missed. Mr Hands leaves us for The Gambia, and Mr Hayden, who arrived to take over Newick House at the start of the year, thankfully stays put, despite the travails of a year spent exploring the complexities of the Middle East for the first time. Next year we will be joined by Mr Nelder and Mrs Dawson, and we are excited to welcome them, as we know they will both bring with them the deep love of books that has typically characterised the denizens of Rooms 1 and 2 in New Block.
Miss Jo Doidge-Harrison
History of Art
We began the academic year in fine fettle due to some excellent A Level results in summer 2015. All candidates attained A at AS, and we managed 100% A-B at A2, with the majority gaining A Grade. All bar one of our A2 students went on to study History of Art at university, where they will thrive, I am sure. Subject take-up in September 2015 was most encouraging, warranting two sets in the Lower Sixth. The academic year 2015‑16 has seen an unprecedented number of Sixth Formers enter art historical competitions: Emily Wilford (U6, W) entered AHA’s (Art History Abroad) Sir Trenchard Cox competition for a scholarship to Italy; Alexander Cove (L6, Xt) entered the SPoKE Art Documentary Competition established by St. Mary’s School Ascot, with his excellent interactive documentary on Bill Viola; and Isabelle Stannett (L6, A) and Lucy Kirkpatrick (L6, A) both submitted extended essays as part of Cambridge University’s Peterhouse Vellacott History Prize, on the ‘Renaissance’ and ‘Neo-Classicism’ respectively. In addition, Emily Wilford (U6, W) was highly commended by the adjudicators of the ARTiculation Prize Competition for her presentation on Piero della Francesca’s Baptism of Christ, entitled ‘Theology through Geometry’. A second airing of this talk secured her the Upper College Society Presentation Prize later in the term.
A thriving lecture programme this academic year inspired creative minds. It commenced with sculptor Natasha Houseago’s presentation on her carvings, and was followed by an illustrated talk by Dr Jacqueline Cockburn (formerly Head of History of Art at Westminster School) entitled ‘Velásquez Reinterpreted’. Mr Nelson covered four key syllabus works in a talk dubbed ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ and the students strutted their stuff in a fascinating cross-curricular evening on the Fibonacci Sequence for Upper College Society. Our students enjoyed the first-hand experience of art history with an informative curator’s tour of the Wallace Collection, alongside further visits to the British Museum, National Gallery and Tate Modern in London, and to the Christchurch Picture Gallery in Oxford. A visit to Oxford Brookes University offered Lower Sixth Form students the opportunity to meet faculty staff, and to enjoy a tour of their new History of Art facilities. However, the highlight of the academic year has to be the Easter trip to Rome, run by Mr Evans. The visit started with a tour of the supposed spot of Julius Caesar’s assassination and a look at the stupendous Fountain of Four Rivers in the Piazza Navona. The Pantheon was the next port of call, followed by the classical sculpture and architecture of the Capitoline Museums, the Forum and the iconic Colosseum. The breath-taking sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and the realistic painting of Caravaggio at the Galleria Borghese cemented the students’ appreciation of these seminal figures, previously understood only by reproductions at home. A magnificent church crawl from the top of the Quirinal Hill down to the Piazza del Popolo and then back to Centro Storico ensued, followed by a visit to the very plush Galleria Borghese and Velásquez’s inimitable painting of Pope Innocent X. The final full day was spent gazing at the mammoth works in the Basilica of Saint Peter, taking in spectacular views over the Caput Mundi and The Vatican. Inevitable visits to the Sistine Chapel, the Trevi Fountain and the Villa Farnesina capped off a stunning cultural visit. My thanks go to Miss Doidge-Harrison and Mr Evans for their unstinting enthusiasm and excellent organisation when running this trip. Subject stalwart Emily Wilford (U6, W) was the highly deserving winner of the Sixth Form subject prize for History of Art, as awarded at Speech Day.
Tashia Suleyman (U6, Q) shone this year also, and like Emily, has gained excellent university offers to read History of Art from a wonderful range of excellent universities. The success of our internal Arts programme and accompanying brochure for parents and pupils continues next term, with ‘Deceiving the Scholars’ by Mr Evans, ‘English Painting: Englishness, tradition and change, responses to War’ by Ms Fiona James, formerly Head of History of Art at Cheltenham Ladies’ College, and a cross-curricular evening on World War 1, which is set to coincide with an archive exhibition in Thirlestaine House.
Mr Nick Nelson
Mathematics
The Department continued to enjoy success in national Mathematical Challenge competitions. Every year we enter the UK Mathematics Trust challenges, where papers are designed to test not only mathematical skills but also ingenuity. At the Senior level, 42 received certificates for creditable performances; the second best results ever. The top College place was achieved by William Hardy (L6, S) who, along with four others, gained Gold certificates for being placed in the top 6% nationally. At the Intermediate level an unprecedented 87 achieved recognition with the award of certificates, of which 14 featured in the top 6% nationally and received Gold awards; a new record. Particular credit and congratulations must go to Olly Hill (5th, L), Finbar McConnell (4th, Xt) and William Gibson (3rd, L) who were placed first in their year groups in College with scores which put them in the top one quarter of a percentage nationally. Three pupils were also invited to compete in the follow-up rounds in which they did very well. Special mention needs to go to William Gibson who was placed third in Lower College, quite an achievement for a Third Form pupil. The Department continued to support the Gloucestershire Mathematics Association at talks given by academics, the highlight being a talk held at Dean Close School by Martin Cox, Director of the John Locke Institute, Oxford, entitled ‘Mathematics in Game Theory’. Martin covered
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The Cheltonian 2015-2016
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