bablake school
The Wheatleyan C e l e b r at i n g 2 0 1 8 / 1 9
Welcome...
With thanks to: Editorial Team Staff Editor: Mrs Alexandria Hargreaves Editors: Ashley Kabue and Areej Raza News and Features: Areej Raza and Ashley Kabue Beyond the Classroom: Lawou Mpafe, Sathvika Krishnan and Abinaya Muraleetharan Flair Art and Design: Mrs Alexandria Hargreaves
2018/19 was a year of change at Bablake, however, I hope that many of the values of the School remain intact. We started the year under the leadership of Mr Watson, having just achieved record breaking results and finished the year having broken the records yet again! Results are, of course, only one part of the life of the School. Our 675 years of excellence are not only reflected in our shared expectations of academic success but also in the amazing opportunities beyond the classroom, and in the care and support offered by staff. This magazine highlights the endeavour and commitment of pupils, staff and parents as we continue to build our happy, purposeful and outward-looking community together. I am very grateful to everyone who has contributed to this publication. Bablake is a remarkable place and one that I am immensely proud to be a part of. Andrew Wright Headmaster, Bablake School
Flair Literature: Hattie Morris and Caragh Shaw Performing Arts: Katy Davis and Ellie Willis Music: Fiona Chung and Eva Kant Sport: Anastasia Jeffcoat, Christopher Romano, Areej Raza and Ashley Kabue Former Pupils: Vedika Bedi and Elizabeth Hayes Photography: Alfie Shields, Angel Ma and Areej Raza Marketing: Zaynah Raza and Mya Lan Production Design: Mustard Design (mustardhot.com) Print: W&G Baird Ltd Acknowledgements Bablake PE Department, Mr Paul Cleaver, Mrs Alison Tumber, Mr Chris West, Mr Mark Woodward (photography); Mrs Kiley Brown, Mrs Sarah Harris, Mrs Erica Challis, Mr Inderpal Kalsi and Bablake’s staff and pupils (written articles). Front cover image: The Wheatleyan student editors Charlotte and Adam and staff editor Mr Mark Woodward receive two Shine Awards for Best Overall Content and Editor of the Year 2019 for the 2017-18 edition of The Wheatleyan. Photo by Richard Chapman. Bablake School, founded in 1344, is a school within the Coventry School Foundation (registered charity No 528961) and exists to provide quality selective education for boys and girls. The Senior School of around 750 pupils shares the Coundon Road site with Bablake Junior School of some 230 pupils. The Bablake Pre Prep, with a capacity of around 120 pupils, is located at The Grange on Brownshill Green Road, Coventry. King Henry VIII School, founded in 1545, is also part of the Foundation. Coundon Road, Coventry CV1 4AU t +44 (0)24 7627 1200 e info@bablake.coventry.sch.uk w www.bablake.com f www.facebook.com/bablakeschool i www.instagram.com/bablakeschool p www.pinterest.com/bablakeschool t www.twitter.com/bablakeschool This publication is printed on paper sourced from sustainably managed forests.
The Wheatleyan
co n t en t s
Table of contents
04 26 44 60 72 90
n e w s a n d f e at u r e s An overview of the academic year 2018/19 including, the Headmaster’s Review, Prizegiving 2019 and Student Successes, ‘Talking Heads’, latest Staff News and a quick-fire interview with our Senior Prefects. Edited by Areej Raza and Ashley Kabue.
b e yo n d t h e c l a s s r o o m Achievements outside the curriculum including reports on charity work, highlights from the House system and a focus on STEM related academic extension. Edited by Lawou Mpafe, Sathvika Krishnan and Abinaya Muraleetharan.
flair A showcase of our students’ impressive creative work, from Art and Design Technology to original writing. Edited by Hattie Morris and Caragh Shaw.
performing arts A medley of theatre productions, drama showcases and individual experiences from the Drama and Music departments. Edited by Katy Davis, Ellie Willis, Fiona Chung and Eva Kant.
sport A round-up of Bablake’s sporting year, including individual achievements and an overview of the achievements of our representative teams. Edited by Anastasia Jeffcoat, Christopher Romano, Ashley Kabue and Areej Raza.
f o r m e r pup i l s Catching up with Bablake’s Old Wheatleyans, with feature interviews and reunion celebrations. Collated by Vedika Bedi and Elizabeth Hayes.
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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News and Features Edited by Ashley Kabue and Areej Raza (joint editors)
“I am proud to have witnessed another fantastic year for Bablake, and been a part of another successful edition of The Wheatleyan! Throughout the setbacks we faced as editors, Areej has been reliable and supportive — the best joint editor I could ask for. Thank you to all of the staff editors that have guided us along the way, and every student that has brought this edition to life. I would like to encourage all younger students to get involved: Bablake has a rich past, and you are part of its future.” Ashley Kabue (Editor)
Through the eyes of the student editorial team, The Wheatleyan celebrates the best of the academic year it represents, complementing the material published in our excellent termly newsletter The Lion and the regular news and images posted on our website, official Facebook and Instagram pages, Twitter feed and other social media platforms.
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The Wheatleyan 2018/19
2018-19 Wheatleyan Student Editors Areej and Ashley
“Presenting Bablake’s finest achievements in another edition of The Wheatleyan has been a fantastic experience, made even more pleasurable by having Ashley by my side. Her inspiring determination and delightful personality have helped bring life to the magazine. I hope everyone enjoys reading about the Spirit of Bablake just as much as I have enjoyed being a part of it.” Areej Raza (Editor)
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Mr Wright addresses the congregation during the school carol service
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The Wheatleyan 2018/19
h e a dm a s t er’s r e v i e w
Headmaster’s Review Bablake celebrated its annual Prizegiving celebration on June 27th 2019. The guest of honour was Dr Charles Insley, alumni of the school, university lecturer and historian with a special interest in Anglo-Saxon England. His passion for history and his enthusiasm for the Medieval period was formed on the streets of Coventry, its significant yet hidden ancient architecture igniting his desire to study the past. The Headteacher began his speech reflecting on how Dr Insley was something of a model Bablake pupil.
A particularly warm welcome to our special guest Dr Charles Insley. Dr Insley attended Bablake between 1981 and 1988 and is currently Head of History at the University of Manchester. He graduated from Worcester College, Oxford with a first in Modern History and is an expert in early medieval history. At this point I feel I need to mention that I have just read over 500 reports for our current pupils and in one History report I found an awkward comment for one of our current Shells. The report said that the pupil needed to improve and then finished with the line, “of course, Medieval History is not everyone’s cup of tea.” A somewhat sweeping and possibly inaccurate statement! Perhaps we will find out why later during your speech? Dr Insley’s reports from his junior years at the School note that he, “bounds through Bablake with an infectious enthusiasm”, though, “he could occasionally appear overconfident.” John Malin, who was essentially the Deputy Head, said, “It is people like him that our society lacks.” Although he doesn’t explain if that’s necessarily a good thing. The overconfidence had disappeared by the Sixth Form when he was referred to as something of a ‘scholar’ and a ‘model Sixth Former’. It was also commented that, “Once engaged in pursuing a particular point of interest he only relinquishes the hunt where he is totally satisfied that it is complete.” In case you think everything sounds far too positive, it was also reported that while he is interested in sport, he is not physically coordinated.
I am not quite sure why we know this, however, when he went to interview at Oxford, the college said they were impressed by, “the range of genuine and serious interests which he showed, and by the thoughtful way in which he answered.” If this was said about every Bablake pupil I would say that our job is done! Welcome back, Charles, thank you very much indeed for giving up your time today to award our prizes; we look forward to hearing from you later. We are grateful for this opportunity to congratulate the top academic achievers of 2018/19. You will have strived to do your best in order to be a part of this ceremony and I believe that represents the true spirit of our school. In 1977 Queen released the song We are the Champions, which contained the lyrics, “And bad mistakes, I’ve made a few. I’ve had my share of sand kicked in my face, but I’ve come through. We are the champions, my friends, and we’ll keep on fighting ‘til the end.” Many of you here will recognise that behind these prizes are many years of hard work. The father of a famous playwright was approached by an admirer after yet another play was a success, “Isn’t it wonderful how lucky your boy is?” said the man. “Yes,” replied the father, “isn’t it wonderful! The harder he works the luckier he seems to get.” It’s a quote often attributed to a famous golfer, Gary Player, who did also say it years later. We don’t always see the hard work that goes on to achieve these prizes but for every person receiving an award, there will be hours of hard work behind the scenes. Well done. @TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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We had our Open Evening on Friday and as part of my a service of remembrance for him this morning and as part formal presentation to prospective parents, two Shells and of the address, Chris West, Head of Department said, “We two Sixth Formers spoke. I deliberately hadn’t heard them asked him about IT and computing. Rob’s answer to many of speak or read their scripts before the evening — I wanted it these things was that he wasn’t too familiar with them but to be as fresh to me as it was to the audience. Some staff were he was more than willing to learn and have a go. This was to surprised — surely for something as important as this you become something of a mantra from Rob, “I’ll have a go, let want to know what they are going say? I replied that I trusted me try”. And he did. We thought of naming the prize as the them absolutely. I have confidence in what we do together ‘Have a Go and Succeed Prize’ although we have settled for and expect as I school. I was not disappointed. When I look innovation instead. at the pupils before us today; when I see their hard work; What else has happened? Well I can tell you that the Spirit when I share in the celebrations of their successes; when I am of Opportunity is alive and well at Bablake so it is difficult witness to their kindness and support for each other; when for me to tell you even a fraction of what has taken place this I hear of their exemplary conduct, I have every confidence year. So instead I thought I would highlight just a few areas. that when they finally leave Bablake they will be precisely I apologise to all those who have taken part in events and the kind of young people who will make a positive difference activities that do not get a mention. to their world, their communities. When I meet with new or Firstly, although it’s not the only outcome we are prospective parents, many describe to me their aspirations interested in, exam results were superb. At GCSE they were for their children which prioritise a ‘rounded’ education. the best we had ever had with 50% awarded A* or equivalent We share that belief; we care deeply about their academic and 76% at A*/A. A levels were also good with almost 50% at progress and, just as importantly, about the person that A*/A. We were placed 18th nationally in the Times league table they become. of co-educational independent schools; the highest in the At this part in proceedings, I am supposed to tell you a Midlands. little about what At a time when has happened this they are under year at Bablake, but increasing pressure I struggled to come in state schools, up with much. Has opportunities for the anything changed? Arts and for Sport In fact, at an Open remain to the fore at freddie mercury Evening someone Bablake. The Art and came up to me to say they heard me last year. They did also DT exhibition and the Summer Concert last week showcased say they thought I was much better then as well! John Watson some of our pupils’ amazing talents. Drama has been arrived at Bablake in September 2006. During his time in re-invigorated under the leadership of our Director of charge, the School developed significantly. He was a voice of Performing Arts with GCSE and A level back in the curriculum. calm in an ever changing landscape, steering Bablake to many Sport has also continued to develop. Although the annual successes academically and beyond. Thousands of pupils and 1st XV rugby game with King Henry VIII, played in dreadful staff benefited from his leadership and he will be missed by conditions, ended in a draw, in most other age groups Bablake and the Coventry School Foundation. When he left and sports we picked up some good wins against our local at Easter to become the Headmaster and Chief Executive of rivals. Individuals also impressed — to mention just a few: Leicester Grammar School we were able to give him a suitable Emma Allroggen was selected to captain the U16 England send-off, which included a brilliant video put together by hockey team, Zien Zhou won the U17 London mini marathon staff and pupils. wheelchair race, Dan Mousley signed a professional contract As normal, there are a few staff leaving us this year and with Warwickshire County Cricket Club and Kare Adenegan there are two that I should mention today. At the beginning broke the T34 100m World Record. of the video clip we heard from John Drury. The story goes We continue to be a thriving intellectual community that the school was founded in 1344 and in 1345 John was with pupils taking part in competitions and other extension appointed as a Mathematics teacher. John actually started at activities such as the CREST award, the Engineering in Bablake in 1975 and it would make a good maths investigation Education Scheme, maths challenges, essay competitions and to estimate how many pupils have benefited from his Young Enterprise. It goes on and on. On Tuesday evening we intelligence, good nature, teaching skill, integrity and above had what I see as one of the highlights of the year, our EPQ all, care. John is one of those teachers who makes this school evening. Sixth Form students presented work on topics as the special place that it is. John is taking a very well deserved varied as birdsong, dementia, the idea of a good war and the retirement at the end of this term. Mr Jim Burns is also annexation of Crimea. Last term we had a similar evening retiring and while he has only been here since 2000, a relative for younger pupils, under the title ‘A symposium to change newcomer, his contribution to the school, in the classroom, as the world’. Pupils presented work on social history, robotics, a senior leader and on a sports pitch, has been immense. I will music, using 3D printing to make human organs and even massively miss them; the school will massively miss them and bananas. I would like to encourage everyone here to attend we thank them for their service. these or similar events; they fascinate, impress and challenge For the first time this evening we are awarding a DT prize in equal measure. in memory of Rob Shiers. Rob was a highly valued technician After the refurbishment of the Sixth Form Centre and in the Design Department who passed away this year. We had medical facilities in 2017 we have concentrated on smaller site
“We are the champions, my friends, and we’ll keep on fighting ‘til the end.”
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h e a dm a s t er’s r e v i e w
development projects this year. One of these is the new Faith Centre with was opened by the Bishop of Coventry last term. The room includes some stained glass as a gift from Mr Watson and the resource is frequently used by pupils of all faith or none as a place of reflection and refuge. I am pleased to announce today, that the Governors have agreed to support a refurbishment of the library over this summer to enable it to better serve the needs of our pupils. Books will continue to be at the heart of the room and by reconfiguring the area we will be able to provide more space for reading and study. “I think that you will all agree that we are living in most interesting times. I never remember myself a time in which our history was so full, in which day by day brought us new objects of interest, and, let me say also, new objects for anxiety.” This was part of a speech by the great Birmingham politician Joseph Chamberlain 1898. The phrase ‘May you live in interesting times’ is often quoted as an ancient Chinese saying however it seems that the Chamberlains made it up. Both of Joseph’s sons — Neville, the Prime Minister, and Austin — used it, Austin saying in 1936 “It is not so long ago that a member of the Diplomatic Body in London, who had spent some years of his service in China, told me that there was a Chinese curse which took the form of saying, ‘May you live in interesting times’. There is no doubt that the curse has fallen on us. We move from one crisis to another. We suffer one disturbance and shock after another.” Perhaps we should therefore reflect that our current political situation may not be as unusual as it seems, however there is little doubt that there are many who wish to damage or end what we do here. The Sutton Trust report this week, which highlighted how successful former independently educated people were in so many areas of society, became another reason to attack independent schools. Yes, we are a centre of intellectual, artistic and sporting excellence and I would argue that we have nothing to be ashamed of. Bablake, our young people and you as parents are not the villains here. What’s needed is sufficient funding and the freedom for all state schools to provide the transforming education that we do here. We are also able to support far more than most independent schools through our bursary programme. It would be interesting to know how many of those independently educated people in top professions had been supported either by bursary programmes or by the Government’s direct grant or assisted places scheme that came to an end in 1997. We should be looking at how to increase opportunities for all, rather than attacking centres of excellence. That said, we do have a responsibility for education within this historic city and we are already involved in many partnerships to try and address some of the differences of opportunity. We also get much back from being outward looking and sharing expertise. I think, however, we can do more and we have some interesting ideas about how this might be developed. Before we hear from Sathvika, I would like to make three final comments. The first is to congratulate our prizewinners this evening; as you know, the standards at Bablake are very high, and so you have done superbly well to be nominated for an award, in whichever category. I also want us to recognise that there are many of your friends who are not here as prizewinners but who also work hard, give their best and achieve in many different ways; they too deserve our
praise. Secondly, I’d like to say that, while it is a great joy to look back and reflect on success and achievement, it is more important to look forward to new challenges and the exciting times and opportunities that lie ahead; there will be many of them, I am sure. Finally, and at the risk of stating the obvious, none of what we have heard about this evening would ever happen without lots of different groups of people all pulling in the same direction. So thank you: to Governors for your support; to parents and grandparents for the many sacrifices that you make and the trust that you place in us to look after your children; to pupils, for your passion and commitment, for being willing to give things a go and for looking out not just for yourselves, but for each other; and to the staff — both teaching and support — who give tirelessly of their time, energy, humour, compassion and expertise and who really do go above and beyond to make Bablake the great school that I believe it to be. I would ask you to join with me in thanking all our staff at this school and at the Foundation for their dedication. When the Good Schools Guide visited us earlier this year, they commented that “This is a wholesome, high-achieving school which does what it does very well without making a huge song and dance about it. Over and over again, people described the children and school as ‘down to earth’. It is a school on the move, but there is a strong sense that the school identity is very firmly rooted. It is not located in the smartest bit of Coventry but it certainly gives the feeling that it is at the heart of this diverse city. It suits self-motivated pupils — and if they are not motivated when they arrive, the drive and energy of the school will make sure that they very soon are.” I couldn’t have put it better myself. I hope you enjoy the rest of the evening, thank you for your support and we will now hear from one of our school captains, Sathvika, playing Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No 8.
The Headmaster delivered these remarks at the end of a fantastic celebration of achievement. “It just leaves me to thank everyone who has contributed to make this event a success. All pupils who have performed and reminded us of the excellence that we aim for every day. To the Senior Prefects and School Captains — a fine example of why we are proud of our young people. To Dr Insley for readily agreeing to return and coping when the format of the event changed. On that note, we would be pleased to receive any feedback about tonight’s event — the return to hosting it at the school was, to some extent, forced upon us but it did allow us to think again about some of the parts of the evening. Do let us know what you thought. For the last few weeks I have frequently walked into rooms where groups of staff were meeting and they immediately stopped talking. At first I was a little paranoid about this but I soon realised that they were planning meetings for Prizegiving; an event like this takes a lot of organisation so my final thanks go to Mrs Press and her team of Mrs Staveley, Mrs Cooper and Mrs Shields. There is still a little more for you to enjoy this evening but, in the meantime, I hope you have a good summer and again thank you for all your support in continuing to make Bablake a remarkable school.” @TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Prizegiving 2018/19 “I would like to congratulate our prizewinners this evening; as you know, the standards at Bablake are very high, you have done superbly well to be nominated for an award, in whichever category. I also want us to recognise that there are many of your friends who are not here as prizewinners but who also work hard, give their best and achieve in many different ways; they too deserve our praise.� mr andrew wright (headmaster)
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The Wheatleyan 2018/19
pr i z eg i v i n g
Arguably, the most prestigious of our individual prizewinners this year included the following:
Shells 2019/20 Shell Art Scholars Francesca Allison and Elizabeth Greenway Shell Academic Scholars Caitlin Parnell, Keatan Patel, Kanishka Sathiyaseelan and Ellen Court Shell English Scholars Eleanor Rowley, Aimee Nelson and Lucy Watson Shell Mathematics Scholars Vincent Xia William Townsend Form Prizes Shells Attainment: Henry Chislett, Sophie Jackson and Umarah Memon Progress: Kajal Trivedi and Evie Hill Second Year Attainment: Elizabeth Akinkoye, Bezalel Akinkoye and Mide Oladiji Progress: Alexander Chiu, Francesca Licata, Sienna Bachra, Kianna Simms and Joseph Hodgins Contribution to School Life Giacomo MacGibbon Third Year Attainment: Keira James and Elizabeth Johnson Progress: Anoushka Rajimwale, Jaya Minhas, Noah Tucker, Simran Rana and Ned Badham
Contribution to School Life Edward Buckley
The TW Patchett Awards for Scholarship and Courtesy Sathvika Krishnan and Kogulan Vipulan
Fourth Year Attainment: Adrian Judge, Keira Darlison, James Fraser, George Neal and Lucia Macheta Progress: Joseph Robson, Sophie French, Alice Rouse, Isaac Grindrod and Tanaka Bvunzawabaya Contribution to School Life Max Newman and Celestine Dal Miscellaneous Awards Lane Scholarships Anna Darlow, Elizabeth Hayes, Eva Kant, Tarun Lalli, Mya Lane and William Luxmoore Prizes for Best Contribution to Magazines Ashley Kabue The Jenkins Cup (Shells) Charlotte Whitaker and Rhys Esling The Felicity Chapman Poetry Prize Erin Keeling The Bert Bissell Trophy for Contribution to Charity Rhea Cherrington and Libby Stinton Best Contribution by a Sixth Form Pupil new to the School Rio Skye-Williams
The JV Rattigan Cup — for Merit in the Lower Sixth Katy Davis The Seaborne Trophy (Sportsman of the Year) Rory Meechan The Leonard Ward Trophy (Sportswoman of the Year) Ellie Herniman The Chris Ashworth Trophy (Outstanding Achievement) Farrah Mcevoy The H Curt Prize (Service) Liam Duggan The Hawley Cup (Service) George Parker The Humberstone Prize (Character and Scholarship) Iz Hemus The Jackson Progress Prize Josh Lowe The Rob Shiers Design and Technology Prize for Innovation Narankar Sehmi
Public Examination Fact File 2018/19 A level
GCSE
• 38% of all grades at A* or A (National average: 25%) • 71% of all grades A*, A or B (National average: 51%)
• 19th co-educational independent school nationally and the highest in the County The Times 31/08/19
• 30 students achieved two or more A* or A grades
• 52% of all grades were at 9 or 8 (the old A*)
• 99.6% pass rate
• 74% of all grades were at 9 — 7 (the old A* or A)
• Three students gained places at Oxford or Cambridge
• 18 pupils gained at least ten 9 or 8 grades
• 89 students
• 58% of pupils gained at least eight 9, 8 or 7 grades • 71% secured 8 or 9 grades in English Language and 73% did the same in History. • 100 pupils
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Where are they now?
73
6
university
gap year
7
apprenticeships/ direct employment
“Seeing the fine young men and women that Bablake students become is what makes my job so rewarding. I am delighted to see students realising their ambitions and heading off to study a range of subjects at first class universities and to take up such prestigious apprenticeships.� mRS TUMBER (head of sixth form)
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Apprenticeships Aston Martin, Buckingham Group, JCB, Ministry of Defence, Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce University Choices 10 Nottingham Trent 9 Nottingham 7 Birmingham 6 Aston, Leicester 6 London (1 King’s College, 1 Birbeck, 1 Queen Mary, 1 Royal Holloway, 2 Imperial) 5 Leicester 3 Loughborough, Sheffield 2 Cambridge, Leeds, Buckingham, Liverpool 1 Oxford, Lancaster, De Montfort, Swansea, Aberystwyth, Harper Adams, Coventry, Warwick, Hull, Lincoln, East Anglia, Reading, Bournemouth 1 Guildhall School of Music and Drama 1 British Academy of Fashion Design Choices The Arts, Humanities and Languages 8 students 1 History and Philosophy 1 Classics
1 Theatre and Performance 1 Drama and Theatre Practice 1 Digital Marketing 1 Egyptology 1 Graphic Design Illustration 1 French and History
1 Biomedical Sciences 1 Biotechnology 1 Electronic Engineering 1 Design Engineering 1 Sport and Exercise Science 1 Mathematics
Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths 37 students 1 Planetary Science with Astronomy 3 Furniture and Product Design 5 Medicine 2 Sport, Exercise and Health Science 1 Dentistry 2 Pharmacy 1 Aerospace Engineering 1 Natural Sciences 1 Engineering 4 Mechanical Engineering 1 Medicinal and Biological Chemistry 1 Biological Sciences 1 Physics with Particle Physics and Cosmology 1 Physics 1 Management Sciences 1 Sport and Exercise Nutrition 1 Physiotherapy 1 Chemical Engineering 1 Chemistry
Social Sciences 28 students 1 Criminology and Social Policy 2 Economics 1 Banking and Finance 1 Criminology and Sociology 1 International Politics and Policy 4 Psychology 6 Law 1 Business Management 1 Agri-Business 1 Law with a Modern Language 1 Computer Science 1 Digital Marketing 1 Criminology 1 Law with Criminology 1 Building Surveying 1 Forensic Science 1 Economics and Finance 1 Computer Science (Games Technology) 1 Graphic Design (Illustration)
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Talking Heads With Mr Watson leaving Bablake to take up the role of Headmaster and Chief Executive at Leicester Grammar School, student editors Areej Raza and Ashley Kabue took the opportunity to put him ‘Head to Head’ against the incoming Headmaster (and some say long lost brother...) Mr Wright.
Mr Watson Background Questions Which school did you go to? Caterham School, Surrey. Which uni and what degree? Hertford College, Oxford: Classics and Modern Languages. Where was your first teaching job? Sevenoaks, Kent. Quickfire Questions Hot or cold? Hot. Tea or coffee? Mocha. Book or film? I am currently enjoying A Secret History by Donna Tartt and Two Sisters by Asne Seierstad on in-car Audible. Newspaper or magazine? Newspaper (The Times). Love Island or Strictly Come Dancing? Better things to do with my time. Work or family? Both, though family might sometimes disagree. Home cooking or takeaway? Tesco Dine In For £10. Live or catch up? Catch up. Online or offline? Online. Standalone or tablet? Tablet. Android or Apple? Microsoft, soon to be Android. Facebook or Instagram? Face-to-face. Science or the Arts? The Arts. Censorship or freedom of speech? Freedom of speech — most of the time. Urban or rural? Rural for walks, urban for culture (especially theatre). Home or abroad? Home to live, abroad for travel and discovery. Leave or Remain? Are you crazy? Bablake or KHVIII? Are you crazy? In Depth Questions What are your guilty pleasures? Victoria sponge, peanuts galore and Old Peculier (though not all at once). 14
The Wheatleyan 2018/19
What time do you wake up and what is the first thing you do for work every day? 6.15, drive to work. What will you always find time for? Lunch — virtually always. Which book or piece of music changed your life? Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. What are you most proud of? My children, Matthew and Laura. And you lot, of course! What is the most important decision you have made? To spend the rest of my days with Shirley, my wife. Which three adjectives best describe you? Positive, values-driven, friendly. Which three people would be on your apocalypse team? Mr Seeley, Mrs Press and Mr Wright. Which three people (living or dead, real or fictional) would you invite to a dinner party? Jesus, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr. Are you a feminist? Insomuch as I believe in equal opportunities for women and men, yes I am. What does feminism mean to you? Apart from the above, it also involves mutual respect and support. Should men cry? When was the last time you did? Yes. When we had to have our dog, Bella, put to sleep last year. If you hadn’t been a teacher, which profession would you have gone into? Social work. Who has been your educational inspiration? My English teacher, Peter Edwards. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Optimism, humanity, reflectiveness. I am a pedantic linguist with perfectionist and interfering tendencies! How important are rules? Very. Consensus over sensible and reasonable rules allows society to function happily. Have you ever broken any rules? If so, which ones? The speed limit. I had to attend a speed awareness course. What makes a good school a great school? A common understanding amongst members of the school community of
where we are heading and what we are trying to achieve – then getting there and being always eager to depart for the next destination! Define Bablake in a Tweet! A warm, happy, diverse, inclusive and ambitious community where outstanding opportunities, excellent teaching, and supportive guidance nurture naturally selfconfident and generous human beings who will achieve great things in life. (Too long, I’m sure). What advice would you give your 13-yearold self? Be bold! The Bablake Questions In the words of Frank Sinatra, ‘If you had to do it all again’ at Bablake, would you do anything different? A few things, possibly, but I always try to learn from mistakes and don’t live with regrets. What has been the highlight of your 13 years at Bablake? I have many very happy memories. Possibly singing the Titanic theme with the staff charity concert choir at the end of a tough inspection week. I was still at the helm, very proud of my crew and passengers, and the ship was still afloat! Why were only three of your Prize Giving guests of honour female? There have unfortunately been a greater number of more suitable ‘candidates’ amongst old boys, and some old girls have been unable to accept the invitation. You will have to change that in years to come! What do you most admire about Mr Wright? His car. His determination to do his best for everyone and his ability to engage everyone. What advice would you give him about being Head? Be true to yourself. What should he not do? Change his car to a Mazda or lose his sense of humour. Who will be higher up the Independent Schools league tables in five years’ time: Bablake or Leicester Grammar School? Are you crazy?
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Mr Wright Background Questions Which school did you go to? King Edward VI Five Ways. Which uni and what degree? Aberystwyth, Mathematics and Geology, I think I am the only person in the country with this degree! Where was your first teaching job? King Edward VI Aston. Quickfire Questions Hot or cold? Cold. Tea or coffee? Is Diet Coke available? Book or film? Book. Newspaper or magazine? Newspaper. Love Island or Strictly Come Dancing? What are these? To be honest, I sometimes have to watch Strictly to be allowed to watch football! Work or family? Both but family first. Home cooking or takeaway? Home cooking. Live or catch up? Catch up. Online or offline? Online. Standalone or tablet? Tablet. Android or Apple? Android. Facebook or Instagram? Facebook (or Twitter). Science or the Arts? Both — what did you expect me to say? Censorship or freedom of speech? Freedom of speech. Urban or rural? Urban. Home or abroad? Abroad. Leave or Remain? Remain. Bablake or KHVIII? Really? There is no comparison! In Depth Questions What are your guilty pleasures? Diet Coke, Aston Villa and Percy Pigs. What time do you wake up and what is the first thing you do for work every day? 5am and check my emails.
What will you always find time for? People. Which book or piece of music changed your life? Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman or A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. Both books describe the fragility and cruelty of life especially for the poorest and least powerful in society. What are you most proud of? Most of the pupils I have taught. What is the most important decision you have made? Coming to Bablake?! I’m not sure but in this job, you often make decisions that impact on the future lives of young people and there are few decisions more important than that. Which three adjectives best describe you? Hardworking, positive and friendly. Which three people would be on your apocalypse team? Mr Menashe and Mr Watson. If they were alongside me, it might confuse the zombies. I know this is only two, but I think this makes a good team! Which three people (living or dead, real or fictional) would you invite to a dinner party? Tom Paine, Joseph Priestley and Florence Nightingale. Are you a feminist? I try to be. What does feminism mean to you? The belief in the equality between men and women and the willingness to act to achieve this. Should men cry? When was the last time you did? Yes. I think when watching the film, Call Me by Your Name. If you hadn’t been a teacher, which profession would you have gone into? Mountain Guide — this is probably not based in any reality, but I thoroughly enjoy taking groups into the mountains. Who has been your educational inspiration? Many but one stands out. Mr Sanders was the Headmaster when I started at secondary school. He knew every single pupil and their parents. He had this amazing ability to make everyone feel important, I still remember my first lesson with him where he introduced MTDR (margin, title, date and rule off). What are your strengths and weaknesses? Strengths — I try to listen to what people are telling me and also try to be interested in a wide variety of activities from mathematics to theatre and from sport to music. Weaknesses — far too many! I think it’s the mathematician in me, but I am sometimes too quick to try and solve something when there isn’t a simple solution to the problem. How important are rules? Have you ever broken any rules? If so, which ones? Very important. They are how society works
to keep us safe. We support each other by following them. I’m sure I have broken many rules but unlike Theresa May telling us how she ran through a crop field I am not going to admit to my indiscretions. I have, however, been arrested twice! Once in Hungary (I’m still not sure why) and in Laos (by corrupt police who wanted a bribe). What makes a good school a great school? A drive for excellence and a supportive community; attributes that exist at Bablake. There is a thought, which I think has some validity, that says that good is the enemy of great. We settle for good too easily and we worry about taking risks. It’s why we need to continue to evolve as a school. Define Bablake in a Tweet! Ethos, excellence, community. #Bablakelions #Partofthepride What advice would you give your 13-yearold self? Be kind, be interested and don’t give up playing the piano. The Bablake Questions What does Acting Head mean? I’m only pretending. Did you apply to be Bablake’s Head? If not, why not? No, I didn’t apply. Without going into too much detail, I love this school and what we achieve, however I wasn’t initially sure that it was the right move for me. This is a remarkable school and it is genuine privilege to be taking over as Headmaster. I wonder what my grandfather would have thought — he started at Bablake but left to work for Dunlop when his father was killed sailing on the Lusitania — I hope he would be very proud. What five things would you like to do to move Bablake forward? 1. Continue to improve what we do in the classroom 2. Continue to improve our facilities 3. Increase opportunities for pupils to contribute to the future direction of the school — including prefects having a greater leadership role 4. Develop how we use digital technology to support learning 5. Continue to employ high quality teachers by making sure Bablake is a great place to work What do you most admire about Mr Watson? Lots! Integrity, his attention to detail and how he knows everyone. Who will be higher up the Independent Schools league tables in five years’ time: Bablake or Leicester Grammar School? Bablake!
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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“We salute the legend that is Woody.”
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Valete We thank these colleagues for their outstanding loyalty to our community and wish them happiness and good health in retirement and in their new adventures. Thank you to staff for providing such wonderful tributes. These appreciations from former pupils, parents and staff have been collated by Editors Areej Raza and Ashley Kabue.
Mr Mark Woodward (Careers) On arriving at Bablake as a teacher of Latin and Classics back in 1987, Mark was a true breath of fresh air. He was different — he was YOUNG and looked it. He was so daring that he even wore jeans and trainers on a school non-uniform day, which was simply not done at that time. Since then, Mark has taught so many pupils and has inspired them to continue their studies, whether in the field of Latin & Classics or something completely different, such as photography or journalism. It was from there that his key passion grew — that of wanting to set young people on the right path for their immediate future. Mark became a careers ambassador and took the Careers Department from being something with its feet firmly planted in the past, with a university path mapped out for every student, to a forward-thinking, innovative department that opened doors to international universities, apprenticeships and work experience. Mark’s talents are simply too numerous to mention. The sheer amount and indeed quality of his photography is astounding and Bablake has become all the richer in so many ways thanks to Mark’s images and his constant promotion of the school via all media. A pioneer of social media within education, Mark launched every platform possible in Bablake’s name and was saving domain names long before royalty and celebs! No other school could boast a story a day on their website for over three years, with each and every one published (and more often than not written) by Mark. He truly put Bablake on the social media map and raised our profile significantly in terms of web presence. Mark became Staff Editor of The Wheatleyan in 2006 and succeeded in taking an already impressive publication to a
whole new level. The sheer beauty of it and the quality of the content are testament to Mark’s eye for detail and design. The magazine was a strong winner at the 2019 Shine School Media Awards, bringing home two awards. Mark’s links with former pupils are second to none and the reason so many returned to Bablake to offer their services to the Careers Department was Mark, and Mark alone. Strong working relationships and then friendships were established through his significant work in careers and many are indebted to him for all that they have gone on to do and achieve since leaving Bablake. His knowledge of Bablake pupils is unrivalled and testament to this is the huge number of pupils with whom he still has contact. An award winner in his own right, Mark has featured highly in careers on a national level. He has been part of and has led a number of forward-thinking forums and conventions during which his expertise, passion, drive and enthusiasm have always been in abundance. Away from the professional persona, we see the quirky, music-loving insomniac that is Woody. We must mention his numerous Movember moments, his ‘Talent Show’ appearances, the most memorable being his rendition of an iconic Sex Pistols song. He even invited KT Tunstall to Bablake Theatre and she came! As one of the most inspirational, hardworking and universally loved members of staff and highly respected Sixth Form tutors, we salute the legend that is Woody. We will miss his great intellect, wisdom, good sense, good humour and passion. There is now a Woody shaped void in school, but we are thankful to have had him as part of our community for so long.
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Mr Jim Burns (Assistant Head) After 19 years of loyal service, Jim has relinquished the chalkface at Bablake for the Elysian Fields of retirement. Jim was appointed by Stuart Nuttall in 2000 as Head of Sixth Form, tasked with the introduction of Curriculum 2000 and the new AS and A2 levels. He did so with both aplomb and success, supported by the then Assistant Heads of Sixth Form, Mr Dougall and Mrs Tumber. Bablake’s A level results steadily improved, no doubt aided by Jim’s commitment to the primacy of the classroom and his own teaching of business studies and economics. Our current Upper Sixth (and the History Department) also remember with affection Jim’s brief time as a Shell history teacher. After 10 years as Head of Sixth Form, Jim moved on to the post of Assistant Head, responsible for staff development, wellbeing and cover. To teachers, he was affectionately known as the ‘Cover King’, as Jim’s name would inevitably be on the list of teachers taking classes for their colleagues that day. Organising cover, inset days, department reviews, carrying out SLT duties as well as a significant teaching timetable meant Jim was always busy, yet he invariably had time for a chat, a coffee, a joke (standards varied!), or a quick word of support for anyone who needed it. From the beginning, Jim made a significant contribution to the co-curricular life of the school. He coached the 2nd XV for three years, before taking the younger pupils under his wing, mentoring junior rugby and Shell cricket; he was unstinting and uncomplaining in his commitment, turning 18
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out to referee or umpire school teams every Saturday. He also made a major contribution to the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, qualifying as a bronze and silver award assessor and supporting many expeditions at all levels. His most significant skills lay in the organisation of refreshments (including on one occasion some mind-blowing chilli) and manoeuvring the minibus out of the seemingly impossible situations into which other members of staff had driven them. A Germanophile, Jim accompanied four trips to Berlin, using his intimate knowledge of the transport system to successfully lead pupils around the city. Inspired by these visits, Jim has decided to learn German as part of his retirement plans. This may prevent a recurrence of the misunderstanding on one occasion in the Berlin U-Bahn when he asked for assistance to take a Christmas cake to the surface instead of a wheelchair! Needless to say, no response was forthcoming. There was very little Jim was not prepared to turn his hand to at Bablake. He acted as quiz-master for house competitions and fundraising events, most recently on the occasion of Mr Drury’s retirement. He led the junior assembly for many years, including very moving Remembrance assemblies. He was a founder member of the Bablake Believers and enthusiastically supported the Bablake-Harrismith partnership. Jim was a highly regarded colleague and will be missed by pupils and staff alike. Wir wünschen dir alles Gute in deinem Ruhestand!
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Mr John Watson (Headmaster)
Mr Clive Mohamed (Biology)
Mr Watson was appointed as Headmaster in 2006. He quickly impressed people with his warmth, intelligence and integrity. Before joining Bablake, he held roles at Sevenoaks, Millfield and Trinity in Croydon. His attention to detail was legendary, for example, before taking over, he had learnt the names of all staff from their photographs and soon did the same with pupils and their parents. I was always impressed, and a little daunted, by how he seemed to know everyone at parents’ evenings. He studied Classics and Modern Languages at Oxford and gained a first-class degree. His strength at languages, including grammar, meant it was rare for a member of staff to have a letter issued without any ‘Watson corrections’. The School certainly did not stand still under his leadership. Building work included the refurbishment of the Sixth Form Centre, new facilities for careers, learning support and our medical team, the transformation of garages into a Fifth Form common room, improvements to our sports hall and significant investment into the science laboratories. The Memorial Garden and Faith Centre have provided spaces for reflection and tranquillity in the heart of our busy school. As you would expect for any organisation, the School faced many challenges during the Watson years, including significant curriculum change; however, thanks to his good judgement, the School has held on to many of the key attributes, such as the warm and supportive atmosphere, that makes it such a special place. After thirteen years at the helm, he moved on to become the Principal of Leicester Grammar School. He is a difficult act to follow!
Clive Mohamed joined Bablake in 2007, doubling the testosterone concentration in the female dominated department. His love of the outdoors and his 20+ years’ experience in the RAF were soon put to good use on the countless Duke of Edinburgh expeditions and CCF camps he accompanied, and his own personal and perhaps most significant contribution to outdoor education at Bablake – World Challenge. More than a mere trip, Clive orchestrated two World Challenge expeditions, to Mexico and Belize in 2011 and to Malaysia in 2013; providing the experience of a lifetime for pupils who will truly never forget finding their independence during their time spent trekking through the jungle or diving with turtles, or indeed getting lost and need saving by the national Disaster Rescue Squad! Clive gave greatly of his personal time; lunchtimes and after school often saw him in a random location supporting a House event — such was his unique contribution to the House system at Bablake that he was one of the few people to have worked in three of the four houses, only Fairfax having missed out. If only he’d have had a few more years we feel sure he’d have managed the full set! Clive is a real gadget guru and, within the Biology department, our go-to man for IT. Whenever we couldn’t get the computers to do anything we wanted them to, he was the man to sort them out. That, and his frequent and generous offer to allow the rest of us to teach his period 6 Junior Science class on any given afternoon, made him a vital and integral part of a decade long formed team which is not easily undone. It is most strange to not see him there first thing in the morning having collected the bulletins and boiled the kettle! He will be missed.
Mrs Alison Learmont-Henry (Chemistry) Alison Learmont-Henry worked as a Chemistry Teacher at Bablake from September 2011 until December 2018. She initially worked full time and then changed to part time in September 2016. She brought considerable academic knowledge and experience to the School in general. In her lessons, she demonstrated a great classroom presence and held pupils’ attention very well. She had high expectations and was most thorough at following up with pupils who did not meet these expectations. Her most significant contribution to school life outside the Chemistry Department was running the Sixth Form medical extension classes. She arranged trips to courses and talks related to Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine. She assisted pupils with their personal statements and provided practice interviews for them. She was also spotted on the CCF parade ground and on Equestrian Society activities. We wish her well as she makes her career change, moving on to return to her former profession as a Veterinary Practitioner. @TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Mrs Mandie Bradshaw (Geography) Mandie joined Bablake in 2012 and came to us from RNIB Rushton School where she was Head of Sixth Form Development and was also previously an established Head of Department at two other schools (latterly Headington School in Oxford). She was initially appointed as second in department to support Steve Jackson and immediately made many positive impacts on the department. Mandie quickly showed herself to be a superb Geographer, exceptional classroom teacher and supportive colleague and friend. By her own admission, she was certainly not somebody who liked to be bored and was a huge support when it came to the enormous challenge of re-planning and resourcing the new GCSE and A level courses following national reforms. She never waited to be asked to take something on, and just got on with the most important aspect of our work as teachers – planning and delivering excellent lessons with the best possible resources and activities. She became a highly respected teacher and ran a weight training club for the Sixth Form rugby squad. She also helped to run GCSE and A level field courses and accompanied the departmental expedition to Iceland in 2016. Mandie became part time following the birth of her first child Susannah, who was shortly joined by her sister Martha. Mandie will be very much missed in the department with her quick wit and utmost desire to get the very best out of the pupils and not allow for mediocrity. We wish her well in her new full-time post at Warwick School — our loss is very much their gain and we wish her, Lewis, Susannah and Martha well for the future.
Mrs Catherine Lynch (English) Mrs Lynch has been a highly valued member of the English Department ever since she joined in 2016. Having made the decision to be part-time when she came to the school, Mrs Lynch’s hours did not seem in any way diminished! Her conscientious commitment to her pupils was unfailing: lessons were always meticulously planned, resources carefully prepared and work marked very thoroughly. Her conscientious approach enabled students to flourish regardless of their ability in the subject and she supported them with clearly articulated ways to improve both their understanding and their written work. Always professional and reliable, Mrs Lynch never had a day off school except for the courses and trips she enjoyed — including the much beloved A level English Language Conferences with David Crystal (although the self-effacing Mrs Lynch declined to have a photo taken!) Indeed it was in her role as a teacher of English Language at A level that Mrs Lynch has been particularly valued, taking on a new specification in her first year and diligently resourcing all of the new topics. She has been of immense support to Mrs Reddish both in terms of the course delivery and her focus on the students as individuals. Her legacy will
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live on and she will be sorely missed. As one colleague put it: “She is exactly the sort of teacher I would want my child to have.” High praise indeed.
Miss Molly Taylor (History) Miss Molly Taylor joined the History Department in September 2018 covering Mrs Lenihan’s maternity leave for the year. She quickly fitted in well to the department and threw herself into school life, helping with the debating team and inspiring the Lower Sixth students to set up a Senior History Club, which hosted a number of great presentations and debates. She was a caring Assistant Third Year Tutor to a variety of forms over the year. She was well liked and respected by staff and students alike. Her enthusiasm and dedication to teaching history meant she was always thinking of new methods to use in the classroom; students enjoyed her use of plickers as a memory tool. She organised, and took part in, a very successful fundraising concert for Harrismith; her superb organisation skills stood her in good stead here as she was also preparing for her own wedding at the same time, which was the following week! She managed two fantastic events, and although she was married, she remained affectionately known as Miss Taylor to her students. She did a wonderful job whilst she was here, and the History Department were very sorry to lose her at the end of the year and wish her every success for her future. Her students and forthcoming school will be lucky to have her.
Mrs Sangeetha Raguram (Chemistry Technician) Sangeetha worked for four years behind the scenes as an outstanding Science Technician. She was part of our team of unsung heroes who are absolutely essential to Bablake pupils’ valuable experiences of practical science. Her appointment here was her first post as a Technician, and she very quickly picked up the key parts of the job; safely and efficiently preparing and clearing away reagents and apparatus for practicals. She is one of the most positive and polite people you could ever hope to meet; no matter how busy she was, she always worked with a smile on her face and had a kind word to say. She rapidly became an independent worker capable of preparing any Chemistry practical in the syllabus. She moves on to a post leading a technician team at another school, and we are certain that she will be completely successful in the role. She will be greatly missed by her colleagues, for not only her professional excellence, but mainly her wicked sense of humour. Thank you also to the following support staff who left Bablake in 2018/19, for all their hard work and for being such an integral part of the Bablake family: Mr Terrence Patchett (Administrator), Senora Isabel Cowell (Language Assistant), Mrs Alexandria Hargreaves (Marketing Manager), Mrs Zoe Wilkin (Biology Technician) and Mr Alex Lambert (ICT Apprentice).
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@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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We welcome the following highly talented new members of teaching staff to Bablake.
Ms Sonia Dines (Teacher of Mathematics) A former Bablake pupil, Ms Dines attended the University of Liverpool where she studied a BSc Hons degree in Mathematical Sciences with Physics. She then attended University of Birmingham to complete her PGCE in Mathematics and ICT. She has previously worked at King Edward VI Sheldon Heath School in Birmingham as Head of KS5 Maths and worked for RM, the educational IT company, as an Education Consultant, training teachers on how best to utilise IT in their teaching. Mr Alan Elliott (Teacher of English) Mr Elliott achieved a BA Hons in English and French, completed his PGCE in English with Drama and then completed his MA in Professional Education, all at the University of Warwick. He previously taught at Kingsthorpe College, Northampton. Miss Hayley Goody (Teacher of Design and Technology, Food and Nutrition) Miss Goody left Alcester Grammar School in 2005 and graduated
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with a Second Class Hons degree in Multimedia Textile Design from Loughborough University. She worked as an international dance costume designer for four years before taking a Design Technology PGCE via Worcester University. She joins us from Southam College in Warwickshire. Miss Katherine Marriott (Teacher of Girls’ Physical Education) Miss Marriott graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University in 2015 with a First Class BSc Hons degree in Sport and Exercise Science. She worked at the Royal Hospital School and Shrewsbury School before completing her Physical Education PGCE through Manchester Metropolitan University in 2019. Mr Richard Rawlins (Teacher of Economics and Business Studies) Mr Rawlins gained his BA Joint Hons in Economics and Politics, from Liverpool John Moores University. He joins Bablake from Cardinal Newman Catholic School where he taught GCSE and A level Business and Economics. He undertook
his teaching training in school via the Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP), and Newman University, having previously been a Special Needs Teaching Assistant for one year. Ms Linda Sherry (Teacher of Psychology) Ms Sherry graduated in Psychology at Durham University. She taught EFL in Japan before doing her PGCE at Edge Hill University. She has worked as a Psychology (HoD) teacher and teacher of SEN in Coventry (Finham Park School, Caludon Castle School, Bishop Ullathorne School) and Rugby (Ashlawn School) and was also Head of Department in a Guernsey Sixth Form Centre for five years. Mr David Tennant (Teacher of Chemistry) Mr Tennant graduated from Warwick University in 2005 after studying Biomedical Chemistry. He subsequently trained as a teacher through the Graduate Teacher Programme back in 2008 and has been teaching ever since. He joins us from Blue Coat School.
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New Support Staff We welcome the following to our fantastic team of support staff: Mr Peter Clarke (Senior Gardener) Mrs Hayley Clough (Science Technician (Chemistry and Biology) Mrs Fiona Kain (Careers Advisor and Coordinator) Miss Lise Urban (MFL Assistant, French) Miss Chloe Watts (Learning Support Assistant) New responsibilities Mrs Jo Barratt — EPQ Co-ordinator Mr Duncan Bevis — Learning Mentor Miss Coral Billingham — Trainee Teacher of Science Mrs Gemma Heath — Outreach Co-ordinator Ms Carolin Pfennig — Trainee Teacher of MFL Mrs Helen Skilton — Assistant Head (Teaching & Learning) Mr Michael Spencer — Assistant Head (Curriculum) Mr Andrew Wright — Headmaster Other news... Head of Sixth Form Mrs Tumber received a Queens Award for her outstanding voluntary service over four decades with National Youth Music Camps at The Stables. 40 years’ service — an amazing achievement, Mr Karl Ward! Thank you for helping our students and staff enjoy such fantastic playing facilities. Celebrations in the History Department! We congratulate Miss Molly Taylor on her marriage and Mrs Kelly Lenihan on the arrival of baby Thomas. Welcome to the world to Henry, Mrs Alexandria Hargreaves’ new arrival. Staff sporting and charity achievements Many congratulations to Mr Atwal (Computer Science and Hockey) on being selected for Wales’ Grand Masters European Cup hockey squad. Well done to Mrs Jennie May for completing a marathon! ‘Team Bablake’ (Mrs Helen Billings, Ms Vicky Bradley, Mrs Sally Aitchison and Mrs Hayley Bamforth) ran at the Race for Life 5km event at Stoneleigh Park on 29 June 2019, raising money for Cancer Research. Mr Duncan Bevis and his wife ‘ran/walked/ crawled’ the Santa Dash (in full Santa costume!) in aid of Myton Hospice. Mrs Maria O’Neill and her daughter Anastasia, as well as other members of Bablake staff, completed the ‘Cameron’s 5th Night Walk’ in aid of the Cameron Grant Memorial Trust.
Team Bablake run into some Bablake pupils after they complete the Race for Life
Mrs Tumber celebrates receiving a Queens Award for services to volunteering
Mr Atwel represents Wales in the European Cup
Congratulations to Mr Karl Ward for his 40 years of service
New Assistant Heads Mrs Skilton and Mr Spencer
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Bablake’s new wave Interview by Sathvika Krishnan As the Upper Sixth took on the endeavour of their A levels at the start of the summer term, in came the new wave of Senior Prefects. To get to know them, we asked them a few questions about their role so far ...
Which two words describe you? Lydia: Cheerful, positive. Hattie: Quiet, shy. Dasha: Enthusiastic, motivated. Fi: Short, loud. Will: Very tall. Alfie: Hardworking, artistic. Jack: Dedicated, honest. Chris: Persevering, friendly. Ellie: Small, feisty. Kelly: Under 6ft. Nick: Over 6ft. Abi: Passionate, invested. Kookie: Audacious, unconventional. Saf: Quirky and tenacious Who in the SP team is your partner in crime? Lydia: Hippy Hattie. Hattie: Big lid. Dasha: Alfie Shields, 100%. Fi: Abi. Will: Nick, “Small and big, so we complement each other.” Alfie: Dasha. Jack: Kookie. Chris: Doesn’t really have one. Ellie: Kelly. Kelly: Biddle, aka the small one with hair as long as she’s tall. Nick: Canning because he can reach the low shelves for me. Abi: Fifi the Flowertot. Kookie: Definitely Saf. Saf: Has to be Kookie! How has Bablake cultivated your growth as a person? Dasha: Teachers have encouraged me not to be afraid to show what I’m good at and what I’m interested in. Working with my peers on something that interests us all makes me feel comfortable in my own skin, which is so important. Fi: It’s made me really curious about learning. Will: It’s supported me in what I want to do. Alfie: It’s definitely increased my work ethic, I feel a lot more driven to do well. Jack: It’s gotten me involved in things I never thought I’d do. Chris: It’s given me opportunities that I wouldn’t have had before. It’s supported me to be better in an environment of high-achieving people. Ellie: Having joined later than my peers, Bablake’s welcoming environment helped me to settle in well. The school is always encouraging me to grasp every opportunity and strive for the best, even if the challenge may seem daunting. 24
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Kelly: Bablake has made me a better team player and I am proud to be part of such a friendly and supportive community. The teachers are so supportive and make me feel like no question is too silly to ask. Nick: Bablake has helped me learn how to work as a member of a team and become a well-rounded student. Abi: I feel like I’m able to approach something new, whether this may be an academic challenge or meeting someone for the first time for a tour, with more assurance and eagerness as a result of an increased confidence in my own ability. Kookie: I feel able to trust my teachers. Saf: The community at Bablake has always supported me through all my endeavours. The plethora of co-curricular activities has allowed me to explore new skillsets and showcase different talents. I am immensely grateful for the acceptance and encouragement offered by Bablake. What is one thing that connects the Senior Prefect team together? Lydia: The events and opportunities, we all love to get involved. Hattie: Enthusiasm. Dasha: The breakfast. Fi: We all care about Bablake and want the school to be a better place for everybody. Alfie: The Senior Prefects Breakfast. Jack: Our passion for helping out the school. Chris: Stress and standards. Ellie: Our love of food, who doesn’t love a good sausage sandwich at the SP breakfast. Nick: Sitting on the stage in assembly. Abi: We are all privileged to have the platform to engage with pupils in the school and provide support in any way we can. Kookie: Most of us were in Mrs French’s Set 1 class. Saf: Commitment to the school and our collective love of free food. Why is being a SP important to you? Dasha: The school has done a lot for me; it has given me opportunities and really been there for me throughout my whole school life and I want to give some of that back. I also love representing the school, I want to sell the school, I want other people to come here and experience what I have experienced. It just means a lot to me that I can do that with my position as a Senior Prefect. Alfie: For me, I looked up to everyone who was appointed Senior Prefect as the top of the school and to be acknowledged as someone who is seen like that as well, was quite a confidence boost. It’s a lot friendlier with teachers being a Senior Prefect — they know you’re responsible.
Bablake’s Senior Prefect Team
“This school has helped me so much over the last six years and I wanted to give something back to the school community.” FIONA CHUNG Jack: It lets me give something back to the school. Ellie: I want to be the person responsible for future students wanting to be one too. I want to show them how enjoyable this role is as well as help the school to be the very best it can be for each one of us. Kelly: My role as SP makes me feel proud to have such a commitment and act as a role model to younger peers. I want to be the friendly face anyone can come to if in need and feel honoured the school has trusted me with this position. Nick: Being a Senior Prefect gives me an opportunity to help the school and gain valuable leadership and organisational skills. Abi: Before becoming a Senior Prefect, I didn’t know much about the roles prefects played in many aspects of school life. Now I’m grateful to be a part of so much, have a say in matters I care about, and be able to have a direct impact on people’s school experience, which suffice to say is a pretty large and important part of our lives. Kookie: It gives me a chance to ensure the school that I love remains successful. Saf: Aside from getting a shiny badge, I take real pride in being
part of such a diverse community. My role as School Captain has allowed me to work with a fantastic team of Prefects and Senior Prefects and has given me the opportunity to represent and lead an excellent student body. Which teacher do you relate to the most or aspire to be like the most? Lydia: Miss Blackie — I would be happy to be half the women she is. Hattie: Although I don’t see myself as Mrs O’Neill or Miss Blackie I am inspired daily by their kindness and guidance. Dasha: People say I look like Mrs Green. Fi: Mrs Billings, I hope to be like her in the way she is always so dependable, and she is always there to look out for other people. Will: I am my own man. Alfie: Mrs Cassell, she is like your mum. In Art I actually called her mum once and she wasn’t annoyed about it. Jack: Mr Hall. Chris: Mr Park, because I like him. Ellie: The lovely Mrs Alderson because she is always wearing heels and driving around in a mini. Kelly: Mrs Blattner because we both rarely crack a smile. Nick: Mr Scanlon. Oh crumbs. Abi: Dr Casey, this could be because of his terrible science jokes, love for The Simpsons, or detailed plan to take over the world one day. Kookie: Mr Kalsi. Saf: There are so many to choose from and they are all wonderful in their own ways. Although I do not necessarily see myself as any of the teachers, I admire and relate to many of their characteristics (including Mrs French’s fabulous heels!). @TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Beyond the Classroom Edited by Lawou Mpafe, Sathvika Krishnan and Abinaya Muraleetharan
“The lessons we learn outside the classroom are equally if not more important than the ones we learn inside. I can’t emphasise this enough. We learn how to live life, the most important lesson of all.” UNKNOWN
Facing page: Pupils enjoy their Enrichment activities in the great outdoors
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@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Charity highlights “As a charity committee we love giving to local and national charities and seeing the positive impact of where your money goes.” “During the course of last year, the Bablake Charity team supported a variety of brilliant causes, including Sherbourne Fields School, Harrismith School and Children in Need. It’s vital we continue to help our community, and we do this through charity— a value that Bablake heavily promotes. Last year, we had many fundraisers: chocolate tombolas, scavenger hunts, soak the teachers, bake sales, and more. A particular highlight was our visit to Sherbourne Fields, a school committed to helping children who find the little things in life difficult. This visit was incredibly eye-opening to all who attended, and really reminded us of how much we take for granted. We were pleased to recognise many qualities that we also encourage widely at Bablake; the hard work of staff to ensure that their pupils’ experience of school is fulfilling and meaningful, along with the positive attitudes of the students who always persevere and have endless smiles on their faces. The school has such a caring atmosphere, with a safe learning environment for pupils to receive the help and support they need.
We will never forget the inspiring people we met on that wonderful trip, who taught us that our differences should be celebrated, and they unite people in amazing ways. Staff and pupils showed us around their school and all the students loved the hydrotherapy pool — which was worse for wear, and needed a lot of investment for it to return to its full glory! Our charity team was instantly committed to raising money to help them with their goal. Everyone deserves that facility to play, exercise and have fun. We raised the money through a variety of events, which everyone in the school took part in. We were pleased to say that at the end of the year, we raised lots of money for this amazing cause through our fundraisers, and helped Sherbourne Fields with their ultimate goal. Along with Mrs Skilton and her team of wonderful Sixth Formers we have continued to support Harrismith, a school in South Africa, and raise lots of money to help provide them with school uniforms, production costumes, the internet and sports equipment. Last academic term we were also very privileged to have a few students and teachers join us from Harrismith School and everyone loved seeing them around school. We hope that we can continue help this incredible school thrive and welcome them back to Bablake very soon. Children in Need is a yearly event which is thoroughly enjoyed by the whole school and allows the new Shells to get involved in organising a week of charity events. Our most successful are always, soak the teachers, the chocolate tombolas and cake sales. Thank you to all the teachers who gave up their lunch to have wet, cold sponges pelted at them. A special thanks to Mrs Pfennig who had three or four buckets of water thrown over her! The Shell pupils also really enjoy their sponsored Pudsey Bear hunt, scavenging the whole school to see who could find the 50 hidden Pudseys quickest. Most of all we would like to thank the students and parents who have kindly donated and made all of the events possible and such a big success. As a charity committee we love giving to local and national charities and seeing the positive impact of where your money goes. We hope we can have another extremely successful year and raise lots more money for such worthy and inspirational charities.” Libby Stinton and Rhea Cherington
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My charity skydive “You’re jumping out of a That’s the question that I got asked countless times in the weeks running up to the tandem skydive I took part in this March to raise money for the charity Young People First. 13,000ft later and I can tick skydiving off my bucket list. To say it was the best experience of my life is an understatement; I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to help such an incredible charity and experience falling through the air at around 120 mph with an indescribably beautiful view in front of my eyes. Young People First are a charity based in Coventry and Warwickshire that are actively working with disadvantaged and vulnerable young people that are much less fortunate than me. In September 2018, an ambassador from the charity approached the school I was part of at the time and put forward this opportunity. He asked those who were interested to each raise a minimum of £400 over the course of the next few months in order to take part in a tandem skydive. Unlike others who decided to take part I did not want to rely solely on sponsors from family and friends and instead took it as an opportunity to plan some events. In December I organised a party for 180 people at a venue I hired, which proved to be a huge success, despite the stress that came along with the event planning! I also organised a ‘home cinema’ for a group of 15 friends to enjoy. I managed to raise £350 simply from these two events, then branched out to my supportive family and friends to help me get to my target. On March 23rd I woke up to a beautiful sunny day — the best conditions possible for a skydive. I was slightly nervous but my excitement overwhelmed any second thoughts. An hour after registering at Hinton Skydiving Centre I was climbing into the small plane with two other tandem skydivers and about five solo skydivers.
plane?”
As the plane rose to 10,000ft, the skydivers sat in front of me began to prepare. As soon as we got to 13,000ft the door on the side of the plane was slid open and I watched as people dropped from the side of the plane. Suddenly it was my turn. The expert I was buddied up with slid us out to the edge of the plane. At this point I was no longer in contact with the plane and the full realisation of what was about to happen hit me, figuratively and literally as the wind was incredibly strong. Before I knew it I was plummeting at ridiculous speed and laughing with joy at the incredible sight in front of my eyes. Free fall only lasted 40 seconds but it felt like 10! The parachute was then deployed and a little while later I had safely landed with adrenaline still coursing through my body. When people asked me afterwards how it was, I told them that it is not something I could describe and the only way to understand what it is like is to do a skydive yourself. If you are considering whether to do a skydive do it while you can. It’s an amazing experience. I am so lucky to have been able to do this and this whole journey has reminded me that I, and all my friends, are so lucky to live the lifestyles we do. So many young people my age are suffering, and it is so easy to forget how easy our lives are compared to theirs. It’s lovely to know that the money I have raised is going to Young People First and will ultimately help somebody less fortunate than myself. In this way the best part of this whole experience is not the skydive but giving back to people who need it most. Dasha Sutton
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Back to the
80s! Well done to Katy Davis and her student team, who alongside Mrs Skilton and Miss Taylor, created a magical evening of 80s nostalgia to help fundraise for Harrismith Secondary, our South
African partner school. Over £1150 was raised — an amazing total!
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c h a r i t y r ep o r t
+ ÂŁ1,150raised
Over
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Anti-ageing: a discussion Ageing is a physiological process, dynamic and irreversible, which occurs in the individual development of living organisms over time. However, as technology rapidly advances, scientists find themselves searching for a ‘cure’, in the hopes that one day we can increase our life expectancy infinitely writes areej raza.
“The ability to arrest or reverse ageing highlights the dangers of its exploitation and raises a number of ethical concerns.” areej raza
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Image by Pexels from Pixabay
A
lthough research behind it may be fairly new, the notion of immortality has been around for centuries. Traditional Chinese medicine has always maintained a keen interest in the arts of extending human lifespan and attaining immortality in the flesh. The idea of immortality goes even further back to the times of the ancient Egyptians, who focused on the idea that the soul could live on forever. Although, in today’s world, biogerontologists define immortality not in the sense of the soul, but of the body. Biogerontology studies the complex causes for the physiological failure to maintain homeostasis, but also the ways to slow down, compress the morbidity, arrest, or even reverse degenerative processes in living organisms. On the other hand, the idea that ageing requires a ‘cure’, suggests that becoming old is undesirable and a disease to humanity. The ability to arrest or reverse ageing highlights the dangers of its exploitation and raises a number of ethical concerns. Impoverished societies may be left behind to live much shorter and less fulfilling lives compared to their richer counterparts who will be able to afford this advanced technology. And so, a concerning question arises, should scientists be allowed to further research this field for the sake of progress and create a market for the use of anti-ageing techniques for the public? James Fries, a professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, explains one of the aims that scientists hope to achieve in the near future, “Think about two points on a typical human lifespan, with the first point representing the time at which a person becomes chronically ill or disabled and the second point representing the time at which that person dies. Today, the time between those two points is about 20 years or so. During the early portion of those years, chronic disease or disability is minor, but increases nearer to the end of life. The idea behind compression of morbidity is to squeeze or compress the time horizon between the onset of chronic illness or disability and the
time in which a person dies.” Fries continues to explain, “By minimising the number of years people suffer from chronic illness, we enable older people to live more successful, productive lives that benefit themselves and society. When we consider healthcare reform and new approaches to structuring health care systems, we must recognize that by avoiding long-term periods of morbidity, we reduce healthcare costs and improve the lives of patients at the same time.” Although achievement of any of these biogerontological visions may seem improbable, history shows how developments in biomedical science — like the cloning of mammals — can catch society unawares by accomplishing what seemed to be ‘The Impossible’. Biogerontologists who are engaged in anti-ageing research need to undertake more active leadership — joining with colleagues in medicine, the behavioural and social sciences, and the humanities — in helping the public to understand their goals, to deliberately consider the implications of their fulfilment. Such discussions may be able to shape wisely the future of developments in anti-ageing science and their social consequences. While fighting disease always garners more public funding than health promotion, new biomedical enhancements will always have a bigger private market than new disease cures. It is crucial that this is not exploited. Understanding must be brought to the public that any current anti-ageing products being marketed are yet to be proven effective and can sometimes be more harmful than good. Only through open discussion, however, can we come to appropriate conclusions about the possible future of humanity and the changes that could be brought along by extending lives. The focus of biogerontology currently seems to be whether the pursuit of prolongevity is desirable. Nihilists may say that “life is a disease with death as its only cure,” however it seems that at this point many people would propose turning this quote the other way around.
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Watch your step! Three groups of Bablake students were selected as finalists for the Big Bang Competition 2019, at the NEC in Birmingham. The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for young people in the UK. We look in more detail at one of the selected projects, entitled, ‘Eco-friendly Electricity’, by Taran Dhillon, James Fraser, Hari Gill and Ben Harrison.
As time moves on, our world and the environment is becoming more and more polluted. A large portion of this is down to the methods we use to produce electricity. We have created a method of generating electricity, which is cheap, effective, and can be performed by anyone going out on their daily routine. Using a pavement, that generates electricity, anyone can make energy, allowing us to live a cleaner and safer life. Energy is involved in many aspects of our lives. Greenhouse gas emissions, acid rain, climate change, dependency on depleting supplies of fossil fuels are just some of the issues that arise from the use of energy. The Idea Our idea is to create a footpath that induces electrical current as you walk on it. We believe this is the best way to achieve our aim as it is the most able idea that can generate clean energy in a productive way. The number of people that walk up and down a pedestrian-rich street e.g. Oxford Street in London in a single day is very large and their combined kinetic energy of moving their legs is not being taken advantage of. 34
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It would be useful as pedestrians are very common in places with busy road traffic and should be used to minimise the effects of less fuel-efficient vehicles on our planet. Findings This could be used to power streetlamps, shops, traffic lights, and if on a large enough scale maybe even become a main source of energy for most houses. We believe that if a person were to step on one half of a pavement, causing it to tilt on a pivot slightly, it would create enough motion that when they stepped off that portion of pavement, a strong magnet could pass through some tightly wound coil, and generate electricity (this would be in AC, but could be changed to DC using a diode). To test the theory behind our idea, we constructed a prototype of how it may work, and were pleased with the outcome when we managed to get a small LED to light up.
“This is an original idea and presents itself as a really useful renewable source. The team have a good understanding of the electrical characteristics of E.M.I. signals. It was great to see an excellent prototype and demonstration. Well done!” the judges
Photo by Robin Worrall on Unsplash
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Driven by debate
The Bablake debaters and public speakers have been very busy competing in the Coventry Festival of Speech and Drama, the Coventry City Council Schools Debating contest, The English Speaking Union Schools’ Mace Debating Competition and both the intermediate and senior section of the Rotary Youthspeaks competition. Shell pupils share with us their first experience of debating competitions...
At the start of January last year, we had the opportunity to perform at the Rotary Speaking competition, representing the Senior School. Our public speaking journey started when we joined debating club on a Friday lunch time at the beginning of Shells. Run by Mrs Lawrence, she asked us if we would be interested in doing a public speaking competition. Once we found out what the competition was about, we decided to try it, it sounded fun! Next, we had to choose a topic to talk about. A topic we had already debated about at the club was whether autonomous cars would improve road safety in the future. Mrs Lawrence decided this would be a good topic to talk about because there were many different views and opinions to consider in the process. There were three of us on the team and we each had a different role. The roles included being chairperson, introducing everyone and giving a quick overview of the speech, being the main speaker, giving the speech and answering a single question asked by one of the
judges and finally being the final person to speak with the vote of thanks, commenting on how the main speaker spoke and finishing off the whole presentation. Public speaking to each of us was slightly outside our comfort zones but after we had done it, we were all relieved to have finished our speech. In the end, our months of practice led to about 15 minutes of speaking! Unfortunately, after only making a very few minor mistakes, we weren’t chosen to go through to the next round. Although the result was not what we were hoping for, none of us regretted the decision to try public speaking and we are all confident to present and speak more now than ever were before. Congratulations must also go to Abinaya and Eva who teamed up to win a place through to the finals of the Oxford Union Schools’ debating competition. They were among only eight pairs selected from a total entry of 65 to go through to compete in Oxford.
“A topic we had already debated about at the club was whether autonomous cars would improve road safety in the future.” @TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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House Activities 2018/19 A literary and visual compilation of the House year
Perseverance is the key Bayley’s prefects were tasked with turning cream into butter during their house assembly, while Head of House, Mr sukki Sahota, told the story of the frog that didn’t give up...
“Good morning Bayley! Today’s assembly is about perseverance. I am going to start by talking about cream and butter. Butter is made by ‘churning’ (or steadily agitating) cream. Nowadays this is a factory process, but traditionally butter was made by hand in the cool surroundings of a farm dairy by rotating cream by hand in a small barrel, called a churn. Churning the butter could take a long time and required much perseverance. The same result can be achieved by shaking cream in a container — but it is hard work! You could try this at home!
Bayley House Competition Winners 2018/19 Basketball: Shell Boys Christmas Card Competition: Shells Dodgeball: 2 nd Years (joint winners) Hockey: Senior Boys, Senior and 4th Year Girls, Shell Girls Netball: 4th Year Girls Shell Olympics: Shell Boys Pumpkin Carving: 3rd and 4th Years Ready, Steady, Cook: 2 nd Year Tennis: Seniors Overall position: 3rd with 146 points
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Mr Sahota hands one of the prefects a container which contains cream and asks the prefect to shake it steadily in an attempt to make butter. I am going to tell you the story of the frog that fell into the cream. A young frog lived in a muddy pond together with his frog sisters, his frog brothers and his frog parents. He liked his home and loved his family. He had learned to swim in that small muddy pond. ‘Keep trying’ his family had croaked. ‘Kick hard!’ the frog kicked his legs and he didn’t give in. Often when he was swimming, he wanted to explore the world beyond his pond. So one day, he hopped out of the water and headed towards a nearby farm. The frog hopped past the sheep pens and the newborn lambs, past the stables watched by the patient horse, quickly past the yard where the hens clucked and scratched, past the shed where the cows were milked, and into the cool, damp, shade of the dairy. All frogs like cool, damp places and the young frog stayed in the dairy until he decided that it was time to head back to his muddy pond. He kicked his legs, and with a large leap, fell straight into a jug of cream! He kicked his legs again, but the sides of the jug were slippery. The frog kicked his legs and kicked again (and again) but there was no escape. He began to grow tired and feared that he would sink to the bottom of the jug and drown. He thought of his family, safe at home in the muddy pond. He remembered how they had told him to ‘keep trying’. “I will keep trying,” the frog said to himself as he kicked his legs, again and again. But what was the use? He grew more and more tired. He thought he would drown. But still he kicked hard and kept himself afloat, until something odd happened.
h o u s e ac t i v i t i e s
Suddenly he felt some lumps between his toes. The frog kept on kicking his legs and eventually found that he was sitting on something that looked like yellow mud. The cream had turned to butter! He gave one last tremendous leap and was free! Back at the muddy pond, the young frog was welcomed by his worried family. “I almost drowned,” he said, “but I kicked hard. I kept trying, I didn’t give up!”. Has our prefect succeeded in making butter? If not, how much longer will they need to persevere? Eventually the cream will separate into butter and buttermilk. What is the significance of the story about the frog? Well, it illustrates the need to persevere or ‘keep trying’. There will be moments at school when ‘the frog that fell into the cream’ might be remembered. Sometimes problem-solving is difficult. Sometimes we think that we may never succeed, so what is the point of carrying on? However, if we keep trying, unexpected solutions will often emerge. Perseverance helps us to move on at the times when we say: “Help! I’m stuck, I might as well give up!”. Here is a quote for you to think about: “If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.” — Flavia Weedn And, of course, there is the well-known saying — if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again! Thank you for listening and enjoy the term!”
“Sometimes we think that we may never succeed, so what is the point of carrying on? However, if we keep trying, unexpected solutions will often emerge. Perseverance helps us to move on at the times when we say: ‘Help! I’m stuck, I might as well give up!’.” Mr sukki sahota @TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Giving something back
Crow by MR andrew Phillips (head of house)
“This is what makes the House system so special; it is an aspect of school that is driven by our own students for our own students.” Mr andrew phillips
House Competition Winners 2018/19 Dodgeball: 2 nd Year (joint) Photography: winners Quiz: Seniors and Intermediate Ready, Steady, Cook: 3rd Year (joint) Rounders: 2nd Year Scrabble: Shell Boys and Shell Girls (joint) Overall position: 4th with 137 points
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“One of my favourite aspects of the House system is the diversity of events that take place during the academic year; giving all our students an opportunity to take part in activities that aren’t offered in our mainstream co-curricular provision. Photography, aeronautical engineering, chess, structural engineering, Easter egg design, pumpkin carving and Ready Steady Cook were some of my personal highlights last year. Crow were once again led by an enthusiastic and committed group of prefects who were excellent role models for our younger students. The prefects invariably tell me when applying for their role that they want to give something back, a feeling derived from their positive experiences of the House system lower down the school and the role the prefects at the time had in inspiring them to get involved. This process is then repeated with our current prefects. This is what makes the House system so special; it is an aspect of school that is driven by our own students for our own students.”
h o u s e ac t i v i t i e s
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Inspirational stories
Fairfax by MR inderpal kalsi (head of house)
“Every new week or year is always full of new opportunities. I would like to encourage you to take any opportunity that comes your way...” Mr Inderpal Kalsi
House Competition Winners 2018/19 Aerospace: winners Chess: winners Badminton: Senior Boys, 3rd and 4th Year Boys, Shell and 2 nd Year Boys and Girls Basketball: 5th Year Boys Netball: 3rd Year Girls and Shell Girls Shell Olympics: Shell Girls Ready Steady Cook: 4th Year (joint winners) and Shells Scrabble: Senior Mixed and 2 nd Year Boys Spelling Bee: winners Sports Day: Shells Swimming: Shells Overall position: 2 nd with 170 points 40
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Mr Kalsi treated Fairfax house to a thought-provoking assembly on short stories and the morals we can gain from them... here are two of our favourite stories from the assembly: “Next we have ‘Our Value’. A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a £20 note. In the room of 200, he asked, “Who would like this £20 note?” hands started going up. He said, “I am going to give this £20 to one of you but first, let me do this.” He proceeded to crumple the note up. He then asked, “Who still wants it?” Still the hands were up in the air. “Well,” he replied, “What if I do this?” And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty. “Now who still wants it?” Still the hands went into the air “My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth £20. Many times, in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We may sometimes feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. You are special — Don’t ever forget it! Finally, we have ‘build your own house’. An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his contractor of his plans to leave the house building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. He would miss the pay cheque each week, but he wanted to retire. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favour. The carpenter said yes, but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.
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When the carpenter finished his work, his contractor came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said, “This is your house… my gift to you.” The carpenter was shocked! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. So, it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock, we realise we must live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently. But you cannot go back. You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Someone once said, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.” Your attitude, and the choices you make today, help build the ‘house’ you will live in tomorrow. Therefore, build wisely! These stories can lift us up, make us smile, encourage, motivate, and teach us valuable life lessons. Throughout history, people have used inspirational stories to teach, encourage, and inspire in hopes that the listener will use it as a steppingstone and as an example, to live a better life. Some will make you think and hopefully, some will give you that motivation to go for your dreams.”
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Another winning year for Wheatley!
Wheatley by Miss laura watts (head of house)
House Winners 2018/19
House Competition Winners 2018/19 Badminton: Senior Girls and 3rd and 4th Year Girls Dodgeball: 4th Year and 3rd Year (joint) Football: 4th Year and 3rd Year (joint) Hockey: 3rd Year Girls and 2 nd Year Girls Netball: 2 nd Year Girls Quiz: Junior Ready, Steady, Cook: 4th Year (joint) and 3rd Year (joint) Rounders: 3rd Year Scrabble: 2 nd Year and Shell Girls (joint) Sports Day: 2 nd Year, 3rd Year and 4th Year Swimming: 2 nd Year Boys, 2 nd Year Girls and 3rd Year Girls Table Tennis: Junior Overall House Winners: Total Points 180
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It was another fantastic year for Wheatley House as they won the house cup for the third consecutive year. “Highlights of the year included Swimming, with the Second Year girls storming to 1st place with a record-breaking number of points. The Second Year boys and the Third Year girls also secured 1st places. The Junior and Intermediate age groups competed well in the Tennis competitions to come out on top securing vital points for the house and the Seniors triumphed in the Table Tennis. Ready Steady Cook is always a fantastic couple of weeks when the pupils have the opportunity to compete in the kitchen and this year was no exception, with some delicious food being prepared. Well done to all those involved particularly the Third and Fouth Year teams who came first! The boys also had success in the football with 1st places for both the Second and Fourth Years. The points were very close all through the year as always and it came down to sports day once again to decide which house would come out on top. In the past we have traditionally not been the most sporting house, however we always do our best and have fun. It was therefore a definite highlight for Wheatley to finish in the top two houses in each year group at sports day! Well done to all those that participated in events, regardless of position you have all contributed to the success and team spirit of the house system. The prefect team were fantastic with some inspirational and unusual assemblies. As well as being excellent role models and offering support to the rest of the house. I am so proud of the house pupils and their dedication to Wheatley, I truly believe it is their commitment, determination and pride as Wheatleyans that has driven our success.�
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“I am so proud of the house pupils and their dedication to Wheatley, I truly believe it is their commitment, determination and pride as Wheatleyans that has driven our success.� Miss laura watts
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Art and Design Edited by Mrs Alexandria Hargreaves
“It is art that makes life, makes interest, makes importance, and I know of no substitute for the force and beauty of its process.� henry james
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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t r A g n u Yo Let’s Animate! Pupils were treated to a workshop from Let’s Animate, a local animation studio, who specialise in taking creativity one frame at a time, using animation as a spark for self — expression, imagination and storytelling. Pupils created some incredible short animations using the skills they gained from the workshop.
Pupils enjoy a practical workshop from Let’s Animate Studio
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yo u n g a r t
Pupils inspired by local artists Each year the Art Department welcome a variety of artists to Bablake to work with pupils and showcase their work, offering a practical and unique insight into different techniques and experiences taken from the ‘real world’ of Art. Our Fifth Year GCSE Art students were visited by local artist Adie Blundell, who spoke about his work and inspirations, as well as how he creates richly embellished sketchbooks which relate to his individual way of seeing the world. Students also visited his studio at Coventry’s Canal Basin and took part in a workshop aimed at developing their sketch books and exploring ways of researching ideas. Sixth Form students benefitted from the guidance of local artist Tanya Kozin who led their Life Drawing classes and helped to develop an extra dimension to their ever growing portfolios. We welcomed back artist Emma O’Brien to Bablake for a fantastic two day workshop. Emma worked with groups of Second Year pupils to create some ‘naughty monsters’, a selection of terrifying textile sculptures inspired by her own work.
GCSE pupils take inspiration from the work of local artist Adie Blundell
Pupil creations inspired by artist Emma O’Brien
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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g n i t a r b e l e C a tivi ty c re
Parents, pupils and members of the community attended our annual Art and Design end of year exhibition, showcasing pupils fantastic GCSE and A level work.
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a r t&D E s i g n
“I attended a fantastic exhibition of pupil’s artwork at Bablake School in Coventry. Great Art staff led by Mr Cleaver” Colin Yates, Local Artist
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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h c e T n g i s e D Design and technology plays a huge part in the school life of our youngest to our oldest pupils. Here is a snapshot of the everyday experiences of our pupils in the dynamic and forward-thinking Design Technology department...
Shell pupils exude excitement as they learn new skills in their Design Technology classes
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d e s i g n t ec h n o lo g y
“Design is thinking made visual.� saul bass
Sixth Form students put their years of knowledge and learning into practice as they complete their A level projects
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Crystal Ball Fifth Year pupils enjoyed a wonderful evening at their Crystal Ball, thank you to the staff and Sixth Form students who supported the event and took such excellent photos.
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c el eb r at i o n s
Leavers’ Ball The annual farewell to our Sixth Form leavers was a memorable evening marking the end of an era for the Class of 2012, we wish them all the best as the embark on their next adventures!
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Literature and Creative Writing Edited by Hattie Morris and Caragh Shaw
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go …” dr seuss, oh, the places you’ll go!
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Take me with you by Angela Kabue I want your coat to hide me, And take me to a faraway land. Away from this horrible world, Let me take your hand. The grass is green, The sun is bright. I think of you, When I sleep at night. The sea is calm, And we’re at peace. I love this place, To say the least. And in my heart, You’ll always be. Even if, You’re not with me. I miss your smile, Everyday. Without you, Life’s not the same. Now that you’ve, Been put to rest. In my mind, Your final breath. I want you to hold me, One last time. And with that hug, I’ll say good-bye. Without you, My heart’s so blue. Please don’t leave me, Take me with you.
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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by caragh shaw
For younger readers The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett This book tells the story of Mary Lennox, a spoiled and slightly contrary child who was raised in India and then sent to live in her uncle’s manor after the death of her parents. She is left alone by her uncle, her only company being her chambermaid, Martha. Through her she finds out about her uncle’s walled garden and becomes intrigued by it. In her quest to find the garden she discovers other secrets and they help Mary develop into a better person. This was one of my favourite novels as a child and is aimed towards the younger years at Bablake but honestly can be enjoyed by all ages. It’s a classic that is very wholesome in its writing as the reader watches Mary grow as a person.
Thursday’s Child by Sonya Hartnett Set in the Great Depression in Australia, it follows the story of Harper Flute and her family, who are all living in poverty. She believes that her brother Tin was born to burrow hence why he was born on a Thursday ‘born on a Thursday and so fated to his wanderings’. It depicts the family and their struggles through poverty. I read this book originally in Shells, way back in 2014 and it is a book I have never really been able to forget. I had never really been exposed to the worldwide impacts of The Great Depression and had only assumed it had existed in America, so seeing this in Australia was fascinating to me. 56
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The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding Set in London in the 1790s, it depicts the life of orphan Catherine Royal (Cat) who as a child was abandoned on the steps of Drury Lane Theatre and has lived there ever since. The reader meets Cat at the beginning of the novel at 4’4” with long red hair and not a penny to call her own. It takes the reader on an adventure as Cat attempts to protect the secret treasure Drury Lane. With the new friends Pedro, a talented violinist and former slave, and the mysterious Johnny, a theatre prompter, the gang all try to protect this ‘diamond’ from the ruthless gang of Billy Shephard. This is the first in a series of six books which take the reader on an adventure depicting the French Revolution, Jamaica and America. I began this series when I was a Shell and even now in Upper Sixth, I found myself rereading the third book Den of Thieves immediately after writing the synopsis. It’s a book series that’s highly entertaining and hard to put down from the first page. Julia Golding is superb as she writes Cat in as a relatable but also admirable character that meets with trouble wherever she goes. While that may be unfortunate for her, it makes for a brilliant read that I couldn’t recommend enough. Though I have put this the younger readers section, in my opinion it is suitable to be enjoyed by any category in this article. If you are looking for melodrama, action and brilliant storytelling — this is the novel for you.
Hermann Traub on Pixabay
Hermann Traub on Pixabay
Books to read before leaving Bablake
r eco mm en d ed r e a d i n g For older readers I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou This is the 1969 autobiographical account of Maya Angelou’s early life. Loving the world, she also knows its cruelty. As a Black woman she has known discrimination and extreme poverty, but also hope, joy, achievement, and celebration. It documents her joy of life but also the discrimination that she faces when she was living with her grandmother in 1930s America.
Native Son by Richard Wright A familiar text for all of those doing English Literature at A level. Written in 1940, this controversial novel is one that I’ll never forget. One aimed more towards the Sixth Form; Richard Wright exploits the racist attitudes of Chicago in the late 1930s through the main character of Bigger Thomas. It is important as Wright never apologies for the crimes that Thomas commits and portrays, due to the attitudes in American society at the time, the inevitability behind them.
Books I am currently reading The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood The Republic of Gilead offers Offerd only one function: to breed. If she deviates, she will, like deserters, be hanged at the wall or be sent out to die slowly of radiation sickness. But even a repressive state control cannot obliterate desire — neither Offred’s nor that of the two men on which her future hangs. The importance of this book in modern literature is an understatement. I have been meaning to read this book for years and after much urging from my friend, I have finally started it. From what I have read so far, the world of Gilead is striking especially when looking at other literature from that time, as well Atwood’s use of this postmodern society, it is unique in comparison. It is one of my most highly recommended books and I can’t wait to finish it.
The Second Sex by Somine De Beauvoir When this book was originally published in Paris in 1949 it was met with outrage and scandal. It was the first time that female liberty had been so forcefully and successful argued. It helped start the fight for greater equality and economic independence, changing perceptions of woman forever. This book was given to me as a Christmas present from a friend and so far, has been a fascinating read. It is so interesting to see the foundations of modern feminism. From the first page of the introduction, it is thought provoking and gives an insight into the thoughts on women at the time and the views of their position in society.
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami A text, translated into English, from Japanese author Haruki Murakami. Also known for his novel 1Q84. The novel itself is about 15-year-old Kafta Tamura, who runs away from home, under the shadow of his father’s dark prophecy. The ageing Nakata, tracker of lost cats, who never recovered from a bizarre affliction, finds his pleasantly simplified life suddenly turned upside down. As their parallel odysseys unravel, cats converse with people, fish tumble from the sky and a forest harbours soldiers un-aged since World War II. A book from my love of fiction which has been with me since childhood. Personally, it is the book I am most excited to read but unfortunately it will have to wait until after A levels!
“I have been meaning to read this book for years and after much urging from my friend, I have finally started it.” @TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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The point of pencils by Ashley Kabue
Often viewed as a mundane writing utensil used primarily by young children and artists, pencils are a highly underappreciated tool. For hundreds of years, they have enabled students and scientists alike to record discoveries, quickly note their observations, and most importantly, erase their mistakes. However, they have a long, and at times toxic, history.
T
he early ancestor of the modern pencil was the stylus: used by the ancient Romans, it was a thin metal rod which left a light, but visible mark on their papyrus sheets. A few millennia later, a vast graphite deposit was discovered in Cumbria, England. The deposit was the largest and purest source of graphite found in the 1500s — and thus, the production of the pencil was set into action. At the time, graphite sticks with sharpened ends were used as writing devices, without any wooden casing at all — similar to large crayons! Over the next few centuries, developments were made: in the late 1500s, they were fashioned with wooden casings; in the 1790s, the hardness of the graphite could be varied by mixing powdered graphite and clay and heating it in a kiln. The eraser was patented, and then added to pencils by Hymen Lipman in 1858.
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Graphite is a unique substance — it is non-toxic, inexpensive, and has a chemical structure perfect for its role in pencils. It has a giant covalent structure, and each carbon atom has strong covalent bonds with three other carbons. The uniqueness of graphite is due to its layers — the carbon atoms form many layers, and each has many hexagonal carbon arrangements within them. The layers are placed one on top of the other, and thus have weak Van der Waals intermolecular forces between them, that are easily broken — indeed, these weak forces are the reason we can write with graphite. The friction between the pencil and paper has enough pressure to remove one layer from the pencil and onto the paper, leaving a trace behind. Erasing pencil marks is simple, with the invention of rubbers in 1770. Before this time, people used rolled-up pieces of white bread to remove unwanted pencil marks. The dubious origin story behind erasers is that Edward Naime,
l i t er a ry e s say
“It is easy to take for granted the tools we have: without pencils, the day to day life of myself and my peers would be much more difficult.”
a British engineer, accidentally picked up a piece of rubber instead of white bread — and thus, the rubber was born. Despite the legitimacy of that story, the eraser was one pivotal development that increased the ease with which pencils can be used. As they are rubbed against the paper, heat is generated from the friction. This warms the rubber enough for it to stick to the graphite particles on the outer surface of the paper and lift them from the paper. A common misconception held by many — including me at one point — is that the core of pencils was once lead, therefore resulting in the name ‘lead pencils’. This is indeed a misnomer, as upon its discovery in Cumbria it was named plumbago, or ‘lead ore’ in Latin, as it was presumed to be a form of lead. Additionally, the stylus Romans used were often fashioned from lead, leading to further confusion. However, occasional cases of lead poisoning from pencils were reported until it was banned in pencils in the mid 20th century — it
was not the core, which was made of graphite, but the lead paint on the outside. Simply chewing pencils absentmindedly during classes could result in toxic lead entering the body, causing often fatal effects. Large exposure to lead can easily cause brain damage: the body mistakes lead for calcium, and therefore allows it to enter the brain. It then affects the storage of calcium inside cells which can lead to the death of neurons and brain cells. It can also intercept and hijack calcium’s role within the brain, interrupting the release of neurotransmitters within the brain, which affects learning and memory in children. Thankfully, the outlawing of lead in pencils means it is highly unlikely for this to occur ever again. To conclude, it is easy to take for granted the tools we have: without pencils, day to day life would be much more difficult. Progressing in scientific advancements is important... but so is stopping to take a look back at the less exciting, but essential, components of our life — like pencils!
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Performing Arts Edited by Katy Davis, Ellie Willis, Fiona Chung and Eva Kant
“The world is a complicated place, and there’s a lot of division between people. The performing arts tend to unify people in a way nothing else does.” david rubenstein
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@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Student voices Name: Sathvika Krishnan. Year Group: Lower Sixth. Instruments: Carnatic vocal and piano. Musical highlight(s) of the year Winning Young Indian Vocalist of the Year (SABRANG Musician of the Year) at the National Indian Arts Awards 2019 following my performance at Southbank Centre as leader and pianist of the National Youth Orchestra and Choir for Indian Music. Why did you choose to play your instrument? The versatility of the piano is one of the main reasons I chose to play it. Carnatic music, on the other hand, has always been in my life so it was natural for me to learn it. Carnatic vocal is a daily reminder of my heritage and culture and allows me to take pride in who I am and where I have come from. Favourite piece to play? I have too many to choose from! This is too hard a question! 62
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We asked five Bablake pupils about their musical highlights from 2018/19 Proudest achievement? I’m also a piano teacher, and I recently sent my first student for a Trinity Graded exam and she got 100%. Although it’s not directly my achievement, I would like to take some of the credit! Any advice for people who would like to learn to play your instrument? Practice! Don’t view music as a chore, enjoy it as much as you can. Set a designated amount of time, whenever you can, to focus on your music. Name: Ellie Aitchison. Year Group: Lower Sixth. Instrument: Violin. Musical highlight(s) of the year Performing with the CBSO Youth Orchestra in October and February. Favourite piece to play? Aus der Heimat by Smetana. Proudest achievement? Achieving Grade 8.
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“...don’t be afraid to be experimental with what you play” Any advice for people who would like to learn to play your instrument? Enjoy it! Name: Edwin O’Brien. Year Group: Lower Sixth. Instrument: Trombone. Musical highlight(s) of the year I had a piece performed at CBSO centres by a traditional Chinese ensemble and BCMG players. I met TV soundtrack composer Debbie Wiseman at the Vaughan Williams festival. She gave me some really useful advice on how to become a successful soundtrack composer for the media. Why did you choose to play your instrument? A visiting brass teacher came to my primary school and gave everyone the chance to learn the cornet. One of his other pupils played the trombone. I found it more interesting than the cornet and once I took it up, I didn’t want to go back to the cornet. Favourite piece to play? Pink Panther because it’s such fun to play! Proudest achievement? Getting a distinction in my Grade 8 trombone exam — I never expected to do that well!
Any advice for people who would like to learn to play your instrument? Practice! It’s the only way you’re going to improve your playing. When you can play the trombone well and become confident enough to play with other people, you will really enjoy the experience. Name: Jasmine Harrison. Year Group: Fifth Year. Instruments: Clarinet and piano. Musical highlight(s) of the year Having the opportunity to play the clarinet in County Windband. We have one concert a term, as well as sometimes playing with other bands, it’s great to be able to play in them as well as school concerts. Why did you choose to play your instrument? I liked the sound it made when I heard it in a concert. Favourite piece to play? Concertino by Weber. Proudest achievement? Whenever I master a tricky piece or a really fast run! Any advice for people who would like to learn to play your instrument? Enjoy it and keep practising because it’s so satisfying when you can finally play a difficult piece well. Name: Bianca Booth. Year Group: Third Year. Instruments: Flute (and recorder!). Musical highlight(s) of the year Rehearsing in various groups and performing at the end of all the rehearsals in the concerts (and listening to the rest of the groups — especially Swing band!). Why did you choose to play your instrument? I started the flute because we had the opportunity to try out an instrument in Year 4, and I loved it! I really liked the recorder but was thinking about starting to learn something new that was Woodwind, and it led me to the flute. Favourite piece to play? 80s pop or James Bond! Proudest achievement? Probably my first Secondary School concert, as I was part of Wind Band and had never been in a group of such magnitude before. It was so marvellous when we were performing, and I distinctly remember the stage vibrating with the sheer volume of the group! Any advice for people who would like to learn to play your instrument? In general, and not just for flautists, don’t be afraid to be experimental with what you play, and use the Bablake music opportunities (e.g. joining new groups etc) as you never know what will happen. I’ve made so many good friends because of Wind Band, and I think music groups are a brilliant opportunity to get to know people beyond your year. I would also say just go for it, no matter how good or bad you think you are at playing your instrument, there’s always a place for you in a group.
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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New beginnings “Alongside the social benefits, performing in a musical group will build your confidence through a sense of achievement, and can help to relieve stress.�
Jean-Dominique POUPEL on Pixabay
MISS McMINN
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new head of music Miss McMinn is interviewed by the wheatleyan performing arts editor fiona chung on her first impressions of life at bablake.
What attracted you to come to work with the Music Department at Bablake? When I came for interview, I saw a school that supported the nurturing of creativity in students. Both staff and students were very welcoming, and I saw them all pulling together for their production of Legally Blonde. It was this sense of unity and excitement for new opportunities that made me want to work at Bablake. Are there any developments/changes planned for the Music Department? Yes, the curriculum has been rewritten to include more contemporary styles of music and to give students the opportunities to engage in a wider variety of music making. We have just purchased two iMacs for the Sixth Form Music students, and I intend to use this technology with students lower down in the school too. I don’t want to give too much away though! What events can we expect to see in the upcoming year? We have the ensemble Music concerts once a term as normal, but I intend to have opportunities for KS3 classes to
share their work in showcases later in the year. I am also looking forward to welcoming more professional musicians in to run workshops with the classes in singing and composition. What music clubs would you recommend to somebody who has no musical skill at all? I would highly recommend joining the Senior Choir which will run on a Monday lunchtime 13:30-14:00, and our new Samba band! Miss Bradley and I will be running the Samba group on a Wednesday morning 8:30-9:00, so I look forward to seeing lots of you there! How can taking up music benefit students in other aspects of their life? For a start being part of a musical ensemble will enable you to meet new people from our school community. Alongside the social benefits, performing in a musical group will build your confidence through a sense of achievement, and can help to relieve stress. I understand the commitment to doing music outside lessons can be a big ask but the benefits you’ll reap from it are endless, and it is also really fun!
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Legally
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The cast and crew of the sell-out out production of Legally Blonde reflect on the process behind their success. edited by EVA KANT
“My greatest reward will be seeing the reactions of the audience, particularly our friends and loved ones, when they see what we’ve been working so hard on for the past few months.”
“I have learned to pick up choreography and blocking very quickly as well as memorising my lines and songs. Miss Bradley has taught me a lot about how to develop my character and how much hard work is needed to put on a fantastic show.”
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“I learnt it is important to have the confidence to push through and continue if I make a mistake on stage, as the audience will likely never notice – it’s not what you do, but how you do it that counts!” “I hope that the audience enjoyed our production as much as we have enjoyed the rehearsal process and how true the message of the musical is. That whoever you are, if you work hard and put your mind to it, you can achieve anything.” “You can start from nothing and become something great – just like this show!” “My biggest challenge was creating highs and lows of energy. I tend to maintain higher levels of energy but rarely show the dramatic contrast needed for a pompous professor like Callahan.” “You are what you want to be. With hard work, a good mind set and possibly a nice pair of stilettos(!), anything is within reach.”
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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by Katy Davis and Ellie Willis
With the introduction of our new Head of Performing Arts, Ms Bradley, comes new and unconventional methods of Theatre. Accompanied by A level students to develop their learning and devising and directing skills, we challenged Lower School pupils with traverse staging for the performance of 100. In addition, the cast learnt abstract techniques in order to convey key moments through their physicality and minimalist props, in comparison to the naturalist techniques commonly used in the past.
This proved to be an effective experiment for Bablake’s Theatre as the one-night show gathered a huge amount of support and commendation from the audience. For the performance of 100, the story unfolded and gripped not only the audience but the cast members as they learnt to immerse themselves in a character so dissimilar to themselves. The cast thoroughly enjoyed the short rehearsal time of two weeks, as it allowed not only a closer bond between the actors and crew, but also a true understanding of the performance as a whole. The commended performance inspired ‘Bablake Theatre Council’— a student led performance organisational committee — to challenge the traditional aspects of theatre and they are currently working on a production exploring the use of promenade theatre with the upcoming production of George’s Marvellous Medicine. With Ms Bradley comes new opportunities for younger years, including the introduction of GCSE Drama. The emerging talent is continuously displayed through lower school showcases of their emerging pieces — including the eerie interpretation of childhood fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella. The newly introduced A level course ‘Drama and Theatre Studies’ is developing in full stride. They recently explored and interpreted the use of modern politics in theatre with their devised It’s Our Time where they challenged the audience to question their personal view and encouraged the use of their vote.
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“With the introduction of our new Head of Performing Arts, Ms Bradley, comes new and unconventional methods of Theatre.”
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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“Acting is behaving truthfully, under imaginary circumstances.� Sanford Meisner
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Emerging talent The Year 9 Drama Showcase offered a tempting taste of our emerging acting talent. At times comic, but overwhelmingly didactic, it was a wonderful example of the depth of dramatic ability throughout the school.
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Sport Edited by anastasia jeffcoat, christopher romano, Ashley Kabue and Areej Raza
“That’s the beauty of sport. Sometimes you laugh, sometimes you cry.” pep guardiola
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@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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CricketReview Mr Phillips reports on Bablake’s exciting season of cricket.
This was the season where at times it felt like it would be prudent to build an ark with nearly half of games either being abandoned or called off due to (very) wet weather. I remember re-tweeting Mr Jackson, Bablake Weather Station, who stated that the second week of June had 1114% of average rainfall and 0.0006% of normal sunshine levels! However, with such a packed fixture calendar, when the weather allowed there were some excellent games played and all our teams got to execute the skills they had worked on over the winter months. The highlight for the 1st XI, in addition to captain Dan Mousley’s outstanding efforts for Berkswell CC, Warwickshire CCC, England U19s and being awarded a professional contract, was a fantastic tournament victory in the inaugural Bablake 6s competition. This is obviously their preferred format after their win in the Stratford 6s the previous season! The U15s once again had another strong season, reaching the semifinal of the County Cup and recording resounding victories against local rivals Rugby School, King Henry’s, Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School, KES Stratford and Ratcliffe College. The U14s were particularly unlucky with the weather with the majority of their games being rained off, however, they enjoyed a last ball thriller against Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School and turned in strong results against Princethorpe, KES Stratford (Wragg 52) and Ratcliffe College. The U13s showed great improvement and started to demonstrate the potential we had seen in them the previous season, returning victories against Princethorpe, KES Stratford (East 5-0-8-5) and KES Aston. The U12s had a steep learning curve but their grit, determination and resilience throughout the season was rewarded with an excellent team performance and win against Ratcliffe College. There were B team games across all age groups, with additional C and D team fixtures in the Shells. This enabled approximately 180 boys to represent the school during the course of the season. This level of participation is one of our proudest achievements; all boys, whatever their ability, are given the chance to execute their skills in a competitive environment and experience playing team sport.
“I remember re-tweeting Mr Jackson, Bablake Weather Station, who stated that the second week of June had 1114% of average rainfall and 0.0006% of normal sunshine levels!” mr phillips 74
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“The dream he told me about in September 2012 has become a reality. The game he loves is now his job.” mr phillips
Mr Phillips reflects on the successes of Bablake pupil and Warwickshire County Cricketer Dan Mousley... “I first met Dan Mousley in September 2012 when he joined the school in the Shells. He told me within the first few seconds of meeting him that he wanted to be a professional cricketer and then proceeded to talk to me about cricket for the next twenty minutes. Dan played his first hardball game at four years old and fell in love with the game. He made his Warwickshire CCC debut at eight years old, playing for the U10’s. From then on, he has always played ‘up a year’. At 14 years old he represented the Midlands at the first of his two Bunbury Cricket Festivals. At 17 years old he made his County 2nd XI debut. He was then asked to travel with the 1st team for two weeks to county championship matches, sharing a dressing room with international players Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott and Chris Woakes. This autumn he received a phone call from Jon Lewis, England U19 Head Coach, and tours to India and Bangladesh quickly followed. During the winter months he would often spend five afternoons/evenings per week at Edgbaston, working on his game. Dan has received many coveted awards at Edgbaston, notably
being the first player to twice win the Neal Abberley Trophy for outstanding cricketer across all age groups. However, Dan has never allowed himself to get carried away, remaining focused at all times. This summer he joined Berkswell Cricket Club (Birmingham Premier League Champions) where he has gone from strength to strength, learning from former Warwickshire legend Dominic Ostler and Bablake’s professional cricket coach Nick James. The Bablake community, including his family, are incredibly proud of his achievements; these are thoroughly deserved and a product of his hard work, dedication and commitment over so many years. Dan has been a fantastic ambassador for cricket at the school and he will leave us in the summer held in high regard by all the staff who have enjoyed watching his progress on the cricket field throughout his time with us. Recently, Dan signed his first professional contract for Warwickshire CCC. The dream he told me about in September 2012 has become a reality. The game he loves is now his job.” @TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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“Well done to everyone who worked so hard this season, producing wins, getting fit and having fun along the way.� anastasia jeffcoat
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Girls’HockeyReview Edited by Anastasia Jeffcoat.
For the 1st and 2nd XI, the season began slowly with loses against strong teams, such as Wellingborough School and Newcastle-under-Lyme. However, by October the girls had begun to gel as a team, and the 1st XI achieved an amazing win over Wolverhampton Grammar School (9–0) and another over our rivals, King Henry’s (4–0). With a positive goal difference of four for the 1st team and two for the 2nd team, the girls should be congratulated on consistent goal scoring and effective defensive plays throughout the season. The U15 girls began the season with a loss but 2 days later at a home match against Newcastle-Under-Lyme, they achieved a decisive win (7–1). The season was on the up with great wins over King Henry’s, Tudor Hall School and RGS Worcester in Round 2 of the National Cup. The U14s had a tough season fighting hard against teams like King’s High, Loughborough High and Princethorpe. Great wins over King Edward VI High (6–0) and Newcastle-underLyme (6–0) showed us that the team has a lot of potential so early into playing 11 aside. With 14 of 18 games won and a positive goal difference of 46, the U13s had an incredible season! Starting the season with an 11–0 win against Newcastle-under-Lyme followed by a 4–1 win against Leicester Grammar, this set the girls off for their fantastic year. The girls won every game and round of their tournament, defeating tough competition, such as Loughborough (2–0). Our talented group of girls are not only a force to be reckoned in hockey but netball too! After two losses at the start of the season the Shell girls picked up a taste for winning after beating King’s Worcester and Princethorpe, setting them up on the path to success. The girls achieved huge wins over King Henry’s (14–1) and Kingsley School (4–0). Winning the Warwickshire Hockey Tournament and advancing to the Midlands round proved, not just to the school but the county, that Bablake has a powerful team for both the future and the present. Indoor hockey has been extremely successful this year. The U16 team won all but one, though that was a draw! Great wins against Oakham (4–1) and Rugby School (4–0) have shown the great skill and hard work these young ladies are putting in alongside their academics. Well done to everyone who worked so hard this season, producing wins, getting fit and having fun along the way. Not just because of our talented ladies, but with hard-work and practice too, the next season is set to be an even bigger success! @TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Boys’HockeyReview Areej Raza and Ashley Kabue report on the boys’ hockey season.
1st XI Centre mid player and 2019 Captain, Dan Barnes, stated “We had a very strong season which was highlighted by a national plate game in Manchester. Our progression throughout the season was clear to see and the boys are very proud of their achievements on the pitch.” The 1st team boys had a phenomenal season. Highlights being a four-match winning streak in March including a (6-0) victory against Newcastle-Under-Lyme! Under the guidance of Mr Phillips and lead by captains George Parker in 2018 and Dan Barnes in 2019, the team went on to enjoy many successes throughout the year. 2nd XI The team had another impressive season having won 12 out of 19 matches and drawing 4. The team coordinated well together with a notable 5-0 win against Queen Mary’s Grammar. With a positive goal difference of 13, the boys had confident wins against KES Stratford, Warwick and Lawrence Sheriff. Coached by Mr Atwal, the team have worked hard this season and it has reflected well in all their matches. U16s Despite having a tough season, the U16s worked hard and played well against Rugby School. The boys showed up and coming talent and we are undoubtedly excited to see their progress over the next year. Many members of the U16s team were also members of the XI 3rd team and ended their season with a (3-2) win against KES Stratford! U15s This talented team had a tremendous season, winning many of their matches by a mile, with massive goal differences of 5-0, 6-0 and even 9-1 against KES Stratford and Princethorpe! They even defeated the girls U15 team in a friendly match with a result of 6-1. A successful season ended in a few difficult matches, nevertheless, they played brilliantly as a team. U14s The U14A team displayed fantastic talent this year, winning 8 of 16 matches. They progressed quickly starting off on a high, beating KES Stratford 4-0, and it seemed the only way was up for the team as they smashed Warwick 8-0. When we all thought it couldn’t possibly get better than that, the following week, they thrashed Arnold Lodge with an outstanding 10-0 win. They ended the season with another win of 6-0, which is reflective of their amazing progress as a team. The U14s have trained hard this year under Mr Benfield’s coaching, and we all look forward to seeing their success in the years to come. 78
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“We had a very strong season which was highlighted by a national plate game in Manchester. Our progression throughout the season was clear to see and the boys are very proud of their achievements on the pitch.” dan barnes (1st team) U13s The boys trained hard all year with Mr Phillips, and this motivation paid off in their matches. Their season included wins against Arnold Lodge and Warwick. A friendly match against their opponents in the U12A team had a healthy dose of competition and resulted in a (2-2) draw — perhaps they went easy on them, as another friendly match against KES Birmingham resulted in a (2-0) victory! U12s It was a difficult start to the year for the U12 boys as they fought hard against strong opposition. As the season progressed, their efforts pulled through on the pitch as they defeated King Henry’s 3-1. With uplifted spirits, the team came together for a final exceptional victory over KES Aston, ending the match with a score of 5-0.
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@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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NetballReview Edited by Anastasia Jeffcoat.
The season started off well for the senior teams even though many of the players had never played with one another before. A close win by the 1st VII over Wolverhampton Grammar School (19–7) and a decisive 2nd VII win over Old Swinford Hospital in October (27–3) improved team spirit and showed great improvement after a short time training together. After a few setbacks, with hard work and perseverance, the 1st and 2nd VII girls began to produce great performances towards the end of the season, a highlight being the decisive wins over Nottingham High School U18A and B teams (20–13 and 28–8). The U15 team continue their success as they start their GCSE years, retaining their title of Coventry Schools Champions for the fourth year in a row. With 467 goals scored over the season, and an impressive win over Kingsley School so early in the year (40–17), the girls showed the rest of the school they are incredibly talented players. The U15s had an incredible year with wins over both Uppingham School (29–13) and Oakham School (19–12), also winning over our netball rivals King’s High not once but twice this season. The U14s this year must be congratulated on an amazing season, winning 15 of their 21 games played. They started off narrowly losing to tough teams as they tried to find their feet — and they did! Within a few weeks, the girls were winning every single game from October to March, with amazing wins against Saint Martin’s (32–7), Kingsley School (30–1) and King’s School Worcester (22–8). The U13s achievements must also not go unnoticed- they won every match this season! The U13As, with a goal score to envy the U15s, at 458, played consistently well throughout the year. Strong wins against Loughborough High (24–15) and Wrekin College (33–10) have shown the Sports Department that this year is full of talented young netball players and there are still more years of success to come! At Shell level, with many students coming together from various schools, you would expect a team not to work so cohesively from the get-go… but not our U12s! The U12A team won 14 of the 16 matches played, losing narrowly to King’s High and Solihull at the beginning of the season. An incredible 35 goals were scored against Saint Martin’s (35–8) in their second match of the year! The girls got consistently better over the season, winning games by miles! A match against Nottingham High U12s was won easily by the girls who work so well together (35–2). A special mention must go to all the Sports Department for the time they have taken out to help the girls, not just in games lessons, but after school and at lunchtime. Mrs Russell, Miss Watts and Mrs Smith have not only been instrumental in these great wins against tough opposition but also in teaching core skills to the girls: teamwork, perseverance and communication (to name a few).
Well done to all the girls who played so well this season! Your hard work and determination have paid off with these results. Now, with great young netballers in the pipeline — roll on next year!
“At Shell level, with many students coming together from various schools, you would expect a team not to work so cohesively from the get-go… but not our U12s!” anastasia jeffcoat @TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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RugbyReview Mr Burdett reflects on the 2018/19 season for our rugby teams. U12s (P11 W 3 D2 L6) The Senior School rugby journey begins with the U12A team showing individual promise and a fantastic approach to the sport under the tutorage of the evergreen Mr Hobday and Mr Freemantle, who joined us this year. All but two matches this season were extremely close. The group have shown a high level of skill and great determination, a combination that promises continued development and success over coming seasons. Highlights included a fantastic win over Warwick B and, perhaps their performance of the season, in defeating KES Stratford 20-15! Most importantly, ALL of our Shell boys again represented the school this year at rugby, the C team were particularly impressive with 3 wins out of 4! U13s (P13 W12 L1) A team with a great deal of talent, the U13s had an excellent season winning 13 from 14 matches and finishing joint winners in the Coventry U13 Festival. Wins versus KES Stratford and KES Birmingham were perhaps the most eye catching performances. The challenge now is to mold the individual talent into a fully functioning team until the game expands to 15 a-side next season. Congratulations must go to Talha Islam, Jack Barsby and Oliver East for selection to the Wasps DPP and Laurence Crossley, Worcester DPP. In 7s the team excelled at Solihull, winning their group, and also performed extremely well at Warwick. Our thanks must go to Mr Jenkins as he retires from coaching at Bablake. We thank him for all of his incredible enthusiasm and the effort he has put into to developing our rugby players. U14s (P15 W9 D1 L5) Mr Tyas’ U14s made great strides this season. Their development into an effective and efficient team unit has been outstanding, as has the effort, hard work and enthusiasm that has been the foundation of their continued improvement. An excellent 15-10 victory in the Coventry Cup semi-final versus a talented West Coventry Academy team was one excellent performance, a narrow loss to King Henry’s in the final another. Individual success has come with Scott McDaid and Sam Burbridge training with Wasps DPP and Adam Tyas with Leicester Tigers. U15s (P17 W14 D1 L2) The arrival of Mr Freemantle, to add to our excellent rugby staff, proved the catalyst for a great season of development and a high level of performance from our talented U15s. The rugby this team plays is high energy and expansive, as befits a team of such talented athletes. Performances of particular note included wins against Princethorpe and Leicester Grammar teams as well as two victories over King Henry’s, the second seeing the team crowned Coventry Champions. 82
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This team also excelled at the Warwick 7s, reaching the cup quarter final in style with wins over Warwick A, Bro Edern and Portsmouth Grammar before losing narrowly to rugby powerhouse Sedbergh. Individual success came with Max Kearns, Max Newman, Paddy Heffernan and Tom Canning all training with Wasps DPP. Max Kearns, Tom Canning, Asad Ssemwogerere and Denzel Musarurwa also went on to represent Warwickshire U15s. 2nd XV and U16s (P13 W5 L8) It is always difficult for our U16s as most of the season is spent performing against older boys in our 2nd XV. It was again most impressive to see how our boys met this challenge head on and showed such fantastic development in understanding, skill level and confidence as the season progressed. A 14-5 victory against local rivals King Henry’s was certainly a highlight for this 2nd XV though, as U16s, King Henry’s did manage to reverse this with a narrow win in the Coventry U16 semi-final. Other highlights included wins over Princethorpe and KES Birmingham. With the season complete we look forward to seeing many of these boys excel in the 1st XV next season. 1st XV (P19 W11 D2 L6) The 1st XV enjoyed a fantastic season. Led superbly by captain Liam Duggan and vice-captain Rory Meechan the squad contained a number of excellent Upper Sixth boys enhanced by an extremely talented Lower Sixth group. Two losses, to an excellent Leicester Grammar team, were the only reverses in the first half term, a period where the boys played some outstanding rugby in dry conditions, a narrow win vs Wellingborough perhaps the highlight. The start of our second half term saw the annual Bablake vs King Henry’s 1st XV match. Horrendous conditions at Broadstreet RFC, with horizontal rain and gale force winds conspired against the 1st XV who, despite dominating the match, were forced to accept a 17-17 draw, with King Henry’s scoring with the last play. This disappointment was compounded just five days later when another outstanding performance proved fruitless against King’s School Worcester who again scored with the last play to win 25-24 in the National Bowl. To their credit the boys bounced back, excellent wins versus Warwick B and Princethorpe perhaps later highlights. On an individual note a number of boys went on to represent Warwickshire including Rory Meechan at U18 and Chris Romano, Ben Barwick, Ollie Parker, Nick Buckley, Will Canning (also Wasps U17s) at U17 level. Other exciting developments this season saw our link with Coventry RFC grow, giving the team access to professional Strength and Conditioning advice, video analysis and coaching from professional players.
sportsfocus
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Girls’AthleticsReview Mrs Jade Russell reports on our girls’ successful athletics season.
We continue to see great success on the athletics track from our multi-talented girls. The Inters (Fourth and Fifth Year) and Junior (Second and Third Year) Championships were the first competitions to be held and the Coventry team featured the following Bablake pupils: Juniors Hannah Elliott — 800m Beth Akinkoye — Javelin Emily Maughan — Javelin Imogen Pemble — Long Jump Inters Freya Bennett — 800m Grace Cox — Javelin The girls represented Coventry in the West Midlands Championships and produced some outstanding personal bests, despite the horrendous rain! Freya Bennett deserves a special mention for her performance which gained her a place in the West Midlands team for 800m. The Bablake team had another successful turnout at the English Schools Track and Field Cup. The girls competed with grit and determination, with the Inters finishing as runners-up and the Juniors coming away as champions! As champions the Junior team qualified for the Regional A Final, which included some of the best competitors from around the region. The Junior team did outstandingly well, finishing 6th in the Midlands. A special mention must go to Imogen Pemble on her long jump PB of 4.54m, to Hannah Elliott and Daniella Bleach on winning their hurdle events and to Beth Akinkoye for an outstanding Javelin PB of 20.97m in very windy conditions.
“The girls competed with grit and determination, with the Inters finishing as runners-up and the Juniors coming away as champions!” @TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Sportstalk Thank you to Mr Kalsi and Lewis Carrol for an overview of the 2018/19 Badminton, Chess, Football and Rounders seasons at Bablake.
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Badminton The badminton team played their first fixture of the year against a very strong team at KES Birmingham. The team played singles, doubles and mixed doubles matches. Unfortunately, we were narrowly defeated in the singles 5-3 and lost the doubles 7-1. The highlight, however, was Upper Sixth student Ravi Bodalia who defeated the best two players at KES Birmingham. Each game was played up to 21 points. Ravi is our top player and remains unbeaten in all his singles matches against other schools. Our final badminton tournament took place before the Easter holidays. Many pupils attended, and the standard was very high. Again, Ravi Bodalia and Krish Bodalia reached the final. It was a close game but Ravi won this means he remains undefeated in his time at Bablake. Reflecting back on his years at Bablake, Ravi said “I have taken great pleasure in organising and leading the badminton team. It’s been great to get so many players involved, we’ve excelled as a team and during fixtures. This year we managed to beat both Princethorpe and Solihull schools with convincing scores and narrowly lost to KES Birmingham. We have also arranged two successful badminton tournaments which had a large turnout and many intense matches. I leave the school optimistic at the increase in popularity of badminton in the school and urge new pupils to take up the sport and attend the Friday badminton club.” Ravi has been instrumental to the badminton team we wish him all the best as he leaves Bablake to read Medicine at university.
Chess The highlight of the 2018/19 season for Bablake was beating King Henry’s to win the Coventry Schools Chess Cup. We took eight players and chose the strongest six players to take part. Those who did not play watched carefully and were on the edge of their seats for much of the tournament! We started off very well and quickly went 3-0 up with boards 1-3 still playing. We lost boards 1 and 2 but Amrit Gill (board 3) saw us home with a comfortable victory. The final score was 4-2 and Bablake deserved the victory over our rivals!
Football The football season ended with a dramatic, and deserved, 3-1 win against King Henry’s in the classic clash against our closest rivals. Despite the slow start to the annual campaign, 2019 saw an upturn in results for the 1st XI. These victories included a well-warranted 3-2 win over Alcester Grammar. This was a marked reversal of
fortunes from our 6–0 defeat earlier in the campaign. Also notable was the 4-0 triumph over KES Camp Hill. The season would have looked a lot bleaker without our goal machine, and top goalscorer, Daiwik Jagatia, playmaker Rajhan Bancil and the experienced head of Ted Larkin at the heart of the defence. Suffering injuries to key players such as our Vice-Captain Joseph Sweeney tested the strength in depth of the Bablake 1st XI. The entire squad is to be commended for their efforts and sportsmanship. The 2nd XI had an encouraging season, also seeing a victory over King Henry’s. Captain Harrison Coullé was fundamental to the team’s performances and for raising morale. The U16As were the most successful senior team in the school. Whilst their season was distinctly short, they won two and drew one of their games. Shaylan Thakrar, Joshua Park and Sam Herniman should get special recognition, starting for the U16s, they were promoted to the first XI for the final match. The U15A team had an extremely successful season and played fiercely, with three consecutive wins — a highlight being the (9-0) victory against Bromsgrove School! They only allowed four opposing goals the entire season, a feat to be proud of! The match with rivals Princethorpe was tight, but a (3-3) draw was well fought for. Whilst, the U15Bs narrowly lost to Princethorpe, they kept up their team morale throughout. The U14s had an outstanding season, with both teams undefeated. There is no doubt that everyone is looking forward to seeing this fresh batch of talent progress further in the years to come. The U13A team is full of young talent. The team had a victorious season, with a total of 22 goals scored and every single match won! Some extraordinary achievements include a (7-0) victory against Wellingborough School, and a (8-0) President Kennedy victory. In a similar fashion, the U13B team won matches against King’s School Worcester and Princethorpe. Keep up the good work! New to the school, the U12s were fresh and up and coming talent this season. They persevered throughout the season despite losing narrowly to President Kennedy and King’s School Worcester, and we look forward to seeing their progress in the next few years!
Rounders Despite a short summer term and coming up against inclement weather, the girls managed to compete in a number of fixtures. The U12 and U13 teams led by example and demonstrated some first class play and decisionmaking. The U13s had a very well contested game against King Edward VI High School for Girls when they took a narrow 14.5-13 victory! The U14s had an impressive result against Kingsley School (15-6) managing to get the opposition out in one innings. The U15s finished runners up in the Coventry Schools Tournament with the U12s, U13s and U14s going one better and finishing as winners — an amazing achievement! @TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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#BePartofthePride
Individual excellence We are immensely proud of all our pupils who represent Bablake and those who go on to represent their county, club or even their country! Here are some of the achievements of our sporting stars from 2018/19...
Sport Level
Pupil
Athletics Great Britain Kare Adenegan Athletics British Athletics’ Paralympic Development Academy
Zien Zhou
Athletics
Freya Bennett
West Midlands Teams (Intermediates)
Athletics Coventry Schools Teams (Intermediates)
Freya Bennett, Grace Cox, Michael Adeyemi
Athletics Coventry Schools Teams (Juniors) Hannah Elliott, Elizabeth Akinkoye, Emily Maughan, Imogen Pemble, Alex Houghman Cricket England U19
Daniel Mousley
Cricket
Warwickshire U19 Tom Mordey
Cricket
Warwickshire U17
Cricket
Warwickshire U15 Alex Mousley, Adnaan Riaz, Thomas Mousley
Cricket
Warwickshire U14
Thomas Mousley
Cricket
Warwickshire U13
James Cooper
Cricket
District U16
Jamie Parnell
Cricket
District U14 Elliot Henrick, Ethan Wragg, Keenan Khatavkar, Stephen Keith
Cricket
District U13
Cricket
District U12 Lucas Wragg
Cross Country
Warwickshire & West Midlands Emma Allroggen, Freya Bennett
Hockey (Boys)
U16 Junior Regional Performance Centre
Hockey (Boys)
U15 Warwickshire Junior Academy Centre Harry Court, Hari Gill
Hockey (Boys)
U14 Warwickshire Junior Academy Centre Connor Jones
Vedika Bedi
Manjote Sahota
Danveer Ghata-Aura, Thomas Oswald and Oliver Pemble
Hockey (Girls) England (NAGS) U16 Emma Allroggen Hockey (Girls)
Midlands Performance Centre Hattie Evans, Maria Savage
Ice Hockey
U16 England Squad Rhodes Mitchell-King
Netball
U16 Warwickshire Satellite Academy
Maria Savage and Hannah Denton
Netball
Wasps U18 Hub
Maria Savage
Netball Loughborough Lightning Hub Hannah Denton Netball U14 Warwickshire Imogen Pemble, Libby Harrison, Libby Stinton, Manuella Tchapdeu, Elizabeth Akinkoye, Emily Maughan Rugby
Warwickshire U18 Rory Meechan, Will Canning, Chris Romano, Ben Barwick
Rugby Warwickshire U17 Nick Buckley, Will Canning, Ben Barwick, Oliver Parker, Chris Romano, Ben Harrison Rugby Warwickshire U15
Max Kearns, Tom Canning, Asad Ssemwogerere, Denzel Musarurwa
Rugby Coventry U15 Harvey Matkin, Tinashe Nyamayaro, Joe Innes, Sam Herniman Rugby (DPP) *
Wasps DPP U17 Academy
Will Canning
Rugby (DPP)
Wasps DPP U15
Max Kearns, Tom Canning, Max Newman
Rugby (DPP)
Wasps DPP U14 Scott McDaid, Sam Burbridge
Rugby (DPP) Leicester DPP U14 Adam Tyas Swimming Birmingham and Warwickshire County Swimming Championships
Darcey Moriarty
Table Tennis
Milly Green
Warwickshire U16
Wheelchair Basketball Team Great Britain U23 Squad Sameer Rehman * Rugby Developing Player Programme
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i n d i v i dua l e xc el l en c e
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Former Pupils Collated by vedika bedi and elizabeth hayes
“It was quite a moving experience for me because when I put myself in their place, around 40 odd years from now, hopefully we will still be able to recognise our classmates!” vedika bedi
Through the eyes of a student: The 1940s, 1950s and 1960s Former Pupils Reunion “While at the 1940s to 1960s reunion, I was very touched by the people there. Some former pupils couldn’t recognise their friends, and since I was overseeing registration, they were constantly enquiring about whether friends have arrived — they simply remembered a few inventive nicknames and not much more! This was the first time some had even returned to Bablake since they had left the school and went to pursue their careers. There was also a reunion of headmasters that weekend as Former Headmaster Stuart Nuttall met Mr Wright, our current Headmaster. They easily came into conversations after Mr Wright was asked a simple question, “How is it being Headmaster?” His instant reply was — “Governors!” before rolling his eyes. They seemed to be engrossed in the chat as if they had known each other for a very long time... I was also interested to meet Mr Peter Burden who, in 1964 at the age of 14, experienced the first school fete on the school field. He was fascinated when he saw bound copies of very old school magazines dating back to the 1860s. Fast forward to 1985 and Mr Burden was teaching at Bablake School and in charge of the school magazines! It was quite a moving experience for me because when I put myself in their place, around 40 odd years from now, hopefully we will still be able to recognise our classmates! We now live in a world where social media connects us across the globe and we get the opportunity to develop some fantastic connections, whilst not losing the stronger connections, particularly those created in our younger years as school classmates.” Vedika Bedi
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Vedika with Mrs Lapworth and fellow prefect helping to register guests at the 1940s, 50s and 60s reunion
@TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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Old school memories Old Wheatleyan Natalie Fitch reminisces about her time as a Bablake pupil and fills current bablake student elizabeth hayes in on what she is up to now...
What were your favourite subjects in school? History, Maths and Geography were probably my favourites, although to be honest I liked most subjects so found choosing both GCSE and A levels very difficult. How does this link to your life today? I work in a secondary school in Curriculum Support and provide support in lots of subjects, whilst also running small group Maths lessons, so I am using a range of subjects! What would be your advice to those looking beyond school? I think it is important to take opportunities that present themselves and be open to new ideas and possible careers. There are so many different avenues that you can take. Make sure you enjoy what you are doing, life is too short to not enjoy what you do!
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Tell us a little about your job. I work at Warwick School in their Curriculum Support department; I work with students that need a little extra support to achieve their potential. This is a change of career, for 10 years I worked in the events and exhibitions industry as a Project Manager. How do you think Bablake prepared you for this job? I think Bablake prepared me in a number of ways. Mr Woodward suggested a year in industry scheme that gave me an introduction to business which was great for my work in the event industry. Now working in a school, I can use the experience of having some great teachers from Bablake to draw on. What is the best part about your job? When a pupil has that eureka moment of understanding it is really rewarding!
o l dw h e at l e ya n i n t erv i e w
What do you like to do in your spare time? I am part of an amateur dramatics group and I am also keen on keeping fit. Although injury has stopped me playing netball (I credit Bablake for my love of the sport!) I still run and have taken part in a few Wolf Runs. What skills have you gained from your involvement in amateur dramatics? One of the biggest skills is working with others. Working together to put on a show is incredibly rewarding and an amazing group experience. Were you part of the theatre group at Bablake? Do you have any memories from it? I have some very happy memories from being in productions at Bablake. One of my fondest memories is taking Habeas Corpus to the Fringe Festival we even had to start one performance in the street as our venue was evacuated! Very fond memories of Mr Appleby and Mr Prescott and they are a big part of why I love being involved with drama.
“Bablake inspired me through encouraging me to develop varied interests and developing the belief that I could achieve anything.� old wheatleyan natalie finch
How has Bablake inspired you? I have very happy memories from my time at Bablake, the teachers, trips, playing sport, drama productions and some amazing friendships that are still going strong 27 years after we all met as Shells! Bablake inspired me through encouraging me to develop varied interests and developing the belief that I could achieve anything. @TheWheatleyan / www.bablake.com / @bablakeschool
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ba b l a k eh i s to ry
The Lion and the Stars A History of Bablake School It is almost three decades now since The Lion and the Stars, a History of Bablake School, was published to mark the centenary of the School on its present site. The summer of 2019 saw author and School Archivist, Mr Peter Burden, launch his second edition of The Lion and the Stars. This new edition is radically different from its predecessor, not only does it include two completely new chapters, on the headmasterships of Dr Stuart Nuttall and Mr John Watson, it features a more modern format, with a host of additional illustrations. Many Old Wheats and Bablake staff attended the launch with the event coinciding with one of our former pupil reunions, expertly organised by Alumni Officer, Mrs Sylvia O’Sullivan. During the event Mr Burden made a brief speech, answered some interesting questions from guests and signed copies of his book in the school theatre. Many thanks to Mrs Debby Lapworth, Mrs Cathy Shields and Mrs Kiley Brown, plus our outstanding prefects, for helping make the day run so smoothly.
“I remember vividly how uptight I got nearly 30 years ago when in the same situation with the first edition. It is comforting, though, that so many Bablake folk are here to give me support.” Mr peter Burden reflects on his feelings before going to print with his second edition of The Lion and the Stars 94
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Bablake’s Headmaster, Mr Andrew Wright, with author and School Archivist Mr Peter Burden
www . b a b l a k e . c o m
O n e o f t h e co u n t ry’s l e a d i n g co -e du c at i o n a l i n d epen d en t s c h o o l s i s c lo s er t h a n yo u t h i n k… #BePartOfIt #DiscoverYourPotential #RealiseYourPotential #SpiritOfOpportunity
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