Welcome

WELCOME FROM THE HEADMASTER

It is with an enormous sense of pride in our community that we bring you this latest edition of Omnia. As with previous issues, the spotlight is cast on the difference that people within the Caterham School community are making on the world around us.

In the last few months alone Caterhamians across the generations have shown that they are making their mark locally, nationally and internationally students are fully engaged in the School’s extensive partnerships programme; OC Will Moy was extensively called upon by the media for full facts throughout the general election campaign; 2010 leaver Jansen Zhao returned to school to give the MJS Christmas Science lecture on his work harnessing Quantum Information which is helping shape the future of global computing and our cover star OC

Geoffrey Pidgeon was welcomed to No.10 Downing

Street having been awarded the Légion d’Honneur for his work at Bletchley Park in WWII, which included laying the wireless networks to enable D-Day communications.

One of the community’s achievements, which I am most proud of is that we welcomed two new pupils to the school as a result of the Inspiring Education bursary campaign, which we launched last year. Thank you for all the support you have given, and continue to give, to the

Inspiring Education campaign. The enabling of education transforms lives – and not just of those immediate recipients but of all of us.

I hope you enjoy this edition of Omnia.

Ceri Jones Headmaster

WELCOME...

FROM THE OCA PRESIDENT

In almost two years as your OCA President, one thing that has struck me is the almost continuous flow of good news and brave endeavours undertaken by Old Caterhamians of every generation and across so many spheres of influence. Whether in business, politics, sport or the creative arts, there is so much achieved by our community. This edition of Omnia is a product of this broad collection of good work and makes for inspiring reading.

Despite spanning so many different disciplines, what binds all of our community’s stories together is a determination to achieve the best and make a positive change. We have seen that from our elder Old Caterhamians (not least from this edition’s cover star, and all of his generation) and also from our youngest Caterhamians whose determination to make a positive change has shone through in all the entries to the OCA Innovation Award, which saw its first winners ‘Planet Eco’ in 2019.

A further common theme is the willingness to share experience and expertise in support of each other. Our regular Insight Evenings are proof of this support in action and if you haven’t already taken part in one, I encourage you to do so. Recent events have covered entrepreneurship, law and the media and lessons in resilience exampled by leading sports men and women – each event built around life lessons shared with each other. I am very proud that these events have been shortlisted for the Times Educational Supplement ‘Best Alumni Engagement’ award. Thank you to all of you who have supported and taken part in these events.

Clive Furness OCA President

FROM THE CATERHAM SCHOOL SOCIETY

The Society Programme has really flourished over recent months with a wide range of successful events including a visit to a Race Day at Brands Hatch, an Insight for “Entrepreneurs” in the Wells Fargo Headquarters, a second sold out Theatre Trip to the West End, a celebration Dinner at the School for Head Boys and Girls of the last 40 years and a packed out Humphreys Hall to hear broadcaster John Humphrys’ give our Bonarjee Lecture about his life and answering questions!

It has been most heartening to see all of the different elements of the Society represented at our events.

Our future programme includes a sailing day on the Isle of Wight and a meeting for USA CSS members in New York in the spring.

Do check out the new look, easy to use platform to benefit from the professional and social network that the CSS offers.

Don’t forget to download the new CSS App –it has never been easier to stay connected.

Rob Davey

President, Caterham School Society

FROM THE PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION

One of the great things about our Parents’ Association, is the way our parents support our events throughout the year and enable us to ‘keep the fun in fundraising’ for our chosen charities.

It is vitally important for us that we offer a variety of events that bring us together and it has been truly inspiring this year to see how you all respond to our fundraising efforts. We welcomed our new and existing parents to meet the PA at our Welcome Evening in September and the Wonders of Christmas evening in December, these were open invitation events to all members of the Caterham School Community to say ‘thank you’ for your support.

We hosted a truly memorable dining experience in our very own ‘Fawlty Towers’ aka Wilberforce Hall, as Basil, Sybil and Manuel entertained us whilst we enjoyed a themed three course meal created by Padraig Ahern and his catering team. At the Fireworks this year the weather was slightly kinder to our volunteers as the rain stopped in time for the fireworks countdown! So we weren’t quite as sodden by the end of the evening as last year.

The Prep School Christmas Fair 2019 was hosted for the second year running within the Senior School, as we welcomed generations of the Caterham School Community through our doors to enjoy a festive fun filled extravaganza. This rolled almost seamlessly (with only hours between the two events) into the Christmas Dinner Dance, where parents from across the school community gathered to kick off our Christmas Celebrations for 2019. In addition to this, the number of members in the 200 Club increased again this year, we smashed all previous records with our Bag2School collections and we continued to sell mulled wine at every opportunity including at the OCA Day rugby and lacrosse matches on Home Field.

It is through these events and with your support that our charities The Alexandra Sales Trust, Jigsaw South East, The 1811 Circle and of course the School all benefit from the monies that we raise – thank you we couldn’t do any of this without you.

We are looking forward to the coming year with more exciting opportunities to draw our community together and continue to have fun!