Barcelona had in store for us. We arrived in Spain in the

afternoon and travelled by bus to our hotel, which was in the town of Salou – a picturesque coastal town about an hour from Barcelona. After we had settled into our hotel rooms, we explored the centre of Salou. There were many shops selling a variety of souvenirs, from football shirts to fridge magnets. Some of us ventured to the cafés to try the local cuisine, which naturally meant delicious churros and Fanta Limon. Later that evening we made use of the games room, especially the pool tables. The second day started with a visit to Camp Nou (the F.C Barcelona stadium). We saw where the press watches the Barcelona games, at the very top of the stadium looking down onto the pitch. The view of the stadium from this room was breathtaking, as we could see most of the 99,000 seats that looked down on the perfectly cut pitch. After that we continued our tour through the away changing rooms, which had an abundance of facilities for the players – including massage beds, a hot tub and even a chapel – as well as the press conference room, and

the FCB museum – which had all sorts of trivia about the club and many of their awards and trophies on display. Next, we visited the huge gift shop that had two whole floors full of every type of Barcelona merchandise you could dream of. After that, we visited the unfinished Sagrada Familia. In my opinion, the Sagrada Familia is an example of the most magnificent architecture in Europe. The sheer size of the building is astonishing, but the intricacies of the architecture are not lost in the magnitude. The ornate designs of the building are extraordinary; however, the building was still in construction when the designer, Gaudi, died. He did not leave any plans behind in this world, and so architects have been debating for the best part of a century on how to finish the building. You would think that it would be a simple task, as one could just finish the

building by continuing the patterns. However, Gaudi’s architecture was unconventionally irregular, making the decision to finalise the design even more difficult. The third day began with a continuation of the theme of architecture; we saw two blocks of flats designed by Gaudi. They stood out from the rest of the street, totally unique, adding culture and life to the streets where the other buildings stood in uniformity. After we had appreciated the architecture, we visited the Plaza de Catalunya, where we ate authentic tapas. The food in the tapas restaurant was delicious, particularly the homemade patatas bravas. Then we walked up and down Las Ramblas, which was full of interesting shops and street stalls. Following the visit to Las Ramblas, we went to the top of Montjuïc, which gave us a brilliant view of the city and the sea.

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SCHOOL VISITS

Then came the eagerly anticipated visit to PortAventura. PortAventura is Catalunya’s equivalent of Thorpe Park, the adrenaline addict’s paradise, the thrill-seeker’s nirvana. We split up into groups and rode the most exhilarating rides Spain has to offer: the breathtaking Furious Baco, the rattling Stampida, the ridiculously towering Hurakan Condor and the perimeterstretching Shambhala. Every type of rollercoaster was at PortAventura, and it was apparent on the bus journey back that everyone enjoyed their time at the theme park. On the last day we ventured into Salou one last time to look around the shops and make the most of our

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opportunities to converse with the locals. Overall, we were able to improve our Spanish, learn about the culture first hand – particularly the Catalonian independence movement, which had its logo graffitied all over the city – and most importantly, had an amazing time. On behalf of all of us that went, I would like to thank all the teachers that made this brilliant trip possible: Mr O’Driscoll, Ms Treherne, Mr Walker, Mrs Lillywhite, Mrs Corbould and Mr Jones. George Mansfield – Paterson 9

French Year 13 visit to Paris An early start was necessary to catch the Eurostar from St Pancras on the morning of 4th October, as students from AGS and AHS embarked on a cultural voyage. After a tense coach journey that included heavy traffic and travel sickness (naming no names), we made it and were able to recuperate and relax on the Eurostar, before heading to our accommodation. Some of the excursions during the trip included visits to the Musée d’Orsay, the famous Arc de Triomphe, the Palais de la Porte Dorée, Hôtel des Invalides as well as the fascinating and alternative play ‘La Cantatrice Chauve’. We also successfully navigated the Metro and tram network of Paris, which can often be daunting to tourists. Official highlights include waving at river cruise passengers, charging at the train barriers, Louis being scammed on the metro, Raouf toppling an exhibit and lots of singing. Many thanks to Mr Crapper for organising and leading an unforgettable trip. Sam Bunker – Denson 13

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SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT & School Development As most of our readers are aware, our school was founded on philanthropy and today that philanthropy enables us to make

• 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.

improvements, and to provide opportunities for our students, that are not possible from the school’s current income.

• We have a detailed School

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

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. The Funding Reality

• 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

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

receive £4760 annually from the Department of Education to

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! Alumni Relations and Events

educate each student in Years 7 –

We now have over 1,545 registered

11. We receive just £4000 for each

Old Aylesburians on our

student in Years 12 & 13.

community database and over

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

ALUMNI RELATIONS 2,500 connections on Linkedin. We

space crafts and paintbrushes

across the constantly changing

actively communicate via Twitter,

would help land him a full-time

media landscape, while ensuring his

Facebook and Instagram to reach

job – let alone allow him to forge

work remains engagingly human.

as many of our Old Aylesburians as

a full-time career with a world-

possible and we are delighted to

championship winning Formula

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

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

At the start of the autumn term

rung of the journalistic ladder, he

we were delighted to see Amith

quickly started scaling its heights,

Anilkumar (Lee ‘18) and Dylan

becoming Grand Prix editor for Autosport magazine – the industry’s most authoritative voice – before

academic year by chatting about

work alongside world champions

their first year at Med School

Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button

and answering a vast array of

and Fernando Alonso. The growth

questions. In October we welcomed

of social media, and its embrace

back Mark Gill (Lee ’01) to share

of multi-media, allowed Steve’s passions for music and film-making to flourish, and he became centrally commissioning all McLaren’s brand delivered a strong message of opportunity, curiosity and finding your path. It was wonderful to welcome him back. Steve has

content, including a series of award-winning films and a string of highly successful car launches. In his current role, Steve is head of

who launched the Medical Society Thursday lunchtime talks for this

joining legendary team McLaren to

involved in creating, devising and

Kanapathipillai (Hampden ‘18)

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

enjoyed an interesting and varied

international communications for

career to date and has worked

Europe’s biggest touring car series,

with some pioneering and dynamic

DTM, employing his background

brands and indeed sportsmen,

in journalism and storytelling to

year at Medical School. Our sincere

combining his passion with this

build the global brand. With a life-

thanks to our Old Aylesburian

role. As a boy, Steve could scarcely

long commitment to ‘the story’, he

community for continuing to support

have dreamt that a childhood

continues to explore and develop

our Medical Society which continues

spent playing with racing cars,

narrative storytelling techniques

to go from strength to strength.

the end of the autumn term Charlie Sellar (Paterson ‘18), a recent leaver, shared his experiences of his first

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT &

Also in October Wing Commander

for our aspiring medics without the

(1975/1976). Post AGS Sean was the

tremendous support from OAs and

French National Squash Champion

parents who so generously gave

between 1985 to 1988. He was a

up their time to help our current

Member of the French National

students prepare. Our community

Team in both European and World

giving time, expertise and energy

Team Championships for 8 years and

to support the next generation of

received the “Medaille de Paris” the

aspiring medics is fantastic - thank

English equivalent of the CBE from

you to everyone who supported this

President Jacques Chirac for services

worthwhile event.

to sport in France.

Lee Cobley (Hampden ‘76) and Mrs

At the end of December 2019 we

Anne Cobley returned to adjudicate

bid farewell to Vanessa Kennedy,

Senior Public Speaking. Our

Headmaster’s PA, after 32 years

congratulations to Phillips House

at AGS. On Saturday 14 December

who won the annual competition

Nessie and her husband hosted

and our thanks to Mr Warner for his

a wonderful retirement lunch in

continued commitment to public

the Foundation Hall for over 100

speaking at Aylesbury Grammar

family, colleagues and friends to

School.

help celebrate her time at AGS. A

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

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

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.

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

them for the rigour of a successful

for the England Junior team and

medical application. We simply

unbeaten in three matches in

could not create this opportunity

the Home International event

fitting celebration of Nessie’s time

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

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

ALUMNI RELATIONS one of the most fiercely fought

by Warner Chappell Publishing and

to learn that an Old Aylesburian

competitions in the School calendar

continues to work with them on

is now heading up an important

and this year was no exception with

various projects, collaborating with

local organisation. Robert Churchill

over 280 students taking part at

artists at his studio in East London.

the magnificent Waterside Theatre

Our congratulations to Ridley House

(Paterson ‘16) returned to AGS

in Aylesbury. We were delighted

for winning the event with their

to be joined by OA George Moore

performances of “Just the two of

(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

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

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

George pursued his passion for

‘79) spoke to our students in early

music at the Guildhall School of

March and gave a great insight into

Music and Drama and did a BMus in

the world of policing, challenges,

Jazz Piano for four years. Since then

opportunities and careers. Simon

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

Cox to discuss his new role as

and NAO, whose album “Saturn”

Chief Executive Officer at Hearts of

which George worked on was

Bucks, a Community Foundation for

recently nominated for a Grammy.

Bucks. Henry studied Criminology

From 2012-2014 he taught at ICMP

at Manchester University and then

in London on their undergraduate

went on to complete a degree in

and diploma programmes. In 2018

Political Science at the University

George was signed as a songwriter

of Amsterdam. We were delighted

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT & read Spanish at the University

incredibly popular member of the

of Manchester and then entered

OA community Dennis is and it was

the Police on a Graduate Training

wonderful to be able to pass on the

Scheme. His talk to AGS Sixth

numerous memories and messages

Form students was engaging and

of congratulations.

thoughtful. He talked life, death, goats, pigs, floods and royalty. He also discussed explosions, murder, suicide, sport and mental health

honest reflection. David had quite

and finished the session talking

a story to tell and our 220 guests

about politics, riots, planning for

were silent as David shared his

riots and terrorism and then held

journey with humility, explaining

an interesting question and answer

the difference between suffering

session with some great questions posed by our Sixth Form Students.

We now have an Old Aylesburian Oscar Winner - Mark Taylor

We were delighted to receive a

(Paterson ’85). Mark received his

message from OA Adrian Lack

third Academy Award nomination at

(Denson ‘62) regarding his father

the 92nd Academy Awards earlier

Dennis Lack’s 100th birthday in

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

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

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.

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

AGS and meet with staff and former

On Friday 13 March we were excited

the PTA, staff, students, parents and

students who left the school in the

to host “An evening with David

OAs who made the event possible. A

mid 1960s. A post on our social

Millar” (Phillips ’94) - a sensational

special mention to Mr Trevor Foley

media accounts confirmed what an

evening of interest, intrigue and

for hosting the evening as our MC

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

ALUMNI RELATIONS and to David for reengaging with

had several years experience in the

Aylesbury Grammar School, offering

world of work. The recordings were

to come back to talk to us, and

informative, thoughtful, honest and

for being part of our Aylesburian community.

inspiring and will be a fantastic tool for our current Year 12s as they

On Friday 20 March we said farewell

move towards their next steps post

to our Year 13 students at a time

AGS. Our sincere thanks to all those

of great uncertainty. It certainly wasn’t the leaving day we had

Old Aylesburians who took part.

planned but our outgoing Year

The whole School joined together

13 students will always be part

in November to reflect and

of our AGS community and in the

remember those who gave their

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

lives to protect our freedom. Our thanks to everyone who was part of an exceptional and moving Remembrance service, it was a

able to share their reflections of

wonderful example of our core

this unprecedented time within our

values from the whole school.

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

Class of 2019 Alumni Our class of 2018 went on to study at 50 different institutions embarking on 140 different courses,

had changed their path of study

some took a gap year whilst others

or indeed their career path, those

took apprenticeship positions or

that took a gap year and those who

commenced full time employment.

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT & University

Course

Aberystwyth University

Accounting and Finance

Aston University

Economics and Management, International Business and Modern Languages, Engineering and Applied Science Foundation Programme

University of Bath

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

University of Birmingham

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

Bournemouth University

Adult Nursing

University of Brighton

Geology

University of Bristol

Maths and Philosophy, Mechanical Engineering, Medicine, Engineering Mathematics, Mathematics

Brunel University London

Economics and Mathematics with an Integrated Foundation Year with Placement Year, Engineering with an Integrated Foundation Year, Financial Mathematics with Placement Year, Physiotherapy

University of Cambridge

Law, Mathematics (3), English, Natural Sciences

Cardiff University

Business Management (Marketing) with a Professional Placement

Coventry University

Automotive Engineering

De Montfort University

Business and Management (2)

Durham University

Business and Management with Placement Year, Liberal Arts, Accounting and Finance

University of East Anglia UEA

Molecular Biology and Genetics

University of Edinburgh

Economic History

University of Essex

International Relations (Including Placement Year)

University of Exeter

Medicine, Physics with Astrophysics, Politics and International Relations with Study Abroad, Economics, Geology

University of Glasgow

Zoology

University of Gloucestershire

Sports Journalism

Imperial College London

Materials Science and Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Medicine, Aeronautical Engineering

University of Kent

Economics with a Year in Industry

King's College London, University of London

International Relations, Geography

Lancaster University

Computer Science and Mathematics (Placement Year), Mathematics, Computer Science, Business Management (Industry), English Literature with Creative Writing

University of Leeds

Economics (2)

University of Leicester

Accounting and Finance (2)

University of Liverpool

Computer Science (2), Medicine, Accounting and Finance

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

ALUMNI RELATIONS University

Course

London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London

Actuarial Science

Loughborough University

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

University of Manchester

English Literature and French

Newcastle University

Economics

Nottingham Trent University

Business Management and Economics, Economics with Business, Business Management (1 year in company)

University of Nottingham

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

Oxford Brookes University

English Literature

University of Oxford

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

Accounting and Finance, Computer Science

University of Sussex

History

Swansea University

Biology with a Foundation Year, Accounting and Finance with a Foundation Year, Software Engineering

University of Warwick

History, Biomedical Science, Discrete Maths

University of Westminster, London

Architecture and Environmental Design

University of York

Natural Sciences (2), Biochemistry

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

PRIZE WINNERS Junior Prize Giving 2020 Year 7 - Harding Subject Prizes Art: Classical Studies: Geography: Computer Science: Design Technology: English: Religious Studies: French:

Arya Singh German: James Seanor History: James Seanor Mathematics: Ethan Jarrett Science: Calvin Steele Music: Avaneesh Ekande PE: Avaneesh Ekande Spanish: Ved Gandhe

Aarib Mohammed Luke Marshall Dayeen Ali Dayeen Ali Leo Pargeter Thomas Lowe Shlok Kapoor

Head of Year 7 Award for Achievement

Thamjid Choudhury, Krishan Desai, Dominic Hardman-Mountford, Hevin Johnson

The Ben McKenzie Cup Kajanan Ganeshkumar

Year 8 - Harding Subject Prizes Art: Computer Science: Design Technology: Drama: English: German: French: Spanish:

Saravanan Vijay Kannian Manas Tannan Ben Jones Levi Mobisa Daksh Surana Daksh Surana Anthony Unugboke Anthony Unugboke

Geography: History: Mathematics: Latin: Science: Music: PE: Religious Studies:

Mav Goel Dhruv Kale Dhruv Kale Kaushik Potnuru Kaushik Potnuru Luke Brimmicombe Billy Dodds Joseph Fernando

Head of Year 8 Award for Achievement

Joseph Fernando, Haaris Munir, Hrishik Subramani

The Old Aylesburians’ Association Community Prize Ben Jones, William Johnson

Year 9 - Harding Subject Prizes Art: Biology: PE: Chemistry: Computer Science: Design Technology: Drama: English: French:

Ollie Main Alexander Davis Alexander Davis Jamie Baker Alex Funnell Pragvansh Bhatt Flynn Timberlake Isaac Salle Max Ward

Head of Year 9 Award for Achievement

Harvey Clay, Aaron Halford, Rudhran Sankar, Amey Sharma, Jonty Woodward

The Glenn Turnell Cup Billy Knibb

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

The Ben Pickard Trophy for Excellence Joseph Aloluwaloba

Geography: German: History: Spanish: Latin: Mathematics: Music: Physics: Religious Studies:

Robin Craven Alex Nze George Mansfield George Mansfield Fionn Clancy Yuv Saxena Sam Clarke Harvey Clay Partaap Bajwa

The Harry Hewitt Memorial Shield Alexander Davis

The Mike Griffin Cup Matteo Bellini

Senior Prize Giving 2020 Year 10 - Harding Subject Prizes Ancient History: German: Art: Biology: Physics: Business: Chemistry: French: Computer Science: Design Technology: Drama:

Toby Webster Toby Webster Oliver Evans-Howe Morgan Billings Morgan Billings James Whitehead Ewan Dixon Ewan Dixon Ayaan Mather Aaron MacWhirter Logan Walmsley

Economics: English: Geography: Geology: History: Latin: Mathematics: Religious Studies: Music: PE: Spanish:

Yusuf Misbah Charles Edwards James Davies Val Bunaev Zach Cooke Aadhav Sakthivel Tony Alocious Tony Alocious Sam Pyefinch Sam Pyefinch DJ Mentiply

Head of Year 10 Award for Achievement

Tom Kirkpatrick-Brown, Philippe Pir, Dom Staines, Noah Wilcock

Year 11 - Harding Subject Prizes

Ancient History: Imran Salawu Art: Callum Powell Biology: Shantanu Kale Chemistry: Shantanu Kale Business: James Wilford Computer Science: Tharrshann Logarajah Physics: Tharrshann Logarajah Design Technology: Muhammad Moeen Drama: Alex Comben Economics: Matthew Manley Geography: Matthew Manley

English: French: Geology: German: Latin: History: Mathematics: Music: PE: Spanish: Religious Studies:

Bill Duling Bill Duling Jai Horwood Marcus Birch Marcus Birch Dan Hidalgo-Anguera Sean Morrell Josh Ramcharitar Sam Kearney Sam Kearney Hamza Hussain

Head of Year 11 Award for Achievement

Ishaan Chakraborty, Max Cornish, Jonathan Gopal, Dan Hidalgo-Anguera

The Richard Bennett Prize Mohammed Baramia

The Old Aylesburians’ Association Community Prize Ed Campbell

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

PRIZE WINNERS Year 12 - Harding Subject Prizes

Ancient History: Art: Biology: Business: Chemistry: Computer Science: Design Technology: Drama: Economics: English Language & Literature: English Literature: EPQ: Geography:

Rocco Wooster French: Tae Poompanit Further Mathematics: Ben Roberts German: Matthew Stanbrell Latin: Ali Hassan History: Miles Lewis Mathematics: Mackenzie West Music: Stephen Ijeh PE: Oscar Almadin Physics: Ollie McKenna Politics: Ben Harding Psychology: Ned Morris Spanish: Ned Morris

Major Shokar Tobi Dairo Edward Maher Edward Maher Ben Mulholland Ismail Rahim Corin Scott Chris Bond Karan Elangovan Brandon Pratt Jonah Woodward Albie Whittemore

Head of Year 12 Award for Achievement

The Thomson Cup for Sportsmanship

The Keith Smith Prize

The Charlie Dunne ‘Aylesburian’ Award for Participation & Contribution to House & School Life

Archie Rainbow, Dylan Sellors, Lee Trotter, Mackenzie West, Sam Woods Luke Alligan

Ben Mulholland

Ben Harty

The Stephen Shipperly Prize for Enterprise and Innovation

Zac Arnold, Raja Dhanda, James Farmborough, Sam Packer, Nicholas Reid, Peter Sansome

Year 13 - Harding Subject Prizes

Design Technology: Toby Payton Psychology: Drama: James Rickard

Donated Subject Prizes

Glover Prize for The Arts The Irons Prize for Art Dame Kathleen Raven Prize for Biology James Bowe Prize for Business Mackrill Prize for PE Raven Prize for Chemistry Furneaux Prize for Physics Fleet Prize for Computer Science Chiltern Hundreds Prize for EPQ Brown Prize for Mathematical Physics Webb Prize for Economics Deeming Prize for English MacLeod Prize for English Language &Literature Furley Prize for French Belger Prize for Further Mathematics Lloyd-Jones Prize for Geography Brooker Prize for German Ferris Prize for Latin Owen Prize for History Miscampbell Prize for Mathematics Professor Mead Prize for Music Jones Prize for Politics Helliwell Prize for Science John Hunt Prize for Spanish

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

Nikhil Aggarwal

Theo Nze Zak Griffith Matthew Rizzo-Naudi Tom Woodage Tom Woodage Dylan Cleveland Dylan Cleveland Aidan Purchase Cam Brooker Cam Brooker Harvey Newland-Smith Ben Parkinson Dylan Holmes-Cowan Sam Bunker Toby Insley Fitz Steger-Lewis Theo Nze Theo Nze Edwin Vass Edwin Vass Tom Proctor Zach Roberts Aman Sadiq Max Ramsey

The Alec Lowndes Knight Award for Endeavour Oliver Twidale

The Old Aylesburians’ Association Community Prize Angus Miller

Awards for Commitment to Enterprise

Boyzie Morse, Harvey Newland-Smith, Tom Woodage

The Disraeli Prize for Debating

Harvey Newland-Smith, Aidan Purchase, Tom Ward

The P J Larkham Prize for Theatre Ben Parkinson

The Beattie Cup for Musicianship Dylan Holmes-Cowan

The John Prodger Cup for Sporting Achievement Cam Brooker

Denson Prizes for Excellent A Level Results Moeed Ali Joe Bijumon Edward Birch Finn Brown

Olly Cay Alex Dolan Tom Giles Max Glock

Anish Kumar Tom Miles Noel Nyaguyo

Max Perry Joseph Teckman Calum West

Foundation Governors’ Prizes For Outstanding A Level Results Nikhil Aggarwal Isaac Barbosa Lucas Beveridge Cam Brooker Sam Byass Andrew Claassen Dylan Cleveland Jordan Cobley Connor Devon Dylan Evans Onyeka Ewuzie Adam Goillon Joshua Greig

Zak Griffith Jack Harrison Ben Harty Shoheb Hassan Dylan Holmes-Cowan Toby Insley Sanjay Jaikumar Pat Kelly Charlie Lane Ben Lindars James MacKnight James Mallord Vlad Moiseanu

Kavi Morjaria Tom Moyse Harvey Newland-Smith Theo Nze Daniel Okafor Tom O’Shea Adam Page Ben Parkinson George Plummer Aidan Purchase Alfie Purvis George Ramsey

Max Ramsey Matthew Rizzo-Naudi Zach Roberts Aman Sadiq Aspen Sartin Matthew Stamp Klaudiusz Stasierowski Fitz Steger-Lewis Edwin Vass Tom Ward Tom Woodage Kat Young

Paterson Prizes

Deputy Head Boys: Dylan Holmes-Cowan, Ben Lindars Head Boy: Denzel Asamoah

The Aylesburian 2019/2020

Ideas for Print Print - Design Websites - Social Signage - Merchandise

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The Aylesburian 2019/2020

www.ags.bucks.sch.uk

Respect & Aspire

The Aylesburian - 2019/2020

Articles inside

School Development & Alumni Relations

School Visits

House Life

A message from the Governors

School Life

Headmaster’s Welcome

Sport

Staff Leavers

A message from the PTA