Our Frensham - Spring 2013

Our Frensham

JANUARY 2013

DAVID BERGLAS OF (1938-42) INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY

Dates for your diary

While the school calendar for the Spring Term 2013 includes all dates for the remainder of this year, the following are those ‘open’ events that family, friends and OFs might like to note down in their diaries.

Further details about all of these will be publicised nearer the time.

19 January

‘An Evening of Stargazing’: Farnham Astronomical Society

31 January

World Challenge Quiz Night

27 February - 2 March

Les Misérables

6 March

Friends of Frensham Quiz Night

7 March

Dance Concert

PAC

13 - 14 March

Year 13 Drama Exam Performance

PAC

29 June

Founders’ Day

Parents’ evenings: Spring Term 11 January Year 12 & 13 8 February Year 11 12 March Years 4-6

23 January 12 February 19 March

PAC PAC

Year 8 Year 9 N-Year 3

Contact us The next issue will be printed in July 2013. If you have any news, suggestions or photographs for inclusion in Our Frensham, please don’t hesitate to get in touch: Our Frensham, Frensham Heights, Rowledge, Farnham, Surrey GU10 4EA Email: ourfrensham@frensham.org

“If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking.”

Get your own prospectus from individual@frensham.org

Benjamin Franklin

Frensham Heights Think, Create, Explore 2 | Our Frensham

AN INTRODUCTION In among the constant trickle of school life, it is easy to forget how much we have to celebrate, be proud of and reflect on. This copy of Our Frensham is one such occasion – I hope you enjoy it and see the reinforcing sense of the school’s drive, relationships and creativity.

I returned a changed person from our initial visit to All Saints School Malawi. This partly reflected the fantastic experiences I had shared with the Frensham students, partly it was the sense that we could offer fundamental and significant support to the school but above all it was the humbling interactions I shared with people who will never know my quality of life.

People like Elizabeth, working every day in a small room caring for 14 orphaned babies: washing nappies, feeding, changing, loving. Or Michael, running a school for 500 students with six rooms, one standing tap for water, no electricity in the rooms, heat, dust and a blackboard and two classes of over 100. It was confronting, uplifting, shocking and yet extraordinarily moving – we can and will work to make a difference to All Saints.

Perhaps it is this sense of change in me that has left me very moved by the Morning Talks we have shared this term. Several guest speakers have challenged us to grab life, hold it and act now – not wait for a crisis or a life-changing event to motivate us. You will read in this magazine about Dan Eley’s visit – I commend it to you most warmly. Dan is an Old Frenshamian (OF) we can all admire.

We were also visited by young former students who had worked in Belize (at Liberty Foundation, set up by OFs!); we were inspired by the performance of professional singer Gina Beck as we launched the school production of Les Misérables; we were warmly challenged by Ali Hignell to seize the day; we were charmed by our Debating Society challenging staff to debate if ‘Cats are better than Dogs’. Cats won...

Perhaps my experience with our students in Malawi also reinforced to me the joy of working at this school, the pleasure and pride I take in the daily achievements and laughter here. It was also a chance to remember that the truth of education is richer, more demanding, more fundamental to living a good life than a simplistic tick in a box or letter on a printed results page.

It is this truth that OF Clive Gillinson reflected on last Founders’ Day and which OF David Berglas also reflects on in a feature in this magazine – they both show that the essence of a Frensham education is more than can be captured on a form, that the truths of their experience remain the truths to which we push ourselves today as educators. Finally, this sense of the circle, the link between past and present, between all human experiences is neatly captured by OF Hattie Morahan winning Best Actress for her performance in A Doll’s House, where Pip Pearce (Year 7) also performed as her son. Past and present Frenshamians, sharing life experiences.

Andrew Fisher

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FRENSHAM SUPPORTING OTHERS

Frensham students and staff have a long history of raising funds and supporting others – and this term has seen several examples, helping to support cancer charities and All Saints School in Malawi.

Survival of the fittest

Saturday 17 November saw (l to r – back row): Nic Hoskins, Louise Moore, Becky Edwards, Ellen McIvor, Clive Esterhuysen, Matt Burns, Nick OramTooley and (front row): Jez Belas, Will Paskell and Ed Fox join a group of Frensham staff and friends taking on the urban assault course challenge that is Survival of the Fittest.

Everyone completed the 10k course that takes place in the shadow of the Battersea Power Station building. A tough but brilliant day out, with over £1000 raised for Cancer Research.

Hell Down South

Averil Goddard (OF 1999-2006) took on the 16k Hell Down South race at Longmore Camp on Sunday 11 November. Described as ‘trail running at its toughest and most enjoyable’, the twisting route takes runners through ‘highlights’ such as 50 yards of cold, muddy water named the Bog of Doom!

Averil loved the challenge – so much so that she wants to stretch herself further next year by taking on a Tough Mudder course designed to test stamina, strength and mental grit...

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Movember

Once again, November saw several male members of staff compete to grow the ‘best’ moustache...and then take the concept to a whole new and frankly quite worrying level by dressing up and parading across the Flottage courtyard in an attempt to be crowned champion – all to raise money for and awareness of prostate cancer.

This year’s line up included the ‘118 118 twins’, Che Guevara, a heavily tattooed man (and his dog) plus two lots of leather-clad, sunglass-sporting hard men. Beating off such stiff competition, however, and demonstrating the unending appeal of the tank top, were the victorious Chuckle Brothers.

1. The winning team: the Chuckle Brothers (Andy and Johannes) 2. Charlie plays his own Ace of Spades 3. Some young moustaches

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4. Jez and Paul - two of the biker gang 5. Sean’s outfit provokes a strong reaction 6. Che Burns 7. Russell and David aka 118 118

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Malawi

July 2012 saw 12 students, two teachers and Andrew set off on the first school visit to work with our partner school, All Saints, in Malawi.

They were able to share some wonderful experiences.

During a trip that Andrew described as ‘truly life enhancing rather than life changing’, our students learnt about the incredible contrasts between our lives, that they could be courageous in the face of real challenge and that Africa is not frightening - it is a dynamic and extraordinary continent.

Here, one of the students and one of the staff give a short insight into how it was for them:

Paddy Vasey, Year 13

Throughout my time at Frensham, I’ve loved the opportunities we have been given to explore the world outside our comfort zones.

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As I’m applying to medical school, this was a perfect chance for me to get involved with the local hospital. I had the opportunity to observe cataract procedures performed by The Malawi Eye Fund, as well as working in biomedical labs, personally identifying malaria with a microscope and seeing the disparity of medical care across the world first hand. Some of the things seen during my time there will stick in my mind as inspiration and others as sights that cannot be unseen - all of which deepened my understanding of the

“Malawi really opened my eyes to reality, people and things that are important in life - the start of new beginnings.”

challenges I face day to day and the incredible difference between these and the challenges faced by others.

One morning we went down to the hospital to see the bandages removed from cataract patients whose surgery I had observed the day before. To see people regaining their sight, sometimes after a decade of blindness, cemented in my mind the responsibility we have for the world. The simplest procedures in the west became miracles here. The memory will stay with me always.

Although having travelled in Africa before, I came back this time with a new perspective, understanding and acceptance of my world and how desperately different it is from the one I left behind under the sun in Malawi.

Clare Marsh, Assistant Head of Middle School and Teacher of Drama

(From my diary) What an incredible day. I feel a thousand emotions all at the same time. I am too set in my ways to change but I can feel that same feeling deep inside when you realise beyond all doubt that this experience is opening up your heart and mind in brand new ways.

So many challenges have emerged today. The one that presses on my mind this evening is teaching Romeo and Juliet to Form 3 in a 40-minute lesson tomorrow. I have been given three precious copies of the text from the school library (note to self:

that library needs some love and care!). I will have one bare classroom with a limited supply of chalk and a blackboard and in excess of 60 children to teach all at once. Thank goodness I have Alice and Annie on board as my teaching assistants, both of whom have sound knowledge of the play and the confidence to get up there in front of this very special audience and perform!

My plan is simple - to break down the play into 10 main events. We will draw these like a cartoon strip on the board together with a word or phrase that describes what’s going on in each picture.

I then plan to tell the story in a very animated way while Alice and Annie recreate the pictures as tableaux, using volunteer students to play the necessary parts. Gosh, I hope we get some volunteers or else we could be in trouble. No pressure at all then - 60 students who will hang on my every word and Andrew seeing me teach for the first time!

I am now entering my 10th year of teaching and I have never been so apprehensive of a lesson, yet dare I say I am very excited too - I do love a good challenge. Right time for lights out and a good night’s sleep. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Canine Partners & Junior School

Nic Hoskins, Head of Junior School, together with Oliver Potts and Phoebe Repp, both Year 6, travelled to Heyshott, near Midhurst, to see Winter, the original Canine Partner Labrador sponsored by the Junior School, handed over to James, her new owner. Canine Partner dogs are trained to provide practical assistance with tasks that may be difficult, painful or impossible to perform.

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FRENSHAM JUNIORS The Autumn term is a busy one in the Junior School, not least because there are always several new faces among our youngest students. It doesn’t take long, though, for everyone to settle in and get on with the day-to-day task of learning... and having fun...and dressing up...and exploring!

Two dressing up outfits that have proved popular this term are those of Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, both beautifully made by Debbie Hunt, who is both a Junior School classroom assistant and house parent at Hamilton House. There was more dressing up in evidence at the Junior School Disco and dressing up of a different kind when the Strangeface Theatre Company invited our students on stage to try on the masks after their performance of Pinocchio.

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1. What big ears you’ve got grandmother 2. Fun and games at the Junior Disco 3. Students with the Strangeface Theatre Company 3

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FRENSHAM ACHIEVES The second and third weeks of August each year herald the annual delivery of AS, A and GCSE results.

While some prefer to get their results in the post and others are away on well-earned holidays, it is lovely to see the steady stream of students coming in to collect their envelopes. Heads of Department and other senior staff are always on hand to share the news and discuss next steps.

A Level

The total UCAS points achieved by students at Frensham Heights through their A level results has set a new school record, easily beating the previous record set in 2010. Two further records – for the total individual candidate scores and the total points achieved per subject – have also been broken, setting new standards for students in years to come.

Among the many success stories was Ana Pereu, who smashed all expectations by achieving an extraordinary six A levels: three A*s in Maths, Spanish and Russian, two As in French and Sociology and one B in Economics. Mune Sugiyama, who has been at Frensham since the age of 11, secured an excellent three A*s, including 100% in Fine Art and 100% in one Physics paper.

He had one offer from Central St Martins School of Art but decided instead to take up an offer to study Physics at Imperial College, London.

Students also performed particularly well in the newly introduced Extended Project Qualification, achieving grades from A* to B.

GCSE

Eileen Daw’s final school-related task before retiring at Head of Middle School was to hand over the results envelopes to the steady stream of GCSE students arriving at school at 10am on results day. It was fitting that this year’s English results were very strong, with Eileen’s own teaching group achieving 21 A*s alone. In total, 100% of students achieved A*-C grades in English Literature and 98% achieved the same in English Language.

Eileen also helped three of her five Critical Thinking AS students to achieve an A grade.

She taught AS Critical Thinking to interested GCSE students who study it as a purely extracurricular activity in their own time.

At 41%, the overall percentage of A* and A grades was the second highest achieved in the last five years, with Maths and the Sciences also producing good results. Between them, Fine Art, Graphic Communication and Photography achieved 87% A*/A grades. Photography achieved an astounding 100% A*/A grades with 5 A*s and 8 As.

The highest achievers were exceptional across the board, with several students getting straight A* grades or a mixture of A* and A grades. The spread across subjects was also strong, with exceptional results in Fine Arts, Maths and Geography.

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FRENSHAM OUTDOORS

Johannes Felter, Head of Outdoor Education and Co-Curricular, writes: The urge for adventure is alive and well at Frensham. Fashions come and go; we may feel that the current generation no longer knows how to ‘be’ outdoors, or that the relentless march of technology has severed our connection with nature. Underneath these surface movements flows a deeper and more powerful current – the desire to challenge ourselves and to experience nature at first hand. Looking back at the history of Outdoor Education at the school, it strikes me immediately how little that has changed since the programme’s inception.

The British tradition of Outdoor Education had tended toward residential courses based in mountainous areas far removed from the students’ homes. At Frensham, Outdoor Education is rooted firmly within the school environment. This affords students the opportunity to explore locally and to make adventure in the outdoors a part of daily life.

This term we have learned to navigate on Frensham and Hankley Commons, planned and

practised for an independent canoe expedition along the Basingstoke Canal and learned traditional survival skills in the woods on site.

Year 7 students camped and cooked their own food down on the bottom meadow while Year 9 students successfully led their form tutors through the local countryside to camp at Mellow Farm near Dockenfield. All our high ropes course elements have been refurbished and are back in action. Years 7 and 8 have been challenged on the zip wire, trapeze and Aerial Challenge Course.

Notwithstanding the above, it cannot be said that ‘GU10’ is widely known as a centre for outdoor activities! Our rivers run flat calm and our local hills remain modest in height and shallow in angle.

At some point, our urge for adventure on the high mountains, cliffs, rivers and seas becomes too strong or the students’ skills sufficiently advanced that we must go further afield.

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This term the newly formed climbing club practised for four weeks on ‘The North Face’ (...of the sports hall – where our outdoor climbing wall is to be found) before a very successful trip to Dorset. Likewise, the school’s hillwalkers have been gaining experience on the South Downs as we plan for the Lake District trip in the spring.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award continues to be popular with students from Year 10 upwards.

Forty-four students and five staff are currently involved in the programme. Every Tuesday and Wednesday after school sees the Outdoor Ed ‘shed’ bursting with activity as tents, rucksacks and stoves are tried out in readiness for the first expeditions of the season. Thanks to David, Charlie, Nick and Will for their unstinting commitment to DofE training.

We are extremely fortunate to have a strong core of staff whose own urge to go a little higher into ‘clouds and silence’ impels them to work through long weekends away. I am a great believer in staff and students learning together and that is often what happens on outdoor trips. Already this term, several staff have reignited a passion for the outdoors that might have taken a back seat to the demands of family and career.

Parents are a vital part of our outdoor community.

Adventure activities must by their very nature involve a degree of physical risk for your children. Ensuring that those risks are planned and appropriate is always at the heart of our preparation for lessons and trips.

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4 1-4. Outdoor Education in action 5. Several staff have already reignited a passion for the outdoors 5

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“Only a hill; earth set a little higher Above the face of earth; a larger view Of little fields and roads; a little higher To clouds and silence; what is that to you?

Only a hill; but all of life to me, Up there, between the sunset and the sea.�

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Geoffrey Winthrop Young

The best way for parents to grasp this approach is to experience it for yourselves – hence my invitation for all parents of students in Years 7 to 13 to join me on the first Parents’ Outdoor Ed Weekend in March 2013. We will be rock climbing and hillwalking, while staying overnight in a camping barn.

“Without uncertainty of outcome, without risk, we may have a very fine recreational experience but we no longer have adventure.”

Bob Barton, Safety Risk & Adventure in Outdoor Activities

Johannes Felter qualified as a teacher in 2006 with a PGCE in Outdoor Education from the University of Wales, Bangor. He has previously taught at Harmeny School and Stewart’s Melville College, both in Edinburgh.

More recently he has managed a large indoor climbing wall in Aberdeen and led overseas youth expeditions as far afield as Malaysia and Greenland. Among other outdoor qualifications, he holds the Winter Mountain Leader and Mountaineering Instructor Award.

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FRENSHAM SPORTS Jez Belas, Head of PE, writes:

Boys’ sports

The boys have put a great shift in this term with countless hours of squad training, games afternoons, PE lessons and fixtures during the week and at the weekends. Football is the focus sport for the Autumn term and it has been fantastic to see all students work hard on their technique and team work whether they play in the first team or recreationally in games afternoons.

3-1 in early November and the U18 and U15 teams both played magnificently in our annual fixture against a little school called Eton College, narrowly losing out in both games. One year we will win that game! The final big game of the season was played at Charterhouse with the U18 team winning 6-4 in a thrilling encounter against a very strong sports school.

It was a fairly slow start to the year in terms of results as new students were finding their feet.

Having said that, there were some excellent football results early on with both the U15 and U18 teams coming good against Ardingly College and strong performances against local school More House at all age groups.

Finally a mention to Alex Allan and his basketball team who have played Ditcham three times this term. It’s been a steep learning curve but the season has concluded with a brilliant 16-12 victory at home (special mention to Charlie Butterworth scoring 12 points). Well done lads.

During the second half term (and boosted by the hugely successful Malaga tour), the attitude in training and to fixtures was noticeably different.

U15 Coach Russell Crew described the change as “like watching a different team!” The pass and move culture of continental football has certainly been embraced and has made a big difference in performances. The U15s beat local rivals Bedales

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Girls’ sports

Girls’ sport has gone from strength to strength and this term has seen big leaps taken in girls’ hockey.

The number and quality of fixtures has shot up, as has the ability of the girls thanks to full-time PE teachers Becky and Lucy but also U15 Hockey Coach David Lloyd and 1st Team Coach Will Paskell.

Although wins have been hard to come by, some superb performances have been on show against strong sports schools such as Licensed Victuallers’ School, Prior’s Field, Ryde and Alton Convent. Cecilia Boultwood, U15 Captain, and Steph Wiedemann, 1st XI Captain, deserve special mention for their help in galvanising the squads to continue training in bleak weather conditions. The astro turf continues to be a fantastic asset to us a department and to the students, whose skills have benefited from its use this term.

We look forward to seeing the girls really kick on next term where the focus shifts towards netball and the fixture calendar is packed with over 40 matches for girls alone (more than we’ve ever had).

Junior sport

Sport in the junior school has seen a dramatic shift in focus this term. Lucy Fox has been the driving force behind increasing the number of fixtures and quality of training for boys and girls between Years 3 to 6.

Lucy Fox, in charge of Junior Sport, writes: This term the U11 and U10 girls have been working extremely hard in hockey. They have three fixtures

and have come away with a fantastic 3 – 0 win against St Ives. The girls have been outside come rain or shine and have also been joining the U13 girls’ hockey team for training. This has helped the girls improve dramatically. They have gone from strength to strength this term and the commitment to sport has been fantastic. Well done to Ali Dawkin-Jones, who has been playing two years above her age and has represented the U11s in every game.

The girls have also been training hard on Thursdays in preparation for the netball season ahead.

In November, I took girls from Years 4 - 6 to Barfield for a swimming match. This was a great experience and they all thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We lost by two points in the end.

Special mention must go to Ella Palmer and Tamara Clover, who both swam exceptionally well.

The U11, U10 and U9 boys have also had a great season. They have been extremely committed to all games afternoons, ECAs and fixtures. This level of enthusiasm has been fantastic and a massive thank you to Clive, Nick and Andy for running these training sessions and organising the fixtures.

Well done to the U11s for a memorable victory against More House (8-0). Special mentions to Oliver Ilet, Etienne Lee, Oscar Bourdillon and Luke Hay, who have all played for U13s this term and have been outstanding.

Well done to everyone who has taken part in any sporting event this term. Keep up the great work!

U11 and U10 netball squad after a fantastic game against Barfield

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Malaga football tour report Jez Belas: October 2012

On a cold, damp Sunday morning, myself, Andy S, Tim S and Nick O-T joined 28 of Frensham’s finest footballers full of excitement about the imminent football tour to Malaga. After a quick lunch on arrival, we were straight off to train with Edu and Luis, our coaches from Malaga CF. We soon realised that the Spanish way of playing the beautiful game is very different to the English one. The boys worked tirelessly all week on passing, controlling, moving, communication and more passing. Interspersed with lots of CV work, stretching and ice baths (well, a very cold outdoor pool), this saw the Frenshamians improve dramatically over the first three days. It was then time to test how they could apply this to a game.

your exam”. This clearly got through to our lads as they went on to play surely two of the best games of football Frensham has ever seen. The U18s came through 4-2 winners, playing some flowing football and defending cohesively throughout.

The U14s (a mix of Years 7-10) played out of their skins to beat their opponents 2-1 in a game full of incidents, notably a superb goal from Callum and an amazing full stretch save from keeper Ross.

Two games, two wins - job done.

Then the rain came. Lots of it. Our last day of training and final game were in danger of being cancelled but tour leader Andy was having none of it. Our last training session was on hard court in the pouring rain and highlighted how much the boys had honed their technique over the week.

Edu and Luis were impressed with the school’s attitude to training in these conditions. We told them we were used to it!

So after a tour of Malaga’s La Rosaleda stadium, the last game was on - now moved to astro turf in Torremolinos by our rep Juan. We played two games against north London based school, Highlands. The U18s played a very strong team and just lost out 3-2 (two goals from Jolly). The U15s played superbly in a seven-a-side tournament, eventually winning overall after a league scenario.

Two games were arranged against local club side, Porto Alta. Before kick off, Tim told the boys to “think of training as your lessons and the game as

Surfing success

A hugely successful trip made all the better by fantastic behaviour from all students, great quality football and excellent food.

The enduringly popular surf trip took place again from 21 to 23 September. Twenty-four students joined Nicola O’Donnell, Alex Allan, Matt Burns and Russell Crew riding the waves in Cornwall.

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FRENSHAM CREATIVE

Technology Day

On Tuesday 16 October, the ballroom and billiard room were transformed to be the setting for an exciting day where teachers and students could explore what and how new technology could be used in the classroom and bring lessons to life. The ballroom played host to an interactive dome with 360 degree images and able to link to the internet, film footage and GPS technology. The dome, which was originally used to help train soldiers for combat, was used to teach biology and geography and to provide a wonderful background for a Junior School story telling.

The history department used iPads and images to bring the Arab/Israeli dispute to life, using links that instantly allowed students to view footage of events and information on key people involved. Meanwhile, the sport and drama departments experimented with a film analysis system to track training or performance.

The technology allows teachers to play back, give commentary on and watch individual performances.

NADFAS

Friday 21 September saw the opening of the Farnham Schools Art Exhibition at the University for the Creative Arts. Frensham submitted several pieces of artwork and photography, which were among 600 exhibits by students from 20 schools overall.

Model Trenches

Year 9 history students designed and made models of World War One trenches, many using ingenious resources from around the home.

The final collection was a wonderful display of creativity – many capturing the claustrophobic and gory reality of life for soldiers.

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1 & 2. The fantastic Pop, Rock & Soul Gig 3 & 4. Dancers of all ages take to the stage

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FRENSHAM ON STAGE Every term at Frensham sees shows put on in the PAC, in the ballroom, in the music school – anywhere really that catches the imagination of staff or students. Every term also brings new surprises in just how talented and capable our students of all ages can be.

In this respect, the Autumn term has not been disappointing, with two spectacular evenings: one in October featuring our singers and musicians and the other in November featuring our dancers.

As Our Frensham was going to press, the sounds of singers and musicians preparing for the Senior Christmas Concert can be heard and the Junior School students are all busy rehearsing for Christmas shows, including the Year 4 to 6 production of Scrooge (of which we just managed - below - to get a photograph at the last minute!)

The Pop, Rock & Soul Gig brought representatives from Years 7 to 13 to the stage. There was so much to enjoy, from the Soul Band singing Sir Duke and the Popular Vocal Group giving us Man in the Mirror to individuals and small groups performing a wide range of songs including Price Tag, Mad World, Black Velvet and Come Together. Truly an evening of talent and harmony.

The Dance Concert brought another colourful, varied and beautiful display of a whole host of dancing styles from the classical to the modern. It was, again, an evening of colour, style, skill and artistry.

BBC Choir of the Year Sunday 28 October saw Lisa Graham, Head of English (pictured far left), join fellow members of the Surrey Hills Chamber Choir to take part in the final of Choir of the Year 2012 at London’s Royal Festival Hall. They were one of just six choirs to make it through – a tremendous achievement considering that 138 singing groups originally entered the competition! The final, one of the closest in the competition’s history, was won by Glaswegian chamber choir, Les Sirénes. The final was broadcast on BBC Four and BBC Radio 3 in November.

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FRIENDS OF FRENSHAM Now in its 20th year, The Friends of Frensham (FOF) is a parent-led group that prides itself on building community spirit through fundraising events and initiatives. Our social events raise funds for extracurricular activities (ECAs) and school projects that might not otherwise take place – so creating more opportunities for more students. Requests for funding come from all avenues, including parents, teachers and even the children themselves.

We are extremely proud of our packed social calendar, many of which have become firm favourites. As well as annual highlights like our hugely popular Bonfire Night, the summer term Ball, the Founders’ Day refreshment zones and the Junior School end of term parties, we recently introduced a new favourite in the form of the FOF Quiz Night. Watch this space for Quiz Night – The Return of the Brains sequel coming soon!

Our aim is that the funds should benefit as many children as possible and that when possible we fund projects in all disciplines.

Below are just some of the items funded by FOF events and initiatives in the last few years: Dance and Music • Mini keyboards for use in ICT to extend the ECA offering • Portable music stands for the Music Department • Portable music system for the Dance Studio • A new drum kit • A dance floor for use in the PAC Drama • Outdoor staging and mobile PA system for use in the Drama Department • Funding for the production of leaflets for the Drama Department at the Edinburgh Festival • £500 towards Costumes for the Guys & Dolls production in 2011 Sports and Outdoor • A climbing tree for use in Outdoor Education and new climbing wall fittings • New archery equipment • 8 pop up tents for the annual surf trips

All our events rely on the generosity, enthusiasm and support of the school and in particular the parents – who by buying a ticket, contributing a cake or purchasing a drink or refreshment make the work we do viable and allow us to meet our objectives of being a productive and positive asset to the school – and have fun in the process.

Where the money has gone When deciding how to spend the money raised, our main approach is to listen... to requests to fund a variety of ECA-related requirements.

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Learning Resources • 10 Kindles for the reading club • Cookware for the new kitchen Art and Design • Warhammer paints for the ECA • 4 sewing machines for the Textiles ECA School Environment • The sun sail shade and cubed furniture in Flottage • 2 X-Box machines and bean bags for the boarding house • A new fish tank for the Junior School

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1-3. Students enjoying just some of the many facilities funded by Friends of Frensham in the last few years

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A new era: The pool project

We are immensely proud of all we have achieved to date but our research among the parent community has raised some new challenges. After close consultation and in collaboration with the school’s management team and governors, we are delighted to announce that for the next 18 months, the FOF will champion the fundraising for one major project: the complete refurbishment and improvement of the existing swimming pool so that pupils can enjoy swimming , whatever the weather, throughout an extended summer season.

We will continue with some smaller scale ECA funding but the majority of our efforts and resources will now be channelled into making a massive change in the pool facilities. While some of the detail, and therefore the cost, is still to be refined, we are thrilled to have such a firm focus.

Like everything we do, we can’t achieve our goal of a refurbished pool by Summer 2014 without all the parents’ support.

As a visual reminder of the target amount we need to raise, look out in the near future for our swimming pool-shaped fundraising target barometer. We will be hosting a fund raising FOF Pool Party in the new year as our official launch.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM ALL AT THE FOF!

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Dates for your diary 6 March

25 April 15 June

Quiz Night Part 2 – Return of the Brain Pool Party Summer Ball

The Committee Liz Crawley-Boevey Denise Cheetham Julia Ring Lara Turner Tompkins Sam Moulton Mike Moore Andrew Melbourne Yvonne Twum-Barima

Co-Chair Co-Chair Treasurer Marketing Committee Committee Committee Committee

I use the Kindle for all my reading, I can request the books I want and start reading within seconds. Sharing the books with up to six people is very convenient for a club with so many people in it.

Henry Jackson, Year 13

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FRENSHAM WORLD CHALLENGE Photo: Izzy Watts

This term has seen 13 World Challenge students planning and running events to raise funds towards their expedition to Vietnam and Cambodia. They are also expected to take part in training to be ready for both eight days of voluntary work at the Rainbow Orphanage in Cambodia and a week-long jungle trek.

As well as enduring a freezing training weekend in Ashdown Forest in early November (pictured above), the students have organised a Murder Mystery Evening entitled ‘Who killed the headmaster?’ and An Audience with Damon Hill.

Here, two of the 13 describe the events.

Josh Watts writes: The murder mystery evening offered an opportunity to do something out of the ordinary to fundraise, while also promoting World Challenge and providing an evening of entertainment. We were really pleased by evening: there was a real buzz of enjoyment, which it was great to be a part of, especially with the competitive spirit that some of the guests really seemed to get into! In the end we raised over £750.

Planning the event was a large undertaking, especially as we were determined that the guests should have the best possible evening. It was therefore a huge relief to see how smoothly things went and how engrossed the guests became.

The theme of the play also undoubtedly added a mischievous air to the events!

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Luke Hardcastle writes: The Audience with Damon Hill was a great evening. Damon Hill delivered a personal, engaging and often humorous talk that captivated the audience from the start. The number of questions during the Q&A session and the number of people who stayed to get an autograph at the end speaks volumes about how much people enjoyed the evening.

The World Challenge Team are infinitely grateful to Damon Hill for giving up both his time and effort to aid our fundraising. The team themselves worked hard both before and during the event to deliver a smooth comfortable experience for the audience. Often with these fundraisers, the majority of the audience has turned up primarily to aid in fundraising. Not so with this event, as a large number of people who had no connection with the school or the team came along. All of which contributed to what was Frensham World Challenge’s most successful event so far, raising over £3300.

The World Challenge team are supported by two members of staff, Barry Carr and Lynn Goodburne. “This is a very close-knit group of students who have been excellent at supporting each other,” said Barry. “They are also quite diverse in terms of the outdoor education skills they bring, which bodes well for the expedition.”

FRENSHAM AT THE FRINGE

OF memories of the Fringe Not long ago, we heard from Solomon Mousley (OF 2004-6) mentioning his school visit to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival – very topical, given our students’ experience there just recently.

Here, Soloman describes the impact his experience had on him: My decision to read English in Edinburgh was based largely on the experience of Jenny Haynes and Sean Conner taking my class to perform Brecht’s Fear and Misery in the Third Reich at the Fringe Festival. I have since taken four plays to the Fringe and toured with one of them to the West End and New York.

Having graduated with a little academia under my belt, I am now on the MA Classical Acting course at Drama Centre London. That is the fulfilment of a dream I had at Frensham – and I am extremely grateful.

(To read the full piece by Soloman, go to www.frensham.org/alumni)

3.2 Seconds

The production of 3.2 Seconds at the Edinburgh Festival proved a great success, with most shows sold out. In November, audiences closer to home could see the play for themselves when it ran for two nights in the PAC. Here, Amanda Liddle, Head of Drama, gives a taste of the Edinburgh experience: Word of mouth is a powerful thing and every day we had people coming because they had heard how good our show was – I have never known an Edinburgh show as a piece of new writing by an unknown company to achieve anything like the figures we achieved. The venue said we were their best-selling show, outselling their other shows 5-1!

The last time I felt so proud of a group of students was after The First Casualty but in many ways this required so much more from them as actors and as adults. They were superb both in their performance and their attitude.

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FRENSHAM IN TOUCH Dan Eley In a term of several excellent external speakers at Morning Talks, one of the most moving and inspirational was given by Dan Eley (OF 1989-94).

Dan suffered a broken neck in a diving accident while volunteering in Colombia and was left paralysed from the chest down. Yet, despite dealing with his own trauma over the ensuing, weeks, months and years, Dan has launched The Dan Eley Foundation, which is working in partnership with a Colombian-based charity to support street children by giving them the skills and experience they need to find work.

Before his accident, Dan had confronted his own feeling of helplessness in the face of extreme poverty. Meeting street children in Bolivia, he had become overwhelmed by a sensation of inadequacy. “I bought them some food and I wanted to give them some advice but I realised there is nothing you can say that will make things better for them,” he explained. Not long afterwards, on New Year’s Day 2010, Dan broke his neck.

Dan found himself trapped in Colombia when his insurance company would not bring him home.

Yet, at the same time, something remarkable was happening in England. Friends, many of whom were fellow OFs, had started a Facebook page encouraging people to raise the £90,000 needed to pay for an air ambulance. Some 9000 people donated, raising an astonishing £100,000. “I still don’t know who they all are today,” he said. “It bothers me that I haven’t been able to thank them personally.”

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Dan was finally flown back to the sanctuary of Stoke Mandeville hospital in February 2011. He was not in good shape, suffering among other things a collapsed lung, pneumonia and a badly infected deep pressure sore. “I spent six months in bed thinking about what I was going to do with my life,” he told a hushed audience. “Everything I used to enjoy, like dancing and sport, was gone and the thought of living was terrifying.” He heard doctors tell his mother that he would never walk, never use his hands, never have quality of life.

Despite the dark moments, family and friends visiting Dan noticed his ability to smile and laugh in the face of his predicament. “No one had called me an inspiration before,” he remembered. “In fact, quite the opposite!”

By 2011, Dan had left hospital and was faced with the question of how to rebuild his life. It was then that he realised his optimism and positive outlook could be used to achieve something – to help

FRENSHAM REMEMBERS change the lives of street children in Colombia.

It was a quote by Gandhi – ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’ – that had a major impact on Dan. From this grew the determination to do something constructive and to the launch of his Foundation. Its existence is a testament to his family, trustees and friends and their belief in him – and to his renewed belief that life is definitely worth living.

By October 2011, Dan was back in Colombia. It was a visit that not only brought closure but also gave him the opportunity to thank all those responsible for keeping him alive. He also returned to the school in Cali where he had been teaching before his accident. “I realised that I now had something in common with the street children,” he explained.

“I too had been in a really bad place where I couldn’t see the way out but I had come through it – and if I could, so could they.”

After months of hard work, Dan’s Foundation was finally granted charitable status in March 2012 and it was officially launched in June. By this time, £5000 had already been spent on supplying computers to the school to teach vital IT skills to the 30 students training in accountancy. “The course also gives them self-belief,” he added. “It is important because if you believe in yourself, the world seems there for the taking and anything is possible.”

Black. It was an emotional experience, with thousands of people lining the route. “Roger turned to me and said ‘This is your town with your people – they’re waiting for you’ and I found myself crying. To have so much joy after so much trauma was incredible.”

“My experience has been amazing,” he concluded.

“I have been the recipient of so much love and human kindness. I have seen the very best of human nature and I want to give something back.

I have been given strength, courage and self-belief.

“I have learnt that there is always a reason to hope, to keep on trying and that sometimes the solutions to life’s big problems come from within.

If I can share this with others, I can’t think of anything better.

“I have been very lucky – I have a good life and I am surrounded by fantastic people. Now it is time to put the trauma behind me and move on to the next stage in my life. I don’t know what the future holds but the journey is certainly taking me to some interesting and fantastic places.”

In the summer of 2012, Dan was offered the opportunity to carry the Olympic torch in Godalming and was delighted to find he was then due to hand it over to Olympic Silver Medal winning athlete and television presenter, Roger

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Hattie Morahan (OF 1989-96)

FRENSHAM REMEMBERS

Paul Svendsen 1940-2012 Director of Music 1981-85

Edwin Rolles, Director of Music 1985-2011, writes:

Hattie has won Best Actress in the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for her performance as Nora in A Doll’s House at the Young Vic. It was something of a Frensham family affair, as the cast also included Pip Pearce, who is a current student in Year 7. “Thanks for the good wishes,” she wrote in reply to a congratulatory email sent from the school. “I still can’t quite believe it happened! All the best and send my regards to everyone at Frensham!”

After seven years at Frensham, Hattie went on to gain a BA in English from Cambridge before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2001. She has been kept busy on stage ever since, appearing at, among others, Stratford, the National Theatre, the Barbican, the Lyttelton Theatre, The Old Vic and , of course, The Young Vic. Television credits include the BBC comedy, Outnumbered, and the highly acclaimed BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility in which she played Elinor Dashwood.

Hattie returned to Frensham a few years ago to give the Founders’ Day speech. She described why her years at the school felt so special at the time and had been so influential ever since.

“My experience at Frensham forms a big part of who I am today,” she said. “I feel that the combination of unequivocal support and the free reign given by the school and its staff have armed me with a confidence and a sense of my own mind that I might not have discovered in another environment. It’s for that reason that I feel very lucky to have been here.”

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I first met Paul in Arundel Cathedral at a rehearsal for the opera Becket composed by the then Director of Music, David Dennis. Paul had just joined Frensham, having previously taught at the Salzburg Mozarteum. He was an outstanding pianist and a great musician.

Paul became Director of Music in 1981, the year I joined the staff as his assistant. He was American, highly intelligent, with a great sense of humour and generosity of spirit. We worked well as a team.

In 1985, as part of the Handel tercentenary celebrations, we took the school choir and orchestra to St John’s Smith Square to give a performance of Acis and Galatea, a trip fondly remembered by many who took part. In the holidays, Paul and his wife Frances, a former ballet dancer, Annie and I and our respective children often shared picnics or trips to the seaside. The funfair at Southsea was a firm favourite.

In 1985, Paul was offered the prestigious post of Opera Repetiteur at St Louis Music Conservatoire in the USA and I succeeded him as Director of Music at Frensham.

Unfortunately, he contracted multiple sclerosis and eventually had to resign from his much loved post. He could no longer play the piano but he was a fighter and retrained as a counsellor.

Paul and Frances moved to Nevada, and Annie and I spent several wonderful holidays there.

Paul made light of his illness and even managed to roar with laughter when I accidentally tipped him out of his wheelchair at Lake Tahoe. He became an active member of the Writers’ Club and had several novels published.

Paul was devoted to his wife, children and grandchildren. He passed away in his lovely Reno home just weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. I will miss Paul. He was a great colleague and a dear friend.

FRENSHAM CELEBRATES: DAVID BERGLAS Our Frensham | 27

To call David Berglas (OF 1938-42) a magician is like calling the Rolling Stones simply a band – it’s true up to a point but there is so much more to it than that. The fact that David was once the opening act for Mick, Keith and the rest of the Stones might give at least a hint of just how much more there is to his life and career.

Add to the mix that his fans included Orson Welles and Dean Martin, that he is the only man to complete the Cresta Run while blindfolded, that he was the Christmas Day subject of This is Your Life in 1991and that he has been a technical advisor on no fewer than five James Bond films – including helping to design the infamous firearm in The Man with the Golden Gun – and you might just be getting close to understanding the sheer breadth of his repertoire.

behind to help others escape. It was two months before the family was reunited. “That’s when life really started again.”

Not speaking a word of English, David was met at Victoria Station by a family friend and driven to Frensham Heights. It was here that he met people whose compassion and openmindedness would remain a strong influence on him even 70 years later. As a refugee, David was not alone. “The school had taken in quite a few others escaping Nazism, not only from Germany but also from Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland. This acceptance of outsiders influenced the other students and the school as a whole – I think it still does.”

David’s motto is ‘Nothing is Impossible’. “It is what I have applied to both my work and my life,” he explains. “As an equation, nothing – zero – is impossible and as a magician, as a mystery worker, nothing is impossible. If it were possible, I wouldn’t have a job. It’s as simple as that.”

It is no coincidence that the motto was originally based on one used by the RAF in World War Two. As a refugee from Nazi Germany, David had spent his adolescent years longing to train as a Spitfire pilot. It was a dream he almost accomplished at just 15 years old when, having altered his record to make himself two years older, he was accepted on the pilots’ training course – only to have his real age discovered after confiding in a friend.

It may be that David’s experience in his early years and his father’s determination to safeguard the family had a profound influence on his belief that obstacles are simply challenges to be overcome.

David and his family first fled Nazism as early as 1933. They returned to Germany to safeguard their successful textile business and secure in the belief that Nazism would not triumph. It was five years later that the reality of the dangers posed forced the family to split up and, in doing so, save their lives.

David’s mother and sister headed for Holland, another sister went to Switzerland and David, a young boy not yet 12 years old, found himself on a train to London via Paris. “I can only think that my father tied a label on me and paid a guard to watch over me,” he said. His father stayed

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1938-9: The Frensham Heights Gym Team with David Berglas far left.

David describes headmaster Paul Roberts as “way ahead of his time” and “a real educational revolutionary”. He and his wife, Enid, worked as a team, nurturing students, looking after them like caring parents and in the end producing school leavers who were very different from the norm. “In those days, few students went on to the usual careers like accountancy or law; they became sheep farmers in New Zealand or they climbed mountains – they were eccentric, unusual and fascinating.”

Other aspects of Frensham life were less appealing to a young boy. “The metal beds and cold baths came as something of a shock. They used to fill the baths the night before and in winter the water would freeze overnight so the first boy in the bath literally cracked the ice. After that we had to do a cross country run around the grounds. This was not something I enjoyed!”

One key influence on David’s life was the gym and English teacher, Martin Rivers. “He was my father figure and my saviour,” he says. “I had

David Berglas is one of our greatest living magical performers... each show is indebted to his artistry and astonishing body of work.

Derren Brown

been through a lot and was very low. He was very kind and helped me a lot. He was also very good looking and all the girls were crazy about him.”

However, it was not long before Martin enrolled in the Royal Air Force. “One day he flew over the school but his plane crashed and he was killed.”

Yet, despite the challenges and the tragedy, it was at Frensham that David’s performing zeal was nurtured and able to thrive. “I was very athletic and a dare devil in many ways,” he remembers. “I was the youngest and the smallest in the gym team so I was always the one at the top of the pyramid in displays. I remember diving through flaming hoops in the pool on Founders’ Days and leaping from the Minstrels’ Gallery in the ballroom to be caught by the gym team below. My parents were horrified.”

into a hugely successful career.

Having had a breakthrough at the Stork Club in London, he went on to perform in world famous venues like the Windmill Theatre, where he performed six shows a day, six days a week for six weeks. He made his name through his radio appearances and still holds the record for having the largest amount of fan mail, regularly receiving up to 4000 letters and postcards a week. Television success quickly followed with his own show Meet David Berglas, which regularly attracted 19.5 million viewers, followed by Focus

The school also formed the Local Defence Volunteers. This later became the Home Guard (Dad’s Army). “The bigger boys were sent up the watch tower at night to look out for planes and fires. I was allowed to join them a couple of times – it was so exciting.” Later experience with the Air Training Corps and pilot training with the RAF eventually helped David claim to have had ‘military experience’ to secure a place in the US Intelligence Corps, with whom he worked for 18 months in the immediate aftermath of the war.

In 1947, David’s interest in magic was sparked almost by accident after a visit to a costume house led to his name being included on a mailing list for a local magic society. It was there that he met Ken Brooke, a gruff Yorkshireman who was to become the world’s most famous dealer in magic tricks. Even then, it was to be five years before David turned an absorbing hobby

1955 Publicity Shot

Our Frensham | 29

1

2

1. David Berglas has been an inspiration and consultant to numerous leading magicians including David Copperfield, Derren Brown and David Blane (pictured) 2. Three generations of Berglas magic: David Berglas with his son Marvin (of Marvin’s Magic) and one of Marvin’s sons Matt 3. 1979-80 David Berglas as King Rat of the Grand Order of Water Rats (the world’s leading charity show business organisation) 3

on Hocus and, in the 1980s, the sensational The Mind of David Berglas.

Today, David Berglas is widely recognised as the father of modern magic. He has been King Rat of the Grand Order of Water Rats and for nine years was President of The Magic Circle. All of the most successful practitioners famous for their extraordinary and seemingly impossible acts – from David Copperfield to David Blaine and from Derren Brown to Dynamo – have openly credited his influence on them.

He is also quite literally the father of modern magic – one of his sons, Marvin, is the founder of Marvin’s Magic, while one of Marvin’s sons, Matt, is already showing tremendous skill with a pack of cards.

For David Berglas, the answer has always been to give your audience what they expect – and then a little bit more. “If you book a plumber,

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you are not surprised that he can fix your boiler.

That’s his job. In the same way, when you see a magician you expect him to do the impossible – that’s what I’ve based my reputation on: making the impossible happen.”

He has come a long way since the day in 1938 when, alone and wary, he found himself in what he describes as ‘the haven’ of Frensham Heights.

That the names of so many of the people he came to know there still come so readily and easily to his mind bears testament to the lasting influence not only of the individuals but also of the school. In turn, his success, his character and his reputation are a testament to the education Paul Roberts worked so hard to give his students.

Known for most of his career as the ‘International Man of Mystery’, the BBC originally called David Berglas ‘the man of magic’. There is no doubt that he is also quite simply a magical man.

The bursary has been a real incentive to work hard. It’s been great for me but it’s also been good for the school because I know I’ve given something back too. I’m not looking forward to the moment I have to leave – when you love something this much, it’s hard to give it up.

A bursary can change someone’s life completely. We are committed to helping as many students as possible to benefit from a Frensham education. This was one of our founding principles and we are proud of this heritage. With your help, we can do so much more.

For more information on how your contribution can make a difference, please contact Andrew Fisher on 01252 792561 or email on headmaster@frensham-heights.org.uk

Frensham Heights Think, Create, Explore

Frensham Heights Rowledge, Farnham Surrey, GU10 4EA

Frensham Heights Think, Create, Explore

T. 01252 792561 E. admissions@frensham.org www.frensham.org Charity No. 312052