Eltham College: The Elthamian (Summer 2022)

The Elthamian LENT/SUMMER TERMS 2022

Clinical Thoughts OE David Adejuwon reflects on how his time at Eltham shaped his choice to study medicine

Continuity and Change Peter Swaffield reflects on how the school has developed over the 60 years he’s known it

63 Years’ Service

Vic Broncz and Amanda Richards bid farewell to the College after 35 and 28 years respectively

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Editorial

T

he Elthamian has always captured the continuity of the school community through changing times while recording the individual quirks of each era. This edition is no different. The past two terms have seen no less than three major sectional drama performances, as well as manifold performances in the Junior School, varied exhibitions in Gerald Moore Gallery, a range of concerts, edifying lectures from guest speakers, residential and foreign trips, and more than 300 girls’ and boys’ sports fixtures – from swimming to skiing, and cross-country to cricket.

And yet, the metaphorical rebirth of school life since the spring has been set against much political and social uncertainty that is not likely to abate soon. Eltham College’s response to the conflict in Ukraine has been charitable and educationally instructive. A prodigious amount of donations were given to refugees earlier this year, thanks to the generosity of pupils, parents and staff.

A three-part lecture series, entitled At a Crossroads: the History and Politics of the Conflict in Ukraine, was organised at short notice to educate the school community on the different implications of the war. It featured historical insight from Tim Davies, Head of History, a political analysis from Katy Powis-Holt, Head of Politics, a look at the economic impact from Sixth Form Economics pupils and a look at what the future might hold from Marina Pesenti,

A WORD FROM THE EDITOR

Director of the Ukrainian Institute in London and a former presenter with the BBC Ukrainian Service. You can read a summary of this in our News section.

Pupils have also benefitted greatly from the input of Old Elthamians and current parents with the full return of our work experience programme.

Louise Badelow, Head of Oxbridge and Careers, provides a full report of the opportunities older pupils have had this summer. We are, moreover, fortunate to feature an interview with a recent leaver, David Adejuwon, who details the challenges he faced in securing a place to study medicine at Imperial College. Patience and perseverance are paramount, he says.

The aforementioned pieces are just a handful of the myriad and eclectic articles written by pupils, members of staff and Old Elthamians. We trust this edition celebrates the collective and individual successes of present Elthamians, while also representing the distinct heritage on which the College was built. .

JAMES SMITH Editor

Looking further back, many will be aware that the College bid farewell to two long-serving members of staff this summer: Vic Broncz, who taught in the Maths Department for 35 years, and Amanda Richards, who taught Art for 28. Both were willing to share their highlights of teaching many generations of Elthamians for this edition of The Elthamian.

Readers may know Peter Swaffield as a fellow pupil, English teacher, Chaplain or Governor. His affiliation with Eltham College spans 60 years.

In a reflection of what has (and hasn’t) changed during his relationship with Eltham, Peter considers the role of the school’s Christian tradition in a ‘post-Christian’ society while clarifying some details on the attempted ‘kidnapping’ incident involving him that took place on school grounds!

Current parents, staff or pupils wishing to suggest an article for a future edition of this magazine should email ecf@eltham-college.org.uk Suggestions from Old Elthamians, former members of staff, and parents of former pupils should be sent to adb@eltham-college.org.uk

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Contents Editor: James Smith Head of Communications: Edward Funnell Assistant Editor: Andrew Beattie

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With thanks to Harry Mitchell-Morgan for supplying copy on behalf of the Junior School, Bal Deol for providing photographs and to all pupils, colleagues and Old Elthamians who have contributed to this edition.

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Design: Haime & Butler Print: Lavenham Press

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Welcome...

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From the Headmaster

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From the Head of the Junior School

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From the Chair of Governors

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From the President of the Old Elthamians Association

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From the Chair, Eltham College Parents’ Association

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Marquee Events, Summer 2022

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Speech Day Prize Winers 2022

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News A round-up of school life from the Summer Term

Features Farewell to Amanda Rcihards

By Sixth Form Artist Christy Lord

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Clinical Thoughts 80 By recent leaver David Adejuwon OE Our Advice Would Be...

Latest OEs share their advice

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Farewell to Vic Broncz Vic reflects on 36 years at the school

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Sport

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Boys’ Cricket

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Boys’ Hockey

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Rugby 7s

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Tennis

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Skiing

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Athletics

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Junior School Sport

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Girls’ Sport

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Register

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Eric Liddell’s Other Sport 68 New book reviewed by Mark Stickings Anniversary Fever

By Andrew Beattie

Continuity and Change Andrew Beattie reflects on the school’s past six decades

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Times Past and Present

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In Memoriam

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Front cover: Pupils on Snowdon in North Wales in July 2022

The Elthamian LENT/SUMMER TERMS 2022

Clinical Thoughts OE David Adejuwon reflects on how his time at Eltham shaped his choice to study medicine

Continuity and Change Peter Swaffield reflects on how the school has developed over the 60 years he’s known it

63 Years’ Service

Vic Broncz and Amanda Richards bid farewell to the College after 35 and 28 years respectively

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Welcome

From the Headmaster Welcome to the second edition of our new-look magazine for the whole school community. What I really like about this magazine is the way it covers news and views from all parts of the school community – from those just joining the school who become new Elthamians, our current body of students, staff and parents, and also our wonderful network of Old Elthamians too, both young and old.

While this edition covers the Lent and Summer Terms, it does in so many ways encapsulate the spirit of what has been a great couple of terms during which the school continued to throw off the shackles of Covid and then, especially since January, bounce back to the full bloom of normality with a great range of events and co-curricular activities.

This edition is full of news and updates about the achievements of your sons and daughters, some wonderful visits to the school by OEs, and brilliant examples of fundraising by the whole school community,

pulling together for causes such as providing financial and practical relief to help address the emerging humanitarian crisis in Ukraine during the spring and early summer months, and fundraising for International Needs in Uganda.

The past two terms have also been full of anniversaries. First, our school turned 180 years old this year. We have, so far, commemorated that great milestone in school in various ways, and we have more events and initiatives planned for the Michaelmas Term. Equally, we marked the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with a special whole school service in the Sports Hall, the planting of two lovely trees, and a barbecue on the playing fields for all students at the Senior and Junior Schools.

In early July, we re-opened our summer programme of events in the marquee. These included a wonderful ECCO concert and Speech Days and prize giving events for our Senior and Junior Schools. It was also fantastic to see OE events kick-started again, including through a wonderful

reception on the terrace of the House of Lords in June that followed inspiring visits to the school by OEs, Chris Jagger and Faizal Khan.

The sporting, musical, artistic and dramatic achievements of students at Eltham are too numerous to mention but this edition of The Elthamian highlights their successes individually and collectively in classes, groups, ensembles and teams.

In short, the school’s mission and aims have shone through brilliantly in day-to-day life this year. They are a testament to the opportunities that are on offer, and which your sons and daughters have grabbed with enthusiasm over the past two terms.

With best wishes,

GUY SANDERSON Headmaster

WELCOMES

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From the Head of the Junior School

From the Chair of Governors

The Junior School has continued to flourish in so many ways over the past two terms – through its dynamic curriculum, the excellent pastoral care and incredible number of co-curricular opportunities and, as the Lent Term got underway, Eltham College celebrated the 180th anniversary of its foundation. The Junior School has never felt such a strong community. We are also reaping the benefits of our newly refurbished and hugely upgraded Science laboratory at Easter, with pupils enjoying an enhanced STEAM Week in June.

The past few months have been challenging both politically and economically. This is likely to continue for some time to come, but it is clear from reading the pages of this second edition of our new-look magazine that, over the past two terms, students and staff have remained focused on their learning and have been steadfast in their commitment to all that Eltham has to offer.

From Science to the Arts – the Gerald Moore Gallery was recently transformed into a wonderland of textiles for our biennial Art exhibition and in Music – the boys and girls have blossomed, both in skill and confidence with a wide range of ensembles concerts. In sport, pupils have played nearly 20 schools in a wide range of sports including rugby, netball, football, swimming, as well as participating in our own Sports Day. I hope you enjoy reading about many of their exploits here in this edition of The Elthamian.

With best wishes,

The school has learned to live with and adapt to constant change and ever-present uncertainty over the past two years. Our students have risen to the challenges they have faced magnificently. I believe they have learned lifelong lessons about resilience and adaptability in the process.

What is more, during the course of the Lent and Summer Terms, their efforts have been rewarded with myriad activities in the classroom and in the resumption of a full programme of fixtures and events.

The College continues to nourish the potential of every student, and help them understand the volatile and fastchanging world around them which we are confident will set them in good stead for their future adult lives. Our values at Eltham are clear and strong and our mission continues to flourish.

As with the inaugural issue, I hope you enjoy this edition of The Elthamian.

VIKKI MEIER Head of the Junior School

Yours,

PETER DOYLE Chair of Governors

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Welcome

From the President of the Old Elthamians Association

From the Chair, Eltham College Parents’ Association

A reunion was long overdue this year and with thanks to our generous host, the Lord Knight of Weymouth, we were able to come together again as a group of Old Elthamians on a balmy night in June.

This academic year has been a busy one for the Parents’ Association in both the Senior and Junior Schools. In the Lent Term, we held another well-attended pop quiz, while at the Junior School, we held a ‘Grow A Pound Challenge’.

Both of these events raised over £3,000, with half of the pop quiz money being donated to the Canterbury Oasthouse Trust, who hosted the quiz for us.

Blessed with an outstanding setting on the riverside terrace of the House of Lords, a large and multi-generational group of OEs and guests conversed and reminisced over drinks and canapés in a way that took us back to 2019! It was fantastic to see the spread of ages in attendance with a mix of current pupils, parents, staff and OEs. A lucky handful in school blazers, together with a couple of executive hangers-on were even afforded a whistlestop tour of the House of Lords with Lord Knight. It was a super evening and a fitting start to OE activities following the lifting of Covid restrictions and we look forward to reconnecting our great professional networks from which we can all benefit.

The Chairman, Nick Byers, and I were also very pleased to catch up with the Elthamians Office and hear updates on their excellent work in helping connect today’s students with the Elthamians Network. OEs are kindly returning to give careers advice and talks in school, and the school’s work experience scheme with OEs and others has been properly restored over the past few months.

The future is very bright.

I am pleased to say that this edition contains notable interest and information about OEs both recent and past and I hope you enjoy it.

In June, The Great Gatsby ball was a huge success with more than 160 parents in attendance at a lovely event held at the school. We raised more than £3,000 valuable funds to put towards the purchase of a much-needed double piano for the school, while a social barbecue after the Junior School Sports Day was attended by almost 500 people.

The Junior School has just taken ownership of a new grand piano for the hall, funded by us, and we hope to be working with the Sports Department next term to add to their facilities.

Flicking through the pages of this Elthamian, I am sure you will agree the school is flourishing and that, as parents, we have much to be thankful for.

Best wishes,

With best wishes, JENNY STONE Chair, Eltham College Parents’ Association CHRIS BRAIN (OE 1998) President, Old Elthamians Association

MARQUEE EVENTS

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Marquee Events

In the last week of the Summer Term – and for the first time since 2019 – end of year events were held in person in a marquee at the school. These included an excellent Junior School music concert, the fabulous ECCO concert in a new format, Junior School Prizegiving, Senior School Speech Day, and a wonderful ‘food festival’ for students, arranged by the Catering team.

That said, these events were on the verge of not happening at all: just a day before the marquee was due to be delivered and erected on site, the school received a phone call from the marquee company with the almost incredible news that the marquee had been ‘stolen’ from the lorry at its previous event! With a little persistence and ingenuity, Mr Martin and the Communications Department managed to arrange a suitable alternative which served the events well through the week.

Junior School Prizegiving and Senior School Speech Day were celebrations of individual and collective successes over the past 12 months. Both events attracted parents and visitors in far greater numbers than in previous years. As well the traditional awarding of prizes, trophies and cups, students

performed drama and musical pieces and the audience also listened to inspiring talks by visiting speakers.

The speaker at Junior School Prize Giving was Rachel Smith. Rachel recounted how, having not been ‘sporty’ for most of her school days, she discovered kayaking in the Sixth Form. She then took up dragon boat racing, going on to win countless medals in World and European Championships. She was then persuaded to take on the challenge of rowing across the Atlantic as part of an all-female crew.

At Senior School Speech Day, Tori James FRGS spoke of how she discovered running and then climbing – a journey that would eventually take her to Mount Everest at a young age, becoming the first Welsh woman →

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to conquer the mountain. She spoke in depth about the preparation and training involved and the sense of personal achievement in reaching and then descending from the summit.

Both Rachel and Tori had similar messages for students and staff: to take on new challenges and that, subject to good preparation and organisation, anyone can achieve to their best outside their own comfort zone.

About Rachel Smith, Explorer and Adventurer

About Tori James FRGS Author and Adventurer

Having tried a number of sports throughout her childhood, Rachel Smith took up kayaking in the Sixth Form and found that paddling was her perfect sporting partner. She went on to win 25 World and European medals in dragon boat racing, and rowed across the Atlantic in 76 days, picking up two Guinness World Records and raising over £65,000 for charity. All of this was balanced with a full-time marketing career. Rachel now works as a frontline paramedic and volunteers for Cheshire Search and Rescue team.

She has also written a book, Antigua or Bust.

Tori is an adventurer and author from Wales and who was, at the age of 25, the youngest British woman (at that time) and the first Welsh woman to climb to the summit of Mount Everest in 2007. She is also the author of Peak Performance which describes her climb to the summit and part of the Pink Lady PoleCats – the first-ever all-female team to complete The Polar Challenge, a gruelling 360 mile race to the magnetic North Pole.

Today, Tori is a motivational speaker and consultant delivering leadership training, team and youth development projects in the corporate and charity sectors. She is President of Girlguiding Cymru, a Fellow of British Exploring and an ambassador for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in Wales. She is married with two young children, aged two and four.

MARQUEE EVENTS

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Senior School Speech Day Peter Doyle, Chair of Governors, spoke about how the school had learned to adapt to enforced difficulties of the past two years, living and even flourishing through the pandemic.

In his address to students, staff and parents, Mr Doyle conveyed the faith he had in the school to continue to adapt and evolve through the emerging economic difficulties now faced in wider society: high inflation, a cost-of-living crisis and widespread industrial action. He felt that students had learned lifelong lessons about resilience and adaptability through the disruption to their learning during the two years of the pandemic.

He thanked pupils for maintaining and upholding the school’s core values, and for their constructive challenge, freely and frequently given to the staff. In a message to those now leaving and soon to become alumni, he wished them well in flourishing in an uncertain world, imploring them to show tolerance to the views of others that may be unappealing and to debate and understand that nuance is important.

Black and white thinking is an inadequate way to solve today’s problems, he argued.

He paid tribute to staff and governors leaving Eltham after a long period of service: to Vic Broncz, Teacher of Maths, who is retiring after 35 years teaching at Eltham; to Julia Gregory, who is also retiring after 24 years in the Science labs; and to Amanda Richards, teacher of art to scores →

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of young artists over 28 years. Finally, he bid farewell to Graham Dransfield who leaves after 10 years’ service, as a governor. He welcomed new governors: Olu Obidipe, a nominee of BMS World Mission, one of the school’s founding societies; Ms Ali Harber, Deputy Head (Pastoral) at Winchester School; and Sarah Turner.

Mr Doyle thanked the Headmaster and the staff for their hard work and dedication in ensuring the school continues to thrive and succeed, as well as parents for their support for the school and generosity in supporting numerous causes, especially for the fundraising for the people of Ukraine.

In his speech, Guy Sanderson, Headmaster, said it was wonderful the whole school community could gather together again. He felt the skills of gardening and horticulture were a perfect parallel to running a school: just as gardeners have to decide what will make plants flourish and what will hinder growth, the school has to make

FOOD FE S TIVAL On the final full day of the Summer Term, the school held a fabulous Food Festival for students and staff. It comprised a range of food sustainability talks, a street food fayre, offering an exciting and tasty array of plant-based dishes reflecting a range of cuisines from around the world. Organised by the school’s catering team, students took part in a ‘recycled rave’ at lunch and enjoy the plant-based food on offer. These were supplemented by fun activities on the field including a ‘junk’ orchestra with musicians using pots and pans, as well as a food market in the marquee.

decisions and provisions for every student to flourish during their time at the school.

He used the 180th anniversary year of the school to reflect on factors that drive the success of students: excellent academic teaching, strong pastoral care, first class co-curricular provision for sport, music, art, drama and other clubs and societies.

He concluded these all need careful nurturing and regular support.

He also highlighted the ISI Inspection report that the school received in March. He drew the audience’s attention to what the report said about the school’s outstanding pastoral care, in addition to the comments recognising Eltham’s reputation for academic excellence.

Returning to the gardening metaphor, the Headmaster concluded by saying that the school will continue to nurture its core focus on excellent teaching, outstanding pastoral care and breadth and challenge outside the classroom.

The ECCO concert adopted a new format this year with a stronger focus on music that encompassed traditional favourite elements with the performance of special music and commemoration of the school’s 180th anniversary this year

MARQUEE EVENTS

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Junior School Prize Giving Junior School Prize giving was held on 4th July and was very well-attended by parents as well as students and staff Vikki Meier, Head of Junior School, began by acknowledging the strong recovery the school had made from the pandemic and how pupils and staff had navigated various Covid restrictions, especially during times of remote learning during the intense periods in the Michaelmas and Lent terms, very well. She felt that the school community had never been stronger.

Mrs Meier said the school was delighted that its rolling programme of building developments and renovations had seen the transformation of the Junior School Science lab into an innovative and inspiring learning space.

Pupils had enjoyed their enhanced STEAM week earlier in the Summer Term with special workshops and talks for every year group. The Gerald

Moore Gallery had been transformed into a wonderland of textiles for the biennial Art exhibition, with sock monsters, Japanese silk prints and banners.

In Music, young musicians had shown great skill and confidence with ensemble concerts at St George’s Church and, most recently, in the marquee. Soloist concerts and informal concerts had also recently taken place.

The fitting of new lighting rig, staging and blackout curtains in the Rosemary Morgan Hall permitted more drama productions, including the Year 3 Nativity poetry recital, Year 4’s rendition of The Grinch at Christmas, the Year 6 ‘Fireside’, a series of abridged Shakespeare plays from Year 5 and, most recently, Year 6’s outstanding Canterbury Tales.

She noted the school’s strong sporting success and how the Junior School had played an impressive 100 fixtures and welcomed more

than 20 different schools to the College to play Junior School fixtures in both competitive and friendly fixtures and inter-school tournaments.

Internal events had included House rugby, netball and football as well as exciting swimming galas and a Sports Day that was very wellsupported by parents.

Mrs Meier also expressed her pleasure in welcoming parents back onto the school site including for Harvest, Remembrance, Christmas, Easter and end of year services while the expansion of the House system had permitted a focus on outreach, supporting charities and communities through events and fund-raising, all of which had been very much appreciated by the organisations supported.

Finally, she thanked parents who gave their time and energy to support the school through events and fund-raising, such as the ‘Grow-aPound’ initiative and fundraising for a new piano. ⬤

The Junior School Music Concert included a wide range of ensembles, chamber musicians and choirs performing a fine repertoire

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Speech Day

Senior School Prize Winners LOWER SCHOOL FORM PRIZE S 7ADM

8ALT

Academic Frank Plant Essay Prize

Thea Hopley

Academic

Tim Brink

Academic Progress

Hunter Caldwell

Academic Progress

Roz Hunter

All Round Contribution

Calvin Agyeman-Botchey

All Round Contribution

Neal Vithani

7EMP

8ATH

Academic

Rosie Davies

Academic

Arnav Gupta

Academic Progress

Darcy Irwin

Academic Progress

Earl Bodemeh

All Round Contribution

Mert Karagoz

All Round Contribution

Roxolana Chaban

7HOB

8BJK

Academic

Alexandre Bosviel

Academic

Emilia Loertscher

Academic Progress

Jonny Brayford

Academic Progress

Anastasia Johnson

All Round Contribution

Lyra Pugh

All Round Contribution

Florian Brasch

7KMD Academic

8JYM Sanna Hjalm

Academic Progress Michael Feeney Prize for Debating Mervyn Peake Prize for Further Reading

Barney Devon

All Round Contribution

Melissa Tan

Academic

Katherine Adcock

Academic Progress

Tilly Stafford

All Round Contribution

Henry Bell

8LVC

7MKC Academic

Benjamin McLoughlin

Academic Progress

Riva Watkins

All Round Contribution

Harry Sword

7PJW Academic

Xintian Li

Academic Progress

Tessa Chapman

All Round Contribution

Aedan Lam

Academic

Ellen Eburah

Academic Progress

Amelie Lai

All Round Contribution

Iolo Mottershead

8NJC Academic

Mira Karthikeyan

Academic Progress

Aryann Verma

All Round Contribution

Anya McNair

SPECIAL PRIZES William Gardner Memorial Prize for Design and Technology

Jessica Shiu and Max Leek

Lower School Singing Prize

Michelle Teibo

Lower School Scholarship Prize

Michelle Teibo

PRIZE GIVING

MIDDLE SCHOOL FORM PRIZE S 9EJB Academic Frank Plant Essay Prize

10GOH James Phillips

Academic

Vieshal Gandeepan

Academic Progress Religious Knowledge Prize

Victor Poon

All Round Contribution

Oliver Murray

All Round Contribution

William Forsdyke

9FNA Academic

Cyrus Buckman

Academic Progress

Matthew McLoughlin

All Round Contribution

Phoenix Che-Lai

9HGS Academic

Austin Chan

Academic Progress

Charlie Randles

All Round Contribution

Uzo George-Amadi

9JXC Academic

Daniel Harrington-Hill

Academic Progress

Oliver Robinson

All Round Contribution

Olly Buck

10ATD Academic

Tristan Sezgin

All Round Contribution

Hakeem Drammeh

10AHH Academic

Bleddyn Mottershead

All Round Contribution

Daniel Egan

10CCQ Academic

Zac Devon

All Round Contribution

Kevin Cao

10JNS Academic

Thomas Lewis

All Round Contribution

Thomas Whatling

11EXB Academic

Atharv Gupta

Academic William Gardner Prize for Theo Treadwell Design and Technology 11JCP Academic

Nkosie Mswabuki

All Round Contribution

Kieran Malcom-Smith

11MAC Academic Michael Feeney Prize for Debating Middle School Scholarship Prize

Rohan Apte

All Round Contribution

Alex Trifonov

11THB Academic

Thomas Riley

All Round Contribution

Tom Woodhams

11VLB Academic

Tom Mortimer

All Round Contribution

Ethan Chaplin

SPECIAL PRIZES Frank Plant Essay Prize

Seth Pierce

Middle School Singing Prize

Damian Sparks

Mervyn Peake Prize for Wider Reading

James Johnson

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LOWER SIX TH PRIZE S SUBJECT Art

Christy Lord

Biology

Sophie Walker

Chemistry

Nathan de Carle

Computer Science and Further Mathematics

Ben Robinson

Design and Technology and Physics

Oli Deal

Drama

Ethan Fiore

Economics

Timothy Oyewole

English

Amrit Kallar

French

Niall Sherwell

Geography

Bijan Davis

Geology

Blue Collard

German

Charles Thompson

History

Yahia Zayed

Latin

Matthew Massey

Latin and Religious Studies

Alexander Golshan-Ebrahimi

Mathematics

Ludovico Jones

Politics

David Colwell

Psychology

Isabel Adcock

Spanish

Grace Robson

UPPER SIX TH PRIZE S PRIZE Meryvn Peake Memorial Prize for Art Salters’ Prize for Chemistry

Ben Chamberlain

John Pike Art Prize David Allen Memorial Prize for Service

Freya Burton-Franklin

Art Sculpture Prize

Will Tregear

Hancock Prize for Biology J Slader Memorial Prize for Geography Senior Psychology Prize

Imogen Grenyer

Nicola Culshaw Prize for Chemistry Senior Mathematics Prize

Nadia Khan

Martin Taylor Memorial Prize for Biology

Ashvin Kumarathan

Harold Occomore Prize for Physics

Samuel Caschetto

Senior Physics Prize

Alex McInerny

Nigel S. Pont Prize for Applied Mathematics Senior Spanish Prize

Velican Kuyumcu

Senior Computer Science Prize Pure Mathematics Prize

Hashir Majeed

William Gardner Prize for Design and Technology

Sam Hubner

Antony Barnard Memorial Prize for English Senior Politics Prize

Zain Syed

Frank Plant Essay Prize

James Parker

PRIZE GIVING

UPPER SIX TH PRIZE S CONTINUED PRIZE Extended Project Qualification

Lily Chatterjee

Anthony Callard Memorial Prize for a Geography Project

Christopher Lefebure

Paul McCartney Geology Prize

Tobi O’Brien

F W Scott Memorial Prize for History

Pelin Kural

Nigel Pont Memorial Prize for Religious Studies

Lucy Gardiner

Griffiths-Bakker Prize for Modern Languages

Matthew Hobbs

Somerville Meikle (pronounced Merkel) Prize for Latin

Hanoj Mohan Sangaran

Otto Maehler Prize for German

Rory O’Donohue

DS Moss Prize for French

Ellie Stocks

John Morris Prize for Music Woodwind Prize

Emily Barnett

Singing Prize Percussion Prize

Ojorumi Edozie

Brass Prize

Tommy Samani

Winifred Howat Prize for Piano Strings Prize

Oscar Geh

The Maher Prize for Personal Courage

Vanya Artiukhov

Miles Smith Memorial Prize

Emily Hoang

G R Higgins Memorial Prize

Jake Lumbis

AWD James Prize

Gavril Ierotheou

Alex Ludlow Prize for Academic and Sporting Achievement Senior Economics Prize

Charlie Reynolds

Senior History Prize: Michael Reidy Rose Bowl for Debating

Nick Biddle

Michael Feeney Memorial Cup for Debating

Thomas Brex

Douglas-Fairhurst Shield for Services to School Drama

Charlie Smith and Lauren Chaplin

Joe White Technical Theatre Prize

Ben Edwards

Porteous Bowl for Science

Lucy Baker

Blackheath Cup

Samuel Rushton

Turberville Cup

Charlotte Watts

Headmaster’s Prize: Lower School

Jessica Shiu

Headmaster’s Prize: Middle School

Ishan Bhasin

Headmaster’s Prize: Sixth Form

Carla Morin

Chaplain’s Prize

Matthew Hobbs

Chairman’s Prize

Ben Lewis

Head Prefect’s Award

Charlie Smith and Tara O’Sullivan

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Junior School Prize Winners

YE AR 3 FORM PRIZE S

YE AR 5 FORM PRIZE S

PRIZE

FORM NAME

PRIZE

FORM NAME

Academic

3HS

Aaron Fang

Academic

5ND

Zakariyya Adegun

All Round Contribution to Form Life

3HS

Olivia Cayley

All Round Contribution to Form Life

5ND

Alex Clarkson

Academic

3NC

Arzoyi Bansal

Academic

5MJ

Aadi Raj

All Round Contribution to Form Life

3NC

Toby Palmer

All Round Contribution to Form Life

5MJ

Charlie Dolan

Academic

3SO

Yueci Li

Academic

5IW

Danya Dowling

All Round Contribution to Form Life

3SO

Hamish Schumacher

All Round Contribution to Form Life

5IW

Thomas Linford

Science Prize

3NC

Hugo Lall

Science Prize

5MJ

Sam Cartwright

Music Prize

3HS

Karamveer Bal

Music Prize

5ND

Alex Urban

French Prize

3HS

James Metherell

French Prize

5MJ

Ernie Dyer

Computing Prize

3HS

Artyom Yarmukhametov

Mandarin Prize

5IW

Seiryu Yoneya

Computing Prize

5ND

Sasha Sislo

Art Prize

3SO

Olivia Zhang

Art Prize

5MJ

William Knobel

Design Technology Prize

3SO

Max Urban

Design Technology Prize

5ND

Leo Dekkers

Laurie Wrafter Prize for Creativity in Writing

3NC

Kitty Lindner

Laurie Wrafter Prize for Creativity in Writing

5MJ

Sebastien Holowaty

Elocution Prize

3SO

Melis Karagoz

Elocution Prize

5IW

Santi Harrison

Drama Prize

3NC

Natalia Deligianni

Drama Prize

5MJ

Frank Tinsley

YE AR 4 FORM PRIZE S PRIZE

FORM NAME

Year 3 & 4 Anne Pain Citizenship Prize

4TL

Rhea Ranjan

Academic

4BF

Evelyn Xu

All Round Contribution to Form Life

4BF

Morgan Booth

Academic

4EW

Ishaan Narayana

All Round Contribution to Form Life

4EW

Helena Cao

Academic

4TL

Aayat Lal

All Round Contribution to Form Life

4TL

Odette Atkins

Science Prize

4EW

Azeem Mohoboob

Music Prize

4EW

Albert Yang

French Prize

4EW

Elena Khoo

Computing Prize

4TL

Lowri Potter

Art Prize

4BF

Sienna Rodriguez

Design Technology Prize

4BF

Harriet Allen

Elocution Prize

4BF

Samarth Jain

Drama Prize

4BF

Anikaa Selot

PRIZE GIVING

YE AR 6 FORM PRIZE S PRIZE

FORM

NAME

Academic

6AC

Alex Dascalu

All Round Contribution to Form Life

6AC

Daniel Bill

Academic

6WS

Joshua Kaye

All Round Contribution to Form Life

6WS

Oliver Withnell

Academic

6HM

Aaron Crossan

All Round Contribution to Form Life

6HM

Isaac Brown

Donegan Science Prize

6HM

David Poynter

French Prize

6AC

Raphael Leppard

Mandarin Prize

6HM

Nathan Crossan

Computing Prize

6HM

Siddharth Kanswal

Sloan Prize for Art

6WS

Asad Zohidov

Design Technology Prize

6HM

Joshua Flynn

Mathematics Prize

6HM

Hayden Sanders

English Prize

6AC

Noah Loertscher

Drama Prize

6AC

Thomas Forsdyke

Elocution LAMDA Prize

6WS

Sulayman Rabbani

Marlow Citizenship Prize

6HM

Solonas Palimeri-May

Wells Religious Education Prize

6WS

Holden Mody

Geography Prize

6AC

Ethan Wu

History Prize

6WS

Tom Grainger

Cartwright Prize for All Round Contribution

6AC

Harvey Lucas

Hughes Prize for Overall Progress

6AC

Matei Moatar

Charlick Prize for Cricket

6WS

Cassius Perrott

Whitehead Prize for Excellent Contribution to Sport

6AC

Oscar Cadman

Community Prize

6AC

Hunter Hinde

Lawson Memorial Prize for Personal Achievement

6HM

Ralph Murphy

Best All Round Athlete Prize

6AC

Monty Brown

Jaishankar Music Prize

6HM

Aaron Tian

Cavendish STEAM Prize (for achievement across the S.T.E.A.M components)

6HM

Thangchin Vualnam

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News

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ARTiculate Regional Final SLH

After a fiercely contested internal heat, with spectacularly researched talks on topics ranging from detail in Pre-Raphaelite painting to the portraits of Alexander the Great, Lower Sixth pupil David Colwell travelled to Folkestone, Kent, for the Regional Final of the ARTiculation Prize 2022.

ARTicualtion is a public speaking competition where students talk about an artwork, artifact or piece of architecture. The grand final takes place at the National Gallery.

The event was held at the Creative Quarterhouse in Folkestone. The judge, Jonathan Watkins, Director of IKON Gallery, thanked all speakers for a ‘really impressive range of works and for a very moving afternoon’.

He praised David for his in-depth, formal analysis of Rooms by the Sea

by Edward Hopper, and for the way

he spoke about emotions, relating it to what people felt during the Covid-19 pandemic. David’s talk explored the feeling of loneliness in the painting and the sense of adventure represented by the glimpse of the sea from the open doorway.

After taking part in the Regional Final, David will now join the ARTiculation alumni network. We are confident that he will embrace the opportunities to improve his public speaking in the context of Art history. ⬤

Above: David Colwell third from right

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LGBT+ Month

World Book Day CMR

Author Katherine Woodfine visits Eltham College.

The Library invited mystery writer Katherine Woodfine to visit Eltham College in the spring. This was part of a range of activities that took place to mark World Book Day on March 3. Woodfine spoke to pupils from Year 5 through to Year 8. She also attended a creative writing workshop with Mr Mitchell, focusing on characterisation and setting.

PBR

Throughout February, Eltham held a range of activities across the school to mark LGBT+ History Month.

The month-long event was founded by Schools Out, a group that has been campaigning for an LGBT+ inclusive education for 47 years. Each February, communities across the UK come together to increase the visibility of the LGBT+ community, teaching people about the history of related civil rights movements and current matters affecting them.

This year’s theme was ‘Politics in Art: The Arc is Long’, which relates to Dr Martin Luther King Junior’s words: ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.’ The quote reminds us that change can take a long time, but it does happen.

Eltham College’s Pride Society launched in the Lent Term and, together with the Equalities Committee, they will provide greater awareness of the issues faced by the LGBT+ community and promote equality and diversity within the school community. Pupils heard a series of lectures including: ‘The History of Drag’, ‘Symbolism in the Work of Keith Haring’, ‘Alexander the Great and Hephaestion’ and ‘Queer History’. ⬤

Katherine Woodfine writes mystery stories set in Edwardian London.

Her first book, The Clockwork Sparrow, was set in fictional department store which was scheduled to open in London – the first of its kind.

Katherine talked about this with the students, disclosing that her store was inspired by Selfridges. The students learned about the research she undertook for her books, and where she found sources for her material.

Many pupils purchased the first book in each of her two series – and the queue to have their books signed was long. Incidentally, the copies of Woodfine’s books in the Library have hardly been on the shelves this term, as they have been borrowed by avid readers wanting to know the end of the story.

The students are always very enthusiastic about author visits and ask some great questions of our visitors. It was also wonderful to have an in person visit after a couple of years of online author visits. ⬤ Katherine Woodfine signing books for pupils in the Junior School

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Modern Languages Modern and Classical Languages Society The Modern and Classical Languages (MCL) Society has flourished this year thanks to the enthusiasm and intellectual engagement of our linguists.

The society exists to offer students the opportunity to explore what lies beyond the curriculum by researching areas of personal interest, be that linguistic, cultural, societal or political.

Dimitri Blonz’s talk on the GreekTurkish conflict, inspired by his family background, introduced his audience to civilisations beyond the languages taught at Eltham, yet reflected the historical and political aspects of the A-level courses we offer in the Department that make them so interesting and worthwhile.

James Warren combined his exploration of the francophone world with his interest in the armed forces by presenting on French operations in Mali, while Grace Robson – both a linguist and a scientist – fascinated us with her analysis of how the brain processes language in her talk ‘Inside the brain of a polyglot.’

We then headed east for an excellent explanation of the development of Chinese characters from traditional to the more simplified ‘Pinyin’. Ms Su, as ever, brought along some muchappreciated Chinese snacks! The baton then passed to Niall Sherwell, who gave a great talk on how France recovered from the ravages of the Second World War, followed by a brain-teaser of a talk by Ms Paull entitled ‘The trouble with translation’, which challenged students to replicate George Perec’s achievement of writing La Disparition without using the letter ‘e’ once, by translating his text into English, also without using the letter ‘e.’ Some students rose to

the challenge remarkably well!

Finally, Charlie Thompson spoke for a second time this year, this time about the Turkish influence on German culture.

We were also delighted to welcome an external speaker this year, Christian Möllerström, a polyglot, who spoke of how crucial his language skills have been to his career in IT, including his work with companies such as Google.

His talk underlined the value employers place on the skills linguists naturally develop and about the dangers of assuming that everyone speaks English.

We hope that our students have enjoyed the MCL talks as much as we have this year, and we look forward to another exciting programme next term. ⬤ LUS

NEWS

Trip to Château de Warsy, France This year, pupils in Year 9 were lucky enough to be able to go to France during Field Week.

We took the Eurostar to Calais and made our way straight to a chocolate factory. There we learned all about the process of making chocolate, learning by first-hand experience that chocolate liquor is very bitter. Afterwards, we hopped back on the coach and made our way to the Château de Warsy, where we got settled in our eco pods. These were amazing little huts in which three people slept. They retained heat very well, although maybe too well in the humid French weather. We ate a delicious dinner and participated in a few evening activities put on by the Château. Later on, after playing for a while and having lots of fun, we were sent off to bed (without our phones) although that didn’t stop some people from staying up until the early hours.

The next day, we awoke bright and early and headed straight off to Go-Ape, after having a delicious continental breakfast of French pastries. Unfortunately, it rained during our climbing session, but it was nevertheless an extremely enjoyable for everyone. After recovering from three hours of climbing, we made our way down into an underground city, where previous generations lived to hide from religious persecution. Much to our surprise, it wasn’t just one or two caves: it was a whole complex system with many different

streets and structures inside. We then travelled to Amiens to have a look around the beautiful town and buy some souvenirs. After this we were all quite tired and returned to the Château to rest and have dinner.

On the last day, we headed to the market and, of course, there was at least one person who bought something frivolous just for the fun of it. In this particular instance it was Zaki, who purchased plastic sword to annoy us with for the rest of the day. After this we headed to the beach, where we played around with a frisbee and buried Will in sand, which didn’t make him too comfortable on the journey home.

I would like say a huge thank you to all those involved in making our trip a wild success, especially the teachers who accompanied us – Mrs Brooke, Ms Scarantino, and Mr Whittaker – without whom this trip would not have been possible. ⬤ Daniel Harrington-Hill

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Trip to Hellenthal, Germany On Tuesday 28 June Miss Franz, Miss Hill and 20 Year 9 students departed for Hellenthal at 7.00am in our brand-new coach. Everyone was excited as this was the German Department’s first trip abroad since Easter 2019.

On the first morning, after mourning the loss of their Snapchat streaks to limited internet signal and poor Wi-Fi, the boys made their way to the high-ropes course. They harnessed up and everyone attempted to walk across a high rope either alone or in pairs. We stopped for a lunch of the well-known German dish chilli con carne before continuing with trickier climbing activities. The boys worked well together and grew to trust each other. Many of them conquered their fears and should be proud of themselves.

Before leaving the high-ropes facility the boys were given the opportunity to battle it out with foam noodles.

The battles were fierce and competitive. This wasn’t the only battle of the day as several Year 9s took it upon themselves to play Miss Hill at table tennis. She beat several opponents before ultimately being defeated by Vadim, but there were shouts of a rematch from many players. As a reward for their efforts on the high ropes, we took everyone to the ice cream parlour in the local town where the boys had to order in German. While they waited for everyone to finish their ice cream, they managed to befriend three local German boys and played an intense game of basketball before making their way back for dinner. After a light dinner, the boys were led into the woods and had to follow ropes through an obstacle course while being blind-folded. A good (and tiring) day was had by all.

The boys were tasked the following day with building, decorating (although they seemed to forget

about this bit) and racing soap box cars. They spent the morning reading the German instructions and putting their vehicles together.

By lunchtime, two of the four teams had constructed their cars, although one managed to crash theirs while doing a test run. After a short period to perfect designs (or actually build the car in the case of one team), it was time to race them down the hill. There was some expert steering from Josh and Freddie, although I fear the day when Vadim learns to drive as he crashed into the bushes twice and almost fell into a stream.

Unfortunately, a storm ruined the rest of our afternoon plans, but the boys did end up playing a variety of board/ card games as we waited for dinner.

We were all disappointed not to take part in the hike Philipp had planned for us after dinner, but we happily settled in to watch a film.

When Friday morning dawned, the pupils were much more successful at stripping their beds than they were at making them, and I’m pleased to say they left their rooms spotless before we headed back to England.

The German Department looks forward to returning to Hellenthal in the near future! ⬤ CAF

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Teacher Insight Programme MEC

Lower School Creative Writing Trip

In June Eltham College welcomed four young prospective teachers to take part in our inaugural Teacher Insight Programme.

Year 7 and 8 pupils were given the amazing opportunity to go on a creative writing trip to Norwich.

After a long coach drive, we arrived in Norwich, Britain’s first UNESCO City of Literature. We then embarked on a beautiful, scenic walking trail.

At each stop, we read a brilliant poem or piece of literature written about the place. We visited the Plantation Garden, Tombland and many other interesting destinations.

After a bite for lunch, we journeyed to the historic Dragon Hall. This was built in 1427 and is currently the base for the National Centre for Writing. Its long history and current use made it the perfect place for a workshop.

Daisy Henwood, a local poet, taught us many useful techniques and tricks for writing, as well as helping us to create some strange and interesting poems that filled the room with laughter. ⬤

The programme was an undoubted success.

Staff were incredibly welcoming and generous with their time and the participants benefited hugely from this. We hope that this programme will grow even further in subsequent years and help the school play its part in encouraging people from all backgrounds to enter such a rewarding profession. One of the participants, reflecting on their experience, said:

‘Eltham College’s passion to diversify their school even more so, and constantly work to improve the experience for both students and staff, has left a mark on me. It is rare to see a school so enthusiastic about creating the best environment for its staff and pupils.’

The programme will return in June 2023, with further details released in due course. ⬤

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The Ukraine Conflict: Eltham College’s Response ECF

During the Lent Term, the threat of Russian invasion of Ukraine became reality after years of a long-running dispute between the two countries. For many in the school community, as well as in the country, the initial reaction was one of anxiety and concern, especially for students and staff who had never experienced or remembered Cold War style conflicts.

£20,000

WAS RAISED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS COLLECTION

The school instigated a number of initiatives in response. First, a number of special in-school lunchtime seminars were organised to provide some context and to help people understand the causes of the conflict. Dr Davies and Mrs Powis-Holt ran a highly informative joint session focused on the historical and political background to the conflict, while a group of Sixth Form Economics students ran a seminar demonstrating striking insight and knowledge about its wider economic impact as it became clear that the war was causing economic hardship, not just in Ukraine, but in other, often less developed, countries who were dependent on its grain.

As the humanitarian crisis developed with thousands of Ukrainian women and children in particular fleeing the country, the school organised a parental collection and contributed its own funds to raise more than £20,000 for the International Red Cross collection.

In addition, a member of the school community organised for several van loads of clothes and essential supplies for young children to be taken to Poland, with the school’s parents and children contributing generously to fill several lorries and vans that were loaded on by the school’s 1st XV Rugby team.

DID YOU KNOW The Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24.

The invasion has caused Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War Two – with more than 6.4 million Ukrainians fleeing the country One third of the population was displaced as they tried to avoid the bombing and shelling of their homes.

The invasion has also caused global food shortages, and therefore price rises in the cost of basic foodstuffs. This affects the citizens of less developed countries in particular who can ill-afford to pay the higher costs of necessities.

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Ukraine Lecture Series ATD and KHP

For many of our students, the events in Ukraine came out of the blue. For most, their only encounter with the politics of the Cold War has been through their History lessons.

While many of our Year 10 historians will be able to draw parallels between current events and Soviet control in eastern Europe post-1945, many other students and staff had many questions about this seemingly seminal moment in European history.

In order to help both students and staff make sense of the unfolding crisis, and to provide a forum for discussion, the History, Politics, and Economics Departments offered a three-part lunchtime lecture series during Lent Term.

The series began with the first lecture entitled ‘At a crossroads: The history and politics of the conflict in Ukraine’ on March 4. Dr Davies, Head of History, set out the context and background to Russia’s incursion into Ukrainian territory, aiming to place recent events within the broader context of past Russo-Ukrainian relations.

Dr Davies sketched out the history of Russian attempts to increase its control in the Ukrainian region, stretching back to at least the 18th century, before taking the story

through to the annexation of Crimea in 2014. ‘At a crossroads’ was chosen as the title partly to reflect the fact that, to some extent, Ukraine has always sat at a strategically important position between the East and West, but the title also spoke to the uncertainty surrounding the future direction of the conflict.

Mrs Powis-Holt, Head of Politics, then helped the audience to consider this latter aspect by talking first about recent political developments in Ukraine before posing a series of questions concerning the role of NATO, internal Russian politics and how this was shaping President Putin’s behaviour, and the rationale behind the response of the West.

In the second lecture, entitled ‘The Ukraine crisis: what next?’, Marina Pesenti, Director of the Ukrainian Institute in London and a former presenter with the BBC Ukrainian Service, provided an informed and personal insight into the conflict and its impact on Ukraine. Students and staff alike benefitted from the

way in which Ms Pesenti explored these complex issues with both clarity and empathy, picking up on (yet delving more deeply into) a number of aspects raised in the first lecture.

For the final talk, named ‘The Ukraine Crisis: the economic impact’, the baton was passed to Lower Sixth Economics students Justin Lau, Alvin Hua, Ishaq Ullah, Ali Majeed, Timothy Oyewole and Akshay John, who presented a series of short insights into the economic aspect of the conflict. These included its global impact, the role of oil and gas supplies in determining the international response, and the efficacy of sanctions.

This collaboration between Departments, teaching staff, students, and a visiting speaker provided a vital opportunity for the broader school community to explore the history, present situation and potential impact of one of the most pressing global issues of today. ⬤

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Three Peaks Challenge JHH

On June 29, 19 Sixth Form pupils, Mr Broncz, Miss Wood, Mr Joyce and I travelled to south Wales to take on the Welsh Three Peaks challenge. A mountaineering challenge for charity has become a regular event during Field Week for the Lower Sixth.

We camped near Brecon on the Wednesday night in torrential rain before rising at 5.00am to start the challenge. Extraordinarily, despite a poor forecast, the weather only improved as the day went on. We began Pen Y Fan just after 6.00am, meeting a few Royal Marines on our way.

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After a quick visit to a burger van we headed north for Cadair Idris, arriving just before midday. Cadair is a tougher beast than Pen Y Fan and the sun made the ascent more difficult.

Despite clamouring from Dimitri and Antay to jump in the lake half-way up, we ploughed on and completed the horseshoe, reaching the car park again at around 5.00pm. We drove for just long enough for all our legs to seize up before starting our climb of Snowdon just after 7.00pm.

A significant highlight of this trip was that Mr Broncz – for so many years our driver and logistician for these trips – chose to come up with us.

We headed up the miners’ track in a gorgeous sunset and reached Bwlch Glas at the perfect moment: just as the sun reached the horizon.

We summited and descended in the dark, down the Llanberis path, arriving at the Snowdon Mountain railway station and Miss Wood with the minibuses at 1.00am on the Friday morning. It was a fantastic day out, made even more worthwhile by the £4,000 raised by the students for International Needs UK. ⬤

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A Word from the Chaplain JHH

It is my hope and prayer that Chapel has functioned as a spring of living water during this academic year, at which some have sipped gently, and others have drunk deeply.

To that end, I am grateful to all those who participated in our Chapel and Eltham College Christianity Explored (ECCE) programmes. Of particular note this year have been various local church links including the inimitable Bishop of Woolwich, Karowei Dorgu, Joe Macnamara from King’s Church, London, and Andrew Latimer from Grace Church, Greenwich.

We ran two ECCE weekends away this year, one for the Sixth Form and one for the younger year groups. These weekends give students some space amidst the tumult of school life to ask and reflect upon life’s big questions.

I am very grateful to Miss Richard, Mr Skipworth and Mrs Colwell for giving up their time to assist with these trips.

But, as is so often the case, my greatest thanks go to the ECCE leaders and Chapel Prefects, a group of 18 Sixth Form pupils who have given their time and energy to the younger students — leading Bible studies, offering wisdom and generally going above and beyond the call of duty. Matthew Hobbs deserves special recognition for his gentle and reliable leadership of the Junior School ECCE group.

With many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for the Chaplaincy of the school – particularly to the groups of parents whom, I know, pray so fervently for all aspects of school life. ⬤

Bishop of Woolwich speaking at the ECCE programme

Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.

Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’

(John 4:13-14)

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Jubilee Tree Planting ECF

To mark HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and to support the national tree planting initiative for the Jubilee promoted by Prince Charles called the Green Canopy Initiative, the school ordered and planted two very special trees on Monday 6th June, the first day back after half-term and immediately following the special Platinum Jubilee weekend of national celebrations.

One tree was planted at the Junior School and one was planted at the Senior School.

Together with Vikki Meier, Head of Junior School and Guy Sanderson, Headmaster, a Gingko Biloba tree was ‘planted’ by two of the youngest students in the school – Nikitha Bala and Aaron Fang.

The Gingko Biloba is the longest-known living tree in the world and this tree was chosen as it befits the longest serving monarch of the United Kingdom.

At the Senior School a Pawlonia tree was planted on the field in front of the school. Together with Guy Sanderson, Headmaster, the honours were performed Tony Timms, Head Groundsman – and longest continual serving member of staff, which seemed equally fitting.

Two special plaques, one for each tree, were designed and grounded to identify each tree for all members of the school community to view on the playing fields.

Editor’s note: in September, the school marked the sad passing of Her Majesty with a series of special services held in the Chapel for students, parents, staff and OEs. ⬤

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Science Week STW

Science Week is a highlight of the year for many students, and this year was no exception, with demonstrations, competitions, student-led talks and events to suit every interest.

SciSoc saw a week of outstanding talks taking place from Sixth Form students on topics of their own interest. Feihong Huang and Venya Gaddam spoke on the biological mechanisms behind vaccination; Hashir Majid and the UK Space Design Competition team introduced their futuristic space designs; Chris Lefebure and Francine Bibby discussed the value that our now live Eltham College Weather Station will have and how it works; and Alex McInerny and Samuel Caschetto helped younger students to create fish-tank particle detectors using dry ice.

We also witnessed the launch of the Sustainability and Design Society, with Oli Deal and Niall Gill presenting on the need for a more sustainable future. We were delighted to introduce the first ever SciSoc magazine, written for students by students and featuring articles from all those who had presented talks to the Science Society over the previous year.

This was expertly put together by Sophie Britz and Meeran Hamawandi, edited by James Millar. It ran over 40 pages and proved an excellent achievement, worthy of the archives.

We were excited to welcome Chartwell’s chefs to talk to Year 9 on the science of food preparation, our very own Masterchef demonstration.

Zoolab made a return to the College, bringing spiders, snakes and snails and many other animals to visit Year 7 students who learned about adaptation and evolution from the expert rangers.

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The highlight of the week was undoubtedly the inaugural Peake Lecture

by Dr Harry Cliff, whose inspirational book How to Make an Apple Pie from Scratch was published earlier in the year.

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Central Hall saw our young engineers showing off their exceptional Weizmann safes, having competed in the national and international rounds of competition as we continue our impressive record in this competition. Our popular Crest Clubs in the Lower and Middle schools showed off their academic posters to visiting students and staff.

The highlight of the week was undoubtedly the inaugural Peake Lecture

by Dr Harry Cliff, whose inspirational book How to Make an Apple Pie from Scratch was published earlier in the year. Having already discussed the standard model of particle Physics with our Year 10 Scholars, his evening talk was an exploration of the origins of everything, a tour de force of cutting-edge research, presented in an accessible way to a packed audience in the Antony Barnard Theatre.

For the first year, inter-House competitions took over Science Week.

The Science Spelling Bee for younger years and traditional egg-drop competition were joined by rocketry and ‘post-a-Pringle’ competitions, which challenged students to use recycled packaging to keep the most delicate items safe through the post. Fittingly the final event of the week was the inter-House ‘University Challenge’ competition hosted by Mr Copley, Head of Chemistry, with students from all ages competing to be crowned House Science Week champions. Chalmers ultimately came out winners. ⬤

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Peake Lecture Series

Launched as Part of Eltham 180 Celebrations ECF

As part of the Eltham 180 celebrations, the school launched and hosted a new lecture series. Called ‘The Peake Lectures’, these are held every term and leading speakers/performers are invited to address an Eltham audience made up of students, parents, OEs and members of the local community.

The lectures are named after Mervyn Peake OE (1929), the son of missionary parents who went on to be a leading author, poet and artist.

The inaugural lecture held on 17th March was given by Professor Harry Cliff, a particle physicist at Cambridge University, who is seeking to make sense of and explain the universe. Professor Cliff has worked on the Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) experiment, a huge particle detector buried 100 metres underground at CERN near Geneva. He captivated an audience of nearly 300 adults and children from Eltham College and members of local schools with his explanation of our emerging understanding of the universe and the important work being done by scientists in this country and at CERN.

How to make an apple pie from scratch” The journey from the origins of atoms to the Big Bang in search of a modern understanding of the universe

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In the Summer Term, we were delighted to welcome Chris Jagger OE – musician, actor, author and former pupil, as well as his accomplished musical associate, Charlie Hart. Chris, brother of Sir Mick, and Charlie gave a ‘tour de force’ performance of music, amusing readings, conversation and anecdotes in the Antony Barnard Theatre which was greatly enjoyed by around 220 parents and students.

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A promising range of speakers is being lined up for Peake Lectures in the Michaelmas Term and reports about these will be in the next edition of The Elthamian. ⬤

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Preparing Pupils for Life Beyond Eltham Head of Careers and Oxbridge Louise Badelow outlines the school’s work experience programme – and how the alumni and parent community have played an important role in it With life returning to some kind of normality after the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic, we are particularly pleased that our Career Learning Programme has continued to go from strength to strength during the last academic year. This is in no small part thanks to the support of our alumni and parent community.

There can be little doubt that the Lower Sixth Form work experience programme is one of our great successes when it comes to preparing our students effectively for life beyond Eltham College. Even during two years of lockdowns and Covid restrictions, we were able to provide the entire cohort with a wide range of virtual opportunities,

enabling them to build invaluable transferrable skills across a number of different sectors, including data science, finance, law, engineering, medicine and marketing.

This year, with workplaces starting to open up, many of our students were able to benefit from physical work experience placements as well as innovative virtual projects.

Some sourced these opportunities themselves, but the vast majority took advantage of the amazing range of assignments provided

by OEs, parents and the wider Eltham community.

Some students, including aspiring software developer Ben Robinson, took the chance to engage in an additional period of work experience during the Easter holiday. This was kindly offered by Eltham parent Mark Trinick, CEO of VLE Support Ltd., the company behind eTrackr, an online platform used in educational settings to track a learner’s journey from start to finish, including action plans, progress reviews and work experience.

Mark said ‘…eTrackr is no stranger to supporting the tracking of work experience and industry placements, but we always try to practise what we preach. Ben spent a week with us as a member of our software development team and we were all impressed with his conduct and capabilities. He built some new functionality on the platform entirely by himself, which was so impressive. We were so impressed, we offered him a job, which we are delighted he accepted!’

Parent Mark Trinick, CEO of VLE Support ltd., the company behind eTrackr

Ben said, ‘I really enjoyed the placement I completed for VLE Support. It was a fantastic chance

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Ben Robinson, who undertook a work experience placement in the software development team at eTrackr

to see how software is developed in industry and to build features for real users. Being able to continue this work beyond just a week’s placement is fantastic; I can’t thank Mr Trinick and the school Careers Department enough for this unique opportunity.’

Networking is such an important career management tool, and in recent years we have seen many valuable connections made as a result of work experience, including between Amelia Barling (OE 2016) and Russell Dellar (OE 1987). While at school, Amelia embarked on a period of work experience at international law firm Bird & Bird, facilitated by Russell, and later applied for their vacation scheme during her third year at university.

Seven years on, and Amelia is now enjoying her role as one of their trainee solicitors. She said she was ‘extremely grateful to Eltham College, Bird & Bird and Russell for their encouragement to enable me to achieve an ambition I had in the Lower Sixth come into fruition.’

offer support to anyone interested in making a US application, mirroring the already established mentor programme we provide to aspiring Oxbridge and medical school applicants.

Alongside work experience, the Elthamians Network (www. elthamians.network) supports our student and alumni communities in so many ways – from offering help with CV writing, to providing guidance on university choices and career pathways. As well as this, we are grateful to all those OEs who return to school to talk to students each year on a variety of topics.

It is testament to the extent to which students value this programme that those who have recently benefited from it now offer to get involved. This includes OEs Aryan Gupta, Matt Rogers, James Fidler and Sulaiman Ullah – all from 2021 – who have recently been matched with our next cohort of Oxford and Cambridge applicants.

They join an impressive line-up of OEs of all ages and degree disciplines, all of whom are willing to support our current students make their transition from school to the world’s top universities.

Earlier this year we welcomed Oliver Maynard (OE 2021) who was on spring break from University of California, Berkeley. He spoke to students about his experience of applying for, and studying at, a US university. Oliver has gone on to

But our focus is not simply on university, and we are also delighted to hear the career journeys of those OEs who choose an alternative pathway. In February George White (OE 2020) contributed to a talk with Year 11 to mark National

Apprenticeship Week, speaking about his experience as a Solicitor apprentice at Deloitte, while at the end of the Summer Term, Anish Sohal (OE 2020) spoke about degree apprenticeships in general, and his role as a technology apprentice at JP Morgan in particular, at our Beyond Eltham College event for those joining the Sixth Form in September.

As we start to plan the wide range of activities and interventions that will form our innovative Career Learning Programme in 2022-23, please consider how you might be able to get involved. ⬤

You can sign up and/or update your Elthamians Network profile online (elthamians.network) to indicate how you would like to help, or email Louise Badelow, Head of Careers and Oxbridge, at lob@eltham-college.org.uk

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In March OE Faizal Khan brought the iconic Peel car to the school that his company had developed

Development Report The school’s Development Director, Saoirse O’Donovan, looks at the development and fund-raising that has taken place this year.

When I arrived at Eltham College in February 2021, I was struck by the commitment from staff to growth that would benefit our pupils, even amid the complexities of the pandemic.

It has been a pleasure to be part of this journey and I am delighted to summarise our progress from the past academic year.

In March 2022, we welcomed OE Faizal Khan to formally open the three new Science labs completed in 2021.

The labs have been popular among students and teachers alike and there are more on the way. The ongoing refurbishments to the Science Department will continue this summer and we look forward to welcoming pupils back in September to two new labs for physics and biology, completing a suite of five new labs.

Our second Astroturf pitch was opened in November 2021 and has witnessed plenty of excellent results from teams across the school. To round off the school year and take advantage of the summer weather,

the Eltham College 1st XI took on a star-studded team of current and former England and GB internationals.

This team was led by Eltham College’s Calum Giles who represented Team GB in the Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 Olympic games.

If you visited the school last term you will have noticed plenty of building work taking place next to the swimming pool. A complete redevelopment of the changing rooms in the Eric Liddell Sports Centre is well underway and we hope to have these finished by October half-term. These new changing rooms will be modern and spacious, upgrading our already excellent sports facilities for all our boys and girls.

There are, moreover, lots of smaller but nonetheless equally important additions and improvements across the school. The Eltham College Parents Association have agreed to fund a baby grand piano for the Rosemary Morgan Hall in the Junior School. The new piano will replace

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one donated over 20 years ago and will be used for assemblies, ensembles rehearsals, one-to-one lessons and, of course, the ever-impressive Junior School concerts. We hope to extend these improvements to the Junior School Music room in 2023/4 with a plan to completely refurbish the space and add some new instruments.

The Common Room in the Senior School – which has seen no changes since the early 1970s – underwent major refurbishment over the summer, providing a modern working space for all staff. The refurbishment has also created a new corridor, allowing for a lift to be installed in due course which will improve accessibility in the main school building Aside from valuable infrastructure, the College has been focusing on adding value to pupils and the community in other ways, too. Since its establishment 180 years ago, many students have been beneficiaries of various assisted places. Historically, some of these places were part funded by churches, the Direct Grant Scheme and Assisted Places Scheme.

Despite these schemes being scrapped in 2004, Eltham College has not ceased from investing in future Elthamians. Unlike other schools in south London, we do not have an endowment of any kind.

Thanks to financial support from our generous OE and parent communities, however, we consistently offer fee assistance to a substantial number of students and are focused on increasing our offering.

In early 2022, we set ourselves an aspirational goal of increasing the number of fully funded bursaries we can offer for children who, without this level of support, would not be able to enjoy an Eltham education.

We will welcome 10 new students in September as part of our transformational bursary programme where students are offered 100 per cent financial support with additional funding for uniforms and travel

expenses. Four of these pupils are Ukrainian nationals, currently living with families in the local area.

Much of this work would be inconceivable without support from our Old Elthamian and parent communities. On behalf of the Development Team, I would like to offer a heartfelt thank you for your support to date. I very much look forward to providing further exiting updates over time and sharing plenty of good news with you all. ⬤ Faizal Khan OE opening the new Science labs in the Junior School

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FUNDR AISING IN NUMBER S

£580,000 raised in stand-alone gifts and 5-year commitments in 2022

294

regular donors in 2022 (that’s up from 219 in 2021)

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Number of donors giving for ten years or more

10

Number of new students awarded a 100 percent transformational bursary in 2022/23

5

Number of new science labs completed since 2021

One of the old science labs (left), with its fixed desks, and the newlyrefurbished lab in use (below)

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OE Hockey SXO

Eltham College 1st XI vs Invitational XI On Sunday 3 July, we enjoyed the final celebration to mark the inaugural year of the new hockey pitch. This was an excellent event that did not disappoint.

Eltham College’s 1st XI boys took on an invitational XI put together by Head of Hockey, Calum Giles. Calum’s team was made up of a selection of very experienced current and former internationals from England, Scotland, South Africa and Gibraltar. This impressive ensemble of players was supported by members from our teaching staff. We had representation from lots of departments. Mr Thorogood and Miss Caudle made a competitive pairing in front of goal.

They were supported by Mr Hon, Mr Merrett, Mr Devellerez and Mr Chesterton making moves all over the pitch, the latter getting on the score sheet. Former Head of Lower School, Mr Meier, who was recently promoted to Deputy Head at Channing School, also came back to lend a hand.

The school team were a tour de force and embraced the opportunity to play against these top-level hockey internationals. They put in a spirited performance with Ollie Egan scoring a hattrick. The game finished 6-3 to Calum’s squad, but there was no question about the skill and talent from the 1st XI side and we look forward to a very competitive season next year.

The event was run in partnership with Blackheath and Elthamians Hockey Club (BEHC). The club played a leading role in putting together a wonderful junior event to start the day. We had over 120 girls and boys ranging from age 10 to 16 involved in a round robin tournament in the morning.

Seeing so many young hockey players was another indication of the quality of hockey in southeast London and emphasises the importance of having the facilities to match.

In the afternoon, the BEHC Committee played against the Club members in a tight game that saw the Club emerge 2-0 winners.

The turn-out for the event was incredible with support from parents, school staff, club committee members and members from our Old Elthamians Association all present on the day. Events like these are a wonderful opportunity to come together, showcase the talent of all ages and share ideas about what else we could do together to further enhance our hockey facilities.

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A special mention must also go out to the hard-working catering and facilities teams at Eltham College, without whom none of this would be possible. They do a wonderful job all year round to support school, alumni and Club events and we are grateful for all their efforts.

We look forward to hosting more events like this one in the future as we work towards making Eltham College the home of one of the most impressive hockey centres in the country. ⬤

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Old Elthamian Association Reception at the House of Lords RLJ

On Thursday 16 June – an idyllic summer’s evening – nearly 200 people gathered on the famous terrace of the House of Lords overlooking the River Thames.

Generously hosted by The Rt Hon. Lord Knight of Weymouth (Jim Knight, OE 1983), Old Elthamians, their guests, current parents and a smattering of current pupils enjoyed speeches, camaraderie, and hospitality of the highest order.

OEs of every generation were well represented, from recent schoolleavers through to a former OEA President nonagenarian from the class of 1950!

Chris Brain, President of the OEA, opened proceedings before handing over to Lord Knight. Jim talked about how grateful he was for his education at Eltham College and the foundation it provided him and his brother in the face of a challenging start to life.

Jim acknowledged the strength and potential of the OE network – indeed, it was Elthamian connections that fostered his interest in politics, and

Jim was first introduced to the House of Lords by The Rt Hon. Lord Fenner Brockway (OE 1907), who spoke at the 100th meeting of the school’s College Society in 1983, at the age of 94, and then hosted Jim and two other members of the Society at the House of Lords shortly afterwards.

Jim spoke about the importance of education and how this belief helped shape his professional life. This was particularly poignant as the College is currently engaging with OEs and parents to help increase the number of bursaries it can offer to deserving young people.

Nick Byers, Chairman of the OEA, closed proceedings by thanking Lord Knight for hosting us, those who attended (including many who had held on to their tickets since 2019!) and outlined the OEA’s vision looking forward to many more social and professional networking events. ⬤

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The statue of Labour MP and peace campaigner Fenner Brockway OE in London’s Red Lion Square. Jim Knight heard him speak at College Society while at school, and cited him as an inspiration

Chris Brain, President of the Old Elthamians Association

If you, or someone you know, has connections with other iconic venues and would be willing to host a similar event, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact the Elthamians’ Team on 020 8851 9840 or via email at elthamians@eltham-college.org.uk

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Junior School

Art Exhibition

Junior School Art

Junior School Maths

We celebrated the wonderful artwork produced throughout the Junior School in our biannual exhibition at the Gerald Moore Gallery. This is a chance to bring together work from all year groups. Our theme was textiles and work ranged from silk painting to printed t-shirts and tote bags of Frida Kahlo. Textiles is a tough theme for such young pupils, but their sewing skills have improved without exception.

Maths competitions are a regular feature of the Junior School calendar, and every pupil took part in at least one national challenge during the last academic year – whether that be the Primary Maths Challenge (Year 5 and 6), the Junior Maths Challenge (Year 6, together with Senior School pupils up to Year 8) or the First Maths Challenge (Year 3 and 4). By solving unusual and applicative multiple-choice questions in a fun format, pupils were able to show off their mathematical skills against others from around the country. Many pupils achieved certificates with some qualifying for bonus rounds for an extra challenge.

NXC

SRO

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Junior School Chess Competitive chess made a welcome return to the Junior School schedule with our entry into the first National Primary Schools Chess Challenge to be held post-pandemic. An Under 9 and Under 11 team travelled to Westminster School to take part in a regional semi-final against 30 other school teams from the south of the country.

Formula One in Schools

Over the course of the five rounds of matches, there were some epic contests and every Eltham player contributed towards the team’s points total. Both teams finished in the top 10 of their respective competitions, a fine achievement which bodes well for the future.

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As part of STEAM week, pupils in Year 6 took part in the F1 in Schools project. Having learned about aerodynamics and the key role it plays in the design of racing cars, pupils created their own F1 cars in House teams.

From a base chassis, they designed their own aerodynamics packages as well as creating their own branding and liveries to make their cars stand out from the rest. Eventually the cars competed in a series of drag races, using a pressurised launch control system and a racetrack covering the length of the Rosemary Morgan Hall, with Chalmers emerging as the victorious team.

SRO

Junior School Drama It has been a bumper year for drama in the Junior School. We ended the Michaelmas Term with not one, but two, shows. Year 3 performed their Nativity Poems, followed by Year 4’s production of The Grinch. The end of Lent Term saw Year 5 tackle their first ever Shakespeare performances of Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Tempest. Finally, Year 6 saw us off with the school’s première production of The Canterbury Tales, where three tales were adapted for the stage: The Nun’s Priest’s Tale, The Knight’s Tale, and The Clerk’s Tale.

HJT

Year 5 performance of Macbeth

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Junior School Music After 204 performances, the 2022 House Music Competition drew to a close at the end of January.

The final results were: 1st

Carey

2nd Chalmers 3rd

Moffat

4th

Livingstone

MKA

Junior School Residential Trips This spring, Year 5 and Year 6 visited Norfolk Lakes Adventure Centre where they learned the rudimentary skills needed to take part in an exciting range of water sports. Year 4 were lucky enough to visit Bawdsey Manor on the Suffolk coast. The pupils were treated to panoramic views, beautiful beaches and over 140 acres packed with adventure, making it a very special place for a memorable school trip.

beautiful Sussex Downs, Windmill Hill adventure offered the pupils the chance to try activities that were new to many of them.

For many of the pupils in the Junior School this was their first experience of being away from their parents overnight, due to the disruption caused by Covid. Everyone coped admirably, and the pupils are eagerly looking forward to next year!

SHM

Year 3 spent two nights at Windmill Hill. Located close to the coast on the

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Junior School House Competition Update In October 2021, four new Heads of Houses were appointed as part of an exciting initiative to reinvigorate the Junior School system. In addition to the long-standing competitions, they introduced a variety of new events which incorporate a broader range of the remarkable skills and talents present among the children.

Fun competitions have included events such as LanguageNut, Christmas stamp design, table tennis, chess, Formula 1 Challenge, 500 word story writing and many others.

In addition, we dove-tailed with the Senior School in supporting the International Needs Charity where each House has raised money to sponsor a Ugandan child.

There is a palpable excitement around the school at the mention of House activities and the House Assemblies are an opportunity to highlight successes and engage in displays of House spirit! New House point tokens have led to groups of marauding Junior School pupils desperately finding new ways to earn one of the coveted tokens to win for their House.

NAD Beth Martin, Sam Oliver, Neil Dale and Emilia White

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Drama

Danny, the Champion of the World

In March the Middle School performed Danny, the Champion of the World directed by one of our LAMDA teachers, Mrs Beveridge.

Charlie Randles on playing (half) the role of Danny…

For this year’s Middle School play I was fortunate enough to co-play the role of Danny. It was an incredible experience that I was proud to be a part of.

Going to twice weekly rehearsals with my friends was a great way to become familiar with the characters, the set and the cast members from other year groups. The relaxed nature of the rehearsals helped us to develop a better understanding of our characters and be a part of a collaborative ensemble.

I got to see what it was like to be involved in a production from start to finish, how we improved from week to week, the amount of people it took to put on a fantastic show, and the creativity and originality needed for the props and special effects.

My highlight of the show was driving a car made up of cast members and umbrellas onto a pitch-black stage, followed by spotlights and sound effects where I was the focus of the show momentarily. This felt amazing and it made me realise how lucky I was to have been given this opportunity. I enjoyed this so much that it has made me want to participate in many more shows at Eltham. →

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Temi Blaev on playing the (other half of the) role of Danny…

I really enjoyed the experience of co-playing Danny. Indeed, it has been a highlight of the school year for me. The whole cast and crew worked incredibly hard for many weeks, and we produced an amazing performance for the audience to enjoy.

I wanted to perform to the very highest level, so I spent a lot of time going over the script and watching the film to get a complete understanding of how to be Danny and what he was like.

I had a lot of fun during the rehearsals – with toy pheasants flying around the ABT, flashlights being shone in your eyes every few minutes and joy in the air, we came closer and closer to the final product. The final product was great and I am very proud of all involved. Well done everyone!

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Charlie Shaw on playing the role of Rabbets…

Rabbets is the head gamekeeper and the secondary antagonist of the show. I really enjoyed my time in the production as the Middle School cast was packed with brilliant actors and a talented tech crew who all played a tremendous role in making the final show immaculate.

We worked on the play for months during which time our director, Mrs Beveridge, gave up her 25th anniversary celebrations to help us with rehearsals on top of all the afternoons she spent helping us.

She challenged me to reconsider how my character presented himself on stage. I put my own spin on the character, helped by the incredible Costume Department, whose work should not go unnoticed. Overall, I had a blast being part of the production and I hope that these types of productions continue.

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Zach Szollosi on being part of Tech Crew for the performance…

I leaned over the side of the rig holding the stuffed pheasant. ‘In that case it won’t work,’ said Danny. That was my cue line. I dropped the bird.

It plummeted to the ground with a soft thump, followed by the remaining four, carefully thrown and perfectly aimed. Mission accomplished. My first performance task with tech crew.

I was invited to join the tech crew

by Alex Taylor in the Michaelmas Term last year. I was have always been interested in theatre, taking LAMDA classes since Year 3 and frequent visits to the West End have ignited my passion and admiration for backstage work.

At first, I was quite nervous as I didn’t know how to do anything in the theatre but all the members of tech crew were kind and supportive. I learnt how to rig a light and Zac Devon gave me a short crash course on the lighting deck and the sound system. We used some practical DT skills to make the set for Honk!, using modrock to mould eggshells. It was exciting to learn all these skills and I loved the camaraderie of the crew.

I now see theatre from a whole new and intriguing perspective.

But back to the stuffed pheasants.

This was the Middle School play of Danny, the Champion of the World, performed to parents and teachers.

This was a big deal for me; I was excited yet scared. Would I drop it too early? Would I drop it too late? Would the actors have to improvise to cover up the fact that I made a mistake?

We waited in the dark in silence, hands sweaty, knees shaking, waiting for the cue. Afterwards the relief was as real as cool breeze. I loved every moment. I can’t wait for next year. ⬤

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Honk!

LOWER SCHOOL PERFORM ANCE

Andrea Austin on playing the role of the cat…

My experience with Honk! was great: from the costume designers to the new people I met along the way. The auditions were the scariest part for me and the tension of waiting for Mr Devellerez’s was intense!

Rehearsals started straight away and it was the best part of the show. They could sometimes be tiring but they were always entertaining and engaging. I met loads of new people I would not have spoken to outside the ABT and rehearsal hours.

The hardest part of the musical for me personally was creating my character. It was a challenge to re-create the character of the cat and to enhance its movement and personality, but I eventually got the hang of it and loved all my songs.

Creating a bond with the other members of the cast was great, as was learning new songs and scenes with them.

We made lots of positive memories backstage during the dress rehearsals, whether that was laughing too loud and getting told off or cheering on one of your friends before they went on stage. I can’t wait to be part of the Middle School play next year.

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Ronan Corrigan on playing the role of Ugly…

Hesper Holden on playing the role of Ida…

We auditioned back in February for Honk! and were all eager to do the best we could. I loved doing the auditions, as everyone I talked to had the same nervous, exited feeling, and so we could all relate to each other.

Back in February, which seems ages ago now, I auditioned to be in Honk!

I knew that there were a lot of talented people in Year 7 and 8 but I crossed my fingers that I would get to play Ida. I was lucky enough to get the part.

Rehearsals were fun and I always looked forward to them. Ida is a sweet but fierce mother who always puts up a fight for her children; I worked hard on trying to portray that in my movement, acting and singing.

Rehearsals for the first half term were, for me, quite easy-going, as there were only two per week – one on Tuesday, the dancing rehearsals, and one on Thursday, for whole cast singing. I remember the first two weeks vividly: the first rehearsal was a dancing rehearsal with the goose squadron, where we learned the dance to ‘Wild Goose Chase’, and the second being a singing rehearsal, learning the opening number ‘Poultry Tale’. This was also the song that we all had to dance to for the dancing audition.

The next week we started learning the final number of the show ‘Warts and All’. This routine continued until the holiday, when it started to get slightly more hectic, with occasional morning rehearsals, several at lunchtimes and, on top of that, after school rehearsals almost every day!

I have loved the amazing experience of being cast as a lead of this musical, and I look forward to performing in more plays next year.

Time seemed to fly by with all the laughter and, before we knew it, it was time for the last dress rehearsal.

Powered by Haribo sweets we did two runs and then it was time to go home and get our beauty sleep before the big day.

The two shows were utterly brilliant and could not have gone better. The singing was in tune, the dancing was in time, the acting was emotional and the costumes were on point!

My favourite part was when the whole cast was on stage to sing the final number – it was special to be surrounded by everyone involved.

Thank you to all the teachers for all their hard work and support, particularly our director, Mr Devellerez.

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Emilio Escanero Dingley on playing the role of Drake…

When I first found out that we were doing Honk! I was delighted as I love the Hans Christian Andersen tale.

The auditions were a bit of a nerveracking but once it was over I was pleased to find out that I had got a part in the musical.

Drake is a really cool guy who is always ducking out of his responsibilities.

As well as having quite a comedic role, I felt Drake also had a sensitive, caring side to him which I really wanted to bring out in certain places.

Drake was, on the whole, lots of fun to play.

Rehearsals were hard work and having to repeat things over and over was really demanding, but it all paid off. Spending rehearsals with my friends was the best part: it was great being in a show with such a talented group of people.

On the day, the two performances went really well. I have made so many new friends and the everyone has been so supportive. I will really miss being involved in Honk! but I will have fond memories of this time forever. ⬤

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Much Ado About Nothing

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In March the Sixth Form took part in the Shakespeare Schools Festival, performing Much Ado About Nothing at the Albany Theatre in Deptford, southeast London.

Oliver Ennis on playing the role of Benedick…

Jessica Bilsby on being part of the ensemble…

On Monday 28 March, Eltham College participated in a nationwide drama festival, the Shakespeare Schools Festival. Mr Devellerez and Miss Tournes led the Sixth Form Drama students in their own 1950s rendition of Much Ado About Nothing, a Shakespeare comedy of love, deception, and egoism.

Our adaptation of Much Ado was set in 1950s Hollywood. As well as playing Margaret, I was also part of the ensemble which underlined the importance of teamwork and increased my engagement with physical theatre.

Within the play Beatrice (Tara O’Sullivan) and Benedick try to quell any rumours of their affection, with little success. Hero (Lauren Chaplin) and Claudio (Ethan Fiore) see their romance hampered by conniving villain Don John (Charlie Smith).

The Sixth Form Drama Department performed an engaging romcom with great success.

We performed alongside two other primary schools in a funny and entertaining spectacle. This play was a major landmark for our Upper Sixth actors and actresses – Tara, Lauren, Ben Lewis, Ben Edwards, Charlie and Ollie – as it was the last play of their school journey.

It was also great to use this experience to elevate new drama students and showcase the vast pool of talent in the Lower Sixth. Special thanks to Mr Devellerez and Miss Tournes for their dedication and effort during many after school rehearsals. They did a fantastic job, with everything turning out brilliantly.

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Being able to use physical theatre in this ensemble style challenged me to craft mood and imply setting in my performance. During rehearsals, we had to work together as a cast which was fun and brought us closer.

Although we did we have individual cues, it was also integral to be alert and able to work effectively as a whole cast. This experience was an amazing opportunity to explore the importance of ensemble work in theatre. It was also a valuable learning experience to observe how other schools interpreted Shakespeare plays at the festival.

Ethan Fiore on being part of the ensemble…

Much Ado About Nothing was a new play to me, as was performing in Shakespearian language. Nevertheless, the whole cast worked really hard to bring meaning to words that are seldom used in social contexts today.

Our performance was an ensemble piece, so everyone was always on stage doing something. This made it less about the central characters and more about creating different atmospheres and locations for the characters to transport to – even when our set consisted of a small wooden box which got discarded halfway through the tech rehearsal.

Despite rehearsals being sporadic due to Covid and new-borns, we managed to put on an impressive piece of theatre, in large part thanks to the hard work of Mr Devellerez and Miss Tournes. ⬤

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Artwork

Art

Sanna Hjalm (Year 7)

A selection of art

by Eltham pupils.

Freya Burton-Franklin (Upper VI)

Hesper Holden (Year 8)

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Ben Chamberlain (Upper VI)

Carter Moir-Chiao (Year 11)

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Aidan Cotterill (Year 8)

Henry Lines (Year 9)

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Uriel Jinadu (Royal Academy piece)

Diego Golsby (Year 11)

Luke Wilson (Year 10)

Sofia Khimchak (Year 8)

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Gerald Moore Gallery HFA

It has been a busy year at Gerald Moore Gallery (GMG) with nine exhibitions in total and a range of art clubs, holiday workshops and outreach activities.

GMG continued to the second year of its Big Local Funded Arts Therapy and Wellbeing in school project, working with Elmstead Wood Primary School.

The project delivered weekly sessions at the school, gallery visits and staff CPD and wellbeing sessions. At the end of January 2022, the gallery’s new manager Haf Anuar joined the existing team consisting of Ruth Borthwick (Gallery Assistant), Steven Scott (Saturday Invigilator) and several freelance instructors.

In March 2022, GMG presented ‘Shock of the Form’, a collaborative exhibition of ice photography and an ice sculpture by photographer Peer Lindgreen and celebrated ice sculptor Duncan Hamilton. Along with a melting ice sculpture replenished weekly, the exhibition displayed visually striking photographs captured in Hamilton’s southwest London workshop in which the artists worked in a minus 20 degrees Celsius shipping container and experimented

‘Shock of the Form’ installation view

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with different exposures to explore the relationship between light and ice. Hamilton also conducted two ice sculpting workshops with the students in the gallery’s Sculpture Garden which introduced them to the process of chiselling ice by hand.

At the end of May and June, GMG hosted a series of internal school exhibitions starting with the Junior School Summer Art Exhibition from May 24 to May 26, showcasing art and crafts pieces made by pupils in the Junior School. It was a colourful celebration of the students’ creativity and talent. The Senior School’s GCSE Art Exhibition was mounted after and was followed by the A-level Art Exhibition. Both demonstrated the students’ talent and hard work via ambitious and sophisticated work that utilised the Art Department’s facilities and the gallery’s space with care and attention.

Students from a local primary school with their self-portraits

The year ended with a series of summer Art workshops, a free crafternoon session and ‘Drawing Boundaries’, a group exhibition with work by Rebecca Griffiths, Beth Luxton and Emily Snell. Griffiths was previously a workshop instructor for our Saturday Art Club. ⬤

Ice sculpting workshop with Duncan Hamilton

Ruth Borthwick conducting a wellbeing session for staff at Elmstead Woods Primary School

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NTA

Having shown a large body of artwork at the Gerald Moore Gallery in the Summer Term last year after two years as the Artistin-Residence at Eltham College, and with the opportunity to stay on for a third year, I turned my attentions to working more collaboratively, organising a group exhibition with two artists whose work I admired and felt a shared sensibility with: Ian Jackson and Jack Handscombe.

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Extrusive Thoughts Exhibition Being based in different places, in the months leading up to the exhibition, a period of discursive conversation took place online as images, notes, observations and reference points were communally shared and responded to by each artist remotely.

What emerged from this period of exchange was a series of works in diverse mediums including metal, stone, and clay but with overlapping concerns conceptually, brought together in an exhibition called ‘Extrusive Thoughts’.

Jack Handscombe’s prints on shaped metal of rainbows digitally manipulated into masonry arch forms, set up an interesting dialogue with Ian Jackson’s zinc profiles cut to describe architectural negative space.

Elsewhere my own works, using chunks of clay extruded to resemble plasticine that has been piled into unwieldly stacks, also appeared to be in conversation with early examples of buildings.

With the exhibition up I enjoyed the opportunity to give tours and design activities for Art classes from several year groups who engaged and responded well to the show, asking thoughtful and pertinent questions in the process. ⬤

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House Reports

C AREY There have been several open House events since Christmas, featuring all year groups collaborating, including Music and Drama with notable new events such as musical theatre and House Runway.

all year groups. We have also seen Lower School debating, golf, mental maths, Science Week (including rocket building!) and Spelling Bees.

My thanks to all students who have represented Carey in any of these events.

Our musical theatre entry was an amazing rendition of the challenging ‘Revolting Children’ from Matilda, beautifully put together by Ethan Fiore and Emily McLennan and performed largely by our talented cohort of Lower School students.

House Runway saw a team of students crest an outfit from recycled materials before Hesper modelled it during a raucous lunchtime in the KGH. I am sure this will remain a feature of the House calendar!

Special mention must be made of the success we have seen in the Junior School this year, winning a large number of events and emerging victorious overall. The future certainly appears bright! Congratulations to Moffat in their overwhelming successes in the other categories this year.

Beyond these events, the Blue Wave has competed in the traditional hockey, cricket, tennis, swimming and athletics competitions across

Finally, I offer my thanks to our departing Upper Sixth students for their efforts over a number of years, and wish them all the very best in their future endeavours. In particular my thanks to Lily Chatterjee and Jamison Rogers for leading us as House Captains through 2021-22. ⬤ ADM

NEWS

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CHALMERS After overcoming so many challenges throughout the pandemic, the return to normality in the House system has been a reminder of how enjoyable and exciting this co-curricular offering is.

January saw music and drama take centre stage, with Houses prepared for the creative events with plenty of anticipation. Under the direction of Charlie, our 20-student cast took first place overall in drama, with a chilling performance of Frankenstein. The following students picked up individual awards: Charlie Smith (best director), Ellen Eburah (best supporting actress), Tara O’Sullivan (best actress) and Jack Flood (best actor). On the following evening of what was a very busy week, our musicians carried on the momentum and picked up first place in House Music. 2022 could not have started much better.

Another highlight of the previous two terms was the reintroduction of House University Challenge, which coincides with Science Week. This event saw Iolo Mottershead, Dylan Slee, Seb Bloch, Nkosie Mswabuki, Velican Kuyumcu and Jim Liu enter a ‘battle of the brains’ with other Houses in the ABT.

The Lent Term ended with The Red Army in second place overall: a huge transformation from Christmas, where we had found ourselves in fourth place.

Students and staff knew that the Summer Term was going to be pivotal in determining our finishing place.

Could we keep our noses ahead of Carey and Livingstone whilst applying pressure to Moffat?

After many fantastic events, ranging from Sports Days to debates, from Maths to musical theatre, the valiant effort of students across the school saw us secure second place overall for the third year running. Once again, I have been impressed by the commitment, bravery and hard work shown by all students in Chalmers House.

The Summer Term gave us the opportunity to bid farewell to our Upper Sixth leavers, who were reminded by House Captain Ollie Ennis that they would always be valued members of Chalmers, no matter where their lives and careers took them. This moment of raw emotion from Ollie, who has been in Chalmers longer than I have worked at Eltham, reminded me of just how much the House system means to students.

After three years as Head of House, I will be handing over the position to Miss Harding from September.

I know that alongside Mrs Bilsby, who replaces Mrs Brooke as Deputy Head of House, Chalmers is in very safe hands. The future is bright – and even has a slight tinge of red to it! ⬤ BJK

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LIVINGSTONE Our Lower School students led from the front this year, finishing second overall in their category. This was due, in a large part, to our sporting dominance across several events.

We were victorious in Year 7 boys’ House cricket and Year 8 House athletics and our team spirit got many across the finish line, especially after a long 800m race! Our Lower School debaters were exceptional this year, debating challenging content from robots to space exploration. Moses Isle, Seth Jayawardhena, Nathan Bastian-Carter, Harry Hutching, Tommy Horn and Oliver Riley were instrumental to our success.

In the Middle School we continued to show our strong sporting ability with some excellent Sports Day

performances from Kola Olodeje and Alex Bush, in Year 10 and exceptional House spirit shown from Constantine Klan, Kai Lambert and Uzo GeorgeAmadi in Year 9. We also performed strongly in House tennis with Harry Barlow leading the way from Year 11.

The Middle School also performed well in creative and academic events such as House chess, and the Year 9 Spelling Bee. Most pleasing was the attitude of all students who volunteered and participated in events that were out of their comfort zone to help the House – it’s amazing what the promise of a Lion Bar can do…

It is always a difficult task for our Sixth Formers to balance academic endeavours with participation in House events, however they have managed to achieve this delicate

balance and finish strongly. The standout event this year was Senior House Athletics where the full commitment and House spirit of our Sixth Form was evident. We dominated on the track and in the field, with a special mention going to Ojorumi Edozie for overcoming injury to bring home the win for us in the relay.

The open events are for me the best aspect of the House system, as they allow year groups to mix and achieve outstanding performances.

Our House Drama and musical theatre performances were the highlights of the year for Livingstone, staring many students across all year groups and excellently directed and written by Lauren Chaplin and Louie Hargreaves. We really have an abundance of talent and energy amongst all year groups, and it was excellent to see younger members of Livingstone taking a lead.

Thank you to Santiago Esquivel Martinez and Lauren Chaplin for their outstanding leadership of the House this year. They have led from the front in all events, and their unwavering support and energy has been invaluable to me. Also, to the rest of the Upper Sixth who have shown their ongoing commitment and support to Livingstone, despite their academic commitments. Finally, to Mr Crowley who has supported so many in the House this year and has always been there to raise spirits, even in the face of defeat.

Mr Crowley takes over as Head of House from September; he will be supported by Mr Warren. Good luck to them both. It has been a pleasure to lead Livingstone, even if it has only been for a year. Once a Green, always a Green! ⬤ LVC

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MOFFAT What a year! I am not entirely sure it is possible to sum up the achievements of our House in just a few hundred words, but I will do my best.

next event. For the first time in 10 years – and only the third time in 33 years – with an unprecedented win in all Senior School sections, Moffat won the House Cup!

Throughout this academic year, Moffateers have attacked every House event with passion, humour and unparalleled teamwork. We have had a few bumps along the way, but always seemed to rebound for the

We have had teams for hockey, swimming, tennis, cross-country, athletics, Maths, debating, netball, basketball, rounders, Art, Science and poetry to name a few. We have had some teams that have brought together students from different year groups, and some teams that have worked together for the first time this year, all of equal brilliance. The most notable and consistent element was the willingness from students to participate and support each other, growing stronger with each challenge and learning from their mistakes.

There have been many highlights this year, but for me, House musical theatre stood out. Watching students create, choreograph and perform ‘When I Grow Up’ from Matilda was truly magical. We rounded off the year with House cricket for all years.

Each year group gave it their all to try and cement the final points to enable us to claim the Cup. Thank you again to our superb House Captains, Ben Lewis and Charlotte Watts, for everything that they have done this year both in House events and in support of them. The baton has been passed to Oliver Egan and Madeline Tynan and, with their team of experts, I know that we can expect great things to come.

Well done for all the effort, sweat and energy that has been put into events this year. Same again next year? ⬤ #TeamMoffat JYM

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Features

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Farewell to Amanda Richards

Amanda Richards leaves the school this year after 28 years in the Art Department. A Level Artist Christy Lord asked her about her most striking recollections from her time teaching here, where to go in the world if you want to see the best art – and the joy of cakes!

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Mrs Richards writes: Dungeness has long been a favourite creative destination for Eltham College Art students and here I am in front of one of the beautifully derelict boats on the beach.

What a great patina created by weathering!

Mrs Richards writes: Earlier this year I took part in a ‘make a drawing a day’ challenge with ex Eltham College student Faye Dobinson. This is one of my drawings from that series.

If you could pick one year in your time at the school to go back to, which one would it be and why?

If I could go back to one year, I think I’d probably go to the first year I was here (1994). I walked through the front door of the school and was greeted by the Head of Art, Peter Richards, whom I married eight years later. It was a very exciting year, starting in a completely new environment.

I had previously worked in the fashion industry before going back to college and completing a degree in my late 20s. Working in an Art Department seemed fun and I had seen an art technician role advertised at Eltham. I got an interview, and I was interviewed by Peter, and we had a very long interview because we got on really well. We chatted for approximately two hours about art, and I got the job!

Why did you originally choose to work at Eltham College?

I chose it because I wanted a part time job that was not too stressful and allowed me to make art at the same time. At that point, teaching was not something I was thinking about. I had a studio outside of school and was a working artist. Over time, teaching opportunities started to come up at the

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school, and I swapped roles. During my first year here, the artist in residence scheme was introduced, and I became really good friends with the artist at the time. After she finished, the Headmaster asked me if I would like to do the role because he knew that I was an artist and was aware that I had worked with students outside the role of being a technician. I accepted the role and became artist in residence for a year before becoming a teacher.

Have your views on art, and teaching it, changed during your time at Eltham?

I’d have to say yes, because when you’re young, you have a very clear idea of the kind of art you like and the kind of art you don’t like. Teaching opened my eyes and mind to lots of different types of art. I can appreciate lots of different genres now. In addition, if you spend long enough making your own work, you begin to see patterns in what you are attracted to and how you make work. That’s one of the fun things about teaching art, actually: helping people to identify the sorts of work that they’re actually good at and that they enjoy, highlighting and making people aware of where their strengths are.

Away from art you have been involved in rowing and baking (with the bake-off competitions) – how rewarding have these been?

These were co-curricular activities. The bake-offs were just a bit of fun. The Great British Bake Off is screened each year, normally in September, so running a school bake-off alongside has always seemed like a fun thing to do. At one point, I did become seriously involved in making wedding cakes.

I made these amazing hand-painted, gold-leafed concoctions. Funnily enough, that came out of making a leaving cake for a previous Headmaster about 20 years ago.

He was the first Headmaster that I knew at this school, and I wanted to do something when he left, so I made a cake. The cake had a classical painting on the top, which was part of the Wilton Diptych collection, which is on display at the National Gallery.

I opened a pathway for people to start rowing by taking them along to the club that my daughter was rowing in at the time, the Globe Rowing Club in Greenwich. The junior section, which is where the Eltham →

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boys attended, rowed off the Royal Albert Dock, which is opposite City Airport. At the time, around 30 boys were actively involved with the sport.

In your 28 years at the school, what would you say have been the most significant changes, and which one have you welcomed most?

Obviously there have been many physical changes; not so much to the Art Department, which has stayed pretty much the same, aside from new flooring. I have seen the building of the Turberville Building; the library and the ELSC also weren’t there when I joined.

I vividly remember Sebastian Coe, who won two gold medals in both the 1980 and 1984 Olympic games after winning the 1500 metres race on both occasions, opening the ELSC. He came to open the centre. I was a big fan of his, and I remember chasing after him for his autograph.

The Headmaster was just seeing him off, and I managed to quickly get a word in while waving my programme for the opening in front of him. The Headmaster kindly lent me his pen and I managed to get my programme signed.

The advent of the Gerald Moore Gallery was also significant. It came about after my husband was watching television one day and he saw an interview with Gerald Moore, who was selling his house and all of its contents, including an art collection. Peter observed that he was wearing an Eltham College tie. He contacted Gerald and asked if he would visit his alma mater. Gerald arrived and we soon discovered that he had been asked to leave the school when he was 13 because his father could no longer afford the fees.

A birthday cake made

by Mrs Richards for current parents of pupils at the school who are also family friends

Gerald still led a very colourful life, becoming a child actor, as well as later qualifying as a doctor and a dentist, and he had a Harley Street practice. He gained a lot of money from this and also acquired an art collection from one of his friends, which he wanted to eventually put in a gallery. He was a prolific artist himself, and therefore wanted somewhere to put his collection when he passed on. After developing a friendship with him over many years, Gerald decided to build the GMG alongside Elinor Brass, a former Head of Art. If you could choose one piece of art from any gallery in the world to put in your home, what would it be and why?

Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo Da Vinci or any Vermeer piece; I think they’re all gorgeous. It’s the light in them really, the light coming through the windows. Lady with an Ermine is just so beautiful, though: beautiful light, composition, the position of the hand, the animal…everything.

When you first came to the school you accompanied art trips to Dungeness and Amsterdam. What have been your most rewarding trips with the school?

I’ve been on lots of trips: to Paris, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Venice, Florence, Barcelona, Brussels, Dungeness, as well as countless trips to London… essentially all the major art capitals of Europe. Venice has to be my favourite, because the physical environment is so fantastic, it’s like walking back in time. Even though it’s a popular tourist destination, most of the tourists just go to St Mark’s Square, so if you walk away from there, you become lost in the beauty of the city.

What advice do you have for a pupil embarking on an A Level course?

Be prepared to work hard.

Which city in the world is most interesting, art-wise?

It’s probably London because it’s diverse and it’s a fabulous resource that’s right on our doorstep. I don’t think we use it enough. As I said, though, if you’re looking for a unique environment, I would say Venice.

What has been your most cherished moments as a teacher at Eltham?

There are lovely moments when you find students that are not confident about art at all suddenly gain confidence and enthusiasm. I remember seeing one student putting art as their GCSE option, and thinking ‘how’s he going to do that?’.

He used to consistently ask for ideas about what to do, so I had to often feed him ideas. When he got into Year 11, and we got onto the last project, he would come up to me and say ‘I really fancy doing this, I have an idea, I would like to do such and such…’, so that was lovely. It is inspirational when I see someone who has felt very unsure on what to do start having their own ideas. ⬤

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Eric Liddell’s Other Sport We all know about Eric Liddell’s prowess on the athletics track – thanks in part to the film Chariots of Fire. He was, however, also a top rugby player, playing for both Scotland and Edinburgh University.

Earlier this year on 2 January, on the 100th anniversary of his first cap for Scotland, he was inducted into the Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame. His rugby career is explored in a new book by Kenneth Bogle.

Mark Stickings, former Head of German and school archivist, reviews the book here.

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s there a market for yet another book about Eric Liddell? Well, yes, there is, since this one concentrates not on Eric the athlete who wouldn’t run on Sunday or Eric the missionary in China but specifically on his prowess at his second sport.

Eric Liddell and Rugby: The Other Game of Scotland’s Greatest Athlete by Kenneth Bogle is a well-researched, readable account of Liddell’s relatively brief career as a top rugby player (in effect just the seasons 1921-22 and 1922-23) during which he played regularly for Edinburgh University and Scotland, featuring in seven of their eight home internationals (he missed one through injury).

The story starts with his career at our school, arriving in Blackheath in 1908 and moving with the other boys to our present site in Mottingham in 1912. Bogle quotes extensively from our school magazine and other material in our archives, documenting Eric’s progress from ‘Liddell Two’ under his elder brother Rob to being captain himself. He even gets the date of Eric’s last day at Eltham College right – March 4, 1920. Why didn’t other authors of books about Liddell know that? Because they never asked the archivist.

Bogle sets the scene for Liddell’s two seasons at the top of Scottish rugby, pointing out the different conditions and rules then, and goes on to provide a detailed account of Liddell’s achievements, including a blow-by-blow report on each of the

seven international matches. The author has written many books on rugby and on Scottish rugby in particular and his knowledge of the scene adds colour to the descriptions.

But this is not simply uncritical praise of ‘Saint Eric’: when he was ineffective or played badly, Bogle says so, quoting press reports which were often decidedly mixed.

Sight of the bigger picture is never lost by Bogle – references to Liddell’s other activities, as an athlete or for the church, are slotted in seamlessly. He shows how Liddell’s rugby, though clearly not his highest priority, influenced his development as a man, although he may not have always enjoyed the more boisterous celebrations.

Interestingly, Liddell’s international career is inextricably entwined with that of another old boy from our school, Leslie Gracie (known as Bill in the rugby world), who captained the Scottish team (and made the crucial play) in the ‘Game of the Century’ in Cardiff on February 3, 1923. The book unsurprisingly has a full report of that one. Gracie and Liddell appear together in many of the team photos printed in the book.

So, how good was Eric Liddell the rugby player? Was he just fast, or was there more to it than that? Well, Fogle addresses that question head-on in the last chapter. As for his conclusion – read the book and you’ll find out! ⬤ Mark Stickings (Head of German, 1981-90, and School Archivist, 2008-19) The 1918 rugby team – with Eric Liddell as captain

Eric Liddell and Rugby: The Other Game of Scotland’s Greatest Athlete by Kenneth Bogle, is published by Grosvenor House.

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The 2012 ECCO event ended with a spectacular fireworks display

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Anniversary Fever This year the school is celebrating the 180th anniversary of its foundation in various ways including planting trees, time capsules, special services and a history written about the school. But how were landmark anniversaries celebrated by the school in the past? School archivist Andrew Beattie looks at the celebrations associated with the school’s 100th and 150th anniversaries, and at the 2012 centenary that celebrated the school’s move to Mottingham a century previously.

The School’s Centenary in 1942 If there were any celebrations relating to the school’s first half-century, in 1892, they have gone unrecorded in editions of the School for the Sons of Missionaries Magazine. Not so the centenary of the school’s foundation in 1942, which unfortunately fell during the darkest year of the Second World War. Both editions (June and December) of The Elthamian that year carried the proud announcement on the cover that they were the ‘Centenary Number’. The editorial for the June edition noted that ‘in 1842 the founders of our school may have visualised its existence one hundred years hence, but hardly in grounds of over sixteen acres, or with buildings housing over four hundred boys; nor could they have foreseen the circumstances in which the school would have to celebrate its first centenary. It may seem unfortunate to many of us, especially the present generation of boys, that the war has prevented us from celebrating our centenary with the many festivities that the occasion deserves.’

Nonetheless the occasion of the centenary was marked ‘with an Elthamian slightly larger than previous wartime →

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issues,’ whose pages included personal impressions and recollections of the school in the past: the earliest were by a former pupil who had attended the school in the 1850s when it was located in Mornington Crescent in Camden, and who must have been nearing his hundredth birthday himself.

There was also a rather whimsical piece entitled The Vision and the Dream by J C Pike, who was Head Boy of Eltham House at Taunton, where the school’s boarders had been evacuated, and which imagined scenes from the school’s past. In Mornington Crescent, Pike imagined pupils complaining about the lack of space: ‘I wish they’d get us a larger place, though – old Lemon [W G Lemon, Headmaster 1852-67] gets enough cash…yes, while we starve on thruppence a week; that’s the only thing wrong with Pater [father] being a missionary’ while after moving to the Blackheath site he imagined boys admiring the ‘topping quad…oh, pity it’s lower than the road.’

The December edition included an account of a service held in the Chapel to mark the centenary. Attendees included staff and pupils from Walthamstow Hall, the school in Sevenoaks that began life in Walthamstow (as did S.S.M.) as a school where Christian missionaries could send their daughters (and which was regarded at the time as Eltham College’s sister school). The address was given by former French and German teacher Sidney Moore, who said that the ‘men who [founded the school] were men of the plain heroic breed, who loved heaven’s silence more than fame…

Today we humbly and gratefully give thanks for them and for their labours, wrought in the name and praise of God.’

(Above) Prince Edward at the opening of the ABH – one of the highlights of the school’s 150th anniversary (Right) Prince Edward in Central Hall with Headmaster Malcolm Green during the opening of the ABH – part of the school’s 150th anniversary celebrations

The two volumes of history produced by the school, to mark the 150th anniversary and the 2012 centenary; both are on display in the archives area of the Old Library

The School’s 150th Anniversary in 1992

The plaque unveiled by Prince Edward outside the ABH – now in the archives display cabinets in the Old Library

In his address at Speech Day in 1992, Headmaster Malcolm Green celebrated the ‘excitement and pride in the number of momentous events reflecting our gratitude for the school’s 150 years. The transferring of the symbolic torch from the past to the future…is one of the most central elements in educational experience. What is potent and creative in our heritage must be rekindled through the vision and vitality of each generation, and passed on to those who are launching themselves towards the opportunity of the future…I have been touched by the affection and loyalty expressed by our old pupils in letters and visits, and this year’s anniversary has focused so many of these sentiments, echoed through nostalgia and gratitude.’

One of the ways the event was marked was the publication of a new volume of the school’s history. Eltham College: Past and Present combined a previous volume of history, The Glory of the Sons, published in 1952 and covering the years 1842 to 1950, with Brighter the Torch, edited by Christopher Porteous (Headmaster 1959-83), which brought the story of the school up to date by covering

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Prince Edward meeting pupils during the opening of the ABH in November 1991

the period from 1950 to the appointment of Mr Green as Headmaster in 1990.

Reviewing the second part of the book in The Elthamian, Cambridge academic Dr John Walker wrote that ‘Christopher Porteous has produced a lively contemporary history which does the school community proud….His narrative evokes a school remarkably successful in sustaining its traditions whilst creatively adapting to a changing environment, a school with a continuing and significant boarding presence and yet an equally strong reputation as one of south London’s leading day schools.’

Looking at both volumes together he noted that ‘What most emerges from these pages is a picture of a happy, liberal, and flexible community: one strongly conscious of its past and yet looking resolutely to its future, and drawing staff, parents, pupils and former pupils together in a sense of shared and developing purpose.’

The most prominent event that celebrated the 150th anniversary was undoubtedly the visit of Prince Edward in November 1991 to open the Antony Barnard Hall, which had actually been staging plays for nearly three years when his cavalcade swept up the drive. The Prince was treated to a show that included scenes from Henry V and Antigone along

with some lively singing by junior boys and Mr McCarroll’s Wind ensemble, ‘swinging through a jazzy French medley’, according to The Elthamian, all of it compered by Sixth Former Ramsey Zarifeh.

A number of other events were also staged. Two BBC radio programmes were broadcast from the school – Any Questions (from the ABH) and Morning Service (from the Chapel).

Separately, a special service was held at Westminster Chapel, whose attendees heard a new anthem, The Fear of the Lord, which was composed for the occasion by OE Stephen Farr, who was at the time sub-organist at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford (and later Organist at Guildford Cathedral). The service was led by Rev Dr R O Latham, the immediate past Chair of Governors, and (like the 1942 service) was attended by representatives from Walthamstow Hall. ‘The service was an inspiration for all who attended it,’ wrote Rev Frank Wells, the School Chaplain, in The Elthamian. ‘Many distinguished Old Elthamians attended, and many friendships were renewed.’

The Music Department also staged a gala celebratory concert at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon that included the rousing Handel anthems Zadoc the Priest and The King Shall Rejoice along with the more daunting cantata Rejoice in the Lamb by Benjamin Britten, sung by the Chamber Choir. →

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The Mottingham Centenary Celebrations in 2012

Radio 4’s Any Questions was broadcast from the ABH as part of the school’s 150th anniversary celebrations

In 1912 the school moved from Blackheath to Mottingham – which prompted a special edition of The Elthamian in 1962 in which former Headmaster Geoffrey Turberville reflected on the first 50 years in the new location, from the time when Grove Park Road was ‘little more than a cart track’ and Mottingham a ‘tiny hamlet.’ The move was the cue for another celebratory year half a century later, in 2012, starting with a lavish formal dinner in King George’s Hall at which the guest of honour was Lord Puttnam, who has been associated with the school since producing the film Chariots of Fire in 1981. Then on a Sunday morning in March many pupils and staff participated in ‘The Big Run’, a celebratory four mile run from the school’s old site (beside Blackheath station) to its present one.

These events heralded a year of celebrations that included a Speech Day that was attended by Eric Liddell’s daughter, Patricia Liddell Russell, as well as two guest speakers, the comedian, actor and TV presenter Griff Rhys Jones and Barnaby Lenon, former Headmaster of Harrow School and Trinity School, Croydon. In what was of course the Olympic year, during her visit to the school Mrs Liddell Russell also formally opened the College Meadow pavilion (which was a training venue for Olympic football teams).

Lord Puttnam, speaking at the dinner in January 2012 celebrating the centenary of the school’s move to Mottingham

The cover of the 1962 edition of The Elthamian that celebrated the school’s fifty years in Mottingham

The specially-designed torch that was carried aloft during the Big Run from Blackheath to Mottingham in 2012, which celebrated the school’s move to Mottingham a century previously

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Mr Levy putting the orchestra through its paces at the 2012 ECCO Spectacular, held outdoors on the Junior School fields

The Centenary Concert held in April 2012 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank

The Drama Department staged A Centenary Fireside, full of items written or set in 1912, while the Music Department staged a special concert in the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank (featuring performances of Beethoven’’s Fifth Symphony as well as part of the soundtrack to Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) and made sure the annual ECCO concert in the Summer Term was unusually spectacular, culminating in a fireworks display. Sports teams were kitted out in new centenary kits and the Sports Department hosted the Leslie Gracie Cup for Under 16 school cricket teams. At the Junior School a seven-metre-long mosaic was created that used the River Thames as a backdrop and timeline to show significant events from the school’s (and the nation’s) life over the past 100 years. The creation of the mosaic was overseen by local designer Tamara Froud: it is still there to this day, snaking down the main staircase and finishing outside the door to the playground.

Perhaps, though, the longest-lasting legacy from that year was a new history of the school. Our Century, compiled by the school’s archivist Mark Stickings, is a colourful and engaging photographic record of the school’s 100 years in Mottingham, that ends with a gallery of photos of every pupil attending the school that year along with all support and academic staff, a magnificent record of what turned out to be a very special year. ⬤

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There cannot be many people who have experienced life at Eltham College during so many different eras – and from so many perspectives – but Peter Swaffield has seen it all. He was a pupil at the school (1965-72), an English teacher (1978-81), Chaplain (2010-2017 with a six month break in Tanzania) and, most recently, a Governor (201820). Here in discussion with Andrew Beattie, he reflects on what’s changed – and what hasn’t – during that time.

Mr Calderwood’s Under 13 Cricket Team in 1967 with Peter Swaffield back row, right

Continuity and Change: Reflections on the School’s Past Six Decades ADB

Thank you for agreeing to be featured in a full-length Elthamian article – and for sharing your reflections on the school, now and in the past.

Not at all! I found the new version of The Elthamian a really insightful and enjoyable read. I appreciated the Headmaster’s clear statement of the school’s primary aim – ‘To make the world a better place for everyone’ – which was striking and is to be applauded and supported, as both the Headmaster and the Governing Body seek to make policy decisions in keeping with that decisive and overarching aim.

I also enjoyed Mark Chesterton’s fascinating article, which noted the most important factors, from a business perspective, in recruiting school and college leavers, according to the CBI. The top

criteria by far (85%) was the ‘attitude to work and the character’ of any individual (academic qualifications obtained were rated at 38%). In other words: a school that produces well-rounded individuals is to be cherished and celebrated in its 180th year, or in any year for that matter.

We’ve included a photo of Mr Calderwood’s Under 13 cricket team from 1967, in which you played. What are your memories of cricket – and sport in general – from your time as a pupil?

I distinctly remember one practice session with the Under 13s when Mr Calderwood thought it would be ‘character building’ for us to face fast bowler Phil Raisey from the Under 14s, bowling downhill, off his long run, with the wind behind him, on the then

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2nd X1 square at the front of the school.

‘You might find him a little quicker than you’re used to’, Mr Calderwood warned us.

He was right. Fortunately, I was out very quickly! I played for the 1st XI for three years, then for the OEs at Foxbury. It was great to be part of a team which included not only my brother, but also cricketers like David Hodgson and Ian Drewer, players I’d looked up to whilst at school. I played some Rugby for the 2nd XV – I always knew I’d been selected because the master in charge came to find me at 4.00pm on a Friday afternoon and called me ‘Peter’ rather than ‘Swaffield’.

Away from the sports field, what do you remember most about your time at the school as a pupil?

I have very fond memories of the leavers’ play from 1972 – Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

(I still can’t remember if Ray Franklin was Rosencrantz or maybe it was me?!) The play contained at least two fine cameos: Barnaby Lenon, who went on to become Headmaster of Harrow School and is now the Chair of the Independent Schools Council, was a suitably psychologicallytortured and angst-ridden Hamlet. David Runcorn was a ‘larger than life’ Player King.

David is now a ‘free range’ priest, consultant teacher, spiritual director and writer. We actually had a Choreographical Advisor from Doreen Bird College, Rosemary Helliwell, who helped us with the staging. Rosemary went on to dance successfully with the Stuttgart Ballet, then becoming their House Choreographer – certainly her dancing career wasn’t damaged too much by her involvement with Eltham College!

Unfortunately, it saddens me to say that there are also some negative memories to do with some staff whose behaviour, whether verbal or physical, would be completely unacceptable today, just as it was then. I do recognise that there has been a “shadow side” to some pupils’ experience of Eltham College across the years.

How was the school different then from how it is now – and what remains the same?

The school is now, visibly, much more prosperous with such incredible and wide-ranging facilities. In the 1960s and 70s, the school was still ‘home from home’ to many missionary boarders (the school’s

Peter photographed recently with former English teacher, Mrs Green

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foundation was to enable parents to ‘evangelise’ the world). By the time I was a pupil, the school’s focus had become local as well as global. When I became a member of staff in the late 1970s, the drive for academic success meant that, sometimes, the focus on serving ‘world mission’ was very much relegated to second place.

The superb new Turberville Building (opened in 2019) replaced the tired and dated Jubilee Block that dated back to the early 1960s. The foundation stone of the original building was laid in 1962 by Bishop Lesslie Newbigin, a world-renowned United Reformed theologian and missiologist, serving for many years within the Church of South India. In The Significance of Lesslie Newbigin from his book Mission in the New Millennium Michael Goheen, director of theological education at Missional Training Center at Phoenix, Arizona, wrote that ‘when the history of the 20th century Church is written, Lesslie Newbigin should be considered one of the top 10 or 12 most influential persons’. Unfortunately, I understand that this stone was lost during the necessary demolition of the block. It is a shame that it has not been preserved somewhere, to symbolise the tradition of the school.

What were your favourite academic subjects – and which members of staff do you most remember?

As well as English, one of my favourite subjects was geography; Mr Grace was a superbly-prepared teacher and some of my most positive memories are of him. In previous years he had also gone out of his way to support my brother in his time at the school.

Mr Grace was a superbly-prepared teacher and some of my most positive memories are of him

You read English at university and then taught at Bexleyheath School.

What was it like coming back to the school as a teacher where you had been a pupil?

I really enjoyed my time at Bexleyheath School – a 2,000 pupil, mixed secondary modern as they were known in those days.

It was a little weird being in the common room with some of my former teachers… in fact, at my interview for the English job, I distinctly remember Mr Porteous, the Headmaster, welcoming me to his office with the words: ‘Let’s treat this interview informally...Swaffield.’ →

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We know you were involved in drama when you were an English teacher and that you directed a production of The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew in 1981. Would you like to share any recollections of that with cast members who might be reading this piece?

My memory of the production is a little hazy, but I do know that my intention was to give younger pupils a taste of drama so that they could go on to bigger and better productions as they progressed through the school. Even I as an English teacher could recognise the ability of Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, who is now a respected don and Dickens expert at Oxford University.

We read in the book Our History about a ‘kidnapping’ attempt on you in 1980. What on earth happened?

That was an extraordinary incident. There I was, minding my own business, ironically it turned out, teaching war poetry to Year 10 when the classroom door burst open and two errant pupils wearing balaclavas with what were clearly fake guns marched me across the Old Quad in total silence, up the stairs and onto the roof of the Tower.

Eventually, the ringleader Crispin Bond, introduced himself and explained that it was all a ‘jolly jape’ to hold me ransom to raise money for the Italian Earthquake Fund. A fun idea?! It might have been, but instead of raising money to get me down from the Tower, an alternative collection was organised to keep me locked away!!

Anyway, eventually I was returned to terra firma and the police (they had been called by a member of the public who had seen ‘armed men’ on the roof of the school) decided to take no further action. Nowadays, I fear that the Police Interceptors (to coin a phrase from TV) might have taken a different course of action. Anyway, in those days, no harm was done and some much-needed cash was raised.

We read in the 1981 edition of The Elthamian (which you edited with fellow English teacher Michael Reidy) that you left the school to train as a Baptist minister. What did that involve?

In some ways my three years back at Oxford studying for a Theology degree were similar to my three years of studying English, except instead of reading about dead poets I was

encountering the living Word. In addition to the degree, I experienced leadership as an apprentice in local churches as well as being trained for preaching, teaching, evangelism, leadership and pastoral care – weddings, funerals, end of life care and counselling in its broadest sense.

Peter with Patricia Liddell Russell, the daughter of Eric Liddell, in 2013, during the opening of the Marathon Pavilion

When I saw the post of Chaplain at Eltham advertised, I applied and was appointed by Paul Henderson (despite being late for my interview having inexplicably got lost down the M20 that morning!)

What encouraged you to return to the school as Chaplain in 2010 – and what had you been doing in the intervening 29 years?

In 2001 I became Assistant Chaplain at Berkhamsted School and I found that teaching English and RS, speaking in Chapel, and helping with Games was for me. I was a teacher who became a preacher, before becoming a ‘teacher-preacher’, so to speak.

I will always be grateful to Dr Priscilla Chadwick, who gave me the chance to serve at Berkhamsted.

When I saw the post of Chaplain at Eltham advertised, I applied and was appointed by Paul Henderson (despite being late for my interview having inexplicably got lost down the M20 that morning!). As well as serving in the leadership of three local churches, I have spent time in Southwark training inner city youth workers.

Through my voluntary work with the organization Christians in Sport I was given unexpected and varied opportunities for service. In 1988 I was appointed as a Chaplain to the English-speaking nations by the local Olympic Organising Committee for the Seoul Games. This involved working with a team of Chaplains in the Olympic Village, helping with worship, preaching, teaching and pastoral care. I remember one huge boxer seeking me out in the Chaplaincy late at night – the urgent need for prayer had been prompted by his being told the name of his next opponent! My involvement in the World Student Games, the Olympics and two Commonwealth Games in Auckland and Manchester also allowed me (unfortunately) ample scope for rather blatant namedropping in those bygone days…”I was reading the Bible with Kriss Akabusi when the door opened and in walked Linford Christie”… that sort of thing; very annoying for any listeners I’m sure you’ll agree. The triple jumper (and later TV sports commentator) Jonathan Edwards certainly did!

I also participated in cricket tours to India and Zimbabwe with Christians in Sport. The Indian tour included professionals such as Vic Marks, Graham Cowdrey, Roger Knight

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and Simon Hughes. “We” (I wasn’t, obviously, allowed anywhere near the four key limited over games played against a pretty full-strength Indian test team) were partnered with Indian charities in raising funds for the disabled, amongst a range of good causes. I spoke in a number of schools and churches; one church, in the Nilgiri Hills, had been founded by the nineteenth century pioneer missionary (and former cricket captain of England) C.T. Studd – an amazing experience. The team for Zimbabwe was captained by Alan Fordham – my role was to speak in local churches and schools, and it was in Harare that I saw “Hot Schooling” in operation as the school I spoke to one morning finished teaching in the early afternoon. At that point, the entire school (staff and students) left the campus, only to be replaced by a completely new school – staff and students; a very creative response to a high demand for school places.

How did you find the school had changed in those 29 years?

Not only had the school changed, but I had changed too. I hope that, in my seven years as Chaplain, I did play my part in telling the Biblical story of the Christian faith and remained true to the founding vision of Eltham College, a school founded to make a difference to the world; a school which, because of its non-conformist roots, not only stands for biblical truth, but also respects the liberty of conscience of all those who are part of the Eltham College community.

Tell us something about the highlights of your time as chaplain.

Moments when I felt privileged might be more appropriate than highlights! To sit with families at a time of loss is one such privilege. To tell the story in Chapel week by week was so special. I remember interviewing Eric Liddell’s daughter, Patricia, in Chapel one morning. I had prepared an excellent question (I thought): ‘If your dad, Eric, were here this morning, what do you think he’d want to say to the school?’

There was a pause before Patricia replied with words to the effect of ‘I think he’d want to say: Don’t talk about me, talk about Jesus’. At that moment I felt hundreds of eyes looking straight at me, as if to say ‘There you are Sir; stop doing the old “God made me for a purpose, He made me for

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China…but He also made me fast’” talk... try some new stuff! Get some new material!’

Did you see becoming a Governor as the natural culmination of so many years being involved with the school?

I was grateful for the opportunity to serve as a Governor representing the Baptist Missionary Society (BMS) World Mission.

Together with the two Governors appointed by the United Reformed Church, the historic founding organisations of Eltham College can play their part in applying missiological principles to the contemporary school context. Certainly, my Baptist heritage and my teaching background, meant I could give back to a school which has given me so much that is good. I have now handed on my responsibilities to others and wish them well in their crucial roles.

Photos from Peter’s 1981 production of The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew, which initially appeared in Elthamian 1981

Onto some deeper questions now, about the school’s Christian heritage...What relevance is the missionary foundation of Eltham College to the school and its community today?

The life-affirming missionary roots of Eltham College go wide and deep. I remember being so aware of Eltham’s rich heritage on a visit a few years ago to Tiger Kloof School in South Africa, not far from the border with Botswana. From a mission station founded by Robert Moffat, a school was founded in 1904. The second principal was an Old Elthamian – Rev’d AJ Haile who served in that role from 1915-1945, leading ‘generation after generation of →

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his students to achieve not only scholarship, but also Christian character’ – according to Chris Cutting in Haile’s obituary in The Daily Telegraph.

Former pupils from Tiger Kloof provided the first two Presidents of Botswana and many members of successive Botswana’s cabinets, as well as, in the person of Dr. Ruth Mompati, President Nelson Mandela’s secretary. While there is undoubtedly work to be done decolonising Christianity when looking at the worldwide legacy of western mission, the effect of one school in Southern Africa, led so effectively for so long by an Old Elthamian, is undeniably positive and should be celebrated.

According to Companies House, the Companies Act of 1985 affirms the legal basis for the charitable status of Eltham College. The objectives of Eltham College are clearly stated: ‘the provision of a preparatory day school for boys (and girls) with a preference for the sons (and daughters) of Protestant (in the context of Eltham’s founding denominations this should be interpreted as Non-Conformist) Christian Missionaries.’

missionary is, literally, ‘to be sent’ – this applies as much to being a Christian sent to Uganda or to Uxbridge; to Bromley or Burundi; to Chislehurst as much as to Chile.

The photograph of Peter that appeared in The Elthamian when he joined the English Department in 1978

“Former pupils from Tiger Kloof provided the first two Presidents of Botswana and many members of successive Botswana’s cabinets, as well as, in the person of Dr. Ruth Mompati, President Nelson Mandela’s secretary. While there is undoubtedly work to be done decolonising Christianity when looking at the worldwide legacy of western mission, the effect of one school in Southern Africa, led so effectively for so long by an Old Elthamian, is undeniably positive and should be celebrated.”

The United Kingdom today is a ‘postChristian society’. So, who are today’s missionaries? Certainly, missionaries are still those who cross cultures and continents to take the Gospel to other countries. It is, however, also the case that those who serve as Christian Ministers in the UK are really on the front-line of ‘mission’ as well, and they deserve the label of missionary every bit as much as those who cross physical borders to other far-flung lands.

In my opinion, perhaps the school could show a preference (maybe through bursaries) for the sons and daughters of UK missionaries in and around southeast London, namely the children of Baptist and United Reformed ministers? To be a

And maybe could you give us your final thoughts on the school’s past and future?

Well, a fine school, as Headmaster Porteous used to say, like Eltham College has enhanced the lives and future opportunities of so many boys and girls.

Certainly the school has changed since I was a lad, as I have discussed. Can there be both continuity and change within the present and future life of Eltham College? I believe that the answer to that question is a clear yes.

Mr Swaffield – huge thanks for spending time answering our questions, and (we hope) jogging the memories of so many Elthamians – from those who were here in the 1960s to those who are current members of the school. ⬤

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ClinicalThoughts We are always keen to share the career journeys of our Elthamians community, not least because it is so important for current students to understand that more often than not, life does not go to plan.

Developing resilience and learning to deal with adversity are invaluable skills, and one person who has certainly demonstrated both in the past few years is David Adejuwon (OE 2021).

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aving secured a place to study Medicine at Imperial College, London during his gap year, David told his story on LinkedIn. We, and many others, were inspired by his journey and wanted to share it with you.

Development Director Saoirse O’Donovan met up with David recently to ask him some questions about his time at Eltham College and beyond.

How did you come to learn about Eltham College and what made you want to come to the school?

I changed rugby club in Year 11 and learned how to play in the front row from Louis Brown, who played for Old Elthamians RFC. Playing in a very gifted OEs U16s side, I settled into the team very quickly and struck up a great friendship with Namir Khalil, who was a student at Eltham College.

Namir spoke highly of Eltham College’s sporting and academic excellence and suggested I apply for a rugby scholarship. I wasn’t sure how to go about this, but then had stroke of serendipity not long after.

I was playing one of my very best games for the OE U16 team and Mr Jervis, former Head of Rugby at the College, had come to the →

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Far left: David playing rugby at Eltham College Left: An x-ray scan of David’s leg, post-surgery

game in the hope of identifying some potential players.

Afterwards we had a conversation about my interest in joining the Sixth Form and the rest, as they say, is history.

It was very much thanks to the support of all these individuals that my Eltham journey began.

How did you feel coming through the school gate for the first time, and what were your first impressions as a student?

I was nervous but not in a way that was visible – I was working hard to hide it! A Prefect picked up on this immediately, though, and reassured me that there was no need to be apprehensive. Fixing my tie, he directed me to the KGH and I felt better after that. So, my first impression was that we look after each other here at Eltham College.

This has continued into my gap year, with alumni and staff alike looking out for me and supporting me. Eltham has a very strong community.

I know rugby was a huge part of your life while you were here, but it came with its ups and downs as well. What was it like playing in school colours?

Was there a standout game?

It was a massive privilege to play for the College’s 1st XV alongside so many outstanding players. It used to shock me how academically and physically gifted the squad was. I have to say, I really had to up my game as the standard of rugby was high, but I always enjoyed the challenge and it made me a better player. If I had to pick just one standout game, it would have to be under the flood lights against Maritzburg, a visiting South African team. We lost, but we put up a great fight, left everything on the field and drew strength from all our supporters who were there. No one left the pitch having not worked tirelessly on it. There were no fights, no foul play, just amazing rugby, after which we had gained the respect of the South African school and made some new friends.

I know you got injured playing, which was a big knock for you. What was it like and what did you learn during that period?

My injury played a huge part in who I am today. I used to need to be in control of every aspect of my own life, my successes, my direction, and I rarely asked for help. When you’re on crutches for over three months you need people to help you do so many things. I have to thank every student who ever got my lunch for me, carried my bags or called me when I was in a lot of pain after my surgery. I also must specially thank my friends and classmates Juan and Ujanah; they supported me so much through that difficult period.

You took a gap year before attending university, has it been valuable and what have you learnt about yourself?

I’ve learnt the key to my success lies in my support networks.

When I didn’t get into medical school at the first time of asking, my confidence was shaken. The people in my support network helped me find my sense of purpose again and showed me that even if you have to alter your direction, the destination can still be the same. I cannot wait to start my medical degree at Imperial College in September 2022.

I also learnt that it’s important to embrace opportunities.

Don’t sit back and wait for something perfect to come your way or enter into something half-heartedly because you think it is beneath you. You can learn a new skill anywhere at any time if you’re open to it. These skills are useful and transferable as you go through life. This was such a valuable lesson to learn.

At the young age of 19 you are technically an ‘Old’ Elthamian, do you have any words of wisdom for our incoming and current Elthamians?

I think my advice to them is to try just about anything and everything! It really broadens your horizons. Learn to play an instrument, pick up a new sport, learn to code, get involved with school productions and competitions, do work

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Far left: At the House of Lords Reception, with Development Director Saoirse O’Donovan (L) and Head of Careers Louise Badelow (R) Left: David and Namir Khalil at the Leavers’ Ball

experience. These opportunities are so much more valuable than they may seem at the time. But, most importantly, take time to form meaningful relationships with your peers.

You’re on a long journey and it’s so much more fun with close friends to share experiences with. This starts with you being the friend you’d love to have.

Securing a place to study Medicine is no easy feat and there is a lot of extra preparation required.

What advice would you give to prospective medics?

Aspiring medics need to acknowledge it is competitive but should not confuse this with it being impossible. Medical applications to UK universities teach a person the importance of patience and perseverance. I only got into medical school when I had made peace with the fact that it may take me a few extra years to get to where I want to be, but that’s OK. It’s a few more years to experience things and learn more about yourself. Most people don’t get in first time and that doesn’t mean they’re not as deserving as other applicants. If you really want it, you will get there eventually, trust me!

There are plenty of members of staff who speak incredibly highly of you. Why do you think that is and what would you say to them?

I’d like to think it’s because they know how bright the future can be and they saw in me a person who was willing to work hard and go after chances. I haven’t made it yet, but the reminders of just how far I have come in only two years gives me the confidence to go to Imperial with the belief I can achieve my dreams.

To students I would say it’s important to take pride in how you dress and speak and carry yourself. To staff specifically, Mr Milne, Mrs Massey, Ms Pokorny, Cheryl, Terri, Mr Houghton, Mrs Angel, Mr King and Mr Jervis – I will always be grateful for you first believing in me, and then helping me over the finish line. I definitely would not be where I am without you all and I deeply appreciate it.

Finally, will we get to see more of you in the coming years? Do you plan to come back to mentor, speak and support current students?

I would love return and speak about my experiences and to help students in whatever way I can. During my gap year I have found a lot of fulfilment in mentorship and so I would be thrilled to mentor any students who feel they would benefit from my help. It’s clear to me that without the right help and advice I won’t succeed, so I feel it’s a personal responsibility to help wherever I can. ⬤

House of Lords Reception

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The latest OEs have just left the school and a new cohort of Sixth Formers have recently walked through the school gates. Head of Careers and Oxbridge Louise Badelow thought it would be nice to ask some recent OEs the question “Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to all those embarking on their A-Levels or who are about to start University?”

Our advice would be…

Believe in yourself! The most important thing to keep in mind, whether starting at Sixth Form or University, is that you’ve done fantastically well to get to where you are now, and all you can do is try your hardest and give it your best. Don’t be shy to reward yourself, and give yourself due credit for all you achieve.

There are always people who can help you if you need a little support, but having confidence in yourself will get you a long way.

I would encourage you to think about what career path you want to pursue and make your university choices accordingly. Know what a “target school” is, i.e. what university or group of universities are the big players in your chosen field frequently recruiting from. Just because a university scores highly doesn’t mean the companies you want to work for tend to recruit from there. This will make finding an internship easier.

Matt Rogers (OE 2021) (studying Biochemistry at The Queen’s College, Oxford)

Giorgio Grimesty (OE 2020) (Summer Analyst at JP Morgan, studying Computer Science at King’s College London)

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Make the most of every opportunity.

Do the school musical, play in the sports teams, join (or even form) some societies. Work as hard as possible to achieve your goals and do not let anyone dissuade you from them. Above all; cherish your friends and the amazing school that brought you together.

George White (OE 2020) (Solicitor Apprentice at Deloitte)

One piece of advice I would give is understanding the importance of getting organised early! When you get yourself organised you are in a much better position to showcase your academic flair when it comes to “crunch time”. Early organisation means not leaving easy but timeconsuming things till the last minute.

Robert Colwell (OE 2020) (studying Geography and Sports Science at Loughborough University)

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Take every opportunity you can: you have everything to gain from the connections, experience and opportunities. When it comes to learning subject material, don’t skip over something if you find it hard.

Tackle it as soon as you can – it will make your life a lot easier!

Ujanah Ofuyaekpone-Shombe (OE 2021) (studying at medicine at Nottingham University)

For those starting their A-Levels: put the effort in early! When starting your two-year A-Level course, it is easy to coast the first few months or even year, doing the bare minimum and just about getting by. While this may get you through the Lower Sixth, it will only make your Upper Sixth much more stressful, as you also have Uni applications to deal with.

Putting the effort in by making notes and being organised early will make life much easier and definitely lead to better results.

Aryan Gupta (OE 2021) (studying Engineering at New College, Oxford)

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Farewell to Vic Broncz VCB

Vic Broncz leaves the school after an extraordinary 35 years in the Maths Department – though his roles have also included being Head of Charities and Housemaster of Chalmers (the latter from 1990 to 1995). He has also been involved in many trips. Here are some of his recollections Mr Broncz on one of the school’s ski trips to Alpe d’Huez

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moved to London in September 1987 from Sunderland, having worked for four years at Heworth Grange School in Gateshead. I had the intention of spending a couple of years in the capital, combining my work at Eltham College with discovering the riches on offer.

Little did I know that 35 years later I would be at the same school, teaching Mathematics to pupils, the sons and daughters of pupils I had previously taught in the 1980s and 1990s. So, what has happened on this epic journey?

My memories of the initial three years are dominated by the headship of Dr Christopher Waller. He seemed to know everything that was going on in his school, sometimes even before it had taken place. Not only did Dr Waller know his staff, but he was also very aware of our family backgrounds and friendships.

He was ably assisted by the Senior Master, John Somerville-Meikle.

JSM, as he was known, oversaw the day to day running of the school.

He did this with incredible efficiency and a sharp wit. The Maths Department was headed by Dr Peter Page, a quietly spoken man but with excellent man-management skills.

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As a young and keen sportsman, I naturally worked with Nigel Jones, Head of PE and Games. Nigel was always willing to offer advice on coaching rugby or serving as an agony aunt on anything that life threw in my direction. Nigel’s assistant was Adrian Thomas. Ade and I shared the school accommodation known as The Grange (part of the old building of the Junior School) for three years.

It is nice to see Ade is still visiting The Grange, but now in his capacity as a PE teacher.

Over the years I have been very fortunate to be involved in lots of charitable initiatives. The first of these was a parachute jump along with Katy Turner (an OE) in April 1988. The final charitable event was walking up Mount Snowdon with a group of Sixth Form students, led by Jim Houghton in June of this year. In between, there have been many cake sales, own clothes days together with ‘Stars in their Eyes’, staff pantomime, staff review and ECS-Factor productions.

(The reason I use ECS and not X was due to a visit from Simon Cowell’s legal team threatening legal action for copyright infringement.)

As I mentioned earlier, sport has played a big part in my time at Eltham. Coaching the U13 rugby side became a long-standing role which I enjoyed immensely. The highlight of this was reaching the semi-final at the Rosslyn Park National 7s in 1997. Away wins at places such as Dover College and King’s Canterbury gave me and the pupils great satisfaction, too.

When my son, Adam, began playing rugby for the school, I gave up my coaching role to become an enthusiastic parent-spectator.

Some of you will remember the residential activity week in Poole. I will always remember the game where the pupils chased the staff through woods to capture them; it often resulted in either staff or pupils colliding with gorse bushes. I seem to recall pulling out prickles two or three weeks later!

I have been lucky enough to go on many senior ski trips. The final seven trips between 1998 and 2005 were to Val D’Isere in France. The skiing was

challenging and the resort excellent.

My green all-in-one ski suit may jog some memories!

In 2003, Adam started his time at Eltham in the Junior School. Although he was initially disappointed to find that he was at one end of the school grounds while I was at the other, he made some life-long friendships and settled into the busy life of the school.

In 2014 Adam took up a place at medical school in Sheffield and for several years during the summer holidays worked alongside the IT Support Team at the school. Adam is just about to start his F2 year as a junior doctor, working in the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield.

Among all this, I have fitted in some Mathematics teaching. I have witnessed the evolution from chalk and blackboards to fully interactive computer screens. How we deliver the subject has changed but the fundamentals remain the same.

In my time at Eltham, I have met so many people, both staff and pupils. You have all influenced and affected my life in many ways. I met my wife, Jacqui, along the way and have had two children, Adam and Emily. 35 years has been a lifetime as well as a career. Thank you all for being part of my journey. ⬤

At the Aldershot Barracks in the late 1980s on a charity parachute jump with the Red Devils and Sixth Former Katy Turner

July 2022: Mr Broncz with Sixth Formers at the summit of Snowdon

Outside the ABH (now ABT) in around 1990, shortly after its construction.

L to R Mr Broncz, Mr Davies (History Department), and Mr Jones and Mr Thomas from the PE Department

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Sport

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BOYS’ CRICKET JFK

This has been the first full cricket season at Eltham since 2019, and it has been a tremendously busy one.

There have been many successes across the age groups – and a few firsts for the school along the way, too.

Four teams progressed to the Kent Finals this year. The U12 boys beat Judd in a tense Ford Cup Final which went to the last over.

Seb Lapena Murray was the star of the show, making 77 in a successful chase of 140. It was a well-deserved win for a talented group of boys that show the future of cricket at Eltham College is bright.

The U14 boys were also successful in their Tony Church Trophy Final win against The King’s School, Canterbury. This represented a great success for the boys, having been knocked out of the main competition in the second round.

There were consistent performances from Finlay Flint and Vaibhav Garimella throughout the season as well

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The U15 boys had a superb run to the final of the Miskin Cup, winning five games on route to the final before coming up against a strong Sevenoaks side. Aaron McEntire, Alex Bush, Edward Castle and Zach Hopley were instrumental to the side’s success.

The 1st XI had a good season, led superbly by Charlie Smith as captain and top run scorer. Block fixture wins against The King’s School, Canterbury and Emanuel College in the first half of the season were memorable, with Louis Radley’s consistency with the ball essential to both victories.

A stunning win against Caterham towards the end of the season, where Charlie made his maiden century, ably supported by Akhil Venugopalan, as he often was throughout the season. Ethan Fiore, who ended up finishing as leading wicket taker, and Benjy Davis both took four wickets in the 157-run win.

In the final weeks of term, Eltham hosted KCS Wimbledon and Dulwich

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College in the inaugural Hundred Festival. Using the new format Eltham tied with KCS and lost in a good game to Dulwich during a round robin tournament. We look forward to welcoming both schools back, along with some others, to Eltham next year.

Eltham also hosted an international side this summer. Our U12 boys beat Switzerland U11s in a T20 just before half-term. It was a great experience for all with the game being played on the school’s 1st team pitch. We hope this partnership will continue into the future.

There were 143 fixtures played this summer, with only three being cancelled due to bad weather.

Eltham achieved close to a 60% win ratio across the school which, considering the number of knockout competitions we have been involved in, is a great achievement. Cricket at Eltham is back and in a strong place moving forward. ⬤

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CMG

BOYS’ HOCKEY

Eltham College enjoyed its most successful season ever, winning five trophies across all age groups.

1ST XI The 1st XI had a successful year, winning nine of their 16 matches. There were notable wins over Dulwich and Caterham alongside a thrilling 3-3 draw with Alleyn’s. Eltham competed in the St George’s 6s tournament which was a wonderful day out as the boys made it through to the quarter-finals in a pulsating tournament that saw them play eight games in just the one day.

The 1st XI also won the Frank Mason Kent Cup for the first time in our history. Having won the group, the team went on to win all of their knockout games, including the final on a shootout. Oliver Adamson and Oliver Egan were the heroes in all three penalty competitions. Impressive play throughout the squad was on show all season with standout performances from Jack Campbell and Ludo Jones.

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UNDER 12 The U12s has a successful season, losing just three games across all competitions.

The boys scored 39 goals, while conceding only 10, across their block fixtures.

Eltham’s defensive record was in large part achieved by Louis Helm’s goalkeeping and Barney Cox’s leadership. Robert Welensky, Aadit Parikh, Will Duncan and Aaron Jervis also performed consistently well throughout the season Ben MacLoughlin played with maturity well beyond his years, controlling all the plays and linking the team together masterfully. Rafa Dekkers, Seb LapenaMurray, Frans-Louis Van Schalwyk and Aaryan Riat provided the attacking threat, wreaking havoc against every side they played against. Frans-Louis scored six goals against a stunned Alleyns team, while Rafa provided regular moments of magic and class.

BOTH THE UNDER 12 A AND B TEAMS WON THE SIR JOSEPH WILLIAMSON’S MATHEMATICAL SCHOOL TOURNAMENTS IN THE FINAL WEEK OF THE LENT TERM. UNDER 13 The U13 boys enjoyed a successful season. Their first victory came against Reigate Grammar School (8-3). They followed this up with wins against Kent College and Trinity School. Zach Perrott, Aiden Woodland and Noah Wilde were excellent in these games.

The U13A team went on to win the John Maylam Cup for the first time in the school’s history, winning a penalty shootout in the semi-final. Zach Perrot was superb all day, leading the team in great style. Will Simcock scored the only goal of a fiercely contested final, showing great vision and touch in front of goal.

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UNDER 14 The U14s had a tough season this year. Despite results not going the way they would have hoped, they played every game with heart and a true desire to do their best. Stand out players were Olly Buck in goal who made huge saves throughout the season and was always positive, marshalling his players from the back.

Arthur Nechyporuk worked hard in defence and showed great resilience throughout the season. Finlay Flint was excellent in the midfield alongside Matthew MacLoughlin, both pushing the team forwards and working tirelessly hard in each match.

UNDER 15 The U15s enjoyed a superb season under the leadership of Mr Chesterton. He has done a remarkable job for many years and cannot be thanked enough for his dedication and commitment. The U15As not only won the Peter Firminger Plate competition, but also boast the best winning record across the Saturday block fixtures.

Stand out players were Cameron MacQuarrie who also went on to become a regular in the 1st XI as well as captaining London South. Harry Clout was superb in midfield showing true grit and determination to win.

Zach Hopley consistently put in quality performances every week, while Hakeem Drammeh showed he is a player for the future with outstanding performances in goal, also representing London South. ⬤

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BJK

RUGBY SEVENS

This academic year saw the return of competitive rugby sevens fixtures and festivals after the pandemic. In a very busy Lent Term, students from Year 7 to the Upper Sixth represented the school in 20 festivals, including five county competitions and four separate days at Rosslyn Park.

Our season got underway with two senior sides playing in an invitational afternoon of sevens at College Meadow. Over ten schools took part in what was an exciting afternoon in glorious sunshine. Our 1st VII went undefeated throughout the day with notable victories against Dulwich, and Caterham, in which we came back from 28-0 down to win. Later in the same week we hosted another festival at College Meadow, this time for our U12 sides. The U12A team won three out of their four games, starting off the season in great fashion.

Our U14s – starting their season in torrential rain – fought valiantly to reach the quarterfinals of the Kent Sevens tournament in Dartford. Ethan Mudahy and Jermaine Essien played well, consistently finding gaps and contributing extensively to the overall performance of the team. Two days later it was the turn of our U15, who went one better to reach the semi-finals of the Kent Cup, narrowly losing to Ravens Wood School.

For the first time in our history, we hosted the Kent U13s tournament. 30 schools took part in the established and emerging

schools competitions. It proved to be perfect preparation for our boys ahead of their trip to Rosslyn Park the following week.

Throughout March, tournaments came thick and fast, with festivals for the U16s, U13s and U12s across three days. Our boys played fantastically and were able to express themselves in competitive sevens fixtures – a recurring theme of the season.

The final week of term saw our U13s, U14s, U16s and Seniors travel to west London to take part in the Rosslyn Park National Sevens Festival. The entire week was brilliant and our boys gave a fantastic account of themselves. Although we did not make it through to the second day in any age group, our U13s finished second in their group after winning four games from five, and our Seniors were one game away from making it through to the play offs.

As ever, I would like to thank all students, staff, and parents for their efforts during Lent Term. It was so great to have sevens back and I cannot wait to see it flourish over the next few years. ⬤

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TENNIS

SPORT

KAH

61 pupils from Year 7 to the Lower Sixth have joined the Tennis Club this year and have committed to playing in tournaments and fixtures representing the College.

The Year 9 and 10 boys got the season off to a tremendous start at the Kent Secondary Schools’ Doubles Festival. Each pair played in group stages and progressed to the latter further rounds. Congratulations to Will Forsdyke and Ivan Zubac (Year 9) who won their tournament and to Miles Cobourne and Fred Wu (Year 10) for reaching the semi-finals.

The Lower School boys and girls also competed in same the competition for their age group. This was the first time they had played a doubles match and their first time representing Eltham College at a tennis fixture. Progress was made throughout the day, particularly as pupils’ confidence grew in each game.

Congratulations to Serena McMillian, Melissa Tan, Henry Richards and Will Torpy (Year 7) and Laurence Richards, Aiden Woodland, Mira Karthikeyan and Juliette Williams (Year 8) for their efforts on the day.

Boys and girls from Years 7-10 faced JAGS and Colfe’s in friendly fixtures.

Pupils gained valuable experience from playing against skilled players.

The skill of serving in the Lower School has developed notably over the term, which is exciting for games in the future. In the Middle School the boys’ understanding of tactically working with a partner is growing as doubles pairs becomes stronger.

Our talented Lower Sixth Tennis players played in a mixed doubles fixture against JAGS – a first U17 Tennis fixture for Eltham College!

There were stand out performances from Chris Jones, Emily McLennan, Thomas Stringer and Saskia Turner.

Many thanks to our external coaches Katy Forsdyke and Carrie Watson for their commitment to supporting fixtures and developing the pupils’ technical tennis skills. ⬤

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SKIING BRH

SKI RACING Eltham’s Ski Racing squad have had a busy Summer Term with plenty of momentous occasions. The season started with the Kent Schools Ski Championship on May 8 at Chatham Snowsports Centre where 18 Eltham students competed against various schools in Kent.

It was a fantastic day for Eltham Ski Racing with plenty of incredible wins.

George Baker, Albert Bradley, Santi Harrison and Harry Edwarde took third place in the Primary Male Team event, while Alex Bosviel, Zach Szollosi and Oscar Jones secured second place in the Secondary Junior Male Team event.

Lily Ferreday, Rohan McCleery, Arthur Girardot and Henry Richards finished in third place in the Secondary Junior Mixed Team Event. Alex Lancaster, Boden Kelly and Adam Cornick won the Secondary Senior Male Team Event, with Freddie Bidwell, Hugo Jacquemier-Ward, Joshua Found and Kevin Huang finishing closely behind in second place. Adam was the third fastest skier overall, Boden was the fastest Secondary Junior Male and Joshua finished as the third fastest Secondary Junior Male.

The next event of the season was the London Schools Ski Race at Gosling Stadium in Welwyn Garden City on Saturday 18 June and Sunday 19 June. The slope was challenging and mixed weather conditions proved to cause some difficulties, resulting in a few stumbles and falls along the way. All competitors should be commended for their perseverance and determination, however.

Boden Kelly, Joshua Found, Adam Cornick and Hugo Jacquemier-Ward took home first place in their age group.

Alex Bosviel, Zach Szollosi, Thomas Harrison and Arthur Girardot secured second place in their age group. A special mention to Boden who secured the title of Fastest Overall Racer of the day with an incredible time of 10:30.

The final event of the season was House Skiing. It was wonderful to see so many students showing off all they had learnt throughout the year. Moffat managed to steal the show, winning both the Senior School and the Junior School competition. A big congratulations to all who got involved in the event. ⬤

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ATHLETICS ETT

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JUNIOR SCHOOL SPORT

ATHLETICS AND CROSS-COUNTRY This year saw a welcome return to athletics and cross-country events with Eltham putting forward their most impressive season to date. In cross-country we had two year-groups win the Greenwich Schools competition at Avery Hill with numerous superb individual performances and no less than 12 students going on to represent London Schools. In addition, the intermediate boys’ team qualified for the regional finals for the first time in 15 years. A special mention to Theo Treadwell who has been impressive on both the school and national stage this year.

In athletics, the medal haul was impressive across eight age-group championships. Olly Buck, Tom Ravenscroft, Christine Kadiri and Sam Holloway continued to impress across a number of disciplines and the Year 8 girls 4 x 100 relay team won a gold medal. Congratulations also to Ethan Mudahy and Emily Cadman on their selection for England Schools.

LOUGHBOROUGH TOUR The fourth annual trip to Loughborough University returned as 40 Year 7 and 8 boys made their way to the Midlands. The first day saw the boys play Loughborough Grammar School in a festival of cricket, where Hunter Caldwell scored an impressive 67. An evening of high entertainment followed as Mr Merrett directed the sports quiz.

The second day saw the boys visit Trent Bridge, a Test cricket ground in Nottingham, where they were given an in depth tour of the historic venue. In the afternoon we were hosted by Beeston Hockey club, where we were given a two hour masterclass and treated to some very entertaining matches in the evening. After a resounding win for the staff at ten pin bowling in the evening, the third and final day saw contained a rugby masterclass at the stunning Loughborough University 1st XV pitch. It was a magnificent trip with a great group of pupils. ⬤

MKO

This year we have had over 100 fixtures in nine different sports with every child in the Junior School representing the school in these fixtures as well as fantastically competitive House competitions in rugby, netball, football, athletics and other minor sports.

There have been many highlights over the course of the year. It has been great to see our netball going from strength to strength. The progress our U9 girls have made since joining us two years ago is fantastic. A last-minute win for our U11A rugby team against Dulwich Prep will live long in the memory. Our Year 5s won the Kent Schools’ final – a great lead into Wimbledon. The U11s qualified for the regional finals of the south of England hockey tournament where they gave an excellent show of themselves.

The U10As made it to the final of our own football tournament, displaying some great team work on the way.

We also hosted our first ever girls’ football tournaments which were well attended and hugely enjoyable. Our U8s, 9s and 10s all played block cricket fixtures against Colfe’s and, after 15 matches, the two teams couldn’t be separated. ⬤

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GIRLS’ SPORT

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NETBALL Lower School Netball Tour In February, the Lower School netball teams went on their first ever netball tour. The tour started on Friday 25 February with a London Pulse Masterclass led by Sacha McDonald.

The session focussed on attacking skills, defensive skills and shooting.

It was great to see the girls take on feedback and learn from a fantastic role model. After the masterclass, we travelled to Marchant’s Hill PGL centre for a weekend of fun and challenging activities. The students enjoyed raft building, zip wire, giant swing, trapeze, Jacob’s ladder and archery.

It was great to see our students overcome challenges and push themselves outside of their comfort zone. The portable speaker meant a lot of singing and dancing over the weekend, with the Cotton Eyed Joe dance becoming the iconic weekend song. On the final day, the girls enjoyed a netball tournament played at a local school.

PDC

NETBALL Senior Netball Tour On Friday 4 to Sunday 6 March, the Senior netball teams travelled to Exeter for a three-day tour. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd teams played against The Maynard School and Exeter School. These were two fantastic fixtures with an excellent level of netball played.

The girls also participated in a team activity – ‘Laser Tag’ – in the hilly countryside just outside of Exeter.

This proved to be the most competitive game of the weekend: Lower Sixth vs Upper Sixth! Tactics were implemented, creative methods adopted, and the teams worked together to outwit their opponents in every way possible, but in the end the Lower Sixth team took the crown.

The students also enjoyed a tour around the Exeter University campus by some of our OE students and a walk along Exmouth beach. A highlight was shopping in Exeter city centre where a handful of the girls bumped into the comedian Jimmy Carr in Starbucks.

SPORT

U12 Year 7 netball continued to be popular during the Lent Term, with over 25 girls attending training every week.

It was also fantastic to see every girl in Year 7 represent the school in competitive fixtures across the term.

The teams enjoyed competitive fixtures against Colfe’s, St George’s Weybridge, Sevenoaks, JAGS, Royal Russell, Caterham, Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar and Reigate Grammar.

The U12A team went to compete in the Kent Tournament where they recorded wins against Ashford, Sydenham High, Rainham School for Girls, Kent College, Farrington’s and Dane Court Grammar, with their only loss coming against Bennett Memorial.

This meant the girls qualified for the quarter-finals where they were narrowly beaten by Walthamstow Hall. All the girls should be proud of their achievements, progress and perseverance this term. We very much look forward to seeing what they have in store for next season.

U13 The Year 8s continued to show huge amounts of progress and development in the Lent Term. The girls showed commitment, resilience, and determination throughout.

It was fantastic to see all students represent the school in competitive fixtures against Hayes, Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar, Royal Russell, JAGS, Farrington’s and Reigate Grammar School.

The U13A team made it through to the quarterfinals of the Sisters n Sport Plate competition where they narrowly lost against Roedean House.

They went on to play in the U13 Kent Tournament in March where they secured wins against Hillview, Kent College, Rainham Mark, Newstead

Wood and Cobham Hall. They qualified for the quarterfinals where they beat Tonbridge Grammar School 7-4, putting them through to the semi-finals. The girls played exceptionally well throughout the day and although losing their match, they went on to win in the play-off to secure third place overall out of 32 schools. The future for this squad is certainly looking bright and we look forward to seeing how they get on next season.

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GYMNASTICS This was another great year for the Gymnastics club.

Miss Holmes, Miss Caudle and I were all thrilled to see so many students turn up every week to learn various styles of gymnastics.

The beginning of the Michaelmas Term saw students working on their artistic gymnastics and in particular training with the vault, working on their skills and technique.

Rhythmic gymnastics sessions were launched after Easter.

This combines ballet, body skills and creative movements with music, while working with ribbons, balls, hoops, ropes and clubs in a choreographed dance-and-tumble routine.

Students worked with various apparatus including ropes, balls, hoops and ribbons and learnt numerous rolls, throws, spins and tricks with them. Girls and boys in the Lower School also practised various rhythmic leaps, balances, pivots, and flexibilities. Students grew in confidence and combined their moves with the apparatus into solo, duet and group routines.

This year also marked the launch of the first Eltham College rhythmic gymnastics showcase. In February, students performed a group rhythmic gymnastics routine to the rest of Year 7 and 8 during an assembly. The routine showcased the fantastic improvement and determination of each student who had attended the club. It was fantastic to see so many students perform so brilliantly in a sport which they had only started earlier this year. ⬤

SENIORS After winning the Kent Cup in November 2021 and finishing third overall at the regional finals in January, the girls continues their success in block fixtures against local schools including St Dunstan’s, St Olave’s, Langley Park School, Alleyn’s and Reigate Grammar School. On Wednesday 8 March, Eltham hosted its annual U19 netball tournament. Over 150 Senior girls took part from 10 schools, and it was great to have A and B team pools running. It was a fantastic afternoon where our Seniors performed well in both pools.

Overall, it has been a really successful year for our Senior netball teams. It has been fantastic to see so many Senior girls involved, with over 20 students regularly attending training and taking part in competitive fixtures. We wish our leavers the best of luck in all their future endeavours, and we look forward to what the next netball season has to bring. ⬤

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CRICKET Following the introduction of cricket for the girls last year, the sport has continued to grow and it has been fantastic to see so many students getting involved. The girls have enjoyed a number of cricket fixtures this term against schools including Colfe’s, Caterham, New Hall and Emanual and the U13A team were entered into the U13 Softball Cricket Cup tournament.

The U13A team was made up of students from Year 7 and 8 where they played a series of matches in their pool. These included games against Chislehurst School for Girls, Bromley High School and Weald of Kent Grammar. The team won all their games which meant they qualified for the semi-finals against Benenden. An 18-run lead against Benenden meant the team secured their place in the U13 Kent Cup finals. This match is due to take place in September.

This year also saw the introduction of hard ball cricket. The transition from soft ball cricket to hard ball cricket is challenging, but the girls took it in their stride and embraced the opportunity. After only a couple of sessions, the girls seemed to grasp the new concept; their enthusiasm and keenness guaranteed superb progress being made – from improved bowling, to the correct setting of the field and batting boundary balls, the girls have demonstrated that the commitment to practice leads to improved performance. ⬤ PDC

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Times Past and Present From Our Pages…

80, 50, 25 and 10 Years Ago ADB

1942 was perhaps the darkest year of the Second World War. Conflict had been raging for three years and any scent of victory seemed a long way off. Nonetheless at Speech Day that year, when Kenneth Lindsay (MP for Kilmarnock between 1933 and 1945) presented the prizes, the Headmaster’s annual report ‘showed that the school had had a very successful year both in work and sport,’ according to the report in The Elthamian of December 1942.

80 Years Ago ‘Despite war-time difficulties many of the school’s regular activities had been maintained, though the continued absence of the boarders [they had been evacuated to Taunton School] was a serious loss.’ The four House reports follow, with familiar exhortations, such as this from the House Captain of Chalmers, one R E Chater: ‘I want to see everybody getting their House Keenness points this year… Chalmers has won the shield for the last five years, which is a school record, but let us keep it up and repeat our previous successes. All together Chalmers!’ Just one photo appears in the edition, of the 1942 1st XI. 50 Years Ago The Summer 1972 edition of The Elthamian is comparatively up-beat, brimming with reports of productions, trips and societies, including Astronomical Society. ‘During the holidays the Society held a meteor watch, which involved about eight people in an all-night sit in the middle of the school fields. Previous meteor watches have had some degree of success, but not so this time, the clouds appeared at sunset and were only to roll back at sunrise.’

Of the trips, the longest report is of a trip to Snowdonia, where the abiding impression seems to have been the typically Welsh weather: at the end of the trip the participants ‘caught a train back to Euston not much wiser to the beauties of Snowdonia, which it seemed determined to keep shrouded in mist, but much wiser as to what to expect from a garment claimed to be waterproof!’ The school trip to Snowdonia in July of this year, where pupils tackled the Welsh 3000 challenge, benefitted from rather better weather than the trip 50 years previously.

Mrs Edmonds, photographed for her leaving interview in Elthamian 1997 in the Old Quad

REGISTER

Another lengthy write-up is for the school’s production of The Pirates of Penzance. ‘Given this achievement… there is every chance that from now on public opinion will call more often for something with a song in it. And does this inevitably mean Gilbert and Sullivan?’ The answer unfortunately was no: this turned out to be the last ‘G and S’ production the school staged (they had been a popular staple of school Drama since the 1930s).

25 Years Ago Twenty-five years later, Chalmers were not doing as well as they had been in 1942. ‘Once again, a year of disappointment and under achievement,’ wrote Mr Broncz in his House report for 1997 edition of The Elthamian. ‘The reality of not being in contention for much of the year does not stimulate enthusiasm, and so, for much of this year, the House has found it difficult. We have been plagued by withdrawals, and late replacements, who have tried their best, but flimsy excuses and alternative engagements are not the stuff of successful House Champions.

So ends our 1996/97 campaign.’

Being Housemaster of Chalmers was, of course, just one area of school life that Mr Broncz threw himself into, as you can read from page 85 onwards in this edition of Elthamian.

Members of the Common Room leaving the school that year included

Russian teacher Mrs Smith and swimming coach Mr Clark, along with Mrs Edmonds, who had joined as a teacher of French and German in 1975. New staff arrivals included Mr Foster in the RS Department, who joined the school, appropriately enough, from a school for the children of missionaries in the Philippines. Amanda Streeter joined as artist-in-residence that year; she departed in the Summer Term this year, albeit as Mrs Richards, and you can read her reflection on the intervening 28 years from page 65 onwards of this edition of Elthamian.

She was one of the members of staff on that year’s art trip to Amsterdam: ‘Between the numerous visits to galleries and the like, free time was spent getting lost, scouring the streets for food (of which there was a wide variety) and, of course, avoiding the bicycles,’ wrote Sixth Form pupil Emma Wrafter in her report. ‘All in all Amsterdam proved to be an interesting, inspiring and very enjoyable experience, one that we shall never forget. Many have vowed to return.’

10 Years Ago The Elthamian has always reflected changing times, and in the 2012 edition there is an emphasis on environmental campaigns, coordinated by EcoEltham, which has ‘focused on raising the profile of sustainability issues within the school.

We have led assemblies…and enjoyed

The bicycle-powered blender, demonstrated on Eco Day in 2012

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Elthamian 1997: Ms. Streeter (now Mrs Richards) supervising Third Formers (yr 9) print-making in the art studios

the Eco Centenary Day.’ The latter was ‘overall… a success… although the low-energy (cold) lunch wasn’t too popular, Eco Centenary Day did what it had planned: put sustainable issues to the fore.’

Reports from elsewhere in the magazine show that clubs and societies continued to flourish, as they had 50 years before. This included a re-founded Astronomical Society. ‘Of course astronomy requires certain conditions,’ former Head of Physics, Mr MacKenzie, wrote in The Elthamian, echoing the comments that appeared 50 years earlier, ‘and we were thwarted a number of times, but finally our persistence paid off and we were rewarded with some quite superb views of Jupiter and its four Galilean moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto using the school’s superb Meade 10 inch telescope.’ ⬤

Covers, Summer 1972, and December 1942

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In Memoriam

ASH, Richard James, passed away in November 2021 aged 81 BAULF, Adrian John, passed away in February 2022 aged 76 BEWS, Denis Oliver, passed away in November 2021 aged 90 BODEY, Frank Wilson, passed away in July 2022 aged 87 BROWN, Brian Frank, passed away in February 2022 aged 88 CROOKES, Andrew Robert, passed away in August 2021 aged 65 CULLINGWORTH, Anthony Robert, passed away in November 2021 aged 79 EDMONDS, Douglas Anthony Valentine, passed away in September 2021 aged 82 FRANCIS, Michael John, passed away in May 2022 aged 79 GOODALL, Philip James, passed away in August 2021 aged 91 GRIFFITHS, Glynn, passed away in November 2021 aged 74 HEAD, Christopher Howard, passed away in June 2022 aged 77 JOHNSON, Benedict Godley, passed away in September 2021 aged 46 LEWIS, James William, passed away in May 2022 aged 89 LYDON, Jeremy Charles,* passed away in June 2022 aged 85 MACKINNON-LITTLE, John Andrew, passed away in March 2022 aged 81 MATTHEWS, Alan William, passed away in November 2021 aged 85 MATTHEWS, John,* passed away in December 2021 MOLYNEUX, Malcolm Edward, passed away in November 2021 aged 77 MOTT, Terence John, passed away in September 2021 aged 85 PLANT, Ronald Victor, passed away in July 2021 aged 83 RIORDAN, James Ian Killown, passed away in August 2021 aged 90 SEAGER-SMITH, Andrew John, passed away in December 2021 aged 83 SEWELL, David John, passed away in November 2021 aged 61 SLARK, Norman Arthur, passed away in December 2021 aged 87 TYTHERIDGE, Charles Nicholas, passed away in December 2021 aged 65 WILCOCK, Peter David, passed away in August 2021 aged 88 WILSON, Kenneth John, passed away in July 2021 aged 82 *denotes former member of teaching staff

STAFF CONTRIBUTORS ADB Andrew Beattie, School Archivist ADM Antony Merrett, Head of Carey ATD

Dr Tim Davies, Head of History

BJK Ben King, PE Department and Head of Chalmers BRH Brittany Holmes, Graduate PE Assistant and Skiing Coordinator CAF

Claudia Franz, Head of German

CMG Calum Giles, Head of Hockey ETT Edward Thorogood, Head of High Performance Athlete Programme HJT

Hugo Timbell, Head of Drama, ECJS

JFK

Josh Kelly, PE Department

JHH

Rev.Jim Houghton, School Chaplain

JYM

Jay Muirhead, Head of Moffat

KAH Kirsty Harding, PE Department KHP

Katy Powis-Holt, Head of Politics

LUS Lucia Scarantino, Head of Modern Languages LVC

Lucy Clough, Head of Livingstone

MEC Mark Chesterton, Head of Teacher Training and Development MKA Head of Music, ECJS MKO Mark O’Dwyer, Head of Games, ECJS NAD Neil Dale, Head of History, ECJS NTA Nathan Anthony De Dieudonne, Artist in Residence NXC

Nicki Chamberlain, Head of Years 3 and 4

PDC

Penny Caudle, Assistant Director of Sport

RLJ

Russell Joyce, Development Officer

SHM Harry Mitchell-Morgan, General Subjects Teacher, ECJS SRO

Samuel Oliver, Head of Maths, ECJS

STW Simon Whittaker, Head of Science SXO

Saoirse O’Donovan, Development Director

VCB

Vic Broncz, Maths Department, 1987-2022

The school would welcome news of recent or forthcoming marriages, births and deaths.

Old Elthamians should contact adb@eltham-college.org.uk to share information for future editions of The Elthamian.

Eltham College, Grove Park Road, Mottingham, London SE9 4QF

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