Clayesmorian Magazine

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THE MAGAZINE OF CLAYESMORE SCHOOL

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CONTENTS FROM THE HEAD

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Out & About

23

Photography

58

NURSERY & PRE-PREP

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Residential Trips

25

Activities & Co-Curricular

60

Nursery

5

Year 8 Post CE

26

Sports

71

Maple Class

5

Sports

26

EVENTS

91

Oak Class

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Hello & Goodbye

31

OLD CLAYESMORIANS

102

Pirates & Grandparents Ahoy!

7

Teaching Assistants

32

Development Report

103

PREP SCHOOL

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From The Head Of Prep

33

OC Prizewinners

104

A year in the Boarding House

8

SENIOR SCHOOL

34

OC Features & Contributions 106

Learning is fun in Year 3

9

Senior Houses

35

OC Where are they now?

118

Activities galore in Year 4

10

Senior Staff News

42

OC Society Committee

125

Charity

10

Subjects

42

In Memoriam

126

Reading

11

Art

42

Letters

131

Telling Our Stories

13

Design & Technology

46

Spinney Memorial Trust

135

EAL

14

Drama & Film

48

Archives

139

All the World’s a Stage

15

EAL

50

Visiting Clayesmore

143

Marvellous Music

17

Latin

51

OC Society Minutes

144

Every Child is an Artist

18

Maths

52

Alumni Office Report

144

Enrichment

19

Modern Foreign Languages

53

Letter from The OC Editor

145

Wellbeing & Steam Weeks

21

Music

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I N TRO D U CTIO N

FROM THE HEAD Welcome to the latest edition of the Clayesmorian; the school magazine that brings together news from all members of our Clayesmore family.

Last year, I spoke about the importance of ‘the long game’ and the fact that our time at school is merely the start of our lifelong educational journey; the way we spend our lives usually underpinned by the values we were taught during those formative days. At Speech Day this year, I talked some more about what, in her song, Miley Cyrus calls ‘The Climb’: the idea that whilst we can sometimes spend our time thinking about what it might be like when we get to the top of the mountain, in fact as the writer Anne Dillard reminds us, ‘how we spend our days is in fact how we spend our lives’!

This magazine is testament to the fact that we are spending our days well! You will see that what goes on in school is as exciting and busy as ever, but I hope that you will also recognise an increasing awareness of the need to pause, reflect and enjoy the moments as they are happening, as well as when looking back. I think we can safely say that we are spending our days doing all the right things, too: we are intellectually stimulated by a constantly evolving curriculum, we pack in plenty of physical activity in all its different forms and we work on our spiritual, cultural and emotional development. All this, through a blend of carefully designed activities which inspire us to find new interests and outlets but most importantly enjoy the relationships we are building with each other, too.

This magazine seeks, then, to not only highlight the fun we are having on ‘the climb’ but also to recognise that our lives really are the sum of what we do each day. From the pupils in the Prep School through to the Old Clayesmorians you can read about here, I hope that whatever stage of your journey, as members of the Clayesmore family, you are enjoying a life lived well and savouring every precious moment!

Jo Thomson Head

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N U R S E RY & P R E -P R E P S CHO O L

I F YO U G O D OW N TO T H E N U R S E R Y T O D AY. . .

In the Autumn we learnt about farms. We read and acted out the story of Farmer Duck and created a giant tractor. Emily invited us to visit her horses and we learnt how to be grooms. Later in the term, we got into the Christmas spirit, making beautiful decorations and cards, and playing in our Post Office role-play area. We walked into Iwerne Minster to post our letters to Father Christmas. Our Spring term topic was ‘People who help us’. We had visits from Sister Hillyard, a paramedic and a lollipop

lady. During our chef-themed week, we visited the Clayesmore kitchens.

This inspired us to create a pizza parlour. We celebrated Chinese New Year with Dragon Dancing, lucky envelopes and Spring rolls.

Some of us tried Chinese writing.

We rounded off the term with a visit to the fire station in Sturminster Newton. In the Summer we were busy bees learning about ‘Amazing Animals’. We created our very own jungle role-play area and explored

how we thought different animals might move, all inspired by the story Animal Boogie. We enjoyed the sunshine as much as possible, taking part in activities such as Forest School, positional language games and, of course, practising for sports day. Towards the end of term, we were captivated butterflies. We even had our very own caterpillars delivered to nursery. We observed their magical transformation and then set them free.

A MAGICAL YEAR IN MAPLE CLASS We began the year by learning all about pirates. We much preferred Pirates Love Underpants to Captain Blackbeard and Anne Bonny. A pirate even dropped in on us! We were a little shocked to discover our spare pant collection was depleted after his visit, but the kind pirate apologised, leaving us a gift of a barrel-load of biscuits. Next we explored traditional tales with more naughty characters.

Goldilocks broke into our classroom and ate the porridge, leaving a dreadful mess. We ended the term with mischievous twin elves, posted to us by Father Christmas. They did not last long - we were horrified by their behaviour and promptly sent them back. In January, we were excited to receive a letter from firsttime Polar explorer, Sam Molesworth, asking for help with planning a trip to the Arctic. Being slightly inept, he was proposing to take his swimming trunks and surfboard.

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Fortunately, we managed to advise him and he returned safely. He even came to regale us with tales of his adventures. Next we became investigators, checking out what happens when you add things to water and learning how to keep our oceans and beaches pollution free.

As global citizens, we thought about those who cannot access clean water.

Closer to home, we enjoyed exploring different water forms as well as spotting water dwelling creatures.

In the Summer we enjoyed plenty of outdoor adventures, taking advantage of the glorious weather whenever possible. After making sandwiches, we went down to the woods for a teddy bears’ picnic and played hide and seek. We explored forces using outside toys, honing our bat and ball skills. As nature detectives, we spotted minibeasts, found where plants like to grow and identified trees by their leaves.

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ADVENTURES WITH OAK CLASS Our first topic was ‘India’. We learnt about the climate, landscapes and animals. We explored the threats posed to endangered species and learnt about the charitable projects which seek to protect them. We compared daily life and traditions with our own, celebrating cultural differences. Our next topic was ‘Magic’. Mr Dunlop treated us to a wonderful magic show and even shared a few trade secrets, sparking our imaginations. We were then ready to take to the stage ourselves. After watching a short clip of Fantastic Beasts, we explored how animals are suited to their environments. We created our own magical beasts and

developed a suitable environment for them, also considering their place in the food chain. We started the Spring term learning about our Frozen Planet. We spent the term with one author, Michael Morpurgo, and his amazing stories of wild animals. In Art we were inspired by Inuit techniques and used a variety of media to create wintery animals and landscapes. Our next topic was ‘Great Explorers’.

We followed famous adventurers and their feats. The first man on the moon led perfectly to a finale all about space. Our Summer topic ‘Earth, Wind and Fire’ included the Great Fire of London. We made some

amazing Tudor houses and enjoyed being modern versions of Samuel Pepys, acting and writing all about the story. ‘Earth’ encompassed the study of habitats, both localised and worldwide. We compared these, using our amazing grounds to fuel our learning. ‘Wind’ was all about plants and seed dispersal. Our artwork, which tied in with this part of our learning, was particularly beautiful.

Our term ended by focusing on the world as a whole as we rehearsed and performed our play, Eddie and the Penguins, which was all about saving our planet and stopping global warming.

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P I R AT E S & G R A N D PA R E N T S A H OY !

In the Autumn, we opened our doors to all the budding pirates in the area.

We built our very own ship and sailed into shark-infested waters! We had lots of themed activities, including face-painting, art, pirate games, treasure digging and lots of pirate play and dressing up. The morning ended with a funny story about pirates who love underpants. A very cheeky parrot helped to tell the story.

We also welcomed our wonderful grandparents again this term, keeping them very busy with phonics, maths, assembly and music. We enjoyed sharing our learning, asking them questions about what it was like when they were at school and finding out about their misdemeanours. One grandad told us he threw a ball which broke a window!

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A YEAR IN THE BOARDING HOUSE

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The Boarding House is a busy and happy place, and never more so than this year. Autumnal highlights included Sunday trips such as Dorset Water Park and the pantomime. Fun activities such as film script club, sports and nature walks were coupled with some exciting new evening activities. The boarders’ formal dinner was a lovely evening with scrumptious food. Later in the term there was the chance to get involved in the gregarious Christmas party and the skits performance evening, where the vast array of talent the boarders possess was showcased. The Spring term was equally action-packed, with a huge variety of adventures being undertaken. Sunday trips included the ever-popular Monkey World. Many new friends were made and new arrivals welcomed. We even had a snow day with the boarders making mini sledges and having a giant snowball ‘fight’. The new Nintendo Wii proved a big hit and Five-a-side Football proved as popular as ever.

Nancy-Willow, the House puppy, is growing fast and loves greeting the children when they come for birthday suppers. Some highlights include the inaugural Easter egg challenge and our ‘Get Caught Reading’ challenge, where boarders were photographed reading in imaginative places. In the Summer term we were blessed with lovely weather, allowing the children to take advantage of the wonderful school grounds. There was some great school trips such as visiting Corfe Castle and Splashdown as well as a fun weekend of activities at school co-organised by the boarding council.

We also started some new activities such as a Running club, alongside favourites such as Art Club and

Computing Night. It was also lovely to see some of our boarders take part in the brownie sleepover. The highlight as ever was ‘It’s a Knockout’ which, this year, was based around a

Harry Potter and water theme. It was lovely to have all 80 of our boarders together for such a fun-filled evening at the end of a great year.

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LEARNING IS FUN IN YEAR 3 In the Autumn, we had fun with skeletons. We drew a life-size body shape by drawing around a partner, and then drew what we thought a skeleton looked like. The results were very interesting: most didn’t have joints and, when we tried to walk without these, we quickly realised our mistake. We then fetched Billy Bones from the science lab and had another go. Some wonderful poetry about frost was written towards the end of the term in which we used creative similes. We also wrote recounts about

our trip to Stonehenge in the style of Tom Gates. In Maths we particularly enjoyed Smarties fractions. Yummy! In the Spring, we explored how leaflets are designed and thought about their function. We designed our own using eye-catching, alliterative titles. We wrote recipes for The Best Bath Ever.

There were slides and chocolates and even a tank-shaped bath! In Science, we found out about the best conditions for growing seeds.

We enjoyed observational drawings, where we used magnifying glasses

to draw chocolate rocks, relating our findings to different types of rocks.

In Geography we ventured into the rainforest. We researched an animal and created a mobile featuring different facts about it. We got creative in our study of the Ancient Egyptians, writing newspaper articles about the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb and painting masks based on Egyptian Gods. In the Summer we went to Hooke Court with Year 4 very exciting.

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story of Daniel in the lion’s den. We worked in ink and wash to produce beautiful fish and we created a simple animation using Scratch and enjoyed programming the floor turtles. In the Spring we gained a new international partner school in Ireland. We have been compiling a scrapbook for the pupils about St George and the Dragon. Maths focused on problem solving and finding creative solutions.

In science we studied electricity, investigating the best materials with which to make a switch. We made a podcast to advertise the Junior Play.

We completed our work on volcanoes by making an erupting model. Atlas and map work formed the basis of our unit on Europe, culminating with a session sorting Europe snap cards and completing Europe jigsaws. During the Summer term, Years 3 and 4 worked together to undertake some outdoor challenges. They learnt about the parts of a tree through drama, collected data and transferred it to giant bar charts, and created crazy creatures in the beech walk. These activities were enjoyed by all and concentrated on developing each of the attitudes to learning.

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ACTIVITIES GALORE IN YEAR 4 In the Autumn we read A song for Will - The Lost Gardeners of Heligan and enjoyed a visit by the author, Hilary Robinson. We made collages of the wartime gardens of Heligan.

This tied in neatly with our History work on The Great War. We took an informative visit to the Winchester

Science Museum to reinforce learning about sound. Maths was a mixture of practical work, including some bar modelling, and class work. We learnt about the counties in the UK and improved our mapwork skills.

We read Old Testament stories and prepared a puppet show to retell the

CHARITY The main event of the year was the sponsored Cross Country run in February which, along with retirement collections after the school productions, raised £2,618 for CLIC Sargent. Throughout the year we have also donated to a toilet twinning charity in Malawi, the shoe box appeal for The Trussell Trust to support those who are not as fortunate as ourselves and CRISIS, a charity that helps prevent homelessness.

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“YOU CAN FIND MAGIC W H E R E V E R YO U LO O K .

SIT BACK & RELAX ALL YOU NEED IS A BOOK!” DR. SEUSS We are very proud of the reading culture here at the Prep School where our focus is reading for pleasure. Our Junior and Senior reading groups, Bookworms and Reading Crew, continue to be very popular, as does our celebration of World Book Day. This year’s highlights include: visits from authors Hilary Robinson and Gillian Cross, the Wessex Amazing Book Award and a racetrack reading challenge for Key Stage Two. In the Autumn, Bookworms read Anthony Browne’s Hansel and Gretel. The Parents’ Association generously funded a group set plus accompanying puppets. We enjoyed looking at the illustrations and designing covers. To finish off

the term, we made and decorated cardboard gingerbread houses ready to tempt any passing children... In the Spring we created and performed an action-filled Hansel and Gretel puppet show for Junior Years. We enjoyed putting the performance together, learning our lines and getting into character. The wicked witch’s evil cackle can still be heard in the library! The Summer saw the Bookworms creating delightful books, inspired by Open This Little Book by Jesse Klausmeier. Their exciting tales included a dizzy hamster, a rabbit eating 1000 carrots, a blueberry speeding in his sports car, a prowling fox, a juggling penguin and a raspberry who travelled all the way from Scotland to be in a fruit salad!

In the Autumn, Reading Crew created their own characters and then slotted these into pre-existing stories. We practised with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and then spent time cunningly fitting the characters into C S Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, collaborating to write these sections of the story. Reading Crew spent much of the Spring term preparing for World Book Day. They took characters from well-known children’s books and imagined how their lives might have turned out. This formed a well-received recorded quiz aired for the whole school on World Book Day. Throughout the Summer term, members worked collaboratively on a detective-themed script. When Mr Wilson’s coffee is stolen from his lab, one storybook character is guilty, but all nine have a motive… it is up to Inspector Clouseau to uncover the culprit. We wrote and rehearsed the script and performed for Years 3, 4 and 5 in the final week of term.

Our Patron of Reading and Writing, Gillian Cross, worked with Year 6 over a number of weeks to mark the centenary of the First World War. Each group was given a local family >

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from the 1911 census in which at least one son was eligible to fight.

Having explored a number of real letters and postcards to and from the front, the children composed poignant postcards, letters and diary entries.

The aim was authenticity, capturing the writing style and voice of the period. Finally the children thought about being in a local Dorset village when the Armistice was signed. Later in the year, Gillian joined Year 4 in the Autumn for two writing sessions on ‘Scary Stories’.

What an amazing day we had with author Hilary Robinson. All the pupils in Nursery, Pre-Prep and Year 3 enjoyed an array of stories, rhymes, and mixed-up fairy-tales. Pupils in

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Year 4 worked with their English text which was written by Hilary.

On World Book Day the pages of storybooks fell open and out stepped a host of characters. Harry and Hermione were on hand to combat the powers of darkness whilst Tinkerbell flitted merrily around. The Three Little Pigs were spotted, always on the lookout for the Big Bad Wolf, of course. Where’s Wally was located but soon disappeared again. Alice fell down a rabbit hole near the PrePrep, poor thing! Thing 1 and Thing 2 popped up regularly. And that’s just a handful of all the characters on display. Everyone visited the book fair and listened to the storyteller’s wonderful tales. Another happy World Book Day for Clayesmore!

This was the second year of the Wessex Amazing Book Award, a local book award established by local school librarians. In the Autumn term, librarians and pupils longlist book titles and these are then read and shortlisted. Then it is over to our pupils to read and judge the books.

This year’s shortlist was very varied.

In February Archie Burton, Billy Jinks, Max Kennard and Charlotte Rorrison joined pupils from several other local schools to discuss the shortlisted books, take part in a short presentation of their chosen title, and then place their all important vote.

The Call by Peader O’Guilin was voted the winner.

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TELLING OUR STORIES Finding a voice and letting the imagination flow… To inspire our writing and give us an audience, we entered a host of competitions at local and national level.

the school with her piece Dying Words, an intriguing piece written from the perspective of Blaze whose father is a life-writer. In the words of Michael McCabe, executive producer of Wicked: ‘Dying Words

was outstanding. It shone out to me as exactly what this competition is for.’ These awards are in association with the National Literacy Trust and championed by Patron Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cornwall.

Three pupils were shortlisted in the under-18 category of the Blandford Rotary Short Story Competition: Georgie Bigg, Millie Chinnock and senior pupil, Evie Askew who wrote her story whilst at the Prep. Friday 30th November saw an audience of friends, relatives and local dignitaries gathered at the Parish Rooms for readings and presentations. We were delighted to learn that Millie was runner-up, receiving a book token, and Evie overall winner in the under-18 category, receiving £25 and a tea for two at Beatons. There were three other categories: open fiction, flash fiction and best Dorset-based story. All of these shortlisted entries were written by adults. Remarkably, Evie was also declared overall winner across all four categories, receiving £50, the Mayor’s Cup and a framed certificate.

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Thomas Kiff, Year 8, reached the second round of BBC Radio 2’s 500 Words short story competition with his short story, Dying Embers.

Thomas’s story takes the point of view of a man who lost his family in an accident with terrible consequences, tracing his emotional journey. Now in its ninth year, 500 Words is the UK’s most successful short story-writing competition for children between the ages of 5 and 13.

We were delighted to learn that Year 8 pupil, Jenny Allen, was the winner of the 2019 Wicked Young Writers Award in the 11-14 category. Jenny entered the competition through 2 0 1 8 -1 9 |

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ENGLISH AS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE This has been an outstanding year for EAL in the Prep School. In September, we were delighted to welcome four new pupils from Spain, while Mavis, Briac and Neo returned to complete their second year. In April, two sisters, Maggie and Nicole arrived

from China. We are delighted that Neo has been awarded a Sports Scholarship to the Senior School.

Congratulations go to all our leavers who return home with a certificate in English.

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A L L T H E W O R L D ’ S A S TA G E Drama continues to be a strength of the Prep School, with several productions each year, ongoing class Drama lessons for the younger children and carousel sessions for the older.

The Inn-spectors is a play all about the excitement when some ‘inn-spectors’ come to visit and check the local inns of Bethlehem. Here, they discover a birth in one of the stables. This contravenes all the health and safety rules, of course, and thus they are all set to close down the inn. However, once they find out just how important this baby and his special visitors are, they quickly forget all about protocol and pronounce the inn fit for purpose. As usual, the children were outstanding and produced a spectacle of acting, singing and drama, leaving the audience spellbound.

Ali Baba & the Bongo Bandits was one of our most popular Junior productions to date. The children sang beautifully and the fast and furious script was funny and slickly delivered. A range of props delighted

the audience; in particular a flying carpet that travelled across the stage on wheels, and a set of jars that appeared on set accompanied by the jaws (jars - get it!) theme tune. The cast was excellent, and there were goodies and baddies galore. Too many excellent performances to mention but Evie Tedby, Zara Stanley, Wilf Townsend, Elsa Kenny and Deacon MacDonald stood out.

This year’s Senior production of The Lion King JR took us to the splendour of the African savanna with Simba’s coming-of-age story in which he learns just what it takes to be a king. Described by many as our best Senior Prep production yet, this was a visually spectacular show with masks and props made by the Prep children and the technical and choreography roles also being pupil-led. A fabulous George Morgan played the plucky cub Simba, accompanied by a composed Millie Chinnock in her debut on the Clayesmore stage as Nala. Millie also choreographed the entire show, working with a team of 14 lead dancers for over six months.

Megan Dyer played Rafiki to perfection and her rendition of The Circle of Life was simply stunning.

Isabella Williams captured the cunning of the evil Scar accompanied by a band of comical hyenas. Lucy Lill and Ben Cliff partnered brilliantly as the comic duo Timon andPumbaa.

Rafiki’s Rhythm Makers, namely Fabian Andrews, Leo Oxford and Reece Walker, were amazing on the drums, having spent many hours rehearsing with Mr Rigby. Well done to everyone who made this show happen - a real team effort.

Eddie and the Penguins is a mini musical about global warming and how to save the planet. Eddie and the rest of the penguin family travel the globe, experiencing damage being caused by the humans and take it upon themselves to educate people about making careful decisions to change lifestyles which could reap fantastic results and it’s all done through song. Pre-Prep performed wonderfully - a highlight was the memorable penguin dance choreographed by Miss Julie.

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MARVELLOUS MUSIC In early October, three members of the Senior Orchestra attended Bryanston School to join children from other Prep Schools for the SATIPS Orchestral Day, the finale of which was an impressive concert in the Elder Concert Hall. Also in October, we welcomed professional actors Jahrel Thomas and Sharon Wattis to lead a musical theatre workshop based on The Lion King.

Both actors, who had played roles in the musical, led the children expertly in a series of acting, singing and movement workshops with a special showcase for parents to conclude.

With a brand new film in cinemas, what better theme for the House Music Competition than Abba? We were joined by adjudicator, Helen Hobson. Each House performed a verse and chorus from Thank You For The Music. Rosses sang Dancing Queen, Edwards-Stuarts performed Waterloo, Everetts entertained us with Super Trouper, while Seddons sang, Mamma Mia. Nursery and Pre-Prep performed Money, Money, Money. Seddons House was this year’s victors! In the Autumn Concert a tremendous range of choral and instrumental music was performed to an appreciative audience in the chapel. This was followed by the Junior and Senior Music Festivals which offer all children who learn a musical instrument the chance to perform in a non-competitive environment. The Junior Christmas Concert captured the festive spirit with an abundance of music and poetry. The Junior ensemble performed Rudolph the Red-Nosed

Reindeer and the recorder and violin groups played with gusto, whilst the ukulele groups went down a treat.

The poems were delivered effortlessly with creative choreography.

This concert also featured two unrivalled comperes - Zaza and Tom. Clayesmore’s second Carol Competition saw a host of creative entries. There were a number of highly-commended entries. Runnersup were Jenny Allen, Georgie Bigg and Lara Mann. This year’s winner was Charlotte Rorrison with Christus Dominus Noster. Charlotte’s carol was performed beautifully by the Junior choir in their Christmas concert.

In the Spring, the Chamber Music Group received some super comments from Anita Strevens, the adjudicator, who congratulated them on a ‘flamboyant performance’. They worked incredibly hard to be able to perform an arrangement of St. Louis Blues and were successful in getting through to the semi-final. In the Music Masterclass with professional musician, Colin Howard, 20 pupils were treated to a little expert tuition.

The Primary Schools’ Choral Day saw 140 children from seven local primary schools sing their hearts out in a Greatest Showman songfest. Each school also prepared their own song which showcased their talents. The day concluded with an encore of This is Me which gained a standing ovation.

The Summer term in the Music department began with the Music in the Month of May series. The first of these was the Senior Musicians’

Recital where ten top musicians performed. Next was Boogie Woogie Night where internationally acclaimed pianist Julian Phillips and singer Izi Onslow performed, with impromptu solos from pupils. Jazz Band helped to spice up the evening too. In both the Junior and Senior Piano Showcase events it was great to hear so many talented pupils perform a range of works from across the piano repertoire. Early June saw the return of the Key Stage One Singing Event.

120 children from six local Primary Schools sang The School Rules Song and You Got a Friend in Me. In mid June Year 5 joined children from other Dorset schools to watch and participate in a concert given by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra celebrating 50 years since the first lunar landing. On the same weekend that Glastonbury revellers sizzled in baking sun, the diverse talents of Year 8 were brilliantly showcased in our own musical celebration Pop Fest. The ‘originals set’ incorporated the premier of five pieces composed during class music lessons during the term. The ‘covers set’ was also hugely enjoyable with items ranging from Lewis Capaldi, Tate McRae and Imagine Dragons, through to Disney’s Aladdin, John Farnham and Oasis. The collaboration, courage and creativity on display from every child perfectly encapsulated our attitudes to learning, summing up the true spirit of the Prep School. The musical year ended with a wonderful Musical Extravaganza which featured a range of musical talents and a poignant tribute to Mr Smith.

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“EVERY CHILD IS AN ARTIST” PICASSO

This year’s Summer exhibition was a celebration of materials starting with the humble pencil. It was wonderful to see how the pupils wielded these tools of creation to such effect: careful line work juxtaposed with vigorous mark making. From Year 3 upwards, pupils worked in both monochrome and colour with such depth and sense of purpose to make

works of art, from illustrating The Owl and the Pussycat and inky fish to a wonderful series of portraits and landscapes. Beautiful pottery, textiles, printmaking and fabulous Lion King masks were also on display, showing huge diversity. Pupils at the Prep are encouraged to share their creative voice as well as linking with other areas of school life.

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ENHANCING THE CURRICULUM & ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES The Discovery Education Summer challenge was to watch 30 video clips about our planet and answer related questions. Evie Tedby was one of ten nationwide winners. Evie won lots of fabulous science-related prizes, as well as a year’s subscription to Discovery Coding for the school.

In October, ten Prep Schools gathered at Canford for the hotly-contended Geography Quiz. Our team comprised of Charles Turk, Charlotte Rorrison, Billy Jinks and Ellie McKay. Flags, geography in the news, distorted

landmarks, geographical terms and outlines of countries - the rounds passed quickly and we scored well.

Finally, there were 25 capital cities to name, with countries ranging from Chile to Slovakia.

We waited nervously but it was worth it. The Clayesmore Prep team won and managed to score 25/25 on the world capitals.

NiHao! In the Spring term, the Geography department ran a China Day. Year 7 immersed themselves

in Chinese commerce, language and demographics. Dr Huijing Chen gave an interactive presentation on aspects of modern China. After an excellent lunch to celebrate the Chinese New Year, the pupils made 3D maps of Chinese mega-cities, trade and population, helped by senior pupils.

Language tutor, Mrs Kam Chi, introduced the basics of Mandarin.

To culminate, the Clayesmore Peoples National Congress discussed the following: industry, the environment, farmers and politicians. Zhu hao yun. >

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Also in the Spring, the Clayesmore Prep quiz team soared to victory at the Junior Schools’ Challenge regional competition, earning them a welldeserved place in the forthcoming interregional rounds. Charlie Turk, James Greig, Billy Jinks and Zain Khan won every round with a combination of quick-fire answers and a measured team approach. Sue Sims, who organised the competition, said in her closing remarks that Clayesmore Prep’s outstanding performance throughout the rounds made them worthy winners.

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Year 6’s ‘Choose Well Waste Less’ Spring campaign combined healthy eating and reducing waste. In a joint Science and Geography project, pupils initially learnt about balanced diets and portion control. Small teams then investigated food miles, carbon footprint, meat versus vegetables, quizzes, logo competition and water consumption in cotton production.

Their findings were presented as

maps, posters and within the whole school assembly. This allowed Year 6 to educate their peers, whilst also being highly entertaining with a quiz show and brilliant song.

The Japanese Language and Culture Club is now in its third year. Billy Jinks and Jenny Allen have been with the group since the beginning. We welcomed a number of Year 5 pupils at the start of this year, many of whom have risen to the challenge of learning key vocabulary and practising Japanese writing. Well done to those who have now mastered the hiragana alphabet! In the Summer term, we looked at the integral role that nature plays in Japanese culture. The children studied some traditional songs and poems and created some beautiful cherry blossom paintings. The end of this academic year was marked with a sushi and mochi (sweet rice cakes) meal, which was washed down with plenty of green tea. Gochi so sama deshita!

Once again Sarah-Jane Rhead from the Senior School Maths department has provided a number of exciting Maths challenges for our Maths enrichment group to solve during their Friday afternoon sessions. This is a great link between the Prep and Senior schools.

Vive la France! Years Five and Six enjoyed a fantastic interactive performance from the Flying Theatre called Vive La France! Mesmerized by a traditional French act, including comedy, music and some incredible circus feats, they enjoyed all sorts of fun and frolics.

Generously funded by the Parents’ Association, this year’s visit of the Life Education Classroom was another success with all pupils from Nursery through to Year 6 enjoying a session on-board the very special classroom.

The pupils were very enthusiastic about all they had learnt.

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WELLBEING & STEAM WEEKS In Wellbeing Week, Pre-Prep enjoyed a plethora of activities for the body and mind, including barefoot sensory walking, yoga, emotion art activities, mindfulness, rugby-tots, a dance session at TLW studios and Forest School at Mrs Jacson’s parents’ house where they made the most of the stunning 14-acre garden, complete with its abundance of wildlife, hideouts, fairy doors and dragons.

We enjoyed mindful music with Mrs Coplan and Mr Rigby, learnt bike proficiency with Mr Manley and Mr Westlake, and ended our week by playing very hard in Iwerne Park. Our trip to Kingston Lacy woodlands with a picnic was the perfect ending.

The theme of the Prep’s very first STEAM Week was communication.

All pupils took a fascinating trip to the Blandford Signals Museum while back at school there was a range of

communicative activities on offer.

Here, pupils designed colourful flexagons and wrote their names using naval flags. Having studied directions in the German language, they designed interactive treasure hunts with instructions in German and yummy prizes for the finders. They used iPads to create super animations showing how communication has changed over time. Pupils tried their hand at writing hieroglyphics, studied the history of writing and enjoyed watching silent comedies.

They participated in team challenges and communication quizzes. In Drama, they used facial expressions, gestures and body language with the utmost creativity in order to tell stories without words. Eager and attentive ears listened to storyteller Martin Maudsley who returned to share some fascinating tales.

With the anniversary of the D-Day

landings fresh in our minds, the TLC Department recreated the Cabinet War Rooms, the communication centre for Operation Overlord.

Groups were divided into the three forces: Army, Navy and RAF and every pupil had to sign the Official Secrets Act before being cleared for access. They then had to complete challenges. The DT room was busy with pupils making fibre optics, whilst in the science labs they were equally busy extracting DNA from strawberries. Great focus was shown whilst learning to sign in Makaton.

In the Music department pupils learnt a song and signed the chorus in Makaton. This was performed in a celebration assembly to great applause. This was a week brimming with excitement and the active participation from all was wonderful to behold.

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OUT & ABOUT! In the Autumn term, Year 3’s History topic took them to Stonehenge.

Here they assumed the mantle of archaeologists and studied artefacts.

They also dressed up as Bronze Age people, conducted experiments to discover the easiest way to move model stones, and made a model of Stonehenge. This was followed by a workshop in a replica neolithic house where they ground wheat to produce flour and learnt to wattle a fence.

Finally, they visited Stonehenge and the visitor centre.

Next it was the turn of Year 4 to get out and about. They enjoyed a busy and educational day at Winchester Science Centre. They participated in a sound workshop and learnt how sound travels through different mediums. They also spent a fascinating hour in the planetarium going on an intergalactic journey through our solar system and finally had a chance to explore some of the many interactive displays.

In November, Year 5 visited Shire Hall, Dorchester and the Blandford Fashion Museum as part of their History work on the Georgians. ‘Being behind

bars was the best thing,’ commented Victor. ‘I enjoyed making a peg doll,’ said Edward. ‘I never thought I would be so good at sewing my Georgian quilt square,’ explained Lucy.

Year 5 also enjoyed an interesting day following the journey of sewage through the Holdenhurst Water Treatment Works. They discovered the role that bacteria plays in processing sewage and how the number two bus in Bath is powered by poo! They learnt why we shouldn’t flush wet wipes down the loo and why we should not touch the railings at the waterworks.

Year 7 engaged in a morning’s Drama workshop in a uniquely authentic setting: The Boathouse, Hamworthy.

Initially they created still images to capture the chronology of the world’s greatest sea disaster. They moved on to generate haunting soundscapes and physical theatre pieces showing Titanic’s final moments. Next, they developed stylistic pieces showing a survivor’s nightmare. This workshop was the culmination of Year 7’s English project featuring survivor diaries.

It was with great pleasure that Year 8 arrived at Lulworth in bright Autumn sunshine. This encouraged plenty of tourists too, allowing Year 8 to complete their tourism study. They counted visitors and assessed erosion, noise and litter. They also delivered their questionnaire to unsuspecting tourists. Year 8 had another morning at the seaside during the Autumn term. Sadly, there were no ice creams or donkey rides, but plenty of study instead! Despite the misty day, the pupils were at Knoll Beach looking at Biology. They investigated the flora and fauna of heathland, woodland and sand dunes. They also took light, sound and soil pH readings as part of their field notes.

In the Spring, Year 3 had a fun trip to the Dorchester Tutankhamun Museum where they had a chance to look at realistic replicas of treasures found in the tomb and enjoy the reenactment of Howard Carter chipping a hole into the sealed door and seeing inside for the first time. The lifesize model of the sarcophagus and coffins caught the children’s imaginations, along with the replica mummies in the mummy room.

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Year 4 visited the Tank Museum where they took part in two activity workshops; one was all about life in the trenches and the other enabled them to see inside the Mark IV tank.

This trip was an excellent round-up of the work on World War I. The Summer term witnessed sun, sea, sand and smiles as Year 6 found fossils to take home from Charmouth.

To the amazement of the ranger, they found several less common fossils, including a shark’s tooth, a devil’s toenail (Jurassic sea shell) and some fossil bone. Most found belemnites and luckier pupils collected some excellent ammonite specimens. Our evolution topic came alive amongst the ancient rocks and boulders.

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In May, Year 2 spent a fantastic morning at our local treasure: Springhead. We were given a tour of the beautiful gardens and introduced to some amazing species of trees,

including some originally from China, South America and the Himalayas.

We learnt about how plants protect themselves from hungry insects by giving off different smells and tastes.

We drank the freshest of Spring water from the pool surrounded by the Fontmell Springs and even had a treasure hunt, learning how to plot using coordinates on a map.

Year 4 enjoyed an interesting, if smelly, day at the Holdenhurst Water Treatment Works learning about how our water is cleaned before it gets to our houses and again when it leaves them. We revised the water cycle, had a tour of the site and experimented with filtering water to clean it. We learnt a lot about the processes and had many questions to ask.

Year 6 returned windswept but happy from this year’s field trip to Gore Farm. We worked out with Tess and Stuart, our fantastic farmer hosts, that we had been visiting Gore farm for

10 years. Every year we do something different but we always start with feeding the youngest calves. This year we held newborn chicks and checked out the lambs, pigs and turkeys.

We considered the effect of global warming on the environment and how levels of rainfall have dropped over the last few years. We walked around the cattle barns, looked at some huge satellite-controlled machinery and toured the fields in a tractor and trailer.

On 25th June, it was Year 7’s turn to visit the Tank Museum. This was the final part of the term’s work on D-Day and the Second World War. The children enjoyed learning about Hobart’s Funnies (the incredible tanks designed for D-Day), and modern warfare in Afghanistan. They even built a quarter sized model of a Sherman Tank.

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RESIDENTIAL TRIPS Years 3 and 4 enjoyed a trip to Hooke Court where the weather was kind and everyone slept! We learnt about forces and energy, had a campfire singsong, scavenged for, and prepared lunch (including gutting trout) and mastered the low ropes course with determination and teamwork. The children showed great communication in listening well to the tutors and supporting each other. Many showed courage being away from home on their first residential school trip, and undertaking activities they found challenging. All were considerate in their behaviour and creative when problem solving - the first of which was how to put the duvet cover on!

There was a buzz of excitement as Year 5 set off on their residential to Whitemead in the Forest of Dean.

A busy week of activities followed.

The children enjoyed themselves and learnt a lot about team building, perseverance and overcoming challenges as they built buggies, climbed trees, got to grips with

archery and even had a ride on a steam train. For some children it was the longest they had been away from home but, in true Clayesmore style, they supported and encouraged each other and all returned to school in great spirits.

Year 6 really entered into the spirit of being Vikings for the day at the Ancient Technology Centre. They busily prepared food for both lunch and supper and this involved chopping vegetables, grinding wheat for flour using a quern, chopping wood to keep the fire burning, and making butter and cheese. They really enjoyed setting up the long house for the meals and eating using wooden crockery and cutlery. Other activities were making bricks to build a wall and re-enacting Viking battle formations using shields. Sleeping in the long house was an experience: there was plenty of snoring amongst the 35 little vikings as they all slept on sheepskins in rows!

This year’s Year 7 trip to Normandy was a great success. We visited historical sites linked to D-Day, Pegasus Bridge and the Bayeux Tapestry and Cathedral. Two pupils laid a wreath at the grave of an ex Clayesmorian at Douves La Deliverande Cemetery, which was moving for us all. Pupils enjoyed using their French by asking for drinks and buying their picnic at the market in Bayeux. Language immersion at the Biscuiterie was more challenging, but ordering lunch in a café was a highlight.

Year 8’s end-of-year activities trip to Cornwall was a resounding success in spite of the variable weather. Pupils enjoyed paddle boarding, coasteering, surfing, cycling and much more.

Everyone got on well and supported each other. We even managed to slot in a trip to see the new Aladdin film at the cinema when the weather was particularly inclement.

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YEAR 8 POST CE Following Common Entrance, Year 8 spent time off timetable to look in more depth at some aspects of PSHE. We had a British Justice Day where the pupils heard from local Police, a Senior Probation Officer and two Magistrates. Pupils had lots of questions for the Police. With the Probation Officer, they were given various real-life cases to look at. Sometimes they agreed with the

Magistrates but, at other times, they had their own ideas. In the afternoon pupils learnt more about the role of Magistrates and our courts. We have also held two careers sessions made possible by parents and friends generously giving up their time to come in and talk to our pupils. The aim of these sessions is not for the pupils to fix on a career but to open their minds to the huge range of

possibilities which exist. Our third event was a carousel of sessions on self-esteem, managing anger, and alcohol and drugs. Our visiting speaker from EDAS brought in some beer goggles for pupils and staff to try, just so they could see the effect of such substances on the senses.

Good fun but a serious message underneath.

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The Autumn term saw one of the best Hockey seasons for many years.

The strength in depth across all our teams reached an all-time high, as did the number of competitive matches the girls played. A record 231 goals were scored in matches alone. The inter-house competitions were a particular highlight; so much progress was clearly visible and matches were played in a competitive team spirit.

The stand-out team was the U11A team. With 10 wins and two draws out of 13 matches, they were county champions as well as third in the Bryanston Cup, undefeated in both tournaments. This is a first in Miss Spokes’ eight years at Clayesmore.

Reading through the match reports over the season, words and phrases such as ‘progress’, ‘determination’, ‘resilience in adverse weather conditions’, ‘team work’, ‘improvement in attack and defence’, ‘courage’ and ‘excellence’ are all common themes.

What a superb Netball season in the Spring. Throughout the term, in both training and matches, the girls showed all the attributes we hold dear to us at Clayesmore: collaboration through teamwork, creativity in our game play and movement on court, consideration to team mates, officials and the opposition, courage to persevere in difficult times against tough opposition, adverse weather conditions and the challenge of playing out of position when requested. In our competitive fixtures in Years Five to Eight, the girls scored a record 649 goals between them.

The statistics for the season represent the strength and depth across all of our teams and age groups. The team of the season was, for the second term running, the U11A team with eight wins out of ten matches and the highest average goal difference across the board. This team also continued their undefeated record at tournament Hockey out of season when they represented the county in the West Regional Hockey Finals in March.

This Summer saw Cricket replace Rounders as the competitive sport for the girls. We rode through the term on the hype and buzz created by the success of the England women’s team.

A visit from international cricketing superstar Fran Wison inspired all the girls to step up to the crease and enjoy Cricket. Miss Spokes was most impressed with the courage and determination all the girls showed whilst learning what was, for most, a completely new sport. They all had great fun in training and fixtures, and there was a huge amount of success across all the teams. Taking a clean sweep, for the third term in a row, it was the U11A team who were the most successful team of the season.

They certainly are the team to watch in years to come.

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B OYS S P O RT In the Autumn, we had another successful season of Rugby. The most pleasing thing was seeing the progress and confidence build in all the boys from October to December.

The U13A team, under the captaincy of Simba ‘Martin Johnson’ Ingram, had one of their most successful seasons ever, beating lots of local Prep Schools and achieving an eight-match unbeaten run to finish the season.

Other teams made some excellent progress throughout the year. The U11A and U10A in particular showed a lot of promise for the future. Also well done to the U8 and U9s who have bundles of energy, so much so that by the end of each session Mr Manley needed a lie down!

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The Football season went quickly. It was great to get so many boys playing throughout the school. There were some excellent results for all teams.

However, the stand-out result rests with the U11A team who brought back some silverware from the Moyles Court Tournament. Interhouse was hotly contested as ever, with Seddons winning the Senior tournament and Rosses winning the Junior tournament. The race for leading goalscorer went to the wire with Charlie ‘Poacher’ Waugh just tipping Matthew ‘Lethal’ Mckay.

A special mention goes to James

‘The Cat’ Young for some excellent performances between the sticks.

It was another fantastic term of Hockey for the boys with over 400 goals being scored. The progression that the boys made in such a short space of time was impressive. It was great to see the boys really focus on improving their 3D and elimination skills. The boys’ strength in depth really showed through again, with many of our B and C teams having excellent seasons. Also there was some real success for our A teams on a regional and county scale. Highlights of the season are: the U10A and U10B superb seasons, only losing one game all term; the progression of the U12A and U11A from the start of the season; the impressive comebacks from the U13B and U12C teams against Port Regis. Everyone in the U11B team had a go at being in goal at some point, including Mr Blackburn! However, the best moment was when the U13As put in an impressive display to reach the semi-finals at West Regionals beating many established names on the way.

It was another exciting year of boys’ cricket in the Prep School with lots of excellent performances from all teams. Again, Clayesmore had county success with U11A team becoming Dorset champions. The U13A

team were also county runners-up.

However, what was most pleasing to see was the progress and enthusiasm that all boys made between April and July, highlighted by the U12A team scooping up the prize for the most competitive team in the school.

CROSS COUNTRY The Prep School had another great year for Cross Country. Notable highlights include Maddison McDonald winning the U13 Girls Sandroyd Cross Country Race and the U13 girls qualifying for the South West round of the ESAA Cross Country Cup.

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SWIMMING ESSA National Swimming Championships Relays Division 5 September 2018

everyone performed with confidence.

Our team recorded five personal best times and the Year 4 freestyle relay team came first. Clayesmore came 2nd overall.

Spring Swim Fixtures

10 Prep pupils swam at this event.

The team had a fantastic competition and really enjoyed joining the Senior School pupils. The boys came 5th in the freestyle relay and 3rd in the medley and were placed 3rd overall after both events.

IAPS Swimming Championships Regional Round February 2019

2019 Dorset County Championships

South West Schools Biathlon Championships October 2018 On a very wet Sunday, 10 pupils travelled to Bath University. A special mention must go to Maddison McDonald for her very confident run on the track.

Autumn Swim Fixtures On 16th October, the Years 5-8 team members had their first home fixture. The visiting schools were: Bournemouth Collegiate, Yarrells, Sunninghill, Knighton House and Leweston. A special mention must go to the Year 5 boys. They won both their relays very comfortably.

Cody came first in both his races (backstroke and butterfly) and Rafael in the front crawl. In Year 6, Georgia Kenny broke the 50 metres breaststroke school record. The old record has not been broken since 2002 - well done to Georgia.

On 9th November, the Year 3 and 4 teams competed in their first gala of the year. Schools attending were Yarrells, Leweston and Knighton House. It was a very exciting gala and

Clayesmore hosted one of the IAPS regional galas being held across the county. All pupils had great swims and they should be proud of their achievements in the pool. With over 30 personal best times from the swim team since January 2019, it was pleasing that the Year 5 to Eight swim team recorded 28 more personal best times - real proof of the hard work the whole team put in and the progress they have made. A special mention must go to Cody Rice who broke the school record for the Year 5 backstroke. This record was last recorded in 2001, so it has taken 18 years for a pupil to beat this record.

Well done, Cody!

North Dorset Primary Schools Regional March 2019 Clayesmore Prep School, together with 13 local Primary/Prep Schools in North Dorset, competed at the regional gala. Congratulations to the Year 5 Boys and Year 6 girls who qualified for the county finals.

The team won all of their fixtures at home and away.

Cody Rice and Rafael Van Eijck competed at their first county championships. Cody broke three school records. Georgia Kenny also swam and earned herself a regional qualifying time for the 50 metres breaststroke.

IAPS Swimming Finals June 2019 Elodie Middle (U12) and Georgia Kenny (U11) competed at the IAPs National Finals at the fabulous London Aquatics Centre on Saturday 8th June. Qualifying for the event was no easy task. The girls represented the best of 4634 competitors from 285 schools who competed at qualifying rounds earlier this year.

Both girls swam the 50 metres breaststroke. Elodie and Georgia had put everything into their training before the finals, so it was no surprise that Georgia swam a personal best time in the heats and made the finals in 7th place. Georgia was so positive before the finals and, with a better start and turn, improved her time again and came 5th overall. A brilliant result for Georgia. Elodie also had a great swim in the heats and improved her qualifying time by two seconds.

She came 5th in her heat and 16th overall. Well done Georgia and Elodie!

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SWIMMING CONTINUED...

Dorset Schools County Swimming Finals June 2019 Having qualified in 1st place at the North Dorset Regional Gala in March, 11 of our Year 5 and 6 pupils represented North Dorset, alongside other winners from our region, at the county finals. Our pupils were so positive and friendly to all the other swimmers in the team and should be very proud of their collaboration.

From the start, the whole team was strong and focused and, after the

IAPS TRAMPOLINING CHAMPIONSHIPS Five girls travelled to the Royal Russel School, London, to participate in this competition. The girls had an excellent day competing in a high pressured environment, all giving their best and doing the school proud. Congratulations to Sophia Docker who finished 3rd in the U11 competition out of 54 girls. Well done also to Isabelle Hardiman who missed out on a medal by 0.1 of a mark in the U13 competition. Annabel Readwin found the courage to go to

her first Trampolining competition ever and performed well in the U11 section. Harriet Robertson improved her position by 19 places compared to last year. Elodie Middle showed great consistency in her two routines in the U13 competition. Mr Manley and Miss Scholz would like to thank the girls for their dedication and perseverance for all their early morning sessions since January to train for this competition.

first points were announced, we were already in first place. With lots of brilliant swims, North Dorset was victorious and won by six points! This

EQUESTRIAN

has never been achieved by North

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Dorset in Ali’s 18 years at Clayesmore!

Year 4 Primary Schools Gala County Finals June 2019 Following the regional rounds held this term, the eight areas of Dorset

There was success for Matthew and Annabel Tory, Zara Stanley and Isabel Baines at the NSEA event at Leweston in September. The team came second in the 70cm class in their first competition, qualifying for the regional round in January. Here, they were NSEA regional champions in the 60cm showjumping class, and came third in the 70cm class.

competed at the County finals. Six Clayesmore Year 4 pupils represented North Dorset, together with swimmers from other local Primary Schools in our area. Our pupils really enjoyed the gala and had excellent results.

SPORTS OPTIONS We started a new sports initiative this year. Sports options arrived in the calendar a couple of times, taking the place of traditional sports fixtures. The children had a chance to try their hand at many new sports including: trampolining,

mountain biking, badminton, spinning, basketball, water-polo, rookie lifeguarding, capture the flag, ultimate frisbee, handball and archery. These proved popular and we are delighted that sports options will return next year.

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HELLO...

In September, we welcomed new Houseparents, Simon and Jess Porter, along with their son Danny.

Simon joined the Games and Computing departments and Jess, the English department. A little later, they were joined by NancyWillow, the boarding house puppy.

In January, Old Clayesmorian Archie Parks joined us. He told us a little about himself: ‘I am a dog lover and outdoor adventure seeker. I am keen on all sports especially climbing, skiing and running. When I am not enjoying teaching, I am a keen cyclist.’ We also welcomed Mariana

Russell to the school office. Miss Shaula Maitland began her maternity leave at the end of the Autumn term and lovely Nula-Rose was born on 25th January. Baby Laurence Blackburn arrived at the end of June.

Many congratulations to both sets of new parents.

AND GOODBYE...

In March, the Prep School bid a fond farewell to Mr and Mrs Dunlop following nearly five years’ service. Will and Celia brought care, enthusiasm and ‘magic’ to the school.

We thank them for their contribution and wish them well for the future. At the end of the school year, following 15 years’ of inspiration, we said goodbye to Mr James Smith, Director of Music. Music is interwoven into the fabric of our school, and this is in no small part owing to James’s love and enthusiasm for the subject.

During the Spring term, Mrs Helen

Breakwell secured a promotion at Yarrells. Everyone will remember Helen for her ability to solve problems at the last minute, her air of calm and willingness to help.

Also from the music department, Mr Richard Walker retired in July.

Richard has taught across both the Prep and Senior Schools for 15 years and assisted at numerous musical events, controlling the sound with a practised hand and unruffled demeanour. We thank him for his contribution and wish him well. Miss Julie Manning (Ballet),

who also retired in July, has taught at the Prep School for an amazing 39 years, taking over the position from her mother. We thank Julie for her commitment to this popular extra-curricular activity. Anthony Brown completed his work at the Prep School following the successful introduction of Forest School for our younger children. Anthony has laid the foundations for Outdoor Education, an area which will continue to flourish under Mr Parks.

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TEACHING A S S I S TA N T S At the end of the Autumn term, we said goodbye to Miss Phoebe Bedford and Miss Jasmine Pagett.

We are delighted that, as a result of their time at the Prep, both Phoebe and Jasmine have decided to pursue careers in teaching. Miss Leonie Scholz and Mr Will Antignani joined in September for a year and in January we welcomed Miss Molly Willford and Miss Hayley Booth from Australia.

Mr Paul McClellan joined us for the Summer term. Thank you to all of our TAs who bring so much to the life of the school.

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FROM THE HEAD OF PREP I hope that this magazine is able to get across how much goes on at Clayesmore both inside and outside of the classrooms. We actively encourage children to be courageous when presented with challenges and to ‘have a go’ and there are many examples of this approach in the articles that have been included. Pupils have won national competitions and helped the community. We introduced STEAM week this year which saw the school come off timetable and enjoy activities and trips based on

the theme of “Communication”, whilst Year 7 and Year 8 were away on trips in France and Cornwall respectively.

And this is not to mention all of the excellent learning and again courage, that has been shown in the classroom where topics such as The Great Fire of London, China, and Volcanoes have been covered to name a few.

The wide and varied opportunities available to pupils are incredible.

It has been a wonderful year and these articles and images have represented a fantastic record of what

has occurred and been achieved by the community of the Prep school. It is fantastic that three main parts of the school has come together in one magazine, to allow all ages to enjoy everything that has happened over the past year at Clayesmore. I hope you enjoyed reading about what has happened at the Prep school and my thanks go to everyone who has contributed to this beautiful publication.

Dan Browse Acting Head of Prep

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S E N I O R S C H O O L | H O USE S

DEVINE The Year 13s have gone, the Year 12s are pondering their final year, the Year 11s are deciding their A Levels, the Year 10s are beginning to see the light and the Year 9s are juggling their GCSE options. Another year ends and another year approaches!

It has certainly been an interesting year, with many challenges and I’m pleased to say the outcome of this year’s efforts has been very encouraging. We’ve had a successful year and the inspiration and leadership of the Year 13s has been vital to our success. The House has come together as a team. We have many talented musicians, actors and sportsmen and I am so proud of how the house has coe together as a team.

This is far more important than any individual success. When I look back at the Year 9s in all three major sports, the whole House in the House Music, the Senior pupils on Sports Day and all our MUN and running teams, I am filled with pride. The Devine boys are the best.

One of the most important measures of (future) success is how the boys develop their friendships and their respect for each other. Learning to live, work and play together is a vital lesson that is all the more concentrated in a boarding environment. Quite simply, it has to work and every boy has to be flexible, patient, forgiving and respectful of each other. It is a great life lesson and I am pleased when day boys experience this challenge, even for a single night, and some even leave their parents in peace to join our boarding community permanently!

Whilst Clayesmore offers an enormous range of extra-curricular activities, it is important to try to make those outside evening and weekend clubs possible. Hence, this year, Thomas McNab has been training and playing for Shaftesbury FC, Dominic Dawnay has been doing the same but with Donhead FC. Both players have helped their new clubs win promotions to higher leagues.

Jasper Lyne has been playing cricket

for Shroton CC along with Henry Dunlop. I am pretty sure that Shroton U15 side has been invincible even though they are only 14.

But we are not only about sport, music and theatre. James McDouall made his A Level DT coursework project for the Devine Spring: a viewing bridge. That was a fun Sunday morning for his father and his Housemaster, being told by James to lift here, dig there, clear that... bossy fella! The bridge is fabulous.

James also played some impressive saxophone cameos in the Hampers and Champers concert. Harry James was equally impressive in the acapella group. And then there is Thomas Mackenzie on the bagpipes – very loud!

Thank you for a fantastic year Devine Boys.

Daniel Rimmer Housemaster

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G AT E 36

It was a great honour to take over the helm of Gate this year, a House in such very good health. I very much believe in traditional values – good manners, contribution, commitment and kindness. Gate House has gone from strength to strength collectively this year but it is the individual growth, be it academically, emotionally, physically or spiritually, that is at the heart of personal development. I am proud of the way in which all of the boys in Gate have coped with challenges, adversity and occasionally disappointment and gained self-belief, and resilience as a result.

We have enjoyed incredible success in so many different areas of Clayesmore life this year. The House Music Competition and the process of preparing and practicing together as a House is the perfect way to start the year. Under Paddy Hamlyn’s excellent direction and with the support of our other Prefects, we prepared diligently and performed wonderfully on the

night to win the Music Cup! Buoyed by that confidence, we went on to win House Rugby, Football, Cross Country, The 10 Mile Cup, Athletics, Swimming and General Knowledge too in 2018/19. A truly sensational effort by so many Gatemen! The culmination of the boys’ collective efforts were rewarded with receiving the Tony Chew House Cup on Speech Day. I could not have been prouder of each and every one of the boys who all contributed in some way to our collective success this year.

Both I and my Resident House Tutor began in Gate House this year. Tim Westlake’s natural affinity to build good relationships with the boys and his ability to recognise subtle changes in their mood has been invaluable to me throughout the year, especially within the Year 9 cohort. Wendy Everest, our rock and matron in Gate has been a constant in all of the boys lives and we value her enormously.

The Resident House Tutor, matron and tutors play a pivotal role in your

son’s life at Clayesmore and in Gate, and I would like to thank them for all that they do. It is ultimately the pupils’ responsibility to strive for excellence in all aspects of school life, but they receive unstinting support from their House team who discuss academic, co-curricular and social issues with them to ensure that they are happy and pushing themselves to achieve their potential. I would particularly like to thank Mr Westlake, Mrs Everest, Mr Didier and Mr Stevenson for their excellent contribution to Gate House and all the support that they provide me.

Finally, I have been very fortunate to inherit a fine body of young men to lead Gate House this year. I would like to thank Sam Clarke and the team of Prefects who have done such a marvellous job this year and have been an excellent example to those filling their shoes.

George Thomas Housemaster

S E N I O R S C H O O L | H O USE S

KING’S I count it a real honour and a bonus at the end of a busy year to take part in the third and final day of the National Trust Volunteering activity.

This activity takes place at various NT locations near school and this year we went to Turnworth Clump.

In the years that I have been taking part, the students and I have learnt many skills: how to cut and set steps in steep banks, build compost bins, clear hillsides of gorse and weeds and garden in the grounds of a 1920’s House. This year, in a fantastic few days, we erected several lengths of fencing which will allow the National Trust to restore a pond. The King’s girls who took part in these days did so with what I have come to see as the King’s way: they worked with a cheerfulness and an enthusiasm and they worked really hard! Most of us returned to school with blisters and nettle stings, as well as a sense of pride.

Not only did this year’s task draw parallels with what we hope to achieve at Clayesmore (with the restoration and enhancement of our own lake) but also the development of the skills learnt over the three days echoed, albeit in a much shorter time frame; the life of a King’s girl.

I think it is fair to say that teenage girls, no matter how old they are when they join King’s, come with a sense of eagerness and enthusiasm to not only build friendships but also to develop as an individual both academically and pastorially. The key to success, at this stage, is having strong enough foundations to enable them to do this. Some girls find over the years that this is something they have to revisit and sometimes dig a little deeper so they can shore up the values they not only arrive with but also those that they gain. With these firmly posted in place, the girls in King’s then have the ability and strength to carry the choices they make.

This year, we say farewell to our most international cohort but I am delighted that all but one will be staying on to study in the UK. I cannot, however, complain about the offer to visit Parsons Paris! I wish all of you the very best of luck and I’m so proud of you all. Without your help and support of King’s we would not be closing in on Wolverton as much as we are in House competitions and having the 6th Head Girl in a row just goes to show what a great bunch you are!

Mrs Ruth Readman Housemistress

There have been difficult decisions for our leavers to make this year: offers to study abroad, gap year placements and internships and the choice of university. All of these examples and countless more have been real battles between the head and the heart and I am extremely proud of how the girls work through each dilemma and have the strength and conviction to choose what is right for them and I would not be surprised or disappointed if there were yet more changes of plans over the Summer.

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S E N I O R S C H O O L | H O USE S

MANOR It seems like only yesterday I was walking around the empty Manor Boarding house, waiting for the boys to arrive back from their Summer holidays last September. Mrs Willetts, of course, had been in and helped me set up the house. Everything had been labelled and I waited with anticipation for the first of my boarders to arrive. In my office, there is a fridge and in this fridge, I found a gift from my predecessor, Mr McKeown. It was a bottle of beer with a post-it note on it saying, “Drink me, when you really need me”. The first half term came round and I thought to myself, I haven’t really earned that bottle of beer just yet.

I would like to thank you all for the tremendous support that you have given me during my first year in charge. I have valued your patience and guidance and was especially grateful for your understanding when difficult decisions had to be made. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the boys in Manor and they have been amazing at welcoming Holly and I into their community. Our

Year 9s have established themselves well within the house and within the school. It is so good to see that they have been involved in so many different aspects of school life, be it school productions, Model United Nations, sporting or musical events.

Another addition to Manor House this year is the air hockey table. The boys have generally adopted a winner stays on competition, meaning that everyone gets a fair go. This means that boys from all year groups, day and boarding, get to play against each other. Having said that, some of the Year 9s and 10s developed lightning speed reactions and managed to dominate the table for periods of time. The Manor boys have really enjoyed this new facility in our house and would like to thank the Friends of Clayesmore who enabled us to make this purchase.

During the last few weeks of the Summer term the Year 12 boys hosted our Come Dine With Us in Manor.

The boys decided on a curry evening; ingredients were sourced and the

cooking commenced. The aromas that came from the kitchen were amazing.

Chicken Tikka Masala, vegetable curry, rice and all the good things that you get like poppadoms and samosas were being prepared ready for our guests to arrive. Let’s face it, who doesn’t like curry? Our guests arrived and thoroughly enjoyed the banquet of Indian cuisine that had been served to them, including some very tasty homemade ice-cream. For their entertainment, the boys devised a game of courtyard cricket.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank a few people. Firstly, Felix Flute, who has done an excellent job as our Head of House this year. Harrison, Finn, Rupert and Ben have assisted Felix over this last year and I am very grateful for all their time and support.

39 Mr Jones delivered an amazing programme of events and activities including growing vegetables in buckets in our courtyard, quizzes, and many other interesting and exciting competitions. Mrs Willetts has done an invaluable job helping me maintain the high standards and expectations >

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we have of our boys in Manor. She has helped keep me organised and I know that she does a huge amount in the day-to-day running of Manor House. She is generous with her time and patience and I am grateful for everything that she does to help us care for the Manor boys.

On the last day of term it was my honour to be able to lead the annual knighting ceremony. This is a Manor tradition where the current Head of House knights the new one. This year Felix had two students who needed knighting. Firstly, Conor Gibb who will take over as Head of House next academic year in September and also Louis Clarkson who has been made Head Boy. Conor will have a student team with him and I had the privilege of awarding house prefect ties to Hector Smith, Jonny Francis,

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Ollie Heath, Nick Holloway and Isaac Stroud-Allen who will all have positions of responsibility. Manor House ties are given out to boys who I feel have contributed to school or House life, they are not given out lightly. At the end of my first year I have decided to award four House ties. These boys were Oli Brown, Charles Atkins, James Holloway and William Marshall.

This year we have introduced a new award within Manor House.

The “Flute Cup” will be awarded to the Year 9 pupil who has made the most progress over his first year at Clayesmore. The winner of this year’s award is Austin Andrews who had a fantastic year and managed to be picked to play for the 1st XI Cricket Team. This is a fantastic accolade for a Year 9 boy.

The Summer term has now come to an end; the boys have left for exciting holidays and Manor House has become quiet once again. The year has gone in a heartbeat and my first year of being Housemaster has been one that I have enjoyed immensely.

I look forward to greeting our new Manor Boys in September.

On completing this letter, I am going to make my way to my office to find that bottle of beer that Mr McKeown left me. I have a feeling it is going to taste good!

Mr Chris Burton Housemaster

W O LV E R T O N As my tenure as Wolverton Housemistress comes to an end and as I reflect over this year, I am struck by what it is that characterises the ‘Wolverton girl’ and any number of events where those very best characteristics were put on show to represent the House in the brightest light. Sometimes a House can feel like a collection of many small groups but when push comes to shove, the girls are always able to rise, united under the banner of Wolverton. They have excelled at showing me how a community can work, live, laugh and together achieve their best.

There are many moments that stand out and this would be a very long article if I highlighted them all, so I will just mention a few. We saw Lucy Slay and Abi Falconer write and direct their own, meaningful and

detailed plays. Nicole Cummings won the Monologue Competition and a number of our girls took on top roles in school productions this year.

The Wolverton musicians are a special group of girls who all show great dedication in their practising and rehearsing with some real budding talent coming to the fore. Katie Hellewell, Georgia and Katie Darke, Abi Jones and Amelia Lusher have all featured in solo performances this year. Their contributions have been excellent and special mention must be made of Katie Darke who, following in the footsteps of her big sister, has musically shone as a member of Year 10.

This has also been an excellent year for Wolverton sporting successes.

The King’s girls always make for

challenging opposition but our girls have brought home cups for the cricket, tennis, Sports Day, Ten Mile Cup, and House cross country.

Beyond the Inter-House competitions and outside of school, a number of our girls are keeping very busy.

Outside of sport, and at the end of this Summer term, Wolverton won the House MUN competition which made me particularly proud.

Wolverton girls have shown me they are as good at enjoying downtime as they are at winning competitions.

We had a lot of fun watching Caroline Smith rival Tiegan James for Wolverton’s traditional Creme Egg Eating Competition. We’ve had evenings of Chinese food, Disney songs and fun and games trying to pick up Maltesers with chopsticks.

There has been lots of pizza and

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“THERE IS FREEDOM WA I T I N G FO R YO U, ON THE BREEZES OF T H E S K Y, AND YOU ASK, ‘ W H AT I F I FA L L ? ’ OH BUT MY DARLING, W H AT I F Y O U F LY ? ” ERIN HANSON

quite a few brownies and pancakes.

We’ve enjoyed country walks, some to collect blackberries and apples for crumble making and some to ensure some infamous cookie dough dessert.

None of this year would be possible without our incredibly hardworking house team; my thanks to Ali West, SarahJane Rhead, Becky McCall and to our talented visiting tutors and cleaners who bring a variety of character, subject knowledge, care and encouragement to Wolverton.

To our super prefect team of Georgia Darke, Viv Judd, Elsa Charlwood, Olivia Cowley, Emma McKeown and Julia Zimmerman; thank you for guiding and leading the girls, galvanising the House as you have.

To the girls of Wolverton, it has been a pleasure to get to know you, spend time with you and share in some of the memories you have made. You have made us, your Housestaff, very proud! Never stop showing courage, keep looking for new challenges and remember if the opportunity presents itself – ‘fly’.

Myrna Simpson Housemistress

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S TA F F N E W S As ever at this time of year, we must say our goodbyes to some staff leavers: We bid au revoir to Alex Reid our TA as he heads off to start his new career with the Metropolitan police.

I’m sure his time as Resident Tutor in Devine will have prepared Alex well for his new role!

James Knightbridge joined us in September 2017 as a teacher of maths. He leaves us to join Lytchett Minster as a Maths teacher and Head of House and will be very much missed by us all.

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Kathryn Gallagher joined us as Head of Cookery in 2015. She transformed the department into the professional set up it is today and launched the BTEC Food and Nutrition course. Kathryn leaves us to join Gillingham School where her wider skills will be put to good use as Head of Design and Technology.

Marianne Walker started at Clayesmore in September 2015 as a French teacher and leaves us to join Poole Grammar. Marianne has been a fun member of our team and we wish her well in her new role.

Laura Downton arrived in 2013 and after a successful stint teaching Business Studies here, she is going off to climb her mountains and focus on her outdoor ed business.

We wish her every success with this next adventure!

Charles Ellis has been with us since 2013. He’s been a stalwart of the DT department and it’s hard to imagine Clayesmore without him but he’s off to focus on his own business and I know that he’ll stay in touch and come back to visit when he can.

Vera Peevor joined us in September 2001. Vera is retiring after 18 years and we would like to thank her for her long service and dedication to the TLC department. She’ll be sorely missed.

But we also said our hellos to some gorgeous bundles of Clayesmorian joy!

Jess Willoughby (Biology) welcomed baby Rafferty in the Spring.

Louise Smith (Marketing) welcomed Monty William Charles Smith in July.

Lisa Cox (Medical Centre) gave birth to wonderful baby Lauire.

Charlotte Smith (Psychology) welcomed Phoebe Florence Ann Smith at the beginning of the year.

ART Art is a powerful form of communication. Artists, designers and makers often convey messages through the work they produce. Visual communication has a particularly strong capacity to transcend barriers of language, culture and time.

This year, many of our students

S U BJ EC TS | ART

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Tom Catmur - Corfe Castle painting

have produced work that conveys ‘messages’. Some have been very personal, while others have explored broader social and environmental themes.

The Anthropocene Epoch or ‘Age of Man’ was recently declared as a new

geological era. It will undoubtedly record mankind as the dominant influence on climate and the environment. A group of our students chose to explore messages connected to the environment through their artwork.

Emma Darlington, Year 11, created sculptures and prints that simulated what our rock strata might look like in thousands of years’ time, saturated with plastics, and void of natural form.

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Emma Darlington - Poly Carbon Era with powerful and thought provoking outcomes.

Maria Varney, Year 13, created a moving and poetic installation piece about our complex relationship with the sea. Maria investigated the sea as a source of great comfort and beauty, but also how humanity continues to pollute it and exploit its resources, without considering the consequences or returning anything back to the equation.

Sebastian Combes, Year 13, created fragile human shelters from recycled packaging from the Clayesmore kitchens; sending a salutary message, that even as successful and intelligent beings, we remain vulnerable with our need for basic shelter against the forces of nature.

Tom Catmur, Year 13, explored the local Dorset environment through studies of the Jurassic coast, the landscape and landmarks whilst touching on themes of pathetic fallacy and man’s relationship with nature.

Lizzie Hicks, Year 13, chose the theme of masculinity through history and explored how different cultures have portrayed the male figure. It was a project that covered many eras and investigated different cultures and perceptions.

Georgia Love, Mia Aldersley and Flo house, Year 11, explored the theme of ‘Identity’. Each produced work that was personal, courageous and moving.

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Taya Bassett - Hope

Maria Varney - Ocean Installation

Jess Matthews, Year 11, investigated the impact of digital media on young people, while Amelia Aitkin produced a project warning about the dangers of alcohol addiction.

I believe that the ‘messages’ explored by our students help them to understand and interpret the complexities of the world around them. Art introduces them to possibilities of expression beyond what is said or written, into uncharted and exciting territory where anything is possible!

Finally, Taya Bassett, Year 11, wanted to produce artwork with a positive and uplifting message for the viewer.

She did this by making sculptures of hands held out in an open gesture holding poignant text.

Congratulations to all of our art students for a fantastic year of creativity - there are too many highlights to mention! Thanks also the dedicated art staff team, who unfailingly go the extra mile!

Kirsty Mareau-Jones Head of Art

The artist Eduardo Chillida once said, ‘To me the work of art is both the answer and the question.’

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Thomas Youens

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Pierce Hayley

DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY We have once again enjoyed a tremendous richness in the sheer variety of projects undertaken and this has been reflected in the joy and fun the pupils have had.

Clayesmore, to Isabelle Milsom and Fran Sorrentino who both solved the problem of promoting festivals using 3D printing, laser cutting and sublimation printing onto textiles.

This buzz really gets going during the making period which is that culmination of all those careful 3D printed models and intense problemsolving sessions through sketching design iterations. It’s the part we all love and cherish about the subject and the learning that goes on through prototyping is tremendous.

There is often an underlying theme permeating throughout Design and Technology, as all the pupils are only too well aware of the fragile world we now live in. To this end, Clayesmore designers will often think about how they can make the world a better place and hopefully create products that will encourage us to be kinder to our planet.

The impressive array of projects and problems tackled this year is a true reflection of how hard the pupils strive for excellence. Examples range from GCSE pupils like Thomas Youens combining lighting and storage whilst demonstrating high quality production techniques using Walnut wood sourced from the grounds of

So, this year we had three pupils who really thought about their carbon footprint. Two went down a designthinking line to research ways of designing everyday items to be more eco-friendly and one looked into problems on a more global scale.

Both Pierce Hayley and Seb Coombes looked into upcycling by creating household products. Pierce made a beautiful jewellery box out of walnut wood cut down from the grounds of Clayesmore and then seasoned. He combined this with milled aluminium and laser cut acrylic, bringing it all together with upcycling two old car turbos which he spent many an hour polishing to a high level.

Seb, on the other hand, decided to go big! He loves his old cars, which of course is the key to Mr Richards’s heart, so he decided to see what he could do with an old VW Beetle destined for the crusher. He managed to pretty much strip the poor old car and presented all the bits to Mr R. Seb set about designing and modelling on the 3D printer and came up with an incredibly comfortable and ergonomic bench based on the rear seats of the Beetle. Both these projects reside in

S U BJ EC TS | D E S I G N & TEC H N OLO GY

Fran Sorrentino

Seb Coombes

47 the foyer of the DT block and pupils are always sitting on this bench.

Will Hancock, however, took a bigger picture view on the global issues, perhaps influenced by none other than Sir David Attenborough on the plastic pollution epidemic we see all around us.

He loves his boats and a maritime life is what he is going on to pursue at Southampton post-Clayesmore, so he wanted to try to solve all that floating rubbish we see around us and he chose the harbour environment to try to clean up.

He did this by creating a working rubbish bin from aluminium, stainless steel and nylon which had the ability to suck in rubbish and then that rubbish could be easily removed on a daily basis.

Links with industry always permeate through the subject and this year we took Year 12 to Sunseeker for a days’ insight into the entire design, manufacturing and marketing process.

We even saw Daniel Craig’s James

Bond boat that he actually used in the film Casino Royale!

Keith Richards Head of Design & Technology

“SUCCESS TEACHES YO U N OT H I N G .

FA I L U R E T E A C H E S Y O U EVERYTHING. MAKING M I S TA K E S I S T H E M O S T I M P O R TA N T T H I N G Y O U C A N D O .”

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S U BJ EC TS | D R A M A & F ILM

DRAMA & FILM ‘Clayesmore Theatre’, the school’s in-house drama company, has once again delivered an entertaining and exhilarating season of plays and films.

Over a third of the school has been involved in one form or another, either as performers or members of the various design teams. Excitingly, out of the nine productions this year, six were entirely student-written and directed, thus strengthening the drama department’s long-term ambition of giving meaningful ownership of the theatre to the students.

The first play of the year was The Door, written and directed by Shannon Wilkinson, Year 13. It followed the challenges faced by an up-and-coming, gay actor in NYC. The production dealt with some important themes in a sensitive and entertaining way; Ben Williams, Year 11, gave a nuanced and captivating performance as the conflicted protagonist.

The Autumn term’s main school production was Hood, a play centred around child poverty in contemporary Britain. As puppetry played a crucial part in the show, the cast and crew learnt a lot about this complicated but hugely rewarding theatrical medium. They were also particularly proud of the fact that they managed to raise over £800 for Child Poverty Action Group, a charity which aims to completely eradicate child poverty in Britain.

In the Spring term we had Through Her Eyes, a beautifully performed dance piece directed and choreographed by Year 11 student

Lucy Slay. The production was delivered to packed audiences in an intimate studio setting. Moving and creative, there was not a dry eye in the house!

And then there was Grease! The audience was transported to the colourful world of 1950s America in this all-singing, all-dancing production of the classic musical. Callum Fisher and Hetty Wraight, Year 13, gave memorable performances as Danny and Sandy respectively, and the backstage team did an excellent job of turning our very own Peter Burke Theatre into the Rydell High gymnasium!

This year Clayesmore Theatre also produced the school’s first ever feature film as part of the 2nd Annual Clayesmore Theatre Film Festival.

Callum Fisher and Tabitha Rowland, Year 13, wrote and directed their hilarious debut film, Until Next Time.

Following the lives of a dysfunctional family reuniting after years apart, the film had a shoot which lasted over three months and involved a huge crew; they operated boom microphones, clapper-boards and checked for continuity errors, (among many other things). It was, in short, an extremely professional operation and the drama department are indebted to the ‘Friends of Clayesmore’ for the very generous donation which allowed us to buy such excellent filmmaking equipment. There is another film in pre-production already!

In May, we had Clayesmore Theatre’s first ever Triple Bill, an evening made up of three student-led plays:

Cinderella by Chloe Mogridge, Year 12, Turning 18 by Abigail Falconer, Year 10, and Adoption by Jessica Hullock, Year 13. Two of the plays were comedic in their tone - with an especially stand-out performance

by Rupert Doyle, Year 12, and one, (Turning 18) was dramatic and breathtaking in its ambition.

Finally, in June, we had the Year 9 and 10 play, which this year was Patrick Marber’s The School Film. The play centred around a group of school children sitting down to watch David Lean’s 1946 Great Expectations.

The audience then got to watch the students watching the film. Hilarity and drama ensued. As part of the preparation for the play, the entire company sat down to watch the black and white film and the overall consensus was ‘it’s actually pretty good!’

The final Clayesmore Theatre event of the year was the (always excellent) Play in Three Days. In the final week of the Summer term every single Year 9 student was involved in this creative and ambitious project.

Split into six teams they were given a different story (this year taken from Ted Hughes’ How the Whale Became and Other Stories, a different theatrical medium and a different Sixth Form director before competing to create the best play, the best publicity campaign and design the best exhibition space. The students created some truly fabulous work which they performed and show-cased to their parents before ‘Hampers and Champers’. A marvelous way to end the year!

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Quotes from some of our International students:

“A really big change for me was to move into a Boarding House but my roommates were really welcoming and I quickly got used to the routines.”

“I really noticed how much I improved my English.

What surprised me most was that I could even think and dream in English.”

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EAL (ENGLISH AS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE) This year we have had 51 international students at Clayesmore across both schools. They have come from Spain, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Norway, Italy, Lithuania, Russia, Japan, China and Hong Kong.

In December, we celebrated St Nicolas with our German students. In May, there was a Supper Party for all Year 13s and then our al fresco annual Summer Picnic for everyone in June.

We have been delighted that Bob, who has been with us since Year 9, took up the challenge to create a wooden sculpture for his A Level DT project which sits proudly outside the EAL Department and celebrates our international student community.

It has quickly become not only a talking point for anyone visiting our department but also showcases our talented students and the spirit of Clayesmore.

This year we have had a record number of students sitting the Cambridge English exams, with every student leaving with a Cambridge Assessment certificate in English, recognising their level of achievement. With record numbers of new students arriving in September, the department continues to go from strength to strength.

We are saying farewell to several students who have been with us for a number of years including Bob, Vian, Masa, Felix, Ginny, Anya, Nikita and Oleg. Some are returning home to continue with their studies, while others have offers to study here in the UK and abroad. We are very proud of all of them and we are confident that their formative years here have given them the best foundation on which to build their future lives.

“EAL really helped me, especially in preparing for my Cambridge English exam, which I passed successfully.”

“When I had questions, even if it had nothing to do with English, I could always come to my EAL teacher for a chat.”

“Without this amazing experience, I wouldn’t have gotten to know lots of lovely people and discovered things about myself. I’ll never forget being here.”

S U BJ ECTS

L AT I N This year, Latin students have relished the challenges they have been presented with. Year 13 have developed a love for Latin literature, examining the realities presented

by Elegiac poets and the political turmoils of the Roman Republic as presented by Cicero in his defense of Milo.

GCSE students have also showed great enthusiasm and commitment to their studies. They have analysed historical accounts of the Roman invasions in Gaul and Britain by Caesar and Tacitus and Aeneas’ relationship with Dido and his pietas (duty) in Virgil’s Aeneid. Year 9 have also had a tremendous year, developing their ability to translate increasingly complex grammatical constructions. They enjoyed competing against each other to have the fastest, most accurate translation in running translations and against other schools competing in the 3rd

Annual Latin Spelling Bee held at Harris Academy Chafford Hundred.

When the Spelling Bee was first proposed to us, the whole class was keen to be involved. We quickly assembled a team of seven and every Wednesday we would assemble in the Classics room to prepare for the contests, working through quizlets and our worksheets (always fueled by a few donuts). Sometimes we would take turns to translate words and had mini tournaments (which always got a bit competitive). We also learnt some vocabulary in our own time.

When the big day was finally upon us, we felt prepared for the challenges ahead. We set off on our journey equipped with some questionable drum and bass music and enough Pringles to sink a small ship. When we arrived the atmosphere was electric, helped by the numerous glow sticks, lighting and balloons.

The real test began when we were presented with our booklets. It was split into rounds which consisted of listening to a sound and writing the Latin word, translation of English into Latin and vice versa, drawing the Latin word and some English into Latin sentence translation. We received back our individual marks as we waited in anticipation to hear the winners. A panel of experienced judges made up of university lecturers and famous Classicists marked the papers and ultimately decided the winner. Our team came 5th out of 17 schools. Latin is difficult and exacting, but we all enjoyed working together as a team and we were very proud of our achievements.

Evie Askew Year 9 Latin Student

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M AT H S As part of the new A Level Mathematics course, students are required to become familiar with a large data set. In our case this was a full set of weather statistics, which we were required to analyse in preparation for our exam.

To put it into perspective we were given 41,200 different pieces of information to process. That’s 14 different weather statistics per day, for each of the 8 different locations over a 6 month period in both 1987 and 2015. That’s a lot of data!

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To familiarise ourselves with this data, we were split up into pairs and each given a location. Our next briefing was to ‘sell the place’ as a tourist destination. I think we were pretty successful. Using a combination of research into said regions and the manipulation of data, we were able to prove that for example, to best experience the golfing wonders of Jacksonville you should visit in May, apparently there’s just the right balance of precipitation to sunshine.

We were told about how the Leuchars airshow would be better if it were to take place in September, as on average there is less wind and cloud coverage. Finally, we were told that Perth in Australia was, surprise, surprise, just a nice place to visit anyway.

Personally my group was given the easy task of selling Heathrow as the perfect place for a family vacation.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve always thought that the only reason you’d ever go to Heathrow, is to leave Heathrow. This being said, I think we all had a blast and learnt a lot about the data set, which is an important part of our Maths A-Level curriculum.

The presentations were informative and surprisingly charismatic, for a set of awkward Mathematicians, although that was probably because of the sweets up for grabs for the best presentation. It’s nice to know that at 17 we’re still motivated by sugar.

data, but our teachers managed to make 41,200 statistics feel like a breeze. We were guided expertly to conclusions and the amazing presentations were a testimony to both the hard work of the students as well as the incredible teaching.

Now, a day of Mathematics might sound quite distressing to some of you, especially one involving so much

Oliver Heath Year 12 Maths Student

S U BJ ECTS

MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES The languages department has had another busy year with trips, activities and guest speakers.

The Autumn term showcased the first Languages Symposium where speakers from Southampton University and GCHQ came to give Clayesmore students, as well as students from three local state schools, an insight into the exciting routes available to those with good command of a language other than English. Taster sessions in Arabic, Russian, Modern Greek and Swedish were available to give students a flavour of languages not yet taught here at school. This said, look out for Arabic to be introduced as a cocurricular activity next year!

The Language Live lounge is now a well-established annual event. This year saw some great performances, including Arthur Carpenter playing the piano and singing in German.

George Readwin’s performance was something else. There was some Croation rap for the first time from Dominic Dawnay. We even enjoyed some Japanese singing from our Teaching Assistant, Miss Jasmine Seah. As usual the food and the atmosphere was great. Why pay for a night out!

The biennial German exchange visit was the next exciting event in the Languages calendar and 21 Clayesmore students flew to visit their exchange partners in Kaarst, cementing the 20th successful year.

Whilst there, the students had the

opportunity to visit the renowned German Christmas markets as well as attending lessons with their partners in school. On the return visit, the German students became immersed in all things Clayesmore, including an MUN debate in which some of our students chose to talk in German.

In February, our Sixth form Spanish students travelled to London to see a performance of The House of Bernarda Alba, the set text at A Level.

The play was performed in Spanish, but had English subtitles projected above the stage for those not yet fluent in the language. This gave the students the opportunity to see an excellent production by one of Spain’s leading theatre directors, Jorge de Juan.

Food also seems to play an important part in Language lessons and the Year 12s have been busy perfecting their tortillas (Spanish omelettes) whilst for younger years, chocolate and churros were available during the Summer term.

Students of all years were also given the opportunity to see the Oscar nominated Mexican film ROMA to enhance their understanding of the Spanish speaking world.

The French department has had a similarly full year. A small and dedicated group of linguists went to Durweston school for two terms to teach French to 12 pupils from Year 1 to Year 5. Lessons were fun and saw the use of new technology in

the form of iPads and Quizlet live. As ever, the students turned teachers were fantastic and the pupils loved their taste of French language.

Not to be outdone by the Spanish department, the French Society has also been cooking! To celebrate the Epiphany they made and then ate the traditional Galette des Rois.

Meanwhile, Year 11 were invited to taste snails in the Cookery school where some intrepid staff members joined in to try the French delicacy for the first time. Year 12, during the French LEAP day, studied facts and a film about immigration and finished the day cooking pancakes.

Finally, the year finished with the Languages day for Primary schools in June, which must be the highlight of the year. Pupils from local schools came for a day of activities involving cooking French pastries and playing boules with much of the day experiencing the French language and its culture.

In the afternoon the Flying Theatre company performed a French play in front of a hundred pupils from Durweston and Clayesmore Prep school including juggling, riding a unicycle and climbing a ladder without resting it on anything. The audience got wet, laughed, contributed on and off stage: c’était super bien!

Written by Lydia Chmielewski (with contributions from Cédric DIdier, Helen Forster and Howard Smith) 2 0 1 8 -1 9 |

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S U BJ EC TS | M USIC

MUSIC Music has continued to thrive at Clayesmore this year, with numerous outstanding concerts and excellent examination results.

We were delighted this year to add the Recorder Group to our already extensive list of individual musical groups in the music department, bringing the total up to 14, all rehearsing on a weekly basis.

They are as follows:

Our students have achieved impressive results in music examinations this year, and particular mention should go to all those who have tackled grade 7 and grade 8 examinations. An extra special mention should be made of Katie Hellewell who achieved a Merit in her oboe ARSM (diploma) exam.

• Chapel Choir • Orchestra • Chamber Strings • Concert Band • Pipe Band • Big Band • Brass Ensemble • Wind Quintet • Horn Quartet • Flute Group • Recorder Group • Cello group • Clayesmore Close Harmony singing group • Cantare singing group

The full list of this year’s music examination results is below:

Pupil

Instrument

Grade

Exam Board

Mark

Amelia Aitken

Singing

5

Trinity

65% Pass

Charles Atkins

Vocals

6

Trinity Rock & Pop

60% Pass

Hazel Atkins

Bassoon

4

ABRSM

110 Pass

Hazel Atkins

Singing

8

Musical Theatre, UWL

88% Distinction

Elen Barnes

Flute

6

ABRSM

116 Pass

Elen Barnes

Theory

5

ABRSM

72% Pass

Ellie Box

Singing

4

Musical Theatre, UWL

85% Distinction

Nathaniel Brookes

Guitar

3

Trinity Rock & Pop

67% Pass

Hope Cazalet

Flute

6

ABRSM

125 Merit

Hope Cazalet

Piano

6

ABRSM

118 Pass

Hope Cazalet

Theory

5

ABRSM

75% Pass

Louise Cliff

Singing

7

Musical Theatre, UWL

94% Distinction

Seth Complin

Singing

5

Musical Theatre, UWL

92% Distinction

Will Coupe

Trombone

7

ABRSM

121

Magnus Crawshaw

Singing

8

Musical Theatre, UWL

91% Distinction

Nicole Cummings

Singing

5

Musical Theatre, UWL

88% Distinction

Katie Darke

Singing

6

ABRSM

140 Distinction

George de la Perrelle

Trombone

7

Trinity

67% Pass

Felix Flute

Drumkit

8

Trinity Rock & Pop

79% Merit

Conor Gibb

El. Bass

6

Trinity Rock & Pop

92% Distinction

Peter Hamlyn

Viola

7

ABRSM

106 Pass

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Pupil

Instrument

Grade

Exam Board

Mark

Tim Hamlyn

Horn

7

ABRSM

108 Pass

Katie Hellewell

Oboe

ARSM dip

ABRSM

43/50 Merit

Dominic Holden

Piano

4

ABRSM

114 Pass

Dominic Holden

Trumpet

6

Trinity

75% Merit

Jessica Hullock

Singing

8

Musical Theatre, UWL

96% Distinction

Tiegan James

Singing

8

Musical Theatre, UWL

90% Distinction

Jemima Jennings

Singing

5

ABRSM

118 Pass

Phoebe Jones

Vocals

5

Trinity Rock & Pop

71% Pass

Georgia Learmonth

Cello

5

ABRSM

114 Pass

Jasper Lyne

Guitar

3

Trinity Rock & Pop

77% Merit

Thomas MacKenzie

Piano

6

Trinity

61% Pass

Abigail McCourt

Singing

7

Musical Theatre, UWL

92% Distinction

Alasdair McDouall

Singing

6

Trinity

67% Pass

Katie McKenna

Piano

8

ABRSM

117 Pass

Robbie McKenna

Piano

6

Trinity

67% Pass

Josh Mills

Theory

3

ABRSM

87% Merit

Eleanor Payne

Flute

5

ABRSM

120 Merit

Edward Rimmer

Drumkit

6

Trinity

88% Distinction

Jessica Rimmer

Singing

6

Musical Theatre, UWL

94% Distinction

Sebastian Rowe

Piano

5

ABRSM

123 Merit

Jasmine Shepherd

Piano

5

ABRSM

120 Merit

Jasmine Shepherd

Singing

8

Trinity

68% Pass

Francesca Sorrentino

Piano

5

ABRSM

109 Pass

Finlay Thring

Drumkit

4

Rockschool

81% Merit

Lucia Towells

Piano

4

ABRSM

117 Pass

Tilly Townsend

Vocals

5

Trinity Rock & Pop

80% Merit

Lily Wakelin

Singing

5

ABRSM

117 Pass

Lily Wakelin

Trumpet

6

ABRSM

120 Merit

It has been a golden year for the school orchestra during which we have had the fortune of enjoying a full complement of strings, including double bass, as well as full wind (2 flutes, 2 clarinets, 2 oboes and 2 bassoons), and full brass (2 trumpets, 4 horns, 3 trombones, 1 tuba). This has meant that the orchestra was able to tackle the challenging New World Symphony, by Antonin Dvořák, in the St Cecilia Concert during the Autumn term. This was a superb concert in which the orchestral

first half was complemented by the choir performing Christopher Tambling’s Mass in G during the second half of the programme, as well as Mozart’s Laudate Dominum and Ireland’s Greater love hath no Man. The orchestra went on to perform Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture in concert during the Spring term’s Charity Showcase Concert, as well as Henry Purcell’s “Rondeau” from the Abdelazar Suite and Strauss’ Trisch-Trasch Polka. Additionally, a real high-class concert showcasing the

orchestra was enjoyed by all during the Summer term in the shape of the Concerto Festival during which no fewer than 14 concerto movements were performed by student soloists, accompanied by the school orchestra.

As with most of our concerts, this concert took place in the school chapel, but an experimental seating arrangement was explored with the audience sitting “in the round” and thereby enjoying a good view of the orchestra and soloists. Soloists were as follows: Katie Hellewell (oboe),

S U BJ EC TS | M USIC

Arthur Carpenter (piano), Anna Sorrentino (violin), Katie McKenna (cello and piano), Sebastian Rowe (horn and voice), Jasmine Shepherd (piano), Peter Hamlyn (viola), Thomas MacKenzie (voice), Katie Darke (bassoon), and Amelia Lusher (oboe).

Other notable concerts this year have been the Senior and Junior Musicians’ concerts, towards the beginning of the Autumn term, which showcased solo performances given not only by our older students but also those who are new to the senior school in Year 9. Entertaining performances were enjoyed by the audience given by our more seasoned performers, such as Georgia Darke (euphonium), Katie Hellewell (oboe), Jasmine Shepherd (trombone), Katie McKenna (cello), Sebastian Rowe (horn), Anna Sorrentino (violin) and Alice Meadowcroft (voice). It was also very encouraging to hear some really polished performances from the youngest members of the Senior school such as Hope Cazalet (flute), Elen Barnes (flute), Ed Rimmer (piano), Tilly Townsend (percussion), Seth Complin (voice), Max Complin (percussion), Lily Wakelin (trumpet) and Ellie Box (voice).

We have been very pleased to continue the Piano Club concert series this year, an initiative founded

by Mrs Highnam in Summer 2018.

This year, we have enjoyed four Piano Club concerts with themes including “Delicious Duets” and “Easy Listening”. We are hugely grateful to Mrs Highnam and Mr Edwards for preparing our piano pupils for these events, and an extra special thank you must go to Mrs Highnam for cooking over 100 cupcakes and chocolate brownies for the audience to enjoy on each occasion!

The Clayesmore Pipeband has enjoyed a busy year with numerous

public events demonstrating their increased demand in the local area.

These performances have included playing at the Forde Abbey Firework extravaganza, heading the Stalbridge Remembrance Parade and playing at the Fonthill Estate Charity Garden Opening, as well as performing in numerous school concerts on campus at Clayesmore. Sadly, we bid farewell to two excellent pipers this year, Arthur Carpenter and Harvey Thring, who have been members of the pipeband throughout their time at Clayesmore. However, we are delighted to have introduced tenor drummers (Tilly Townsend and Elen Barnes, Year 9) into the pipeband for the first time at Clayesmore to add to our already existing complement of snare and bass drummers.

The choir has continued to grow from strength to strength, starting the year with a very enjoyable choral concert in St Mary’s Church, Iwerne Minster. This concert was in aid of the church’s redevelopment fund, raising money for an extensive renovation to enable more flexible use of its performance space for future events.

So it was appropriate that Clayesmore musicians performed pieces ranging from choral items such as Wesley’s Blessed be the God and Father, through to Barbershop songs, instrumental solos on the oboe, trombone, voice and cello, and the rousing sound of the bagpipes accompanied by the organ! Other choral concerts this year have included the St Cecilia Concert, as mentioned above, and the Spring term Choral Concert in which the choir added a new piece to their repertoire, Mozart’s Spatzenmesse (Sparrow Mass). The nickname of this work came about as a result of the chirping sounds from the orchestra at the beginning of the Sanctus movement. Solos in this performance were performed by our

pupils, Georgia Darke (soprano), Abi Jones (alto), Arthur Carpenter (tenor) and Paddy Hamlyn (bass), and the performance was complemented by other fine choral works sung by the choir such as Haydn’s “The Heavens are telling”, from The Creation, and Balfour Gardiner’s Evening Hymn.

Other notable musical events at Clayesmore this year have included the exciting musical production of Grease during the Spring term and the Charity Showcase Concert in which over £400 was raised for the charities supported by the school, “Out of Africa” and “CLIC Sargent”.

The Christmas Carol services were, once again, very special events with an atmospheric candlelit procession at the start illustrating the Advent message of darkness to light followed by numerous beautifully sung carols by the choir. The House Music Competition, won this year by Gate House, brought with it its usual high level of concentrated excitement and anticipation with excellent performances by all the houses.

The enjoyable “Battle of the Bands” competition in February, won

by Paddy Hamlyn and Jasmine Shepherd’s band, was a popular event with many pupils attending in the theatre. Finally, Hampers and Champers, an outdoor concert held during the last week of the summer term on the South Lawn, with the spectacular backdrop of the Main House, attracted a record audience of over 400 people. As has become tradition, the concert opened with a few performances given by the Concert Band and went on to showcase the numerous musical ensembles we have at Clayesmore – a fitting end to the musical year!

Mr Ralph Kerr Director of Music 2 0 1 8 -1 9 |

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Photo by Lily Cooper Year 12.

S U BJ EC TS | P H OTO G R AP HY

PHOTOGRAPHY On our LEAP Photography day, we explored alternative ways to make photographic images. The camera is simply the means by which you capture the images; you don’t actually need a camera to take a photograph, just light and a light sensitive surface.

We started in the morning in the photography classroom exploring scanography and looking at the wonderful variety of objects that Mrs Browse has tucked away in cupboards. This ranged from glitter and glass objects to animal skulls, dried leaves and flowers, and even a deceased bee!

We looked at the work of Isabel Bannerman, a garden designer and photographic artist whose work is produced with a scanner. Scanning is when you place objects on the glass of a flatbed scanner to create an image. The resolution is extremely high and the parts of the object in contact with the surface contain high

detail. The parts of the object that are further from the glass are increasingly less focused creating a very limited depth of field. Whilst the scanners were busy, we also experimented with iphoneography, using a microscopic lens on our phones to create macro images. Meanwhile, some of us placed objects, particularly glass or flowers, onto an LED lightbox then took a series of photographs. The results were often abstract and beautiful.

After creating our images, we edited them using Photoshop inverting them into negative images because they were to be used in the second part of the day, exploring the use of cyanotype paper and fabrics.

Responding to the work of Anna Atkins, an early botanist and photographer, we created cyanotype prints. The printing process produces a cyan-blue print and the process uses chemicals: ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide

which are UV light sensitive. We used flowers and plants and placed them directly onto cyanotype paper to create contact prints in a similar way to Atkins. The paper and objects were placed outside for around ten minutes in order to register the image. We also took our negative images which were printed onto acetate and we made positive prints by using the same process. The prints were rinsed under the tap to remove trace chemicals and to reveal the final image.

As Photography A level students, it is important that we experiment in a variety of ways and our LEAP photography experience has introduced us to some of the alternative possibilities in image making.

Lily Cooper (Year 12 Photography Student) and Isobel Browse (Head of Photography)

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ACTIVITIES & CO-CURRICULAR FORUM SCHOOL This year we have continued to build on our long term friendship with the Forum School, hosting them weekly in our Cookery school. This year it was part of the ACE commitments for Year 12 students to participate in during the Wednesday afternoon session. Miss Hiscock has a selection of dishes that are tried and tested for both sets of students to complete in an hour session. We made a selection

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from: scones; cookies; sausage rolls; and jam rolls, to name just a few. This year we had a student with a variety of food intolerances who required a personalised set of recipes to cover this. Our Year 12 student, Lily Cooper, worked alongside this student and it really pushed her creativity to make something edible at the end of each session. For our last session, we went over to the Forum School for them to cook with us. The students cooked scones before serving us afternoon

tea. Another enjoyable year for both students and staff alike.

All the group have proved marvellous this year, but a special mention must be made of Lily Cooper whose Forum student’s mother wrote to say just how wonderful she has been with her son - and Rob Hinton whose Forum student saved up his pocket money to buy him a bar of chocolate to express just how much Rob means to him.

AC TI V I TI E S & CO -C U R R I CULAR

ACE ACE (Action, Community, Environment), is a new part of the Clayesmore week. On Wednesday afternoons, all Year 12 pupils take part in a programme which enables them to give their time, energy and expertise to other people.

All who participate find some joy in what they do and find that they learn a lot. Those of us who visit the care homes spend time with the very old and sometimes very infirm, talking about the residents’ lives and pasts.

Some of us have spent time at two local primary schools and an underfives club where we have helped with reading sessions, outdoor lessons and tried to avoid questions from avid 6 year olds about who we are going to marry or who likes whom!

Other students have helped with reading sessions in the Pre-Prep, supported nursery children, prep school games or worked with Mr Thomson to renovate the Forum school’s sensory garden: a project which will probably take several years.

Others have raised money for charity by making bracelets, organising events and supporting the poppy campaign or helped the ground staff clear areas of the campus. Still, others have completed challenges outside school to raise money for charity.

Every Wednesday a group of students visit a care home called Newstone House. We talk to the old people, play games or sometimes we sing together. They receive us with great enthusiasm, for example I am German, and even though some of the people there have bad experiences with Germans in the past, they treat me like an equal.

For example, I met a 93 year old man called Phil. Describing his experience in the Second World War, he told me that when he was young he went to his school, but when he arrived one morning half of the school was bombed and destroyed, but nevertheless the school didn’t close, and the school life continued.

He also told me that he was in the British Army, and was stationed in the northern part of India. I personally really enjoy the trip on Wednesdays, because I think it is a very short trip down the road that has an enormous impact on the people in the care home, who enjoy our visits and it feels like we brighten their day when we talk to them.

Yannik Schmid and JunJun Chen I have been going to Newstone House Care Home in Sturminster Newton. This experience has been very eye-opening for me as it has provided me with an opportunity to communicate with the elderly. I have also gained more confidence by doing this activity, which has helped me talk in front of crowds and to get to know more people. I find it fascinating to

listen and learn about other people’s backgrounds and how they spent their childhood and teenage years, and how it differs from my own. I have made a connection with Jean, who I found has a strong passion for dance, like myself. Learning about her life story and all the accomplishments that she made makes me realise how proud she must be. Jean has turned into an inspiration for me as she has been on many dance productions. Another person who I have met is called Betty. Betty is local, from Shaftesbury. She shares memories of her walking down the streets in Summer and seeing all the flowers blossoming. One of Betty’s favourite hobbies is to paint. Betty loves to paint flowers, animals and locations. She had showed me one of her favourite paintings, which was some pink roses, and blue bluebells in a colourful vase. The painting was incredible and it was amazing to see how she used the different tones of colour. Meeting new people, playing games with them and doing fun activities such as singing, has made me grateful and a better person.

Chloe Mogridge 2 0 1 8 -1 9 |

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FISHING

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This year saw the return of the popular boat fishing trips in Weymouth harbour. Despite losing a couple of trips to the weather, we managed to get 70 pupils out fishing, all over three Friday evenings.

When we did go out we were treated to beautifully calm seas, great views of the Jurassic Coast, colourful sunsets and, of course, some really fun fishing.

Lots of fish and a variety of species were landed into the boats. These included, thornback rays, spotted rays, dogfish, conga eels, pout whiting, red gurnard and even a spider crab.

At the end of the evenings, everybody tucked into fish and chips before heading back to school. Standing around all evening must be really hard work because almost everybody would fall sleep in the minibus on the way home!

Chris Middle Head of Physical Education

AC TI V I TI E S & CO -C U R R I CULAR

BUSHCRAFT In today’s societies adults and youngsters alike are finding themselves more and more removed from the natural world and its wonders. Day to day communications are monopolised by technology and our lives are becoming ever more dependent upon electronic devices and systems.

It is generally acknowledged that by exploring nature we can improve a youngster’s awareness and observation skills and enhance a sense of wonder all while allowing them to develop reasoning, problem solving and cognitive abilities, as well as help with concentration. It can also act as a great stress reliever.

Clayesmore students have,this year, embarked on Bushcraft and Wilderness Living trips and sessions to local and slightly further afield sites. They have received expert instruction on the ethos of Bushcraft, trapping and hunting, first aid in the outdoors, knife law and cutting techniques. They have proved themselves self-sufficient in many areas from game and bird preparation to axe throwing and firing slingshots.

They also mastered the art of sleeping overnight in the woods and rising early in the morning to ensure a fire was lit and ready for them to cook their breakfast. Plus they took part in collecting and processing their own firewood and water, and cooking meals over an open fire, utilising natural resources to make cordage and build weatherproof shelters and testing them. Nine Year 9 students were awarded the NCFE Level 1 Certificate in Bushcraft, Survival and Wilderness Living; an achievement which should not be underestimated.

Instructors on this course observed that the Clayesmore student’s

attitude, enthusiasm and behaviour would shame some of their usual, more adult, course attendees.

I am always amazed by the speed that many students adapt to being in the outdoors and how quickly they come to realise that a first daunting task such as lighting a fire without using a flame or building a shelter to keep themselves warm and dry, becomes less difficult with teamwork and positive attitudes.

They remained attentive and thirsty for knowledge throughout some very tiring sessions and always seem to do so while having lots of fun, so much in fact they often forget we have confiscated their mobile

phones! Wilderness living is a great social and academic leveller and often reveals some extraordinary character enhancements and confidencebuilding opportunities for all who participate; students and instructors alike.

We hope students that are remaining at school will take the opportunity to foster and grow the skills they have learnt in these initial trips and sessions, and become Clayesmore ambassadors of Bushcraft and Wilderness Living in the future.

Ian Rockett School Staff Instructor (CCF)

“ L E T N AT U R E B E Y O U R T E A C H E R .”

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

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CCF What does a year in Clayesmore CCF look like you wonder? Most people would guess that we learn about various aspects of the military including first aid, map reading and weapon skills, and they would be right, but the CCF is more than just this. The CCF takes a shiny new Year 10, in the September of Year 1, it gives them a uniform, teaches them how to wear it, teaches them about survival skills, leadership skills and how to be an effective and valued part of a team. It gives them the opportunity to take part in adventures including skydiving, mountain climbing, skiing, sailing, kayaking, diving, as well as take them to new

countries, have new experiences and make new friends. What comes out at the end of four years is someone who is ready to take on responsibility, who is not afraid to be in challenging situations and who is ready to make a positive impact on the world around them.

This year, I introduced the Contingent Commanders’ Challenge with the aim of identifying those who would be most suitable to become the Senior NCOs of the Contingent, as well as to test and stretch the cadets in a more challenging environment. It equipped them with skills which will be useful to anyone thinking about a career in the military as well as for those preparing for interviews for civilian jobs. The challenge

consisted of Battle fitness, military and general knowledge quizzes and group discussion, an obstacle course, command tasks and a planning exercise. It was a real success and highlighted some cadets with exceptional potential.

Another new element to the CCF this year was the chance to complete an Institute in Leadership and Management Level 3 award. This is a professionally recognised qualification which looks at an in-depth study of leadership styles and models and how we can become effective leaders through our own experiences of leading within the CCF. It was a combination of classroom learning, practical skills and the chance to reflect upon and improve one’s own

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leadership abilities. We currently have nine cadets who should complete the award this Summer.

In March of this year, one of our Lower sixth cadets had to put their military training into practice when they stumbled upon a real life medical emergency. Abby McCourt noticed two people behaving oddly on a bench in Salisbury city centre. She thought the man was having chest pains or a heart attack so she alerted her family and told her father to call the emergency services. She asked her mother, a trained nurse, to help her give first aid. Abby and her mum assessed a casualty each and this information was then relayed to the emergency services. The woman was unconscious, fitting and foaming

at the mouth with an obstructed airway, and the man was semiconscious and seemingly paralysed.

They lowered the woman to the ground placing her in the recovery position and Abby monitored the woman until further help arrived.

The scene was awash with bodily fluids and the clinical presentation of the two casualties alarmed Mrs McCourt who told Abby to step back so that she didn’t become contaminated. She initially did so but as the casualties deteriorated, Abby repeatedly stepped forward to help despite her mother’s warnings. Abby put the care of the casualties above her own safety and was determined to help them even though she had no protective clothing or gloves.

What the McCourts were not aware of at the time, was that these two strangers were the Skripals who had just been the victims of the Novichok attack. The police declared a major incident as multiple agencies were involved, including 250 counter terrorist officers and 180 military personnel. It has been widely agreed that the prompt actions of Abby and her family saved the lives of Sergei and Yulia Skripal as well as preventing the contamination of many others.

Abby has received recognition for her part in this from the Royal Humane Society which makes awards for the saving of human life.

Major Emma Dorey Clayesmore CCF 2 0 1 8 -1 9 |

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CHARITIES We decided as a committee that Clic Sargent was a charity that is close to all of our hearts and so it should be our main school charity. Clic Sargent is a charity which helps support families with members suffering from cancer.

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We have also been sponsoring Out of Afrika for the past four years. This is a charity which works with small communities in Kenya to supply food, education and supplies like books to local schools. Each house sponsors their own child. For example, King’s sponsor a girl called Everlyne and Manor sponsor a boy called Hezron.

We receive enthusiastic hand-written letters about their future and their recent achievements and how grateful they are of our continued support.

They even say how our support inspire them to keep working hard.

Students in each house also write letters to each child and we raise money to put these children through education. Wolverton’s sponsored child, Carol, has gone through education with the help of our

sponsorship and is now studying clinical medicine at university.

Wolverton are continuing to raise money to help support her studies.

In May, the school organised a walk consisting of a 2.5, 6 and a 10 mile walk with 150 people taking part and raising £600 in the first 48 hours. On that Sunday, the sun was out which made the views of Dorset countryside look enchanting. There were very supportive comments and the happy hikers were rewarded with a fabulous buffet of afternoon tea and a welldeserved rest.

This year, we wanted to bring the school together to raise money. In the Autumn term we held a mufti day for Clic Sargent and Children in Need.

We split the money raised which was roughly £800 and gave it to each charity. We also raised money for Red Nose Day by hosting a cake sale.

Mrs Debbie Geary from the catering department made some amazing cakes: over 100 for us to sell around school and without a doubt they all sold out and we made roughly £200.

So we would like to say a huge thank you to Mrs Geary for making these delicious cakes for us.

One of the most well-known events around school is Valentine’s Day. The King’s girls deliver Valentine’s roses during the Valentine’s Day lunch and it is a successful day for King’s and the charity committee. All of the money raised goes to Kings’ Out of Africa child and another selected charity at the time. This year, we chose the Green Peace charity, a charity that helps girls who have suffered from sexual assault.

Furthermore, each house takes part in creating a house event for their charities. This year, we had ideas ranging from clothes sales to speciality milkshakes, with Manor selling hot chocolate out of the Shepherd’s Hut on a cold Winter’s day whilst the rugby teams were rolling in the mud! We also had a stand selling hot chocolate at the Ten Mile Cup. Fortunately the weather was nice and sunny for running, but not for hot chocolate drinking!

Liberty Andrews and JoJo Gill Chairs of the Charity Committee

AC TI V I TI E S & CO -C U R R I CULAR

D OF E Once again this Summer, an intrepid group of hardened members of Year 12 set out to the wilds of Dartmoor in order to complete their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award Qualifying Expedition.

This was the culmination of nearly six months’ preparation, several exeats worth of training and a week’s practice expedition over Summer half-term.

Following Mr Reach’s constant reminders of how wet and cold it can be on Dartmoor as well as our instructors constantly talking about their local knowledge of the “Dartmoor conditions” and Year 13 lamenting on how wet they got last August, everyone had packed their waterproofs, warm clothing, woolly hats and gloves. All of this kit proved totally unnecessary as we basked in 20+ degree temperatures every day and never once saw so much as a rain cloud, even in the far distance. If only we’d brought our shorts and t-shirts too.

We set off from the confines of the bunkhouse (which later in the week we would fantasize about and its almost 5-star luxury) early on Sunday morning to drive down to our starting point in Ivybridge. The bus was the quietest I’ve known it as everyone contemplated the magnitude of the challenge we were about to take on.

We set off in glorious sunshine, with the heaviest rucksacks ever, and soon found our hill legs as we emerged onto the open moor and drank in the view. We could see for miles in every direction – including as far as the sea at Plymouth, where we wished we could have been having a dip, rather than slogging our way through Dartmoor’s infamous elephant grass.

We settled into a good rhythm and quickly ate up the miles to our first campsite at Lud Gate.

As we rose on day two, we were greeted by the well-known Dartmoor mirk and feared we would need all of our navigations skills to be certain of summiting the correct Snowdon.

However, by the time we left camp the sun had done its job and burned off the morning mist and we had to stop to apply copious lashings of

suncream. We were soon at our lunch stop in Hexworthy, where we met our assessor who encouraged us to enjoy the wonderful weather and take our time to appreciate Dartmoor in all its beauty. The luxury of proper facilities at our campsite on day two was not lost on us. However, we would have been very happy to forego the accompanying midge infestation.

Day three was our longest walk, through some of the wildest areas of the northern moor – carefully avoiding the firing ranges, we navigated up the East Dart and North Teign river valleys through some truly beautiful scenery.

After an earlier start than normal, we began Day four in good spirits with the end very firmly in sight. Once again the weather was on our side and we enjoyed the hottest day so far.

We had a wonderful lunch at Meldon reservoir before racing up the final climb to the finish at Sourton church.

The journey back to the bunkhouse was just as quiet as our outward trip, this time everyone was snoozing due to the exhaustion of four demanding days in the wilds of Dartmoor.

We were so pleased to have completed our Gold Expedition and to have overcome the challenges we encountered. We all agreed we learnt a huge amount from the experience and we would encourage everyone to take on the challenge of an expedition on Dartmoor.

Gold D of E Pupils

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LEAP LEAP continues to be one of the highlights of the Year 12 calendar.

Stretching over three weeks between May and the Summer holidays, LEAP consists of a busy and demanding programme of academic study days, enrichment activities and an exciting leisure programme.

The academic days are designed around the Year 12 curriculum but with lots of exciting twists. Year 12 DT visited Sunseeker in Poole to see how their boats are made and Psychologists and Chemists investigated a real-life crime scene (well, maybe not a real one!)

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We also looked at life beyond school and pupils were fully immersed in activities such as UCAS day, Personal Statement writing workshops, Skills and Employability day; all very useful and with some really interesting guests.

This year’s LEAP highlight though has to be the Serious Leadership Day. Always a popular part of LEAP, Serious Leadership Day challenges pupils to solve problems and challenges with their team-mates.

This year, students were tasked to create a raft that could withstand our very own Clayesmore lake. There was lots of laughter and the students learnt a thing or two about balance!

Despite the downpour throughout the day, students still managed to enjoy themselves and have a dip or two in the lake (even if they didn’t intend to!)

By ways of tradition, LEAP finished with our annual barbecue and presentation where the students had lots of laughs reminiscing about the last few weeks, and were encouraged to leap forward into thinking about their futures post- Clayesmore.

AC TI V I TI E S & CO -C U R R I CULAR

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MUN Clayesmore has enjoyed another very successful year of Model United Nations this year. Under the passionate and organized leadership of Oliver Heath, Ben Heath and Izzie Meadows and their student committee, MUN has continued to go from strength to strength.

The year began with a trip to Exeter College MUN where we left with a record number of prizes. This was followed quickly by ClayesMUN, our very own MUN conference which saw 90 debaters from 8 schools come to

debate issues as diverse as Embryonic Stem Cells, Industrial Pollution and Organized Crime. The event ran really smoothly which was testament to hard-work and time the committee had invested in the run-up to the conference. Perhaps most excitingly this year saw the inauguration of GerMUN- which saw Clayesmorians and their German exchange partners debate in both German and English. It was an exciting and stimulating event and gave an extra insight into the international nature of the event.

the activity. Having been introduced to the activity with a series of workshops in October, the Year 9s took part in a few introductory debates before taking part in TutMUN (Tutor group MUN), which as won by Devine. The promise shown by our newest recruits was clearly shown by our final event of the year; House MUN. A convincing performance from Wolverton saw them win the overall prize- but what must be noted is that 3 of the 4 individual winners came from Year 9.

The year has seen an increase in the number of Year 9s being involved with

The future looks bright for MUN at Clayesmore!

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YO U N G E N T E R P R I S E Clayesmore’s Enterprise education goes from strength to strength with this year’s Young Enterprise company, AFriend, winning the Dorset company of the year. This is the second time in a row that one of our teams has gone on to represent Dorset at the South West Regional Finals. Clayesmore’s company was the top out of ten companies presenting at the Dorset round of the national competition earlier this year. The company ran as a social enterprise with the mission to give people between the ages of 12-17 a safe place to share their

YEAR 9 ENTERPRISE

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This year’s Year 9 took on a whole new product to develop and market.

The students were assigned a team and challenged to design an energy bar, bring it to the market, manufacture it and ultimately, achieve sales. With the help of volunteers from industry and Young Enterprise, they impressed a panel of industry experts in their three day Enterprise Challenge held at the school in May. This cross-curricular project involved Business, DT and Home Economics departments, and over the three days eight teams worked together on their business plans, splitting key roles between them, and allowing them to develop and exhibit many skills including time management and teamwork, marketing and advertising, budgeting and employability skills.

As part of the process, they made early pitches to a Dragons’ Den style panel, created marketing campaigns, exhibition stands and presentations and wrote company reports for the final day of judging and pitching. One enterprising team even inveigled their

thoughts, issues and problems and to provide a friendly ear for anyone with a problem of any size.

The company, comprising of Year 12 pupils, and supported by their Business Adviser, Carole Jones, created their own website and instagram account to spread their message and also held assemblies in school and in other local schools.

There was a blog on their website where the articles covered many topics common to young people – friendship issues, parental divorce, breakups and studying overseas among them, alongside personal

areas of interest including Brexit and environmental issues such as the use of palm oil. However, despite the company having to wind up at the end of this academic year, they still hope to expand its current project by creating AFriend Ambassadors that may be able to meet personally with people who need someone to talk to in the school’s community and continue to add to its blog and social media with relevant information.

Well done, Libby, Evie, Charlotte, Ben, Rupert, Georgie and Nini for an exciting year.

Miss Jacks and Miss Penny

way into a meeting with the Head and Senior Leadership Team to pitch for their company!

School. Well done to everyone who took part and congratulations to the students who won the coveted prizes.

The teams certainly impressed the industry advisors who helped with the projects and judging throughout the three days. Feedback received from them included:

Ms Catherine Jacks

“If the Year 9 team I was working with are anything to go by, the UK has some brilliant business entrepreneurs in the making. Look up Clayesmore for a great school environment.”

“Totally blown away by the Year 9 pupils at Clayesmore. Really inspiring to see them all so engaged in producing nutritional energy snacks. Fantastic trade stands, incredibly impressive business plans and a huge amount of thought and concern over their packaging. It is very heartening and obvious to see how engaged this generation is caring for our planet and keeping themselves healthy.”

I can honestly say this was one of the best years yet after running this activity for over 5 years at Clayesmore

S P O RTS

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SPORTS We’ve had another fantastic year of sport at Clayesmore with success in every sport played in the school. There has been outstanding achievements both individually and through team efforts and we are proud to say that the school has performed exceptionally on both a regional and national level.

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RUGBY

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This year, we knew we were going to have a competitive start to the season, with Monkton Combe, Bournemouth School and King’s Bruton being our first three games.

Our morale was high throughout the start of the season and we took this into our next game against Poole Grammar, where we managed a convincing win. There were many brilliant moments throughout the first term, especially Jack Pearce’s try where he slipped and weaved his way through the whole of the opposition, scoring one of the best tries of the season! The next few games were a challenge as we had players missing for various reasons, so this was a huge test for us as a team to try and carry on the winning form, which we did as we faced Yeovil in our next cup match. We showed our full potential with Harrison Horner making a few bombing runs down the wing and Rupert Angell stepping past the defence. We got our second

win and move to the third round of the cup. We managed to secure our three-match-win streak when we played Warminster after half term, as our great determination and hands on the ball allowed us to score 38 points, making it one of our most memorable matches this season.

This was a great game with the scores being level at half time, but Dauntsey’s showed their strength in depth and used this to their advantage in the second half. With travelling a long distance to Mount Kelly ending our cup tournament run, we were able to focus on our next game with King’s Bruton, where we showed our best defence of the season. Only conceding a few tries and scoring one of our own, we showed how much we have developed and improved over the season compared to when we played them at the start. We then had the two tough fixtures of Sherborne

and Exeter, with six of our starting line up missing. We played well, and demonstrated the spirit and resilience which we held throughout the season.

With Monkton Combe being our last match of the season, our emotion was high and we gave it our all throughout the match, however the opposition adapted to the conditions and the weather suited their forward style of play.

It was a great and enjoyable season for us, with some of the best chemistry within a team that I have ever played in. Thank you to the boys who played this season, and I wish the lower years good luck for the future. We would also like to thank the coaches for their hard work: Mr Conway, Mr Kelly and Mr Gibbs.

Thank you.

Felix Flute (1st XV Captain)

HOCKEY We knew this season would be a period of transition, after losing some very good Year 13 players last year.

However, gaining some quality Year 11 players this term made this a positive process. The team has made a great deal of progress throughout this term and this has been evident in the fixtures as the term went on where we have taken some good Hockey schools all the way until the final whistle. An example of this was the National Cup game against KES Bath, where they scored in the final minute. Highlights of the season include the Year 11s such as, Joel Cazalet being a rock in midfield and

Henry Gundill holding solid in defence to name a few.

In total, we had six Year 11s which is by far the youngest team on our circuit, which shows that with the addition of the current Year 10s next year, Hockey at Clayesmore looks to be in a really strong position. That with the support of Adam Tapper who brings a wealth of knowledge and different coaching ideas, the future of Hockey at Clayesmore looks very bright indeed.

13 leaver’s carry on playing Hockey wherever they choose to go next year.

I would like to pass on the following message to next years’ team - back your skills and never give up, but most of all enjoy the game.

The school are heading out to Barcelona in October half term for an U17 trip and this promises to be a very useful and exciting chance to play different teams and learn a great deal.

Michael Sandiford (1st XI Captain)

I hope that the team has been able to enjoy this season and I hope our Year

B OYS S PO RTS

CRICKET This year, despite having one of the youngest 1st XI teams in a long time, we have managed to compete at a high standard against teams of all different levels. It was obvious from early on in the Winter, that the younger members of the team were going to become a vital part of the unit and alongside the experience of the senior players it made for an optimistic start to Cricket this year.

Early on in the season, we had a lot of tough matches lined up against teams such as the Royal Logistics, King’s Taunton and South Gloucester College. We also took part in the national T20 competition which gave us the opportunity to test ourselves against these high calibre teams.

Although the results didn’t go our way, it was a great experience for all

the players in our side and has led to the team improving massively.

The bowling unit was helped out by Ayush Raj Iyer and Joel Cazalet, two Devine boys, who have taken to their roles so well. They both play with smiles on their faces and I am sure they are going to make an appearance in Wisden over the next few years.

Throughout the season we have slowly been preparing ourselves for Cricket week and this has paid dividends in our first game of the week where we drew to the MCC. After a very solid bowling and fielding performance, the game was on a knife edge. James McDouall and Austin Andrews were left to survive the final 11 overs of the game.

What an achievement it was when

the pavilion erupted to a sound of applause from all the spectators.

Well done everyone. This is a very positive result and against a team like the MCC, I hope it gives confidence to the younger members of the team looking forward to the coming years.

This season has had its ups and its downs in terms of results and I hope that next year the team builds on the success of this season and continues to improve, but also as individuals as the amount of talent within the group leaves me in good faith for what is to come from Clayesmore Cricket. Let’s go for the top 100 for the 5th year running.

Harry Morgan (1st XI Captain)

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FOOTBALL This year was the first year that the Clayesmore Football club joined a league with other schools in the area, in which we eventually finished 3rd. We were put together with five other schools, including names such as Canford, Sherborne and Millfield, where we would play each team home and away for a shot at the league title and trophy.

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Our first game was played at home against Wells Cathedral School, where a well fought out yet somewhat controversial 0-0 draw came with its own dramas of two goal-line clearances from Michael Sandiford to secure us the point. As the season progressed, we began to create connections and plays, much alike those of seasoned professionals. We began to compete more and more on the bigger stage, with a draw away to Sherborne, and a result away to

Canford, ending in a thrilling 4-4 draw. The team was on top form throughout the season playing with confidence, aggression and tempo from the back, getting to learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses more and more with each game.

The Clayesmore Football team became a force to be reckoned with, especially when playing at home on a slightly larger pitch than our opponents, beating both Sherborne and Millfield. We all have many moments from this season to keep.

To name a few, Seb Combes’ half volley from 20 yards out against Wells cathedral or the improvisation of Olly Pitts in the second half during the OCs game, to score our 6th goal of that fixture.

the boys showing their individual development. We were proud to show that almost every single person who took part in football this term got their chance to play in a competitive match at some point in the season. We would like to thank Mr Knightsbridge and Mr Westlake for their constant enthusiasm and commitment throughout the term, giving us the desire to improve and perform in every game. Personally, I will not forget this term as one of the most successful and enjoyable terms of football during my time here. I wish all the Year 13s the best in their future playing careers and that the standard of football, both on and off the pitch, will remain a part of the Clayesmore Football Club.

Will Betts (1st XI Captain)

I have loved seeing the team develop throughout the season, with all

B OYS T E N N I S I have really enjoyed captaining the Boys Tennis team this year. The group, though not the biggest, clearly has a lot of passion for the sport and it has been great seeing them develop over the course of the year. This season has been a season of consolidation for the boys. The loss of many first team players last year saw a young Senior Squad take on many of our usual rivals. Despite some narrow defeats and an even more difficult battle against the weather, we came away with strong victories against

Monkton Combe and Kings Bruton.

Looking ahead, I feel optimistic about Tennis at Clayesmore. Several Year 11s had the opportunity to represent the first team...but special mention must go to the partnership of Lewis Maftah and Ben Bartlett who, as a doubles partnership, went the whole season undefeated, winning 21 sets and conceding none! Well done and good luck in the future!

Sam Clarke (Boys Captain)

COMMENDATIONS: Charlie Barnett, Ben Bartlett, Henry Daniels, Bryn Duncan, Lewis Maftah and Yannick Schmid.

HALF COLOURS: Sam Clarke.

G I R L S S P O RTS

COMMENDATIONS: Kiki Andrews, Farrah Harvey, Issy Lockwood, Alice Meadowcroft, Lola Putland-Simpkin and Esther Stevenson.

HALF COLOURS: Jess Rimmer and Molly Round.

FULL COLOURS: Olivia Cowley and Liddy Stevenson.

GIRLS HOCKEY GIRLS 1ST XI HOCKEY Our squad this year has been very different to past years, having the youngest team the school has had, with over half the team being in Year 11. However, we have had a very successful and enjoyable season.

Having many injuries this term we have had more than 18 players become part of the team.

This term we were lucky enough to have Holly Hunt, a GB player coach a session with us. We enjoyed and benefited from this experience, so I would like to thank Miss Cheverton for organising this opportunity. Our best game was definitely our win against St Mary’s. Although the weather wasn’t pleasant, everyone pushed themselves until the final whistle which led us to a 5-0 win.

One of my favourite moments of the

season has to be when we scored a short corner in the last 30 seconds of the game against Bryanston.

Throughout the term we have had a strong team across the pitch. With Kiki’s loud voice and aerials, Olivia Cowley and Evie Bradley’s fearless defending and Alice Simpson’s determination, we have had a solid defence that the opposition have become frustrated by. We have also been lucky enough to have two incredible goalies, Issy Lockwood and Emma Scott, who always show their determination and willingness to never let the team down, saving endless goals. As well as having a strong defence, we have had a solid midfield with Esther Stevenson and Farrah Harvey clearing the ball to the forwards. Jess, Lola, Molly and Alice have always approached the goal with speed, and their ability to

75 outwit the defenders always panics the opposition. We have had some incredible goals scored by Lola, Molly and Jess but our top goal scorer is Alice Meadowcroft with her hits that always terrify the defending opposition!

I have felt so honoured to captain such a motivated and friendly team this year, but most of all I am thankful to all the team for making it so enjoyable and I hope you all enjoyed the halftime sweets. Finally, I would like to thank Mr Randall, Mr Smith and Miss Cheverton for all the support, training and encouragement they have given us all throughout the season.

Thank you.

Liddy Stevenson (Captain of Hockey)

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GIRLS SENIOR HOCKEY TEAMS The number of pupils participating in Hockey has been at its highest ever this season; allowing us to field five senior teams, which has provided valuable match play experience for all the girls.

The 2nd XI team played their best Hockey at the start of the season with a convincing 6-1 victory over Milton Abbey and also finished with their best team performance against Prior Park, where they only lost 3-1 against very strong opposition.

Mrs Perrett and Mia have loved coaching the 3rd XI team due to their enthusiasm and team spirit, the highlight has to be the 1-0 victory

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U16 HOCKEY The Clayesmore U16 Hockey side, a combination of the finest players in Years 10 and 11, had an excellent run in the Tier III National Championships this Autumn. The first step in their journey was the Tier III Dorset County Finals at Bryanston. The girls excelled, gelling as a team from the start and playing some breathtaking attacking hockey. Four straight wins and 20 goals scored later, they were crowned County Champions!

The Regional Preliminary Tournament presented the next hurdle. Further intense training had the team feeling ready. Their group was a tough one, featuring Taunton and Truro schools.

With only two places available in the regional finals, the girls knew they needed to play well to progress.

However, they need not have worried, as a dominant 4-0 victory over Taunton, followed by a narrow 3-1

against Kings Bruton, which we know the girls thoroughly enjoyed!

The 4th XI team have had four fixtures and made good progress every match, with their closest matches against Kings Bruton and Sherborne Girls. Our 5th XI team finished the season on a high with an excellent 4-2 victory over Bryanston.

A special mention must go to Georgia and Olga who stepped in last minute on several occasions to play in goal and were great assets to the teams.

On behalf of all the coaching staff we would like to thank you for all your efforts, good humour and bringing fun and energy to training and matches.

We couldn’t have asked for more and you should all be proud of the achievements you have made, not only individually but also as a team.

loss to Truro saw them through to the West Regional Championships.

At this level, there are no ‘easy’ groups, but a group consisting of Truro High, Hereford Cathedral and Maynard, was about as hard as it could get. After an impressive victory over Hereford in their opening match, the team couldn’t quite recapture that form losing 1-0 to Maynard and 3-1 to group winners, Truro High. Nevertheless, throughout their three matches, the team played with flair and purpose, passing the ball accurately, defending tenaciously and creating many scoring opportunities.

Viewing competition as a whole, every player made a valuable contribution, although a few are worthy of special mention. Alice Meadowcroft scored an amazing 11 goals in just nine matches, and was supported by Vega Stanley with six goals and Lola Putland-Simpkin with four. Kiki Andrews captained

COMMENDATIONS 2ND XI: Cara Leckie, Emma McKeown, Anna Sorrentino and Maria Varney.

COMMENDATIONS 3RD XI: Morgan Bottomley, Bia Cottenden, India Dyer, Katie Hellewell, Tabby Rowland, Claire Thomson, Olivia Tipping and Julia Zimmerman.

COMMENDATIONS 4TH XI: Georgia Darke, Abigail Essex, Abigail Jones, Nini Junge and Alex Keeley.

COMMENDATIONS 5TH XI: Amelia Aitken, Rebecca Chattock, Erin Cowling, Emma Darlington, Phoebe Jones, Liberty Muir and Martha Sale.

the side with distinction and led a defensive group spearheaded

by Esther Stevenson and Harriet Middleton that allowed just 10 goals overall. Praise for this wonderful defensive record must also go to the goalkeeping tandem of Issy Lockwood and Abi Falconer who performed nearly flawlessly throughout. Every player should be proud of their achievements, and we hope that this will spur them on to even greater success in the future.

COMMENDATIONS 16A: Awarded to the WHOLE team for reaching the regional finals.

Kiki Andrews, Hazel Atkins, Abi Falconer, Farrah Harvey, Flora Hill, Charlotte Kalmanson, Issy Lockwood and Alice Meadowcroft, Harriet Middleton, Anna Pearce, Lola Putland Simpkin, Alice Simpson, Caroline Smith, Vega Stanley and Esther Stevenson.

G I R L S S P O RTS

COMMENDATIONS 15A: Ella Browse, Katie Darke, Abi Falconer, Georgia Learmonth and Caroline Smith.

COMMENDATIONS 15B: Nicole Cummings, Chloe Hammond, Katie Pillow and Laura Wiemer.

COMMENDATIONS 14A: Awarded to the WHOLE team for reaching the regional finals.

Elen Barnes, Hope Cazalet, Sofia Coombes, Louise Gibb, Eliza Jeavons, Tasmin Jennings, Bryony O’Hare, Eleanor Payne, Charlotte Smith, Ella Stephens, Kitty Todd, Tilly Townsend and Lily Wakelin.

Additional junior hockey commendations go to: Ellie Box, Ruby Dalton, Rebecca Essex, Evie Kennard, Ottie Marden and Amelie Watling.

HOCKEY IN YEAR 9 & 10 Our U15s have faced some challenges this season, with a host of injuries and a lack of substitutes. Although some scorelines might suggest a rather one-sided encounter, the girls have responded in true Clayesmore spirit, showing resilience and determination.

It was great to see the 15As finish the season with a competitive match against Prior Park, where the result could have gone either way.

The U14s have gone from strength to strength, and cohesively are quite a force! The 14As best performances were against our toughest opponents; Canford, Bryanston and Sherborne Girls, where we produced a narrow defeat and two draws, which could have easily been converted to wins.

The 14Bs faced a strong Dauntsey’s team right at the start of the term, but since then they have made excellent progress where the score lines have been much closer.

77 In addition to the weekly fixtures, the U14s also won the County Tier 2 competition, with convincing wins against St Mary’s and Gillingham.

Unfortunately, the girls were not blessed with the kindness of weather at the Regional Finals at Kings Taunton; staying warm and dry in driving wind and rain takes its toll on everyone! The shortened format of the matches led to lots of narrow defeats, and we just couldn’t get into our usual rhythm of play. However, it was still a great achievement for the girls to represent Dorset at a regional competition and shows great promise for the future of girls hockey at Clayesmore.

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G I R L S S P O RTS

NETBALL U16 AND U14 COUNTY NETBALL Netball also features in the Autumn Term. The girls have been busy with County Netball tournaments across all age groups, and for the first time at Clayesmore we also entered the

U15 Independent Schools Netball Cup. This is a national competition, where we faced Maynard School and Churchers College.

Our U19s, U16s and U14s all represented Clayesmore at the local area tournaments. The U16s qualified after finishing in second place and the

U14s were crowned the North Dorset champions. The standard of play was very high at the County’s, with many schools having a squad of regional, county and club players. The U14s rose to the challenge and were only five goals away from qualifying for the regional finals, after losing out to Talbot Heath in the semi-finals.

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1ST VII NETBALL The 1st VII team Netball has had an enjoyable and challenging season against strong opposition including teams such as Taunton, Canford and King’s Bruton. Although we have had few victories this season, everyone’s continual effort, enthusiasm and positive attitude means we have improved tremendously since our first match.

We started the season with a tough game against Taunton, although, as usual with our team, the score did not reflect the way everyone played.

Emma and I were impressed with how we all worked together from the start, and were encouraged by the potential we had for the coming season.

After a few close games, against opposition including teams such as Bryanston, Gillingham and St Mary’s,

Emma and I were motivated by the standard of play and the fighting spirit the team had, working hard until the last quarter.

A special mention to our consistently strong defenders, Georgia, Hetty and Tabby for their countless outstanding interceptions. Also to Claire for her ability to shoot from anywhere and to Olivia Tipping for her amazing work in and around the circle, who together (with Captain Olivia Cowley) scored close to 200 goals in match play over the whole season. Finally to Liddy and Jess for their constant uplifting and positive attitude and their ability to work the mid-court.

Liv and I have been playing Netball together for 8 years, and to end our time playing Clayesmore netball by beating the Old Clayesmorians has to be the highlight of the season.

We are honoured to have captained such an enthusiastic and fun team.

We would like to say thank you to our fellow team members and a special thank you to Miss Peaty and Miss Cheverton for their excellent coaching and endless encouragement, and also for making our last netball season so enjoyable.

Olivia Cowley and Emma McKeown Captains of Netball

COMMENDATIONS: Georgia Darke, Liddy Stevenson, Claire Thomson and Olivia Tipping.

HALF COLOURS: Olivia Cowley and Emma McKeown.

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2ND VII NETBALL

3RD VII NETBALL

U16S

It has been a mixed season for the girls, that may have looked slightly different without poor weather and cancelled fixtures. Although they faced tough opposition against some of the top teams in the area, they have shown determination and resilience. The experience gained will certainly help them next season.

It has been a successful sporting year for the 3rd VII teams at Clayesmore, following on from their productive Hockey season! It has been evident in their play that they have been eager to succeed. They have had excellent victories against Bryanston, Dauntsey’s and St Marys showcasing their skills learnt in training. The coaches would like to thank the girls for an enjoyable season and for their discipline, teamwork, resilience and positive attitude. Well done to all the members of the team.

The U16s have been competitive in the majority of their games this season. They have shown lots of potential, experience and determination throughout, but struggled to find their consistency against tough opposition. However, the girls have gained valuable experience playing at a high standard, and many of them will be challenging for places in the senior teams next year. The versatility of the players is the main strength of this group and bodes well for the future of Netball at Clayesmore.

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COMMENDATIONS 16A: Farrah Harvey, Alice Meadowcroft, Lola Putland- Simpkin and Esther Stevenson.

COMMENDATIONS:

COMMENDATIONS:

COMMENDATIONS 16B:

Mary Chandaman, Lily Cooper, Jojo Gill and Zoe Hamlett.

Bia Cottenden, Tallulah Heaver, Katie Hellewell and Lucy Wakelin.

Tanya Naituku, Lucy Slay and Anna Sorrentino.

G I R L S S P O RTS

U15S

U14AS

U14Bs AND CS

As the season has progressed, the girls have made good improvements to their game, working hard on developing their passing and movement off the ball. The As and Bs started the season with competitive matches against Taunton School and produced two good wins against Bryanston. The 15Bs finished the season with a win against St Mary’s. The 15As just missed out on qualifying for the County Finals, but should be proud of their efforts on the day. Well done to all the players who have represented the school this season.

After being crowned the North Dorset Netball Champions last term, there was certainly a sense of excitement about the upcoming netball season. The girls have worked tirelessly in training to become a successful cohesive unit, and have been developing their technical and tactical knowledge and applying it in game situations. They have worked hard to increase their intensity during matches and have learnt to slow down play to ensure we maintain possession. The highlight of the season has to be the excellent win against Kings Bruton, where the girls played their best team performance battling hard right up to the final whistle, finishing with a well-deserved victory. Other notable wins were against Bryanston and St Mary’s and narrow defeats against Dauntsey’s and Taunton School. The girls should be proud of the improvements they have made as individuals, as well as a team. Bring on next season!

It has been great to see the girls’ enthusiasm for Netball continuing to grow. The 14Bs have had an encouraging season, and the results have improved, finishing with two great team victories, which the girls were delighted with!

COMMENDATIONS 15A: Nicole Cummings, Katie Darke, Abigail Falconer and Caroline Smith.

We hope they now have the confidence to play different positions on court, and continue to develop their skills and recognise the importance of strong team work ready for the next Netball season.

Well done girls for your efforts this season.

COMMENDATIONS 14B: Ellie Box, Anna Hutchinson, Eliza Jeavons and Evie Kennard.

COMMENDATIONS 14C:

COMMENDATIONS 15B:

COMMENDATIONS:

Flora Abram, Tallulah Crumplin, Chloe Hammond and Katie Pillow.

Sofia Coombes, Tasmin Jennings, Bryony O’Hare and Tilly Townsend.

Evie Askew, Valaria Fernandez Alvarez, Ottilie Marden and Helena Woodvine.

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TENNIS 1ST VI TENNIS The 1st VI team has had an enjoyable yet challenging tennis season this term.

The team saw a new partnership between Lulah Heaver and myself, and we were joined by Emma McKeown and Olivia Cowley, Issy Lockwood and Lola Putland-Simpkin.

Issy and Lola were a new addition to the first team this year and they proved to be a real asset.

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We have all had a competitive season beginning with a convincing win against Monkton Combe which started the season on a high. We had close defeats against Bryanston on their grass courts, which we all adapted to quickly, and played some of our best tennis. As the season

2ND VI TENNIS The 2nds started the season with some convincing victories against Monkton Combe and Warminster, which boosted their confidence for future matches. This confidence shone through when faced against tougher opposition from Bryanston and St Mary’s; the girls showed resilience and determination ensuring they came away with the victory.

Harriet and Alice have continued to build upon their doubles partnership showing competitiveness at key moments and Olga and Izzie have been a ruthless doubles act, ensuring nothing gets past them with ease!

progressed, our tactical play on the court was constantly improving.

Although some of the results did not always go our way; the scores did not reflect how we played.

I have a lot of confidence and faith in the upcoming years and especially to Issy and Lola who I know will continue to strive next year. I wish you all the very best of luck.

A special mention must go to Issy and Lola for their consistent accuracy and power on the court, Emma and Olivia for their team work and accuracy at the net and to Lulah for being a great partner to play with and her determination to win.

Hetty Wraight (Captain of Girls Tennis)

I would like to thank all of the games staff for making this Tennis season such a fun and enjoyable one to end on, and especially to Miss Cheverton for taking the time to organise all of our matches and for always supporting every single player on and off the court.

It has been a real pleasure to coach a competitive group of girls who should be proud of their achievements this season. Finally, a special mention must go to India Dyer who has represented Clayesmore Tennis for the past five years and has always been 100% committed.

She is an excellent role model with her exemplary sportsmanship and positive attitude to training. I know your playing partner, Liberty, will miss you next year! Thank you, India, and we hope you continue to play tennis in the future!

COMMENDATIONS: Olivia Cowley, Emma McKeown and Hetty Wraight.

JUNIOR COLOURS: Issy Lockwood and Lola PutlandSimpkin.

HALF COLOURS: Tallulah Heaver.

COMMENDATIONS: Liberty Andrews, Alice Meadowcroft, Izzie Meadows, Harriet Middleton and Olga Wollek HALF COLOURS: India Dyer.

G I R L S S P O RTS

3RD VI & 4TH VI TENNIS

U15S TENNIS

U14S TENNIS

Once again it has been another successful sporting season for the 3rd VI and 4th VI, which has certainly been the theme of this year, which shows the depth of knowledge, skills and experience within the school. The contributing factor to this success has been the positive approach towards training and matches. With over 65 Seniors participating in tennis this season, team selections have been challenging!

The 4th VI won both their matches against St Mary’s and Bryanston, the 3rd VI also matched them and, in addition, won their opening fixture against Monkton Combe. All the coaching staff would like to thank the girls for their sense of humour, energy and commitment to the games programme this season. We hope the girls who are leaving us this year will continue to play tennis for a club or university in the future.

There has been several new additions to the Tennis squads this season leading to new partnerships forming.

It usually takes time to understand each others’ game and develop effective doubles tactics. However, the girls rose to the challenge and implemented some of the tactics learnt in training with a good degree of success. Although, some of the results didn’t reflect the level of performance; the girls can be proud of their achievements. We look forward to seeing what they can achieve in the Senior teams next year!

Since the start of the season, the girls have made significant progress not only with their individual skills but also with their knowledge and understanding of doubles Tennis.

The majority of the girls can sustain a consistent rally, demonstrate a volley, a serve and many do not fear a backhand anymore! Matches have been competitive and we have been victorious on some occasions across the different squads. Most importantly, the girls have been a pleasure to coach due to their perseverance and enthusiasm for the sport. We very much look forward to seeing what they can achieve next Tennis season.

COMMENDATIONS 3RD VI:

COMMENDATIONS 15A:

COMMENDATIONS 14A:

Morgan Bottomley, Nell Dixon, Virginia Guglielmi, Cara Leckie, Claire Thomson and Anya Victorova.

Flora Abram, Eleanor Chmielewska, Siri Hamill-Stewart and Georgia Learmonth.

Hope Cazalet, Tilly Townsend and Lily Wakelin.

COMMENDATIONS 14B:

COMMENDATIONS 15B: COMMENDATIONS 4TH VI: Mia Aldersley, Grace Osmond, Abi Pope, Esther Stevenson and Liddy Stevenson.

Nicole Cummings, Caroline Smith and Vega Stanley.

Ines Alferieff Poirier, Ellie Box, Bethan Davies, Bryony O’Hare, Eleanor Payne and Kitty Todd.

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GIRLS CRICKET Girls Cricket has continued to grow this year and we were pleased to host the first round of the U15 National Schools T20 Cricket for the second year in a row. The competition was tougher than last year, which shows how the game is developing nationwide. We had three schools in our pool; Truro School, Parkstone Grammar and Sherborne Girls. We started with a well-deserved win against Sherborne Girls, followed by a closely fought match against Truro. Our final match was against the eventual winners Parkstone, who were a very strong and experienced

team; scoring 178 runs, which we were unable to match.

The team comprised of eight Year 9s and four Year 10s, it was the first hard ball match for the majority of the girls, and they learnt a great deal about the game and the new playing format. They are now looking forward to future competitions. Thank you to all the girls for their efforts and sportsmanship on the day.

pairs Cricket format. It was another closely fought battle between the two houses, with some excellent skills on display not only from the more experienced players, but also from the girls who were completely new to the game! Top Scorers and Wicket Takers were Kitty for Wolverton and Tilly for King’s. There were also wickets from Caroline, Hope, Leah, Abi, Tasmin and Vega.

In addition to the T20 event, we also held our annual Girls House Cricket, which involved eight players from both houses playing in a 16 over

Thank you to all the players and spectators who made it an enjoyable afternoon. The Overall House Girls Cricket winners were WOLVERTON.

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AT H L E T I C S 2019 saw 84 pupils participate in Athletics and although inter-school fixtures were limited, 40 pupils competed in a fixture during a tropical rainstorm at Canford! 24 Athletes competed at the North Dorset Trials at Yeovil in May, with 10 pupils qualifying to represent North Dorset at the Dorset Schools Championships.

At these Championships, Josh Smith and Will Squires became county champions and Tim Hughes, Louis Clarkson and Jojo Gill gained second places with Ella Browse, Nathan Charlesworth and Fred Catmur gaining third places. Following, the County Championships, Josh Smith,

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Tim Hughes and William Squires were all selected to represent Dorset at the South West Schools Championships.

At the very end of the season, our Year 9 and 10 athletes did well in the North Dorset Team competition at Bryanston, with the boys becoming North Dorset Team Champions and the girls finishing second. We say goodbye to a strong core of upper VI Athletes this year who have been competing in Athletics since Year 9, so good luck to them with special mention and thank you to our two departing Captains Elsa Charlwood and Alex D’Arbost.

COMMENDATIONS: Ella Browse, Felix Fox, Jojo Gill, Will Squires and Russell Yates.

JUNIOR COLOURS: Josh Smith.

FULL COLOURS: Fred Catmur, Elsa Charlwood, Louis Clarkson, Alex D’Arbost and Tim Hughes.

OTH E R S P O RTS

COMMENDATIONS: George De La Perrelle, Amelie Roese, Matthew Bulstrode, Bradley Perkins, Russell Yates and Ella Browse.

JUNIOR COLOURS: Josh Smith.

HALF COLOURS: Tom Catmur and Conor Gibb.

FULL COLOURS: Elsa Charlwood, Angus Cameron and Fred Catmur.

CROSS COUNTRY We have had a record 32 runners in the cross country group this term. The Autumn term is not a majorly competitive term for cross country, but we have had a series of ‘challenges’ to extend the cross country experience and thanks go to Mrs Readman, Mrs Whybrow and Mrs Mercer for helping marshal and provide running support for the Trailway 10km, 3-Peaks challenge, Gold Hill Challenge, Hambledon Hill Time Trials and Mystery Runs. The record number of girls meant we could send our biggest team ever to the one fixture of term, The Leweston Girls Relays. Although there was no victory, congratulations must go to all the cross country girls and to Viv Judd, Jess Rimmer, Ella Browse and Charlotte Smith for making up the teams.

Congratulations to all the runners for taking part in all the challenges in such good spirit, sometimes

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in horrible conditions – I’m sure most will never forget the 3-Peaks Challenge 2018!

35 pupils made up the cross country squad this Spring term with a record 12 girls. The boys continued the successes of last year with the Intermediate Boys winning 2 of their 6 races with Josh Smith achieving regular top 3 positions and winning the Dorset Independent Schools intermediate boys overall trophy.

The Senior Boys team had 5 wins with regular top 5 finishes from Alex D’Arbost, Angus Cameron, Conor

Gibb and Tom Catmur.

The highlight of the year was the team victory in the County Schools Championships for the 4th year in a row. The girls set a record too with full teams in all the age groups at the county schools championships.

Special mention goes to Girls captain Elsa Charlwood and Boys captain Angus Cameron and to Alex D’Arbost who has represented Clayesmore and been selected for Dorset every year from Year 9 to 13.

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SWIMMING U16 GIRLS AWAY VS. LEWESTON THURSDAY 7TH MARCH Spring Term: A team of U16’s joined Clayesmore Prep school pupils (U13 and U11) and competed in a gala against Leweston. The Senior Girls enjoyed the experience of the gala and recorded 10 Personal Best times.

Unfortunately Leweston proved to be stronger throughout but our team should be very pleased with their times and the efforts they put in.

Thank you to Louise Cliff for being the Captain for the whole team, she was a great support to all (Prep & Senior).

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Summer Term: The U18 Girls and Boys Swim Team had one fixture against Sherborne Girls, Sherborne Boys, Marlborough, Kingswood, Blundells & Taunton. All the team contributed to the well-deserved result of coming 3rd overall. Colours have been awarded based on pupils’ contribution to Swimming during their time at Clayesmore, well done to you all.

DORSET COUNTY SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS FULL COLOURS: Arthur Carpenter, Ben Falconer, Charles Perkins, Harvey Thring and Ben Willcox.

HALF COLOURS: Georgia Harvey, Katie McKenna and Lucy Wakelin.

Congratulations to Ruben Van Eijck (Year 9 Manor) for qualifying and competing at the 2019 Dorset County Championships in February.

Ruben competed in two events, 200 metres Front crawl and 100 metres Backstroke. Ruben recorded a personal best time for the Backstroke and also broke the school record!

JUNIOR COLOURS:

COMMENDATION:

Jasper Angell, Louise Cliff and Abigail Essex.

Ruben Van Eijck

Commendations for excellent performances in the pool at the Sherborne gala are awarded to: Ruben Van Eijck, Abigail Falconer and Finlay Thring.

SAILING A record 14 pupils joined the sailing group this Summer term, with some experienced sailors continuing as the key core of the group with some pupils sailing for the first time. The group experienced a mixed set of conditions at the Watersports Academy in Poole Harbour where instructors were impressed by the positive attitude and enthusiasm.

General sailing and racing skills have been the focus of the sessions with some seamanship and navigation sessions thrown in for good measure.

The group have had a go at building skills like sailing backwards and sailing rudderless and have also topped up some navigation skills by examining nautical charts and heading out on the water to find navigational marks in situ.

Regardless of level of ability, all have been working towards their next Royal Yachting Association certificates.

COMMENDATION: RYA Level 3 Certificates have been gained by Billy Atkins, Rory Brookes, Tom Catmur, Rupert Doyle, Will Jacobs, Katie McKenna, Robbie McKenna, George Readwin, Rory Readwin,Tom Richards, Jojo Tetley and Gabriel Unt.

OTH E R S P O RTS

SQUASH Squash has continued this Spring term with a regular squad of 12 players and fixtures against Canford and Bryanston. The general standard continues to improve with support players now adding to the scores of the top three which led to our first

COMMENDATION:

victory over strongest opponents, Canford. Coach Dan Binns has quickly had a huge impact on the students and their enthusiasm for this sport is great to see as it really challenges their agility, hand eye coordination and reaction time.

Oscar Dryden, Dominic Holden, Charles Jones and Felix Preston.

JUNIOR COLOURS: Ayush Raj Lyer.

FULL COLOURS: Morris Winby.

DIVING This year saw the newly formed Clayesmore Sub Aqua Club which offered the opportunity for students and staff to experience the feeling of being and breathing underwater as well as attending the BSAC Diver Training Program.

Learning how to dive requires commitment, teamwork, leadership, courage and fitness as well as applied academic abilities in science

and maths. Students must exhibit robustness, organisational skills and the ability to problem solve often in challenging conditions outside of their normal comfort zone. It promotes environmental awareness in our oceans and seas and the conditions in our natural world. The progressive syllabus includes several classroom based and underwater skills that must be mastered in order to be safe and gain a recognised qualification.

In the past year, the branch has grown to 16 members and has provided training towards the Ocean Diver award and consolidation training afterwards. 30 try dives and 55 open water dives have been successfully completed resulting in seven qualified BSAC Ocean Divers and carrying out a total of 1516 minutes underwater to a combined depth of 586m. We are sure that everyone involved found the experience exhilarating, rewarding and fun. We hope that the coming year will be just as successful and many more students will embrace the opportunity to train as a diver.

One diver in particular showed a natural ability and aptitude for diving and voluntarily gave much of his own time to assist with the training of others. For his help, boundless enthusiasm, support to the branch, committee and other divers, Gabriel Unt is presented with the Clayesmore Sub Aqua Clubs Diver of the Year award.

The following students are awarded the British Sub Aqua Clubs Ocean Diver Qualification: Tom Catmur, Oliver Heath, Will Hullock, Felix Lamb and Hector Smith.

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SPORTING HONOURS NETBALL Sofia Coombes - Hampshire County Bryony O’Hare - Hampshire County, Regional, U17 Team Bath Futures Programme & U15 Team Bath Long squad

EQUESTRIAN Jess Rimmer was first on Mounttemple Mistress in the International CCI2*S at Rockingham Castle International Horse Trials.

Jemima Jennings won her first dressage competition at advanced medium level on her horse.

Tasmin Jennings was reserve champion at the MOVIE Barrell Championships held in Warwickshire.

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CROSS COUNTRY Elsa Charlwood - Dorset

WATERPOLO Phoebe Jones was part of the winning U18 Regional Waterpolo squad.

CRICKET Jacob Gordon - Dorset CCC Will Tripcony - Dorset U15 Josh Parsons - Dorset U15 Toby Berry - Dorset U15 Captain.

Edward Rimmer - Dorset U14 Austin Andrews - Dorset U14 Liberty Andrews - Dorset County Tilly Townsend - Dorset County

HOCKEY Oliver Vincent - Regional Performance Centre Eddie Edroff - Regional Performance Centre Will Tripcony - Regional Performance Centre

Max Walker - Bournemouth HC Hector Smith - Salisbury HC Tasmin Jennings - Dorset County Alice Meadowcroft - Dorset County Caroline Smith - Dorset County Ella Stephens - Dorset County Kitty Todd - Dorset County Tilly Townsend - Dorset County Edward Rimmer - Dorset County Austin Andrews - Dorset County Archie Waddington - Somerset County England Hockey Level 1 Umpiring: Issy Lockwood

RUGBY Charlie Spencer - Bath Development Player Programme Arthur Rider - Bath Development Player Programme Louis Church - BBath Development Player Programme Edward Rimmer - Bath DPP Cameron McCourt - Dorset and Wiltshire Counties.

Toby Berry - Dorset and Wiltshire Counties.

ATHLETICS Alex D’Arbost - Dorset Tim Hughes - Dorset Will Squires - Dorset Josh Smith - Dorset

FOOTBALL Kitty Todd just been selected for U16 Bournemouth AFC. Has been playing U14 Bournemouth AFC.

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L AT E S U M M E R P A R T Y & O C M AT C H E S Last September, we were blessed with fine weather as the first, big, Clayesmore event of the new academic year got underway.

Old Clayesmorians played the School at Hockey and Football in the afternoon: two highly entertaining and enjoyable matches which ended in great news for the current school teams. They beat the chaps at Football 6 – 1 while the ladies Hockey was closer, with the OCs leading for much of the way but conceding a third goal, they ended 3 – 2 down.

Then, it was time for the festivities to begin. A marquee on the South Lawn was home to this year’s Late Summer Party and hundreds of guests spilled out to enjoy the highly opportune sunshine. There were stands for each of the Houses and School societies, with both Prep and Senior well represented by staff, parents and pupils alike.

As hoped, it proved a real “coming together” of all parts of the School and much cake and Pimm’s was consumed. A lovely, heart-warming start to the year!

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Left to Right: Julian Bailey (1969), Alice Meadowcroft (King’s), Jamie Greig (Prep), David Horan (son of Tim Horan (1969)).

F R O L I C K I N G O N T H E FA I R W AY The combined Old Clayesmorian and Clayesmore Societies’ Golf Day saw an eclectic gathering coming together at Remedy Oak Golf Club last November and what a superb day it proved to be. With OCs of various vintages in attendance, along with current and former parents, current grandparents, current pupils and members of staff, representing every part of the School from Nursery to Prep to Senior, plus guests, it was a thoroughly intergenerational, multifaceted and happily varied turn out.

From the offset, everybody mixed with everybody and we had the honour of reintroducing two very lively OCs, who’d not seen each other since they’d left Clayesmore circa 1969.

Fortified by coffee and bacon rolls, the players made their way out into the fading drizzle for a practice on the driving range followed by tee off and a few hours of spectacular Golf, with hot soup being a welcome pit stop at half time (er, the 9thhole – Ed).

After a very dubious start, the weather cleared up to show the especially beautiful course off to its best, as fiery Autumn colours lit up under the sloping glow of the afternoon sun. Then it was all back to the clubhouse for an excellent meal followed by prize-giving. Well done to all who took part; it really was a wonderful day. And if this sounds like your idea of fun, please come along to the next one in October.

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THE OC SOCIETY AGM & LUNCH In January, OCs of all ages (from late teens to in their 90s) descended on Browns in Covent Garden to enjoy the biennial London celebration of their Society. After completing the business of the morning (the AGM), members strayed into the bar to catch up with old friends and much news.

Proceedings then moved into the Judge’s Courtroom, where the tables were laid for a delicious feast. Much wine was taken as the Head Boy and Girl said Grace, toasts were made for the Founder, the Society and the School and a very jolly time was had by all. We hope to see you all next January at the OC Dinner at Iwerne.

And this lot met up for the first time in about 50 years! L-R: Andrew Beaton (1969), Julian Bailey (1969), Neil Mackwood (1968), John Varcoe (1969), James Scott (1968).

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B A C K T O T H E F U T U R E D AY Back in March, we were visited by a small but eclectic group of OCs who came to give some wise words to our Lower Sixth. Back to the Future Day (so called as it is all about what advice we would give our 17-year-old selves, given the benefit of hindsight) saw our Old Clayesmorians relaying their personal stories of life after leaving school.

Some had enjoyed University success, others had becoming frustrated with academia and had changed course toward business or apprenticeships; others had found their niche early on while others had taken more time, learning a bit about themselves and the world along the way.

They were, as OCs have a tendency to be, very entertaining, talking with

great wit and also with compassion towards the students and there were some excellent and thoughtprovoking words for the Sixth Formers to consider.

After Q&As, the students had the chance to talk in more depth to the OCs about their individual occupations and everything from slick property brochures for multi-million pound houses to bits of spacecraft was brought out for them to discuss!

Hugh Ball (Devine, 1996), Estate Agent: Savills (Country Houses and Estates); Philippe Bridgeman (Gate, 1995), PhD Researcher, Cranfield University; Kirsty Patterson (Wolverton, 2009), Senior Account & Event Manager at CSM Sport & Entertainment (Formula 1); Bruce Thomas (1985), Merchant Navy, Harbour Pilot; Susan Trenchard (née Gibbings) (Wolverton, 2009), Front of House Team Lead for Help for Heroes; Jordan Belcher (Gate, 2013), runs family business: Sandbanks SUP Style.

Huge thanks to all who came.

The OCs who took part were: Mikaela Belcher (King’s, 2013), Trainee Solicitor at Reed Smith in London; James Somper (Gate, 2013), Journalist; Archie Parks (Manor, 2010), TA at Clayesmore Prep School; 2 0 1 8 -1 9 |

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O L D C L AY E S M O R I A N R E U N I O N : 2000S DECADE Well what a day that was! The sun shone (no blizzards this year), the Sixth Formers turned tour guides, the Netballers netballed in style and the Hockey players brandished their weapons on the Astro to do battle with the School. Coffees were drunk, lunch was enjoyed and cakes were devoured as the archive was plundered by horrified OCs, roaring with laughter at endless photos of their teenage hair/makeup/uniforms…

We had parents of OCs, partners, husbands and wives of OCs and no shortage of babies of OCs. The Ismay room became an impromptu changing facility: the Head rushed off to get

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boxes of toys to keep the little folk busy and the Main House looked like a depository for Bugaboo.

A good time really was had by all as old friends met up and embraced, and long-standing staff emerged to greet their erstwhile protégés. Martin and Eleanor Cooke returned and chatted eagerly with pupils and staff, past and present, and we are delighted to report they were both in very fine fettle indeed.

lake shining in the sun was the icing on the cake.

Special mention must go to the sporting heroes who represented the Old Clayesmorian Society with such spirit. Results weren’t the best but who cares when you’re having that much fun?

Netball: 33 – 10 to the School (double figures, girls, it’s all good) Hockey: 2 – 2 draw (splendid effort)

Mrs Thomson mingled, meeting lots of former students and their families, then the party spilled out onto the south veranda and the view of the

Good show! And thanks to all who came and made it such a marvellous day.

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A GOOD C L AY E S M O R E C A U S E In May, we held our 2019 Charity Walk in aid of Out of Afrika and welcomed a very impressive number of parents, staff, pupils and friends to campus.

We were blessed with perfect sunshine and blue skies and all who set off on the three different routes looked keen and raring to go.

It was very much a happy event and babies and dogs lent it a warm, family feel. The Friends of Clayesmore surpassed themselves, selling refreshments from the Shepherd’s Hut in the morning and overseeing registrations in the Main

House with perfect efficiency and no shortage of banter.

As the walkers returned to enjoy a traditional tea in the de Selincourt Room, they all looked suitably exhausted and the usual mountains of cake and scones were appreciated by all.

The total raised was £1,150: well over our target! Well done and thank you to all who supported us and have donated to such a worthwhile cause.

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OC CITY LUNCH In early June, the OCs’ annual City Lunch took place at the fabulous Soho haunt, Andrew Edmunds, where, secure in the womb-like bowels of the building, we proceeded to eat, drink and make merry.

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Left to Right: Simon Swaby (Gate, 2002) and James Chamier (Gate, 2002) Below: Stephen Dover (1964)

Hidden away from the day in our decadent, deep green burrow, we enjoyed spectacular food and wine and the volume levels rose as the levels in the bottles fell… We had some old faithfuls there but also some eager first-timers and, at last, the School’s Head, Jo Thomson, was able to attend and see what all the fuss was about (she had a great time).

Words were carefully chosen as each OC was asked to stand and address the party, mentioning three abiding memories of Clayesmore (all good, of course) and, as places were swapped and stories told, the clock ticked on. Puddings, cheese, coffees, came and went until we finally emerged, blinking in the daylight, wondering where the rest of the world had been for four hours.

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DIDN’T WE H AV E A B A L L ?

In an extraordinary turn of events, it actually stopped raining on the afternoon of Friday 14 June, just in time for a helicopter to land on the North Lawn which threatened to blow our marquee to kingdom come.

But we persevered, peace resumed and, incredibly, the sun even put in an appearance just as our guests began arriving for the Floral Ball.

What a heavenly evening we had!

Gin cocktails and Pimm’s to welcome everyone, then it was into the marquee, decked out as a magical secret garden with flowers and foliage and fairy lights… all were transfixed.

A veritable feast followed and then it was all feet to the dancefloor. A raucous game of Heads & Tails and a Grand Draw helped us to raise funds for our Lake Project and then it was back to the music as our band, Tom and the Clementynes, and DJ, Mondegreen, got everybody moving right up to the last minute!

Final word, however, must go to the cakes. The glorious cakes created by our baker, Debbie, which fooled the observer into thinking they were looking at a tower of hydrangeas whilst they were, in fact, gazing at pudding. And they tasted every bit as phenomenal as they looked…

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S P E E C H D AY & SIXTH FORM VA L E D I C T O R Y B A L L Speech Day 2019 was a resounding success. We bid farewell to our Year 13 pupils with a wonderful Valedictory service in the chapel in the morning and had a lovely leavers lunch and prize-giving ceremony in the afternoon, where many of our Senior pupils collected some welldeserved prizes. The weather was absolutely glorious and the sun stayed shining to the very end.

In the evening, we celebrated with the Sixth Form Leavers Ball, all centred around the theme of Alice in Wonderland! We had flamingo croquet, ‘drink me’ cocktails and a wonderful spread put on by catering.

Thank you to everyone involved in helping to make this such a special evening.

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Left to Right: Nick Goumas (1965), Geoff Phillips (1961), John Gilbert (1961), Steven Hare (1962), Richard Dibben (1969), David Fangen (1965), Adam Frith (1990), Piers Sabine (1960), Paul Jenner (1961) and Colin Redston (1957). A number others are just out of shot…

CRICKET WEEK In early July, for the 59th time, the members of the Old Clayesmorian Cricket Club, The Cormorants, made their way to North Dorset for their annual get together: to catch up, have a good time and play a bit of Cricket.

Although we didn’t get the best run of results, it was brilliant to see several debutants join us, making up one of the youngest OC sides to play in many years.

Sunday 7 July Stour Cup Game 1 Canford Cygnets v Clayesmore Cormorants 109-10 (19 overs) Cormorants (G Slinger 20)

119-4 (19.2 overs) Canford (J McDouall 2-32) Cormorants lose by 6 wickets

193-9 Cormorants (Z Tunda 71, J Whiteside 70) Match drawn

Sunday 7 July Stour Cup Game 2

Tuesday 9 July

Bryanston Butterflies v Clayesmore Cormorants 104-9 (20 overs) Cormorants (S Woodruff 31) 105-4 (13.5 overs) Butterflies (D Boothroyd 2-20) Cormorants lose by 6 wickets

Monday 8 July Canford Cygnets v Clayesmore Cormorants 255-10 Canford (A Dike 5-61)

Clayesmore Cormorants v Bryanston Butterflies 259-2 Butterflies (B Birtles 1-21) 147-10 Cormorants (P Pearce 56) Cormorants lose by 112 runs

Wednesday 10 July Clayesmore Cormorants v Wiltshire Queries 106-10 Cormorants (H Morgan 20) 108-6 Queries (J McDouall 3-18) Cormorants lose by 4 wickets

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Thursday 11 July Sherborne Pilgrims v Clayesmore Cormorants 199-10 Cormorants (J Whiteside 36) 201-4 Pilgrims (H Beardsley 2-49) Cormorants lose by 6 wickets A thank you to all the Cormorants who played this summer at both the OCs v the School match and during Cricket Week. The 2019 “‘Rants” were: Andy Dike (1991), Ben Birtles, Ben Thompson (Manor, 2017), Chris Morey (Gate, 2011), David Boothroyd, George Pratt (Gate, 2018), George Slinger (Devine, 2010), Greg Swaby (Manor, 2004), Harry Beardsley (Devine, 2012), Harry Morgan

Prizes: (Devine, 2019), Jack Whiteside (Manor, 2013), James McDouall (Devine, 2019), James Miles (Manor, 2018), Josh Richardson (Manor, 2014), Louis James (Gate, 2019), Luke Askew (Manor, 2015), Max Tipping (Devine, 2017), Michael Sandiford (Devine, 2019), Ollie Betts (Gate, 2017), Perry Pearce (Gate, 2011), Peter Merrell (Devine, 2009), Simon Woodruff, Will Hendy (Devine, 2016), Will Morgan (Devine, 2011), Will Price (Manor, 2011).

2019 Cormorants Cup: Jack Whiteside 2019 Wilkinson Shield (presented to a debutant member of the club): James McDouall And thanks to those who came to support us and, as ever, a big thank you to the School for laying on fantastic hospitality for everyone involved.

Our Cricket Week in July 2020 will mark the 60th anniversary of the Clayesmore Cormorants and we plan to get the bunting out… and then some… to celebrate our Diamond Jubilee.

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O L D C L AYE S M O RIANS

FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OFFICE I joined Clayesmore in September 2018 to form the Development Office. Working closely with Liisa Steele, the Alumni Relations Manager, we aim to encourage and in some cases, rekindle the involvement of OCs, parents and friends to take an interest in building an even stronger Clayesmore, committed to becoming a sustainable centre for educational excellence.

It has been an incredibly busy first year and I have greatly enjoyed meeting many Old Clayesmorians and hearing their stories. There is a terrific sense of loyalty held by many and the offers of support we have received has been wonderful. We have worked hard this year to build a strong career support network and I have been overwhelmed by the offers of work experience, seminar participation and careers advice. I was particularly delighted when a former parent, Jeremy Helsby, kindly agreed to be our guest speaker at the inaugural Property lunch which will take place in London in February 2020. Jeremy is the former Group Chief Executive of Savills and has helped to build one of the country’s most diverse and successful global property brands. OCs, parents (past and present), and friends working in the Property Industry and related fields are warmly invited to join us in the hope of building a unique network of professionals with a common bond to help and support one another and future generations of Old Clayesmorians.

In the competitive world of independent education, a continuous professional approach to fundraising is an essential part of every school’s life. We want to strive for the best and plan to start with developing our lake and its surrounding area. Here at Clayesmore we are privileged to have a fabulous natural environment in which our children can grow and learn and we feel that we should be making the most of this outdoor space to create a spectacular learning environment for the physical, spiritual and intellectual wellbeing of all our pupils.

The lake at Clayesmore has been enjoyed by thousands of pupils over the years. From Lake Warfare in the late 1940s to wild swimming, kayaking, raft building and high diving from the board at the outfall. Our wonderful grounds staff, led by Pete Kunze have worked incredibly hard clearing the scrub and vegetation around the lake. All edges of the waterline are now visible and the track has been barked.

By the time you read this, a pontoon for pond dipping will have been built at the area fondly known as Tadpole Bay. The lake contains a wealth of pond life and our budding biologists will be able to take advantage of this pontoon to collect samples and study the increased biodiversity in and around the water. The pontoon has been kindly funded by the Old Clayesmorian Society and we are very grateful for their support.

Other projects include an outdoor classroom, benches around the lake, developing the mountain bike track, an amphitheatre, a nature trail, a bespoke seating area and the restoration of the boat house. You can find out more on the supporting pages of our website.

There is an abundance of wildlife from kingfishers, sparrow hawks and egrets to our very own otter! We are all very excited about the project and hope that you will share our enthusiasm.

There is something for everyone, from Nursery through to Sixth Form and we cannot wait to be able to enjoy this wonderful setting.

The Development Office hopes to encourage a culture of philanthropic support and we aim to foster, in all who care about Clayesmore, a life-long interest. For those of you who have not visited Clayesmore for some time, come back and visit! Both myself and Liisa will be delighted to welcome you. There have been many changes over the years but it remains true to its values: Clayesmore supports and challenges every pupil to fulfil their potential and contribute to the world with confidence, ambition and passion.

Sarah Kerr.

Development Manager

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OC PRIZEWINNERS CALLUM FISHER Most recently seen on stage as ‘Danny Zuko’ in Grease, Callum Fisher has embraced a variety of the opportunities Clayesmore has on offer. He has a continued enthusiasm for, and commitment to, his studies: Photography, Performing Arts and Business. At the same time, he has continued to contribute to the wider community of the School and House in a wholly commendable way, through Drama, Music, Come Dine with Me and his strong support of social and House events.

In Gate, Callum has forged friendships across the year groups and has learnt

HARVEY THRING how influential he can be as a role model to the younger boys. This year he also found time to co-write and direct “Until next Time”, which was a feature film with an emotional ending; another first for a group of Clayesmorians.

He was a successful Managing Director for Clayesmore’s Young Enterprise Company, TIME, which swept the boards clear with all their awards at the Young Enterprise Dorset Finals event last year. TIME is a social enterprise which runs a campaign to encourage young people to take up the meningitis vaccination.

Harvey demonstrates that you can be in the 1st XV Rugby Team, where he can usually be found in the front row, as well as being a talented musician, having been House Music soloist on the clarinet for the last two years for Gate (this year helping them to secure victory)!

He has been out of School with the Pipe Band on numerous occasions, most recently playing at the Fonthill Charity Open Garden event, and has also been a valuable member of the choir, orchestra and concert band throughout his time at Clayesmore.

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He has represented the School in the pool and in his final summer term he decided to try his hand at rowing.

Harvey has studied Geography, Physics and DT for his A Levels but has decided that his passion lies in film editing. Last year he edited a short film for the Clayesmore Film Competition and this year, took things to another level, editing the student production “Until next Time”, with hours of editing required.

JAMES McDOUALL James is a shining example of a typical Clayesmorian. He has left his mark on Clayesmore, having found time to make a bridge for his DT coursework which sits proudly in the Devine garden (partly funded by the Spinney Memorial Trust).

On a Wednesday afternoon, he can be found with the CCF Contingent, having been appointed as Senior Cadet this year and seems a natural in his role here too. During the Cricket season, he can be found wicketkeeping for the 2nd XI as well as opening their bowling and hitting a solid number of runs.

with activities, and was particularly impressive during the summer term of 2018 with his work in preparation for the Cafe Mikado concert, for which he wrote the script and acted as narrator.

His musical contributions have been as a member of the choir, concert band, big band and Clayesmore Close Harmony, the last of which he has arranged a few items for himself. He was Kenickie Murdoch in Grease in February, after being part of the Mayflower Summer Youth Project in Les Misérables Schools Production last summer, and he was also part of the Mayflower Gala Performance and grand reopening in October, which several staff were lucky enough to attend. His grit and determination were tested the following day when, after not a lot of sleep, he broke his wrist in a hotly contested Rugby match against Sherborne but he was back in school on the Friday, taking everything in his stride!

Africa in the summer of 2017 and, as a real team player, has taken part in both 1st XV and 1st VII Rugby.

He has also been described as a breath of fresh air for the 1st XI Cricket team over the last two years and his fearless approach and quality of handling made him the first choice wicket keeper for the team. His performances with the bat are always entertaining, especially his six off the last ball to beat the OC team last year.

Paddy successfully led A company in the CCF for the majority of this year.

He is also a talented musician on both the double bass and the piano as well as voice, being part of the chamber choir, chamber strings, choir and orchestra. Paddy has performed a selection of emotive solos throughout his time at Clayesmore and even brought a tear to this tutor’s eye when he sung a solo in the Christmas service.

Paddy was described by one member of staff as “an all-round good egg” when the nominations were coming in for these awards. Paddy is a busy person: he was one of the Clayesmore Rugby players to go on tour to South

Paddy is very proud of his House and when asked what Gate means to him, he simply said, “brotherhood”, which says it all really. Paddy was the driving force behind Gate’s House Music success and he deserves enormous praise for leading the boys through their daily practice for the weeks running up to their victorious performances.

THE SCADDING ART PRIZE

THE LUBOFF DRAMA PRIZE

Freddie James

Matthew Moles

Jess Hullock & Shannon Wilkinson

THE HUGHES BUSINESS STUDIES PRIZE

THE GAWAIN TOWLER SHIELD (for overall winner of the

James Newell

Alun Pugh General Knowledge Quiz) Arthur Carpenter

James has also made superb contributions to music and drama.

He is a very talented young man, always eager to help and be involved

THE ALEXANDER GUNN ENGLISH PRIZE Paddy Hamlyn

PADDY HAMLYN

THE WALSER EFFICIENCY CUP (CCF)

THE YOUNG AWARD THE MILLER PRIZE Louis James

THE CHEUNG ALL-ROUND CONTRIBUTION CUP Rory Campbell

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O C F E AT U R E S & CONTRIBUTIONS

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MACHO MAN Somebody dragged this photograph out of nowhere and sent it over, showing none other than the Old Clayesmorian Society Committee’s very own Matt Swarbrick, OC (Gate, 1996). Form an orderly queue, ladies…

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PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY OC, Steve Flambert (1969), sent in some photos for us to see, taken during his time at Clayesmore.

They’re a bit fuzzy but we think they’re glorious!

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FORGOTTEN HERO: HUGH THOMPSON (1964) P U T S P E T E R C H I LT O N ( 1 9 3 2 ) D S O , D F C , A F C O N T H E S C H O O L’ S W A L L O F FA M E I N T H E L I B R A R Y : But first a citation from The London Gazette, June 12 1945: Distinguished Service Order Acting Wing Commander Peter Livingstone CHILTON, D.F.C., A.F.C. (33459), R.A.F. 149 Sqn.

Chilton, 1938

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While researching another OC, TV artist Tony Hart, and looking through old Clayesmorian magazines, I came across references to Wing Commander Peter Chilton DSO, DFC, AFC. A bit of googling got me a bit further and then, in the way the web works, his family came across my blog (wordpress/itwonthurt) in which I’d written about this forgotten hero.

They contacted me and first we emailed, then we telephoned and eventually I went to see Penny Henkes, one of Chilton’s daughters, who lives in Warren Road, off Kingston Hill, made famous because it was the home of General Eisenhower, leader of the Allied forces during World War II. It was a charming cycle ride across Richmond Park from my home in Putney and, once there, I was shown a treasure trove of photographs from Chilton’s life.

Wing Commander Chilton was pilot and captain of an aircraft detailed to lead a bomber force in a daylight attack against Bremen in April 1945.To ensure success, a high degree of accuracy was essential owing to the presence of our ground forces in the vicinity. When passing over Wilhemshaven, much anti-aircraft fire was encountered. Wing Commander Chilton’s aircraft was hit.

The starboard aileron was rendered almost ineffective, the hydraulic system was made unserviceable and petrol commenced to leak from the tank in the starboard wing. Although the aircraft became difficult to control, Wing Commander Chilton maintained his position in the formation and went on to execute a successful attack. He afterwards flew the damaged aircraft safely back to base. This officer, who has completed many sorties on his third tour of operational duty, set a splendid example of skill, courage and tenacity throughout.

Liisa Steele in the Iwerne office did some sterling work, finding this excerpt from the Clayesmorian 1932, thirteen years earlier: “With great regret and all good wishes, we say goodbye to Chilton, who goes to Uppingham next term. Chilton has been Captain of Football and Vice Captain of the Prep School this term and has been an outstanding example of cheeriness and loyalty. He has been at Clayesmore

since the tender age of seven (1925) and looks upon the School as a second home.”

At the time, the School was based in Northwood Park, near Winchester (it moved to Iwerne in 1933) and was 180 boys strong, of whom 46 were in the Prep. While there, Chilton appeared in plays, got his 1st XI Soccer colours and as a bowler got a remarkable 4.13, 4.2 and 6.50 against Portsmouth Grammar, Bedales and Salisbury Cathedral School.

He must also have been part of the famous school strike in 1930, when the boys rebelled against the new Headmaster, Aubrey de Selincourt, and his reforms at the time when Lex Devine, the School’s founder, was dying.

Prior to Clayesmore, young Peter’s education was at home in India, where his father was an engineer with Vickers. Not just that, he was a highly successful inventor, whose patents on air conditioning eventually made the family fortune. Peter was, therefore, sent to stay with grandparents in the holidays. Such was the lack of air travel that the prolonged separation from colonial or expat parents was normal. Until the 1960s, it meant many did not see their parents for years which, by modern standards, had a profound effect on developing a “stiff upper lip”. That is, the capacity to accept the slings and arrows of life without complaint or emotion. It was the ideal of Victorian manhood which public schools, including Clayesmore, espoused until the winds of change swept through British life in the 1960s. Even in later life, having

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been decorated by the King, Chilton remained modest and didn’t like talking about himself. Certainly, when his career didn’t work out, there was never a word of complaint.

If holidays were spent with aged relatives, it is small wonder the school was his second home. After Uppingham, he went to Cranwell in 1936. Throughout his life he was keen on sport, representing Cranwell at tennis.

In many ways he was typical of his age. Always crazy for flying, always crazy for fast cars, he accepted his duty without a murmur, showing little regret and no complaint. His daughter, Penny Henkes, remembers: “He did mention regret that so many of those he was at Cranwell with did not survive the war.”

And so to that war and a word about those three tours of duty. The overall

casualty rate in Bomber Command was something like 55%, 12 % were shot down and captured. Only 27% survived. First tour was forty sorties and only around 35% completed it. A six-month gap was allowed and then a second tour of 20 sorties began.

Another figure states in 1943 only one in six survived the first tour and 1 in 40 two tours. A third tour was only open to volunteers. It was all about experience, crews were ten times more likely to be shot down in their first five raids, after twenty raids the chances moved to evens. Like all in the RAF, Chilton was conscious of what might be his fate. In 1940 he wrote: “When I die Place not for me a cross To mark my end Nor homeward send Some useless words that did intend To ease a mother’s loss.”

Considering the fate of most of those around him, these are very powerful lines.

The little lad who got 6 for 50 against the Cathedral School was a volunteerhero who completed more than sixty operations. His eyes were open and he could see no other way. A school boy’s “cheeriness and loyalty” became a man’s “splendid example of skill, courage and tenacity”.

Throughout the war, Bremen had been bombed many times because of its submarine base. In 1942, the RAF lost 48 planes over the city.

Although flying was his life, Chilton had an artistic side: he wrote poetry and short stories and painted and although, like many of his generation, the war was the most significant and emotional event of their lives, he didn’t talk about it. “He wanted to put it at the back of his mind; he never > 2 0 1 8 -1 9 |

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bore a grudge against the Germans.

He was always good with people.”

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Not least with his friend the Dam Buster, hero Squadron Leader Guy Gibson VC. After the success of the raids on the Ruhr, the muchdecorated Gibson was something of a propaganda star. After a stint in Canada, he was brought back to write a book, eventually called “Enemy Coast Ahead”. This was part of the Allied effort to head off the criticism of the expense and efficiency of the Bomber offensive.

There is a lot of evidence that Gibson, like many men of action, found writing difficult and many have suggested the book was ghost written. Gibson was sharing a room with Chilton early in

1944 and Chilton’s family were told that he wrote a lot of the book. If that ever became a controversy, I am sure both men, if around, would laugh and tell you to mind your own business.

Gibson died in action September 1944.

After the war, Chilton worked on the latest prototypes of fighter planes.

Aged 40, he left the RAF in 1959 and tried to get work as a Commercial Pilot but was turned down because RAF pilots were considered “too gung-ho”. This is ironic as his family remembers him as being a careful, deliberate man rather than a risk taker. He went to work for Aviation Fuel Services and died, aged 57, in 1975. As Penny Henkes remembers: “My father knew nothing else but the

Air Force, and loved flying, so it was a hard civilian life for him and he didn’t enjoy it.”

There is no one more honourable on our Wall of Fame.

Brighter is the School and its future, fair, Because he learnt its lessons, because he breathed its air.

Hugh Thompson, OC (1964) “I don’t know what my father would think of the whole thing but, deep down, I think he would be a little bit proud, as I am of him. Thank you.”

Penny Henkes

Chilton, new boy at Clayesmore, 1925

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South Devon 2018. From the left: Piers Sabine, James Hole, David Fangen, Glyn Pole-Evans, Andrew Beaton, Neill Pitcher.

Dartmoor 2017. Foreground, from the left: John Kerr, David Fangen. Rear, from the left: Chorky White, Neill Pitcher, Charlie Pearson, James Hole, Neil Kenyon, Piers Sabine, Martin Waters.

O C WA L K E R S D R I N K TO T E N Y E A R S O N T H E T R OT The Warren House Inn is where it all begins for an OC walking group now celebrating ten years of adventures on Dartmoor – and occasionally losing their way.

It may be revealing of character and resilience that their starting point is Southern England’s highest Inn. Here the OC Society’s past President, Piers Sabine (1960), meets up once a summer with Neill Pitcher (1962) and David Fangen (1966) to walk the six miles across the moor to Widecombe, and back. The ritual Warren House to Widecombe walk is the warm-up to an annual three-day trip that rewards the walkers with breathtaking views of beautiful moorland.

Since the first trip in 2009, several OCs and friends have joined the group. “It’s great fun having them with us,” says Piers. “For as long as we can all keep going, we’ll stick to our welltried formula: walk hard and play hard.”

Regulars on the Dartmoor trail are Andrew Beaton (1969) James Hole (1962), Martin Waters, brother of the late Nick Waters (1960), his friend John Kerr, and Piers’ friends Charlie Pearson and Neil Kenyon.

They are often joined by J C ‘Chorky’ White (1966) who lives and farms near Moretonhampstead, where the walkers stay overnight. In previous years Charles Price (1961) and the late, much missed Peter Fleming (1962) have joined in.

Although three are qualified surveyors, the walkers have been known to stray off their chosen routes. Andrew, who is one of that trio, says, ‘you realize a map is only useful when you know where you are on it.’ Neill, a surveyor too, recognizes the value of maps, “particularly when I failed to notice that half a wood was missing on the way to the Burrator Reservoir and had us all floundering in a bog.” Ever the optimist, Piers says,

“One of the great joys of these walks is getting lost, and still making it back for early drinks and dinner!”

Certain events stand out. David Fangen remembers a convivial time with a passing coach party of German tourists. In true Monty Python fashion, “no mention was made of the war”. Then there was some goodnatured banter with a lady behind the bar who answered to the name of ‘Sausage’ and more, on another evening, with an ageing groupie called Genevieve.

The walkers can even say the earth has moved for them. One day in June 2011, they were having lunch outside the Fingle Bridge Inn, near Castle Drogo, when they heard a thunderous boom like heavy artillery fire. Only later did they discover there had been an earthquake reaching a magnitude of 2.7. Its epicentre was a few miles away near Bovey Tracey. Local radio > 2 0 1 8 -1 9 |

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reported that some people in nearby towns and villages felt tremors but no one was injured.

Apart from Dartmoor, members of the group have enjoyed trips to the Peak District, Corfe Castle and the Dorset coast, and the New Forest, where they were hosted by Steve Hare (1962). In June last year they had three days’ walking centred on Branscombe in South Devon. Defying a heat wave, they managed to clock up a total of 30 miles on steep coastal paths and, during a lunch stop at The Anchor in Beer (there’s a pattern emerging here – Ed), Andrew was reunited with his Clayesmore cricket teammate, Glyn Pole-Evans (1969), who lives locally. It was their first meeting in 40 years.

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Along the way, the walkers have learnt about the worlds of dairy farming and cattle breeding from Chorky, a former Vice-Chairman of the English Guernsey Cattle Society.

One year he gave them a guided tour of his farm and adjoining land and the view from his top field was stunning.

On other occasions, several of the group have explored the natural habitats of the New Forest, guided by Steve Hare, whose local knowledge is exceptional.

All told, the group has experienced more dry days than wet ones but no one will ever forget the return journey from Widecombe in 2013, which Neill deems “the nadir of our adventures”:

“The horizontal rain made a mockery of the claim ‘waterproof’. We were drenched and it took more than the eternal fire at the Warren House Inn to revive our spirits.”

“Set against the occasional battle with the weather,” says Neill, “the joys have been countless: the company, the humour, the friends along the way, the views, the wonderful thirsts, the feeling of having achieved a plan and above all, having the fitness of wind and limb to be able to enjoy it all.”

James Hole, OC (1962)

REMEMBER…

REMEMBER…

We were very proud that an OC, James Gill (2003), had his poem ‘Remember’ read aloud at the 75th D-Day Commemorations in France. The poem was used in an international ceremony hosted by the French Prime Minister at Juno Beach on Thursday 6 June 2019.

HOW SILENT ARE THE BEACHES? HOW PEACEFUL IS THE SCENE? G I V E N O W A L I T T L E T H O U G H T, T O W H AT T H I S P L A C E H A S S E E N .

CAN YOU SEE THE SACRIFICE? C A N Y O U S E E T H O S E D E S P E R AT E D AY S T H AT B R O U G H T U S A L L T O D E AT H ’ S D A R K VA L L E Y, W H E R E B R AV E M E N D A R E D T O S T R AY ?

T H E Y W A D E D T H R O U G H T H E W AT E R , THEY DASHED ACROSS THE SAND. T H E Y C H A S E D D E AT H U P T H E B E A C H E S , A N D G AV E F R E E D O M T O T H AT L A N D .

AND EVERY NOW AND THEN, R E M E M B E R W H AT T H E Y G AV E .

REMEMBER HOW THEY LIVED AND DIED. A N D C H E R I S H W H AT T H E Y S AV E D .

James wrote the poem when he was a 13-year old student at Clayesmore and said: “All thanks go to Mrs Barbara Barnes, my History teacher at the time, who was so supportive of my work.”

JAMES GILL

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A L L T H AT G L I T T E R S “All that glitters is not gold” is, I believe, the original William Shakespeare quotation. This was certainly true on my first South American trip in 1984, to Colombia.

Coming into Bogota, high in the Andes, you see multiple “lakes” encompassing the capital. It is only as the airliner (British Caledonian in those days) descends that these lakes are seen, in fact, to be massive glass structures. Being near the equator, the sun is plentiful (proof, if any were needed, was my badly-roasted right arm). They were miles of glass houses, growing blooms year round in the microclimate high up a near 10,000 feet above sea level. From there, flowers were flown daily to all the garages worldwide for Christmas, New Year, Valentine’s Day and weddings, etc…

When the plane landed, we were met by the thinner Andean air as well as eight million people. Mestizo or mulatto, all wore hats, had dark tanned skins and were consumed with the vital things of life like collecting cardboard to sell or add to their

shacks, which were frequently in close proximity to, and supported by, the brand new skyscrapers.

Life over there was very fragile. I had seen a passing lady driver in a large 4WD have her gold necklace robbed by a quick thief, who just reached into the open window and wrenched it from her neck. She simply closed the window and drove off. Two streets away, I was offered it to purchase.

I had enough Spanish to say “no thanks, I am not into gold” but luckily not enough to say “I saw you pinch it”. Gold was always big business in Bogota, as were emeralds, some looking like green glass.

the shelves and cabinets display every type of trinket, torque, tie and talisman. All is gold, real gold to take your breath away, but when you step outside the building, the oldest cars and trucks, which would never pass a British MOT test, survive in Colombia’s torpid terrain.

We found our way down from the Andes to a lovely island (San Andrés, in the Caribbean), where I purchased a t-shirt which read “Where is San Andreas”? The answer being right opposite Nicaragua but still a part of Colombia….

Alastair Graham (1966)

Within a day, I began helping a colleague who designed very special car alarm systems called robo y atraco. These alarms meant that when a car was hijacked at gunpoint, the vehicle could always be recovered because, after a pre-set time delay, it would “run out of petrol”, leaving the horn going and the indicators flashing.

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But to really see gold in Bogota, one must visit the Museo del Oro. There,

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GOLF - CHARLIE FOXTROT (G-CF), R E A DY F O R D E PA RT U R E In April 2018, I was fortunate enough to receive one of The Air League’s 12 Hour Powered Flying Scholarships, during which I flew the Cessna 152, rapidly progressing through the basics of flight and safety procedures before tackling the more complicated circuit procedure in London’s Aerospace. I experienced the complex operations of a busy aerodrome with Helicopters at 700-900ft, gliders to the left of their main 24 runway, other local powered traffic in the area and the London Terminal Manoeuvring Area (TMA) at 3500ft. Although it was challenging at times, it gave me a taste of what a real-world airport is like. Now, with 12 hours towards my EASA Private Pilot’s Licence (PPL), I feel more determined than ever to fulfil my commercial airline pilot ambition.

I study at the University of Bath, reading Spanish and Italian, but will continue my flying as I work towards my PPL and continue my training to complete my Commercial Pilots Licence (CPL). Prior to the scholarship, I had a good amount of gliding experience behind me, but no powered flight hours.

The Air League is truly ‘leading Britain’s future in aerospace’ as it is dedicated to help young people into aviation. In addition to the flying scholarship, I attended the Young Aviators Dinner at the RAF Club, Piccadilly and was also given the opportunity to take the RAF CBAT Pilot Aptitude Test.

More recently, I was granted exclusive access to the Royal International Air Tattoo and had the privilege to meet the pilots of the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, The Red Arrows and current British Airways Pilots.

Perhaps the highlight of all these opportunities was when, as part of a group of budding young aviators from The Air League, I was given a behindthe-scenes tour of the British Airways HQ at London Heathrow Airport, where we flew their multi-million pound, full-motion flight simulators that pilots of the modern world use for training.

Andrew Callaghan, OC (Gate, 2018)

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C L AY E S M O R E C C F S U M M E R C A M P D I A R Y 1 9 9 4 04.07.1994 We departed Clayesmore at 10:15hrs on Sunday 3 July. Those of us who were Sixth Formers said our quick goodbyes to those leaving after the Champagne breakfast from the Summer Ball (which was thoroughly enjoyed although having to get up did prove difficult).

Our destination was Penhale Cadet Training Camp, Holywell Bay, Cornwall. WO1 Evans and Capt Billington delighted the boys with the news that they would be sleeping in luxury 5-star accommodation, which would take the form of a large tent, fully ventilated by mother nature.

Eventually, Capt Billington negotiated and managed to get them a billet.

However, the fun had only just begun… they were to share with All Hallows: arch rivals in Rugby, Hockey and Cricket, not to mention extra-curricular activities.

When kitted out in wetsuits, we looked like frogmen! The boating was brilliant fun. We powered out using the outboard engine and then paddled back in. Unfortunately, due to neap tides, there was no canoeing after all so, much to our delight, we spent two whole hours body boarding. Then we ate our packed lunches, which made Mr Scott’s look most luxurious.

Our next activity was abseiling down a 25 foot face into a gully where the tide was out but appeared to be coming back in rapidly. After an interesting afternoon, we headed back to camp.

The evening event was the March and Shoot, whereby a team of eight had to run three miles in under 30 minutes.

Uphill. Our overall time for the run was 24 mins, which proved a creditable effort.

05.07.1994

The evening’s activity was the Penhale Challenge Orienteering Competition, which could be adequately described as “not a stroll in the park”. After an hour, those competing started to dribble back in; James Mander coming first with an excellent time. After all had returned, it was off for a shower, followed by a well-earned rest and socialising in the Naffi.

Sleepy faces appeared at the breakfast queue the next day, which started at 6.50am. The day’s activities were to be rubber boating in St Agnes Bay, canoeing and body boarding at Holywell Bay and abseiling at Holywell Cliffs. We departed by minibus and our driver played Bryan Adams on his stereo, content that we did not question his taste.

Today was, in comparison to yesterday, fairly relaxing. At 11:00hrs we had the first session in military skills. One group went first to fieldcraft and then followed up in the afternoon with survival training. In first aid we learned basic procedures then scenarios were set up in which injured casualties were simulated and diagnoses of their conditions had to be made. Phil Bridgeman and I were used as patients. He had a badly broken arm with a bone protruding and fake blood was used to make the wounds look more realistic. When mixed with Vaseline and dirt it was incredibly convincing.

We then had lunch, followed by field craft and much crawling up and down sand dunes. Clayesmore was

commended on its efficiency and competence at field craft skills (yet more to add to the kudos bank).

This evening, we went to Newquay to go bowling and Wing Commander Scott showed his talent by bowling towards the skittle when the placing bar was down. Each to his own. At the end, we presented WO1 Evans with a bottle of Champagne and a card from us all as it was his and Elaine’s 19th anniversary. We hope she actually gets the Champagne.

06.07.1994 Whoops, we overslept. After fumbling around to find the correct kit, many tired faces staggered into breakfast. I wonder if WO1 Evans still carried out his threat of early morning PT for Millington and Sgt McNeil? Are they still alive?

This morning’s activity was orienteering at Langford Wood, after which we returned to camp for lunch and to do the assault course in the afternoon. We arrived at the assault course and were made to do what looked like one of Miss Dawick’s aerobic warm ups. The PTI taking us looked rather like Mr Motivator from TVAM’s breakfast show. We were split into two teams to race over the obstacles and both teams managed under two minutes. Unfortunately, WO2 Millington cut open his knee cap so consequently needed stitches.

Following the assault course, we went to change for a game of soft ball in front of the Manor House and Abi was nicknamed “Basher Bennett”, due to her powerful hits into the Commandant’s garden. >

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07.07.1994 This morning we did command tasks just outside the camp in the dunes.

Hugh gleefully announced he could see the Isle of Wight!?! However, due to our location on the North Coast of Cornwall, this is not true, or he must know about some rather large geographical change that the rest of the world doesn’t.

As with the rest of the week, it continued to rain, and rain and rain.

Today, we wished it would stop, as our 24 hour exercise was beginning at 4pm. No such luck.

Having packed all our kit and collected our weapons, the first group set off to locate their base camp in a set grid square.

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Millington and Sgt Vass were unable to participate in the exercise due to injured parts. Tim, his knee, and Simon, his eyes: the blood vessels in his eye exploded when on a G-Force machine at Tower Park. Our scenario was that Group A were drug barons and we were shipping drugs over the border of Grockle to the Capital Penhale (get it?). Group B were attack group A in the hope of stopping their cartel. However, although they tried their hardest, WO1 Evans stepped in with the thunder flash which, according to Matthew Easton, “made a very loud noise”.

After the night attack, we established a new base due to the enemy having made contact. We found out roughly where Group B’s base was so a morning attack could take place. To start with, both teams talked of posting night sentries but the idea wore off quickly and sleep seemed a positively good thought. In section A, Abi complained about being cold but was tentatively looked after by Mac

and Hugh, who both tucked her into her sleeping bag and poncho and slept either side.

08.07.1994 Next morning – 24hr exercise continued…

Section A, which I was in, woke up at 5.30am and was ready to move out by 6am. Our task was to raid the other group and attack their base camp. In words this sounded like a simple plan but due to sand dunes and lack of cover, it took about two hours for each group to get into position.

The attack then took place. It lasted all of 10 minutes and then we were off to the dugout for breakfast and to move on to our next objective: the Taking of the Land Rover.

Breakfast consisted of Rat Pack porridge, hot chocolate and beans and bacon. Not bad compared to some of the fourth year camps I’ve been on. There was also that little extra bit of protein that crawled onto the fire – a caterpillar – talk about wanting self-cremation. I wonder if he’d written a Will?

The attack on the Land Rover was to be a “text book” one. Which meant that whatever some army general had dreamt up and thought would work would now be put into practice.

Later, having performed our attack successfully, WO1 Evans debriefed us and we marched back to camp.

Having got there, we faced the prospect of cleaning our weapons, which when someone is very tired and cannot think straight can prove to be a great task. However, we all had the trip to Newquay that afternoon to look forward to, where we spent the afternoon.

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WO1 Evans bought his wife a small china bear to add to her collection and the rest of us, fudge and Cornish pasties for our mothers and fathers.

Me, Abi and Serena then trundled off to watch the sea and surfers.

However, we all fell asleep on a bench for about 45 minutes. I bet we looked weird.

We then departed for camp at about 5pm. The evening was spent clearing up and vegging out. Just before bed, Rupert was hauled out in nothing but his kacks and locked outside the billet. He just casually sat there like a Buddha while people walked past.

09.07.1994 Oh dear, we forgot to wake up. WO1 Evans came in at 7.45am and there was still no sign of life. The mad scramble to get the billet clean and tidy now happened. All our kit had to be taken to the Clayesmore store and our weapons picked up at 9.30am so we could depart at 10am.

The coach that arrived for us to pile into was and is (due to this being written on the coach) very small. Mac has ended up sleeping in the aisle between the seats, on top of the kit.

It seats 25 people but all our kit has taken up the extra space.

We are nearly back at school and our week of endurance, skills and laughs draws to an end. Fifteen people who hardly knew each other last Sunday have pulled together to form a team and formed friendships that hadn’t previously been discovered.

To go on camp is a rewarding experience and should be recommended to all you Clayesmorians who may get board (sic) the first week of the summer hols.

So until next year… !

Sarah Hutchins (née Allen), OC (King’s 1995) 2 0 1 8 -1 9 |

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? 1940s

Latin America, Africa, Asia and Middle East.

PETER PREECE (1942) Widowed, living in Worcestershire.

Formerly in Army, police force, mining, business and trade unions.

COLIN PEARCE (1956) Recently played for England in the first Over 80 International hockey match against Holland and in the Over 75s at the European Cup in Belgium!

DAVID ANDERSON (1944) Celebrated 60 years of marriage to Mary, on 27 June 2019.

MICHAEL BILL (1957) A company Director, living near Sutton Coldfield.

MICHAEL POYNOR (1960)

DAVID PECK (1945) Retired insurance broker, living in Eastbourne.

PETER HARTLEY (1957) Retired for several years but he and his wife find there is plenty to do with grandchildren, travel etc… Lives in London.

RICHARD BRADBEER (1946) Living in the Isle of Wight after a varied career, largely in the media.

Lifelong sailor.

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MICHAEL PLAXTON (1947) A retired GP, living in Mere, Wiltshire.

1950s JAMES MORLEY (1952) Retired and living in Hampshire; a writer.

BRIAN HANNEY (1953) Retired in 2000 from being a Sales Manager. Enjoys Golf, dog walking and gardening. Lives in Essex, married to Anne and has three children.

ANTHONY PREWETT (1953) Formerly a Trade Association administrator, living in Rotherham.

ANTHONY WATTS (1954) Now retired after a legal career in major local authorities in London.

RICHARD (DICK) BAZALGETTE (1955) A retired osteopath, living in Poole, Dorset and full time carer for his wife.

ANTHONY PLOWMAN (1960) Retired and living in Middlesex and keeping very busy!

JOHN BRIDGEN (1958) Former Anglican Priest, now strongly connected with King’s College, Cambridge, his alma mater.

TIM WELLBURN (1958) Pursued a career in the Arts, went into television and film making in Sydney, Australia.

I was an assistant for five years and then was made an editor of many TV programmes and, later, many international films. I lived and worked in LA and Hollywood for about ten years before retiring to Sydney.

JULIAN SCOTT (1959) Retired but still doing a bit of engineering design work. Living in Henfield.

1960s FRANK DALL (1960) Currently retired, doing sustainable tropical farming on his finca on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Does some international consultancy work for UN, US, UK and EU agencies in

I have just finished directing and designing a new piece: “The Long Now”, by Hennessy Award winner, Sam Burnside, at the Seamus Heaney Home Place Centre in Northern Ireland. I adjudicated the Northern Ireland One Act Play festival finals and next year I will be adjudicating the RTE All-Ireland Drama Festival Finals at Athlone.

I’m currently directing a production of “The Sound of Music” at the Mill, Newtownabbey.

MARTYN VERNON (1960) Retired after a varied career, including some 20 years as a management consultant in Canada and the US. Lives in Norfolk.

BRYAN PARKER (1962) Living in Switzerland. After Clayesmore, he taught at a Prep School in Sussex, then went on to study Business Management in London. He married his Swiss

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girlfriend in 1966 and has two daughters and four grandsons.

GORDON GRANT (1968) Retired and living in Worthing.

In 1968, he started a Marketing career with Procter and Gamble then changed jobs to do promotional work for leading gold mines. Retired in 2002 and went back to teaching, this time MBA students in Lausanne and is now active in helping young companies get started and asylum-seekers become integrated.

Last game of Rugby about 20 years ago!

IAN MURPHY (1968) Living in Lusaka, Zambia, and still working as a photographer.

He remains deeply thankful for both the education and the hard and the soft skills that Clayesmore engendered in him.

RICHARD REYNOLDS (1962) A retired Construction Engineer; married with three children and living in West Sussex.

I have a twin, Nicholas, who also attended Clayesmore with me and now lives near Chichester.

JOHN BATTEN (1965) Largely retired after 40 years with the NHS (35 as a GP in Cheltenham).

Happily married with three children.

Life has generally treated me well!

MICHAEL PAGE (1965) I retired in 2013 after an enjoyable 43 years spent as a Shipbroker/member of the Baltic Exchange, the last 25 years of which I had a desk within the offices of Howe Robinson in the City of London.

ANDREW THORMAN (1967) Living in Herefordshire. Charity Trustee, former Head of Rural Programming at the BBC. JONATHAN DAVIES (1968) After a varied career, now living in Australia and co-founder of a food company.

The climate must be among the best in the world and old people are still respected!

I’ve worked in 117 countries, in tropical rainforests, deserts, in the Arctic Circle, in mountains and on oil rigs in the sea… In all my travels, my most prominent memory is of meeting kind people in all walks of life. The world is not a scary place.

MIKE POLLARD (1969) Formerly a Flight Manager for British Airways; living in Chipping Camden.

1970s NIGEL BOWDITCH (1974) Living in West Dorset and running an exhibition company (which recently supplied screens and lighting for the School’s Art and Photography Exhibitions).

1990s. Was part of the original crew who set up the brand Superdry; has just launched two new brands: JACKIT Co and Trench London.

NICKY GETHING (NÉE TEW) (WOLVERTON, 1984) Attended Northumbria University; now working as a counsellor and living in Richmond, Surrey.

ELIZABETH FREEMAN (1985) Working as a Finance Director and living in Wokingham, Berkshire.

KEVIN JONES (1986) A professional actor, he has recently finished playing Jafar in “Aladdin” in the West End. SAMANTHA BALMFORTH (1988) A make-up artist, living in Hythe, Kent.

POH JIN KHOO (Gate, 1988) Living in Penang, Malaysia, and working in Property and Real Estate.

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JON ENOCH (Manor, 1989)

PETER STEVENS (1977) Lives in Andover; works as a subcontractor in light haulage.

HOLGER NEUBART (1978) Now living at the Lake of Constance, Switzerland, and rather than the scientific career that was predicted, he is now a carpenter.

1980s GUS CASELY-HAYFORD (1980) Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington DC. JAMES MEIGH (1980) Long career in fashion and media.

Formed Icon Communications in the

Jon is an award-winning portrait photographer, whose works featured on the BBC News pages earlier this year. The stunning series of images, taken in Hanoi, showcases Jon’s immense skill behind the lens.

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Michael Miller

Harvey Bird

Olivia Cheung

1990s

loving the opportunities the School gives them for acting and film making.

SUZIE RANCOURT (NÉE PETERS) (King’s, 1998) Working as a Language Teacher at Shaftesbury School.

ANDY DIKE (1991) Running the successful family business, Dike & Son, in Stalbridge; winning lots of awards and occasionally playing cricket for the OCs.

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LARA WEBSTER (1991) Married her partner after 22 years together. Living and working back in native Dorset. Nurse: deputy sister.

EMMA BARNES (NÉE CONLON) (1993) Graduated in French and Italian from Manchester, after which she lived in Japan for five years before returning to the UK to work in Financial PR/ Investor Relations for Vodafone.

Married with three children and living in Twickenham.

NICOLE MORRIS (1993) My stage name is Nicole Faraday.

Always played the lead in school plays and am now a professional theatre, film and tv actress with a profile from leading regular television roles on Bad Girls, Casualty and Emmerdale.

I gave a TV masterclass for the Performing Arts Theatre Academy in Blandford earlier this year and was pleased to discover two of my pupils were current Clayesmore students,

LOUISE SALMOND SMITH (NÉE THOMPSON) (King’s, 1994) Head of the Prebendal School in Chichester, she received much praise in the Good Schools Guide: Plain talking, feisty and a virtuoso on the recorder… Pupils say she’s ‘really nice’… Parents are very enthusiastic: ‘brilliant… knows every child’s name… speaks in a way they can understand’; ‘a doer… not full of bluster. Has great ideas and is interested in the children themselves.’

GEORGINA ENGLAND (NÉE SPICER) (Wolverton, 1995) Working as a diplomat in Rome.

MATT CAHILL (1996) Living in Wellington, New Zealand, and working in the media industry.

LEO EVANS (1997) & RICHARD EVANS (1998) Both are running “The Profs”, supplying tuition to graduates.

Richard was awarded, amongst other things, Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Leo too old to apply)!

LUKE HAMPSON (Gate, 1998) Luke works as an Engagement Manager at Geovation.

LOUISE SMITH (NÉE ROSSKELLAWAY) (King’s, 1998) Currently on maternity leave from her job as Head of Marketing at Clayesmore: gave birth to Monty on Tuesday 9 July 2019.

2000s BECKY BENNETT-TOMLIN (Wolverton, 2001) A Personal Banker at Barclays; became engaged to be married earlier this year.

PETER CLAXTON (Gate, 2002) Working as a Land Agent.

CHIN PANG SO (Devine, 2004) Living in Hong Kong and working in Property and Real Estate.

PIERS GORDON-BROWN (Devine, 2005) A Police Officer, living in Norwich.

EDWARD THOMSON (Devine, 2005) After getting a BSC from Reading, he is working in property and construction. Living in London.

O L D C L AYE S M O RIANS

Rory White-Andrews

Andrew Jackson

Nina Williams

MICHAEL MILLER (Manor, 2006) A celebrity stylist, and graduate from Central St Martin’s, with a focus on editorial and red carpet; he has dressed everyone from Helena Bonham Carter to Joe Sugg.

RORY WHITE-ANDREWS (Devine, 2008) Has had a busy year: he received the Freedom of the City of London and got engaged to Ellie.

despite dreadful conditions, in a rescue operation lasting eight hours.

STEVEN BISHOP (Manor, 2009) Formerly at the University of Portsmouth, he passed out of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, in August 2018. Royal Engineers.

TABITHA RUSSELL (King’s, 2009) Got engaged to Ethan last year.

HARVEY BIRD (Devine, 2008) Harvey got engaged to be married to Kirsty in St Tropez in May. OLIVIA CHEUNG (King’s, 2008) After University at Nottingham, I worked in television, doing publicity for shows such as The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent and The Apprentice. I then moved into personal publicity where I worked with a range of actors, presenters and models. I now run my own PR agency, JadeEastPR, and we have just celebrated our second anniversary.

ANNA COOKE (Wolverton, 2008) Working at Monkton Combe as a Prep School class teacher.

MADELEINE HANDAJI (NÉE BAILEY) (Wolverton, 2008) Got married last year to Mounir (with a reception at Clayesmore) and has since had a baby boy.

CLAUDIA LEGG (Wolverton, 2008) Is engaged to be married to her fiancé, Marc.

NATHAN HOLMES (Devine, 2009) Got engaged last August, to Natalie.

ANDREW JACKSON (Devine, 2009) Living and working in Yeovil as an IT Systems Administrator and Data Protection Officer for Pittards plc.

PETER MERRELL (Devine, 2009) Living in Mere, Wiltshire, and working as an IT Service Support Manager.

JOSHUA POWNER (Manor, 2009) Went down on one knee to propose to his fiancée, Tara, in July. (She said yes, by the way!)

THOMAS REED (Devine, 2009) Doing well as a Navigating Officer in the Royal Navy, on frigate, HMS Argyll. It was Tom who spotted a burning container ship, the Grande America, 150 miles off the French coast earlier this year and the Argyll’s crew managed to save all on board,

It was a long, crazy night. I’m just glad we managed to get them all off.

SEB SHEEHAN (Gate, 2009) Working as a doctor in Sydney, Australia.

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NINA WILLIAMS (Wolverton, 2009) Married Andy in September 2018; they met whilst studying at Oxford Brookes.

Nina is still working for the Moving Picture Company (MPC) and has recently been involved in the digital version of “The Lion King”. She is now a Production Manager and regularly travels to their other offices around the world.

2010s WILL ARTISS (Manor, 2010) Got married in Corfu in June, to Amy. ROBBIE BOWERING (Manor, 2010) Was married, in June, to Emily.

EMYR DAVIES (Manor, 2010) Living in London and working in the construction industry.

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Evie Copland

Bryony Purdue

Hannah Patton

ABIGAIL GOODMAN (2010) Got her PhD from Queen’s University, Belfast, School of Natural and Built Environment.

BEN BURLEY-DAYSH (Manor, 2012) Working as a PADI instructor.

fiancé, Henry.

JOSHUA MILLARD (Gate, 2010) Graduated from the London College of Fashion in 2014 and has since been making a name for himself as a designer of exceptional womenswear.

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ARCHIE PARKS (Manor, 2010) Now teaching at Clayesmore Prep.

HUGO SEGRAVE (Gate, 2010) Working as a Game Keeper in Scotland.

EVIE COPLAN (Prep, 2011) Studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and performing regularly on her cello.

TARA PARKS (King’s, 2011) Towards the end of last year, she completed a (largely solo) cycle ride from Windsor to Kathmandu, as one does…

BRYONY PURDUE (Wolverton, 2011) Busy singing and performing and featured on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour earlier this year, promoting a musical, “Rouse, Ye Women”, about Mary Reid Macarthur, writer, orator and pillar of the unions, who Bryony was portraying.

WILLIAM NEWLAND (Devine, 2012) Graduated with First Class Honours in History and International Relations from Oxford Brookes, in June. He starts a Master of Arts in National Security in September at King’s College, London.

IMOGEN SANDIFORD (King’s, 2012) Is on a one year post as a Clinical Development Fellow at Hairmyres A&E Department, Lanarkshire.

FRANZISKA GANZ (Wolverton, 2013) Graduated with a BSc in Accounting and Finance, then got a First for her MA in International Management in October 2017. Now working as Junior Online Manager at WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany.

KIRSTEN GRAHAM (King’s, 2013) A Senior Stylist, currently working in Malvern, Worcestershire.

EMMA HAMILTON (King’s, 2013) Graduated her Master’s with Distinction (MSc, Strength and Conditioning).

LUCINDA SANDON-ALLUM (Wolverton, 2013) Is engaged to be married to her

JAMES SOMPER (Gate, 2013) A journalist who, after serving time in Yeovil on the Western Gazette, has moved up to Caters New Agency, based in Birmingham.

OLIVIA COTTENDEN (Wolverton, 2014) Graduated with a First in Digital Film Production from Ravensbourne University. Now working as a freelance film director/writer.

AMELIA MIST (King’s, 2014) To be seen on televisions everywhere as part of the cast of Made in Chelsea.

HANNAH PATTON (King’s, 2014) Working as a Primary School teacher in Poole, as of September 2018.

JAMES COULING (Manor, 2015) He has passed his flying grading and is now at RNAS Culdrose, spending six months on a squadron then six months as deputy PR Officer.

Loving it.

LUKE ASKEW (Manor, 2015) Just graduated from Leeds Beckett University with a BSc in Sports Coaching; about to start a PGCE, to become a PE teacher, at St Aidan’s Catholic School in Harrogate.

O L D C L AYE S M O RIANS

Luke Askew

George Maddison

Felix Rome

JAMES COMER (2015) Living in London and working as a Management Consultant.

ERIC NEWLAND (Devine, 2015) Graduated with First Class Honours in MSCi Geophysics from Imperial College, London, and is off to Cambridge in September to do a PhD on Underwater Volcanoes.

Academy, Sandhurst. He also broke his leg.

JOSH RICHARDSON (Manor, 2015) Got a First in Business Management from Exeter.

ETHAN WEST (Devine, 2015)

GEMMA CURTIS (King’s, 2015) Apprentice Engineer; currently doing a BSc and living in Blandford.

JACK DAVIES (Devine, 2015) Passed the Admiralty Interview Board in January and was accepted as a Deck Officer Cadet in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. His cancer diagnosis prevented him from joining the military directly (he needed to be five years post treatment), so he pursued the RFA and started training at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in June. He had previously re-sat a maths module to improve his A Level result so he had the grades to go into the Royal Navy Officer selection process.

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FELIX ROME (Devine, 2015) Got a First from Falmouth in Marine, Landscape and Wildlife Photography, having spent his summers living with the bears and whales of British Columbia.

GREGOR SANDIFORD (Devine, 2015) At Canterbury, Christ Church, studying Theology. He plays hockey for the 1st XI and is pictured here, with Eric Newland (see above) who was playing for his university side, Imperial College, London. (Imperial won, apparently!).

2019 kicking off a fair share stronger than 2014, for sure, he said.

ABE FRENCH (Manor, 2015) Got a First from the London College of Communication (UAL) GEORGE MADDISON (Manor, 2015) Graduated from Exeter University with a 2:1 in Arabic and German. He is about to start work as a TA at Clayesmore for a year.

NICO TAYLOR (Manor, 2015) A graduate in International Relations and Politics from Oxford Brookes.

BECKY CHRISTMAS (King’s, 2016) She has just finished her second year at Birmingham, reading English Literature.

Graduated from the University of Aberdeen with an MA in Politics and International Relations. He has been accepted to attend the Royal Military

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CAMERON DUNCAN-LYON (Manor, 2016) Earlier this year, Cameron Duncan Lyon won first place in a nationwide engineering competition.

Currently studying Biomedical Engineering at Nottingham Trent University, Cameron entered with his ingenious design for a fibre optic pillow that can detect signs of epileptic seizures during sleep. The prize? £5000 (to go towards building a prototype of his design).

His mother said: He entered off his own back, without prompting. That initiative and attitude is something that I feel his time at Clayesmore really encouraged. Thank you.

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HUGO DUNKASON (Gate, 2016) Achieved a First in Mathematics and Economics BSc Honours from Newcastle. He wrote to Miss Sarah Jane Rhead, who taught him maths and further maths: It’s crazy to think I got B, E, E, D for my AS Levels at my previous school and wasn’t even thinking about going to university. Your mentoring and advice showed me how to seize the opportunity that was Clayesmore, how to revise properly, how to apply myself and persevere. I have taken your wisdom to university and it’s bloody well worked!

ROSIE GIBBS (Wolverton, 2016) At the University of Bath, studying Education and Psychology.

BEN HEATON (Manor, 2016) Ben spent a year in France and worked as an English Language Assistant at the lycée at Thonon-LesBains. He also skied a lot (see Spinney Memorial Trust pages).

ROSIE HELLEWELL (Wolverton, 2016) Was married on Saturday 20 July 2019. Here is a photograph of the bride with her sister, Katie (Wolverton, 2019), who acted as bridesmaid, and James Hywel-Davies (Devine, 2016), who attended.

MADDIE NOLL (King’s, 2016) Former Head Girl, has just heard she got a First in Biology from Bristol University.

Maya Meredith

ROSIE MUSK (King’s, 2017) Has been at Sixth Form at Thomas Hardye School in Dorchester.

ALEX ASHMORE (Manor, 2018) Has been a TEFL tutor in Madrid.

ANDREW CALLAGHAN (Gate, 2018) At the University of Bath, studying Spanish and Italian. Still learning to fly aeroplanes.

ALICE COULING (Wolverton, 2018) Has just finished her first year at Royal Holloway; she is a member of the Founders Choir and was selected to go to a world music conference in Dubai at the start of 2019.

MATT GIBBS (Manor, 2018) Has decided not to take up his place at Nottingham reading Accounting and Finance and will, instead, re-apply next year to study for a BSc in Agricultural Business Management.

MAYA MEREDITH (Wolverton, 2018) Maya is studying for her degree in Spanish and International Management at Bath and is continuing to pursue sporting excellence in Netball.

WILL MUSK (Manor, 2018) Has been on a gap year before heading to Chichester University.

DUKE OF EDINBURGH G O L D AWA R D S L-R: Matt Gibbs (Manor, 2018), Louis Brook-Smith (Devine, 2018) and Tom Dickson (Manor, 2018) at Buckingham Palace.

Other recipients in the past year include Oscar Dyer and George Vasey (both Manor, 2017)

O L D C L AYE S M O RIANS

NED LACK ( G AT E , 2 0 0 4 ) & JAMES TRUSCOTT (MANOR, 2006) Ned, on the left, and James visited during the School’s Cricket Week, towards the end of the summer term, playing for the MCC.

F O R M E R S TA F F ROGER (2010) & MEG (2012) DENNING They have moved to Broadstairs in Kent, to be nearer their son, Tom (Devine, 1996) and his family and also a bit closer to Sam (1995) and Jim (Prep, 1997).

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NEIL D’ALLEN (2011) Since leaving Clayesmore as the Catering Manager, I have run my own hotel and restaurant on the south Devon coast road between Teignmouth and Torquay: the Orestone Manor Hotel.

My family works with me: two sons, my wife, Catherine, and my daughter-inlaw, Laura, and we employ 20 people as well.

OC SOCIETY COMMITTEE PRESIDENT Robert Mash (1958)

SPORTS SECRETARY Matt Swarbrick (1995)

CHAIR Louise Salmond Smith (née Thompson) (1994)

EDITOR Louise Smith (née Ross-Kellaway) (1998) SarahJane Newland (née Kennard) (1984) John Dukes (1953) Adam Hornblow (1993) Rory White-Andrews (2008)

SECRETARY Paul Smith (1994)

If you are interested in joining the Committee and/or helping organise OC events, please contact Alumni Relations Manager, Liisa Steele, at the School, on lsteele@clayesmore.com or 01747 813160.

TREASURER Mark Farrand (1981) 2 0 1 8 -1 9 |

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IN MEMORIAM We regret to report the deaths of the following Old Clayesmorians and former staff:

HAROLD STENNET HOLLOWAY (1941) He died in January 2019.

Harold was rather short-sighted and unable to join the Navy as he would have liked. It was only towards the end of the war that he served on minesweepers and was able to assist in clearing mines for D-Day. He later joined the family business, E R Holloway (aka Barnet Combs), with his brother, Albert. Harold married Verena in 1951 and had five children. Towards the end of his long life, he suffered from Alzheimer’s.

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We remember him fondly, he was a good dad and loved playing with us all and was a good story-teller.

Andrew Holloway, son

KENNETH E LINGWOOD (1942) He died on 27 June 2019. His ashes were scattered by the lake at Clayesmore in July.

Flight Lieutenant Kenneth E Lingwood 01/12/1924 - 27/06/2019 Ken attended Clayesmore Prep and Senior Schools from 1933 – 1942.

On leaving, he joined the Royal Armoured Corps and was commissioned at Sandhurst in 1944, seeing action in Burma with the 7th Light Cavalry (14th army).

After the war, he served as an ADC to Lord Mountbatten in India, then returned to England after independence, training as a gunner in the Royal Artillery and then as a pilot.

In 1949, he married Jean and they went on to have twins, David and Susan and six years later another son, William. Both David and William are Old Clayesmorians (1968 and 1973 respectively).

Ken flew with the Army in Egypt, Eritrea, Cyprus, Jordan and other Middle Eastern countries. He was transferred to the RAF in 1956 and trained as an air traffic controller serving in Aden, Salalah and Germany.

W GEORGE BROOKBANK (1942) He was born in Hull in 1925 and died of natural causes at his home in Tucson, Arizona, in March 2018. He was always keen to tell stories of his time at Clayesmore and remembered it very fondly. On one of our family trips to England in the 1980s, he took us there and we had a nice tour. He was surprised to see the skeleton of a swan hanging from the ceiling in a biology classroom and remembered finding the dead swan one winter and putting it all together as a skeleton. For us, it was nice to see the skeleton of the swan “flying”.

He retired from the RAF in 1972 and continued working in air traffic control for Marconi in Kent and British Aerospace in Saudi Arabia. When he eventually retired, he returned to Dorset and lived in Shaftesbury for many years before moving to Kent and latterly, after Jean’s death, to Bournemouth.

Ken and Jean enjoyed their retirement, they loved holidays and spending time with their children, five grandchildren and more recently their four great grandchildren, all of whom were present at Clayesmore where we scattered his ashes.

Harold Holloway

Anne Lingwood (daughter-in-law)

CHARLES C BALCH (1942) Dr Charles Clive Balch died in Spain last May, aged 94.

Kenneth Lingwood

O L D C L AYE S M O RIANS

Dad was an author of gardening books and in the introduction to one of them he wrote fondly of a gardener at Clayesmore who was kind to him and encouraged his interest in the subject.

I think Dad might have been one of those boys who didn’t always go home on holidays. He didn’t get along with his stepmother and his Dad died when he was 16.

Robert Brookbank, son

ANDREW G HORSBURGH (1944) Andrew died on 1 June 2019.

He attended Clayesmore during the Second World War and was made Head Boy in 1944. After leaving, he qualified as a surgeon at Westminster Hospital and became a consultant at Watford General Hospital.

Adrian Horsburgh, son

MARTIN H P BOTT (1945) Professor Martin Bott died on 20 October 2018, aged 92.

He often spoke fondly of Clayesmore and remembered his time there as a very happy one in which he gained a love of classical music.

Through Clayesmore, he won an exhibition at Cambridge to study Maths.

He later changed to Natural Science and went on to become Professor of Geophysics at Durham University, where he was for his entire career.

He continued to research after retirement, with his last paper published this year. In 1977, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society and he was also awarded the Wollaston Medal for Geology; an honour also given to Charles Darwin in 1859.

Andrew Bott, son

KEITH R HALL (1945)

Martin Bott

He died on Sunday 27 January 2019, aged 90. His daughter, Pauline Woodruff, told us how he remembered a bomber crashing in the School grounds, Matron rushing out in her “starched whites” and her ushering the injured soldier into the boarding House, much to the amazement of the boys.

He requested that the School motto be engraved on his headstone: “Dieu premier donc mes frères”.

MICHAEL ANDERSON (1946) My brother Michael died in hospital on 23 July 2019, after a short illness.

Antony Maltby. Photo credit: The Times

During his years at Clayesmore, he appeared in Carl Verrinder’s production of Hamlet in which Michael played Queen Gertrude and John Brooke-Little took the lead. I think this may have provided the catalyst which encouraged him to go into show business as a career. After his National Service in the Royal Navy, Michael went to RADA and after graduation, like all young actors at the time, went into rep. This led to him touring Australia, New Zealand and southern Africa in “Seagulls Over Sorrento” and, I think, “Reluctant Heroes”.

On return to the UK, he spent a few more years in rep, but then recognised that a more certain and lucrative future lay on the other side of the footlights, so he joined Harold Fielding and became a theatrical agent for the rest of his working life. One of his first clients was a then very young Tommy Steele and he went on to represent Kenneth Williams, Leonard Rossiter, Paul Eddington, Richard Briers and Patricia Hodge.

David Anderson, OC (1945) Editor’s note: David and Michael attended Clayesmore with their brother, Bryan (1947). Their father, Frederic (1914), who helped found the Old Clayesmorian Society, was here before them and David himself was involved with of the Society for over fifty years, eventually becoming its President.

ANTONY JOHN (TONY) MALTBY (1946) Tony died on 18 May 2019, aged 91.

He attended Clayesmore with his brother, Christopher (1944), and went on to read History at Cambridge, where he obtained a blue for discus and shotput. He then began a teaching career which culminated in being made Headmaster of Trent College, in Derbyshire, for twenty > years from 1968.

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DONALD CAMERONBROWN (1947)

NIGEL P H WOODWARD (1951)

After Clayesmore, Donald went to read English at Gonville and Caius in Cambridge, during which time he found he had a growing conviction to become a Catholic. After reception into the church, he worked in London as a librarian and then went to the Benedictine Prinknash Abbey, where he remained, becoming 3rd Abbot of Prinknash in April 1979.

Major Nigel Philip Henry, late of the Royal Hampshire Regiment, died at the end of August 2018. He was married with four children (one of whom pre-deceased him) and seven grandchildren.

He went on to oversee the foundation of a priory in Ghana and was a gifted speaker: “in sermons and homilies, Fr Aldhelm shone.”

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MICHAEL GASKIN (1952) Michael was a sculptor whose family had the Art Bronze Foundry on the King’s Road. He made the bust of Lex which is in the Drawing Room at Iwerne.

He was “extremely sensitive to other people’s needs and much sought after as a confessor and director”.

“Gakky” died at the beginning of 2019 after enduring Parkinson’s for many years.

Known to friends as “Aldi”, he retired in 2003, becoming a much loved and respected Oblate Master.

We go back a long way, to 1943! It is sad when a friend dies but one had the joy of their friendship and we can all look back to such happy years at Charlton Marshall. Richard (Dick) Everett was born to be a Headmaster.

We were lucky to be there when we were.

He died on 8 November 2018 in his 90th year.

With thanks to Father Mark Hargreaves, Oblate Master, Prinknash Abbey, Gloucestershire.

W I A “IAN” JAMIESON (1949) We were recently informed of his death, on 11 August 2018.

EDWIN C FARRELL (1951) His widow informed us of his death, on 30 June 2018.

TIMOTHY J SCOTT (1951) His widow, Rosemary, informed us of his death, on 1 November 2018.

John Fryer, OC (1951) We had a couple of cycling adventures.

One, around 1950, was memorable as when we were camping at a farm in the New Forest, the small tent we had taken as a store was trampled to shreds by a herd of cows. How fortunate we were to avoid the same treatment in the big tent!

Andrew Nurcombe, OC (1954)

ADRIAN BRIAN CROSSLEY (1954) He died on 6 August 2018. He had a distinguished military career, becoming a full Colonel in his forties, and

culminating in his final posting as Col. Commandant of the Army Pay Centre at Taunton, having transferred from the Royal Artillery to the Royal Army Pay Corps midstream.

From memory, I think that his dormitory (P dorm, in those days), produced one Brigadier and two Colonels. We were Middles Prefects together.

Peter Mycroft, OC (1953)

J H ROWSON (1956) He died in 2018; unfortunately, we have no further information.

ROBERT J BALSDON (1960) “Jimmy” died on 20 May 2019. He lived and farmed at Bradfield, Berkshire, and had been awarded an MBE in 2009.

RICHARD V WARBEY (1960) OC, Steven Hare (1962), informed us of Richard’s death, in May this year.

He was a retired stockbroker who loved shooting and fishing.

PAUL SANDAY (1961) Paul died on 25 May 2108, aged 74.

After leaving Clayesmore, he joined the Royal Navy as a submariner then went on to work for British Airways and British Caledonian as ground staff.

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DARIUS B KANDAWALLA (1962) Darius died on the 26 June 2018, in New York, after a long and stoical fight against multiple myeloma. His wife Spenta, his two daughters, his four sisters and his four beloved grandchildren were with him: a true testament to how much he meant to every member of his family.

I first met Darius at the beginning of the Autumn term 1957. We sat opposite each other listening to Robert Mash (OC, 1958, and former Master) telling us how life was going to be and the dos and don’ts of life at Clayesmore.

He was prepared to have a go at most things and apart from Chapel (he was a Parsee) was fully involved in school activities. He played Rugby and Cricket for the School and sports day would see him in mighty endeavour with the hammer. We studied English together with John Appleby.

Darius had a wonderful sense of humour, sometimes mischievous and was quite resilient to some of the names he was called which, though entirely affectionate, would be the cause of outrage today. He was gregarious and frequently entertained in the holidays at his Aunt’s house in Hendon, where many Clayesmorians would have had their first taste of food from the sub-continent.

In the late summer of 1960, I was flying back to the UK having visited my father in Singapore. The plane landed in Karachi to refuel at about 1.30am Walking to the transit lounge I mentioned to a fellow passenger that I knew one person in the whole of Pakistan (population then circa 45m) and within half an hour the door to the lounge swung open and in walked a stoutish gentleman, accompanied by the said Darius, who was seeing his uncle off up country. Two weeks later we were both back at Iwerne Minster. An amazing coincidence.

James Coulson (1962) has written that he, Darius and Ali Ala (see below) shared a flat in Hampstead from 1963 to 1967, during which time Darius worked as an articled clerk for Barton Mayhew in the City. He qualified in 1967 and returned to Karachi to run the family car import business from premises at the eponymous Kandawalla Corner. The company ran franchises for BMC and Willys Jeep at that time, but Darius soon found other areas of business and other companies to represent, the most successful of which was the franchise for Honda motor cars. James adds that the Kandawalla house was always open to OCs visiting Karachi, which he did several times; an added advantage was that Darius had a liquor licence in a dry country.

We always kept in touch, sometimes only by Christmas greeting, but he made contact on his frequent visits to the UK and there were many happy reunions.

The last was a dinner hosted by Ali Ala at the Athenaeum. Ali also visited him several times in Karachi. They were great friends. They have died within a year of each other which is a cause of great sadness to many OCs who nonetheless will share some vivid and happy memories of two of nature’s gentlemen.

Neill Pitcher, OC (1962), with thanks to James Coulson, OC (1962) This photograph of Darius was taken at the wedding of Max Dowse, OC (1963) to his wife, Frankie, in 1967.

MOHAMMAD (“MIKE”) ALI ALA (1963) He died on 27 April 2019, having remained a close friend of a number of Old Clayesmorians.

Dr Mohammad Ali (or Mike as he preferred) Ala was born in Tehran, Iran on 5 August 1944, the son of Mohammad Khan Ala, a physician and Roghieh Fakhr-e-Iran Mafi, granddaughter of the Prince Regent of Iran. He moved to the UK in 1958 and attended Clayesmore School in Dorset.

After finishing school in 1963 he took a year out travelling (one of his favourite pastimes) by car from London to Tehran with two school friends and then went on to university in London. He obtained a BSc in Oil Technology and an MSc, PhD and DIC in Petroleum Geology, all from Imperial College, an institution he came to think of as his home from home.

Mike had been associated with the international oil industry for more than 45 years, as an exploration geologist, a consultant and within the field of education and training. In 1973 he joined Seagull Exploration and was involved in exploration studies and prospect evaluation in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean, the Caribbean and South America. In 1976 he became the company’s General Manager in London, responsible for > 2 0 1 8 -1 9 |

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North European and Middle Eastern operations.

After Seagull, in 1981, he joined the academic staff of the Earth Science Department at Imperial College. He found the role fulfilling and this was reflected in him rising to the post of Director of the internationally recognised MSc Petroleum Geoscience Course in 1994. Mike was much admired by many generations of students, both for his personable and supportive nature and the wealth of professional industrial experience he provided, as well as his lecturing skills and dapper dress sense.

He had published over 60 research and review articles covering the Middle East and Africa. However, his primary interest remained the petroleum geology and the oil industry of his native Iran, a topic he was fluent in.

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He was on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Petroleum Geology and Editor in Chief of Seventy-Five Years of Progress in Oil Field Science and Technology, published in 1990. He was the author of an Introduction to Petroleum Geoscience, a text book, published by World Scientific/ Imperial College Press in 2017 which, he would have hoped, will continue to influence and inform future generations of students for years to come.

Since 1982, he had been involved in organising and presenting numerous training programmes in Europe, throughout Africa, the Middle East and South East Asia for a number of large corporate and academic institutions, allowing him the chance again to enjoy one of his favourite pastimes: travelling.

boards of a number of international oil companies. Outside the oil industry, Mike was a key and active member of The Iran Society, which was founded by his uncle in 1911, and served on the council for a number of years. He had keen interests in all aspects of Iranian culture.

He is survived by his two sons, Hormoz & Kamran, and his loving wife, Farkhondeh.

He was my tennis doubles partner and very good he was, too. He had a brother, Parviz, who was also at Iwerne. They came from Iran where their father was physician to the Shah.

Ali was a charming, urbane, cultured and highly civilised gentleman.

Badly missed.

Steve Hare, OC (1962) A thoroughly lovely chap.

David Fangen, OC (1965)

DAVID R TALBOYS (1965) My dear friend and contemporary at Clayesmore, David Talboys, died, after a sudden change in his health, on Tuesday 15 January 2019.

Having both lived in Venezuela in our pre-Clayesmore days, we had much in

common and to talk of; our greetings and conversation often conducted in Spanish.

One cherished photo I have of that time is of David and I standing on the low diving board of the very dirty open-air swimming pool in mid-winter (I’m in the long scarf). Our shared background and experiences (at School) forged a lifelong bond, one that an interval of some 45 years failed to break.

David left Clayesmore in 1965, a year before I did. He was certain of the career that he wanted to pursue, he was restless for new experiences and he travelled the world to gain them in his choice of work. He went to catering college in the UK, then went to Cornell to study hotel management… He was highly regarded by his peers, he mentored others. In his quiet, unassuming way, he gave something back to those he met, worked for, associated with.

Eventually, he moved to Broadway with his wife, Pam, and we met up once again, in 2015, after such a long time.

After that, we began to get together once a month or so and we travelled down to Iwerne together for the 1960s reunion.

In our day, Clayesmore School Chapel could hold us all and we always sang a particular end of term hymn, poignant now: “God be with you till we meet again.”

No te olvidare, amigo. I miss my friend a great deal.

Johan Van Dijk, OC (1966)

JOHN A T MOYLE (1980)

Beyond geological evaluation, he was also engaged with the commercial aspects of the oil industry, as advisor and non-executive director on the

His widow, Jennifer, informed us of his death, on 23 July 2017.

David Talboys

O L D C L AYE S M O RIANS

STEPHEN M PERCY (1994)

LETTERS

Stephen’s mother wrote to inform us that he had died in July 2018.

GOLDEN DAYS

SPLENDID SCHOOL

When at Clayesmore, many of us had bicycles and a Sunday treat was to cycle to a tea shop in one of the neighbouring villages. We could enjoy a poached egg on toast, one cake and a cup of tea for one shilling and nine pence, which would equate to £2.70 today and was the amount of pocket money granted by the School to students in the Middles’ House (now Gate). Cycling around North Dorset was a matter of “up hill and down dale” and the journey back was a lot harder but we were young, full of energy and, after a poached egg tea, we knew we could freewheel down Iwerne Hill and through the village, back to School.

Thank you so much for sending me the Clayesmorian magazine with my father’s “in memoriam”. What an amazing school it is, so many activities, so many opportunities for the students. I may be wrong, but I would think that Clayesmore is not driven solely for academic results, but a rounded education where it is recognised that all pupils are valued and have a future. Exam results aren’t everything! (but you already know that). The words on the back of the magazine by Lex still mean something today. I wonder if he would have ever expected his school to be still educating young people after all these years?

John Dukes, OC (1953)

Frances Reed Daughter of OC, Maurice Gerard (1928)

SARAH SIDDONSCAREW (2010) Sarah, formerly of Wolverton House, died in December 2018.

FORMER S TA F F ANTHONY PHILIP DEANE He died on 11 March 2019, aged 94: briefly joint head of Clayesmore Prep School when it was at Charlton Marshall.

I’d left by the time Dick Everett sold the Prep School to Col Edwards-Stuart and Philip Deane was joint head and perhaps owner. He was not there long and maybe left as the move to Iwerne took place.

His bowling nickname was “Puff-Puff Deane”.

David Fangen, OC (1965)

AUDREY MARY EVANS She died on 12 January 2019, with her husband, Peter, by her side. They moved to Iwerne Minster in the 1980s and both worked at Clayesmore: Peter as a laboratory technician and Audrey as the School’s librarian.

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> REVVING UP FOR A REUNION Rowena Alameddine (1986) and I met up in May for the first time since we were 16 and at Clayesmore and had a great day out on our bikes! It was wonderful to see each other again.

Emma Todd, OC (1984)

PATSY LIDSEY She was a long-standing Governor of the School, serving from 1994. She died earlier this year, aged 91.

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SCHOOL SPOOK?

BLAST FROM THE PAST

I am researching Lord Ismay’s connection with what, when I was at Iwerne, was known as “the Nun’s Walk”, in connection to the drama of that Titanic night in April 1912 and its connection with Clayesmore. Indeed…

Does the Nun’s Walk still exist?

Helen Phillips as I was then, in 1973, possibly 1974, leaving home in Cyprus to come back to School.

Possibly the last summer at Charlton Marshall.

Helen Dominey, OC (1979)

Julian Bates, OC (1960) What was “the Nun’s Walk” is now beneath the Prep School building.

One of the myths the boys used to tell each other was that a path in the (then) garden was haunted by a nun who didn’t get off the boat. The alternative to the story is that she haunts one of the corridors on the second floor of Wolverton.

ROGUES’ GALLERY

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I’ve just found a couple of photos I thought you might be interested in. They were taken on sports/ prizegiving day in 1967. One shows teachers looking at scores for some event: Mike Henbest; Mr Foot, Reverend Drinkall; Humphrey Moore; John Skinner. The other is of boys walking to the marquee (past the Chapel): Sheldon; Mike Manson; Christopher Carson; Derek Potter; Rob Vaisey; Cosby; Tim Cazeaux; James Cormack; unknown.

NO GIGGLING IN CHAPEL I was delighted to receive my copy of the Clayesmorian (last year’s issue) and even more surprised to see a piece describing the Senior House Dance in 1968, written by me (page 150).I remember those dances with mixed emotions: couldn’t do the foxtrot, pretty inept at the waltz and I suppose one was pretty shy around the girls of Cranborne Chase School with only homemade lemonade to fortify one.

Mike Manson, OC (1967)

STODGY PUDDINGS

PROCREATE ASAP!

After a family visit, an OC writes: “…

My children had never visited Clayesmore previously and it made a considerable, positive impression upon them. It is now a far cry from the austerity of 1948 when there was much “make do and mend” and the boredom of the relentless diet of roly-poly and spotted dick was relieved only by the washing up afterwards.”

I saw a post on Facebook about how a former pupil was happy with their education at Clayesmore. I would add that I absolutely loved every minute of my seven years there. Without the dedication of the staff, I do not think I would have achieved what I have; I will forever be in debt and will most certainly look to send my children there to have the experiences and opportunities I had.

Peter Mycroft, OC (1952)

Richard Carr, OC (Gate, 2006)

This must have been one of my first pieces of reportage; I went on to have a 30-year career in journalism. After School, I joined the Yorkshire Post and graduated to Fleet Street, with the Daily Mail’s Dempster column, before working as a BBC reporter and again returning to Fleet Street to write for the Mail on Sunday, The Sunday Correspondent (now closed), Today (ditto) and The Sunday Times.

O L D C L AYE S M O RIANS

The picture above my article, of the triumphant cricketers, included some of my best chums - Julian Bailey, Sandy Colquhoun and Andrew Beaton among them. Amazingly, we still see a bit of each other 50 years on and that naughty boy Bailey still makes me laugh, as he always did at the more solemn moments in Chapel. Fun days.

Neil Mackwood, OC (1968)

CARE IN THE (CLAYESMORE) COMMUNITY. Firstly, congratulations on the new combined magazine and what a delight to find an article (last year’s page 70) about visits to the Nazareth Lodge retirement home in Sturminster Newton, which was opened by my parents in the mid-1970s. It was the brainchild, and life-long ambition, of my mother, who was at the time a

WARTIME IWERNE The eagle-eyed among you may have spotted this but if you look closely, there are several scenes filmed in Iwerne Minster in Peter Jackson’s astonishing film about the First World War, “They Shall Grow Not Old”, including the well and maypole dancing outside the (then) village school.

Louise Smith (née Ross-Kellaway), OC (King’s, 1998)

district nurse. She was a Palestinian who grew up in Nazareth, in what is now Northern Israel, which is why it was named Nazareth Lodge.

My parents built it for £20,000, raised through the sale of our house and my father’s (he was also an OC) laundrette business. Tragically, my mother died from cancer shortly after the business opened and this coincided with my first year at Clayesmore Prep. I am forever indebted for the kindness shown to me at that time by Mr and Mrs Seddon. There was a considerable strain on my father, left as he was with a business that he wasn’t really qualified to run. Nevertheless, he took it all on and was he determined to realise my mother’s dream of creating a place that residents could consider as their own home.

A long-term character in the early days was Ms Althouse, a former

Headmistress of Roedean. She smoked a pipe and would be happy to show photographs of the Harley Davidson motorbike she used to ride while dressed in her best tweed suit.

I also remember Mr and Mrs Sarkies, who I believe were the first, and certainly the longest, residents and who would zoom around the countryside in their light blue Hillman Imp. I was once sent to Gillingham station to collect Mrs Sarkies’ older brother for a visit. He was a retired Oxford Professor, and at the time he was 102. He is still the oldest person I’ve ever met (or given a lift to).

As a child, it always amazed me that we had people living under our roof who were born Victorians, who knew Dorset when it was worked entirely by horses, and some of whom were in their teens when the Wright Brothers took to the sky. What a pity that more of their recollections and stories were not recorded; a point which only serves to highlight the value of the visits from current Clayesmore pupils.

Bryan Strange, OC (1984)

RISK ASSESSMENT ANYONE? Old Clayesmorian, Gervais Sawyer, regales us with some, erm, interesting tales from his schooldays. Current pupils: don’t even think about it…

We had a very active radio club and these were the days when there were lots of government surplus components and equipment, so we built and repaired radios and TVs. I remember going up to Shaftesbury to repair Mr Skinner’s TV. Once fixed, I was allowed to watch it while we had tea. The first programme? The very first Dr Who! > 2 0 1 8 -1 9 |

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I later fitted a TV into the cupboard under the eaves in my bedroom and all the House prefects would squeeze in on a Saturday night to watch “That Was the Week That Was.” Another memory was that the radio club ran its own electricity supply from the main switchboard, drilling holes through walls with power from that same cable. Through that we were able to dim all the lights in the middle block at will. I did lots of welding and, without appropriate equipment, I got arc eye, which is a sort of “sunburn” of the cornea. I went to the sanatorium where Sister Simms applied castor oil. Nearly blinded me!

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And I had a motorbike which was actually a power pack that fitted over the rear wheel of my bicycle. I had many late night trips around the surrounding lanes. No lights, of course!

Back in the 1950s, the theatre didn’t have proper dimmers for the stage lighting. Instead, they had pieces of salt glazed drainpipe with a weak salt solution in them. A pair of electrodes were lowered the required depth into the solution to act as dimmers. Apart from the Health and Safety issues, these worked fine unless the play called for a long period of dim lighting, by which time the salt solution would be merrily boiling.

to make a dartboard for the common room. The wood was very wet so he mounted it on the lathe in the woodwork shop and stepped up the speed to spin dry it. It seemed a good idea at the time but centrifugal force made the disc burst and the shrapnel knocked out a whole window frame.

Jan worked all weekend to fix it, and we thought he’d got away with it, but one day, Captain Aldworth (PE master and head of the CCF) tapped his nose with a smile and told Jan that “he knew his little secret”.

Also, Humphrey Moore (Headmaster at the time) used to come home late at night at high speed in his sports car and park under the tower (at Gate).

One night we closed the gates (first time they had been moved in decades): happily, he stopped just in time.

And Nick Zelle (1961) famously jacked up Captain Aldworth’s Ford Prefect and put it on bricks, so the wheels were just clear of the ground.

I never found out how he took the joke.

One of my pleasures was shovelling coal into the boiler room. The stoker was obviously happy with this arrangement, as was I as it meant I would be sure of a really hot bath every night.

Other things that we got up to that aren’t widely known: one night we cycled over to Canford and removed a lot of their toilet chains. The next challenge was to cycle over to Shillingstone and return with some girl’s knickers: they were very helpful!

All very innocent fun.

The School was well integrated with the local community and I took advantage of that and dated a number of girls in the district. At a dance, I met a girl from Sherborne with her sister and Gary Rees and I dated them. It was a hard cycle over there but great fun. Angela was the one that got away and I have regretted it a bit ever since.

One day, the local farmer was felling some trees and Jan Tory (1967) went over and asked for a slice of the trunk

Gervais Sawyer, OC (1964)

MARVELLOUS MAGAZINE I received my copy of the last year’s Clayesmorian and have to write to say thank you. In its new format it is a very impressive publication and a great improvement on former styles.

I like the combination linking Clayesmorian with the OCs’ magazine. So many interesting articles. I was most impressed by the story, “Redemption” (brilliant) and the article about Robyn Denny.

Clayesmore has kindled much creative talent and we can celebrate the success of many OCs in their various fields of activity.

Thank you for all your hard work in editing and creating such a wonderful view of Clayesmore life, which is a credit to you.

Geoffrey Phillips, OC (1961)

…TIMES TWO! Although I departed Clayesmore some fifty years ago, I have enjoyed, and still enjoy, reading about all the changes that have occurred. You make that possible for me for which I thank you most sincerely.

David Mitchell, OC (1968)

O L D C L AYE S M O RIANS

S P I N N E Y M E M O R I A L T R U S T: FROM THE CHAIRMAN The Spinney Memorial Trust will be 30 years old next year, having been established by the Old Clayesmorian Society in May 1990 as a memorial to the late David Spinney, who gave a lifetime of devotion and service to Clayesmore School.

Clayesmorians continue to show interest in the Trust’s grant programme. There were seven applications for consideration at the Trustees’ meeting in May this year, from which grants were agreed with a total value of £3400.

It supports individual pupils in a way that enables them to do things that, without the Trust’s financial support, they may not be able to do. It is a fitting memorial to a teacher who saw abilities in his pupils, regardless of their academic achievements, and did so much to foster those abilities.

Two significant numbers have been achieved this year. The total value of grants made by the Trust has exceeded £50,000 and the number of Clayesmorians or OCs who have received support is over 100.

Clayesmorians seeking a grant can obtain application forms from the Development Office in the Main House and the deadline for consideration is Friday 24 April 2020.

I hope you will enjoy reading the reports of projects undertaken by Clayesmorians with the help of their Trust grants, which follow this introduction.

Bill Chennells (1956)

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DT PROJECT

FRENCH HORN

James was awarded a grant from the Spinney Memorial Trust to cover the cost of materials needed to build an ornamental bridge in the Devine house garden.

“I really appreciate this generous gesture. This new French horn has made a big difference already to my playing, making a much higher quality sound and will help me to perform to a higher standard for years to come. I love being part of the Orchestra and Concert Band; performing in concerts at Clayesmore means a lot to me.”

“I would like to thank the Trustees for their support in my work. The challenge that I set myself was rather greater than I had first imagined, but I very much enjoyed the experience of developing the concept from early days to the finished product which now connects to a small island in the garden pond. I am pleased to say that my client, Mr Rimmer, is very pleased with the outcome”.

Sebastian Rowe, Devine, Year 11

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James McDouall, Devine, Year 13

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KENYA TRIP Emma McKeown will be spending her gap year working as a Teaching Assistant at St Andrew’s School, Turi, in Kenya. Following in the footsteps of fellow OC, Alice Foster, Emma hopes to be another good ambassador for Clayesmore. The Spinney Memorial Trust gave her a grant towards her travel costs. “It is very much appreciated and I am really looking forward to the experience” Emma McKeown, Wolverton, Year 13

RALEIGH INTERNATIONAL

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Bia Cottenden is travelling to Costa Rica to work with Raleigh International, which aims to create lasting change by working sideby-side with communities which have huge development challenges.

The 10-week expedition includes a community project, building vital infrastructure for indigenous communities, a trek through the Costa Rican rainforest and an environmental conservation project, where she will work in a national park to improve the trails, ranger stations and increase environmental awareness.

Bia Cottenden, Wolverton, Year 13

GAP YEAR

UCL

Liddy Stevenson will be spending her gap year working as a gap student in Australia. The Spinney Memorial Trust awarded a grant to help with her travel costs. “Thank you for your generosity. I am looking forward to my trip and I am excited for all the new opportunities I will experience.”

Conor Gibb will be spending part of his summer holidays attending a Young Doctors Summer Weekend at University College London.

Liddy Stevenson, King’s, Year 13

Conor Gibb, Manor, Year 12

O L D C L AYE S M O RIANS

ON THE OCEAN WAVE Sailing on board Maybe in the Tall Ships Race in 2018 was perhaps the most enhancing experience of my life. Almost immediately, I found myself in a new environment and was completely out of my comfort zone. However, the crew were very welcoming and all the other trainees were very friendly.

seasickness. Headed for Denmark, we soon found ourselves surrounded by ocean and enormous sails. A true marvel for all, especially watching the first sunset over the second largest sailing ship on the planet. We settled into a watch system, divided into four hours on watch and six hours off, and although we were separated into groups, we still found time to eat meals and sing sea shanties together!

We boarded in Sunderland, and spent a day learning the basics of how to operate the ship under sail and when tacking (a mammoth task on a boat of this type). This was a great opportunity for the crew and trainees to bond, and we all went out for a meal in Sunderland on the first evening, which was great fun.

The following day, we took part in the Parade of Sail which saw all the tall ships sailing out of Sunderland in front of thousands of spectators lining the quayside and cheering every time the pirate ships fired their cannons. I knew I was in for a very special week.

During my time at sea, I learnt a lot about the importance of protecting the environment and lots about the cultures of the various nationalities onboard. Operating the ship was very physical and required a lot of teamwork and organisation from everyone. We managed this well and maintained a good position in the race throughout. From a personal point of view, I was keen to do better than one particular ship, Jolie Brise, which belongs to Dauntsey’s School and was crewed by its pupils, especially after losing two Rugby matches to them this year.

The first day at sea was a challenge for some of the trainees, as they had to battle both homesickness and

We arrived in Esbjerg in the sunshine, to a large crowd of very welcoming Danes, and were very excited to explore this foreign town. The

organisers had set up a large music stage and lots of mini games and activities for us to enjoy, making it a great event for the locals, too. They all got very involved in the celebrations and held a parade through the streets for every ship’s crew, during which they applauded our arrival. This ended at a prize giving ceremony and I felt proud to be a part of the whole event and such a fantastic crew. Unfortunately, we did not beat Dauntsey’s Jolie Brise, but we achieved a very high place.

I have been lucky enough to sail on modern yachts throughout my life, and yet I found this to be a completely different activity. Sailing a historic ship at sea for four days straight was great fun, however, I know that it was about more than having a good time. I really feel that I have grown through the experience and gained lots of confidence at sea, as well as in myself and my social ability. I am so grateful for this adventure, as it has changed me for the better and I will never forget it.

Archie Merriman, Devine, Year 13 (2018 recipient)

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TELEMARK SKIING

SHOOTING STAR

SCADDING AUCTION

After confirming his year abroad as part of his university studies, Ben Heaton has been training with the GB Telemark Ski Team and hopes to be selected for the senior GB squad. He intends to achieve podium finishes at the Army Championships and improve on results in French National Cups and we look forward to following his progress and wish him the best of luck.

The grant the Spinney Trust gave me has been invaluable. At Tucson, in Arizona, I made the final at my first World Cup, which is rarely heard of at my age. I have also become the first British junior woman to make a senior ladies final at a World Cup in ten years. With your support, I am paving the way for young women in my sport. You gave me the boost to really show my strength on the world stage.

The help of the Spinney Trust has also enabled me to keep hold of my seven British records and one team world record. Thank you very much.

We have acquired a number of paintings by former chaplain and art teacher, the Rev Scadding, who some of the more senior members of the Society will remember. We are hoping to hold an online auction of these works, some time in the coming year, details to be confirmed.

Please get in touch with Sarah Kerr in the Development Office to register your interest and she will keep you informed.

“The grant from the Trust will be used to help me to attend preseason training in either France or Austria at the beginning of the 2019/2020 season. This additional training will help me to progress and work towards my goals for this season.”

Ben Heaton, OC (Manor, 2016)

Augusta Campos-Martyn, OC (Wolverton, 2016) and British Trap Shooter (2018 recipient)

Sarah can be contacted via email at: skerr@clayesmore.com or telephone on: 01747 813177.

O L D C L AYE S M O RIANS

ARCHIVES 100 YEARS AGO – 1919

Left: The “biographies” on the back are illuminating: “Hassell: arch joker, perpetrating such feats as filling all the wash-hand stand jugs in the dorm with tadpoles” and “Foster: a great favourite of “Lex” who had, however, to expel him as he broke a command not to continue to correspond with a particularly pretty housemaid “Sylvia” who was sacked when Lex found that half the school had fallen in love with her and many used to meet her in the woods!”

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50 YEARS AGO – 1969

Above: Report on the inaugural Clayesmore Lecture by Lord Snow, 1969.

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Above: What on earth is actually going on in this photo?

Answers on a postcard etc etc…

Above: 1969 Clayesmore School Shooting Team (who put a gun in the hands of Mr Bailey??)

O L D C L AYE S M O RIANS

10 YEARS AGO - 2009

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Above: Kirsty Patterson, Wolverton 2009 at the Leavers’ Ball, July 2009

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10 YEARS AGO - 2009

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Above: “Look at this gruesome lot… ”

Above: Getting down to business on CCF camp with Mrs Newland!

O L D C L AYE S M O RIANS

V I S I T I N G C L AY E S M O R E A reminder that all OCs are welcome to visit the School! We have a number of “official” OC events here during the course of every year and we love welcoming back our former students and their families. However, we can usually do short tours, too, time allowing.

Wherever possible, please let us know you’re coming by calling Liisa Steele on 01747 813160 or emailing lsteele@clayesmore.com, so someone can meet you and show you around, as we are no longer able to give permission for visitors to wander freely on the campus. Furthermore, we regret we are not able to guarantee entry into classrooms and boarding houses.

INTERNATIONAL AMBASSADORS We have a number of kind-hearted Old Clayesmorians who have volunteered to be International Ambassadors for fellow OCs so, if you ever find yourself in or near their neck of the woods, give them a shout.

Their details may be found in the members’ area of the OC site at www. ocsociety.co.uk.

OC MERCHANDISE There are lots of nice things for OCs to purchase to remind them of their Old School, including ties, rugby shirts, mugs, brollies and bracelets.

Have a look at the website and choose something nice for yourself.

SOCIAL MEDIA The Old Clayesmorian Society has a presence on a number of social media sites, making it really easy to keep in touch and see what’s going on.

FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/ OldClayesmorians https://www.facebook.com/groups/ clayesmore/ INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/ oldclayesmorians/ LINKEDIN https://www.linkedin.com/ groups/2170228/ TWITTER https://twitter.com/Lex_Devine_1896

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OC SOCIETY AGM MINUTES For details of 2019’s AGM minutes and an overview of accounts please visit the OC website.

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ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2020 Notice is hereby given that the 2020 Annual General Meeting of the Old Clayesmorian Society will be held at

Clayesmore School on Saturday 25 January 2020. A full agenda will be published in due course.

ALUMNI OFFICE REPORT Dear Old Clayesmorians

OCs do know how to have fun.

Another year has passed here at Iwerne and the Society is looking pretty healthy. Events we’ve held this year have seen many OCs, young and old (and in between), getting together and enjoying themselves, and that’s what it’s all about.

We’ve just said goodbye to the Cormorants, who spent their traditional Cricket week staying at Devine. They are the most loyal and active of our alumni groups and we treasure them and their enthusiasm for Clayesmore. Next year will be their 60th birthday and we’d like to do something a bit special so if you’re a fan of the game, do think of joining us but, in the meantime, any ideas for how to mark this special occasion would be gratefully received.

Personal highlights have been the lunch at Brown’s last January, where we enjoyed a good turnout and better menu, and the 2000s decade reunion we held at school in March. I’ve never seen so many babies in one place!

And I always love Back to the Future Day, when OCs return to talk to the Lower Sixth. It never fails to impress the students and it’s always hilarious.

to when it began in Charlton Marshall, all those years ago. If any of you wish to come and steal a slice, you’d be most welcome.

Looking through the final section of this year’s “Clayesmorian”, I hope you find lots of things to pique your interest and please always consider this YOUR magazine. It is made up, almost entirely, of material sent to me

by OCs, so please always let me know your news. I really hope you have enjoyed it.

With my best wishes

Next term, at the Late Summer Garden Party in September, we are also baking a cake to celebrate 90 years of the Prep School, looking back

Liisa Steele Alumni Relations Manager

O L D C L AYE S M O RIANS

LETTER FROM THE OC EDITOR I hope you enjoyed reading the latest edition of the Clayesmorian, the second in this new style. Overall, the response from OCs to the inaugural edition in the updated format was very positive and we hope you enjoyed this year’s digest of all things Clayesmore. At the start of the last school year, we launched the new prospectus. Much time is spent on these projects, debating words used, selecting the right images and the need to ensure the publication conveys to prospective parents the essence of the School they are considering for their child’s education.

In recent weeks, I discovered at auction, the School-related papers of Peter RRW Rainsford (1938), a pupil

in the early days at Iwerne Minster.

Alongside reports commending his “good progress”, the bundle contained a copy of the first prospectus for Clayesmore at that site. It’s been interesting to look at the images of what is now the library, set up as an assembly hall, and the Ismay Room laid for breakfast as the dining hall, but what struck me was the similarity of aims and ethos expressed in the two publications, separated by over 80 years. Both versions focus on the importance of developing the individual, as part of a wider community. The 1935 number says: “examinations are not looked on as the final end of school teaching; the aim is rather to lay the foundations... which shall be the basis of a rich and

varied life, both at school and in the world.” Aside from the fees then (£40 per term), there really is a sense that the mission and aims of the School today would be as recognisable as those of the 1930s to Peter and his contemporaries, and I hope that Old Clayesmorians of all vintages recognise the same thing.

My thanks, as ever, go to Liisa, who pulled together the OC content for the magazine. Our magazine is for you, whether you are a current pupil or a former one and please don’t forget to keep sending us your stories, news and updates.

Louise Smith (King’s, 1998)

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