The Embassy 2020-21

the

EMBASSY

Dean Close St John’s School Magazine 2020/21

Destination Schools Year 8 June 2021 with all Scholarships Awarded Name

School

Scholarship / Award

Destination School

Bladen Luke

Monmouth School for Boys

Boakye Oliver

Fulneck School

Boyle Daniel

Clifton College

Drama Scholarship, Sport Scholarship Programme

Clifton College

Chell Cameron

Monmouth School for Boys

Sport Scholarship

Monmouth School for Boys

Child Villiers Nathaniel

Wycliffe College

Academic Scholarship

Wycliffe College

Collins Alexander

Bredon

Couchman Jac

Dean Close

Sport Scholarship awarded at 11+ at St John's

Dean Close

Crathorn Luca Davies Rhys

Dean Close

Academic Scholarship

Dean Close

Clifton College

Sport Scholarship Programme

Clifton College

Esayas Shem Gawluk Alexandra

Wycliffe College Dean Close

Drama Scholarship awarded at 11+ at St John's

Hembrow William

Monmouth School for Girls Monmouth School for Boys

Martin Emily

Dean Close

Art Scholarship awarded at 11+ at St John's

Dean Close

Maynard Henry

King's Glos

Academic and Music Scholarship

King's Glos

McCouaig Zachary

Dean Close

McGarry Mirabelle

Monmouth Comprehensive

Ratu Miliana

Dean Close

Art Scholarship awarded at 11+ at St John's

Dean Close

Roberts Jaimie

Dean Close

Sport Scholarship awarded at 11+ at St John's Sport Scholarship Programme

Clifton College

Clifton College Sahabdeen Mariam

Dean Close

Sport Scholarship awarded at 11+ at St John's

Dean Close

Sims Vincent

Dean Close

Sport Scholarship awarded at 11+ at St John's Sport Scholarship Programme Sport Scholarship

Clifton College

Clifton College Monmouth School for Boys Soloman Thomas

Monmouth School for Boys

Sport Scholarship

Monmouth School for Boys

Treharne Roseanna

King's Glos

Music Scholarship

King's Glos

Dean Close

Music Scholarship

Ward Xanthe

Dean Close

Westmacott-Cullen Rosie

Dean Close

Worgan Hadley

Dean Close

Sport Scholarship & Headmaster's Award

Dean Close

From the Head

From the Head...

Contents Leavers’ Destinations From the Head Headline News End of an Era Drama English French and Latin Art Maths Music Jaimie’s Diner Rock Band Pre-Prep Home Learning Sport Friends of St John’s Thinking outside the Classroom Don’t forget your Boarding Pass Chinese inspired Poems

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he end of a school year provides ample opportunity to reflect on the highs and lows of an extraordinary last 12 months. Once again we were forced to dig deep and show a resilience that enabled bubbles to be formed, remote learning to be further pioneered and give the children the best possible experience despite the challenges that were faced. In spite of all this, spirits were never dampened and, even with restrictions, we managed to perform plays, take part in fixtures, allow the children access to workshops and so much more. The values that underpin the Dean Close Foundation of love, courage and contribution sat at the very heart of the year that has passed, enabling our pupils to show true resilience and fortitude – our children here at St John’s should be rightly proud of themselves.

One of the joys of coming into school every day is seeing how the children take so much in their stride. Whilst, as adults, we can try to over-plan and often over-complicate a situation, children take a much more practical and straightforward view. For me, that is so grounding - it helps me to reset and endeavour to take a more simple approach. The children at St John’s are quite a remarkable bunch. They show a “have-a-go” attitude each and every day; they show kindness to those around them, ready to help and encourage one another; they are proud of their school and the values that it stands for; and most importantly, the feedback from their future schools is that the children from St John’s make a tremendous difference. So, whilst we had a year of disruption and plenty of challenges along the way, we still managed to pack in an astonishing amount. The year has been without equal but I am so proud of each and every one of the children as they have given their all, battled with circumstances beyond anyone’s control and, most importantly, kept a smile on their face.

Mr Nick Thrower Head The Embassy 2020~21

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Headline News Meet Mr. Thrower What inspired you to become a Headmaster and a teacher?

2020/21 Head Girl Emily Martin got an exclusive interview with St John’s new Headmaster, Nick Thrower, for the School newspaper The Blue Flame.

I love spending time with young people and the energy they give off. How schools shape a child’s life makes education an incredible place to work in. To be a Headmaster means to shape not just the children, but to steer the course of the entire school and see how young people impact on every group – from the youngest all the way to the oldest.

What were your first impressions of St John’s?

I immediately felt that St John’s was a friendly, warm and inclusive school. It is a place of real opportunity and it has a sense of people really looking out for each other. There is also a tangible feeling that people are happy to be here.

What do you like most about St John’s?

What made you choose St John’s?

Doing research, I found that St John’s was a community and it fulfilled my desire of working in a school of smaller classes. Also, the welcome that I received when I came for the interview.

What plans do you have to make St John’s a better place?

Firstly, to build a sense of community and ensure that the school embodies the sense that people are welcome. Secondly, how we encourage children to learn life skills for the future and igniting children’s passions.

Thirdly, to embrace outdoor learning across the age ranges and, finally, to become a beacon in terms of environmental issues.

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I love the children, and can see how their relationships with each other are genuine; they really look out for one another. They care about the environment and, in terms of the potential for the school that we have here, anything is possible in the years ahead.

Where do you see St John’s in a few years?

We will be pioneering work in terms of how we teach the children - a prep school is a place full of opportunities and children can show love for everything that they do and achieve, rather than a single thing.

Choose three words you would use to describe St John’s?

Engaging, supporting and fun.

Headline News

End of an era

Farewell to St John’s ‘Mr Sport’ From Groundsman to Headmaster, from Invercargill, New Zealand to Chepstow, Wales, it has been one truly amazing journey for Jason Kyle Dobbie. Walking through the doors of St John’s on-the-Hill school in January 2001, who would have known just how much of a legacy he would leave behind as he prepares to embark on a new adventure as Head of Airthrie School in Cheltenham. Working in Cardiff at the turn of the millennium, Mr Dobbie met former St John’s Head Ian Etchells, who was so impressed with his cricketing prowess that he asked him to work in the games department in the afternoon, after tending to the grounds in the morning.

“I knew Mr Freeman, a gap student, and he was influential in me starting at St John’s,” he said. “I thought my next job would be back in New Zealand, I had no idea I would still be here after all these years - but I’m glad I am!” Over the next two decades, Mr Dobbie has seen headmasters come and go, buildings knocked down and takeovers completed, but one thing has remained constant.

“The family feel. It’s something that’s impossible to explain but it’s always been there. St John’s became my new family. My parents are my inspiration; they have very high standards - perhaps that’s where my catchphrase came from! But I was so far away from home and it was strange being in a new country.

Thankfully, the people here all made me feel at home. I’ve made many wonderful friends over the years, and keep in touch with those who have left, even playing golf with Mr Coleman.”

Sport became central to his life, as Head of Boys’ Games at school, as cricketing superstar for Chepstow CC, coaching the U13 cricket team to the national JET trophy final and being the go-to Haka performer for the many rugby teams he has coached over the years. Jason then became Head of Pastoral, boarding parent, Deputy Head and, finally, acting Head before Mr Thrower arrived in January 2021. After such an epic journey, he feels “very excited about the challenge at Airthrie, but I’m so, so sad to be leaving St John’s. It’s a home from home and I shall miss it.” But perhaps not too much… for, in a strange twist of fate, Dean Close completed a takeover of Airthrie School in June of this year - so it’s less a case of ‘farewell’, but rather ‘see you soon, Sir!’ The Embassy 2020~21

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Drama

Drama

Although we missed having families in the Singleton Hall as a live audience, we were very proud to be able to stage all of our shows last year. We filmed them so that the children could enjoy sharing them with their families at home. Online learning reminded us just how important it is to be able to be together and be creative.

r e m m u s d i M A m a e r D s ' t h g i N in Year 8, we needed a final show for them with lots of great parts to allow them to shine - and this version of A Midsummer Night's Dream with songs did just that.

The play began at Theseus' court which on our stage was a fine throne room with ivy-clad pillars and royal attendants. We learn that Hermia (Emily Martin) refuses to marry her father's choice, Demetrius (Alex Collins), as she is in love with Lysander (Luca Crathorn). The whole cast sang the opening song A Dutiful Daughter which made it clear that the whole of Athenian society was against the lovers who decide to run away to the nearby woods. Hermia confides in her friend, Helena, (Jaimie Roberts) but this proves to be the beginning of a lot of trouble: she is in love with Demetrius herself and so tells him of the runaways in the hope of winning him over. Jaimie shone as Helena and had great comic timing as she was dragged across the stage by Alex's Demetrius who made his lack of feelings for her very clear.

In preparation for the great wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, a group of rough and ready workman rehearse a play under the frustrated gaze of Peter Quince, played well by Tom Soloman who ploughed on despite the numerous interruptions from the over-eager Bottom, played with great comedy by Danny Boyle.

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Drama

The Little Match Girl

For our staging of the woods, we used leafy umbrellas, symbolic of the shelter that the lovers hope to find away from Athenian society. However, the woods are already full of a lovers' quarrel between Oberon, the king of the fairies (Zach McCouaig) and his queen, Titania (Xanthe Ward). In a fit of revenge, Oberon sends his sprite, Puck, for a flower with magic abilities; Alexandra as Puck lit up the stage with her movement and energy. What follows is chaos and confusion: Xanthe made Titania's enchanted love for the lowly workman believable and touching, Bottom was transformed into a donkey, while we felt great sympathy for Emily's shunned Hermia.

Year 4 pupils stepped back in time to Victorian England and a Christmas fair for the setting of our Christmas play. The town's nativity play was performed, while the sad tale of the Little Match Girl was told

by Old Tom, the chestnut seller, to a group of poor children. Under a streetlight, amid the snow, she tried to sell her matches and keep warm but was ignored by people rushing by. The two stories joined together when the Little Match Girl became an angel at Jesus' side.

Year 4 did a fantastic job with a range of stirring songs and also some poignant ones about the Little Match Girl. Special mention goes to Maisie Baber Williams who played the Little Match Girl and sang a beautiful solo.

The whole of Year 4 should be very proud of a great show and all they learned about filming too!

Order is restored in the end and a triple wedding ensues with the mechanical's play as entertainment. It was great to hear how well Year 8 used Shakespeare's lines, none more so than Danny, who had a large number of lines which he delivered with melodrama to great comic effect as Bottom playing Pyramus. Jac Couchman added greatly to this comedy as the initially reluctant but finally over-enthusiastic Thisbe. Although it was postponed - twice - Year 8 showed hard work, determination and resilience in staging their final show at St John's.

Alice in Wonderland Year 6 worked tremendously hard in the Michaelmas and Lent terms to stage a show they could be proud of and did well to pick up rehearsals after we had a long break during remote learning. Although we could not rehearse over the internet, we listened to Lewis Carroll's original story and looked at an alfresco staging of a version of the play. It was lovely to be able to welcome two new members of Year 6 in the Lent term and include them in our show too.

We were spoilt with not one but two Alices! The leading role was shared by Isabelle Thompson and Alexandra Strong, who both did a super job of portraying the headstrong and inquisitive Alice. The Mad Hatter's tea party was a real highlight with lots of comedy and some super acting. We also enjoyed using some sneaky camera angles to help us show Alice growing and shrinking.

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English The Rhythm of Life by Michael Rosen: Hand on the Bridge feel the rhythm of the train, Hand on the window feel the rhythm of the rain.

Hand on your throat, feel the rhythm of your talk, Hand on your leg, feel the rhythm of your walk.

Hand on the sea, feel the rhythm of the tide, Hand on your heart, feel the rhythm inside, Hand on the rhythm, feel the rhythm of the rhyme, Hand on your life, feel the rhythm of time, Hand on your life, feel the rhythm of time, Hand on your life, feel the rhythm of time.

Tick Tock, Tick Tock, Tick Tock.

‘Education is the Passport to life’ Award-winning author and all-round superstar Baroness Floella Benjamin paid a visit to St John’s in May. Projecting live into every classroom, Benjamin spoke about her life as a child from the Windrush generation, moving to London, her early career in television and her more recent ventures – including her book Coming to England. She left us all with a brilliant motto by which to live: Education is the passport to life.

The whole school was also delighted to welcome the legendary children’s author Michael Rosen in July. Via a Zoom link due to the pandemic, he entertained every child from both the Pre-Prep and Prep schools with a selection of his work, such as ‘No Breathing in Class’, ‘These are the Hands’ and ‘The Rhythm of Life’. Head of English, Mr Downie, said: “It was brilliant to see every child so engaged and enthralled by Michael. In the days leading up to the event, they were practically demanding they be allowed to watch his poetry, such is their love for him. It was also great to see him looking and sounding so much better following his well-documented recent battle with Covid. One day, we hope to welcome him to our school in person.”

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French and Latin

English

The past year was certainly an unusual one but it allowed us to explore alternative ways of learning languages – especially while pupils were learning from home.

French & Latin

We started 2021 looking at how Epiphany is celebrated in France, where a special cake called a Galette Des Rois is eaten – everyone was given the opportunity to bake their own at home and create a “French Cooking Show “ photo slideshow to show off their culinary skills.

Pre-Prep had a lot of fun learning new songs in French to support their topic of mini-beasts. A clear favourite was “Vole Vole Vole Papillon” (Fly, Fly, Fly Butterfly) which was always sung with gusto and they all enjoyed making paper butterflies to “fly” as they sang.

Year 5 explored family and created their own family tree. They displayed their creativity to the full and produced excellent graphic presentations. They are now able to introduce themselves and talk confidently about their families.

Year 6 learned about café culture and enthusiastically created a drinks menu for a café.

Year 5 also had an introduction to Latin where they not only learnt a little of the language but also investigated the life and times of the Roman era.

Years 4, 7 and 8 were challenged to create videos, where they demonstrated not only their language skills, but their acting, directing and editing too. Year 4 learned a song about the weather and produced videos with themselves as weather forecasters while Year 7 showed us what they like to do in their free time, cleverly using the future tense to show what they planned to do when normality returns.

Year 8 were given the wide-ranging topic of fashion and really loved creating catwalk shows and videos of them shopping for French Haute Couture…

Vogue will be knocking on their doors any moment now!

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Art

Art

St John’s has been travelling around the world from the safety of the Art studio, learning about artists and techniques from across the globe. The art curriculum is split into eight continents, each year group has a continent for the whole year, and each specialism – be that textiles, ceramics, painting, woodwork, mechanisms or drawing – is allocated a country for inspiration. The results really do transport you to another place; from wooden Hausa Mask Clocks from Nigeria, to monochrome Chulucanas pottery from Puru, Spider lace patterns from Paraguay to Russian Dolls and Madhubani peacock paintings – our budding artists have picked up a wealth of techniques from an atlas of cultures. They’ve also explored the life and artworks of a diversity of artists, such as South African artist Esther Mahlangu, known for her bold large-scale contemporary paintings that reference her Ndebele heritage, and Japanese autistic ceramicist, Shinichi Sawada and his amazing thorny creations.

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Art

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Maths

Maths

In a normal year, St John’s is proud to host a variety of maths challenges at school, and takes part in regional and national challenges all over the country, including London and Cambridge University. Hopefully, we will get back to something similar next year! Despite everything, we have continued to take part in individual challenges such as Primary Maths Challenge for Years 3 to 6 and the UKMT Junior Maths Challenge for Years 6 to 8, with Yan Zhang and Millie Taylor qualifying for the Junior Kangaroo round later in the term. Yan in particular did very well, scoring 125 out of 135.

Next year will see the introduction of a new Maths Challenge for Years 2 to 4 called First Maths Challenge and we will host a regional maths challenge again at St John's for local primary schools.

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Maths

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Maths

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Maths

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Maths

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Music

Music

Year 7 and 8 spent a day learning and performing Taiko drumming with Mark Alcock from Taiko Meantime - a performance and educational troupe based in the South East. Taiko translates as "big drum" in Japanese and is a traditional form of music making, used in religious and secular festivals all over Japan throughout the year. Famous for its versatility, Taiko features in ancient religious customs and in modern fusion music, made famous by groups such as Kodo, Ondekoza, and the Yamato Drummers. Taiko drumming is very physical, requiring stamina, precision, teamwork and lots of energy!

In other music news, Prep School Singing Workshops were delivered by Cara Clark an accomplished choral director who established and conducted the award-winning youth choir Circuit 16 in Bristol. Cara works for South Gloucestershire Hub, visiting schools to help children to find their voices, and St John’s pupils certainly found theirs! They focused on pitching notes accurately, producing a good quality singing voice, singing in parts and memorising lyrics for performance.

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Jaimie’s Diner

Jaimie’s Diner Prep pupils returned from the summer break to find they had been served up a rocking renovation. Domestic Burser, Jaimie Sumner, used his superb creative skills to design an impressive Fifties-style diner, complete with jukebox, bar stools and retro styling.

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Rock Band

Rock Band St John’s first rock band since The Harminoes in the late 1960’s was formed after Year 6 pupils returned from lockdown. They went on to wow the end-of-term Speech Day with three excellent covers of 'Yellow' (Coldplay), 'I Can't Explain' (The Who) and 'Seven Nation Army' (The White Stripes). It was a wonderful performance in which our stars really rose to the occasion, playing and singing with such confidence. They delivered their absolute best on the stage in front of an audience full of parents, despite any nerves they were feeling.

Members were...

Drums: Harry Kendall, Nick Chen, Ted Gilder, Daniel Shakeshaft.

Bass: Ms Anri Adachi.

Guitar: Elisabeth Salisbury, Nick Baron.

Piano: Yan Zhang.

Vocals: Alys Lee, Emma Blandford, Izzy Thompson and Lexi Strong.

Pre-Prep Pre-Prep pupils continued to flourish this year, both in the classroom and learning virtually from home, which they took on with such courage and enthusiasm. The pandemic didn’t put a stop to the annual Nativity play, and parents were treated to a spectacular screening of Baa Baa Bethlehem. Since returning to school, there have been a great many exciting opportunities for the children to enjoy, including the end of term concert and sports day, which families were, at last, able to attend.

Years 3 & 4 travelled back to Viking times when they were joined virtually by the famous Jorvik Viking Centre in York. Year 3 also enjoyed building bug houses for British Science Week. Reception and Kindergarten welcomed their new classmates with a Teddy Bears’ Picnic on a beautifully sunny day, and had a whale of a time on Pirate Day!

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Home Learning

GOOGLE CLASSROOM #FUNKYFRIDAY

Home

Y7 had #FunkyFriday time on Google Classroom during lockdown. From ‘Hairy’ Potter to scary masks, Minnie Mouse to Gryffindor jumpers, their dressing-up skills were very impressive and lots of fun was shared together, helping everyone to settle into a new, interim way of learning.

Learning BookCoverChallenge

Year 8s had great fun doing a ‘book cover challenge’. Here are just some of the fantastic photos they sent from home.

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Home Learning

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Sport

Sports Day photo special The pupils, teachers and parents were overjoyed to attend a full Sports Day after a year of cancelled events.

Everyone gave it their absolute best, here are just some of the photos from the day.

Sport Due to the pandemic we weren’t able to run our normal fixture list for the hockey and netball season. There was, however, lots of opportunity for the pupils to learn new skills and transfer them into exciting intra-school matches. We also took the opportunity to work on our fitness sessions and other sports.

During the January lockdown we still ran our games lessons and pupils were put through their paces with fitness sessions based on Nandos or KFC! They were also very creative in finding different things to use as a ball and a bat when practicing their cricket skills in their own homes.

Cricket season saw the much-anticipated return of fixtures. It also saw our introduction of mixedgender teams. Cricket is a great sport that allows boys and girls to play on the same team. The girls have developed their love of cricket since its introduction five years ago. To progress the girls and give more opportunities to the boys we decided at St. John’s to play them together. It was hugely successful and everyone who participated really enjoyed themselves. We saw hardball and softball fixtures being played by all pupils in Years 3 to 8 most weeks. It was a great way to get the pupils back into fixtures and socializing and playing against other schools. We look forward to an academic year full to the brim of hockey, rugby, netball, football and cricket fixtures!

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Friends of St John’s

Friends of St John’s

On Sunday 27th June, Friends of St John’s walked the Fan Dance. This gruelling trek, which is infamous within the ranks of all UK Special Forces, took them 16 miles (24 km) across Wales’ Pen y Fan - the highest mountain in southern Britain. Thirty parents and staff walked for more than six hours, in poor visibility but great spirits. They smashed their fundraising target of £4,000 to provide St John’s children with some fantastic new outdoor facilities, including a fabulous cob pizza oven and our new chicken run which now houses six feathered friends!

House Competition Despite winning Sports Day and the annual tug-o-war, Severn House lost out on winning the Crows & Cranes Shield to Wye House this year!

Congratulations to Head of House Luca Crathorn, Miss George and all of Wye House.

Other Friends of St John’s activities included the Pumpkin Carving Competition, Quiz Night, a Virtual Christmas Fayre, Christmas Raffle and Auction, Clothes Recycling, an Easter Egg Hunt and the Magic Well-being Challenge.

Sally Blandford, FOSJ secretary said, “Although Covid prevented many of our normal FOSJ activities, we still did really well. In fact, I think it’s probably been one of our best years ever from a fundraising point of view!”

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Outside the Classroom

Thinking outside the classroom

In December, a fantastic outdoor classroom was added to the St John’s grounds to allow Forest School and Outdoor Learning to take place closer to the Pre-Prep department. The covered, wooden roundhouse was installed by SOuL, a company that creates play spaces that promote healthy risk taking, physical and cognitive development in stimulating, multi-sensory environments by using materials from the natural world.

It's designed to be used all year round, providing a space where teaching and learning can be enjoyed whatever the weather.

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Boarding

Don’t forget your

boarding pass Boarding at St John’s is more than just a sleepover – it’s a home from home where children develop skills for life and friendships forever. Houseparent Meghan Duncan tells us more.

“I love how boarding at St John’s is so different to my own experience of being a boarder. It totally feels like a home away from home – whereas I used to have to keep my school uniform on until bedtime, the kids here can change into their own clothes as soon as they get in from school, and there's always something for them to do together. It’s so relaxed, we’re like one big family!

After we’ve picked the kids up from school, taken them to dinner and helped them with their prep, we all get to hang out - which I love as I can stop being their teacher and be less serious. We’ll all bring our duvets down to the living room and choose a movie to watch and pick out popcorn flavours, or compete at Just Dance on the house Switch. Some bedtimes, the older boys will read to the younger boys which I find incredibly sweet”.

We’re delighted to announce that flexi-boarding is back. If your child is currently a day pupil and is keen to try out boarding for two or more nights, please contact: williamsh@deanclosestjohns.org.uk to find out more.

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Chinese Inspired Poems

Chinese

Inspired Poems At the start of February, Year 7 celebrated Chinese New Year from home by writing some Lu-Shi Lu-Shi poems.

• Ancient Chinese form of poetry (618-907 AD); also called Lushih or Lüshi • 8 lines • Rhyming pairs • Stanzas 1 and 4 are the same

Clacking hooves and swishing tails, The great oxen herd will prevail.

Dragons, lions, red and gold.

In with the new, out with the old.

Sharp large horns, clumpy feet, Celebrating, they aren’t meek

Banners flying, bands playing.

Lions prancing, dragons swaying.

Another year will come today, But the ox’s magic will always stay.

Fireworks crackling, lanterns swinging, People laughing, dancing, singing.

Clacking hooves and swishing tails, The great oxen herd will prevail.

Dragons, lions, red and gold.

In with the new, out with the old.

Millie Taylor

Anon

The Ox is known as the Chou, When the day comes they all bow.

The people who inherit the oxen year are careful, prudent, steady and have no fear.

Before taking an action, they have a careful thought, and stick to their ideas that the spirit of the ox hath brought.

The Ox is known as the Chou, When the day comes they all bow.

Carrie Davies

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Visit us

If you are interested in joining the Dean Close St John’s family, we would be delighted to take you on a tour of the school and grounds. Contact Leana Ward, Head of Admissions admissions@deanclosestjohns.org.uk / 01291 635382 to arrange your personal visit today.

Castleford Hill Tutshill Gloucestershire NP16 7LE Telephone 01291 622045 Email info@deanclosestjohns.org.uk www.deanclosestjohns.org.uk