10 minute read
B ack to School
ORs CONTINUE TO PLAY AN INTEGRAL PART I N SCHOOL LIFE
SEPTEMBER 2016
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Two OR visits from The Netherlands in one month! Florence (or Francine as she was known at School) Verbeek (Bristowe 1997) was joined by her husband and mother, whilst Lisanne Naves (Mullens 2004) popped in to say hello and even managed to find herself in the whole School photo outside the Assembly Hall.
We held our second FutureCareers Seminar at Reed’s focusing on the world of film and television and were lucky enough to be joined by three very experienced Old Reedonians, each of whom is an expert in his/her respective field.
Rachel Corbould (Mullens 2006) spoke passionately about some of the amazing and diverse film sets she has worked on. Rupert Bryan (Mullens 1992), owner of MPH Productions, talked knowledgeably about the making of film, television, video and internet content across a broad spectrum, and the various roles within the industry. Chris Brogden (Capel 1984)
We welcomed ORs, current and former parents, and friends from the local community to join us in a ‘Grease’ film night in aid of the Reed’s Foundation.
painted a wonderful picture of the demands of being a producer: the responsibilities, the juggling, the managing, the researching, the selling, the budgeting, the coercing and last, but not least, the need to be creative, brave and come up with new ideas constantly.
On a summer night in September, Rydell High made a visit to Reed’s School...and if that means nothing to you, then you’re obviously not a Grease fan! and former parents, and friends from the local community to join us in a ‘Grease’ sing-a-long. Everyone entered into the spirit of the evening with some great costumes, singing and dancing.
Huge thanks go to OR Charlotte Mocatta (Mullens 1988) for her drive and determination in getting this fundraiser off the ground. Money raised went into the Simon Church & Jonathan Turner Bursary Fund (part of the Reed’s Foundation) in memory of Charlotte’s brother and friend – see OR Syndicates, page 65 for further details.
OCTOBER 2016
We were so grateful to welcome our former School Captain, Shahin Baghaei (Capel 2002) to the launch of our Annual Foundation Appeal held at Grocers’ Hall in London as our guest speaker. Shahin gave a very powerful address about the impact of the Foundation on his and others’ lives to an eminent group of city executives, charities & trusts and educators. Here he is with the Headmaster, Mark Hoskins; the Chair of Governors, Mike Wheeler; and the Annual Foundation Appeal President for 2016-17, Angela Knight CBE.
NOVEMBER 2016
Every year, the School celebrates the life and work of our Founder, Rev Dr Andrew Reed with a series of special Chapel services. To help us with this, we were delighted to welcome back ORs, James Bartosik (Mullens 1998) and Georgina Sheedy-Collier (Mullens 2009), who both gave moving addresses focussing on their perspective of the Foundation.
Shahin Baghaei (Capel 2002) was back again but, this time, at School along with Sophie Soeting (Bristowe 2010). The two ORs, alongside a current parent, helped to make up a panel of legal experts who shared their knowledge and advice with the pupils about careers in Law. To quote one attendee: ‘It’s great to have ORs come back and speak, as you feel an
immediate bond.’
It was great to see two of our 2016 RideLondon-Surrey cyclists join us for lunch and a look round School. The day was finished off by watching the 1st XV play St John’s. You could see both Ryan Nesbitt (Capel 1990) and Nick Yellowlees (Capel 1975) itching to get on the pitch to help out, until Mr Clapp stopped them for a selfie! Our newly appointed Director of Sport Ben Edwards, was delighted by the support he received from them many ORs who accompanied him on his challenge to run two miles every day for a year in support of The Royal Marsden. He completed this on New Year’s Day, raising nearly £32,000.
JANUARY 2017
David Methold (Bristowe 1961) and brother Chris (Bristowe 1970) made a visit back to Reed’s with their wives and had a sneak preview of the Reed’s Heritage website.
Rahim Lalani (Blathwayt 1997) popped in all the way from Pakistan. Sadly, his visit was for the funeral of his father, also an Old Reedonian – Shiraz Lalani (Blathwayt 1960) (see Obituary, page 52). The picture shows Rahim standing next to the 1959 School photo in which his father appears.
FEBRUARY 2017
Polly Lambert (Blathwayt 2009) and her fiancé, Alistair, called in to do a reccie to see if Reed’s might work as a venue for
their wedding in 2018! It does!
MARCH 2017
We were thrilled to see David & Anne Jarrett back to join us for the Andrew Reed Lecture (see Main Article, page 14) delivered by Alex Van Holk (Mullens 2002).
Thank you to the many ORs who came back for our annual Reed’s School FutureCareers Evening, sharing their professional advice and knowledge with our current pupils and giving up their time. Those who joined us included Ian Deans, Raj Kanwal, Marc Sage, Andrew Sage, Ismail Laher, Peter Wood, Mark Marijnen, Joe Bennett, Portia Whiffin, Jonty Oldreive and Tim Watney. If any other ORs would like to get involved with our careers programme, please contact Sharmaine (smatthews@reeds.surrey.sch.uk)
APRIL 2017
Only Georgina Sheedy-Collier (Mullens 2009) could make a lecture to Sixth Form students on science and technology so gripping.
Her passion for the two subjects flooded through with the added bonus of her being able to inspire an infinite increase in interest of Data Science, literally. She started the lecture with ‘okay so who here wants to be a Data Scientist?’ – no show of hands, to an hour later seeing a quarter of the audience raise their hands to the same question.
MAY 2017
Roger Dipper (Blathwayt 2010) kindly came back to share his acting skills and expertise with some of our Fourth Form taking their Silver Arts Award. This was followed by a Q&A session with the pupils who were rightly impressed by all that Roger has achieved since leaving Reed’s. Roger’s next ‘gig’ is appearing in ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ in Paris later in the year!
The support we received from our ORs in donating prizes for our May Ball this year was exceptional: from exclusive access to the members only Monaco Yacht Show (Nick Dean, Mullens 1976), to a luxury apartment in St Lucia (Adrian Ricks, Mullens 1972), to limited prints (Andy Glass, Mullens 1984), to a signed tennis racket (Tim Henman, Blathwayt 1991), to cricket coaching (Henry Thorpe, Mullens 2015), to tickets for Queens (Ben Haran, Mullens 1994), to exclusive use of a Lotus Exige (Jamie Matthews, Capel 1999) – we are grateful to you all.
It was a privilege to see so many of our former 1st XI Cricket Captains gathered together at Reed’s School as they joined us for a sneak preview of our new Jarrett Indoor Cricket Centre.
Although still under construction, there is no doubt that this impressive and hi-tech facility – designed and project managed by Sports Clubhouses – will not only enhance Reed’s cricket credentials but be a hub to bring the whole community together and generate revenue to support the Foundation in perpetuity. Thank you to our Captains for their enthusiasm
and support.
JUNE 2017
Ann Deckers (Bristowe 2004) made a visit to Reed’s with her new baby son, Leo, all the way from Belgium.
As part of the comprehensive Higher Education Day held at Reed’s every year, we were delighted to welcome back nearly 30 of our younger ORs, the majority of whom are currently at university, with another handful pursuing exciting careers. In a sort of speed-dating format, the group shared their experiences, tips and words of wisdom with our Lower Sixth students about their university, their course and their work. The ORs relished being grilled by the students who asked some very insightful questions, as well as enjoying a famous ‘Reed’s lunch’ and a catch up with their former teachers. Thank you for coming back everyone: Alex Truelove (Blathwayt 2013), Sam Wadsted (Capel 2016), Henry Thorpe (Mullens 2015), Chuggs Walllis Bristowe 2016), Dan Lajumoke (Mullens 2015), Dan Roy (Blathwayt 2014), Josianne Slinger (Capel 2014), Katherine Thomas (Blathwayt 2014), Rosie Pidgeon (Blathwayt 2015), Holly Brazier (Capel 2015), Seyi Bamgbaiye (Bristowe 2016), Owen Baldwin-Evans (Capel 2015), Bethan Davies (Bristowe 2013), Naomi Kelly (Mullens 2015), Sam Boulton (Mullens 2013), Oliver Matthews (Capel 2016), Lucy Dickinson Green (Bristowe 2016), Matthew Callender (Blathwayt 2015), Andrew Todd (Blathwayt 2016), Michael Woolston (Capel 2015), Max Kerslake (Blathwayt 2014), Josh Southern (Capel 2014) and Carys Davies (Bristowe 2016) It was especially pleasing to see so many Old Reedonians return for the CCF Regimental Dinner, with guest speaker, Maj Mike Foster Vander Elst (Mullens 2001) giving an inspiring address (an excerpt of which can read in the Word from the Headmaster, page 6). Those in attendance were: Mike Foster Vander Elst (Mullens 2001), Mike Holgate (Mullens 2000), Alex Truelove (Blathwayt 2013), Ben Blackledge (Mullens 2005), Richard Smith (Capel 2003), Alex Stead (Capel 2014), Peter Auzins (Bristowe 2015), Georgina Sheedy-Collier (Mullens 2009), Ed Pearce (Capel 2013), Chris MacDonald (Mullens 2001) and Charlotte Buijs (Capel 2012)
JULY 2017
We were very grateful to Tim Henman (Blathwayt 1991) for finding time in his busy schedule to be our guest of honour at Reed’s School Speech Day. Even lovelier was the fact that he made a bee-line to say hello to another Reed’s legend, Richard Nicholson, who managed to join us!
Tim has been a huge supporter of Reed’s over so many years and, indeed most recently, through the work of the Tim Henman Foundation, continues to support the work of the Reed’s Foundation and our Primary Forum Outreach Programme. At Speech Day the Headmaster recorded a vote of thanks to Peter Verstage (Capel 1965) who stepped down as a Reed’s Governor, after 10 years of committed service. As well as sitting on the main Governing Board, Peter held positions on various sub-committees – notably the Finance and Marketing Committees, always adding value to the discussions and decisions made.
How could anyone leave it 52 years before coming back to visit Reed’s? That was how long it was since Bruce Anderson (Capel 1965) left School, so it was delightful to welcome him back for a walk around and reminisce. We think he left feeling that he should have done it much sooner and that, in fact, although a lot has changed on the site, there is still a lot that remains very familiar.
ALL YEAR!
… and then there are the 11 ORs who are ‘Back at School’ full time, as part of our dedicated team of staff: John Allison (Blathwayt 2001) Will Atkins (Blathwayt 2014) Alex Balls (Blathwayt 1988) Adrian Blackman (Mullens 1992) Malcolm Dunn (Blathwayt 1982) Fiona Roberts (Blathwayt 2013) Ben Haran (Mullens 1994) Grayson Stuckey (Capel 2012) Simeon Smith (Mullens 2009) Alex Truelove (Blathwayt 2013) Ed Whiffin (Capel 2005)
