Decanian 2020

Decanian A Year in the Life of Dean Close School

Decanian 2019/20

September 2019 - August 2020

Jeremy Vine hosts Education Question Time Cast of Amadeus gives stunning performance Lessons move online in nationwide lockdown DC DEAN CLOSE

Brand new Day House Village opens

@ home

2019/20

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Covid-19 News Education Question Time Houses Chaplaincy Report Drama Music Art Cookery School Virtual Prizegiving Visitors and Speakers Academic Highlights Christmas Party CCF Sport Archives & ODs Partnerships Staff Leavers Common Room List Editor Proof reader Photographers Design

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Amy Loveys David Evans Mikal Ludlow & Stuart Robbie Adam Hathaway

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JRB Stott, BSc, DipTh, PGCE Mrs CHS Montgomery, BA, PGCE, Mrs JE George, BSc, PGCE GN Baber-Williams, BSc, PGCE DK Chapman BSc, PGCE Mrs E Gillett BA, PGCE ZS Suckle BA, MA, PGCE Mrs RJ Vest BA, PGCE (CELTA) Mr SA Bell MMus, BMus, FRCO PJ Harvey BA Mrs KM Ledlie MA, PGCE Mrs K Holder Miss DM Richards BSc, PGCE Miss FE Stewart MA, PGCE A Spring Wallis BA, PGCE AA Stanley BSc MW Wilkes BA, PGCE Mrs M J Davis, PGCE DF Fitzgerald, BS Miss K A Gordon BSc, PGCS J M Hardaker, BA Mrs H D McKechnie, BSc, PGCE M J McKechnie BA B S Poxon MA, PGCE J M Sheldon BA, PGCS Mrs M W Watts, BA, PGCE M J Yemm Rev J C Ash, BA Miss GC Archer, BA Mrs CL Bourne, BA, PGCE Mrs F Cradock, BSc, MA, MSc Mrs CJ Derby, BSc, msC, PGDip, PGCE Mrs ML Franklin, BSc Mrs R M Harbit, BA DC Mochan, BA, PGCE, MA, FRSA M Powell Miss K Long, BSc Miss H Scrivener, BA J M Sumner, MA, PGCE J H Briggs, MA, QTS I Davies, BSc, PGCE Mrs S A Hodgson Mrs G Larkin-Lawton, BSc, PGCE Mrs S E Massey BA MM P Mills, LLB Hons, PGCE A McShane BA, PGCE JM Pitt, BA, PGCE NJ Roome, BSc, MSc, PhD,MCCT, QTS E Suckle, BA, MA, PhD, PGCert JR Raynor Mrs L Whitaker, BA Mrs H Zeitz, BA, PGCE A D Martin, BSc, PGCE K Barrett Mrs K Cleeworth, BSc Mrs R Condie, BSc, MEd, MSc, PGCE Miss C M Desmond, BSc B Holdaway, BSc T Gant, BA R O Sayers BSc, PGCE Mrs K F Kennedy

Durham University University of Birmingham Keele University & Cambridge UWIC University of Bristol Lancaster University University of Bristol University of Exeter Royal College of Music Pembroke College, Oxford Merton College, Oxford Brunel University, London University of Nottingham University of Birmingham University of the West of England Herford College, Oxford University of Gloucestershire University of Exeter University of St Andrews Manchester Metropolitan University of Nottingham University of Durham University of Bristol Lincoln College, Oxford Uni University of Huddersfield Bristol City College University of Oxford University of Bristol UWE, Bristol University West of England University of Leeds University of Wales University of Cambridge University of London University of Gloucestershire University of Exeter University of Cambridge University of Reading University of Bath Brighton Polytechnic University of Wales University of Wales University of Keele University of Exeter University of Durham University of Surrey University of Warwick University of Durham University of Liverpool University of Wolverhampton Rhodes University, South Africa University of Exeter University of Birmingham University of York Cardiff Met University of Durham University of Leeds University of Newcastle

Mathematics Modern Languages Mathematics Director of Sport Head of Chemistry English Librarian, Study Skills Head of ELT Director of Choral Music Physics, Common Room President Head of English Netball Coach PE, Assistant HsM Shelburne Classics English Director of Rugby Director of Sixth Form, Biology, HsM Gate Design Technology, IT Head of Computer Science Mathematics Head of Business Studies & Economics Mathematics Head of Physics Housemaster (Tower), RS Head of History & Politics Head of Learning Support Tennis Chaplain Classics Head of Geography Head of Equestrianism Chemistry Chemistry, Exams Officer Biology Head of RS, UCAS Co-Ordinator Director of Cricket Director of Swimming ELT Head of Modern Languages English, HsM Fawley Hockey Coach Acting Head of Learning Support Head of Food Preparation English Literature Business and Economics History, EPQ Geography, HsM Brook Court Physics Learning Support Assistant Chaplain Chaplain’s Assistant Assistant Librarian, ELF Head of Biology Head of Leiths Cookery Numeracy Support Biology GTA GTA GTA Head of Maths Mathematics

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2019/20

Decanian

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covid-19

Dean Close School in the pandemic ... the story so far n Friday 20th March 2020, all schools were closed in England.

This statement is true, but it is not an accurate picture of what was happening at the time. It suggests that until that day, Dean Close was running as normal and after that time, we stopped everything. The global pandemic has not impacted on Dean Close as a single event, it has been a collection of events that have tested our community in ways that we could not have foreseen at the start of the year.

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It quickly became apparent that there were no experts on this; in many ways this was one of the most positive outcomes. We had no choice but to reach out to the staff team, to the pupils, to parents, to colleagues in other schools, and to outside agencies. We needed to learn from different countries and settings. We needed to listen to the experience of pupils, when we could not see them face to face.

Lent Term

Pupils with family in China started to talk about returning home.

Some concerns from families returning from Europe after Half Term.

Some concerns from families returning from Europe after Half Term.

Countries going into lockdown and borders closing. March 20th Schools in UK instructed to close.

March

February

January

I am not a surfer but on one of my favourite beaches in Wales, there is an outcrop of rock that makes it possible to sit alongside the surfers in the sea. These wet suited men and women spend most of their time looking out to sea and watching the sets of waves coming in. They are making constant decisions about whether to

catch this wave or that one coming in, scouring the horizon for signs of what’s coming next, watching their fellow surfers to see the decisions they are making, occasionally reacting to a deceptively weak wave and sometimes catching a great one and having a clear run in. It has felt a little like that at times this year. It has not been a case of a single event with one set of decisions, but many sets of waves with many decisions to be made.

Trinity Term

Secondary Schools in the UK remain closed.

Summer Holidays

August

July

June

May

April

Easter Holidays

Whilst the questions came in thick and fast, there were a few core principles that informed how we were going to proceed. The priority was simply the safety of our pupils and staff and making sure everyone got home safely. For 98% of our pupils, this meant returning home either in the UK or abroad but a very small percentage of boarders opted to remain in the UK with guardians. In the midst of this diaspora we focused on what a Dean Close education looked like from home. At its heart it is about academic challenge, pastoral support, cocurricular opportunities and community.

We quickly moved all our classrooms from Dean Close to Microsoft Teams, lessons continued with the same regularity, homeworks were set and assessments conducted. Houses held roll calls and assemblies, tutor groups met online, one to one follow up took place from kitchens and living rooms around the world. There were music lessons, sports challenges, photographic and cooking competitions, recordings of Shakespeare’s sonnets and lockdown drama productions. The creativity that came from the staff and pupils in every area of the school was incredible and this will continue as we move into the next phase.

It is fair to say that we were not 100% ready for a global pandemic and a complete move from being a school in Cheltenham to being an online school. However, thanks to the ingenuity of the teachers, the commitment of the pupils and parents to education, the resources of the school and our families and a collection of character traits that have been developed over many years in this small corner of the UK, we have flourished during this time.

To give you a taste of what this looked like, here are five examples that point to just some of the great things that took place.

1.

For the Sixth Form, the academic team pulled together a curated collection of online courses combined with university style seminars led by members of the Common Room and visiting speakers. From Art History to Product Design, Languages to Student Finance, Philosophy to the Gambling Addiction.

2.

Every week, our Head of Cookery, Mrs Larkin-Lawton, produced a cooking demonstration video for her GCSE pupils to

Plans for reopening schools in September, GCSE and A Level results planned.

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covid-19

follow. This enabled them to continue with the practical side of their course and to give their families a taste of their efforts.

3.

Brook Court produced a weekly podcast made up of quizzes, music and contributions led by Mr Pitt but with very strong pupil participation throughout.

4.

The Dungeons and Dragons club have continued to meet throughout the summer.

Players based in the UK, Nigeria, China and the US have all been meeting up and continuing their quests.

5.

On the last day of term, over 300 members of the school joined together for a massive, live online quiz hosted by Mr Allen and Mr Wilkes.

This has been a testing time for all of our community but I am hopeful that when we look back in several years’ time, that we will be able to trace several lessons that were learned during this time that forced us to be a better school. It feels too early to make grand statements, but what I do know is that it is going to be fantastic to welcome staff and pupils back to Dean Close for the new academic year. I am hopeful that the year to come will be like no other, but for all the right reasons.

BJ Salisbury, Headmaster

PDT response to COVID-19 PPE Shortage After seeing schools and businesses 3D printing face shield components for health workers, the Dean Close Product Design Technology Department was frustrated to find that their 3D printer beds were too small to accommodate some of the parts. Further to this, they were taking 1 hour 20 minutes to print each one. The chosen design shown was sourced via Facebook and could be laser cut in house at a rate of 5 head bands every 9 minutes. The unit cost was approximately 90 pence each but was distributed free of charge. The visors, made from the Acetate usually used to laminate paper and card, was rigid enough to hold the form well.

did local midwives and clinics from Chepstow and the Forest of Dean. In all the PDT Department made over 1000 and Mr Jones (HoD DT DCPS), working from home with a 3D printer, was able to produce 150. The most popular were those produced in pink, which became somewhat of a talking point amongst those receiving them. In excess of 400,000 items were made and delivered by the DT community in the UK alone in response to the PPE shortage.

DD Evans

The manufacture team observed careful social distancing throughout the prototyping and making process. Dom Evans, Head of Department said at the time “It is great to be able to use our resources, that were sat idle during the school closure, for some good. I know there is a large number of schools across the world doing what they can at the moment, be it from home or on site, where they can get access to make items of PPE.” They were left for 72 hours before being bagged and distributed to local care homes which are part of the Community Action Group, where pupils had previously volunteered, and any local doctor’s surgeries that requested them. Cheltenham General and Gloucester Royal received a number, as 3 - DECANIAN 2019/20

News

DAY HOUSE VILLAGE

n September, pupils at Dean Close School returned to a brand new home, a new Day House Village which can accommodate up to 240 day pupils. Architects, landscape architects and interior designers have worked in partnership with Dean Close over the last two years to deliver a bespoke development ready to meet the needs of day pupils in the coming years. The building focuses on providing a homely environment with pupil wellbeing at the centre as well as providing tailored spaces for work within a modern, aesthetic environment.

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Designed with a ‘New England’ influence, the buildings are timber facing and include chaletstyle windows, vaulted ceilings and feature lighting. Each house is distinctly different through its unique choice of colour scheme and furnishings and is entered through a light, airy double height atrium.

The brief focused on an open plan design to encourage relationships across all year groups, with peer mentoring and support. All houses have a large, comfy common room suitable for whole house meetings, a modern, wellequipped kitchen and cosy snug areas for small groups. Spacious changing rooms, designated lockers and washrooms complete the ground floor.

Upstairs, a glass balcony leads to two separate, open plan workspaces for the Sixth Form and Lower School with dedicated IT workspaces, a collaborative boardroom style space as well as private study areas. A bright meeting/tutorial room with giant screen is ideal for private conferences.

Outside, the grounds have been professionally landscaped with attractive planting, including mountain ashes and acers.

Housemistress of Hatherley, Kate Milne, said: “The new Hatherley has made a huge difference to the school experience of the girls. Such an open, light building, with warm, comfortable communal areas and quiet, well facilitated working spaces encourages a strong sense of

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news

I am delighted with the spaces that have been created for our pupils to work and rest during the school day

community as well as a balance of work, quiet time and socialising. Moving in has been an exciting time and the girls are thrilled to have access to a stylish and modern kitchen, bathroom and seminar room, as well as their comfy common room with its huge flat screen TV and speakers! It really is a home from home.”

Headmaster, Bradley Salisbury, said: “I am delighted with the spaces that have been created for our pupils to work and rest during the school day. The exciting part now begins as we watch the buildings come alive as the rooms are filled with the daily comings and goings of the young people. It is my hope that these amazing facilities will help our pupils to build friendships across year groups and houses; enable staff, parents and pupils to work more collaboratively; and for there to be lots of joyful moments to punctuate the business of learning.”

A walk for Angus Angus Napier Caton 28.3.06 - 28.6.20 Throughout his 7 year battle with multiple brain tumours, Angus was always positive, stoic and incredibly courageous. He never complained and was always laughing. In his short life, he brought so much joy and inspiration to those around him.

Angus died quite suddenly on 28th June aged 14 1/4 yrs.

Following Angus’ death, the kind words continued to flood in and many pupils carried out fund raising in his name. As well as this, the Walk for Angus took place. This was conceived

by Alistair and John Sutherland (DCPS Director of Games and close family friend), helped by Mike Beecham.

The walk set out at 8am on August 1st from in front of the DCS gates. The walking party – which included Rafe and Rosie (Angus’ sibling twins) and Adele at this point – walked down Shelburne Road between crowds of friends, teachers, and medical staff. Many of this crowd joined them for the first leg to Gloucester and then the Forest of Dean.

The 2nd day was a walk to Symonds Yat, where more friends joined the group to canoe down the River Wye to Monmouth. From there they walked on to the next camp. The total length of the walk was 210 miles taking in the Forest of Dean, Brecon Beacons and Pen y Fan, the Black Mountains and then across through Carmarthenshire to Pembrokeshire. The final day took them from Haverfordwest to Broad Haven, and then along the coast path to Deer Park, which looks out over the islands of

Skomer and Skokholm. This was the place where Angus had asked to have his ashes placed: in the spot overlooking the sea and islands that he loved so much. The incredible journey finished here on Saturday 8th August, with a very emotional last walk to the end as more crowds gathered in support. There was then a great celebration of Angus and the achievement of Alistair and John with a hog roast on the beach. There were over 40 people for the last leg, many of whom had come from Cheltenham, and other parts of England and Wales, to be part of this special day.

Over £20,000 was raised for CLIC (Cancer and Leukaemia in Children) who supported Angus at all stages of his journey with cancer.

Once, when speaking to his senior school tutor, Angus said, ‘Mrs Harris. In life, s*”t happens.

You’ve just got to smile and get on with it’.

He was an incredible young man who taught all of us what true courage and bravery is. We will remember him forever.

Ben Price, Dale Housemaster 5 - DECANIAN 2019/20

news

EDUCATION Question Time Is today’s education fit for tomorrow’s world?

On Thursday 10th October, Dean Close hosted a highly engaging and energising ‘Education Question Time’ event, chaired by the BBC’s Jeremy Vine. A knowledgeable audience of pupils, parents and teachers from across Cheltenham posed questions about whether our education system is preparing current pupils for the world of tomorrow.

Secretary of State for Education Lord Blunkett, Alex Chalk MP, cyber-security and AI expert Professor Richard Benham, Eleanor Busby, Education Correspondent for the Independent, and Emma Taylor, Warden of the Dean Close Foundation.

The event was preceded by a panel of pupils from the nine schools participating in the newly launched Cheltenham Education Partnership.

These pupils, while warm in their comments about their own schools, challenged school leaders and politicians to think again about such areas as political education, climate change, financial skills and the provision for the creative and performing arts.

Many of these questions were explored by the expert panel, consisting of former

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The debate was energetic and lively; questions included ‘Should the voting age be lowered to 16?’, ‘Are mobile phones the enemy?’ and ‘How much responsibility for education lies with parents?’ Jeremy Vine chaired the session with verve, challenging the panellists’ views and ending by racing around the auditorium with a microphone eliciting the judgement of the Sixth Formers on the opinions expressed.

The event was the first in the programme of events to be staged as part of the first year of the Cheltenham Education Partnership, and much hope was expressed that pupils in all Cheltenham’s schools would benefit from the strong sense of collaboration and participation which was so evident in the room.

news

The event was the first in the programme of events to be staged as part of the first year of the Cheltenham Education Partnership

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houses

Brook Court A lthough this year has been somewhat cut short by a certain virus, it has not stopped the Brook Court boys from excelling during every single day that the school remained open. Whether it was Ferapont winning his karting championship, Charlie Harris making a rather impressive CAG Magazine or Nacho handling the BLM protests with a patience, dignity and petition that can only lead to positive change.

During actual term time when we had boys in the House, Brook Court won House rounders, House CCF, junior House public speaking and House shooting but it was in general House activities where the memorable moments were truly created: Gavin’s 18th birthday marquee party, the Fawley Christmas Party, the Lego club, early prep revision sessions, Ed Dunn’s Current Affairs Group and events like the wine tasting evening brilliantly hosted by Gavin and George to celebrate Freddie’s 18th birthday.

It is easy to forget that early prep times only started this year and the pancake evenings, bible study time, current affairs club and water polo were not even possible 12 months ago. Other new events this year like the International music evening also saw Brook Court boys rising to the fore with Henry and Jacky singing brilliantly. This was also the year that we started making candy floss outside the day village to raise money for Team Trees and, with over 500 trees planted, a

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with an impressive music podcast. George Harris made food for care homes whilst Ethan Lomas King made videos for toddlers. I am always proud of these boys, but this year saw a decidedly high number of things, of which one can be proud.

This year has set an incredibly high benchmark, but it has also set standards that I know Brook Court will rise to again.

JM Pitt, Housemaster

huge thank you must go to Sam Webber for his floss skills.

Even during lockdown, the boys made podcasts, cooked food, created skateboard ramps and made whole house zoom quizzes.

The motto of Brook Court is United in Diversity and the rare events of this year showed that this really is a house that stays together, fully united, even when they can’t be together. I was amazed to see how boys like Jacques, Alex and Billy responded to the setbacks of lockdown and Oli Thompson added to the Brook Court additions

houses

Dale The early weeks were dominated by House Shout preparations. Actually, that is incorrect, the final 10 days leading up to House Shout were dominated by last minute panic training! But, as he did last year, Olly Smart led from the front: cajoling, encouraging and organising his rabble into some semblance of order and finally some semblance of tune. The critics could not fault our ambition, but they were certainly sceptical as to whether we could actually pull off, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ on the night. Well, the records books of the future will read: Boys Unison Song Champions 2020: Dale House. I’ll say no more.

Well, actually, I will. It was SUPERB! As it always does, House Shout and Tug of War went a long way to integrate the new 4th form into Dale: at first quiet and unsure, this band of brothers has grown in confidence, stature and house contribution throughout the year; all the time remaining humble, modest and respectful of their elders in the house. What a great bunch of signings they have turned out to be!

There have been the usual strong performances in Junior and Senior Quiz as well as the Junior and Senior House Public Speaking. It was brilliant to see our very own Alex Bryan-Taff putting himself out there, flexing his academic muscles with an excellent talk on freedom of speech. He was well supported by Ben Quayle and Joel Kenshall. In the senior edition, Ethan Bareham showed his intellectual clout with an impressively well researched and thought provoking talk on ‘Books – a novel idea’. He was ably supported

by Finn Fleming and Paddy Benson. There has also been a huge Dale representation on stage again this year. It would be remiss of me not to mention the brilliantly funny Blackadder, directed

by Ethan Bareham and starring so many Dale pupils including George Richards and Matt Candy, who played worryingly convincing roles as Baldrick and Captain Darling respectively!

There has also been much to celebrate on the sports field. Gloucester Rugby Academy players

Felix Aspray, Billy Benson, Albie Cappuccini, George Merritt, John Lindsay, Noah Edwards and Jack Park have been putting the training in and performing very well. Alfie Henson, Liam McKinnes, Jack, George and Matt Candy played big rolls in the National Cup Rugby run to the final and in hockey it has also been a stellar year.

There has been international representation for Olly Smart and Ed Stevens with Sam Porter, Leo England, Liam Mckinnes, Paddy Benson, Richard Swan and Matt Candy playing big parts – as did everyone in the squad - in the incredible U18 National Cup victory. It is very sad that Covid19 ended these incredible cup runs without a genuine victory but the boys would have been nigh on impossible to beat on the day and should be incredibly proud of what has been arguably the most successful sporting year in DCS history.

However, there have also been some brilliant things going on away from the limelight which are no less impressive. James Candy, Henry Jordan and Harry Henley have been doing some fantastic kayaking and Harry has also been quietly putting in hours of training as part of the Olympic Shooting Pathway. Josh Gordan’s resilience in bouncing back from his devastating knee injury and ACL reconstruction has been most inspiring, as has Jack Stanton-Coles’ superb regional badminton achievements. Charlie Street has shown incredible generosity and community support delivering hundreds of packages to vulnerable people throughout lockdown. There has been wonderful singing from Henry Jordan, Ethan Bareham, George Richards, Tomos Bowen and Bertie McVittie in choir and the singing competitions, plus a high numbers of pupils playing musical instruments. At whatever level they are, they have been committing great hours.

Finn Fleming, Matt Candy, Henry Cronin, Olly Smart and Ethan Bareham entertained the crowd in RocSoc. Ben Quayle (our Cake Baking National Champ) continues to prepare for his future Masterchef appearance (and odds-on victory).

Danny Howlett continues to train incredibly hard towards his boxing ambitions and his victory in his bout at the Pittville Pump Rooms was amazing to watch. In contrast, we have also enjoyed his chess exploits - he’s a former National Chess Champ and currently undefeated in Dale! There has also been academic brilliance and as importantly, endeavour, aplenty. On this note, Jacob Smith certainly deserves recognition for his incredible haul of Green Chits this year. He has achieved more than anyone else in the House by quite some margin. Jacob, we salute you (and have clapped you a lot this year)!

However, whilst it is good to mention these pupils, it is a precarious thing to do because it is easy to miss people out. However, I can honestly say that it is within the house that I take the greatest pride and where every single one of the boys contributes. The tutors (who continue to commit so much to the house) and I can feel incredibly tired at times during term but when we walk into Dale and are welcomed by boys who look you in the eye, ask you how you are, or we simply observe the scene in front of us: intense focus and healthy competition at the table football table, some sort of banter at the pool table, a silent crowd gathered round the chess boards as some big names go head to head, a group playing an animated game of UNO on the opposite sofas – all of this played out with the year groups mixed up together - it is impossible not to absorb some of that energy and feel uplifted and invigorated. Thank you, boys!

So, that just leaves me to say: all the very best to our U6th who leave us to head on to pastures new. The rest of you, well, I very much look forward to the Covid19 restrictions being lifted so we can get back to enjoying the usual Dale scenes as described above.

BP Price, Housemaster

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houses

Fawley t is sad to be writing this entry for the Decanian sitting in a silent office in an empty House. The usual chatter, laughter and shrieks are amplified in their absence and the life, vibrancy and diversity that the girls bring to the House is much missed. When we welcomed the nervous, new 4th Form into the House in August and admired how smart and grown up the L6th looked in their suits, I don’t think that any of us would have ever dreamt what the end of the academic year would look like. The overseas induction and welcome events held in House during August and September seemed to race by. I think that this was partly due to the fun and warm atmosphere the U6th created in House. Soon Alice, Hunyi and Sumire had established their Wednesday academic clinics for the younger girls and under Feyi’s watchful eye we were involved in House music rehearsals.

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Our Remove candidates did us proud in coming second in the Inter-House CCF competition.

Romelle, Bianca and Maddie, with their attention to detail and passion for all things CCF, were hugely supportive in leading on the day. With matron Sarah on maternity leave we bid a sad farewell to Mrs Burns (and the puppies) and, with some hilarity, welcomed matron Briggs into the #fawleyfam, who was ably assisted by two mini matrons. Fuelled by chocolate spread and rice cakes, and feeling grateful to be in a new dayroom space, the Fawley girls settled into an excellent routine which would reap top academic rewards as the year went on.

Through the donation of a Wii our Saturday nights were transformed; in fact Just Dance became so popular that soon the boys were asking to have a turn and we opened our doors 10 - DECANIAN 2019/20

to the first inter-House movie and social night.

Isaac Barlow did not let us down and we were pleased to see Charlie Harris donning a piny and getting stuck into the washing up.

Although the focus at weekends was firmly on fun, rest and relaxation, the girls’ academic focus did not waver during the working week. In amongst a huge amount of green chits coming through every week, the most notable academic successes were: Cherissa winning the Junior Critical essay competition (with Chloe and Georgie being highly commended and Jemima, Georgie, Issy and Emily making it into the semi-final of the Junior Inter-House quiz. Outside of the classroom we won senior House netball, Beth came 3rd in the inter House singing competition and numerous girls represented the school every weekend in sports fixtures.

Fawley is known for its family atmosphere and the girls are fiercely proud of their inter-year group relationships. As Head and Deputy Head of House, Laura and Emma perpetuated this ethos and I am grateful to them for their dedication to the House, the girls and the staff.

It is impossible to put into words an appropriate goodbye to the Fawley girls and their families, who have become an extension of my own family. It has been, and will continue to be, a huge privilege to have been entrusted with the care of these 50 compassionate, intelligent, witty and amazing girls. I have no doubt that Mrs Feltham will be as in awe of them as I have been and I know that these special young women will contribute meaningfully to our future. I wish them all the best of luck. May they find happiness as they fly.

JH Briggs, Housemistress

houses

Field Michaelmas Term There were some early gains with the U6th and the Removes winning the Boys’ House Tug of War for their Year Groups. The House Shooting Team maintained the strong reputation of the House by coming 2nd. The event that generated the most excitement, involvement and commitment was the House Music Competition.

The challenge this year was to perform a song

by Queen for the Unison Song. The boys did their best but didn’t quite perform on the night with “We are the Champions”. The Part Song though was different. Brilliantly organized and led by the boys, they won the Boys’ Cup for their Elton John Medley. There was much celebration and good cheer in the House and outside the Day House afterwards!

Lent Term This was a more intense period yet packed with much success. Theo Bancroft, Lorcan Knox, Jacob Payton (Capt.) and Alex Chihota were part of the triumphant U18 Dean Close National Hockey Team. Cassian Pichler-Roca, Jack Thomas, Daniel Stott and Charlie Jones were part of the U14 Dean Close Hockey team that ended up runners up in the West Finals. There were other notable achievements for rugby, cricket and tennis at various levels including caps for England and Wales. We are privileged to have so many talented musicians in the House.

We had a wonderful House Evening Concert and the boys also did superbly in the House Music Competition. Oscar Jack got a Grade 8 for piano with Distinction. It was also a joy to hear Tom Richardson, Michael Lei, Alastair Klemz and others perform in events such as the Lunchtime Concerts. Sebastian Till spoke in an informed and persuasive way in the Junior House Public Speaking Competition on the topic of: “Should the British Government have allowed Huawei to build the UK’s 5G network?” The team came 2nd.

One of the special highlights was to see Ollie Wood, Zach Truscott and Evan Little put on a play themselves: “Art”- a comedy by Yasmina Reza, which was fantastic.

We also had lots of fun at various points in the Year with the Removes going to watch Gloucester play Toulouse at the Kingsholm Stadium, where we witnessed a stunning try by Will Heinz. The 4th Form had a good time bowling and the 5th Form went to see some topclass football: England U20s v Wales U20s. Many thanks to the Tutors for running these House outings. We have really enjoyed being in the new Day House where chess has emerged as a particularly good way for the various year groups to integrate and relax together. We had a gripping Table Tennis Final which Freddie Thomas won.

Trinity Term

Thoughts on the Day House Village a year on and the impact on the pupils in Field House The boys in Field prefer the location of the DHV. Whereas they used to have to fight their way up and down 5 flights of stairs (if going to the very top) now they can be dropped off near the astro and enjoy a leisurely walk to and from the House. The quality of the new, purpose-built Day House has also had a powerful impact on the boys. They appreciate being inside a building that looks smart and is comfortable and homely. The investment in the new DHV has made the day pupils feel more valued and aware I hope of how privileged they are to be based in such a decent building.

In terms of layout, the new House is much better with the downstairs being dedicated to changing, washing, socializing and eating facilities whereas the upstairs has been given over to study and getting on quietly with work.

This demarcation has helped probably with ‘mental welfare’ in the sense that the boys are being trained into developing a mindset where there is a place and a time to relax and chill out and there is a different place to think and do serious academic work.

The Common Room area has also been a place where different boys from different year groups can play table tennis or chess or board games in their spare time. This has helped integrate the House vertically and horizontally across the various year groups. The location of the study or office for the member of staff on duty downstairs and upstairs has meant that staff are more accessible and more aware of all that is going on in the House.

The changing room (though tight!) has meant that the boys save time and because their need to use these facilities is staggered (e.g. Juniors have timetables lessons in the morning) it hasn’t been too much of a squash. The challenge is to keep this area tidy! Again, the boys are not allowed to change or keep their games/CCF kit upstairs and this has helped to clarify that upstairs is an area for academic work not a play area.

Thanks to Paul, our cleaner, for his good humour and patience with the boys. We wish the U6th all the very best as they head off to university and into the wider world. I know they will make a really positive contribution wherever they end up.

In addition, being part of a DHV has been special. This has meant day girls and boarders have been allowed to come into the Common Room area downstairs to socialize at appropriate times, which has been good.

Furthermore, it has been a delight to see the day pupils chat outside their respective Day Houses and chat on their way in or out from the DHV area. We have also had Charity Events and cake sales etc in the area just outside the entrances into the four Day Houses which has helped to establish the area with lots of positive and fond memories of fun events.

PS Montgomery, Housemaster

Overall, it has been a very positive move!

This has indeed been a strange time. Some have found it difficult to adapt but most have coped really well and all have shown a remarkably cooperative spirit and a resilient attitude. Many have been busy helping out too in their local community.

11 - DECANIAN 2019/20

houses

Gate

‘Sir, it shouldn’t end like this.’

Mobolaji Sotande-Peters, March 18th 2020

his submission is late; I have delayed writing it as long as possible, as to put this valedictory statement to paper is to accept that this is real. Last year I opened with the following quote from John Hughes’ Breakfast Club:

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“But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain...and an athlete...and a basket case...a princess...and a criminal. Does that answer your question?”

It’s still trite, but it holds true; an education (and adolescence) is about discovering what you are, what you want, and what you might yet be.

Matteo, a late joiner (and roll-caller) added a great deal of passion to the year.

Possessing many talents, including lunch dates and spurious reasons to be out of bounds, he was the cheeky chappie who got on with everyone. ‘Remember, don’t do anything Sam wouldn’t do’; this remarkable young man is straight talking, honest, hardworking, loyal and committed.

These adjectives only touch the surface of his virtues; I will miss his calming and staid presence. Paul, quadlingual, handsome and a fair economist to boot; a kind a loyal friend whose football skills saw Gate to their second successive title. Justin, a fantastic mind, acerbic wit, and awful decision making when it came to haircuts was part of the quad that made

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Saturday night in; with a lot more talent than he realises, this is a boy who will go far. Leo was kind and loyal beyond belief, and when not playing LoL, would always put himself out for others. Despite a little trepidation, I am overjoyed that Henry joined Gate: his humour and talents more than make up for his tardiness and the transformation from the surly 13 year old I met 5 years ago is profound. Felix, another internal transfer, has been a stalwart of the House, quiet and unassuming, universally popular, and accounting for about 80% of the culture in the House. I remember his performances on stage almost as well as his support for those around him. Nick has been a leader from the get-go, not just on the hockey pitch, but in his pastoral care for others and fierce, passionate loyalty. Oscar (or ‘Stevo’ as I learnt this year) is the gentle giant of the House, kind, industrious, with a wry sense of humour and a beloved nature. I don’t think I have known a young man with such integrity and inner-steel as Seb, whose quiet unassuming nature masks a strong and deeply thoughtful character. For Adam to be made Head of School after only 9 months at DCS speaks volumes, but I was more impressed by his consideration and maturity, more so than his gamut of talents.

Will’s reliability, support, and organisation will be sorely missed; he is an individual of great character, his honesty and appreciation outside of the DC bubble will have certainly left its mark on many. Mobo: the rants, the cuisine, the ability to function without sleep, the capacity to argue about anything, there is simply too much to list.

However, what I will remember is the decent young man who has grown so much in these last five years; I look forward to seeing the mark he makes in the world. I cannot thanks Ferg enough as Head of House; he has left a legacy and example that I hope all future HoHs will live up to. Christian in his actions and not just a label, he is decent, kind, caring, and considerate. He truly embodies all that is so great about this year group. I could write reams on each of them, but the thing that stands out is the kindness and

he fact that the majority of us were new coming into Gate and Dean Close, with the exception of Mobo “NO” Sotande-Peters, Felix and Moulding, meant that we were all in the same boat when we joined. We didn’t have as much time to make memories as some of the other Houses have, but over the last two years there has been much laughter and many friendships formed.

It’s crazy to think that just over two years ago we didn’t know what life was like without one another. Over the last two years - and how they’ve flown - we’ve turned Gate into a force to be reckoned with and, despite being one of the smallest Houses, have held our own (dominated if we’re being honest) in inter House competitions – most notably House Shout (thanks to Justin’s passionate contribution) and House Footy (somehow managed to have our highest scoring match (11-0) when Burgess was playing instead of Paul).

Everyone brought something different to Gate and as a group we’ve set the bar high for years to come. Will miss you boys!

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Fergus Holland, Head of House

friendship that emanates from them. So, each of these gentlemen is, in their own way, a brain, an athlete, a basket case, and (to varying degrees) a princess. They are, unequivocally, the best year group in the best House. A sentence each in a yearbook is poor testament to what they have contributed; I love each and every one of them.

So, until we meet again, ‘Gentlemen, your time is your own; now go and do something useful!’.

MW Wilkes, Housemaster

houses

For this year’s Hatherley Roundup, which I am writing in a time of lockdown and social distancing, I want to focus in on some of my favourite memories of togetherness from across the time we were able to be in school over this past academic year. Yes, we won the junior and senior House Hockey, and our House Shout contributions were a musical triumph (thank you Lois - we were robbed!) and indeed, our Public Speaking contributions, led by Helena and Aimee, were intelligent and thought provoking, but rather than focus on these great, but more traditional, areas for a House Roundup, I’d like to hone in on the times we simply enjoyed being in each others’ company.

Hatherley or example, our now well established ‘Sisters’ mentoring programme expanded this year, into Sister Families, and it was so lovely to see girls from across year groups meeting to share chats, hugs and buns. We also enjoyed a healthy breakfast of fruit and smoothies one memorable Tuesday morning, when as Sister groups we discussed what we could do to promote good mental health. We enjoyed our traditional Hatherley Christmas Party, complete with obscene amounts

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of food and a festive themed quiz, and our yearly Pizza Night, complete with overburdened Dominoes Delivery Driver. To expand our horizons, we welcomed the whole Day House Village community into Hatherley for hot chocolate and gingerbread men, set to a backdrop of some seriously questionable Christmas jumpers, and we loved hosting a huge number of mums, dads, grandparents and siblings for our Hatherley Soiree, where civilised drinks and canapes accompanied a celebration of the Arts, led by girls from all year groups.

Before Easter, we managed chocolate eggs and party cakes, and rainy afternoons rang to the sounds of Hath Karaoke, dance routines, and movie chill time.

I am nostalgic for these times of closeness, and I hope that Lois, Eliza, Lara, Verity, Izzy, Katie and Abby will carry many happy memories of our Hatherley community with them, as they head off to university, and life beyond. I also hope that Mrs Monty will creep over from her new home next door, for tea and toast, on a regular basis.

Best wishes to these, our leavers, and to everyone else: stay healthy, and see you back ‘home’ soon.

KE Milne, Housemistress 13 - DECANIAN 2019/20

houses

Mead 019-2020: What a year. We started it in our new surroundings in the Day House Village never imagining that we would end it in a virtual world, as a result of the Covid19 pandemic. However, no matter where we are, the spirit of Mead is strong.

Like the pioneering young women in Mead before them, the girls continued to show their resilience, determination and the virtue of effort both before and during “lockdown 2020”.

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Led by a more than capable group of U6th, Mead savoured victory again in House Shout (unison song) and the Senior House Quiz: both competitions now two years running. Mead’s strength in cerebral competitions continued with a best speech in Senior House Public Speaking.

Never ones to shy away from difficult conversations, the speech focused on the potentially controversial and sensitive topic of “Pornography”. And just before lockdown in March 2020, the girls truly threw themselves behind the House Solo Singing competition,

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taking the lead in the House Music Competition at the end of this first stage.

Whilst the victories are sweet, it is not the winning that makes Mead magnificent, but the individuals and values that exist within the House. The girls led the way, once again, with International Women’s Day in March. This year saw more mixed gender support with each House paired with their opposite gender to share their choice of inspirational women. We all loved the fact that Dale choose Jenni, their cleaner, a truly apt choice. In House we have enjoyed the space and opportunity afforded by the new, more open plan environment of the new House. This has allowed us to take advantage and enjoy more community chats, mindful sessions and mental health awareness days. As ever, the work ethic of the girls never ceases to impress.

Throughout the year, Mead has led the Green Chit tally chart, sustaining this throughout “lockdown” and remote learning and ending the year in first place.

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank our Head of House, Imogen Sneath, and Deputy Heads of House, Susie Main and Tash Foster for their leadership this year. Along with the U6th team of Beth Ellison, Ellie Clarke, Nina Counsell, Phoebe Howell and Lucy Richards.

These girls have set an excellent example of how leadership can be. I would also like to thank my tutor team of Mrs McShane, Miss Ash, Mrs Kennedy, Mrs Ledlie, Mrs McKechnie and Miss Rushton. Without their support life in Mead just wouldn’t run quite so smoothly. We say a fond farewell to Mrs Ledlie as she moves on to be Housemistress of Shelburne House in September. I am pleased that I will continue to work alongside Mrs Ledlie as I too move on from Mead to become Housemistress of Fawley House. We wish all our leavers every good wish as they move on to new places and thank everyone for their contributions to another hugely successful and happy year in Mead.

CM Feltham, Housemistress

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espite only completing almost two terms they were action packed. Mrs Kent was determined to go out with a bang and we started the year by spending the first House Evening by camping/glamping in the Forest of Dean. The juniors had tents and the sixth form had what looked more like chicken shacks but it was exciting for the early arrivals to collect wood for the fire and a BBQ, and songs around the fire pit will never be forgotten.

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As the year progressed, we enjoyed trips to Kaspas, Popeyes, the Mayflower and the cinema, as well as the 3 p.m. trip to the Green Coffee Machine on a Sunday for whoever wished to go.

Many put their orders in on the way back from town and met us there. Mrs Kent took the Fourth Form on a road trip around Cheltenham to admire the wall art and the upper sixth took the juniors on a trip along to the charity shops on the Bath Road to encourage sustainability.

Team events were very successful in Shelbz with big wins in the Tug of War, stars in the Junior Quiz winning on the last day of the Michaelmas Term, great success from Lily and Jenny in the singing Competition and of course winning the Harmony Song and the overall House Singing Cup, which was an enormous triumph in Mrs Kent’s last year.

We continued to be as green as possible in Shelburne guided by the Upper Sixth who again went on a Climate Change rally where Greta spoke and the fifth form masterminded the

arrival and process of a composter with food collecting bins in each kitchenette.

Miss Paterson started the year with us but then left to take up a post organising expeditions at a Christian company in Sevenoaks and we had a new matron all the way from Canada: Miss McCauley.

In our assemblies we had some impressive women from the business world as well as presentations from the Sixth Form representing each party as the General Election beckoned, and another debate with arguments for and against eating meat for the girls to hear each side of the argument.

It was sad that the year did not finish properly for the Upper Sixth, the Fifth Form leavers and especially for Mrs Kent after 30 years at Dean Close but the wonderful memories will be varied and full of Shelburne fun.

JD Kent, Housemistress

Shelburne

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houses

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Tower

lthough we have only been ‘in house’ for two terms, this has still been a great year in Tower. Alongside the successful defence of the Tug of War and House Hockey competitions, perhaps most noticeable has been the increasing number of green chits received by the boys, which was the best for 5 years. There certainly has been a sense of heading for excellence in all areas of life, with senior boys helping the juniors in academic clinics, outstanding – truly outstanding – performances on the stage by Jack Coombs, and a coming together around the Tower House 2020 Vision.

What is always pleasing to see as Housemaster is the number of activities in which the boys get involved – amongst many other things, first XV representation in rugby, England selection for Matty Jones, to high quality cooking, music performances, involvement with the Hesters’ Way project, and a willingness to get behind the fundraising support of Reverse Rett. In house, the Fourth Form have settled very well, the pool tournament won by Isaac against last year’s winner, Nils, was again a good evening, and there was perhaps the funniest House Evening for a long time.

The leadership in house this year has been outstanding. Jack and Matty have been compassionate and strong, and Nils has shown a mature wisdom; Kevin has raised the profile of the overseas students with a caring contribution to house life, encouraging participation by more international students than

ever, and this really has enriched the house. This year, inspired by such leadership, it has been noticeable how the different year groups have bonded, seen most noticeably in the formation of the new Tower House band, involving Ubani, Conor, Jed and Barnaby. It was a great shame that we were not able to finish the year properly, but we still managed to send the Upper Sixth and Fifth Form boys through the Tower House Tunnel, a fine Tower tradition.

Musical talent has again been shown in the house through Freddie and Kevin supporting the House Shout, Tom and Ubani’s singing, and songwriters such as George and Freddie showing their skills at Acoustic Night, along with Ben S charming us as usual; lovely strains tend to come along the Fifth Form corridor, and the range of talent, from Samuel to Roy to Barnaby is great to see. The one musical ‘event’ we didn’t get to experience was on the bus to Tewkesbury Abbey, but perhaps this Housemaster doesn’t particularly mind that!

In the House quizzes, Tower was ably represented by Jed, Freddy, Qiaowei and Ben F, as well as Isaac, Henry, Nils and Jack C, and there was a real stepping up to responsibility in the House Public Speaking Competition by Henry,

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Tom and Jack Wang. In the junior equivalent, Conor, Ben and Freddie spoke so well in representing the house. And as well as Jack Coombs taking the lead in both Amadeus and View from the Bridge, George, Ben S, Tom, Conor, Will, Sam D, (have I missed someone? – sorry if so) all got involved in truly superb productions, as well as Ubani, Huw and Sam Chow working so hard for the Spring Concert, and Kevin, Harry, Jack W and Matt W performing at International Music Night.

With great art work (Ben S) and Leiths (Sam B), and excellent EPQ presentations, and DT productions, there really is such an eclectic range of talent in Tower. Events ranging from Mathematics Challenge, to Gardening Club, to Duvets and Donuts are just a flavour of the vast range of things that go on in Tower, which truly has grown as a house this year.

The boys know how fortunate they are to have a wonderfully caring and dedicated Matron and Tutor Team in house, which has been added to by Mr Raynor, the Resident Tutor (who puts up with the boys ribbing on a Sunday afternoon), Mr Sayers and Mr Holdaway, all of whom have shown their commitment to Tower and the wellbeing and growth of the boys. And so, in this strangest of years, the Taaaa spirit has, again, been strong and I look forward to hearing the corridors full of laughter again soon.

BS Poxon, Housemaster

houses

Turner

hat Turner lacks in numbers it definitely makes up for in the characters within the House.

The personalities are as diverse as the countries from which the students come but the one thing they all have in common is a great sense of camaraderie. Our time together was sadly cut short but a lot was crammed into the 2 precious terms we had together.

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The Upper Sixth welcomed our new starters with open arms, big hearts and some fantastic pizza making in the new House pizza oven. Strong bonds were also forged as the House took on the competitive challenge of House Shout, giving a truly moving rendition of ‘True Colours’ making them winners in my eyes! This set the ethos for all House events where our House motto ‘Una Stamus’ (Together we stand) was truly upheld. This produced some healthy competition in House Hockey and House Netball where Turner also came runners up!

Halloween was a hit with pumpkin carving and some extremely competitive apple bobbing competition being a common theme when around Hope and several of the girls. It was lovely to finish the Michaelmas term with a real festive feel having been ice skating, tree decorating and then midnight feasting. In what was sadly to become our last term together, the knitting club went from strength to strength and even managed to find its way into the gym with Issy V and Izzy T knitting whilst on exercise bikes.

A welcome spa evening with facials and massages provided by Georgia Kent from Gee’s Beauty salon was the perfect way to round off our last time together as a whole house.

We say goodbye to Issy E, Izzy T and Issy V, Katherine, Fiona M and Fiona L, Vaisey, Joy, Caitlin and Hope and wish them well with all their future endeavours.

C Allen, Housemistress

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housecompetitions

HOUSE SHOUT This year’s House Shout competition theme was ‘Queen’. It was a tricky theme to pull off, as trying to sound like Freddie Mercury is not for the faint hearted but all the Houses definitely sent the mercury rising as they gave their renditions of Queen songs. From ‘Fat bottomed girls’ to ‘Radio Gaga’ it truly was an entertaining evening. The adjudicator, Simon Taranczuk (Director of Music at King’s Worcester) finally decided on Mead’s ‘Don’t stop me now’ and Dale’s epic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ as winners of the themed unison song.

The boys’ Part Song was won by Field, who sang an Elton John medley and Shelburne won the girls’ Part Song with ‘One last time’ by Ariana Grande and also won the overall House Shield.

A thoroughly entertaining evening was had by all and congratulations must go to all the Houses for their hard work, dedication and organization.

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housecompetitions

INTER-HOUSE

CCF Unison Song winners

Competition

Girls – Mead Boys – Dale

Part song winners Girls -Shelburne Boys – Field

Overall winner was Shelburne with Tower the runner up.

Remove pupils and NCOs took part in the Royal Logistics Corps Inter-House CCF Competition. This is always a hotly contested event and this year did not disappoint. Cadets competed in a wide range of mental and physical tasks which included: towers of Hanoi puzzle, bouldering wall challenge, escape from Dartmoor challenge, air rifle competition, .22 shoot, flight simulators, a blindfolded tent challenge and a leadership task to build the tallest water tower. The event was great fun and the afternoon flew past.

Scores were very tight at the end of the day with five teams tied for 4th place! Overall, last year’s winners, Fawley House, came runners up and Brook Court House were the victors.

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housecompetitions

Tug of War The hotly contested annual Inter-House Tug of War was back with full force this year as staff and pupils took to a very sunny Chapel Close to pull for their Houses.

Six separate tug of war pitches saw a total of over 60 contests, generating a huge amount of excitement and even more noise!

Pupils donned their House t-shirts and the field was filled with bright colours (including a little glitter and face paint!). The cheers could be heard from all around the campus, as the whole Senior School of 470 pupils united to support their House teams.

The competition was initiated some years ago by a group of Bruneian pupils, as Tug of War is the national sport of Brunei. It is wonderful to see that the tradition has continued, as it is a fantastic team building exercise as well as a lot of fun.

Results Fourth Form Girls: 1st Shelburne Fourth Form Boys: 1st Tower Remove Girls: 1st Fawley Remove Boys: 1st Field Fifth Form Girls: 1st Fawley Fifth Form Boys: 1st Tower Lower Sixth Girls: 1st Hatherley Lower Sixth Boys: 1st Gate Upper Sixth Girls: 1st Shelburne Upper Sixth Boys: 1st Field

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housecompetitions

JUNIOR HOUSE PUBLIC SPEAKING This year’s competition saw a refreshing blend of current affairs, moral conundrums, personal grouses and plain quirkiness aired in the variety of speeches that we heard: ‘Snowflakes melt in the heat’; ‘Up the Patriarchy!’; ‘Should the British Government have allowed Huawei to build the Uk’s 5G network?’; ‘Ecology: fame or shame?’; ‘Phone bans are ineffective in the war against technology’; ‘Adults have ruined my life!’; ‘Free will’ and ‘Is protest the most effective form of activism?’. After a fierce contest, Lira Kravets’ fine speech on ecology was judged the best individual speech. Jamie Treatman Clark was awarded best Chair for his polished introduction to the speech on phone bans, while Toby Greaves’ confident summation of the Huawei 5G speech saw him awarded Best Vote of Thanks.

Weighing up all speaking positions the Brook Court trio of Jamie Treatman Clark, Charlie Harris and Ben Rosendhal were adjudged Best Team on the evening.

SENIOR HOUSE PUBLIC SPEAKING The Senior House Public Speaking Competition took place on 28th February this year and saw an intriguing range of titles presented. ‘Books: a novel idea’; ‘Organised Religion: its impact and why it should be separated from the concept of faith’; ‘William Shakespeare: lacklustre relic or contemporary genius’; ‘Women: shamed to shave’; ‘Science Fiction Facts: should we invest in space exploration?’ and ‘Why hardcore pornography has no place in civilised society’ were amongst the best speeches on the evening, by Ethan Bareham, Alice Deasey, Georgie Hubbard, Aimee Jones, Evan Little and Imogen Sneath respectively. In a hotly contested field, Imogen (Mead) was awarded Best Speaker for her impassioned and astutely researched speech. Zach Truscott (Field) was awarded Best Vote of Thanks for a masterful summing up of Evan’s speech and Sydney Davies was awarded Best Chair for her eloquent introduction to Shelburne’s speech on ‘The Butterfly Effect’. After a thoroughly enjoyable evening Field House was adjudged the overall winner of the competition.

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chaplaincy

Life is fragile

Often it is the biggest lessons which are learnt outside the classroom.

So it has proven this year with the latter part of our 2019-2020 playbook left in tatters. Welcome to the COVID classroom where hands are clean and the syllabus is long. Here are some of the Learning Objectives which fill my exercise book, of late:

Of course the banner headline here has been human mortality. Never before have we been so acutely focused on those brutal numbers flanked

by Union Jack flags evening by evening, nor so keen to clap for those on the frontline delaying death. More broadly we have discovered that our ‘normal’ has feet of clay; just the other day Layla moved our fridge magnets to be socially distanced from one another. How wonderful then to remind ourselves just the other week at the HUB as we spoke about death and dying, that Jesus is the Resurrection and the life for all who will believe in him.

Routine is our friend We discovered this as the ‘summer holidays come early’ season of Lockdown gave way to the ‘this is rubbish’ season. We all discovered that we really quite liked lots of the things we had sometimes grumbled about – even public exams. Perhaps school was a blessing after all, and – as one Decanian wrote to me – even Chapel has its place (I nearly fell off my chair).

What a delight it has been to see again the freedom which following the way of Jesus brings the Decanian believer, as they have rediscovered prayer, Scripture, and fellowship with one another via WiFi. What a paradox that the discipline to hedge oneself in, leads to spacious living.

Personal honesty is refreshing I’ve noticed a change in our unthinking conversational patter. Pre-COVID we always answered ‘How are you?’ with some variation on

‘fine’. Now platitude has given way to openness.

Answers I’ve given and received over the past week include: ‘rubbish’, ‘surviving’, ‘struggling,’ with perhaps ‘OK’ being the most upbeat. For me it is a reminder of that foundational Christian truth that we don’t have to be strong, winning or indeed lovely in order to be loved. I’ve noticed more honesty in online Chaplaincy groups, and pupils being content to listen rather than attempt to fix or solve.

No person is an island Your health depends on my behavior, and vice versa. Suddenly our cultural love-in with autonomous individualistic rights has hit the buffers. Perhaps this has thrown into sharp relief what has always been true: how I use my personhood and gifts will affect you in ways which may be as surprising as they are hard to predict. Way back at the start of the academic year in the Foundation staff Chapel service I spoke of our community as a body, and of the Apostle Paul’s command to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice [Rom 12:15]. As COVID has slashed its path, alongside some other Dean Close Community sadnesses those words have been gifted a prophetic prescience.

Again and again I am struck by how creative and compassionate the good news of Jesus enables us to be when forced to eye-ball disappointment, and disruption. I pray that – although no-one wished for it – this COVID classroom will thrust us out into a normal which is not just ‘new’ but more humble, disciplined, honest and loving.

CHAPLAINCY Again and again I am struck by how creative and compassionate the good news of Jesus enables us to be when forced to eye-ball disappointment, and disruption.

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chaplaincy

SERVICE OF NINE LESSONS AND CAROLS t was wonderful to see such a large congregation come together in the School Chapel for the traditional Service of Nine Lessons and Carols by candlelight. The service has a timeless structure and flow to it.

As the Chaplain read the Bidding Prayer it was perfectly clear why we were there: ‘to hear again the message of the angels’, to ‘pray for the needs of the whole world, for peace on earth and goodwill’, to ‘remember the poor and helpless, the hungry and oppressed, the sick and them that mourn, the lonely and the unloved, the aged and the little children’. It reminds us that while Christmas is a time for rejoicing, it is also a time of stark contrasts and hardships for many.

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The ‘tale’ unfolds in nine passages of Scripture.

Readers were drawn from across the Dean

A S e rv ic e of

Nine L essons and C arols SUNG BY D EAN CLOSE

DC

DEAN CLOSE

SCHOOL S

CHELTENH AM

Close community including Heads, past and present pupils, and parents who all read with clarity and conviction. There were seven congregational carols, to which the strong top line of the choir added the soaring descants, and nine choir carols, some well-known like the Sussex Carol and Harold Darke’s setting of In The Bleak Midwinter, others perhaps less so, like Where Riches (Bob Chilcott) and Christmas Blessing (Stopford), but all equally striking.

The 2019 carol commissioned for Dean Close Chapel Choir and Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum was Isaiah’s Prophecy, music by Alexander L’Estrange set to words written by his wife, the singer Joanna Forbes L’Estrange. This jaunty carol, a notable addition to the considerable list of Dean Close commissions

SCHOOL C HAPEL

CHOIR

Wednesday 11th Decem ber 2019 at 7.30pm Memorial Chapel of All Saints Dean Close School

over the past fifteen or so years, reflected the fact that the composer is both a former chorister (New College, Oxford) and a jazz musician.

The choir and numerous soloists sang impressively. By far the best place in Chapel from which to hear (though not to see!) the readings and carols is the Gallery. Also, one can perhaps best admire the skill of the organists and the sound of the magnificent organ from there. Eleanor Carter’s accompanying was quite outstanding and there were thrilling moments as there were with Simon Bell, who played the voluntary (Widor’s, Finale Symphonie Vl). Even the zimbelstern got to do a couple of twirls – Happy Christmas, indeed!

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DRAMA

AView from the Bridge Arthur Miller: Drama Scholars’ Play - the Bacon Theatre, 4th and 5th March, 2020 As with all the many Lloyd Allington productions I have seen over the years, this powerful play came with his trademark elements - an evocative and meaningful set, an arresting opening, a word-perfect cast utterly convincing in their interpretation and accents and always acting, clearly-defined and often poignant contrasts of mood and timing, and an occasional shock for the audience; an experience in which one was fully engrossed, from which one learned more about human nature, which emphasised once again the remarkable talent and potential of these young actors realised under his direction, providing a truly memorable evening.

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drama

gallows’ fatefulness, perhaps? - was the interior of the Carbones’ little flat, itself outlined by scaffolding and tilted (to suggest the slope of fate?). From initial darkness, dramatic music and blood-red lighting individually picked out the fated characters on the scaffold, setting the scene for the tragedy to follow.

Despite Eddie’s fall, in Jack Coombs’ moving portrayal of this big, initially strong, man, we feel for Eddie as he loses his - to him - all-important status as a man and head of the family, first in the eyes of his wife, then, in turn, to Catherine, and to Marco and Rodolfo. Broken by this realisation and the imminent marriage of Catherine to Rodolfo, he appeals in vain once more to Alfieri – “his eyes (truly) like tunnels” – before shopping the brothers to the immigration authorities, their subsequent arrest, Marco’s spit of utter contempt and his consequent rejection by the whole community. Even his attempt to use his knife on Marco is beaten by its being turned on him.

View from the Bridge tells the fateful story of Eddie Carbone, a longshoreman making a hardearned and precarious living in the docks of the Red Hook district of Brooklyn, his loyal wife, Beatrice (Bea) and seventeen-year-old niece, Catherine, whom they have brought up, as their household and lives are changed by the arrival of two of Bea’s cousins, Marco and Rodolfo, illegal immigrants from Sicily.

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Miller (1915-2005), the son of Jewish Polish immigrants who lost their money in the Wall Street Crash of 1929, uses a setting in which he personally lived and a format which mirrors the roots of Western Drama in the great Greek tragedies of the 5th Century BC: Eddie – Miller’s anti-hero – has a failing – in this case he falls in love with his blossoming niece - which, amidst the environment of their tiny flat and the mores of the intense, immigrant Italian community where the Mafia’s Omerta rules, leads to his emotional and tragic downfall. The local lawyer, Alfieri, parallels the Greek Chorus, providing comment and narrative on the unfolding tragedy, seemingly, despite his education and profession, unable to divert the path of fate.

We see Alfieri before the play begins, seated in the office which gives him a view of the unfolding action from the “bridge” constructed across the first few rows of the stalls. Ethan Bareham conveyed well his empathy for Eddie, and his impotence within the restrictions of the law in which he could only act.

Within the meaningful scaffolding of the set - the bareness, the basicness, the overshadowing, a

Grace Greaves played Bea, Eddie’s wife, with great maturity, as initially she intercedes wisely for Catherine in her bid for her own life, then as the truth of Eddie’s infatuation with their niece begins to dawn on her and, eventually, torn in half by loyalty to both, remains with Eddie as Catherine goes to marry Rodolfo and movingly weeps for him, cradling him as he dies.

We felt for Beth Ellison’s naturally teenage Catherine; the last thing she wants to do is to upset Eddie, to whom her gratitude is clear; yet, almost grown-up, she needs freedom to spread her wings and to meet other young people – the good-looking, fun-loving Rodolfo landing in the household is impossible to resist – and Beth showed us how Catherine, too, is torn as she becomes fully aware of what her relationship with Rodolfo is doing to Eddie, but she cannot divert the path of fate either.

Felix Nelson (Marco, the elder immigrant brother) made clear to us his reason for immigration and his responsibility for sending his earnings back to his poverty-stricken wife and sick children in Italy and, hence, his utter devastation when this was ended by his arrest, whereas Liam McKinnes (Rodolfo), obviously the younger, made clear his intention to enjoy his earnings and – although his love for Catherine appears genuine – his awareness that marriage to a resident would ensure his remaining in the country. Felix showed the fire of Marco’s nationality, while Liam a Mediterranean amoroso and youthful love of a good time.

The supporting parts of other longshoremen, neighbours and Immigration Officers were convincingly played, sustaining the relevant mood – whether the light-hearted banter at the end of the working day, the officious seeking out and arrest of the illegal ones or the rejection of Eddie as his treachery becomes clear. All were dressed in keeping with the date and setting, with age and role, and with the eye for detail always evidenced by Sheila Charania.

As ever at the Bacon, Props and Technicians appeared faultless and contributed their skills with care and accuracy to support this utterly smooth and memorable production of a notable play by a writer the notes (in a striking programme) described as “the greatest Tragedian since Shakespeare” – a privilege to be there, indeed.

Sue Padfield 25 - DECANIAN 2019/20

drama

Amadeus

Review

Antonio Salieri, Kapellmeister to the Viennese Court, contents himself in his bargain with God to live a virtuous life in exchange for fame through recognition of his musical talent. is belief and life threatened by the emergence of the young, prodigious composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, he resorts to duplicitous geniality in his quest to destroy the enfant terrible. To make matters worse, Salieri is the only one who recognises the heady beauty and sheer genius of Mozart’s compositions. His relationship with God diminishes as he admonishes Him for investing in Mozart at his expense. So, the relationship between the two composers takes centre stage in this utterly compelling drama. As exquisite as Shaffer’s script might be, it is thoroughly dependent on skilled stage execution for the communication of its powerful message. And we were certainly not disappointed. It beggared belief that this was

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‘merely’ a school production. In the hands of Jack Coombs as the anguished Salieri who, chameleon-like, took us on a journey of emotional twists and turns as the Court Composer inwardly grappling with acute anguish at his mediocrity in the face of genius, while attempting to maintain his pious outward persona, we were treated to an individual performance of unimaginable intelligence and skill. Spurred on by his rat-like, rumour-spreading Venticelli, Coombs conveyed the metamorphosis from a strong, dignified, confident artist bedecked in a glorious, richly brocaded coat, to a hump-backed embittered old man, seemingly drowning in his shroud-like dressing gown. Full marks here to the design team for these powerful images. But it was his

drama

We were taken on a journey of selfdestruction as Salieri’s despair with Mozart, and ultimately with his God, was devastatingly conveyed

scathing delivery, and his direct gaze into the audience which compelled us to hang on his every utterance. We were taken on a journey of self-destruction as Salieri’s despair with Mozart, and ultimately with his God, was devastatingly conveyed. The concluding moment came when the Requiem Mass rang out, and Salieri’s recognition of self-destruction was realised – an intensely chilling moment.

This feast of a play and its accompanying music composed by the infantile, giggling, farting, tantrum-throwing, bottom-spanking and infuriating Mozart who, with his overwhelming inadequacies, stunned and outraged the 18th Century hierarchy with his innovative and daring compositions – the problem with his music “too many notes” in Emperor Joseph’s opinion – yet triumphed, as history attests, to give the world some of its most revered music. Bedecked in pink tinged coat and knickerbockers, Felix Nelson gave us this scatological brat of a boy with an unquestioning belief in his own musical gifts, a never-ending energetic performance which will live long in the memory. He bounded across the stage with puppy dog-like qualities, not interested in the slightest to come to heel when commanded. Whether playing child-like games with his wife, Constanze, or paying scant attention to the disgust of the Imperial Courtiers, this Mozart was blissfully unaware of social mores. His demise and regression into pathos and despair at Salieri’s poisoned hand was painful to witness, as the infant matured towards

his death bed. Constanze’s final words, poignantly executed by Lily Talbot with timely perfection to the Requiem Mass, brought a lump to the throat.

No production of this play could be complete without quality contributions from the rest of the cast. We were not disappointed. Credit goes to the exquisite comic timing of Grace Greaves as she swanned in bedecked as the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, dismissing all with “ah well, there it is”, aided in no small measure by the various Barons and Counts of the Court, all of whom seemed to have suffered a very bad smell under the nose or simply to have been terrified by their own shadows. Add to this a cornucopia of music to thrill the ear, atmospheric lighting which heightened the drama, along with a set which stylishly and stunningly evoked the period (who could ever forget the first reveal of the Courtiers behind the black screens?) resulting in an utterly delicious, beguiling recipe.

Lloyd Allington has taken a literary masterpiece and waved his knowledgeable and masterful baton to bring us the finest production of a straight play to grace the Bacon Theatre in recent memory. There were innumerable touches of directorial brilliance, none more so than the combination of the upstage image and the blast of Don Giovanni which saw out the opening act, leaving us gasping for more.

Lynne Lawrence

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drama

BLACKADDER II “Two beans plus two beans, Baldric. What do they make?”

“A very small casserole, my Lord.” hus begins Blackadder II Elizabethan-style, and DCS-style, directed by talented Lower Sixth Former Ethan Bareham (Dale) and starring Ethan himself as the only character who has not got an IQ of minus 31 in the whole of the Elizabethan world Edmund Blackadder: a terrific conceit on the part of the writer, Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, About Time – which incidentally also starred our own Will Merrick, OD).

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Ethan adapted and collated this script cleverly from several episodes, shoved it front of the Director of Drama and announced: “Let’s do it”.

Since pupils are what we are all about, it seemed like an excellent idea. Ethan set about casting a fun crowd of friends and a few amicable loonies, and hey presto - a talented and witty cast emerged. Ethan as Edmund B seemed to have found his perfect role: caustic, long-suffering and sarky, he shared the stage with Sydney Davies as a very pretty, smiley, lisping Elizabeth I (somewhere between a character from Mallory Towers and the Sugar Plum Fairy), Fergus Holland as the goon Lord Melchett and George Richards as the hapless and brainless Baldrick.

These four carried the show with their quickwitted comic timing, fabulous caricatures and delightful nuttiness. Utterly Special Mention must go to a wonderful turn from Matt Candy as the idiotic Lord Percy (looking like a bird who has swallowed a plate); his facial expressions were straight out of a comic cartoon. Winsomely delightful cameos gushed forth from Joe Crathorn as the Evil Camp Prince Ludwig (wreak my wrewengie... cue panto-villain-laugh), Tom Bradford as the Spanish Inquisition Torturer (terrifyingly Torquemada, with a bit of Villiers in 28 - DECANIAN 2019/20

there too). Then there was Rachel Hellier as the gorgeous and petulant Lady Farrow, and Toby Greaves (yummy skin diseases) and Bella Stephens (nice but dim and very funny smashing timing) as Mr and Mrs Ploppy (not married - sheer coincidence – just in case you wondered… but how they did laugh… the winter evenings just fly by…).

Ethan did a stunning job: audiences just do not appreciate that good comedy is difficult, and his cast delivered a stylish piece stylishly: a great sense of timing and some delicious and detailed characterisation. A hugely popular show – not highbrow, maybe, but you have to know your history and your literature to get all the jokes fully. Great fun and frolics. The image of George Richards with two pencils stuck up his nostrils will live long in the memory. Great art in the making.

We all loved it.

LS Allington

drama

ART Three friends performed a play about three friends: the Drama Studio was home to a performance of ART by Yasmena Reza – the big 1996 West End Comedy Hit (Olivier Award – Best Comedy).

Serge (Ollie Wood) buys a painting by the famous artist Antrios for £200,000. It is white.

Entirely white. His great friend Marc (Zach Truscott) calls him out on this. Marc says it is rubbish (or words to that effect). Yvan (Evan Little), their little stationery-selling friend, is caught in the middle… And he is also having mother-in-law trouble. Disaster looms…

Having seen two of the boys perform a scene from the play in a lunchtime informal recital, the Director of Drama rashly suggested on the spot that they do the whole play. And so it came to fruition on a whim.

An incisive, bitingly witty commentary on modern art, the play is also about the nature of friendship and the tests that close friendships undergo. Director of Drama, Lloyd Allington, said, “These three young men (Ollie, Zach and Evan) are all great friends – and so to watch them spar in this intelligent comedy of manners was a delight. They pitched so much of the piece exactly right – the cadences of the climaxes and anti-climaxes, the comic one-liners, the absurd tensions, the silent subtexts (especially with the olives) – so many lovely moments for a beautifully controlled and attentive audience. The Studio is a delightful and intimate venue for this kind of chamber theatre, and the whole evening worked wonderfully. Congrats to the Three Amigos. And to all who came out on a cold February night to support. We had a full house.”

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drama

Shakespeare in Lockdown The Dean Close Drama Department undertook an enormous lockdown project, with members of the Dean Close community recording all 154 sonnets of William Shakespeare.

It is easy to forget that, apart from being the greatest dramatist who ever lived, Shakespeare was a master sonneteer, and his 154 sonnets make up the great sonnet sequence in our language.

The sonnets are almost solely on the subject of love – unrequited love, rejected love, forbidden love – in fact the first section (sonnets 1-126 – the largest sequence) are written to a “fair youth” – a boy. Most of the remainder are written to the much-debated “dark lady”. We don’t know the identity of either of these enigmatic characters, and are not even certain if they are all the same person.

Director of Drama, Lloyd Allington, said “We thought it would be fun to get lots of people involved from our community. And so, you will find readers from Fifth and Sixth Form drama sets; current actors and drama scholars from School; drama department members; members of Common Room and Senior Leadership staff; and, of course, Old Decanian actors from as far afield as the USA and Australia.

What was especially wonderful were the immediate and enthusiastic replies I got from pupils and ODs and staff alike – and many texted and emailed and called afterwards to say how much they had enjoyed the challenge and process. Especially during this awful period of Lockdown.”

This was an incredibly fun project to collate and create and gave the community a sense of togetherness, even when far apart. #DCShakespeareInLockdown

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music

MUSIC

Advent concert: A Night at the Movies

As a parent, attending a concert at Dean Close is always a privilege and a delight. I am always left in awe at the talent of the pupils and the skill of the staff who inspire and bring out the very best in our young people, encouraging them to play music which demonstrates an extraordinary level of confidence, enjoyment and musicianship.

The Advent Concert, entitled A Night at the Movies, was a musical delight from start to finish encompassing popular and familiar themes from almost 120 years of film music. The concert showcased the music of master film composers such as George Gershwin, John Williams and Ennio Morricone. The performers were suitably attired for a night of glitz and glamour in black tie and beautiful dresses and the evening was compered by Lloyd Allington, who shared his passion, interest and knowledge of stage and screen with us throughout the evening. It was heart-warming seeing his collaboration with the music department tonight.

Brass group heralded the evening aptly playing the 20th Century Fox theme, which was followed by Orchestra playing the famous flying theme from the ever-popular film “ET”. The theme of children’s films continued with Concert Band playing a medley of Pixar movie favourites and Close Harmony cheering us all with their rendition of “Happy” from “Despicable Me”. Sinfonia beautifully executed Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for strings” and Ripieno strings treated us to a medley of music from three of John William’s most famous film scores.

The soloists in this evening’s concert were excellent, delivering their performances with assurance and emotion. Chloe Dunwell gave a moving performance of the “Theme from Schindler’s List.” Beth Rogers gave a wonderful performance of the haunting melody “Gabriel’s Oboe” from Ennio Morricone’s score for “The Mission.” She showed impressive breath control. Lois Dunning beautifully captured the mood of Tango (Por Una Cabeza) by John Williams and Oscar Jack gave a playful, animated and accomplished performance of Gershwin’s Promenade (Walking the Dog). Georgie Hubbard gave a strong performance of Adele’s “Skyfall” accompanied by Jazz band, who also drew smiles as they treated us to the Pink Panther Theme.

Chamber Choir encompassed the Advent theme and put us in the mood for Christmas singing “Have yourself a Merry little Christmas” and “Winter Wonderland” and then orchestra took to the stage to close the concert with “Murder on the Orient Express Waltz”. It is always moving to see just how many pupils play in the Dean Close Orchestra and to see members of teaching staff joining to support them across the different sections.

Huge thanks must go to Ciara Allen for all her tremendous hard work in planning this concert and for conducting the magnificent orchestra. It was most certainly a night to remember.

Rachael Richardson 31 - DECANIAN 2019/20

music

Music Competitions Sadly our House Instrumental Music Competition, which included the Sherratt Prize, couldn’t take place this year due to Covid but the preliminary rounds hinted at what would have been a fantastic competition with many hotly contested rounds.

SINGING COMPETITION Once again the annual Singing Competition proved to be a closely fought event full of wonderful performances. The variety and standard of songs really impressed the adjudicator, Ms Hannah Daveys, and gave her some challenging decisions to make. All the students should be commended on their performances in what is a very exposed environment for a singer.

RESULTS

Junior Singing 1st Grace Billington 2nd Hyman Tang 3rd Cameron Stephens

Intermediate Singing 1st Tom Bowen 2nd Cassian Pichler-Roca =3rd Lucy Humphreys =3rd Beth Rogers

Senior Singing 1st Lily Talbot 2nd Alastair Klemz 3rd Ellie Pietroni

Junior Songs from the Shows 1st Connie Britton 2nd Maia Dimmer 3rd Tom Bowen

Senior Songs from the Shows 1st Lily Talbot 2nd Niamh Allen =3rd Alastair Klemz =3rd Hannah Porter

Song Recital Trophy 1st Jenny Ng 2nd Tom Richardson 3rd Beth Ellison

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The House Singing Competition however did take place on February 27th adjudicated by Hannah Davey, an experienced singer who performs regularly as a solo recitalist and in oratorio and orchestral concerts throughout the UK and Europe. She also sings with the vibrant Derek Paravicini Jazz quartet and is therefore very well placed to adjudicate the many different singing styles which were displayed in the competition. The singing at Dean Close has gone from strength to strength and it was a very close competition in all classes, especially the Senior Songs from the Shows class.

Congratulations must go to the following on winning their classes: Junior Singing: Grace Billington Intermediate Singing: Tom Bowen Senior Singing: Lily Talbot Junior Songs from the Shows: Connie Britton Senior Songs from the Shows: Lily Talbot The final class of the day was the Song Recital Trophy which involved all competitors having to perform 3 songs, including one in a foreign language. It tested not only vocal technique but musicianship and performance skills and all competitors delivered in these areas, making the final decisions difficult for the adjudicator.

Congratulations must go to all competitors but in particular Beth Ellison and Tom Richardson as runners up and Jenny Ng as overall winner.

Fridays @ 6 Having a wonderful chapel organ at our disposal, it was a delight to see it being showcased in not one but two Fridays @ 6. The first of these on Friday 4th October saw Simon Bell move from his usual position in front of the choir to the organ loft. The program included pieces by Bruhns, Widor and Leighton, which Mr Bell brought to life with great dexterity at the keyboard and a wonderful palate of timbres. It was a delight to hear the organ played like this.

The second of our organ recitals on the 7th February saw Eleanor Carter, our Organ Scholar, featured as a soloist rather than an accompanist. The confidence and control she displayed in her playing showed why Salisbury Cathedral quickly snapped her up as their organist for September 2020. We wish her every success.

The final Fridays @ 6 on March 13th was a concert of two halves: the first featured Lois Dunning preforming her A level recital program on both Violin and Voice; he second was dedicated to our woodwind players, Sebastian Till on Sax, Bethany Rogers on Oboe and Oscar Jack on Clarinet. All performances were mature and selfassured and showed some wonderful technical control, particularly Oscar’s performance of ‘Il carnevale di Venezia’ by Giampieri.

Music Scholars’ Concert & Leiths Canapes Friday 8th November The Music Scholars’ Concert this year was a really special treat, not just because of the wonderful music but also the refreshments which followed. 5th and 6th form musicians entertained with a varied program ranging from Vivaldi to Lutoslawski, covering all instrumental families: strings, woodwind, brass, keyboard and voice. All performances were controlled, self- assured and poised, which bodes well for next year as all but one of the performers will still be at the school. Following the concert, Sixth Form Leiths students waited on the audience with a wonderful array of canapes and drinks, which just seemed to keep appearing. The quality of the food and skilled way that it was both prepared and served were the perfect accompaniment to the concert and made for a truly memorable evening. The Music Department very much looks forward to more collaborations with Mrs Barrett and the Leiths students.

music

Acoustic Night Sunday 15th March

his year’s acoustic night was definitely one that will be remembered – it was the last public music performance before the school (and the rest of the country) went into lockdown. In a time when things were very unsettled, it was refreshing to have an entertaining evening with so many talented students. As has become the norm the PMH was transformed into a club- like atmosphere with sultry lighting and refreshments. The evening began with the songwriting competition, where many students laid bare their feelings in their own songs. It was adjudicated by Harry Williams, an OD who has vast experience as a performer, actor and composer. After a lot of deliberation he awarded first place to Jiyoon Lee for her jazz inspired ‘Bubble Tea’ and Freddie PhilipSorensen was runner up with his impressionistic style song titled ‘A Sunday afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte’

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This year we had 22 different performances including a staff band, which shows how this event has grown. The music ranged from Beyonce to Billie Eilish, Bruno Mars, Leonard Cohen to name a few and also included some impressive guitar solos from Finn Fleming and Adam Gower. All performances are worthy of mention and should be congratulated, so a very big well done to Matt Candy, Georgia Hubbard, Isabella Blackburne, James Candy, Nacho Eleyae, Chloe Dunwell, Bella Stephens, Ethan Bareham, Izzy Edgley, Mimi Gleeson, Tom Bradford, Hunyi Lee, Alice Deasy, Alex Yue, Hannah Porter, Grace Billington, Mobo Sotande-Peters, Alastair Klemz, Jiyoon Lee, Georgia Faux, Niamh Allen, Lucy Humphries, James Raynor, Lucy Whitaker, Ellie Carter, and Thomas Gant.

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music

RocSoc hat a triumph!

The annual RocSoc concert comprised of 18 different numbers, all with different arrangements and set ups (and hardly any technical hitches!) With the vintage style lighting and two stage design (an acoustic side and a full band side) the evening really had elements of

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the Jools Holland Show.

Just like the show, the audience was introduced to a diverse and interesting array of music, including some wonderful Cantonese and Mandarin pop songs. From Daniel Caesar to Rod Stewart, Red Hot Chili Peppers to Fleetwood Mac, it was two hours of non- stop musical entertainment. Well done to all those involved, both soloists and bands.

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SET LIST BAND MEMBERS

SONG

BAND MEMBERS

SONG

Hayun Lee: voice Jiyoon Lee: keyboard + computer Mr Rushton: bass Ben Ma: drums

ONLY WANNA GIVE IT TO YOU Elle Varner

Hayun Lee: voice Mr Rushton: electric acoustic guitar

MIXER Amber Mark (A) TIME Boy Pablo

Kevin Xie: voice + guitar Katherine Lee: voice + piano Harry Shen: drums Jacky Li: voice + guitar

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Mobo: voice Henry Moulding: voice & guitar Adam Gower: guitar Will Kennedy: drums Mr Rushton: bass

Niamh Allen: voice Lucy Humphries: voice Mr Rushton: Electric piano

STAY Rhianna

Ethan Bareham: voice Rachael Hellier: voice Barnaby Huxtable: drums Henry Cronin: bass Mr Locke: lead guitar Matt Candy: rhythm guitar

THE CHAIN Fleetwood Mac

Mobo: voice Adam Gower: guitar

JAPANESE DENIM Daniel Caesar

Louis Fleming: drums

‘SPUR OF THE MOMENT’ Dave weckl.

Tom Bradford: voice Mr Locke: guitar Mr Rushton: bass Louis Fleming: drums

Bass Guitar Ensemble: Henry Cronin, Hayun Lee, Hattie Gammon, Jacky Li, Pippa Salisbury, Mr Rushton Louis Fleming + Ubani: drums

SMOKE ON THE WATER Deep Purple

Henry Moulding: vocals & guitar Mr Ruston: bass

SOCIAL SITES Cosmo Pyke

Niamh Allen: voice Oscar Jack: piano Louis Fleming: drums Finn Fleming: guitar Mr Rushton: Bass Tom Richardson, Chloe Dunwell, Beth Rogers: strings

ROCKETMAN Elton John

UNDER THE BRIDGE Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Oli Smart: vocals Mr Rushton: bass Backing track Ubani: drums

CHANDELIER Sia

Hannah Porter: voice Suzie Carter: voice Louisa Neal: piano (electric)

CREEP Radiohead

LADY MARMALADE

Mobo: voice Oscar Jack: piano Mr Rushton: bass Louis Fleming: drums Finn Fleming: guitar Niamh Allen: oboe Tom Richardson, Chloe Dunwell, Beth Rogers: strings

HANDBAGS & THE GLADRAGS Rod Stewart

Lily Talbot: voice Georgie Hubbard: voice Issy Blackburn: voice Oscar Jack: keyboard Zach Truscott & Jamie Richardson: trumpet Freddie Philip Sorenson: tenor Mr Rushton: bass guitar Hope Morgan: acoustic bass Louis Fleming: drums

COME TOGETHER The Beatles

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music

Spring Concert

t is always a pleasure to perform at the Pittville Pump Rooms - not only is it a beautiful environment and a change from the formality of the Bacon Theatre but it has a wonderful acoustic, which particularly suited the variety of works that were on offer in this year’s Spring Concert.

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The concert was very much a concert of 2 halves, the first focusing on the school’s orchestral, solo and chamber repertoire and the second featuring the Choral Society with its extended Dean Close members of students, friends, family and teachers.

The Sinfonia provided a lively and confident opening with various movements from Warlock’s Capriol Suite, where old met new in this exciting reworking of Renaissance dance tunes. This was followed by the Sinfonia accompanying Tom Richardson and Bethany Rogers in Bach’s Concerto for Oboe and Violin. This demanding work gave little respite for the 2 solo performers, as their melodies intertwined in wonderful counterpoint capturing Bach’s vibrancy and rhythmic energy. It was a colourful and assured

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performance from both students.

Gershwin and Haydn followed with a characterful performance by Oscar Jack on clarinet in Walking the Dog and a lively Gypsy Rondo from the Junior Piano Trio (Oscar Jack, Chloe Dunwell and Jason Perry). The Chamber Choir’s beautifully blended sound was really showcased in Faure’s Cantique de Jean Racine and Lauridsen’s Sure on this Shining Night and the first half of the concert was brought to an uplifting end with the orchestra performing Richard Rodney Bennet’s wonderful cinematic scoring of the Waltz from Murder on the Orient Express.

The second half of the concert was an operatic feast of Puccini but in a liturgical piece. His Messa di Gloria foreshadows later works such as La Boheme, Tosca and Madame Butterfly but contains all the drama, turbulence, reflective calm and beautiful melodies one expects of Puccini.

This was all wonderfully executed under Simon Bell’s skilful baton. The choir was confident, the Regency Sinfonia sensitive and passionate when needed and the wonderful soloists, Tomasz Holownia (Tenor) and Nick Perfect (Bass) made the evening an indulgence of beautiful music.

music

Recitals at Chapel Arts Dean Close is privileged to have a close connection with Chapel Arts and promoting music in the wider community. This year there were 2 top class recitals. Michael Lei dazzled with a full piano recital on September 27th.

The demanding program included works by Haydn, Chopin and Granados as well as stunning renditions of Rachmaninoff’s Prelude No.5 in G minor and Paganini Jazz by Fazil Say. These pieces not only displayed Michael’s wide and varied musical tastes but his maturity and control at the piano with the whole program being delivered from memory.

The second recital in March was a varied program of ensemble and solo items. 6th formers Jenny Ng, Tom Richardson and Rachel Hellier opened the concert with an exciting

The second half of the concert was an operatic feast of Puccini but in a liturgical piece

performance of the 2nd movement of Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D minor.

This piece was full of stylish and sensitive playing and showed maturity beyond the years of the performers. Each student then went on to give commanding solo performances: Tom playing the technically demanding Bach partita No. 3 for solo violin; Rachel the bitter sweet von Paradis Sicilienne and lyrical Song without Words by Mendelsssohn, both on cello; and Jenny showing her vocal talents with Head’s Sweet Chance and Schumann’s Widmung before concluding with a rousing performance of Szymanowski Etude No.3 on piano. The packed audience were thoroughly entertained by a varied and polished concert which showcased the variety and depth of music at Dean Close.

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art

CORALS: An exhibition of contemporary sculpture by Amy Truscott (OD)

Anastasiia Tokareva

The Art Department was excited to welcome back Amy Truscott to exhibit her fabulous artwork in the BonBernard Gallery.

Amy left Dean Close in 2013 and built on her Art A level with a Foundation Diploma in Art at Stroud College and an invitation to exhibit at the Biannual Fresh Air Sculpture Show at Quenington, where she was awarded the Curator’s Award. She then completed her BA in Fine Art Sculpture at Edinburgh University’s College of Art. As a result of her final degree show, she was nominated as one of the Royal Scottish Academy’s New Young Contemporaries, exhibiting there in April 2019. In addition, she was invited to take part in the inaugural Orbit Art show of selected art graduates around the UK in OXO Tower’s Bargehouse in August 2018 as well as being invited to exhibit within Edinburgh Art Fair, 2018. Amy’s next step is to complete a 2-year Masters’ programme in glass at Edinburgh College of Art, starting in September 2019.

Amy says, “My practice is interactive, fun and escapist; my work aims to provide a route to a transient and indulgent world that has the illusion of being fragile. If people leave feeling a little lighter, a little happier, having engaged with something that is aesthetically beautiful and delicate, then my work is done.”

This is a delightful, exuberant, joyful and imaginative exhibition, which is unlike anything we have ever shown here before! Perspex, lights, foam and glitter – this exhibition has it all and was not to be missed!

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Jemima Holland

art

Louisa Neal

Olivia Nelson

Daisy Taylor

Fifth Form Art Gallery

Katie Smart

Millie Watkins

Iona Hutton

Lily Griffiths

Mirabelle Troughton 39 - DECANIAN 2019/20

art

INTERVIEW

i e f i Y

WITH AN ART SCHOLAR ... iFei Ma, Year 13, has been offered a place to study Set Design at The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, University of London, on the ‘Design for Performance’ BA course. Here she talks about her work so far and aspirations for the future:

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Over the past two years, working with the Art and Drama departments at Dean Close has ignited in me a passion for ‘designing for the performance’. I gradually built up my portfolio for university application, as well as a diary of my own artistic development.

As a future Set Designer, I find that I have a range of influences, which have come from experiences throughout my life so far, from the random scribble to sophisticated geometric architecture; from colorful children’s’ illustrations in story books to precise mathematical formulae.

During my practical investigations at A level, based on Grimm’s Fairytales, I combined mixed media to illustrate the characters in a symbolic way which inspired some unique outcomes. The set and the costumes I designed were not restricted by what people normally think of with fairytales. I tend not to stick with any preconceived plan, but allow my designs to evolve organically in response to the theme of the play. I like to work with narratives and use symbols, colours, textures and forms in an abstract and conceptual way in order to communicate the story. I find working in this manner means that I keep an open mind and that I discover many unexpected things during the research and design process. For example, when I started to design for the project ‘Society’,

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my original idea was completely different.

However, after talking to some architects about my ideas, the conversation inspired me to think about three-dimensional space and how, through design, the atmosphere and lighting can be affected and enhanced.

This then motivated me to attend a workshop to create an experimental paper model based on my understanding of the hierarchy of ancient and modern society in China. This led me to suspend three sections at different levels, with the intention of flipping the model upside down to explain the relationship between the government and citizens.

This course will prepare me for working creatively and professionally as a Set and Costume Designer. I am really lucky and thrilled to have been offered a place on this course and can’t wait to get to work and start learning! I am looking forward to developing professional skills, including model making, technical drawing with AutoCAD, costume drawing and storyboarding using Adobe Photoshop. I will have the opportunity to put these skills into practice on realised projects in Central’s professionally equipped performance spaces and am also excited for the opportunity to collaborate with other design and production courses, to develop an understanding of the specialist practitioners with whom I am likely to work in my career, such as Lighting and Sound Designers, Puppeteers, Constructors, Stage Managers and Technical Production Teams.

art

n i v a G

Gavin Lee, Year 13, has been offered a place to study a BA in Architecture, at the University of Arts London. Here he talks about his work so far and aspirations

Looking into the future, I hope to be responsible for designing buildings which people can pleasantly interact with and appreciate, thus creating a joyous interior and exterior space

As a student of Architecture my aim will be to design innovative and functional buildings for the future. The ever changing face of technology has given rise to an explosion of unique architecture around the world, which in the recent past would not have been possible. This is why it has never been a more exciting time for those who wish to study Architecture to let their creativity become a part of history.

I am interested in the complex design process, from the infrastructure to the exterior form, and the thought process necessary to bring it all to life. Every inch of a completed structure has been given scrupulous thought and consideration.

In response to the A level Art coursework title “Freedom and Limitation”, I was curious to explore the idea of the restraints and constructs of the physical space. Initially, this led me to investigate a series of contemporary artists, in particular Jaume Plensa, Anthony Gormley and Gerry Judah, who create site specific sculptures which either compliment, contrast or connect to the history of their location in thought-provoking ways. I began to appreciate how each artists’ creative use of subject matter, form, materials and space can greatly impact upon the viewer’s interpretation of a sculpture.

Focusing on sculpture to communicate my ideas enabled me not just to visualize but to explore my ideas three dimensionally, which is a key skill of an Architect. Through my experimentation, I tested various materials and techniques, resulting in a series of multi-media sculptures. This phase proved to be the most important in formulating an original response.

The final piece of my coursework aims to present the relationship between human nature and the built environment; as we shape our environment, our environment shapes us, hence, leading to

the idea of embracing the new by rebuilding and experiencing transformation, to evolve and develop into the future. The figure which hovers above the piece demonstrates how the element of home has been taken away by the volatile behaviour of humanity, but in a way, is protecting the fractured cities below. It reflects how ultimately hope prevails, which is implied through the reconstruction around the human form. Around the head, I decided to construct more contemporary designs inspired by the architect Zaha Hadid to suggest the future of modern designs. The curved shapes and the levels of the structures complement the organic forms of the body, contrasting with the regular structures below. On the outskirts of the board, I built small wooden structures made of cubes and cardboard pieces. This was inspired by blueprints and is representative of how they are the foundation of new designs.

Looking into the future, I hope to be responsible for designing buildings which people can pleasantly interact with and appreciate, thus creating a joyous interior and exterior space. I look forward to the next phase of my education and am grateful for the skills which I developed on the A level course and the confidence it has given me to think ‘outside of the box’.

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art

l e b o Is

Isobel Edgley, Year 13, talks here about how she has been able to use her study of Art at A level to communicate her passion and concern for the natural environment: “A picture paints a thousand words�. This modern idiom, thought to be linked to the writings of philosophers such as Confucius, has always resonated with me. In a world where 6,400 languages are spoken, art is one universal and inclusive language we share. Through art we can communicate messages and meaning to others. It is one of the greatest and most influential ways we can do this.

Earlier this year, Chris Smith, the former Minister for Culture and former Head of the Environment Agency, called for us to reflect on how art has an essential role to play in raising awareness of, and addressing, environmental challenges. As a young adult today, I find it deeply frustrating to watch the sporadic progress that governments make in tackling pressing environmental issues.

Similar frustrations were clearly heard earlier this year with mass protests and extinction rebellions taking place in locations globally. My view is that much more needs to be done and artists, such as Asher Jay, Mariah Reading and Alexis Rockman, are responding and inspiring me by creating art that seeks to open our hearts and minds and change behaviours.

While taking Art A level, I have been able to combine my love of the arts with my passion for the environment and fuse the two together. In doing so, I have been able to create paintings 42 - DECANIAN 2019/20

with meaningful messages in the hope of spreading the word, making people think about what we are doing and encouraging positive change.

For my coursework final piece, I created a triptych to symbolise the role of human beings in the destruction of our world as a result of global warming. I was able to achieve this through experimentation with ink, plastic and mixed media and the use of colour. I have used the motif of the human hand to symbolise the role mankind has played in the cause of climate change and the devastating effect this is having on the world. In the first panel the hands also represent childhood innocence, while in the third panel they show that it is us that will ultimately suffer if we continue to abuse the environment.

In the current world many feel as though their voice can’t be heard and that they are too small to make a difference when it comes to pressing issues such as climate change, global warming and the plastic crisis. Through art we can help make a change. Through one painting you can communicate a thousand words. This what I have tried to do.

art

In the wake of the killing of George Floyd and the resurgence of The Black Lives Matter movement, U6th pupil, Mobo Sotande-Peters, talks here about researching his cultural history and the striking and powerful artwork that he produced as an emotive expression of this learning:

Studying A level Art has enabled me to express my viewpoint as a pupil of Nigerian origin. In response to the coursework title, ‘Freedom and Limitations’, I decided to focus on the theme of slavery. Understandably, as a black student, exploration into this theme became a truly personal and reflective experience.

My research began with a visit to Badagri State Slave Museum, in Nigeria. This is where the slave trade was most dominant in the region, and this brought home the cruelty and barbaric way slaves were treated and the life they were forced to endure. Initially, investigating art work produced by numerous black artists about this topic, assisted as a starting point and helped me consider my ideas more broadly. I investigated sculptures and paintings by Kara Walker, Chris Ofili and Yinka Shonibare all of which explore black history and identity. As I strived to create a unique response I began to focus on different concepts related to slavery: family, fragmentation, travel and captivity.

Studying the contemporary artist Lionel Smit led to the creation of an emotive maquette based on the disturbing subject of lynching. Evelyn Galinski then became the inspiration for a ceramic sculpture incorporating cast figures of a male and female torso, to suggest the figurehead of a ship. My concept here was to represent the intrepid journey made by slaves across the ocean, bound by cloth, and attached to driftwood, to reflect a tattered sail and enforced slavery.

I was also fortunate to visit two other very important destinations: the Slave Coast in Ghana and the Apartheid Museum in South Africa. These trips inspired my final concept to make a ceramic

o b o M

face with African features, over one and a half metres long, which was constructed on a wooden and fabric armature, out of slabs of clay.

Analysing sculptures by Rodin, in particular ‘The Gates of Hell’, led me to model tears streaming out of hollow eyes to represent the ocean on which the slaves had journeyed. I then embedded contorted muscular figures to reflect how slaves were used for physical labour.

Fragmenting the face helped me to overcome the technical difficulty of firing my sculpture but also referenced the fragmentation of Black communities as a result of slavery. Finally, to add a more celebratory element of pride I decided to insert colourful, authentic, African fabrics in between each section of the face to unite my sculpture. As a fitting way to present my sculpture I plan to partially angle and bury it in sand and surround it by driftwood. I hope that my artwork will make people stop and reflect upon these deeply uncomfortable, historical truths and embrace the need to build a future of racial empathy and equality of treatment for all people.

Studying the contemporary artist Lionel Smit led to the creation of an emotive maquette based on the disturbing subject of lynching

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art

Nils Philip-Sorensen

Mobo Sotande-Peters

Sixth Form Art Gallery

Isobel Edgley 44 - DECANIAN 2019/20

Sam Basham

Yifei Ma

Hayun Lee

art

Laura Rodriguez Arias

Phoebe Howell

Katie Hunt Matt Wang

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art

Freud is such a famous artist and his depiction of nudes in all their shocking fleshy detail are well known. I was expecting to admire his skill and was not disappointed. His genius for capturing the human form in all its multi-layered complexity is remarkable

n the 17th November I, along with a group of other Art students from the Fifth Form and Lower Sixth, was lucky enough to have the opportunity to go on a two-day trip to London. Over the course of the two days we were to visit a series of art galleries featuring work from 14th century to the 21st century. Our first destination was the National Gallery, home to over 2,300 pieces of art. No matter how many times you see these famous works reproduced nothing compares to seeing them in reality. Having just looked at seascapes for my coursework, I was particularly interested in the original oil by Constable entitled ‘Weymouth Bay’ and Corot’s, ‘Cliff with Figures’.

O

We then had a brief walk to the Royal Academy to see exhibitions from Antony Gormley and Lucian Freud. Most people will have heard the name Antony Gormley, or at least be familiar with his sculpture, ‘Angel of the North’. The Gormley exhibition began with one very small, black, iron cast of a new-born baby, located in the centre of a vast courtyard outside the gallery.

Despite being the smallest sculpture in the collection, it is arguably the most striking and the viewer cannot help but feel an intense urge to protect and cradle it. In stark contrast to the ‘Iron Baby’, whose vulnerability is emphasised by its exposure in a large space, the sculptures inside the gallery such as ‘Clearing VII’, are oversized and appear confined.

We then moved onto the Lucian Freud exhibition. Freud is such a famous artist and his depiction of nudes in all their shocking fleshy detail are well known. I was expecting to admire his skill and was not disappointed. His genius for capturing the human form in all its multi-layered complexity is remarkable.

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We all came away from the trip with renewed enthusiasm and inspiration.

After an evening meal at ASK Italian and a night in a hotel, we spent the following morning looking around the Tate Modern, which holds an incredible collection of contemporary art. The collection has been carefully collated in order to provide a mix of pieces, some of which can be challenging and others which are very accessible. We then went to the Olafur Eliasson exhibition: In Real Life. The exhibition displays Eliasson’s interest in colour, light and shadow and the senses, providing a stimulating and engaging experience for the viewer. A certain favourite was ‘Your blind passenger’, a tunnel of fog in which the viewer is forced to depend on senses other than their vision. Other pieces in the exhibit included a kaleidoscope tunnel, a moss wall and a curtain of mist.

We all came away from the trip with renewed enthusiasm and inspiration.

CJ Evans, Director of Art.

Serendipity

art

The BonBernard Gallery was buzzing for our very own Head of Art, Caroline Evans’, exhibition ‘Serendipity’. The exhibition showcases photography, painting, video and mixed media and staff, parents, pupils and friends of Dean Close were all blown away by Caroline’s stunning pieces.

Caroline found inspiration for her works in everyday visual experiences, seeking out and extracting serendipitous and momentary phenomena most often within nature. She looks for transient designs of positive and negative space and abstracted compositions which she then captures, in the first instance, through photography. These photographs form the basis of her physical exploration of extracted shapes, patterns and textures in a range of media that she applies in an experimental and expressive manner then seeks to replicate the randomness of occurrence and sense of layering that one often experiences through nature. Through her paintings she has attempted to create a sensory experience for the viewer which aims to incorporate surface, effects of light and the passage of time.

Caroline says: “The process has taught me a lot about who I am as a teacher and an artist and how my two professional identities overlap, interconnect, inspire and support each other.”

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cookeryschool

Cookery School Last academic year, despite being shorter than expected, the cookery school was as busy as ever. We kicked off the year with a very successful Leiths canape party where the students excelled with their creativity, organisation and presentation skills, wowing the auction of promises attendees.

Later in the year the Fifth Form GCSE students undertook their 3 hour practical exam creating a 3 course Valentine’s Day inspired meal, using local and seasonal ingredients as well as demonstrating their molecular gastronomy skills.

There were some fantastic results which were enjoyed by their peers, tutors and of course the senior leadership team.

Throughout the year we also ran a hugely popular Cookery Club for the juniors focusing on developing their skills in the kitchen and

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having fun! We had a takeaway’ theme and cooked recipes from around the word including China, India, Korea and Italy.

Lockdown gave all the student throughout the foundation an opportunity to cook and compete against their peers as well as the staff in the weekly ‘Lockdown Bake Off Challenge’. I was delighted and extremely impressed to see the creativity and quality of food that was produced over this period and each week became increasingly difficult to judge! We also ran a weekly ‘University Cook Book’ course to prepare our Upper Sixth students for their next steps, and now have our very own YouTube channel!

Fifth Form GCSE work below: G Larkin-lawton, Head of Cookery

virtualprizegiving

Virtual Prizegiving

or the very first time in the history of Dean Close, we are gathering together for the end of year Assembly and Prize Giving in studies, bedrooms, kitchens and sitting rooms across the world. We have put together a combination of live presentations and video messages and whilst we don’t have the production budget of the latest Netflix drama, we hope that you will get a real sense of all that you have achieved this year.

F

This year, more than any year, the September seems a distant memory and almost like it came from another time. It was filled with some of the things that shape us as a community – lessons, buns, house socials, congo, concerts, matches, plays, quizzes, international events; the list goes on and on. These events provide the frame for the activities we take part in.

Our academic life has taken some steps forward this year. If I was to pick a theme for the year, it is that we have seen more evidence of learning taking place beyond the classroom. From our hosting of a city wide Education Question Time, engagement with the general election, our highest number of submissions for critical essays, EPQs and national essay competitions that we’ve ever seen, the brilliant science week led by Evan Little, the engagement of the Fifth Form with their A level skills sessions this term, the Upper Sixth pre-university seminars and the outstanding way in which Fourth Form, Remove and Lower Sixth have kept up their academic momentum this term. This year, our academic study has moved beyond the classroom; it has become more independent and we want to hold onto that as we move forwards.

We have shown ourselves to be a curious, resilient and adaptable community of learners.

We have enjoyed some great days out on the

sports fields this year with some record breaking achievements on the hockey pitch, indoors and out, and rugby pitch. Four teams out of four qualified for the National Indoor Hockey Finals, the U14 girls missed out on a place in the final by a single goal and the U18 boys beat the tournament favourites in the National U18 Semi Finals before being awarded the title of 2020 Joint National Champions. That on its own would be extraordinary but when you consider that in the same week, the 1st XV rugby were due to play in the Plate National Final of the Schools Rugby tournament, you begin to get a sense of just what this small school can do. With a sixth form year group containing about 100 boys in total, we regularly find ourselves matching schools several times our size and competing on more than one front.

No review of our sporting year would be complete without mentioning the superb achievements of the U15B and 2nd XV rugby teams to go undefeated for an entire season. It was a joy to watch their seasons coming to such a successful conclusion.

This year was also about seeing some fresh shoots of change – two early morning running clubs, the rebirth of a basketball club and the first booked in girls cricket fixtures – even though we couldn’t actually bowl a ball. In recent weeks, we have seen Strava cycle and running clubs and the birth of lifestyle diaries that will help us all to be a little more accountable.

One of the things that has sustained us right the way through the year – when we’ve been here and when we haven’t – has been our spiritual, creative and cultural life. Stunning productions, inspiring concerts, thought provoking chapel services, beautiful food and some extraordinary art exhibitions have added to our lives, in ways

that we may not fully appreciate. We have seen this continue in our lock down world through photography, Shakespeare sonnets, devised plays, concerts, recitals, reports of great food being cooked and some great moments on the weekly chapel podcasts and services. In the last 3 days I have listened to the Sinfonia performing the Brandenburg Concerto, the Choir singing John Rutter’s setting of a blessing, the Lower Sixth and Fourth Form Theatre Studies groups performing their own productions, members of the Remove reciting poetry. Our artistic output has been nothing like we’ve seen before.

The stand out thing for me this year has been seeing more pupils taking responsibility for leading projects: Ethan Bareham’s Blackadder, numerous chapel talks, the Field House trio’s production of Art, the phenomenal craft of the likes of Jack Coombs, Beth Ellison, Felix Nelson, Grace Greaves et al on the Bacon Stage. You have all grown through those experiences and helped us all to flourish.

My summer homework for us all is to take the time to reflect, to read, to talk about our assumptions. Is our aim just to return to normal or is there a better way of living? Are the values that have shaped my decisions still the best? Do I have fixed views about people who belong to a certain group that prevent me from seeing the person?

Everything that I have seen about you as pupils and my colleagues this year tells me that we are capable of challenging our assumptions, building relationships in a different way and flourishing in new ways. There is so much opportunity for us to grow in these disrupted times.

BJ Salisbury, Headmaster 49 - DECANIAN 2019/20

virtualprizegiving

VirtualPRIZE WINNERS SWAN SPORTS AWARD CONTRIBUTION TO SPORT (Senior Girls) Abigail Norwood | BOLTON PRIZE FOR SERVICE Adam Gower | WOODWARD PRIZE BIOLOGY (Practical) Adam Gower | WOODWARD PRIZE BUSINESS Alfie Henson | CLARKE PRIZE FOR SERVICE Alice Deasy | JOHN BAYLEY HISTORY Alice Deasy | MAJOR RICKERBY PRIZE PHYSICAL EDUCATION Alice Howitt | CHARLES & ELIZABETH PRIZE RELIGIOUS STUDIES (Improvement) Anastasiia Tokareva | FLECKER PRIZE CLASSICS Annoushka Holland | FOURTH FORM ACADEMIC EFFORT PRIZES Arya Moodley | FOURTH FORM ACADEMIC EFFORT PRIZES Ayomide Sotande-Peters | HALL EQUESTRIAN AWARDS ACHIEVEMENT IN EQUESTRIANISM Bella Stevens | SPEECH AND DRAMA Prize Ben Stafford | BAY FORD PRIZE CONTRIBUTION TO DRAMA Beth Ellison | LESLIE YOUNG PRIZE ALL ROUND ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE Beth Ellison | SERVICES TO DRAMA BACKSTAGE OR TECHNICAL SUPPORT Caitlin Mahoney | FOURTH FORM ACADEMIC EFFORT PRIZES Cassian Pichler-Roca | THE GLOSTERS’ EGYPT CUP BEST RECRUIT IN TRAINING Charlie Harris | THEATRE STUDIES PRIZE THEATRE STUDIES Daisy Mason | PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE PSYCHOLOGY Eliza Young | FLECKER PRIZE CLASSICS Emily Forge | GONNER PRIZE ENGLISH Emily Forge | NAPIER PRIZE ACADEMIC RESEARCH Emily Smith | HM PRIZE LEADERSHIP IN HOUSE Emma Davis | EXCELLENCE IN SPORT OUTSTANDING SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR Estella Depierre | BACON PRIZE CHEMISTRY (PRACTICAL) Evan Little | CLAY PRIZE PHYSICS Evan Little | FLECKER PRIZE FURTHER MATHS Evan Little | MAJOR GOLDER PRIZE FOR SERVICE TO CCF Evan Little | GONNER PRIZE ENGLISH Felix Nelson | HM PRIZE LEADERSHIP IN HOUSE Fergus Holland | ABBEYDALE TRUST PRIZE ENGINEERING AT UNIVERSITY OR PRACTICAL CONTRIBUTION Fergus Large | DOUGLAS GRAHAM PRIZE Fernami Wright | GILKES PRIZE (INTERNATIONAL) Feyi Michael-Idowu | FOURTH FORM ACADEMIC EFFORT PRIZES Ffion Hillman | MAJOR RICKERBY PRIZE DESIGN TECHNOLOGY Fiona Ma | HM PRIZE LEADERSHIP IN HOUSE Freddie Shepherd | TURNER PRIZE CONTRIBUTION TO SCHOOL LIFE (ALL ROUND) Freddie Thomas | FORBES SPORTS AWARD CONTRIBUTION TO SPORT (JUNIOR BOYS) Frederick PhilipSorensen | FOURTH FORM ACADEMIC EFFORT PRIZES Gabriella Rogers | HM PRIZE LEADERSHIP IN HOUSE George Harris | Lt. COL DENLEY ENDEAVOUR SWORD ENDEAVOUR Georgia Faux | WOODWARD PRIZE BIOLOGY Georgie Powell | TURNER PRIZE CONTRIBUTION TO SCHOOL LIFE (ALL ROUND) Hayley Collenette | ELDER PRIZE Hayun Lee | EMILY KENT CUP LIGHT MUSIC Hayun Lee | GRIFFITHS & WALLER PRIZE FRENCH Helena Montgomery | TURNER PRIZE CONTRIBUTION TO SCHOOL LIFE (ALL ROUND) Hope Morgan | DAVID LEPINE PRIZE ORCHESTRA Hunyi Lee | WOODWARD PRIZE BIOLOGY Hunyi Lee | BURRETT PRIZE GEOGRAPHY Imogen Sneath | LEITHS PRIZE LEITHS COURSE Imogen Sneath | MAJOR RICKERBY PRIZE PHYSICAL EDUCATION Isabel Viant | JOYCE OWERS PRIZE FOR COMMITMENT TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY Izzy Edgeley | HM PRIZE LEADERSHIP IN HOUSE Izzy Turner | BAY FORD PRIZE DRAMA (SENIOR) Jack Coombs | FLECKER PRIZE RELIGIOUS STUDIES Jack Coombs | ARMY LEADERSHIP PRIZE LEADERSHIP OF THE CCF ARMY CORPS Jack Tolchard | EXCELLENCE IN SPORT OUTSTANDING SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR Jacob Payton | Fourth Form Academic Effort Prizes Jacob Smith | HM PRIZE LEADERSHIP IN HOUSE James Humphreys | CLAY PRIZE PHYSICS Jed Nelson | COMPUTER SCIENCE PRIZE COMPUTER SCIENCE Jed Nelson | FLECKER PRIZE RELIGIOUS STUDIES Jemima Holland | JOHN BAYLEY HISTORY Jemima Holland | BACON PRIZE CHEMISTRY Ji Yoon Lee | DAVID LEPINE PRIZE ACADEMIC MUSIC Ji Yoon Lee | FLECKER PRIZE MATHS Ji Yoon Lee | TURNER PRIZE CONTRIBUTION TO SCHOOL LIFE (ALL ROUND) Katie Hunt | BURRETT PRIZE GEOGRAPHY Katie Smart | COLIN COCKS PRIZE CONTRIBUTION TO SCHOOL LIFE Kevin Xie | HM PRIZE LEADERSHIP IN HOUSE Laura Rodriguez | CLARKE CUP FOR SERVICE Liam McKinnes | SWAN SPORTS AWARD CONTRIBUTION TO SPORT (SENIOR BOYS) Liam McKinnes | KING REYNOLDS PRIZE DRAMA (JUNIOR) Lily Griffiths | FOURTH FORM ACADEMIC EFFORT PRIZES Livvy Mason | DAVID LEPINE PRIZE ACADEMIC MUSIC Lois Dunning | DAVID WATSON PRIZE CHOIR Lois Dunning | MAJOR RICKERBY PRIZE ART (3D) Louisa Neal | FOOD PREP & NUTRITION PRIZE FOOD Lucy Brookes | HM PRIZE LEADERSHIP IN HOUSE Matty Jones | FOURTH FORM ACADEMIC EFFORT PRIZES Michael Lei | WOODWARD PRIZE BUSINESS Millie Watkins | MAJOR RICKERBY PRIZE ART (2D) Mirabelle Troughton | TURNER PRIZE CONTRIBUTION TO SCHOOL LIFE (ALL ROUND) Mobo Sotande-Peters | FOURTH FORM ACADEMIC EFFORT PRIZES Nell Currie | MAJOR RICKERBY PRIZE DESIGN TECHNOLOGY Nicholas Schubach | WOODWARD PRIZE 1 ECONOMICS Nicholas Schubach | MAJOR RICKERBY PRIZE ART SENIOR Nils Philip-Sorensen | CHRISTOPHER EDWARDS CUP CONTRIBUTION TO MUSIC Nina Counsell | LORD RIBEIRO PRIZE FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES MEDICINE Nina Counsell | HALL EQUESTRIAN AWARDS SERVICE TO DCS EQUESTRIANISM Oliver Dodman | COMPUTER SCIENCE PRIZE COMPUTER SCIENCE Oliver Wood | DAVID LEPINE PRIZE COMPOSITION Oscar Jack | GRIFFITHS & WALLER PRIZE SPANISH Oscar Jack | NAPIER PRIZE ENDEAVOUR IN THE CLASSROOM Phoebe Howell | GRIFFITHS & WALLER PRIZE SPANISH Sam Burgess | TURNER PRIZE CONTRIBUTION TO SCHOOL LIFE (ALL ROUND) Sam Porter | NAPIER PRIZE ENDEAVOUR IN THE CLASSROOM Seb Sword | FLECKER PRIZE MATHS Sumire Kaimori | BELLERBY AWARD ALL ROUND ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE Susie Hicks Beach | GRIFFITHS & WALLER PRIZE FRENCH Susie Hicks Beach | ALFRED ROBERTS PRIZE ALL ROUND ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE Susie Main | JOYCE OWERS CUP FOR SERVICE TO THE WIDER COMMUNITY Susie Main | SIR CHARLES IRVING CUP POLITICS Susie Main | FORBES SPORTS AWARD CONTRIBUTION TO SPORT (JUNIOR GIRLS) Suzie Carter | BACON PRIZE CHEMISTRY Tara Cho | MASSART-WEIT PRIZE CONTRIBUTION TO EUROPEAN STUDIES Tasha Foster | WOODWARD PRIZE 2 ECONOMICS Vaisey Yang | FOURTH FORM ACADEMIC EFFORT PRIZES Venisha Nembang | HM PRIZE LEADERSHIP IN HOUSE Verity Edwards | CLAY PRIZE PHYSICS (PRACTICAL) Zac Truscott | SERVICES TO MUSIC SERVICE OVER SCHOOL CAREER Zachariah Truscott

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visitorsandspeakers

Visitors and Speakers

DR CHADDEN HUNTER LECTURE Pupils and staff filled the Bacon Theatre in the Lent Term excited to welcome Producer and Director, Dr Chadden Hunter, for a Whole School Lecture.

Kevin Pietersen Dean Close cricketers were bowled over as former England cricketer, Kevin Pietersen, joined them for a coaching session.

Dean Close School is one of only five new KP Academy centres throughout the UK, which Kevin will visit for coaching sessions four times a year. Kevin gave one to one coaching to the pupils, inspecting their batting and bowling techniques, answering any questions and offering tips and encouragement.

At the end of the session Kevin stayed for a Q&A answering any of the pupils’ (and staff’s!) burning questions, signed autographs and took plenty of selfies!

Director of Cricket, Mike Powell, said, “Kevin gave the cricketers a really honest and open insight into what training is like at the highest level.

What an amazing opportunity for our pupils to learn from one of the game’s greats.”

Chadden grew up surrounded by incredible nature in Cairns, Australia.

Curious from a young age about all things wildlife, especially creepy crawlies, he spent much of his childhood chasing bugs and spiders. Aged seven, he watched ‘Life on Earth’ on television, the first program of its kind that truly opened up our planet’s hidden gems to the wider world.

Captivated, Chadden decided that he wanted to make nature a career.

Some years later in Ethiopia during his PhD – which studied Gelada Baboons, Chadden realised that studying these animals was doing very little to protect them. Local farmers wanted to cull the baboons as they were seen as vermin within the community, unaware that the Gelada were actually endangered. Chadden got himself a spot on a chat show, to tell as large an audience as he could about the Gelada. The response from the people of Ethiopia was astounding. He realised then that film was how he should spread the word about our world’s magnificent creatures and habitats.

Since then, Chadden has worked on some of the best-known Natural History series of recent times, including Wild Arabia, Planet Earth, Frozen Planet, and Seven Worlds and One Planet. During the talk, he shared stunning images and never-before-seen footage, explaining lessons in creative thinking, problem-solving and working in a team as well as inspiring yet cautionary examples of the fragility of the natural world.

Chadden revealed the huge challenges of making these spectacular series, which combine detailed planning, technical excellence, personal risk and a lot of patience. He is very aware that he and his team often tread the line between conservation and entertainment; that connection and travel are both damaging the environment yet integral to its conservation and progress. He left pupils with the message, ‘What can you do to protect tomorrow’s world?’

Chadden stayed behind to chat to pupils and to answer any questions.

Eye-opening and inspiring, it was a pleasure to have Dr Hunter as the first Whole School lecture of the year.

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Academic highlights

Classics A Year in the life of the Classics Department CHELTENHAM LITERATURE FESTIVAL Autumn is here and with it one of the best things about living in Cheltenham: the Literature Festival. The Classics Department has been royally entertained over the last few days: Tom Holland on his new book, Dominion, which places Christianity at the very centre of the philosophical and ethical make-up of Western civilisation and beyond, and Oxford Classics professor, Armand d’Angour, on Socrates and the Platonic dialogue, the Symposium. Mary Beard and Llewelyn Morgan continued their series How To Read A Latin Poem (this may well be their tenth year) with a wonderfully entertaining exploration of the Epicurean world of the Roman poet, Lucretius. The interplay of two brilliant academics, who at times expressed diametrically opposed views about the “entertainment value” of reading Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura, delighted and informed the audience in equal measure.

ROMAN VILLA TRIP Fifth Form Latinists enjoyed a day trip to the best preserved Roman villa in the country at Chedworth and a visit to the most impressive Roman baths complex in Northern Europe at Bath. All of the students will be studying the Roman occupation of Britain as part of their Latin GCSE.

CLASSICAL ASSOCIATION: DR EDWARD BISPHAM

DR PATRICK FINGLASS BRISTOL UNIVERSITY Keeping it in the family: Tragic killings in Sophocles and Euripides.

Dr Finglass entertained a large number of students and their teachers with a highly erudite talk on Euripides’ Medea and Bacchae as well as Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. Dr Finglass revealed himself to be a superb communicator whose ability to leap from one text to another in the blink of an eye was impressive. The deaths of Jason’s children, the mutilation of Pentheus at the hands of his own mother and the self-blinding of Oedipus were recalled in all of their horror, reminding the audience of the power of Greek Tragedy to shock and to disturb.

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Thursday evening saw students and staff from Dean Close, Monmouth, King’s Gloucester, Malvern and Cheltenham Ladies gather to listen to Oxford University’s erudite Roman History scholar, Dr Edward Bispham, from Brasenose College. The specific topic was Cicero’s Philippic 2, an A Level set text, but Dr Bispham gave a superb and comprehensive historical context to all of the Philippics. These speeches delivered, or composed and circulated, by the Roman statesman and orator Cicero, were always, Dr Bispham argued, overshadowed by the cataclysmic assassination of the Dictator Julius Caesar, as Cicero found himself beset by the machinations of Antony and Octavian to assume his mantle. Although both tried hard to avoid the accusation from staunch Republicans like Cicero of aiming for sole power themselves, Cicero sided with Octavian and became increasingly vitriolic against Antony. Dr Bispham painted a clear picture of the misjudgements of Antony and Cicero, both of whom underestimated the young Octavian. Was Cicero caught between, on the one hand, the desire to present himself as the staunch Republican he mostly was, yet, on the other hand, the desire to be the saviour of Rome, prepared to be as bloodthirsty as he was as Consul 20 years earlier, when countering with illegal executions the Catilinarian conspiracy? It was refreshing to listen to an academic, who is passionate about his subject and grateful to leave behind him the administrative responsibilities of his position in Oxford to stimulate the thinking of A Level Latin students and their teachers on a subject dear to his heart.

academichighlights

THE CAMBRIDGE GREEK PLAY The Classics department enjoyed a day trip to Cambridge to watch a performance, entirely delivered in ancient greek, of sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonos. The play which focuses on the end of Oedipus’ tragic life was written shortly before Sophocles’s own death in 406 BC and produced by his grandson (also called Sophocles) at the Festival of Dionysus in 401 BC. In many ways it can be seen as a heroic narrative since the Oedipus the audience sees at the end of the drama is so mighty that his aid is sought by both the cities of Thebes and Athens. This was a powerful interpretation with some fine performances: Creon was suitably unctuous and self-serving whilst the anger of Oedipus at the latter’s duplicity and the curse he proceeds to lay upon his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, were respectively uncontainable and chilling.

DR PAUL MARTIN UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL Humour in Aristophanes.

CLASSICAL ASSOCIATION: PROFESSOR PHILIP HARDIE ON THE AENEID Professor Philip Hardie, the senior research fellow and honorary professor of Latin at Trinity College, Cambridge, braved an unseasonably cold November evening to address the Classical Association. Professor Hardie has written extensively on Virgil – in fact, both of my colleagues reminisced on their days as undergraduates and their regular forays into his study of the Aeneid, Cosmos and Imperium. He has a particular interest in the reception of Latin literature and he has explored the afterlife of Virgil’s great poem in The Last Trojan Hero. However, Professor Hardie turned his attention towards the A level verse set text , Book 11 of the Aeneid, arguably the book with which most modern readers are least familiar but which contains some of the most poignant scenes in the poem as well as the one of the most intriguing of Virgil’s creations, the warrior maiden Camilla. The funeral of Pallas, the great Latin war council, Turnus’ plan to ambush Aeneas and the aristeia and death of Camilla make up four crucial days in Aeneas’ struggle against Turnus.

Professor Hardie focused on the first half of the book and, in particular, the theme of mors immatura, to which Virgil returns again and again in his poem and which receives its fullest treatment in the death of Pallas.

Dr Martin gave an enjoyable talk on Aristophanic humour by focusing on what he described as laughter in the Underworld, in particular the katabasis of Dionysus and his slave, Xanthias, in order to bring back to Athens the dead poet Euripides.

TRIP TO THE BRITISH MUSEUM: TROY, MYTH AND REALITY A group of Sixth Form and Fifth Form Classicists visited the British Museum on Wednesday for its blockbuster Troy, Myth and Reality exhibition. A range of exhibits, both ancient and modern, illustrated one of the western world’s most enduring of all legends, the Trojan War. The students, most of whom are studying Homer and Greek Art, enjoyed the plethora of vase paintings, sculptures and mosaics that together told the tragic story of a city plunged into fighting a ten year war. The exhibition also explored the continuing fascination of artists with Troy’s tragedy along with the heroes whose names are synonymous with the conflict, from the great Achilles to the arch-schemer, Odysseus.

English Duchess of Malfi On a beautifully sunny January day, Dean Close’s Lower 6th English Literature students travelled to London to watch John Webster’s ‘Duchess of Malfi’ at the Almeida Theatre, a performance directed by Rebecca Frecknall. Mrs Gillett’s eager anticipation of the performance was infectious upon their arrival to the theatre, both students and teachers alike were excited to watch the drama unfold.

Needless to say, we were not disappointed! The use of a moveable glass cage at centre stage provided another dimension by which to observe the Duchess’ entrapment.

This minimalist approach to the play, in contrast to the typically decadent setting, enabled the audience to focus on the dialogue and characterisation.

During the interval, the students discussed this bold and somewhat modern interpretation, while voicing their opinions on the characters. As we settled into the second half, there were many audible gasps as Antonio’s corpse, drenched in blood, appeared in the Duchess’ torture chamber. The plot accelerated in pace and continued to darken; the corruption of the Italian Court seemed to envelope every audience member. A final battle in the last scene between Ferdinand, the Cardinal and Bosola was performed in slow motion, drawing out the bloody and wretched ending of such a tragic play.

On the journey home, we digested and processed the events of the day with much satisfaction. It is safe to say that seeing such an excellent performance was a source of much inspiration, as we immersed ourselves in studying the Duchess of Malfi throughout the following term.

Lockdown Poetry "I asked the class to write a poem about lockdown using some ideas from the poet Kate Clanchy - Angus' poem really seemed to encapsulate that strange time particularly beautifully." Emma Gillett, Head of English

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Geography GEOGRAPHY TRIP TO THE JURASSIC COAST n 6th October, 47 Remove geographers set off to the stunning Jurassic coastline of Studland and Old Harry Rocks, to carry out primary data collection along the fascinating coastline. Sunday afternoon started with a gentle stroll on Studland Beach, which is a National Nature Reserve and an SSSI; pupils were collecting data to see how the large volumes of tourists are managed on this long stretch of stunning coastline. The group

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ventured out to Old Harry Rocks; pupils were excited to see these famous natural chalk stacks and stumps, having studied them in the classroom. The geographers then headed to their accommodation for the evening – Swanage YHA. The rooms and food were excellent, followed by a post-supper classroom session to run through the data collection methods for Monday.

Monday morning arrived and after a superb cooked breakfast, Dean Close hit Swanage beach and started measuring groynes to see if the process of Longshore-drift was active along the coast of the bay. The pupils also practised several other primary data collection techniques, heading back along the beach to carry out a landuse survey in Swanage town, with a little free time to sample the delicious pasties. After taking some artistic photos on the front, the group walked up the steep slopes back to the YHA and settled back in to the classroom to consolidate their findings.

Head of Geography, Claire Bourne, said, “It was fantastic to see our Removes out in the sunshine, experiencing some awesome coastal features first hand. I was very proud of their team work when collecting data on the Monday. ”

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It was fantastic to see our Removes out in the sunshine, experiencing some awesome coastal features first hand. I was very proud of their team work when collecting data on the Monday

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HISTORY his has been another busy and exciting year in the History and Politics Department, and pupils have had a number of opportunities to range beyond the curriculum. The highlight of the year for many will have been the Berlin trip. The trip consisted of an extremely packed programme including visits to: Sachenshausen Concentration Camp; the Topography of Terror; Checkpoint Charlie; the Berlin Wall memorial; the DDR museum; the Palace of Tears; the Reichstag and the Europa EU experience. To add to the experience, the group travelled around Berlin, taking in some of its major sights, including the Brandenburg Gate and the Holocaust Memorial.

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It was a truly memorable experience, made even more special as the visit coincided with the celebrations for the 30th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down in 1989 – plans for our next residential trip in 2021, to Krakow, are already afoot! We also continued with our usual range of extra-curricular activities, with the annual U6th excursion to the Imperial War Museum’s Holocaust exhibition and the Tower of London, and the L6th tour of Gloucester Cathedral. As part of a programme of events to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau the department invited pupils to watch a webinar from Susan Pollack MBE, a Holocaust survivor, who told her harrowing story to the Holocaust Educational Trust – an extremely moving and powerful event, and Mrs McShane ran a seminar further exploring the development and commemoration of the Holocaust.

This has been another packed year for our Politics pupils, opening with our annual trip to Parliament which was swiftly followed by the calling of the 2019 election. Mr Milne put on a series of events to run alongside the election, with a number of candidates coming in to school to discuss their policies and positions with pupils and staff, and the running of a fiercely contested school mock election. This

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year also saw the 70th anniversary of the formation of NATO, and some of our U6th pupils were lucky enough to be invited to the NATO engages event run by Kings College, London, held the day before the NATO summit. The event consisted of a series of lectures, round table discussions and interviews with high profile speakers, including former Secretary Generals, leading academics and serving Prime Ministers (Justin Trudeau was a particular favourite of our students).

The itinerary was varied and challenging, taking in a diverse range of topics including reconsidering NATO’s role, how to respond to emerging geopolitical challenges, and how to deal with new forms of hybrid warfare. Pupils across the department have continued to challenge themselves academically through entering various extra-curricular essay competitions, tackling challenging subjects such as whether there ought to be limits to free speech, the persuasiveness of the Sonderweg theory of German history, and whether the rhetoric of subordination was matched in the reality of the lives of Tudor women. It has been great to see our pupils so committed to their learning and keen to enrich themselves academically whenever possible.

As the country went into lockdown on March 20th, it was tough to see our Upper Sixth pupils’ schooling end so abruptly.

While complete cancellation of exams may well have played part to many fantasies, the reality for pupils seemed painfully clear - there would be no expected rites of passage, no celebration of making it through, no clear sense of what their hard work had earned, but only looming uncertainty as to how this important transition would now look and feel. To fill this gap, at least in some way, Dean Close teachers, Old Decanians, and evergenerous members of our school community, came together to provide a programme of online seminars and events to help prepare our newest alumni for a future as full of promise as ever.

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UPPER SIXTH: PREPARING FOR LIFE BEYOND SCHOOL DURING LOCKDOWN “online seminars and events to help prepare our newest alumni for a future as full of promise as ever”

The programme had a broad range with fiftyeight events on offer. University style lectures and seminars provided a taste of the different style and depth of learning pupils would soon encounter. Groups confronted the impact of socioeconomic status on health and life expectancy with Mrs Harbit, navigated contemporary Brazilian politics with Mr Sumner, were challenged with the moral side of murder

by Mr Poxon, probed the philosophy of equality with Mr Salisbury, debated the argument for unfettered capitalism with Mr Hardaker, examined elite sport’s ‘natural’ and ‘artificial’ dichotomies with Ms Donaldson, investigated the changing nature of UK media exports with Mr Pitt, and wrestled with free will and determinism with Mr Mochan.

Mr Allen introduced attendees to the neoclassical art of Jacques Louis David, Mrs Ledlie to Philip Larkin’s The Whitsun Weddings, Mr Hole to William Blake’s Innocence and Experience, and Mr Evans to Guy Kawasaki’s influential talk ‘The Art of Innovation’. Ms Condie provided medical training on ECGs and patient consultation, Mr Slade workshopped editing university assignments, Mr Harvey led a whistlestop tour of the City and trading, and Dr Roome lectured on perhaps the answer to all our problems ... and our demise: nanotechnology.

And it did not stop there: Mr George and Mr Sayers discussed advanced mathematics, Mrs Feltham ... UK politics; Mr Wilkes ... genetics; and Mr Needs and Mr Chapman ... chemistry and science-based writing, among many others.

Focusing on student and young professional life, webinars were hosted by representatives from the University of Birmingham and Royal

Holloway, by Mrs Milne, and by Mr Slade, guiding pupils on how to stay safe, physically and mentally, to survive and thrive. Henry Hodgkins, Dean Close council member, Old Decanian parent, and experienced financial planner with Oculus Wealth Management, helped our school-leavers understand the essentials of personal finance, while Charlotte Ivers, former Head of School and political correspondent with talkRADIO, shared an insider’s view of contemporary politics and participation. Career focus sessions, offering firsthand experience of a range of popular industries, were graciously led by alumni Lucy Eden, Joy Timmer, and Max Wellstead (Business & Management), Fay Jaffar and Dominic McClaren (Threat Prevention & Data Security), and Michael Chung (Engineering).

Headlining all of this, we also welcomed virtual visiting speakers spotlighting the power of resilience, creativity and self-awareness. Author and speaker, Emma Rosen, shared how she solved her early career confusions, by trying 25 jobs in the year before her 25th birthday, revealing how young people can navigate the challenges of 21st century fulfilment.

Dr Hazel Gowland, allergy expert, advocate and campaigner of Allergy Action, highlighted the science and the social consequences of food allergens and their relevance to us all. Patrick Foster of Epic Risk Management, in one of the most memorable and sobering presentations many of us had yet seen, spoke on the dangers of gambling, drawing candidly from how his own life was torn to shreds by his pathological gambling addiction. And Laura and James Mears of Salmon Swimming

(salmonswimming.com) delivered a bespoke and extended personality and leadership course on ‘the 5 Gears’, equipping participants to understand themselves and others better to become a leader worth following, which garnered both great attendance and excellent feedback.

Finally, topping all of this off, and ensuring our departing pupils would continue to be well fed, Mrs Larkin-Lawton of Dean Close’s Cookery School published a steady stream of how-to videos as well as the digital Dean Close University Cookbook. From staples such as lasagne, mac n cheese, and toad in the hole, to sweet treats such as strawberry mascarpone tarts, these accessible culinary guides, made easy to find on YouTube, should prove invaluable to student budgets and flat-share dinner parties for years to come.

Despite the challenges and confusion of the time, it was wonderful to see how the programme came together, born from the goodwill, expertise and love of learning in our educational community. Over two thirds of the year group signed up to its sessions, and having heard from pupils, parents, and the seminar leaders themselves, on the value taken, its success was immensely gratifying. The school is truly indebted to all those who gave up their time to lead or take part and we extend our sincere thanks to all involved. Though much was lost in these months, the experience illustrated that breaking away from the rigid examined curriculum is no bad thing and reminded us that there is so much out there with which to learn and engage - preparation for us all.

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A year in the Modern Languages Department / un año en el departamento de lenguas modernas / une année dans le département de langues vivantes / ein Jahr in der Abteilung Fremdsprachen

Fifth Form and Lower Sixth Linguists at the University of Bath

September / septiembre / septembre / September French Film Evening – ‘Le Petit Nicolas’ We welcomed linguists from Dean Close and from Dean Close Preparatory to the Bacon Theatre for this heart-warming tale based on a series of children’s books.

I thought Le Petit Nicolas was a humbling and humorous take on the life of a young boy living a stereotypically cliché life in a sweet town in France with his eccentric parents, in the early 1960s. It captures the challenges and frustration of a young boy during childhood, but with an ironic take on adult humour which is highly entertaining. It is strangely relatable, as Nicolas narrates school and home struggles that are understandable and touching. He has an endearing group of friends who ‘help’ him to cook up plans as revenge on his parents after finding out that his mother is pregnant! It is a naturalistic comedy full of laughable and ludicrous scenarios. I would highly recommend to all. (Review by Iris Gray, Fourth Form).

October / octubre / october / Oktober Spanish Film Evening – ‘Dolor y gloria’ We travelled to Tewkesbury to see Almodóvar’s latest blockbuster, the semi-autobiographical story of a film director reminiscing about his youth as his career and health slip away from him. For some, it was their first time seeing a foreign film on the big screen and it proved a great escape from the tough Michaelmas term!

Collaborative work online conjugating verbs on TikTok

turbulent history and how contemporary issues in Spain, such as the Catalan independence movement, have parallels in the past.

MFL Society – University of Warwick The MFL society were delighted to welcome visitors from the University of Warwick for two workshops. Using extracts from the set A Level film La Haine among others, Dr Mary Harrod discussed the negative representation of the banlieue, deprived city estates in France, in contemporary French cinema. Meanwhile, Dr Fabio Camilletti introduced students to literary and cinematic representations of 1960s Italy.

Focussing on the bombing of Piazza Fontana, he looked at the ideas of split historical memory, and Italy’s position at the border between East and West during the Cold War.

November / noviembre / novembre / November Modern Languages Debates Seven of our best linguists stretched their linguistic muscles at the Modern Languages Debates at Cheltenham College, debating against seven other schools in French or Spanish motions that ranged from the topical, such as “Police violence can never be justified”, to the bizarre, such as “It is better to be a bee than a panda?” The competition was fierce and participants spoke fantastically. Our L6th French team of Evie Sharp and Ethan Bareham made it through to the semi-finals and were narrowly beaten when debating the morality of Father Christmas.

Cheltenham Literature Festival ‘Spain and the Art of War’ A Level Spanish students attended a Cheltenham Literature Festival talk with historian Jason Webster on his new book Violencia. We spent a fascinating hour listening to how Spanish art is inescapably intertwined with the country’s 58 - DECANIAN 2019/20

‘Spotlight on Languages’ at University of Bath Students attended various workshops as part of Bath University’s ‘Spotlight on Languages’, including talks on French, Spanish and German culture, and taster sessions in new languages

such as Italian, Russian and Mandarin, before exploring campus with student ambassadors.

This was many students’ first visit to a university campus, and it was great for them to have a taste of what studying languages beyond school can be like. It was also exciting to meet up with Old Decanians who studied A Level Spanish.

Juvenes Translatores EU Translation Competition Five linguists took part in the prestigious Juvenes Translatores competition, translating texts from French and Spanish into English, alongside over 3,500 competitors across the European Union. It was tough work to spend two hours translating tricky texts with only the aid of a paper dictionary, but our students were up to the challenge and produced some excellent work.

Lancaster University Modern Languages Competition Our Sixth Form linguists were challenged to explore the statement ‘Learn Languages, Build Bridges’. Evie Sharpe’s French essay explored how languages build bridges at the personal, community, and global level and she was highly commended by the university for her convincing argument.

February / febrero / février / Februar French Film Review Sydney Davies started exploring the Flecker Library’s collection of foreign films and enjoyed Les innocentes.

Les innocentes is a masterful look at how our experiences shape and change us. The message of hope in a time of despair is a powerful one.

Anne Fontaine’s film observes the crisis of faith that emerges when a house of God is ravaged by war, with the nuns’ continued faith in God

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At Business Language Champions students listening to keynote speaker from Levi’s

Business Language Champions the winning design of sustainable jeans, marketed in Spanish and German

Lower Sixth Hispanists in Oxford for the Spanish & Portuguese Open Day Anastasiia Tokareva’s depiction of quarantine in French

Upper Sixth Hispanists out for tapas before our trip to see La casa de Bernarda Alba in Birmingham

despite the atrocity they have faced being potentially perplexing to audience members.

The film’s setting is deliberately drab, mainly set in icy blue and white colours which creates an incredibly tense atmosphere within the convent.

Furthermore, the silence that attends the beginning of the film is truly haunting. Les innocentes may be quite a harrowing experience but the subtle, sensitive storytelling and fantastic performances ensure that it is worth the watch. (Review by Sydney Davies).

French Film Evening – ‘Suzanne’ Linguists packed into the new Mead Common Room for an evening watching this coming-ofage film, the moving journey of a young woman called Suzanne.

UK Linguistics Olympiad This year’s UK Linguistics Olympiad saw students explore data sheets in a range of languages they had never met (or even heard of) before. Our Sixth Formers tackled puzzles on the Idalion tablet, Yukaghir, Iñapari, and Papiamentu, a Portuguese creole. The brave Removes to enter at Intermediate Level – Jamie Treatman-Clark, Ella Woodward and Cherissa Samoutou - were particularly adept at working out vowel sounds in the Ligurian dialect of Italian, receiving a Bronze Award for their efforts.

European Business Challenge Twelve Remove students travelled to Hall Green School in Birmingham to take part in the Flair for International Fashion Challenge. The aim was to give students a taste of what it is like to market and sell goods overseas in a different language, developing their communication, presentation and marketing skills.

The students were challenged to design a new style of jeans and market it across Europe. There was a keynote talk from a marketing expert from Levi’s, before the students got cracking. After a long day’s work, we were delighted that the winning team contained two of our students – Archie Shanahan and Holly Stewart-Davis – who designed a pair of sustainable jeans and marketed them in Spanish and German.

March / marzo / mars / März

Theatre Trip – ‘La casa de Bernarda Alba’ We were fortunate to see a rare Spanishlanguage production of our set A Level text La casa de Bernarda Alba at Birmingham’s Crescent Theatre. Before the production, students enjoyed sampling traditional tapas in a nearby Spanish restaurant and chatting in Spanish with the chef and waiters! Students got to understand the visual impact of Lorca’s play and to consider its themes of repression, passion, and conformity in rural Andalucía.

Spanish Film Evening – ‘El bola’ Linguists from a range of year groups packed in for this harrowing watch, with collective gasps and grimaces throughout. El bola (‘Pellet’) tells the story of a boy stuck in a deeply abusive home ruled by his tyrannical father who finds friendship and support from his classmate, Alfredo. Though not the easiest watch, it was great to spend time watching some of the best Hispanic cinema of recent years.

May / mayo / mai / Mai MFL moves online As we moved to distance learning, we were impressed by our students’ collaboration and creativity with their language learning. Our Fifth Form linguists replaced revision for GCSE exams with descriptions of their lockdown routine, while our U6 kept abreast of current affairs with the help of the conversation assistants.

Oxford University Spanish & Portuguese Open Day Four of our Lower Sixth linguists travelled to Oxford for a day at Exeter College hearing about the courses offered at Oxford, alongside exploration of the city in glorious spring sunshine.

World Languages Day at Holy Apostles Nine of our Lower Sixth linguists delivered assemblies at Holy Apostles Primary School in Cheltenham as part of World Languages Day. The French assembly was well delivered, fun and punchy, whilst our Hispanists were described as ‘natural teachers’. It was wonderful for our students to inspire the next generation of linguists!

Old Decanians at the Univeristy of Bath from last year’s A Level Spanish cohort

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RELIGIOUS STUDIES The Department of Religion, Philosophy and Ethics had another year of firsts with the results coming through for our initial Full Course GCSE cohort in August 2019. We were thrilled to find that 46% of pupils had attained an 8 or a 9 and that all pupils had achieved a grade of 4 or above. The A Level results were equally pleasing with 80% of the group attaining a Grade A. The new 7-8 Syllabus created in conjunction with the Prep School has now run for a year and the feedback is very positive.

In February 2020, Mr Poxon and 11 students from across Fourth Form to Upper Sixth entered the SW Philosothon for the first time, held at King’s, Taunton. Students from eight schools were divided into various groups, to discuss such topics as moral luck to the unethical use of data, with contributions judged by an academic observer for their philosophical coherence. From feedback from the participants, there is a clear desire to enter again, and the discussions with other students on the evening, which continued outside the groups, were academically stimulating and socially enriching.

The A Level students were taken to Bristol to see Dr Peter Vardy on what is now an annual pilgrimage. He lectured on the theme of Revelation as well as looking at improving exam technique and the use of scholars in academic writing.

DCC Mochan Head of Religion, Philosophy and Ethics

SCIENCE It has been another exciting year in the Science Department, with many new initiatives taking place despite us losing the summer term to COVID 19, a term during which we had already prepared a new and challenging activity for the Cheltenham Science Festival and organized for some local Primary Schools to come in and have a taste of Science at Dean Close School.

The main highlight of the academic year was the introduction of a Science Week organized by Upper Sixth Former Evan Little, as our STEM representative in the student community. During the week there was a wide variety of events going on from some science related chapel talks by Mr Mark McKechnie and Evan Little, a mass experiment to produce a voltage from the Earth’s magnetic field, which actually found that there was probably some underground power lines flowing under the Chapel Close Cricket pitch to a Science Themed Headmaster’s Assembly, where Evan was ably assisted by fellow Sixth Formers Georgia Faux, Nina Counsell and Jack Tolchard. This involved Evan demonstrating how a vortex formed in the air can knock a coffee cup off Mr Hall’s head from about 3 meters away, Jack demonstrating a clock reaction working at different rates and producing very noticeable products plus Nina and Georgia demonstrating how to extract DNA from strawberries via a visualizer and projector so the whole school could follow their experiment.

During the week we were also able to welcome back OD Dr Susanna Bidgood, who gave a fascinating talk to the Senior Bowden Society on her work as a Post-doctoral Research Scientist at the Medical Research Council Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology at University College London.

In addition to this the Monday Afternoon Activity for Medics and Vets has continued to grow and now has people attending from 4 other local schools. During these sessions the pupils get various medical and biochemical lectures and a chance to discuss current topics all run by members of staff from both Dean Close and Chosen Hill Schools. In two of the sessions the pupils took part in an activity presented by a group of trainee surgeons from the local NHS Trust, who taught them the basics of keyhole surgery, suturing and how to put the scrubs on.

In a new initiative Dean Close hosted a teacher’s development course, run by the Royal Society of Chemistry, a link that we will hopefully continue in the future. Dean Close Science Department continues to take a full and active role in the new Cheltenham Education Partnership involving virtually

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all the educational establishments and a variety of employers in the Borough of Cheltenham.

On a personal note we would all like to wish Mrs Ruth Harbit a healthy pregnancy and welcome Miss Kathy Kennedy as her temporary replacement in the Biology Department.

The whole Science Department would also like to wish Mr Paul Harvey health and happiness in his well-deserved retirement; we will miss him.

AR Needs, Head of Science.

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CHARITY BAKE SALE

Fawley Sixth Former Phoebe organised a bake sale to raise money for the WWF in aid of the Australian wildfires. Phoebe and her team raised over £200 for the WWF, which is working to rehabilitate injured wildlife, plant the first 10,000 trees since the fires and to aid the Rescue and Response teams in Australia. Staff and pupils from Fawley and Tower baked an array of treats for the sale which was very successful indeed.

Close Community t is with great pride that we can report that many of our staff within the Dean Close Foundation put themselves forward to volunteer within the wider community during the unprecedented times of 2020.

Community action A number of pupils took part in Community events, with some assisting local primary schools in helping with reading and classroom activities. Other pupils volunteered at the Pied Piper Charity shop in Brockworth and some stayed at Dean Close to host an afternoon tea for elderly visitors to the School. Visitors were welcomed from Morris Court, Ambleside and Lilian Faithful care homes for an afternoon of tea, cake and musical entertainment.

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Members of staff worked on preparations for the upcoming term to enable our pupils to continue on their learning journeys whilst at the same time getting to grips with innovative ways to lead the way in remote learning through DeanClose@home, and some members of staff took care of Key Workers’ Children when UK schools had to close. We were heartened to hear of those of our staff who are available to offer help to the wider community have done so with gusto!

wider community that are isolated or in need, to check up on them and offer any support and company through telephone conversations.

Volunteers offered to deliver freshly cooked meals to the sick and vulnerable in our community.

We are very proud of how all of our members of the Dean Close Foundation came together as a community of carers and volunteers during the Covid pandemic.

The Design and Technology department for both Senior School and the Prep School came together (virtually, we might add) to design protective face masks for Key Workers through 3D printing and the use of school equipment.

Many members of staff volunteered with the NHS delivering care packages, some of which will include our very own school grown ‘Sweet Peas’, as well as contacting members of our

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Combined Cadet Force 2019-20 here was a lot of new in September 2019. New recruit cadets, new NCOs as ever ready to tackle the training programme. A new time slot on Monday and a new location in the ‘Eagles Nest’ high above the Science Department (that was Field House) which has provided central training areas for all three sections.

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Training started with Uniform, Foot Drill and all the associated teamwork. Skill at Arms, training on both the L81A2 Rifle and the indoor air rifle range in the orangery were well received. A crack team of NCOs lead by Csj Jack Tolchard, PO Evan Litle and a combo of Sgt Romellie Mills Moore and Barnaby Huxtable and Cpl Isaac Barlow led proceedings with the Army, RN and RAF respectively. There was a NCO training Cadre for the Fifth form to help them learn to deliver the basic syllabi run

by Lt George and Mr McKechnie.

The basic syllabus teaching was overseen

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by staff but delivered directly by the Cadets. The innovative use of quizlets and IT delivered aspects from Map Reading, Sea and Airmanship, First Aid and Climbing over the course of the two terms. The enthusiasm of the recruits fed the NCOs to deliver ever better lessons such as Cpl Stafford stepping up to give several lecturettes on Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo.

The Signal course was enjoyed by the 2nd year cadets, with highlights being Semaphore and portable radio exercise.

We were delighted to have Cadets and Staff join us in the Michaelmas term from our new CCF partnership school Stroud High School which opened a new contingent this year under the Government led Cadet Expansion Programme. The Girls joined us weekly regularly to train and were assisted By PO Evan Little, LR Bella Stephens and LR Tilly Rogers - a great example of 2nd Year cadets stepping up to shoulder some responsibility. This means that DCS CCF has now supported the setup of a CCF

for all three services in partnership schools; not an undertaking many other units can boast nationally.

With the ever-looming spectre of COVID-19 it became clear that there would be no training in the Trinity term and that the two Annual camps were unlikely to go ahead. There was a twin feeling of disappointment and understanding that the highlight of the CCF calendar was not to be this year.

Please see below the reports on The RLC Trophy Inter house competition and the whole contingent Field Day Trip to Bear Grylls Adventure Land; superb days were had by all.

I would like to thank all the NCOs for their hard work and preparation of activities. My thanks as ever to the staff both in school and the visiting Support Staff from the Royal Navy and RAF. I look forward to us parading again as soon as it is safe to do so.

Major DD Evans OC DCS CCF

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Annual Army Camp

DUKE OF EDINBURGH A large number of 4th Form signed up to do their Bronze DofE during the Autumn Term and many got going on a wide variety of the activities they need to take part in to achieve their award. These activities cover the Skill, Physical Recreation and Volunteering elements of the Award including volunteering in the boarding houses at the Prep School, rugby, hockey, climbing and lots of music and drama for the skill as well as cookery and art. When lockdown happened, lots of activities were curtailed but some managed to carry on lessons on zoom or switched to volunteering in their local community, for example doing shopping and walking dogs for elderly neighbours. Frustratingly, we were unable to do the usual expeditions but we did manage to get a group of 16 out for a walk one afternoon in July along the Cotswold Way from Lineover Woods back to school, where they all cooked a meal on their trangias and enjoyed a much needed afternoon together! We are hoping they will all be able to do their Assessed Expedition in the Spring and Summer of 2021.

11 Gold participants have also been working hard to complete their award and we hope they will be able to do their Expeditions during the coming academic year.

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A SERVICE OF REMEMBRANCE

Dean Close Memorial Chapel was dedicated on the 1st November in 1923, ‘To the glory of god and, in memory of those who, from this school went forth to lay down their lives for this country’.

This years’ service, as moving and poignant as ever, saw the whole school come together at the only Sunday Service the school holds during the year. The community took the time to observe a two minute silence and then a service of remembrance; Old Decanian and a member of the School Council, Lt Col Edward Taylor spoke to the congregation 66 - DECANIAN 2019/20

about a more modern perspective of remembrance, than that of just focussing on the past conflicts. Given the international nature of our community it should not be about the British past, but what the current generation and future generations are able to do to reduce conflicts that are seen around the world.

The Choir sung brilliantly, Prayers spoken by current pupils with real feeling and the Head of School and Cadets who formed a Colour Party (School CCF Banner and Union Flag) executed their duties with great care.

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Sport Rugby

Girls’ Hockey

Boys’ Hockey Netball

Equestrian Cricket Swimming

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RUGBY s the saying goes, you wait ages for a bus and then two come along at once.

This certainly rings true for the Dean Close Rugby Club. After 80 years of rugby at the school and the first unbeaten fixture cards for both the 1st XV and 2nd XV last season, the achievement was repeated again this season.

Following an intense pre-season at Brown’s Sports Resort in Vilamoura, Portugal, which included a training game in Cadiz, the 1st XV squad hit the ground running.

They can be proud with their ranking of 7th in the Schools Rugby Daily Mail Merit table, which included over 120 other schools. It is testament to the progress made by the rugby programme in recent years, that it was only the likes of Cranleigh, Wellington, Epsom, Clifton, Sedbergh, and Kirkham that finished above them. Notable performances within the season came with the victories over Bloxham, Malvern College and RGS High Wycombe. Under the guidance of Mr Mears, the 2nd XV had excellent wins against Magdalen and Bloxham. The character of the group was probably best illustrated by their attitude in the away wins against a strong Prior Park side, following the cancellation of the 1st XV fixture, and against Sir Thomas Rich’s in a dogfight on a wet and windy afternoon in Gloucester.

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The 1st XV’s season was also tinged with a little disappointment as lockdown robbed them of the opportunity to play in the school’s first National Final.

The game, which was cancelled, was due to be held at Allianz Park, home of the Saracens, against the winners from the previous year, Bloxham School. Also, a very promising 7’s Squad, many of whom, had played in the 68 - DECANIAN 2019/20

Plate Final at Rosslyn Park the previous year, were also robbed of the opportunity to show their best in the National Schools competition which is the biggest Rugby 7s competition in the world.

The senior representative honours continue to grow.

Sam Burgess, James Humphreys, Matty Jones, James Pollard and Freddie Thomas all represented Gloucester U18s in their Premier Rugby Academy League campaign. Harley Holdship, Jack Park and Bertie Taylor all continued their development as U17s in the Gloucester Junior Academy, where fifth former George Merritt joined them.

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The school was delighted that Matty Jones and Freddie Thomas were both professionally contracted into Gloucester Rugby’s Senior Academy. They join Old Decanians George Barton, Archie Benson & Josh Gray. Matty & Freddie will also find familiar Decainian faces in the Gloucester 1st XV squad as Lloyd Evans and Tom Seabrook both continue to gain exposure within the highest level of English club rugby.

On the international front both Matty Jones and Freddie Thomas were selected in the England U18s squad for the fixture against Scotland.

Unfortunately, that game along with the others scheduled for later in the season was cancelled.

George Barton and Josh Gray were however able to gain their first U20 caps in the England win against Scotland.

In the lower school, the work from our fantastic and experienced ‘Common Room’ ensured that the boys were well prepared for the season. The U16As were competitive throughout the season and enjoyed great results against RGS Worcester and Magdalen. The U15As had a better season than the results on their fixture card would reflect.

Strong wins against Prior Park and RS High Wycombe complemented a strong showing at the Langley Festival and a fine run in the Nat West Plate competition. Our U14As saw their positive performances result in wins against Bloxham, Colston’s and RGS Worcester. Many of their other fixtures were extremely close. The challenge that the boys face moving forward is to ensure a level of consistency in every game the play.

The Gloucester Rugby Academy’s Developing Player Programme (DDP) and the U16 Developing Player Group (DPG) again contains significant numbers of Dean Close boys.

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GIRLS’ HOCKEY The Girls’ Hockey year, which started with Pre season at Rugby School for the U18s squad, was simply an outstanding year. We were able to field 9 sides and ran a mixed 15s/14s C side for the Junior age group.

The Girls qualified for both the Under 16s and U18s National Indoor Finals. The Outdoor U18s qualified for the National Finals Quarter Finals and the U14s qualified for the National Finals too.

Individual achievements included Sydney Davies being included in the Wales U18s squad and Grace Greaves, Suzie Carter and Issy Viant regularly playing National Division one for Gloucester City Ladies.

We were able to field either 9 or 10 sides on a regular basis and it was good to see how well all sides improved during the term.

The 1st team season was different this year with the new Tier 1 League starting and with Millfield being one of the early fixtures in the league. The girls prepared well pre season and had a very close but end-to-end 3-2 lost to Millfield but a good win away to Marlborough in the league gave the squad confidence. With a strong Saturday fixture list and the new league fixtures too, the squad maintained good form with wins against Clifton Ladies 2nd team and Trent

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College. After a good tour to Scotland the girls had a good win against Kings Taunton, and a well earned draw against Canford in the Tier 1 League which put the girls into a a strong position in the League. With one match remaining against Clifton a win would qualify the squad into the National Quarter Finals. The weather postponed the match v Clifton until January but the squad qualified with a good 4-2 win.

The Quarter Final draw was made and Repton School away came out of the hat! They have been National Champions for the last 6 years and had one of the strongest sides they have ever had.

The squad prepared well in the lead up to it with several matches against good club sides. The match itself was a chess match with Dean Close defending well and Issy Tingey having an outstanding match in goal. Grace Greaves, Immy Mason and the whole defence stayed solid throughout. The forwards and midfield worked so hard with Issy Viant and Abby Norwood making tackle after tackle. Reptons’ only goal to win 1-0 came from a edged cross that flew into the net!! What a performance from a passionate and determined bunch of girls, against a multi-talented side full of junior internationals side.

The squad was captained by Ellie Clarke and with fellow Upper Sixth players Abby Norwood and Issy Viant in good support the squad developed into an excellent unit. With so many of the squad back next year the development was excellent.

The 2nd team had a really strong season with so many good results through the term. They scored plenty of goals with good wins against Malvern College and Queen’s, Taunton amongst others. Captained by Emily Stephens the side defended well with Katie Smart dominant at the back, and Lucy Scudamore and Grace Billington caused defences trouble in every match.

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The 3rds enjoyed their season and despite not gaining many wins had a good team ethic and continued to improve patterns of play and individual skills. Beth Ellison was the driving force from the back with Romelle Mills-Moore ever present in every match. Verity Edwards provided the forward power with Evie Sharpe in support.

The 4th team had an excellent season with two good wins against Millfield and Clifton College.

Anna Lillywhite was outstanding in goal and with Phoebe Channing and Grace Mills driving the side with an amazing spirit they continued to produce excellent results.

The 15s group had a challenging term but worked hard to improve all aspects of their skills and knowledge. Injury robbed the teams of key players but the squads adjusted well.

The As driven by Olivia Walmsley in goal and Lucy Humphries and Niamh Allen had notable results against Malvern College and Clifton College.

The B team worked hard but losing some key players to the A team made the season tough.

Well-earned draws against Kingswood and Bristol Grammar School showed the improvement of the side. Verity Moulding and and Indy Mcnulty were the driving force of the side.

The 15Cs/14Cs were very enthusiastic and enjoyed every training session and match they played. They had really good results against Malvern and St Edward’s, Oxford. Arya Moddley was solid at the back and with Fenella Troughton working hard in midfield Gabby Rogers provided the goal threat. Ella Woodward captained the side.

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BOYS’ HOCKEY

n my 29th year at Dean Close, if I didn’t say ‘wow’ I would be doing all the players a disservice after a year of intense, exhilarating and title winning hockey!!

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display of attacking hockey with some remarkable goals. The final score was 6-2 with 4 goals from goal machine Jacob Payton and 2 from Adam Gower and a place in the National Semi Final against Whitgift School.

International Honours went to Jacob Payton, Nick Nurse, Oli Smart for the England Under 18s and Ed Stevens for the England U16s. Theo Bancroft played for the Wales U18s.

So to the Semi Final at Oxford Hawks Hockey Club. With a fully fit squad and an early match start at 12noon. Whitgift School had never lost a match at this age group and had already secured the U14S and U16s titles in previous years.

The boys hockey field season started back in September for the U18s squad with friendlies against Bath and Bristol Uni in preparation for the Tier 1 boys league.

Two fixtures before Christmas were won fairly comfortably against Marlborough away and KES Southampton at home but the squad did have home jitters for a few minutes going 1-0 down only to win comfortably 4-1 against KES Southampton.

January saw the 18s usual trip to Cranleigh School for excellent match practice after the Christmas festivities against strong opposition.

After the Indoor at Whitgift School the 1st team started the season against Bloxham with a convincing win. Then came the big match in the Tier 1 Boys League against Peter Symonds who had won convincingly every match up to this stage. A cagey match with both sides having chances early on turned on good pressing from Jacob Payton who stole the ball only to be fouled and a penalty awarded. Jacob calmly put the penalty away. The match stayed 1-0 into the second half until an amazing break involving Johnnie Sunderland and Adam Gower running 60 meters to score on the far post sealed the match. Jacob Payton scored a late 3rd goal too. The squad beat Millfield 5-0 with goals from Sam Porter, Adam Gower, and 3 from Jacob Payton. A good match against Magdalen College in between the cup matches before an outstanding 9-1 win against Canford School won the group and put the squad through to the National Quarter Finals.

When the draw was made and we were playing Repton for the 2nd year running a degree of apprehension was clear from the players. With amazing support from the whole school, the squad put on an amazing 72 - DECANIAN 2019/20

A very cagey start from both sides saw few chances and most of the play in midfield before a mistake saw Whitgift capitalise and score an excellent goal to go 1-0 up. This seemed to kick start the Dean Close squad into action and after good pressure they converted a good routine with Sam Porter scoring to equalise. Then right on half time Dean Close secured another corner and after a shot hitting the post from Adam Gower, Theo Bancroft scored to put Dean Close ahead 2-1 at Half Time. The start of the second half was dominated by Whitgift, but with Oli Smart excellent in goal and Ed Stevens and Nick Nurse tackling everything, Whitgift struggled to score. Then an excellent short corner from Whitgift saw them equalise with 20 minutes to go. Could Dean Close comeback? In Jacob Payton they had the player - with 15 minutes to go he simply did his magic !!! A free hit outside the D he took quickly and beat three players and then shot into the roof of the net!! What a goal and could it be the winner? 15 mins of scramble defence and hard work saw the squad through. What a win and into only the second ever U18S Final in the school history. There were great celebrations after the match by the players and well deserved.

History will show we shared National Champions because of Covid but I am proud to say I coached the 2019/20 boys 18s hockey squad.

Nick Nurse led the squad by example with Jacob Payton the master goal scorer and vice captain. Adam Gower simply ran the midfield with Oli Smart stopping everything in goal. Half backs Leo England and Liam Mckinnes were outstanding and Theo Bancroft skills ripped sides apart.

Richard Swan was solid in all positions with Ed Stevens tackling everything.

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all season. They had good results against Marlborough, Bradfield and Millfield. Alex Powell marshalled the back with Anthony Chihota strong in midfield. Paddy Clarkson, Charlie Mckinnes and Moritz Krause-Allenstein caused defences problems as strikers.

The U15Bs had a tough season but had some very close matches.

They were enthusiastic in training and improved their skills throughout the term. They had an excellent win against Pangbourne College.

Zach Brooks captained the side and was strong at the back with Calum Lee skilful in midfield and Nacho Eleyae and James Candy causing defences problems as forwards.

Johnnie Sunderland was nicknamed aerial man after his outrageous aerials led to two important goals from Jacob Payton. Alex Chihota was powerful as a forward and Paddy Benson and Lorcan Knox played important roles, with Paddy playing several important matches in the league. Matt Candy caused defences trouble with his speed and skill of the bench and Ned Greasley was a skilful forward.

The 2nd team had a strong season only losing one match all term, with outstanding results against Millfield and Magdalen College being the highlights of the season. Felix Nelson had an excellent season from defence or midfield and with Tom Richardson as support at the back and James Schubach and Milo Jeffery causing problems too for sides, they dominated many matches.

The 3rd team were led by Freddie Shepherd and were enthusiastic in training and matches. They had a really good season with notable results against Marlborough, Bloxham and Millfield. Louis and Fin Fleming worked hard to drive the side with George Coole causing defences problems with his skills. Ilya Mordvintsev in goal provided the backbone for the side.

The 4th X1 enjoyed their hockey and played with a great spirit throughout the season. Good results were achieved against Bloxham and Pangbourne. George Orr Ewing and Vladislav Petrov had good seasons and, with Guy Green in goal, the side competed well in all of their matches.

The U15/14Cs had several fixtures and enjoyed their hockey both in training and matches. They had a good win against Bloxham School and were captained by Ben Quayle. Ben Rosendahl and Ben Mawer played well all season.

The U14As had an outstanding season only losing one school match all term. They also won the County Cup and frustratingly lost on penalties in the Semi Final of the West Finals. Tom Bowen in goal and Jack Thomas were strong at the back and with Billy Benson and Casper Philip-Sorensen dominating the midfield they were able to dominate the majority of the matches. Lucus Williams, who played in midfield and as a forward, caused problems with skill and pace to many sides. They had good results against Marlborough and Millfield amongst others.

The U14Bs improved as the season went on and worked hard on improving their skills and team play. They had a notable victories against Magdalen College and Pangbourne. Luke Billings in goal had an excellent term as did Tom Elwes and Jamie Richardson.

I would like to thank Ieuan Davies for his expertise and support throughout both terms and all the staff for their support in what was an exceptionally busy and successful term.

The U16s had a mixed season with good wins against Marlborough College and Trent College. Nich Schubach had an excellent season causing problems with his pace and skill and Freddie PhilipSorensen at the back dominated all the matches. Charlie Harris had an excellent season in goal and the side had good run in the cup but injuries did not help their campaign.

The U15As were a strong side and the results reflected that. They had a good training and match play attitude and only lost 2 games

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Netball The netball term kicked off with well attended pre-season sessions for both junior and senior teams.

This enabled Director of Netball, Mrs Holder, to select the thirteen teams for the season ahead.

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The 1st VII was captained by Abby Norwood with vicecaptain Annabelle Asher. Both girls returning to the First Team for the second year. New players coming into the team included Lydia Smith, Suzie Carter, Sydney Davies and Katie Hunt. The first game was against Colston School, a new fixture in our calendar. With players missing due to club commitments the girls put on a solid performance against a physical Colston team. The result was a narrow loss but we held our own throughout. With more players unavailable for our second match it was necessary to pull up talented Fourth Form player Serena Ihle-Matthews. What a debut it was!

Serena played with confidence and grit and cemented her place moving forward in this team. Our next 3 matches saw Dean Close lose by 5 goals on each occasion. Although frustrating at times the team demonstrated moments of pure class but couldn’t always maintain it over the full game. Stand out performances were notable from Annabelle Asher, Katie Hunt and Serena against Bloxham. The team worked hard but were still adjusting to multiple line ups and changes to the team sheet. However, our home game against Wycliffe really demonstrated consistent and dominant netball from the whole team. The Dean Close 1st VII started strong and didn’t look back. The score against a string Wycliffe side was 28-18 in our favour and gave the girls the boost they needed. The game against Wycliffe unbeknown to us all would end up being the final game of term. A positive and clinical performance seemed a fitting way to finish the season.

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The 2nd team had a really positive term with some fantastic results against Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Wycliffe and Clifton College.

Headed up by Coach Withers this strong Second Team got better and better with each game.

Notable performances came from Max Ene who kept the Seconds in contention with her defensive prowess.

Our 3rd team had a tough start against Malvern College. However, things picked up against Colstons and Bloxham which ended in a 1 goal thriller in Dean Close’s favour. With draws against Wycliffe and another win against St Edward’s, Oxford this team really did perform well.

Captained by Evie Sharpe there were impressive defensive displays from Hope Morgan and mid court flair from Lily Talbot.

The 4th team were enthusiastically led by Mrs Milne. They won 3 out of 6 games with their most impressive score line against Cheltenham Ladies’ College 28-7. With some players being pulled up to the 3rds this showed how strong this team were. Stand out performances came from Romelle and Millie especially against Bloxham.

The U15A Team had a tough season facing some very strong opposition. However, they really played as team against Stroud High securing a 24-17 win. The girls always worked hard and showed resilience under pressure. Captain Madeline Maysey led by example and Lucy Humphries and Phoebe McCouaig worked hard in defence to keep teams out. Their first game of the season was a tight loss against Malvern, losing by just 6 goals and the highlight of the season came in the 24-17 win against Stroud High. Ella Curtis played well in centre court both in defence and attack. Despite not winning many matches the girls trained hard and enjoyed their netball. The U15B’s had a successful season winning 6 out of their 9 matches. They were unbeaten for the first three weeks of the season with good wins over Malvern College, Colstons and Cheltenham Ladies’ College, but unfortunately lost a match against Cheltenham Ladies’ College later in the season. Ella Tolchard and Elie Jupp were clinical in their shooting with the defence keeping strong. Niamh Allen and Liv Walmsley provided lots of energy around centre

court and the team were led well by Clova Logan. They were on the wrong end of a 24-26 score line against St Edward’s, Oxford, but all of the girls showed grit and determination and we finished the shortened season with a convincing 18-10 win over Clifton College.The U15Cs were under the watchful eye of Miss Gordon. They had a strong start to the season with lots of accurate shooting from Indy and Cindy who used her basketball expertise. There were energetic performances from in centre court from Carmen, Molly and Kitty. Lily showed great commitment in defence which contributed to the team’s strongest result against Malvern which ended 19-4 to DCS. Miss Desmond and her U15D’s had 4 matches which were all competitive and played in good spirit by the girls. The team was captained by Ella Woodward, who did an excellent job.

The U14As had an impressive season which saw them crowned County Champions with a near perfect performance at the Gloucestershire County Tournament. This qualified the team for the Regional Finals which were held in Bournemouth in January. Here they played against the best teams in the South West hoping to progress to the National School Finals. During their group stage the team started nervously but once they got a win under their belt confidence grew. The U14s narrowly missed out on progressing out of the group stage by 2 points.

However, Mrs Holder and Mrs Lait were immensely proud of the girls on what was our most successful year at Regional Finals. This team only dropped one game on the school fixture card. Despite this, they still managed to regain form to finish the season well. Sadly, the final game against Dauntsey, which is always a highly contested battle, was cancelled as we entered lockdown. Coached by Mrs Lait the team really did impress throughout. Stand out performances came from Ella Taylor at GS and Lorna Wilmott at GA.

beaten in the first half, but fought back to win the second half. Sadly, the margin was too great but the performance said a lot about the girls and the potential they had. Special thanks to Norn who stepped in to coach the team last minute - a great addition to our coaching team.

The U14Cs went on a 5-match winning streak which was unfortunately ended by a tough game against St Edward’s School, Oxford. The team were motivated and engaged during training and matched and represented Dean Close impeccably. The highlight for these girls was a nail-biting victory over Cheltenham Ladies’ College ending 9-8. Well done to all involved.

Even though the U14D team only got to play 3 matches they certainly rose to the occasion. They dug deep and secured a 1 goal win over St Edward’s, Oxford. Venisha was captain and led her team well.

It is a pleasure to see so many of the Dean Close girls take part in the Netball Programme. Their enthusiasm and sportswomanship is recognised not only by our own staff but also by the schools we visit. I am very excited to see the girls back on court very soon.

Mrs Holder

The U14Bs, coached by Norn Warden, had some hard matches. Despite being well beaten on occasions they showed tenacity and resilience throughout. Their match against Cheltenham Ladies’ College stands out as they were well

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EQUESTRIANISM The Equestrian season of 2019/20 for the Foundation riders began with new levels of excellence and achievement. With an ever growing number of riders joining the Foundation, we were able to send strong teams to contest our National and Plate Championship finals. The number of riders continues to grow and the Equestrian Programme is lucky to be continuing to attract some excellent and exciting new talent through the scholarship programme. Although the 2019/20 season sadly ended abruptly with Covid-19 stalling all sports in schools, this mustn’t distract from what was achieved prior to the lockdown. The Foundation Equestrians worked hard to achieve what was the best equestrian start to the season the Foundation has seen since the programme began. Mrs. Fleur Cradock – Director of Equestrianism

PINEWOOD EVENTER CHALLENGE - OCT 2019 conditions, the riders excelled to take almost a clean sweep of the day achieving the following national qualification for the Eventer Challenge National Finals.

RIDING LESSONS The Equestrian Programme also provides those who wish to learn to ride or to improve their riding the opportunity to do so each week at Prestige Equestrian.

These lessons in the Senior School each Tuesday afternoon prove to be a popular activity and are thoroughly enjoyed by all those taking part. For those students wishing to learn to ride or unable to bring their own horses to school this is a wonderful opportunity to have.

Prestige offers development lessons for beginners and advanced training and schoolmaster lessons for established riders looking to develop their knowledge and skill.

■ 70cms 2nd Teams: National Q The riders from across the Foundation schools came forward to ride as cross schools teams at the Nationals Eventer Challenge Qualifier held at Rectory Farm. In some rather challenging

■ 80cms 1nd Teams: Isabella Stevens 1st Individual, National Q ■ 90cms 1st Individual Emily Roberts

NSEA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS IN OCTOBER 2019 - DCS RESERVE NATIONAL 1M CHAMPIONS ver the October Half Term the Dean Close Senior riders of Emily Roberts, Bella Stevens, Georgia Day, Mimi Payton and Oliver Dodman headed to Addington Manor for National Schools Equestrian Association National Championships. With over 200 hundred schools and 1000 riders competing over the 3 days to qualify was a huge achievement.

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Once again the Dean Close Senior riders had qualified for multiple national finals. We headed with high hopes to contest the 90cm, 1m Show Jumping Team finals. The 90,1m and 1.10 pony show jumping individual finals unvolved Bella Stevens and Georgina Day. Ollie Dodman was also contesting both the Prelim and Novice Dressage individual finals.

90CMS SJ FINAL Out of an enormous field of 64 school teams Dean Close posted a first round zero score of the day to see them go into the top 8 jump off and into an electric jump off in the evening extravaganza to take 6th place overall. 6th out of 64 teams was a great way to start the Nationals campaign.

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TEAM TRAINING he equestrian programme has a clear training format now in place, where team riders and equestrian scholars come together to train, build on their skills, grow and develop as a team. This happens on a termly basis as well as preseason training over the summer break. It is great opportunity for riders across the schools to come together and flourish.

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There are 30+ riders competing at all levels for Dean Close and Equestrian Scholarships in the Senior and Prep Schools are being filled with more talent each year. Despite the way the season had to close the Dean Close equestrian squad achieved some incredible successes. As always it wouldn’t happen without the hard work and dedication of the parents, who willingly bring riders and horses to the competitions. With new riders and equestrian scholars joining us in September and young riders growing and developing their talents, we have a lot to look forward to for 2020/21.

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DRESSAGE NOV 2019: PLATE CHAMPIONS Off the back of a successful Nationals campaign the Foundation Team riders Ollie Dodman, Bella Stevens joined

by Gabriel Mattlè, Maddie Melville – Smith DCP; and Agnes Bathurst SJOH, headed up to Keysoe Equestrian Centre to contest the Windsor Qualifier at the NSEA Plate Championships.

Oliver Dodman on his exciting new horse Cymo Z rode two excellent and mature tests to take individual 10th out of 45 riders in the Novice test.

Saturday saw the riders perform excellent rounds to finish on a zero score and take the win and qualify for the prestigious Inter-schools Show Jumping Finals 90cms to take place at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in May 2020.

Sunday brought the arrival of Emily Roberts to join the other 90cms team riders to contest their Plate Championship Final. The team once again came out and jumped brilliant clears over a difficult championship track to finish on a zero score and be crowned the 2019 90cms Show Jumping Plate Champions.

We then moved onto the Plate Championship 1m Finals. With an injured horse we dropped down to a team of 3. Ollie Dodman, Emily Roberts and Bella Stevens all put in another exceptional performance to take team 3rd overall. Bella Stevens also took individual 2nd having ridden a skilful zero score round and qualifying her for the 2020 national championships.

WEST WILTS - JAN 2020 COUNTY CUP Q. he Dean Close Show Jumping Team of Ollie Dodman, Georgia Day, Bella Stevens from DCS and Maddie Melville Smith from DCPS rode excellent rounds at the County Cup Qualifier at West Wilts EC to finish overall 2nd in the 90cms and the top school from Gloucestershire to take the place at the County Cup finals and secure their National Qualification. The course was indoor, twisty and technical but the Dean Close riders made what was causing a lot of trouble for other teams look easy completing as only one of 2 teams out of the 25 that contested the class on a zero score. Bella Stevens flew round at some pace in both the 90 and 1m to take overall 3rd and 2nd out of 87 riders and her individual 90cms and 1m Qualification for the County finals and the NSEA nationals. The 1m Team of Ollie, Bella and Georgia again put in excellent performances to take the team 4th and secure their Plate Championship qualification also.

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Georgia Day put in an incredible effort to take 9th in the 1m out of over 72 riders and 10th in the 1.10 out of 43 riders.

In the 1m Show Jumping finals the SJ team of Georiga Day, Oliver Dodman, Bella Stevens and Emily Roberts again claimed the first round on a zero score to take them into the top 8 jump off out of the 40 school teams competing.

Exceptional rounds by all the Team riders saw them complete both rounds on a zero score, being beaten to the championship title by 0.5 of a second. However, it is such an achievement for these young riders to become Reserve 1m Show Jumping National Champions for 2019.

Following on from their Show Jumping successes, three of the Show Jumping Team, Bella, Maddie and Ollie along with the welcome addition of Mimi Payton came out the next weekend to tackle the County Cup Dressage Qualifier at Kings Bromyard EC. Thankfully Storm Jorge held off and a rare glimpse of sunshine shone as the team all rode beautiful, careful and fluent tests to take the overall team win and once again the qualification as the top school from Gloucestershire for the County Cup Dressage Finals.

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Cricket Pre-season Winter Nets (Wed and Early nets) Nets took place throughout the year in the Sports Hall and the CPA. The players showed their year-round commitment to the sport by attending nets early in the morning and late into the evening. The usual bowling and batting sessions were supplemented by more specific skills work such as power hitting and running between the wickets. The one-to-one coaching sessions continued as well. Alongside the Director of Cricket Michael Powell in delivering these were the Gecko Cricket coaches led by former Zimbabwe player Ryan Higgins.

Sri Lanka Link DCS Cricket established a link with the British School in Colombo in 2019 and this led to a scholarship programme being arranged. The first student who was due to join us for the Trinity Term was talented all-rounder Pradyun Saikia.

Sadly, the COVID19 situation meant that Pradyun was unable to join us but we are hopeful that this link will continue in the future Girl’s Cricket Trinity 2020 would have seen the introduction of a Senior Girl’s cricket team. The girls were very enthusiastic and attended coaching sessions throughout the winter. Fixtures were arranged with Cheltenham Ladies College and Hatherley, Wycliff and Charlton Kings Cricket Club and so it

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was disappointing that all cricket had to cease during the lockdown. Girls’ cricket will continue once things return to normal.

Gloucestershire CCC Reps The following pupils represented Gloucestershire CCC at age level during the summer.

Nick Schubach Kameel Sahabdeen Ben McShane We are looking forward to Alex Oliver and Bengy Dodds joining the Lower Sixth in 2020, both of whom have represented Gloucestershire in the past.

Season 2020 The cancellation of the season was frustrating as it did not allow for the good work done during the pre-season to be rewarded. Several players were going to be participating in their 4th season for the 1st XI whilst others had worked hard to ensure a place in the team. Following the successful 2019 season, hopes were high that we would be able to improve on that further still.

James Humphreys (Capt), James Schubach, Jack Hamilton and Nils Philip-Sorensen have all served Dean Close Cricket well and we wish them all the best for the future. We welcome all former players to come back and visit us for the ODs game on Speech Day whether on the field or not.

Kevin Pietersen On 4th October 2019, Former England Cricketer Kevin Pietersen visited Dean Close to launch the KP Cricket Academy. He took the opportunity to run a coaching session and pass on his vast knowledge. This was a brilliant chance for the players to get some feedback from one of the greats of the game and he kindly stayed on for autographs and pictures.

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SWIMMING It was another successful year for Dean Close swimming as the passion and love for the sport continues to grow throughout the foundation.

There has been such a strong team morale on poolside, creating a fantastic atmosphere for training and paving the way for success.

The health and wellbeing programme continues with the same structure, consisting of technique focused sets, sprint sets, long endurance sets and water skills. This year has seen the swimmers work towards individual goals and in turn has seen some huge improvement: Zach Truscott dedicated the year to improving his Breast stroke, Sam Basham set out to maintain his front crawl technique over an increased distance, Danny Howlett never missed a tumble turn opportunity, Edmond Mathews showed great dedication to improving his swim fitness to support his lifeguarding role, Imo Sneath was determined to improve her backstroke start, and many more. After all this hard work, the week wouldn’t be complete without the traditional, highly competitive water polo match to close off the busy working week and let off some steam!

A selection of swimmers, those committed to competitive swimming, participated in multiple events across the year, the first being the Cheltenham and District Relay Gala in September. It was great to see a full team, from Year 7 through to Year 13, competing in both 4x25m medley and freestyle relay races. With great team spirit from start to finish, the swimmers competed in some very close races in both senior and junior boys and girls. Special mention goes to the Senior Boys team (Ollie Hodgson, Tom Bradford, Javier Villoria Soleto, and Ben Ma) in the Freestyle relay for coming 3rd, and the intermediate Boys team (Calum Lee,

Archie Shanahan, Andy Cottingham, and Charlie Harris) for coming 2nd in the Freestyle relay and 3rd place in the Medley relay. This was a huge achievement and really set the tone for the rest of the year.

To finish off the term, we had a couple of friendly inter-school galas. This saw some fresh faces join the swim team, and many strong performances by all. We had a strong turnout, with the girls coming out in numbers to compete in 4 teams, and although we had a reduced number of boys due to a busy school term, they still managed to triumph against Cheltenham College, thanks to a valiant effort from Archie Shanahan (competing in all individual and relay races) and the Brook Court swimming spirit, spurring the team on. A very enjoyable gala that went right down to the wire, Dean Close coming out on top by just one point! Term could not come to an end without a Swim Team Christmas celebration and this year it was the Christmas Quiz! Two teams, festive vibes and some interesting answers.

2020 - The New Year should always start with a challenge, and that’s exactly what the swim team did – The British Long Distance Swimming Association One Hour Swim. All swimmers were to swim continuously for one hour, some with their target in mind and others with distances to beat from last year. The challenge was accepted and the bar raised! For a second year running, Archie Shanahan recorded the furthest swim completing 4000m – 160 lengths! Fergus Large, Imo Sneath and Hunyi Lee all recorded over 3000m and many others completed impressive distances. To add some atmosphere to the event, a mixture of 80s and 90s tunes were played, with some dance moves from supporting staff and lifeguard, Georgia Faux, and homemade brownies upon completion (Thanks Imo!). We look forward to seeing where they ranked amongst the worldwide results when they are released.

Settling into Lent term, our attention then turned to the Bath and Otter national swimming relay event, at the London Aquatics Centre. The team was selected with Imo Sneath as Captain, Hunyi Lee, Georgie Powell, Madeleine Maysey, Ollie

Hodgson, Javier Villoria Soleto, Ben Ma and Archie Shanahan. Every week the team came together to train in their events and soon bonded as a team, with mutual respect for their solid commitment and passion for swimming.

We had a team that gelled and were hopeful, and it’s fair to say that they did not disappoint!

The girl’s freestyle 4x50m was up first. This being the first time they had swam in a 50m pool together, the girls showed unwavering determination and motivation throughout, leading them to long course PBs and 1st place in their heat. Moving onto the boys, who’s first challenge was the freestyle 4x100m relay. After a valiant effort in which they trumped the previous year’s team school record by 15 seconds, the boys narrowly missed out on the final, missing out by just 1 second! The afternoon brought the medley 4x50m relay heats, which saw the girls place 3rd in their heat in a well fought and highly competitive race, improving on last years’ time by a massive 2 seconds. Following their races, the girls quickly turned to support the boys in the last relay of the day. After coming so close to the freestyle final, the boys were even more determined in the afternoon’s medley and clinched a position in the final, in which they improved by 1.2 seconds on their previous time, placing them 7th in the country overall! It was a really enjoyable day and huge congratulations to everyone who swam and to those who got PBs on their own individual performances.

As well as team accolades, we were very proud to see huge individual achievements from Archie Shanahan, Ollie Hodgson and Madeleine Maysey in their club swimming events.

Congratulations to all for your PBs and successful meets this season!

All things considered, this year has gone ‘swimmingly’. A huge amount of dedication and commitment to the sport, masses of team morale and tremendous sportsmanship have come together to form a school year to be proud of.

We now eagerly await next year’s challenges, and hope to continue leaving the Dean Close footprint upon the swimming world.

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archives

Archives First school photograph 1887

DCS FOOTBALL 1892 The first football match against opposition was played at Dean Close School on the 3 October 1892 versus the Old Cheltonians… we won 9-2!

Here is the verdict on team Captain, J.P. Swettenham, as published in The Decanian: “[Swettenham] has made the left wing the great success of the team; has improved greatly both in pace and skill; can pass accurately with either foot and a very fair shot.”

One of the boys pictured is Frederick Percival Mackie. Over the summer, we were delighted to hear from his grandson, who shared a few details about his life: “Colonel Frederick Percival Mackie CSI, OBE, KHS, FRCP, FRCS (19 February 1875 – 15 July 1944) was an English physician in the Indian Medical Service, working on the incidence, transmission, and pathology of insect-borne tropical diseases between 1901 and 1931. Some of his achievements include discovering the vectors for relapsing fever and kala-azar [also known as Visceral leishmaniasis]. During the First World War, he held important administrative duties in Iraq, and between the wars, emerged as a leading figure in Indian medical science, public health and tropical hygiene. In 1922, he was appointed director of the Haffkine Institute in Bombay (Mumbai).”

Major Percival pictured in 1918.

DCS FOOTBALL 1899 This is the 1st XI football team photo from 1899.

They played 13 matches, winning ten and losing three. All the school teams that opposed them were beaten. Their Captain, R.G. Brooke (pictured front centre with the football between his feet), was killed in June the following year, fighting in the Boer War aged 19. He was killed “in rear guard action” at Rietfontein Ridge, Heilbron, Orange River Colony, on 7 June 1900. His death was a huge shock to the school as Roland was hugely popular. He had been Head of School for three years, was a good cricketer and twice the winner of the Victor Ludorum.

Frederick Percival Mackie (pictured 7th from the right).

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In 1938, the pupils started playing rugby instead of football... September 2020 marks the 82nd year that Dean Close has played rugby.

archives

SALAD BOWL AND SERVERS FOR WINNING THE HATHERLEY RUN One of the great things about being an archivist is that you never know when something amazing might be discovered.

Somebody may decide to clean out their attic or cupboard and the next thing you know they have found some wonderful long-lost treasure. This is exactly what happened last week when we received a phone call from the granddaughter of an Old Decanian.

The granddaughter had found a beautiful salad bowl with accompanying servers that had been awarded to her grandfather, Richard Marmaduke Langdale-Smith, in 1902 for winning the Hatherley Run. The Decanian reports that 25 boys ran the race, with LangdaleSmith and Van Someron leading by the time they reached the Gloucester Road.

As they got closer to home, LangdaleSmith pulled ahead of the pack and won

Major Simon Hopkin (Brook 1966) was interviewed last year for a Channel 5 documentary featuring his late father William Hopkin DFC (Brook 1936). The threepart series, Battle of Britain: 3 Days That Saved the Nation, was presented by Dan Snow and Kate Humble, and saw Simon recall his father’s account of shooting down a German dive bomber while he served as a Spitfire pilot at RAF Hornchurch. Ahead of the documentary, which aired in July 2020, Simon visited the Dean Close archives and worked with our archivist Grace Pritchard-Woods.

the race by 12 yards (in a time of in 16 minutes, 35 seconds, over a distance of approx. 4.35 km). The headmaster’s wife, Mrs Flecker, awarded the bowl to him later that day.

William Hopkin DFC (1921 – 1971) William Hopkin joined the RAF on a short service commission in May 1939. After completing his training, he joined his unit on 28 April 1940. He was made Flight Commander in early 1941 and was thereafter awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). Postwar, he stayed in the RAF in the secretarial branch, retiring on 1 August 1967 as a wing commander. In the 1960s, he was Secretary of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association.

What an amazing addition to the collection. Our sincere thanks go to the family for such a generous gift.

William Hopkin DFC

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olddecanians

OLD DECANIANS In the last edition of the Flecker (old Decanian magazine), we signed off by saying “we look forward to seeing what 2020 holds.� We did not expect to be coping with the challenges that we have faced and continue to face. We are lucky that we have been able to use technology to continue the education of our pupils and to stay in contact with thousands of Old Decanians. Thankfully, we have come a long way sice the first computer arived at Dean Close in 1979!

2021 will of course look different for the Old Decanian Society. Our strategy for the coming year has been amended, with events taking a back seat and an added focus on business and careers support. As a result, we will be creating a business directory and we will continue to support the school in any way that is required. Community has always mattered at Dean Close and we are priviledged to be part of an international community that will keep looking out for each other.

Here is an insight into what the Old Decanian Society got up to last year....

fleck er

CAREERS Old Decanians have supported the careers department tremendously over the last 12 months, whether they be sitting on panels as part of our Oxbridge Interview practice or offering work experience placements and mentoring.

In March 2020, the school ran a 'Speed Interview Challenge' for the sixth form. The day was hosted

by CV and interview specialist Emma Goodman, along with volunteer interviewers that included Old Decanians Tim Widdowson (Gate 1991), Alex Hume (Dale 2002), Adam Jones (Dale 2007), Henry Hodgkins (Field 1978), John Bastow (Field 1960) and Ben Gibbons (Dale 2003).

The event was a great success and many pupils have said how much they got from it.

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OLD

SUMMER

DECAN IAN

NEWS

2020 ~ E dition 6

Fleet Line Markers Ltd, owned by Iain McGuffie (Tower 1977) and his four children, Victoria (Fawley 2005), Robbie (Tower 2006), Alexander (Tower 2008) and Alistair (Tower 2013) painted a brilliant rainbow tribute on the college grounds to thanks our NHS at Cheltenham General Hospital.

olddecanians

DEAN CLOSE BUSINESS CLUB

Unfortunately, the Business Club Meeting for March was cancelled due to Covid-19. We look forward to inviting Henry Staelens, Chief Executive of Forest Green Rovers Football Club, back to discuss sustainability in business (hopefully) at some point before Christmas. FGR are building a new all-wooden stadium (visit their ethos page at fgr.co.uk/our-ethos to find out more).

In November 2019, we invited Oliver Mulry (Investment Manager VP), Rupert Thompson (Head of Research), Marc Maddison (Partner) and Jeff Hodgetts (Managing Director Investment Management) of Kingswood Group wealth planning and investment management to talk to the Business Club about the state of the market. It was an insightful presentation and a chance to answer questions from members.

All the panellists very kindly agreed to stay on afterwards to answer questions from pupils studying business and economics.

In January 2020, we were fortunate to be invited to the new John Lewis in Cheltenham to meet the team behind the much-anticipated store located on the High Street. We were given an insight into the operations structure of the retailer and the success of the partnership as a whole, including what brings in the most profit!

All ODs, parents and friends of Dean Close are welcome to join us at Business Club events.

To receive more information about future events please register at deanclose.org.uk/business-club.

EVENSONG AT ST PAUL’S CATHEDRAL On 18 November 2019, the Dean Close Community headed to St Paul’s Cathedral to hear the school Chapel Choir sing Evensong. This is always a special occasion but this year it was made even more special with a guided tour of the cathedral and afternoon tea.

The 5pm performance was followed with an informal drinks evening hosted by the Old Decanian Society at The Happenstance, Paternoster Square.

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olddecanians

COMMUNITY CLAY PIGEON SHOOTING ODs, staff, friends and parents past and present joined together at the beginning of March 2019 for the annual Dean Close Community Clay Pigeon Shoot at Ian Coley’s.

The winning team are pictured here with Emma Taylor (Warden): (L-R): Dom Makin (Court 1991), Al Negus (Gate 1991), Nick Cleave (Past Parent), Tim Widdowson (Gate 1991) (who also won Overall Best Shot), Hugo Hunton (Gate 1991), Andrew Troughton (Field 1991) and Jan Heuff (Field 1991). The majority of this team have joined us for the past four years.

If you would like to join us in 2021, please contact Alex Hume for more information: ods@deanclose.org.uk.

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partnerships

Partnerships 2019-20 What follows tries to give a good flavour of all the partnership activity that has taken place, with an attempt both to assess the impact of our partnerships as well as to tell some stories of those who have been involved both from Dean Close and in the wider community.

At the local level, we have many partnerships including our membership of the Cheltenham Education Partnership (CEP) and through links with primary schools and the local community (Sports Skills Days, Careers Department events, Field Days, Community Action Programme etc.)

The launch of CEP took place during the 2019 Literature Festival and events so far, in which pupils and staff have taken part, include a climate change’ Change Makers’ project initiated by the Science Festival, which led to the establishment of environmental groups in some of the other schools; Biomedical Ethics Seminars hosted at Dean Close

by Mr Needs for aspiring medics, dentists and vets; an Education Question Time pupil panel also hosted at Dean Close in the Bacon Theatre; Astronomy Taster sessions; a Heads of Science meeting; and a Young Enterprise Business Challenge led by a team from Spirax Sarco for members of the Remove. The aim of CEP is to provide opportunities for all secondary pupils of Cheltenham as well as providing staff development opportunities. Momentum is building well and has led to the appointment of a part-time coordinator employed by the university, and the programme will resume from September as soon as it is possible to do so.

There are increasingly strong links with local primary schools. A group of L6th linguists took an assembly at Holy Apostles and pupils from Charlton Kings, St James’ and Lakeside attended the Sports Skills Days to receive expert coaching in rugby, hockey and netball. Children from St James’ did some arts and craft, music and sport with some of our pupils and staff as part of the Community Action Field Day programme, which also saw residents of three local residential care homes hosted for tea and a concert and Sixth Form pupils supporting Belmont Special School, St Mark’s Primary and several local charities.

Some DCS pupils even learned how to use powerchairs to participate in a football tournament with Goals for Grass, raising awareness for disabled children.

Regional Sporting links exist with Gloucester Rugby Club, Highnam Equine, Summerhouse Equestrian, Hucclecote Netball and David Lloyd Tennis Centre; and membership of Circle2Success ensures that the Foundation is embedded into the regional business community with branches in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Bristol. Dean Close House was chosen by C2S to host a conference ‘A Celebration of Business Women’ with keynote speaker Nicola Whiting MBE, which saw 70 local business executives come together on International Women’s Day. Meanwhile, the Chaplaincy Team have developed links with Kingham Hill and Monkton Coombe for pupils to meet for a Weekend Away and other joint CU/Hub activities.

National Dean Close is a leading partner in TISCA, The Independent Schools Christian Alliance, of which our Warden is a trustee and our Chaplain hosts the annual School Prefects’ Training Day with several DCS senior staff. Staff members also attend regional meetings and the Annual Conference held in London, at which Headmaster Bradley Salisbury gave one of the presentations. Other national organisations supporting and supported by the Chaplaincy Team are the Stewards’ Trust, Christians in Sport and Lymington Rushmore.

‘We really treasure our friendship between Dean Close and No.7 High School and hope you are well.

Please remember you have always been in our thoughts.’ Spring Li, School Liaison Officer at No 7 High School

International This year saw the formal establishment of a partnership between DCS and No 7 High School in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, two of whose senior leaders, Mr Hu and Ms Zhang visited Dean Close in February 2019 with a return visit by Mrs Davis, DCS Deputy Head (Pastoral) and Ms Vest (DCS Head of English Language Training) in October. The plan was to have pupil and staff exchanges in 2020 but these have sadly been postponed.

However, we are looking forward to a cultural exchange in the future.

This year celebrates 15 years of our link with Nyakatukura Memorial Secondary School.

Frustratingly, following the cancellation of the biennial trip in July 2019 due to an outbreak of ebola, a visit of three guests from Ibanda (the town in Uganda in which Nyakatukura is located) planned around the new Commemoration Service in May was also cancelled due to Covid-19. However, these has been a regular exchange of messages of mutual support and goodwill and it is to be hoped that the 2021 trip to Uganda can go ahead. In addition, over 70 orphaned children attend primary and secondary schools, vocational colleges or universities due to the financial support of members of the wider Dean Close community.

Education Question Time Pupil Panel

Following its launch in October, the first Cheltenham Education Partnership event to feature pupils from its nine member schools took place immediately prior to a sell-out Education Question Time chaired by the BBC’s Jeremy Vine in the Bacon Theatre on the question ‘Does our education system prepare current pupils for the world of tomorrow?’ Hunyi Lee and Sydney Davies represented Dean Close, and they and all the other pupils, while warm in their comments about their own schools, also challenged school leaders and politicians to think again about such areas as political education, climate change, financial skills and the provision for the creative and performing arts.

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staffleavers

Staff Leavers Helen Porter

DCS 1987-2019

elen came to DCS in September 1987 as Helen Kingcott, a talented old girl from The Cheltenham Ladies’ College and a graduate fresh from Exeter University, to teach piano and some academic music and to be resident tutor in Fawley. Helen quickly established herself as a kind mentor to many pupils and musicians in the school. Soon after, she married her childhood sweetheart, Michael – they had been going out since they were 15 – and they began life at their new home and farm in Worcestershire. There, they started their family – first, twins Hugh and Alex, followed by Amy – all of them eventually to attend Dean Close.

H

After working in the music department under three Directors of Music, Ian Little, Richard Knight and Andrew Cleary, Helen was appointed by headmaster Tim Hastie-Smith to lead the department herself in 2005, and it was an inspired decision. It was exciting to break with a male-dominated tradition, now with a woman at the helm. Helen quickly set her own stamp on the department: she was a person of great personal integrity in all she did – not least in academic lessons, where she would prepare assiduously and work hard to give her pupils the very best opportunities and results. It is a complete testament to HLP that the department results over many years now

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have been amongst the highest and best in the school – star-studded is not an overstatement, given the number of A* grades littering the results sheets. In her time at Dean Close, the orchestra reached new heights – highlights include (inter alia) Rachmaninov Piano Concerto no 2 with Ashok Gupta, Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue with Jason Richards, and Elgar Cello Concerto with Ed Marshall. The achievements in music in HLP’s time were stellar: there were two Choral Scholarships to King’s College, Cambridge, and many others (including Organ Scholarships) at Trinity, Clare, St John’s; and also at Oxford – Christ Church and Exeter Colleges – the list is too long to mention every college and pupil. There were places at top music schools – Laurence Kilsby at the Royal College, Stephen Whitford and Brenna Tin at the Royal Academy, Ben Powell (currently in a glittering career in music in Hollywood after Berklee, USA) and, again, many others. ODs went on to play with nationally famous orchestras – Jess Hayes as a cellist with the Halle and Ashok Gupta at Glyndebourne, ENO and the Royal Opera. Helen appointed Rob Bishop as Head of Strings – Rob was the former leader of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, no less. It was Helen’s brainwave to appoint a nationallyreputed string quartet, the Carducci Quartet, as resident string teachers – and over the years,

staffleavers

hole in all our lives. The sense of loss is not only deeply personal, but also professional – she will be remembered with love and affection by hundreds, if not thousands of people – pupils, colleagues, friends, musicians, ODs, parents, governors, and of course her adored family.

string playing at DCS has gone through the roof. One example might be the astonishingly polished performance of the complex Introduction and Allegro for Strings by Elgar at the now well-established annual Pittville Pump Room concert.

It was during HLP’s reign that DCS took over the choir from the Abbey School, Tewkesbury.

With this professional body of choristers and men came Ben Nicholas, who headed up the choral side of music at DCS. Only an exceptionally strong Head of Department knows when to hand over to a specialist, and Helen passed these reins to Ben, who built up the Schola Cantorum to magnificent heights – and Helen was well aware of the musical riches which would endow the school through this extraordinary opportunity. When Ben left to be Director of Music at Merton College, Oxford, Helen was also instrumental in the appointment of Simon Bell, former assistant organist at Winchester Cathedral, as the new director of Schola. Just looking at the calibre of these two men is a testament to the music in the school under HLP. One of HLP’s demanding roles was to appoint and manage the large number of talented peripatetic music teachers and the hundreds of music lessons which happen each week: all of these teachers over the years have shown great loyalty and admiration for Helen and the department at DCS. And, of course, there are the members of Helen’s department who have worked with her for almost three decades: Ciara Allen, her Assistant Director of Music; Julie Kent MBE, who retired from DCS in June 2020; and Sylvia Klemz, Music Department Administrator – all of their support for HLP has been unstinting, especially through her illness, and it is an absolute certainty that Helen would want any tribute to her to acknowledge the personal loyalty and professional dedication of these three remarkable ladies – who, together with Helen, made a formidable team. It was the icing on the cake that “The Week” voted DCS Music Department “The Best of the Best” in autumn 2018, and a credit to HLP and the team.

“I was with friends on New Year’s Eve 2018, and someone said “Let’s see if we can remember the three most important things that have happened to us this year”. None of my friends chose things related to their work, whereas all the things I came out with were related entirely to Dean Close, which speaks volumes about how much I love my job. And the absolute highlight for me was My Fair Lady.”

This really tells us all we need to know: to see Helen conduct the orchestra, and her dazzling smile at the curtain calls, was a wonderful thing.

The musicals she directed in collaboration with LSA will be part of DC-lore for many years – Cabaret, My Fair Lady, Singin’ in the Rain, Fiddler on the Roof – this latter rather special with Louis Morford (Music and Choral Scholarship to Merton, Oxford) both as the fiddler and leading the pit band. An especial memory for Helen and LSA was to work with Amy, her daughter, as the lead Cathy Selden in Singin’ in the Rain in 2015.

MUSICIAN, MENTOR, MUM… and not necessarily in that order.

In the summer of 2019, Helen was diagnosed with cancer which took our beloved Director of Music away from our community. The whole thing came as the most terrible shock, and Helen’s untimely passing in September 2020 leaves, in the words of her husband Michael and her daughter Amy, a huge Helen-shaped-

In the final months, Helen faced her illness with extraordinary fortitude and even humour: visitors to her home would leave uplifted by her sense of fun and eagerness to hear school news and the daily gossip she missed. Helen had a strong but much understated Christian faith which she needed more than ever to sustain her through this time: never once did anyone hear her complain or rail against her lot. In fact, understatement is a key word with HLP – she seemed to have no big underlying strategy, or plan, or mission – she simply was who she was. And that person was a deeply modest, unassuming, caring and gifted teacher, colleague and friend, and her qualities were lived out in her day-to-day approach and the hundreds of small decisions she took to help and nurture and nudge and enable all her pupils and friends.

Helen nurtured so many pupils during her time at Dean Close that it is impossible to give space to all the small anecdotes which sum up the acts of patience and kindness which made up her time here, both before her time as Director of Music and during it – from conducting orchestras and ensembles, to academic lessons and piano tuition. In her final year, before her illness forced her to stop work, all her pupils had scored As and A*s at A level, all GCSE candidates scored 9s and 8s, and Helen had conducted Rach 2, plus her favourite musical My Fair Lady. Quite a year.

To know and work alongside Helen has been an inspiration: it was the rarest of privileges and joys to have been able to do so. We shall miss her so very greatly.

CA and LSA

One area which Helen hugely relished was the biennial musical for which DCS has become noted.

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staffleavers

Julie Kent If you were to use colours to describe people’s character and their impact on a community, I would describe Mrs Julie Kent as technicolour.

There is nothing vaguely beige about her. She has been a vibrant member of our community for over 30 years and has brought colour to every corner.

Within the life of a school, there are some things that happen as part of our regular rhythm, almost routine. Sometimes it can seem as though we are in a state of perpetual motion. But what makes a community come alive are the things that sit outside of this routine and require energy and drive to make them happen. Social activities, charity fundraisers, weekend activities, engagement with the wider parts of society, house spirit. All of these need someone to bring them to life.

Julie has done this as a saxophone teacher, leader of Community Action, work experience networker, weekend activity organiser and as Housemistress of Mead and then Shelburne. It is her role as Housemistress of Shelburne that is likely to be remembered the most and it is here that she brought her full set of gifts to bear.

A Housemistress has to be everywhere. They do not sit down and they need to spread themselves across all of the 60 girls, their families and the staff who care for them. Julie made all of these people feel part of the Shelburne community, whether they wanted to or not. House competitions, Saturday nights in house, tutorials in the Green Coffee Machine, end of term packing and start of term room allocation, everything was done at pace and with a determination that everyone will be involved.

Julie is one of the most charismatic people you are likely to meet but unlike many with that gift, she has the ability to make the person she is talking to feel like they are getting her full attention. It is this love of people that lay at the heart of her service to the girls of Shelburne; it is this that will be recounted across family dinner tables for years to come and this that we shall miss the most.

BJ Salisbury

Amy Spring-Wallace In Amy’s time at Dean Close she has proven herself to be a woman of many talents. First and foremost, as an English teacher, Amy endeared herself to her classes with her innovative, creative lesson plans and resources, her warmth of character, and her ceaseless support and encouragement of her pupils. She put her considerable artistic skills to great use by immediately transforming her classroom into a gallery of colourful info, with wall displays that made her colleagues jealous, and revision booklet covers that the Vth form loved to colour in! Amy has been the much beloved tutor of both junior and senior girls, who swiftly found in her a trusted confidante, and a wise giver of advice. She was also interim Housemistress of Fawley, and I know how much the Fawley girls valued their time in her care. She and Alan made a meticulous and devoted Houseparent team, who maintained a fun and flourishing Fawley Fam. Lastly, as a friend and colleague, she has been ceaselessly and relentlessly kind, positive, supportive, generous and jolly, jolly good fun. We know she is going off to do great things at Balcarras, but we shall miss her more than I can say.

KE Milne

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staffleavers

Paul Harvey

MEDICAL STAFF

During her 19 years at Dean Close, Jacqui had many roles and responsibilities as part of the wider pastoral team. She was matron in Brook Court House for a number years before transferring to the Health Centre to be an overnight supervisor. Generations of pupils have received kind and caring support from Jacqui and have almost seen her as a surrogate parent at times. The number of hours Jacqui has spent waiting patiently in A & E with a sick or injured pupil must run into hundreds as well as the time taken to accompany younger Decanians to routine appointments.

Paul Harvey began at DCS in 2013 as Head of Physics, even though he originally applied for the role of “just” a teacher of Physics. His remarkable subject knowledge and enthusiasm for Physics have inspired many students over the years. His students have loved his lessons, but will also say that “Mr Harvey is a bit mad.” – all part of the joy of having lots of toys that can be thrown around the classroom. There are also some students who still aren’t quite sure whether or not there is some trick to his extraordinary powers of mental arithmetic. Paul sets wonderfully high standards for his students, holding them to account with great respect and a clear line on what is expected. There is a magic within his classroom; covering one of his lessons is a joyful experience because the magic lingers even when he is not physically present.

Paul started as a tutor in Gate house, and remained there throughout his time at DCS. Many students benefitted from his pearls of wisdom during his time in house, as well as the extra tuition that could be picked up for those lucky enough to be studying his subject. As a Sixth Form tutor, Paul has always been in high demand, the knowledge being handed down from year group to year group that he will support them through thick and thin, helping them to think through the important decisions facing them.

Paul took on additional responsibilities in 2015. In the first instance he took on the Dean Close golf programme with commitment, passion and enthusiasm. In what can be a challenging and isolated role, his good temperament helped golf develop over the years. He built great relationships with pupils, all of whom have been very grateful of his support and input, whether it was at the driving range on a Monday, school fixtures or the house tournaments.

At the same time, he was also voted in as Common Room president. He brought wisdom and calm to the role, but with an equal measure of dogged determination, keenly aware of the importance and privilege of the role. From his leadership of Common Room meetings, to his organisation of cluster groups, Paul did so with immaculate professionalism. He has also been a great source of support to a range of staff seeking one to one guidance, sometimes in difficult circumstances. Behind the calm exterior, is also a wicked sense of humour and his timely interjections have been much valued when tensions run high.

For the last two years, Paul has been working part time, focusing primarily on the older students within the department. He gave up his much loved SP1 for the smaller and more central SP2. The hidden chocolates for Common Room meetings have been sorely missed ever since, but the Physics department have taken every opportunity to take the short cut through the back of his lab in order to see the Master at work at “the coal face”, as he often calls it – a place he clearly loves.

Paul leaves Dean Close to look for fresh challenges, not quite ready to retire just yet. He will be missed greatly by colleagues and students alike. None of us who have spent time with him over the last 7 years will ever be able to hear the word “Chief” again without thinking fondly of him.

Jacqui Read

Her calm in the face of crisis will be missed as will her willingness to undertake a multitude of tasks at a moment’s notice.

Deborah Sharples

Sally-Ann Fowler Sally joined the healthcare staff at Dean Close in 1990 and made a tremendous impact during her 30 years of service.

She looked after generations of Decanians who remember her kindness and care at times when they were unwell. She saw many changes in Health Care provision during her time at Dean Close including both buildings and staff.

As Senior Nurse she managed a small team of nurses and support staff to oversee the health of all pupils on the Cheltenham site. She ensured that the Health Centre was a comfortable and welcoming place for pupils to go when unwell or in difficulty; tea and toast around the kitchen table was always on offer to those that needed it.

Sally was genuinely kind and helpful to pupils and staff alike and managed to see the good in almost all situations. All knew that they could speak to her in confidence and that they would be listened to with an empathetic ear. They also knew that she would know what to do in a medical emergency and would react with calm professionalism.

Sally was involved in the wider life of Dean Close through her children who are both Old Decanians and her support of many school functions. She was a great ambassador for Dean Close through both professional and personal contacts spreading good news about the school when appropriate.

Sally will be greatly missed as she goes on to pastures new.

Debbie decided to retire at the end of last year after more than 12 years of service as a nurse in the Health Centre.

She will be missed as a caring, professional nurse and as a colleague.

Debbie could always be relied upon to treat poorly pupils with compassion and expertise, making the Health Centre a warm and welcoming place. She was equally at ease with pupils, parents and staff with many very appreciative of the care and professionalism she displayed.

Debbie was involved in many aspects of school life as both a parent and a member of staff and was a regular attender at school events. We hope she has a long and happy retirement spending time with her family, particularly her grandchildren.

Fiona Nelson Fiona joined the Dean Close Health Centre staff in September 2005. As an experienced nurse, she was a great asset to the team with particular responsibility for DCPS. Generations of Decanians have appreciated her kindly concern and nursing expertise whether unwell or simply not coping with the day. Staff have also appreciated her professionalism and the training she has been involved in during her time at school. Fiona could be relied on to give medical aid when needed and make sure that pupils were supported both at school and at home.

As the mother of three Old Decanians, Fiona will always have ties to Dean Close and we look forward to seeing her here in the future.

JA Davis

M McKechnie 89 - DECANIAN 2019/20

staffleavers

Tracey Colbert-Smith It is fitting that we say farewell and thank you to Tracey Colbert-Smith in the very magazine that was a labour of love for her over so many years. During her 22 years at Dean Close Tracey masterminded so many events, publications and communications, showing an extraordinary ability to come up with fresh ideas and creative approaches on every occasion. Successive editions of The Decanian illustrate her inventiveness and her ability to find new and interesting ways of giving parents and other readers a window onto the rich and diverse world of the school.

So much of what visitors and observers see as the Dean Close style has emerged from her creative, collaborative mind as she has worked with successive Headmasters and School leaders to help them share their vision and values and to showcase the achievements and qualities of the pupils.

Back in 2001, I was interviewed by Tracey as part of the process of my appointment as Admissions Tutor. She was fearsome; I was left in no doubt that I would have to earn my spurs in the new role and that it would be no easy ride. Despite this initial daunting scrutiny her respect and support were worth gaining, and I, like many others, can attest to the unwavering and selfless commitment and loyalty she has showed, not only to the school as an institution but to so many of us as friends and colleagues.

Recollections of times with Tracey are jam-packed with hilarious laughter and fun and the mental (and physical) pictures of her are multi-coloured: as a catwalk model in a charity fashion show; as a can-can dancer, or a 50s schoolmistress for the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations; in a high-vis jacket supervising parking or as minder to Lord Blunkett’s guide dog; greeting guests, serving refreshments, overseeing firework shows, masterminding filming, photography and website design. She turned her hand to everything and took her work both immensely seriously and with a healthy capacity for seeing the funny side.

Tracey is made of strong stuff; it took every ounce of her reserves of courage and determination to respond to a diagnosis of cancer and the surgery and treatment that followed but she emerged healthy and with an enhanced determination to make the most of life, hence her decision to embark on a new stage of her career and set up her own consultancy. Her determination, diligence, great ideas and sheer life force make the success of her new venture a near certainty and we wish her both joy and success as we thank her for all she has done for Dean Close.

ELC Taylor

90 - DECANIAN 2019/20

staffleavers

Gabriella Archer

Jess Briggs

She will be greatly missed by all those who have had the great pleasure to work alongside her (in particular, her HoD) as she returns to her alma mater as deputy housemistress.

Gaby joined the Classics Department in 2016 after completing her degree in Classics at the University of Bristol. It was an easy decision to appoint Gaby as she was so evidently in possession of all the qualities one looks for in a young teacher: she was passionate and she was prepared to embrace all of the challenges that the teaching profession brings. Gaby had been educated at Cheltenham Ladies’ College and, as a consequence, she settled swiftly into the rhythms of boarding school life, establishing herself both inside and outside the department as an excellent teacher and as an outstanding colleague.

From her very first day at DCS Gaby taught Latin, Classical Greek and Classical Civilisation at all levels and to all age groups and to all of her classes she brought tremendous energy and enthusiasm. Her love of the Roman historian Tacitus and his acidic wit are well known as is her passion for Greek Tragedy. One of Gaby’s great gifts is the ability to imbue her charges with a love of the ancient world and one of my fondest memories of Gaby’s time at DCS has to be entering her classroom and beholding a group of Upper Sixth Classical Civilisation students heatedly debating the fate of

Antigone and Creon, amongst whom were one or two individuals who were not renowned for their love of academe. I should not have been at all surprised by this manifestation of intellectual zeal since Gaby was creative in the classroom, highly organised and meticulous in her preparation. Gaby enjoyed a great rapport with all of her students to whom she offered unfailing support and many were the lunchtimes that Gaby spent in the company of a pupil who was in need of extra assistance.

Gaby was a great supporter of the department’s extra-curricular activities: she attended talks at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, umpteen Classical Association meetings and she accompanied the 2018 Classics trip to Greece on which she experienced the thrills of travel on Greek roads, the joys of souvlaki and the brilliance of Attic sunlight. Gaby combined her academic role equally successfully with her roles as girls’ hockey coach and as resident tutor in Turner. She will be greatly missed by all those who have had the great pleasure to work alongside her (in particular, her HoD) as she returns to her alma mater as deputy housemistress.

Gaby, ave atque vale.

Jess came to Dean Close as Housemistress of Fawley in April 2018. She had been a housemistress at Cheltenham Ladies College previously and managed to squeeze in giving birth to Florence before she arrived! She took her responsibilities as a member of the pastoral team and the English Department seriously, making a positive impact on the lives of the young people she came into contact with.

Jess certainly hit the ground running, infusing Fawley with her energy, enthusiasm and passion from the first day. Her care for the girls was evident in all that she did from providing bowls of sweets to late night talks, helping those in trouble. The Fawley girls and tutor team felt supported, cared for and loved by Jess and welcomed the changes she made in the house.

Although Jess and her family were only at Dean Close for a short period of time, they will be missed.

JA Davis

JM Allen 91 - DECANIAN 2019/20

commonroom

Common Room List 2019-20 Warden ELC Taylor, MA (Oxon)

New College, Oxford

2018

University of Bristol

2009

Headmaster B J Salisbury, MEd, PGCE Senior Management Team Mrs R Chaplin, BSc

University College London

Director of Admissions

2002

Mrs J A Davis, MA, PGCE

Girton College, Cambridge

Foundation Lead for Safeguarding

2007

A S Hall, BA (HMS), MEd

Rhodes University, SA

Deputy Head

2016

J A Hole, BA, MA, PGCE

University of Warwick

S P Ewence

Deputy Head Academic

2017

Operations Bursar

2017

Modern Languages

1985

The Common Room Miss S C Villiers, BA, PGCE

University of Birmingham

L S Allington, BA

University College, Durham

Director of Drama

1987

Mrs H L Porter, BA, LRAM, PGCE

University of Exeter

Director of Music

1987

Mrs J D Kent, GDLM

City of Leeds College of Music

Housemistress (Shelburne), Music

1990

P S Montgomery, MA, PGCE

Pembroke College, Cambridge

Housemaster (Field), History

1991

Mrs F M B Harris, MA, PGCE

Merton College, Oxford

Mathematics

1991

Mrs C Allen, BMus, ALCM LGSM PGCE

Royal Holloway, Univ. of London

Housemistress (Turner), Acting HoD Music

1992

Miss A E Ash, BDes, PGCE

University of Liverpool

Art

1993

J M Allen, MA, PGCE

Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge

Head of Classics

1995

Miss I M Carames-Castelo, BA, PGCE

Santiago de Compostela

Spanish

1996

A J George, MA, PGCE

Downing College, Cambridge

Director of Fourth Form Studies, Maths

1998

DR Evans, MA (Oxon)

Oriel College, Oxford

Classics

2001

J Slade, MA

Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford

Economics & Business

2001

Miss R J Donaldson, BSc, PGCE

Loughborough University

Director of Studies & Head of Academic PE

2002

Director of Hockey

2004

Mrs C J Evans, BA, PGCE

University of Kent

Head of Art

2003

A R Needs, BSc, PGCE

Hatfield College, Durham

Head of Chemistry

2003

G Tredgett

D D Evans, BSc

Loughborough University

Head of Design Technology, Head of CCF

2004

Mrs K E Milne, BA

St Mary's College, Durham

Housemistress (Hatherley), English

2005

B P Price, BSc, PGCE

University of Bristol

Housemaster (Dale), Geography

2005

Mrs R S Rushton, BA, PGCE

Middlesex University

Art

2005

C J Hooper, BA, PGCE

University of Bath

Head of Modern Languages, External Course

2006

J Mears, BA, PGCE

Nottingham Trent University

Business Studies

2006

AGA Milne, MA, PGCE

University College, Oxford

History, Politics, Head of Cricket

2006

Dr M Bradley, MBioChem, DPhil PGCE

University College, Oxford

Biology, Chemistry, Core Science

2008

Miss TL Williams, BSc, PGCE, GTP

Coventry University

Head of Psychology

2008

Mrs S Lait, BSc, PGCE

University of the West of England

PE

2008

JRB Stott, BSc, DipTh, PGCE

Durham University

Mathematics

2009

Mrs CHS Montgomery, BA, PGCE,

University of Birmingham

Modern Languages

2009

Mrs JE George, BSc, PGCE

Keele University & Cambridge

Mathematics

2010

GN Baber-Williams, BSc, PGCE

UWIC

Director of Sport

2010

DK Chapman BSc, PGCE

University of Bristol

Head of Chemistry

2011

Mrs E Gillett BA, PGCE

Lancaster University

English

2011

ZS Suckle BA, MA, PGCE

University of Bristol

Librarian, Study Skills

2011

Mrs RJ Vest BA, PGCE (CELTA)

University of Exeter

Head of ELT

2011

Mr SA Bell MMus, BMus, FRCO

Royal College of Music

Director of Choral Music

2012

PJ Harvey BA

Pembroke College, Oxford

Physics, Common Room President

2013

92 - DECANIAN 2019/20

6

2 22 Contents

Covid-19 News Education Question Time Houses Chaplaincy Report Drama Music Art Cookery School Virtual Prizegiving Visitors and Speakers Academic Highlights Christmas Party CCF Sport Archives & ODs Partnerships Staff Leavers Common Room List Editor Proof reader Photographers Design

: : : :

Amy Loveys David Evans Mikal Ludlow & Stuart Robbie Adam Hathaway

2 4 6 8 22 24 31 38 48 49 51 52 62 64 67 80 85 86 92

24 31 49 38 51

JRB Stott, BSc, DipTh, PGCE Mrs CHS Montgomery, BA, PGCE, Mrs JE George, BSc, PGCE GN Baber-Williams, BSc, PGCE DK Chapman BSc, PGCE Mrs E Gillett BA, PGCE ZS Suckle BA, MA, PGCE Mrs RJ Vest BA, PGCE (CELTA) Mr SA Bell MMus, BMus, FRCO PJ Harvey BA Mrs KM Ledlie MA, PGCE Mrs K Holder Miss DM Richards BSc, PGCE Miss FE Stewart MA, PGCE A Spring Wallis BA, PGCE AA Stanley BSc MW Wilkes BA, PGCE Mrs M J Davis, PGCE DF Fitzgerald, BS Miss K A Gordon BSc, PGCS J M Hardaker, BA Mrs H D McKechnie, BSc, PGCE M J McKechnie BA B S Poxon MA, PGCE J M Sheldon BA, PGCS Mrs M W Watts, BA, PGCE M J Yemm Rev J C Ash, BA Miss GC Archer, BA Mrs CL Bourne, BA, PGCE Mrs F Cradock, BSc, MA, MSc Mrs CJ Derby, BSc, msC, PGDip, PGCE Mrs ML Franklin, BSc Mrs R M Harbit, BA DC Mochan, BA, PGCE, MA, FRSA M Powell Miss K Long, BSc Miss H Scrivener, BA J M Sumner, MA, PGCE J H Briggs, MA, QTS I Davies, BSc, PGCE Mrs S A Hodgson Mrs G Larkin-Lawton, BSc, PGCE Mrs S E Massey BA MM P Mills, LLB Hons, PGCE A McShane BA, PGCE JM Pitt, BA, PGCE NJ Roome, BSc, MSc, PhD,MCCT, QTS E Suckle, BA, MA, PhD, PGCert JR Raynor Mrs L Whitaker, BA Mrs H Zeitz, BA, PGCE A D Martin, BSc, PGCE K Barrett Mrs K Cleeworth, BSc Mrs R Condie, BSc, MEd, MSc, PGCE Miss C M Desmond, BSc B Holdaway, BSc T Gant, BA R O Sayers BSc, PGCE Mrs K F Kennedy

Durham University University of Birmingham Keele University & Cambridge UWIC University of Bristol Lancaster University University of Bristol University of Exeter Royal College of Music Pembroke College, Oxford Merton College, Oxford Brunel University, London University of Nottingham University of Birmingham University of the West of England Herford College, Oxford University of Gloucestershire University of Exeter University of St Andrews Manchester Metropolitan University of Nottingham University of Durham University of Bristol Lincoln College, Oxford Uni University of Huddersfield Bristol City College University of Oxford University of Bristol UWE, Bristol University West of England University of Leeds University of Wales University of Cambridge University of London University of Gloucestershire University of Exeter University of Cambridge University of Reading University of Bath Brighton Polytechnic University of Wales University of Wales University of Keele University of Exeter University of Durham University of Surrey University of Warwick University of Durham University of Liverpool University of Wolverhampton Rhodes University, South Africa University of Exeter University of Birmingham University of York Cardiff Met University of Durham University of Leeds University of Newcastle

Mathematics Modern Languages Mathematics Director of Sport Head of Chemistry English Librarian, Study Skills Head of ELT Director of Choral Music Physics, Common Room President Head of English Netball Coach PE, Assistant HsM Shelburne Classics English Director of Rugby Director of Sixth Form, Biology, HsM Gate Design Technology, IT Head of Computer Science Mathematics Head of Business Studies & Economics Mathematics Head of Physics Housemaster (Tower), RS Head of History & Politics Head of Learning Support Tennis Chaplain Classics Head of Geography Head of Equestrianism Chemistry Chemistry, Exams Officer Biology Head of RS, UCAS Co-Ordinator Director of Cricket Director of Swimming ELT Head of Modern Languages English, HsM Fawley Hockey Coach Acting Head of Learning Support Head of Food Preparation English Literature Business and Economics History, EPQ Geography, HsM Brook Court Physics Learning Support Assistant Chaplain Chaplain’s Assistant Assistant Librarian, ELF Head of Biology Head of Leiths Cookery Numeracy Support Biology GTA GTA GTA Head of Maths Mathematics

2009 2009 2010 2010 2011 2011 2011 2011 2012 2013 2013 2013 2013 2014 2014 2014 2014 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2017 2017 2017 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 2019 2019 2018 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019

Decanian A Year in the Life of Dean Close School

Decanian 2019/20

September 2019 - August 2020

Jeremy Vine hosts Education Question Time Cast of Amadeus gives stunning performance Lessons move online in nationwide lockdown DC DEAN CLOSE

Brand new Day House Village opens

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2019/20