Bromsgrovian News Review Winter 2010

BROMSGROVIAN NEWS REVIEW

WINTER 2010

The last News Review might as well have appeared in the Lower Neolithic. Eras seem to have passed since I wrote about the stunning inspection reports..

Eighteen new and refurbished science laboratories have risen from the old Whitley buildings; a joyous Commemoration captivated all; Lord Heseltine delivered a superb Bromsgrove Foundation lecture in the shadow of the Tower of London; a magnificent reunion in London’s Reform Club delighted OBs; superb results in public examinations thrilled pupils and kept their Headmaster in work; sport, music and drama across the Schools excited, entertained and packed in the crowds.

And then, the start of 2011 saw the beginning of the biggest building programme in the School’s history: eighteen months from now the Southern areas of the Senior campus will be genuinely unrecognizable. And genuinely magnificent. To cap it all, on a weird grey day in January we were told by the government that, on the one hand, we would join Eton, Harrow and Winchester by registering a 0% pass rate for the GCSE English Baccalaureate (don’t ask), while at the same time coming top of the same government’s academic value added tables for all state and independent schools in Worcestershire, Birmingham, Warwickshire and Shropshire. Priceless.

Whatever else it may be, it ain’t dull. Enjoy the review.

CHRIS EDWARDS Headmaster

Building Developments

As snowdrops herald Spring, so a few completed new buildings quietly presage the immense changes to come. Above stands the recently completed home for Elmshurst’s Housemaster, and a much needed brick and stone gatehouse has appeared at the Worcester Road entrance. The redesigned Senior car park is functioning (though its final aesthetics enhancement will have to wait until the build is over), but giant hoardings will now be a feature of the site area for eighteen months as the construction of the large buildings takes place. Elsewhere, the new Prep car park is also up and running, and Pre-Prep are enjoying their spacious new dining hall. www.bromsgrove-school.co.uk

Academic News Results 2010

Once again A level results were stunning with pupils achieving 86% A* to B grades and 63% achieving A* and A grades. The favourite destinations for this year’s leavers are University College London, Imperial College London and the London School of Economics. Twins Daniel and Tom Geh achieved 7 A*s between them. 11 pupils achieved 5 Grade As or more. GCSE results saw 57% of all examinations graded at A* A with the A* - E pass rate being 99.9%.

Medics

A group of potential Sixth Form Medics attended a conference to gather information and to take part in practical workshops with professionals from many different fields of healthcare. With the competition for medical places growing each year, our pupils were not afraid to ask thought-provoking questions on the future of the NHS and admissions criteria to Medical School.

Physics Lectures

The Physics department continues to find new ways to enthuse pupils including an outdoor lesson for the A2 group who made an analysis of playground rides that rotated, pupils then made mathematical models of the rides and were successful in publishing a paper in the journal Physics Education. Visiting lecturers have included Dr Melanie Windridge speaking to Fourth Form pupils about the physics of fusion and Dr Vincent Smith who talked to Sixth Form pupils about Einstein’s works.

Lecture week

The Lower Sixth Lecture week once again encompassed a terrific variety of subject areas for pupils to dip into.

Topics included US Presidents, the Novel, Oxbridge and Medics’ workshops, African Politics and Development, Dubai, Parisian Cabaret, Russia’s Revolutions, Essay and Report Writing, Advanced Modelling Skills, a ProDesktop Masterclass, Black Holes, Worm Holes and Time Travel, Detective Fiction, Forensic Investigations, Experimental Art and much more.

Heads of School

We congratulate Heads of School, Georgina Eales and Hugh Lockhart, their Deputies Annina Ulrich and Barnaby Woods and Senior Boarders Clara Czech and Anthony Ng.

School Monitors

A further six School Monitors were appointed for the academic year. Many congratulations to Joseph Raczkowski, Laura Cottrell, Harriet Flowerdew, Lucinda Hegarty, Jennifer Morris and Christina Rasanayagam.

www.bromsgrove-school.co.uk

Music, Drama, Dance & Art News The Fashion Show

The Fashion Show was thoroughly enjoyed by capacity audiences in Routh Hall. Compered

by Ted Beale and Fiona Jeffery, this was a visually satisfying evening showcasing an amazingly wide range of textile applications from Regency England, through colourful beach wear to vintage China - all designed and produced by pupils from the Lower Fourth to Upper Sixth.

Julian Lloyd Webber Cello Masterclass

Emily Collie was selected for her talent and potential to attend a Masterclass with acclaimed musician Julian Lloyd Webber. Eight cellists, all grade 7 or above, were chosen for the Masterclass, run by the Elgar School of Music. Julian, one of the world’s leading cellists, listened to Emily playing her chosen piece and offered advice on how she might improve. Following the lesson, they played the piece together.

Fran Kingston singing in Bromsgrove

Fran Kingston sang in front of a massive outdoor audience before the start of the town’s firework spectacular in Sanders Park.

Words and Music

‘Words and Music’ on a theme of ‘from Page to Stage’ proved very enjoyable. The audience was regaled by a wide range of literary passages from the Bible, Robert Louis Stevenson, TS Eliot, Dickens and Shakespeare – and songs from ‘Chicago’, ‘Les Misérables’ and Abba.

Northern Lights

The Fourth Form put on a superb performance of Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights, adapted into a short play by Mr Merrell. The cast look forward to performing again in the Lent term at the Birmingham Festival of Acting and Musical Entertainment.

Scholars’ Concert

A wide range of music was played by our talented music scholars who entertained and moved the audience in a splendid Scholars’ Concert.

Well done to Andrea Ellinas, Katie Walker, Emma Westley, Sam Adamson, James Mayhew, Patrick Dolan, Harry Broom, William Parkinson, George Draper-Barr, James Lay, Alistair Aktas, Emily Collie, Charles Hill, Robert Lay, Tom Stokes and Elizabeth Leather.

Bromsgrove’s Got Talent

Bromsgrovians proved once again that they really do have talent as they sang and performed in aid of charity. Alyssa Sripetchvandee was declared the winner with her beautiful rendition of Mariah Carey’s song Heroes.

Royal College of Music

Many congratulations to Emma Westley who has recently been offered a place at the Junior Department of the Royal College of Music in London.

Community Carols

Threepenny Opera

The highlight of the year’s music and drama has to be the musical production and this year’s performance of Brecht’s Threepenny Opera didn’t disappoint.

Superb acting, singing and dancing from all the cast and encouragement and hard work behind the scenes all combined to give the audience a truly memorable theatrical production of this dark and atmospheric play.

Housman Hall welcomed residents from a local elderly care home to a morning of carols and coffee. The guests were in fine spirit, as were our pupils who sang, played instruments and served refreshments. Not only did the care home residents enjoy and appreciate this kind Christmas gesture but pupils were reminded of the important role that the School plays in the community.

www.bromsgrove-school.co.uk

Life Outside the Classroom News Gold award

The Duke of Edinburgh Award

At Easter 44 participants went the Yorkshire Dales to enjoy the splendours of the Three Peaks.

The remainder of the gold participants went to Snowdonia in July. Snowdonia offers enormous challenges so any group which scales Snowdon and some of the other less known peaks and ridges can justifiably be extremely proud of themselves.

Gold Award

Richard Horridge, Chiristina Rasanayagam and Georgina Eales all received their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards at Mark Reading on the last day of Michaelmas term.

Silver Award

Congratulations to Faye Al Nakeeb, Ellie Harding, Adam Robertson, Daisy Perry and Hamish Docherty who have all received Silver Duke of Edinburgh Awards this year.

Silver award

Last year saw the introduction of the system where the Upper Fourth year complete their Bronze Award as members of the CCF. After that they have the opportunity to opt out of the CCF to continue with the award scheme. There is great enthusiasm from the participants – especially evident in the arduous expedition section of the award.

The first expedition of the year took Fifth Form participants to the Shropshire for their practice expedition over Wenlock Edge and the Long Mynd. They then went to Exmoor for their qualifying expedition at the end of June.

Largely warm but variable weather failed to dampen the enthusiasm and energy as 10 groups walked between Minehead via Porlock and the Doone Valley to Lynmouth. The bravery and determination shown throughout was outstanding and the success of expeditions was evident on all 60 faces at the completion of their trekking and camping.

Cycle Ride

Well done to Sam and Katie Leather on a notable achievement; together with their father they cycled 951 miles from Land’s End to John o’Groats for the charity ‘Grassroots’.

Horse of the Year Show

Harry Eaves and Henrietta Horsely-Gubbins both qualified for the ‘Horse of the Year Show’ at the International Arena in Birmingham.

Kilimanjaro Climb

Victoria Borton joined 94 corporate trekkers to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania for the Deloitte Community Investment Kilimanjaro Challenge to raise money for charity.

With its summit at 5,681m Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest freestanding volcano and highest mountain in Africa. Starting in tropical rainforests, through subalpine meadows and arctic deserts Victoria was one of 81 trekkers who reached the summit.

Pattingham Bells Run

Competing over a 7 mile off-road, multi-terrain course Alex Walker won the junior section of the 21st annual Pattingham Bells Run and helped raise money for the West Midlands Air Ambulance and local church restoration funds.

Keilder Challenge at Bromsgrove

Pupils organised a day of competitions for local special needs children in the style of the Keilder Challenge. The aim of the Kielder Challenge is to increase the opportunities for special needs children to participate in team building exercises and to interact with able bodied children. The Sixth form leaders designed, set up and judged a variety of interesting challenges.

www.bromsgrove-school.co.uk

Life Outside the Classroom News CCF Orienteering

19 members of the CCF took part in the National Cadet Orienteering Championships near Catterick, Yorkshire. For the first time we fielded teams in all four classes: Senior Boys, Senior Girls, Junior Boys and Junior Girls, with some particularly strong members of the U4th running in the over 16s category.

They showed courage and intelligence on the physically tough and technically demanding courses in very raw conditions. Both the girls’ Senior and Junior teams finished as runners up in their classes and were awarded with medals.

Eco Projects

Pupils continue to work enthusiastically on eco projects around school and the local area.

We recently enjoyed delicious pumpkin soup made in the school kitchen from homegrown pumpkins. Pupils visited a local nature reserve - a site that the school supports in order to protect the Water Vole community, where they learned a range of practical skills and also came to appreciate the difference a day’s work of practical conservation can make.

Lower Fourth Field Day

Pupils and staff thoroughly enjoyed the Lower Fourth Field Day to the Malvern Hills.

Despite a cold, grey start the sun was shining by mid-afternoon and our newest and youngest year group acquitted themselves superbly, proving themselves to be excellent company, courteous and friendly.

Photos to follow?

CCF

On Tuesday 6th July almost 2000 cadets led by massed Bands marched up the Mall from Horseguards to Buckingham Palace for the Royal Review and the Prince of Wales took the Salute outside Clarence House. A 44-strong party from Bromsgrove, including the entire Camp party from Cornwall and other cadets and parents, met in the Mall to watch this special Parade. The Red Arrows left their tri-colour vapour trails as they flew over the Palace and then our party moved to the Grand Entrance to the Palace to be admitted to the Garden Party. Passing through the Palace rooms to join the 600 guests in the Garden was a wonder and three Bromsgrove cadets were spoken to by Prince Charles who showed keen interest in their activities in Cornwall. The Duchess of Cornwall spoke to Cadet RSM Ted Beale, attending as a finalist for the Duke of Westminster’s Award.

Catering Staff Qualify

Well done to over 40 members of the catering staff across all three schools who successfully completed their NVQ in customer service in the summer. The course covers all areas of customer service and aims to raise the standard of performance.

The programme also promotes confidence and motivation and creates opportunities for personal career development.

Ski Trip

The snow that embraced England towards the end of the Michaelmas term brought chaos to the country; and so 38 Bromsgrove pupils immediately set out to make the most of these excellent conditions by heading to Aaltenmarkt, Austria for the 2010 ski trip. Bright blue skies and fantastic skiing conditions greeted the group every day; and the advanced groups set the pace with some excellent skiing throughout the trip. Evening activities included bowling, swimming, tubing, a quiz night and a presentation evening combined with a visit to a pizzeria restaurant.

www.bromsgrove-school.co.uk

Sport News CRICKET Forty Club Presentation

Bromsgrove School 1st X1 have been awarded the prestigious ‘Forty Club’ cricket award. Each year an award of a silver cup is made to the school adjudged to have performed best against the Forty Club. This prestigious award is awarded for captaincy, batting, bowling, fielding, turnout, and behaviour on and off the field. The Forty Club is the second largest private cricket Club in the world and they play over 130 fixtures a season against School and Youth sides throughout England Scotland and Wales.

Athletics

On Commemoration Day our Intermediate girls’ athletics squad competed in the National Track and Field Athletics Championships at Gateshead. Rebecca Straw (300m), Tara Thorpe (800m), Hannah Trow (800m), Lydia Trow (1500m) and Ellen Lockhart (1500m) all secured personal best performances. The girls demonstrated great team spirit to reach the National Finals and to be placed eighth nationally from the 800 schools that entered the competition.

RUGBY

Representative Honours Midlands U16s Elliott Davies Worcestershire U16s Louis Preira, Brett Huxley, George Blaxhall, Tom Gretton Geater Birmingham U16s Will Hunt Herefordshire U16s Elliott Davies Midlands U18s George Beale, Tom Griffiths, Hugh Lockhart, Hugh McBride, Damon Poole, Sam Waltier, Barnaby Woods, Dan Young

Cross Country

Netball

After winning the District Tournament the U14 netball team competed in the County Championships. After winning all their pool matches they met RGS in the final and defeated them 6-5 to be crowned County Champions. They now look forward to the West Midlands finals.

In very cold conditions our junior and inter teams competed in the District CrossCountry Championships at Sanders Park.

The junior girls won a team gold in style with Poppy Jones coming in 1st place, Eleanor Ball 6th, Millie Doherty 7th and Frederica Robbins 8th; the Junior boys raced well with Ben Walker 1st, Jamie Ross 3rd and Gregoire Lambert 7th. The inter girls dominated their age group and also won team gold with Lydia Trow 1st, Alice Smith 3rd, Laura Matthews 4th and Lauren Townsend 10th . The inter boys ran well with Ross Johnston 1st, Armand Lambert 3rd and Alex Moore 5th.

Stop Press

Worcestershire U18s Hugh McBride, Damion Poole, Ryan Gordon, George Beale, Dan Skinner, Hugh Lockhart, Dan Young, Sam Waltier, James Widdop, Miles Martins, Joe Wilkinson, Joshua Watkins Herefordshire U18s Tom Griffiths, Barnaby Woods, Tom Knowles, Jack Fletcher, Jack Bruten

Abu Dhabi Harlequins

Chris Johnson played for Abu Dhabi Harlequins U18s in the Dubai 7s. Chris displayed great leadership and his team won the Plate Competition, which was presented to him by the legendary All Black Jona Lomu.

The U16 Netball team have won the West Midlands Final and now qualify for the National Finals in March.

www.bromsgrove-school.co.uk

Sport News NATIONAL HOCKEY FINALS Outdoor Competition

HOCKEY England Coach

The U16 girls’ hockey team won the outdoor zonal round and went on to play excellent hockey at the Midlands Outdoor Finals where they defeated Kings Worcester 2-0, Malvern College, 1-0, Repton 2-0 to win the group and in the semi-final beat Denstone 1-0. Despite losing to Oundle 1-0 in the Final, the team qualified for the Nationals in March.

Ben Dudley, a former pupil and now Master in Charge of Hockey Development here at Bromsgrove School, has been appointed as goalkeeper coach for the England U16 Boys’ Hockey team. Ben has been given the important task of selecting new goalkeepers for the team and will be coaching the England U16 Boys Goalkeepers throughout the upcoming international season at their training camps and tournaments.

Many congratulations to Ellen Lockhart who has been selected for England U16 trials.

Todd Dudley has been selected for Mercia Lynx U17s for the National HiPac at Lilleshall.

Indoor Competition

The U18 girls’ team played in the zonal round of the outdoor competition. They competed well and won 5 out of 8 matches but in the last match against Oakham lost 2-0 meaning they just missed out on a place at the Midlands Finals.

At the Midlands U18 Indoor Finals, the boys defeated Repton, Warwick and Denstone and drew with Oakham. In the semi-final they defeated King Edward’s Lichfield 5-0 with a fine display of attacking hockey. They narrowly lost the final against Oakham 3-2 but still qualified for the National Finals.

National Indoor Hockey Finals

The boys’ 1st team played at the National Indoor Hockey Finals at Whitgift School.

Sadly the team did not qualify for the semi-final but they performed valiantly and played excellent hockey. Congratulations to team members; Maximilian Schwahn, Aden Symonds, Stuart Clare, Lennard Klein, Robert Sieg, Felix Hoelter, Anton Boeckel, Jakob Lingg, Jakob Langen, Todd Dudley, Lasse Bachem.

Kappa Cup

The Boys’ U18 Indoor team travelled to Hamburg during the Christmas break to play in the Kappa Cup at Club An der Alster in Hamburg. The tournament is the biggest of its kind in Europe and involved 33 teams from around Germany, Holland and England. This was great preparation for the National Indoor finals in January. www.bromsgrove-school.co.uk

Prep News & Sport Deadly 60

Wildlife Presenter Steve Backshall of Deadly 60 fame gave a brilliant talk to children in Years 3 and 4.

An enthusiastic speaker, Steve received spontaneous applause from his enthralled audience. He spoke passionately about wildlife and urged pupils to go into the great outdoors to search out, enjoy and protect the incredible animal life on our planet.

Heads of School

Congratulations to Sam Makar and Clare Hill on their appointment as Head Boy and Head Girl. Tom Ford and Hemlata Limbu are their Deputies.

Charity Concert

Year 5 performed in a concert at the LG arena with over 5000 pupils from other schools. After an afternoon of rehearsing and a live broadcast on The One Show they performed a huge number of songs, from Michael Jackson to Bright Eyes, with a little Christmas cheer for good measure.

Young Writers

44 Prep School pupils have been published in the latest publication from Young Writers: ‘The Adventure starts here – Tiny Treasures’. Pupils rose to the tricky challenge of writing a story with a beginning, middle and an end in just fifty words – a mini saga. The diverse and imaginative range of entries made the selection process for the editors difficult and we are thrilled that so many of our children displayed the style, expression, flair and technical skill required to see their stories in print.

Poetry Express

Joe Newborn had a poem published following the Young Writers’ latest competition, Poetry Express. Given freedom to write on any theme and in any style, Joe’s poem ‘Blue’ included reference to Coventry, his favourite football team.

Roald Dahl Children of the Lost

Pupils from Years 6 and 7 were amazed as David Whitley, author, actor and singer, stunned them with his talents. David’s visit was to promote his new book, The Children of the Lost but along the way he told interesting facts about Cromwell’s Utopia and showed some enlightening slides from Gulliver’s Travels. David inspired pupils by telling them that he wrote his first novel at age 17.

Youth Pact

European Day of Languages

A buzz of excitement pervaded the Prep School from start to finish on the Day of European Languages. The quest was on to discover which European country twenty seven staff were representing. Each was dressed in the colours of a different European flag, wore or carried a relevant symbol or sported the ‘national costume.

Of course there was one ‘red herring…’

Congratulations to the Year 8 Youth Pact members – Tom Ford, Clare Hill, Hemlata Limbu, Sam Makar, Dylan Longden, Will Edwards, Harry Ferguson and Medhi Khajavi for securing an award of £500 to commence the community project with local St John’s School to create a more pleasant area along the brook which leads into Sanders Park. They will start work on this project early in the Lent term.

The sun shone in Year 3 on a gloomy, wet, autumn morning as excited children prepared to entertain. Each class had studied a different Roald Dahl novel and gave presentations to the other classes. 3JA gave a comical rendition of George’s Marvellous Medicine and 3GB’s hilarious slant on ‘The Twits’ was side-splitting. 3CL’s ‘Esio Trot’ was a little more serious with posters, poetry and a news report.

Acorns Hospice Donation

The PA Summer Ball made a healthy profit of which £5479 was donated to the Acorns Hospice.

www.bromsgrove-school.co.uk

Prep News & Sport Boarding Trips Cross Country

The prep girls’ Cross Country teams competed in the District Cross Country event at Sanders park hosted by Bromsgrove School, the Year 6 and Year 7 teams girls won their races in style.

The year 8s combined with the year 9s to create the inter team who completed a clean sweep of wins.

Drama

Year 6 staged a colourful production of The Wizard of Oz – Dorothy met with munchkins from down under, skateboarding fairy godmothers, interfering narrators and dancing trees on her quest to go home to Kansas.

More recently Year 4 acted, sang and danced through over an hour of musical comedy in their production of What a Knight.

The U13 boys Cross Country team took part in the Midland Final of the ESAA National Cup in Warrington, Cheshire. With the top twelve schools from Cheshire, Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands participating, the boys finished as follows; Charlie Kendrick, 2nd, James Taylor 3rd, Harry Lloyd Jones 12th, Finley Evans 15th, William Draper Barr 34th and Kieran Walker 24th .

These superb performances mean the boys finished as Midlands Champions and now go on to the prestigious National Final at Alnwick Castle, Northumberland.

Over 30 young boarders enjoyed two energetic outings to go quad biking and ten pin bowling.

First XV Rugby

The 1st XV Rugby team has gone unbeaten this season, a feat that has only been achieved six times by the first XV team in the School’s history.

The boys have had an exceptional run of 15 matches with 15 wins, amassing 752 points and conceding only 30. Despite losing the final 4 matches to the weather, 752 points is the highest ever amount of points scored by the 1st XV in a season.

Opposition coaches, parents and referees have offered glowing comments about the team for their performances at every venue, and every member of the squad has been awarded full school colours in recognition of their extraordinary achievement.

Stowe Putter

Congratulations to Lawrence Hill and Tom Robinson who came 3rd in the U14 Stowe Putter competition. In the U12 category they finished in first and second places – giving high hopes for them becoming national champions in two years when they reach the right age group.

Sports Tours

Boys and girls enjoyed sports tours to Ireland during half term. The boys’ rugby teams enjoyed some challenging matches as well as some fun visits to Dublin Zoo, an aquatic centre and learning how to play gaelic football and hurling.

The girls’ teams meanwhile travelled to Belfast where they played netball and hockey in some difficult conditions. They enjoyed shopping, a visit to the cinema, quizzes and plenty of pizza.

www.bromsgrove-school.co.uk

Pre-Prep News School Awards 2009-10

The following were awarded prizes at Prizegiving service: Boys Games Cup Oliver Walker Girls Games Cup Abigail Moore Thorne Cup for Art Lucia Goodwin Placito Cup for Drama Harry Lyle Stuart Davis Project Cup Luke Warren Joanne Lemon Cup for English Jessica Rai Pinfield Mathematics Cup Joseph Morgan Rodgers Cup for Science Nikhil Gour White Cup (for service to the school) Zef Ruben Merit Cup (for consistent hard work) Eloisa Borriello Nigel Fedden Progress Cup Finley Lewis Pickering ‘Young Bromsgrovian’ Cup Harrison Meadows MacDonnell Cup (for best all round work) Gemma Calthorpe

History Lessons World War Two

Year Two arrived at the Pre-Prep to discover that the government had ordered their evacuation to the safety of rural Highley.

Each child, equipped with gas mask box, identity card and name labels was given strict instructions about air raids, rationing and hard work in the 1940’s schoolroom at Hartlebury Castle, before travelling on the Severn Valley Railway to Highley. To keep spirits up the children could be heard singing wartime songs on board the steam train. This trip brought learning about World War Two to life and gave the children a taste of what thousands of British children endured 70 years ago.

Year Two held a Remembrance Day assembly for their parents. This was an opportunity for the children to share some of what they have learnt about World War Two. They sang Glen Miller and Vera Lynn classics and finished the assembly with a moving Remembrance song followed by a minute’s silence.

Crabtree Visit

Year Two children visted the elderly residents at Crabtree Court in Bromsgrove to sing Christmas songs for them. The residents thoroughly enjoyed the singing and were delighted to talk to the children afterwards.

Children in Need

Everyone at the Pre-Prep came to School dressed in spots to support the Children In Need appeal, ‘Let’s raise lots by wearing spots!’

Diwali

African Donation

Old Bromsgrovian, Alice Mellar, who is volunteering in Yamah Orphanage, Ghana, sends many thanks from the children who have recently received a parcel of clothes donated by Pre-Prep parents. The children were so happy with their new outfits!

Reception classes enjoyed a visit from two of our parents who told them all about the Festival of Diwali. They had the chance to dress up in traditional costumes and learnt about the special food and celebations of Diwali.

www.bromsgrove-school.co.uk

Bromsgrovian News Are you willing to speak to current pupils?

early morning breakfasts gave me the structure I needed (even though I have missed one or two lectures… or maybe more).

Aileen Latheef

Looking Back on Bromsgrove by Aileen Latheef

“Hindsight is an amazing thing. I spent two wonderful years at Bromsgrove School in the Sixth Form and boarding in Mary Windsor house (2006- 2008).

I am now a Part three student at the University of Reading studying BA Management and Business Administration. I have recently got very involved with student media and am one of the editors of our student newspaper.

The confidence I needed and especially the organisation and time management skills I need to be in a position where I can balance out editing the newspaper alongside being a third year student has stemmed from my time at Bromsgrove School. Compulsory attendance to everything, especially those

I had two absolutely brilliant teachers; Mr White and Mr Challoner - and the passion and the enthusiasm they expressed for their subject (Business Studies) made it one of my favourite subjects whilst I was in school and it encouraged me to choose it as my degree as well. Mr Wingfield was another amazing teacher. I didn’t realise how much it was going to help outside of A Levels when he drove us to try and perfect our essays and hone in our evaluation skills.

The innocence and the naivety when you are young is a beautiful thing. I am facing my final year at university and I don’t feel old enough to face the real world still.

Appreciate your time is the only thing I can say with hindsight now”.

School and OB Players

OB Basketball v School

During Lent term last year a basketball match between the School and Old Bromsgrovians took place. More than 20 OBs returned for the match including Tommy Wu, Eddie Chan, Wai-Kit Tong and Ken Chuang who had flown in from Hong Kong and Patrick Wong from New York. The School managed its first victory over the OBs in five years.

Aileen Latheef

Zoe Kingston

Zoe Kingston (Oakley 1997-2004) married David Griffiths in Edinburgh.

Her bridesmaids were Old Bromsgrovians Nikki Broadbridge (Oakley 1996-2005) and Kirsty Bolam (Oakley 1997-2004).

If you are happy to discuss your career with current pupils, give advice on what to do or where to go after School or University then please get in touch. We are always looking for speakers for Head of Year, particularly in the Sixth Form; please email mgriffiths@bromsgrove-school.co.uk if you are interested, with some background information about yourself and your career and when you are available to come into School.

Jonathan Phillips

Jonathan Phillips (School 1972-1977) is currently working as an orthopaedic surgeon in Florida and spent a week in Haiti helping survivors in the aftermath of the Earthquake (thank you to Jonathan’s father, Tudor Phillips for sending in this news).

James Villarreal

James Villarreal (Lupton 1999-2004) won Birmingham Young Professional of the Year during a ceremony in May 2010. James won the entrepreneurial category despite stiff competition from other competitors. id Griffiths, Zoe Kingston

Nikki Broadbridge, Dav

and Kirsty Bolam

Sam Evans with Jenny

Boyce and Emma Lloyd

OBs meet in Australia

Chris Edwards (H eadmaster), Jon Weston (Rudells), Matthew Horton (C ookes 1962-1967 )

Alumni Reception in Harborne

Over 60 Old Bromsgrovians, Governors, Trustees, current and ex-staff attended a Bromsgrove School Reception at Rudell the Jewellers in Harborne on Thursday 22nd April 2010. With the magnificent backdrop of the Harborne shop, alumni from the 1950s to the 2000s enjoyed drinks, canapes and sparkling conversation.

With thanks to Roundy Rudell (Elmshurst 1960-1963, Foundation Trustee) for allowing us to use his shop as a venue for the Reception.

duation day

Nick Seabrook on gra

Nick Seabrook

Nick Seabrook (Lupton 1994-2001) graduated with his PhD in Political Science at the University of Buffalo in June 2010 and, despite the very difficult academic job market, started in August as an Assistant Professor in Political Science at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

Also Down Under are Jenny Boyce (nee Grainger, Mary Windsor 1989-1994), Emma Lloyd (nee Jennings, Mary Windsor 19891994) and Samatha Evans (nee Hunt, Mary Windsor 1989-1994).

Further photographs are available on the school website, to view them please go to www.bromsgrove-school.co.uk (click ‘photo library’ or search for “Rudell’s Reception”)

Just a few months ago Samantha found out that some of her contemporaries were also living in Brisbane and she has been enjoying the delightful company of Jenny and Emma.

Nina Temple-Weed

Nina Temple-Weed (Hazeldene 19851990) is currently living in Summit, NJ and has two daughters (Freya is 4 and Eva is 3). Nina works in staffing at Google in Manhattan and has taken part in a number of triathlons. Nina also attended the Bromsgrove School New York Choir Reception in July.

Lucy Toft (Housman Hall 20042009) has been travelling the world with Chris Bailey (Housman Hall 2004-2009).

During May and June they were in Australia working in a small town. Lucy writes ’As we are now living and working here for several months, it only felt right that Chris would join the local rugby team ‘The Bowral Blacks’. He had a game this weekend against ‘The Vikings’ from Wollongong, a larger coastal town. As both teams ran out onto the pitch at the beginning of the game, Chris and I both recognised a player in the opposing team.

Would you believe it was Joel Diggins who left Housman Hall in 2007. Two OBs met on a rugby pitch on the other side of the world and 3 of us from the same House - what a small world we live in!’

Jenny has been living with her family (husband and 2 children) in Brisbane for a number of years after relocating from the UK and Emma is in Brisbane with her family (husband and 3 children) after her husband was offered a 1 year placement with a local hospital (he is a surgeon).

Professor Roy Haines

Professor Roy Haines (Lupton 1938-1940) has passed an examination for the Oxford D.Litt. degree. Professor Haines submitted five books and sixteen articles in a variety of historical journals. It has been 51 years since he was awarded the D.Phil degree.

David Bradshaw

David Bradshaw (Lupton 1981-1986) gained a part-time PhD from Cambridge in 2010.

All three Bromsgrovians knew each other very well at Bromsgrove and were School Monitors and Boarders.

Freya, Nina and Eva

www.bromsgrove-school.co.uk

Bromsgrovian News include Steve Hanks, could you please email Tony directly: TSimp91426@aol.com

Ex-staff member

Richard Tattershaw, a former Hockey and Sports Coach at Bromsgrove, is looking for an ex-work colleague, Stewart McConkey who was Head of PE during the 90s. If you are in touch with Stewart or can give Richard any information as to his whereabouts please email him direct: tatts@timezoneone.com

to drama school, her time on the show and her acting ambitions. Eager pupils asked interesting questions and many of Charlie and Hannah’s former teachers were also present in the Lecture Theatre to hear what they had been up to since leaving School.

Charlie’s twin sister Hannah has recently been travelling and has just returned to the UK. She graduated from Nottingham University with a Broadcast Media degree.

Old Boys 7’s Rugby at Old Silhilians RFC Lee Hutchings

Lee Hutchings

Lee Hutchings (Elmshurst 2001-2006) returned to Bromsgrove during the Summer Term to talk to current students about alternative pathways. Lee is currently Senior Commercial Project Officer at Siemens.

OB Photographs

Tony Simpson is looking for a photograph of Stephen (known as ‘Steve’) Hanks.

Steve was a Day Boy from Alvechurch who was killed during his National Service in Germany. Year on leaving Bromsgrove would be approximately 1955. If you have any photographs from your School days, which

Recent Bromsgrovian leavers, including James Freeman (Lyttelton 20042009), took part in the Old Boy’s 7’s at Old Silhilians RFC on 19th June 2010 and finished as runners up.

Charlie Clemmow

Charlie and Hannah Clemmow

Charlie and Hannah Clemmow (Hazeldene 1997-2004) returned to Bromsgrove School in June 2010. Charlie is currently starring in the BBC One show ‘Doctors’ and spoke to current pupils about going ood, T Maguire, J Freeman, Back row - B Hunt, D Hunt, J Attw las, B Lawrenson, L Mullan Doug B B Pons. Front row - J Pons,

Chrissi Frank

Dr Zahra Fazel

Commemoration Day

Commemoration Day took place on Saturday, 3rd July 2010 in glorious sunshine.

Various activities took place throughout the day including a new and exciting exhibition of Bromsgrovian History in the Museum (Old Chapel) and The Bromsgrovian Club had their marquee on Lower Charford for a Pimms and Pig Roast party. Thank you to everyone who attended.

Dr Zahra Fazel

Dr Zahra Fazel (Mary Windsor 1997-2001) left Bromsgrove in 2001 and moved on to Medical School at Nottingham University.

Since graduating with a BMedSci and a BMBS Zahra has worked at Lincoln County Hospital and The Royal Derby Hospital and in August 2010 moved onto Nottingham City Hospital to commence her Anaesthetics training. Zahra says of her time at Bromsgrove, “What I gained as a Bromsgrovian was an experience that set me up for life, and this has definitely played a strong part in making me the person I am today. Each time I look back I am thankful that I once had the privilege of calling myself a Bromsgrovian, I am a much better person for it.”

Tom Reynolds

Tom Reynolds (Wendron-Gordon 2001-2006) passed his Main Board selection for Sandhurst and commenced training in September 2010. ord

OBs on Lower Charf

Chrissi Frank (MW 2004-2005) has now graduated from university in Germany and gained her BSc in Business Administration and Economics during a ceremony in October 2010. Since November 2010 (until March this year) Chrissi is undertaking an internship with auditing and accounting firm, Mazars and Hemmelrath.

As Chrissi is planning on doing her Masters later this year in Britain, she would like to undertake an internship in the UK beforehand. All of her internships so far have been placed in Germany and she thinks doing one in Britain would be a new challenge and it would also give her the opportunity to get used to all the technical terms quickly. She is particularly interested in Accounting.

NYC Reception

Reception in New York

Whilst members of the Bromsgrove School Choir were in New York, Mr Jonathan Kingston (Director of Music) and Mr Philip Bowen (Deputy Headmaster) hosted a Reception on July 8th 2010 for Bromsgrovians at the Millenium Hilton Hotel near to the Ground Zero site. It was just around the corner from St Paul’s Chapel where the Choir had performed earlier that day, with many Old Bromsgrovians also in attendance.

If you can help please contact Chrissi directly: christiane_frank@gmx.net

Joe and Steven Waters

Joe (Elmshurst 1985-1989) and Steven (Elmshurst 1980-1985) Waters dropped into Bromsgrove School at the start of the Michaelmas term 2010. The brothers now live in South Africa and on a rare sunny day in Bromsgrove the pair visited new and old haunts around the School, commenting on how nice it was to meet a few staff members who they remembered from their School days.

Pupil Elizabeth Leather with OB Hildi

ng Ohlsson

www.bromsgrove-school.co.uk

Bromsgrovian News

Ben Gimson at the Sum

mit of Kilimanjaro

1971-1980 Reunion Attendees

1971-1980 Reunion

Over 50 ex-pupils who started School between 1971 and 1980 returned to Bromsgrove on Saturday 11th September 2010 for a Reunion. The day commenced in the Armoury with arrival refreshments and a display of CCF memorabilia, followed by a service in the School’s Memorial Chapel, with a moving sermon by Deputy Headmaster Philip Bowen, a tour of the School with current pupils and lunch in the Old Chapel which now houses the Museum. Former staff members who were at Bromsgrove during the 70s and 80s were also present including John Gunton, Bernard Hall-Mancey, John Ireland and Dr Patrick Walsh-Atkins.

Further photographs from the day can be found on the School website – www.bromsgrove-school.co.uk

Bromsgrove School Dinner at The Reform Club, London

A London dinner, hosted by His Honour Judge Richard Foster (Elmshurst 19671972) took place at The Reform Club, Pall Mall on Wednesday 29th September 2010.

Over 70 Old Bromsgrovians and current staff members including the Headmaster Chris Edwards and Deputy Head Philip Bowen dined in the magnificent surroundings of The Library.

Thanks must be extended to Judge Foster for permitting the School to hold the dinner at his club and for hosting the evening.

It is hoped that this will become an annual event in the School calendar.

Ben Gimson

Ben Gimson (School 1998-2007) has just graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a 2:1 in Property and real estate management and has decided during his gap year to raise money for

the “Help for Heroes” charity (further details can be seen at https://www.bmycharity.com/ V2/bengimson). At the time of writing he has raised £5,146.28, a staggering sum which demonstrates the strong feelings for “Help for Heroes”. The support for Ben to complete his task has been overwhelming and perhaps other Pupils can gain inspiration from him.

Ben set off to Africa to climb Mt. Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro (Alone); he has conquered Mt. Kenya and the photos of him at the summit are on his blog: http://ben-h4h. blog.co.uk/ . He has also crossed the Equator into the Southern hemisphere and has been tracking Gorillas in The Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park before heading off to Tanzania to start his assent of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

The Reform Club Dinner

Peter Radnall

Peter Radnall’s (Gordon 1949-1951) car, Force PC recently competed at Shelsey Walsh Near Worcester.

Peter Radnall, Force PC

Sarah Winnett assisting in theatre

Sarah Winnett The OB Netball Club

OB Netball Club

The OB Netball Club has been busy this year playing matches in local leagues and also the annual school fixture at Bromsgrove.

Read on to find out about their 2010 season below.

There was, of course, the customary food and booze served afterwards, and presentation of the trophies. We look forward to bringing home all 3 trophies next year!

Greetings from all members of the Old Bromsgrovian Netball Club!

We have also taken part in lots of tournaments over the Summer/Autumn.

Our best performance was at the Millbrook Charity Tournament on Sunday 4th July, in which we finished 2nd in the Trophy category.

We’ve been busy recruiting this year and the club is now 40-strong with 2 teams entered into the Redditch League. The Summer season was a great success, with the Arrows team finishing mid-table in Division 2 and the Bullets team finishing top of Division 3.

We are currently enduring an extremely cold Winter season (yes, we play outside!).

Our annual matches against the School teams were played on Monday 27th September.

This was the first year we managed to get 3 teams out; admittedly not all OBs, but it was a fab and friendly event! The OBs A and C teams both beat the School 1st and 3rd teams respectively, with the OBs B team narrowly losing out to the School 2nd team.

A big part of our calendar is our social events. We recently went to the Glee Club in Birmingham for our Christmas do, which was a most enjoyable evening!

We also had our Annual AGM & Awards Night on Monday 26th July at Prezzo in Bromsgrove. And our ‘Pub Golf’ evening back in July was another extremely sober affair!

If you fancy joining us, please contact Helen on 07881 958448 for more info.

unters on her trip – Rachael Morgan: Just one of the enco have caught ands husb their tuna ng tradi Bajo women es from their handmade cano

The Bromsgrovian Club – Chairman’s Fund Rachael Morgan

Rachael Morgan (Thomas Cookes 20002007) took part in The Bromsgrovian Club Chairman’s Fund recently, having undertaken a trip to Indonesia, based at the field research centre on Hoga Island for Operation Wallacea. Completing Tropical Research and a field study module for her final year of university, the work here has reconfirmed her aim to pursue an interest in fisheries.

Sarah Winnett (Mary Windsor 2001-2006) was also awarded The Chairman’s Fund, undertaking a medical elective as part of her studies on the island of Mauritius for 6 weeks at the Victoria Hospital in the town of Quatre Bornes. During her stay she spent time in the oncology department, dermatology, paediatrics, A&E and obstetrics & gynaecology. Assisting in theatre Sarah says that a particularly memorable time was delivering a baby by caesarean section!

The elective offered her a once in a lifetime opportunity and she was able to improve her clinical skills as well as experience medicine in another country.

Heather Wang

Heather (Xin Ting) Wang (Oakley 2006-2010) graduated from Bromsgrove this year, and is currently studying at LSE. Heather will be travelling to Nepal and trekking up to Everest Base Camp in September, 2011. It is a charity trek and raises money for Childreach International. For further information, please visit:http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ HeatherWang

www.bromsgrove-school.co.uk

Bromsgrovian News BIST Scholar Paveenuch Sritragul

Rachael Mack playing

for U of M

Alumni in Michigan USA

Also in the U.S. is Paveenuch Sritragul who was a BIST scholar at Bromsgrove School in the summer of 2008. She excelled in golf and achieved 5 A* and 3 As in her IGCSEs, and has continued to study A levels at BIST. Paveenuch has also been offered a scholarship to study at the nearby Michigan State University, commencing September 2011. Paveenuch has been a consistent golf champion both locally and internationally in the Callaway World Junior Golf Championships in the USA.

Remembrance Day at Llanwrtyd Wells

BIST Scholar Paveenuch

Sritragul

Old Bromsgrovians who were pupils in Llanwrtyd Wells during the Second World War travelled back to their old School town during November 2010 to lay wreaths in honour of the OBs who died in the war. We were honoured to have Christopher Price (School 1939-1944) lay the wreath on behalf of the School, with Michael Rees (School 1940-1950), who was the first boy in the Junior School, also present during the ceremony. The Mayor of Llanwrtyd Wells then joined Old Bromsgrovians for lunch.

Recent leaver Rachael Mack (Thomas Cookes 2001-2010) has had an exceptional start to the season playing hockey for the University of Michigan in her first year. In the Big Ten Championship Final, which was broadcast on American Television, Rachael’s team won and she was named Tournament MVP. Llanwrtyd Wells War Memorial

Ha Anh Vu

Ha Anh Vu (Mary Windsor 1997-2002) has been selected as an ambassador for UNICEF, increasing public awareness of the rights of children and women.

She is the second Vietnamese person to be chosen by UNICEF. Ha Anh is an internationally renowned model.

The Bromsgrovian Club AGM

Ha Anh Vu – Photo cou

rtesy of Unicef

The Bromsgrovian Club AGM took place in December. To view the minutes from the meeting please go to www. bromsgrove-school.co.uk and search for ‘AGM minutes’ or visit www. bromsgrovians.com and click the ‘Bromsgrovian Publications’ link.

d left)

) with the Mayor (2n

Michael Rees (1st left

Foundation News The Second Foundation Lecture

The Second Foundation Lecture took place at Trinity House in London on 9th November, delivered by The Rt Hon The Lord Heseltine CH, who was briefly at Bromsgrove School during its evacuation to Llanwrtyd Wells.

BBC Producer Sarah Taylor, Presente r John Wilson, Lord Jones, Jim Page, Stewart Towe CBE Richard Brookes (left)

with Jim Elwell

Alan Cash

BBC Radio 4 Interview Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham

Alan Cash (Wendron 1964-1969) whose first novel The Janus Effect came out in 2005 (of which the School library has copies), has now had his second book published – The Xandra Function.

BBC Radio 4 visited Bromsgrove School at the end of the Michaelmas Term for their programme ‘Top of the Class’, featuring Old Bromsgrovian Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham (Walters 1969-1974).

The novel, part thriller, part love story, is set in the virtual world of computer gaming.

Bromsgrove School’s Chairman of Governors Stewart Towe CBE (Lupton 1965-1970) - who was a couple of years above Digby at School - and former Headmaster of the Prep School Mr Jim Page also took part, providing anecdotes about the young Digby Jones.

Jim Elwell

Jim Elwell (Gordon 1955-1960) returned to Bromsgrove recently travelling from South Africa. Richard Brookes (Lupton 1961-1965, School Governor) met up with Jim at Bromsgrove for a tour of the School.

Guests including Old Bromsgrovians, Governors, Foundation Trustees and Staff were delighted to meet with Lord Heseltine and hear tales of life at 10 Downing Street and how he would have relished the opportunity to become Prime Minister.

Sir David Arculus with

Lord Heseltine

Digby also took part in Celebrity Mastermind on BBC 1 in the New Year. Digby won the programme for his chosen charity Breast Cancer Care.

Having only started the Foundation Lecture series in 2009 with Sir David Arculus speaking on the ‘perils and pitfalls of the boardroom’, we were honoured and delighted to have Lord Heseltine accept the invitation to speak at Trinity House.

The Third Foundation Lecture will follow in Autumn 2011.

Happy New Year

Bromsgrove School wishes all Old Bromsgrovians and their families a very Happy New Year. We hope to see you at one of our events in 2011.

Alan Cash’s new novel The Xandra Function

www.bromsgrove-school.co.uk

Bromsgrove School, Worcester Road, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B61 7DU. Telephone 01527 579679. Email marketing@bromsgrove-school.co.uk

www.bromsgrove-school.co.uk