College News Summer 2017

COLLEGE NEWS Summer 2017

CHELTENHAM COLLEGE REACHES EQUAL GIRL TO BOY NUMBERS WITH A NEW GIRLS’ HOUSE College Lawn, the latest girls’ day and boarding House, will open its doors this September to meet growing demand for quality girls’ education within a co-ed teaching environment, and will bring the ratio of girls to boys to almost 50:50.

“I am delighted to announce that we have appointed Mrs Jo Wintle as Housemistress, as she brings with her a wealth of boarding experience and joins us from Cheltenham Ladies’ College.”

Headmaster Dr Alex Peterken states, “This fully reflects the commitment to our philosophy that co-education is the optimum teaching and learning environment for young men and women today. Demand for girls’ day and boarding places at Cheltenham College has increased significantly over the last decade and the opening of College Lawn in September will help satisfy this requirement.

College Lawn is full for 2017 entry. For more information about entry into September 2018 and beyond, please contact the Admissions team on 01242 265680 or admissions@cheltenhamcollege.org.

College Lawn

Housemistress Mrs Jo Wintle

FINALISTS AT ROSSLYN PARK RUGBY TOURNAMENT Some 750 schools compete in the Rosslyn Park National Schools’ Sevens, making it the largest schools’ tournament in the world, and this year the U18 squad came close runners-up, missing out by just two points.

went into half time 21-7 up. Cheltenham didn’t give in and, with seconds remaining, an extremely difficult kick to tie the game just dropped short meaning St John’s took the title with a final score of 26-24.

The group stages saw comfortable wins against King’s Bruton (29-0), Mount Kelly (38-7), Merchant Taylors (28-7) and Ysgol Gyfun Gwyr (33-10). The players had saved their best until last for the knockout game against Loughborough Endowed School (47-0), scoring some length-of-the-field tries through fantastic support play and offloads. The team went into the group quarter-final having only conceded four tries on day one.

Mr Olly Morgan, Director of Rugby, commented, “The team went above and beyond what was asked of them. Led fantastically by Ed Johnston, the sheer will and desire to come from behind on countless occasions and perform the way they did was a testament to themselves and the school.”

Day two is often all about mental resilience as fatigue slowly begins to set in.

The squad faced two teams who were previous winners of the tournament, Stowe (19-14) and Monmouth (20-12). Both games were great spectacles and Cheltenham came from behind in each to snatch victory. The sheer ‘never say die’ attitude from the players was quite remarkable.

Naturally, the six teams left in the competition are the top rugby schools in the country and with each player needing every ounce of energy, we faced another tough group in St Peter’s York (14-10), who were unbeaten in their XV season, and back-to-back Natwest Cup Champions, Bromsgrove (24-17).

However, Cheltenham yet again came from behind and progressed into the final of Rosslyn Park, for the first time in 12 years. The team started the final against St John’s Leatherhead extremely well but, through errors of our own, College News Summer 2017

SIXTH FORMERS EXHIBIT ART ALONGSIDE FAMOUS ARTISTS Sixth Form artists at Cheltenham College were given the opportunity to exhibit their artwork alongside artists such as Henry Moore, Marc Chagall and Camille Pissarro at Trinity House Paintings in Broadway. Private collectors attended the exhibition during the weekend and three pieces of our students’ work sold to separate buyers.

Cheltenham College has a thriving Art department and holds numerous exhibitions throughout the year in its dedicated exhibition space, The White Gallery. Many students go on to study Art or History of Art at university, with one student, Kristy Chan, going on to study at the prestigious Slade School of Fine Art, and another, Alex Cove, going to The Courtauld Institute of Art in September.

CHARITY FASHION SHOW As part of her Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), Sixth Form student Laura Morris raised over £800 by organising a charity fashion show to support the Bradet Orphanage in Romania, which recently suffered from an extensive fire. Cheltenham College has been supporting the residential home and school for children with special needs since 2001 through fundraising, and a group of pupils and staff visit every year. The fashion show featured clothes that had been donated by pupils, parents and staff to the Bradet Orphanage – with a few artistic touches from the Drama department!

College News Summer 2017

MUSICAL PARTNERSHIP WITH WORLD-RENOWNED ORCHESTRA Cheltenham College is pleased to announce our partnership with the world-renowned City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO). Our pupils will take part in creative workshops, masterclass coaching, and perform with the Symphony Orchestra. These sessions offer College’s musicians an incredible opportunity to receive tuition from some of the world’s best musicians, helping them to prepare pieces for their GCSE or A Level performances or Associated Board exams.

Our partnership with the CBSO, and the instalment of 18 new Steinway pianos as part of our ‘All-Steinway School’ status, reflects the commitment and importance that we place on our musical and concert offering at Cheltenham College.

STUDENTS TRAIN WITH ENGLAND AND GLOUCESTER RUGBY The first XV rugby team had the opportunity to train with England Rugby U20s, as the squad used the school’s gym facilities and pitch to train before their Six Nations matches.

Director of Rugby at Cheltenham College and former England player, Mr Olly Morgan, commented, “This was a fantastic opportunity for our pupils to get the chance to train alongside the country’s top players. Cheltenham College has strong links with the RFU as well as Gloucester Rugby, with 21 players currently in their academy. This gives our players exposure to a professional culture, which we hope will inspire them.”

Cheltenham College has been an official partner of Gloucester Rugby since the beginning of the 2016–17 season and has provided the mascots for each home game. From our historic roots in the game since 1844, when the first ever interschools game was played here, through to helping develop the rugby stars of today, such as Ollie Thorley (who left in 2015) and represents the Gloucester team and England U21s, rugby is part of the foundations of Cheltenham College.

FIFTH FORM PUPIL BEGINS INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY CAREER Emily Drysdale was selected for Wales U18s girls’ test series against Ireland, Switzerland and Scotland, scoring her first international goal at the age of 15. Emily also took part in the Futures Cup last year and was awarded ‘Player of the Tournament’.

Head of Hockey Mr Gwyn Williams commented, “This is a fantastic achievement for Emily and recognition for her talent. Emily has been in our 1st XI since Fourth Form and has been outstanding, not only in her time on the pitch but also in helping create a performance culture.

“Earlier this year, Cheltenham College was visited by Alex Danson and Hannah Macleod, two GB Hockey gold medallists who were on the winning team at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Their coaching sessions and advice have given our hockey players valuable experience.”

THE FUTURE OF CATERING A brand-new, bright and modern food court and serving area will be completed in early 2018, which will complement our ‘Hogwarts-style’ Dining Hall and completely refresh the catering at Cheltenham College. The £2 million investment is part of Cheltenham College’s wider investment of £15 million in our facilities since 2010.

REFURBISHMENT OF BOYS’ HOUSES Cheltenham College has also invested extensively in the refurbishment of the boys’ Houses, so that all Houses provide pupils with a cosy ‘home from home’ in contemporary surroundings, where they can study or relax with friends.

College News Summer 2017

SUPERSONIC CAR WILL TRAVEL FASTER THAN A BULLET Two students from Swansea University gave an interactive talk to pupils about their ongoing attempt to break 1,000mph with a supersonic car – the Bloodhound SSC. It is a unique project by Formula 1 and aerospace experts to design a car that will set a new land speed record, break the sound barrier and travel faster than a bullet.

Pupils joined in with experiments, such as simulating aerodynamics with a leaf blower, cracking a whip to show the speed of sound and a demonstration on the use of hydrogen peroxide in the rocket propellant for the car.

The Bloodhound SSC ambassadors also enthused about the wealth of exciting opportunities that are available in academia and industry for both girls and boys in engineering and technology.

FULL MARKS IN NATIONAL MATHS CHALLENGE Lower College pupils recently received their results for the UKMT’s Intermediate Maths Challenge and the results were excellent this year.

College recorded its second highest number of gold certificates, 13, and pupils also received 25 silver and 26 bronze awards. However, one performance stands out above all. Saul Kim not only managed to come top in Lower College, impressive considering that he is only in the Third Form, but he also managed to score full marks. No one else in College’s history has ever scored this highly. Some 220,000 pupils sat this test and Saul was one of only 80 students to achieve this feat, meaning he will go on to represent Cheltenham College in the next round, the British Maths Olympiad.

Peter Marstrand said, “I thoroughly enjoyed the talk and it has inspired me, even more, to study engineering after school.”

OXBRIDGE SUCCESS Six students are celebrating their offers from Oxbridge for September 2017. Alena Gorb is to read Natural Sciences at Jesus College, Cambridge; William Hardy to read Economics at Trinity College, Cambridge; and Aiko Fukuda to read Natural Sciences at Corpus Christi, Cambridge. Sam Mendis is to read Mechanical Engineering at Lincoln College, Oxford; Kexin Koh to read Biochemistry at Christ Church, Oxford; and Dylan Adlard to also read Biochemistry at Merton College, Oxford. Our many congratulations to these students; we wish them the best of luck in their future endeavours.

JUSTIN URQUHART STEWART TALKS BUSINESS Cheltenham College was delighted to welcome Justin Urquhart Stewart to give a talk to Lower Sixth Business students about the importance of financial planning in the context of wider issues facing the world economy.

Justin, who won the ‘Best Industry Commentator’ from the City of London Wealth Management Awards and who is a frequent commentator on television and radio, said, “Despite many efforts for attaining higher educational standards to prepare young people for a dynamic career, many let teenagers wallow in financial ignorance. This is irresponsible of us, and must be addressed. Failure to do so will hamper not just their future but that of our economy as well.”

Cheltenham College is one of the first schools to launch a mini-MBA programme, which provides an overview of the skills required to set up and run a successful business. There is an extensive programme of talks and workshops by outside speakers, and personal finance sessions are provided within the wellbeing programmes for each year group.

College News Summer 2017