The Kingstonian 2014-2015

Kingstonian 2014 / 2015

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KINGSTON GRA MM AR SCHOOL 2015

Telephone: 020 8546 5875

An independent co-educational school

Fax: 020 8974 5177

Age 11-18 years

Head Master: Mr S R Lehec

LONDON ROAD

The Kingstonian is the magazine of Kingston Grammar School.

KINGSTON UPON THAMES SURREY KT2 6PY

Communications should be addressed to the Editor at the above address.

Editor: Julian Smith

Contents

Kingston Grammar School

CONTENTS News

House reports 72

Common Room

4

Leavers

5

New staff

10

Prizegiving programme

15

Change and Trends in Communication – article by Stephen Lehec

26

Which Way Blows the Wind? (Short Story)

30

Sport Hockey 76 Netball 92 Football 94 Cricket 98

Performing Arts 32 Clubs and Societies 46 Trips 56

Tennis 102 Rowing 103

Development 110 KGS Friends 112 Obituary 114

Front Cover: Ballerina by Holly Munro, L6EKP Acrylic on paper and glass paint on Perspex Inside Front Cover: The 1970s reunion (see KGS Friends section).

Inside Front Cover (below): In March the school welcomed back 5 former Heads and 2 former Chairs of Governors.

Pictured here : Back row (L to R): Flo Blake Parsons (Vice Captain), Paul Marsh (Governor 2011-14), Stephen Lehec (Head Master), Duncan Baxter (Head 1991-2009), Dermot Rice (Chair of Governors), John Elvidge (Governor 1984-2011), Lydia Cozens (Vice Captain), Lewis Wales (School Captain).

Front Row (L to R): Sarah Fletcher (Head 2009-14), Tony Creber (Head 1987-91), John Strover (Head 1970-77) and Sidney Miller (Head 1977-87)

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STAFF – THE COMMON ROOM This column gives the school the opportunity to say thank you to those whose stay in school has been short, although still invaluable. It is also a chance to congratulate colleagues on promotions, marriages and births.

As I predicted during Prizegiving in the summer of 2014, Phil Cooper returned to KGS for a two week teaching period at the start of the academic year 2014-2015 to help cover an in-house absence. Lo and behold, he has now returned again for the academic year 2015-2016 to bridge a part-time gap in the Maths Department. Staying with that Department, we were extremely fortunate to have the services of Jim McClenahan to cover Laura Andrews’ maternity leave. Jim brought a wealth of experience with him and fully embraced KGS life, including joining the KGS Vets Rowing squad.

There was a lot of activity in the Music Department this year. We were fortunate to have the help of former school captain, Josh Selimi, for most of the year. He helped support the department in delivering the curriculum to junior forms, by running co-curricular clubs and by assisting with administration. We wish Josh well as he embarks on his KPMG sponsored degree with Durham University.

Charlie Shipley also helped out in the department when covering an in-house absence.

The Library welcomed back Helen Cleaves from maternity leave and in doing so we said goodbye to Sally Murphy, who ran the Library in Helen’s absence. Sally left just prior to the birth of her first child, Delphi, and we wish her all the best as she embarks on motherhood. Sally Rothwell, our Assistant Librarian, also departed. She has moved with her husband, who has been relocated to Bahrain with his work. We thank both Sallys for all they have done and wish them well.

Within Sport, our Head of PE, James Greggor, left at Easter. He made an impressive impact in his short time with us; however, the lure of a new role at his old school, Halliford, was too good to turn down. We must also mention Old Kingstonian Harriet Tibble, who, after 18 months with us, has taken up the opportunity to move to New Zealand to broaden her hockey CV. Cuiping Gu took over the teaching of Mandarin from Sue Whittaker.

And finally, we said thank you and goodbye to Vyas Adikari, who worked in the Chemistry Department during the Autumn Term. He was a real asset to the department and we wish him well in his further studies.

There have been a number of richly deserved promotions to a variety of new roles. Some took effect during the 14/15 academic year, while others commenced at the beginning of, or during, the current academic year:

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Annie Adolphus

Head of Fourth Year

Andy Beard

Assistant Head

Tim Benson

Head of Second Year

Will Cooper

Deputy Head (Academic)

Lucy Jenkins

Senior Tutor First Year

Charlotte Jones

Senior Tutor Fourth and Fifth Years

Natalie Maclean

Director of Sport

Eleanor Varley Senior Tutor Sixth Form (maternity cover) Amy Postgate

Senior Tutor Second and Third Years

Katie Raymond

Joint Head of Charities

Laura Snook Acting Head of Classics (maternity cover) Natalie Stops

Head of Admissions & Marketing

Alison Williams Acting Head of First Year (maternity cover) Mrs Edwards, Mrs Wakely, Miss Andrews, Mrs Maclean and Mrs Cleaves returned to school following periods of maternity leave.

Congratulations to Charlotte Ribolla and her husband on the safe arrival of Theo Jack and to Emma Pytel and her husband, who welcomed Jonathan into the world. Also, there was great news in the Fine household when Philly welcomed Molly Rose to their family – a baby sister to Eleanor.

Over the summer Rebecca Hetherington and her husband, Ross, welcomed baby Wilfred into their busy household.

Irwin Deepchand and his wife, Cheryl, have welcomed a second daughter (called Kiahna) into their family and, most recently, Kathryn Moore has given birth to Beatrix Peony and Milly Williams has had her first child, Josephine (Josie) Lucy Ingress.

JM Wallace & VS Humphrey

A final goodbye took place at the end of the summer term to Mark Wallace, our Principal Deputy Head for the last five and a half years. Having come to us from Caterham, Mark threw himself into school life, playing a major part in both Maths and Hockey. Mark was thoroughly dedicated to the school and has left us to take up a richly deserved post as Headmaster of Lincoln Minster School.

VS Humphrey

MARK WALLACE It’s hard to exactly measure the contribution Mark has made to Kingston Grammar School as so much of it was personal and intangible; nevertheless we do know that it was a great deal over his relatively few years at the School.

Arriving in 2010 as Principal Deputy Head, Mark won over all who worked with him with his Celtic charm and ready smile making for an easy and positive working relationship for all who knew him. Mark quickly made the role of Principal Deputy his own, managing the day-today running of KGS with efficiency and humour. His daily emails to staff about the exciting events coming up were often dressed with humour, words of encouragement and support, and the necessary apologies for the burdens occasionally imposed. Even in his written communication Mark was clearly a ‘people’ person and a caring manager who understood the routines. Mark looked after staff and pupils alike, with the same care and attention. He was often to be found on the Fairfield, overseeing large-scale pupil football games or managing the lunch queue with a calm cheeriness welcome to all.

In the summer of 2014 Mark stepped into the breach as interim Head for a term. In this elevated role he was found to be no less an agreeable, kind and compassionate leader who maintained a steady ship with a light hand on the tiller, and helped to pave the way for a new Head in waiting and a new era for KGS. Over the years on the Executive Mark was a sound and thoughtful team player, always willing to support all areas of school life and managing to get the best out of people.

Mark also made a major contribution to the Maths department, teaching throughout the age groups. His dedication to his subject was evident and his pupils often enjoyed witty and active lessons. One of his proudest moments was seeing all his Fifth Year pupils achieve A*s in their GCSE examinations, which was a testament to his teaching ability and hard work in the classroom.

Outside of the academic sphere Mark was a dedicated and devoted follower of sport, mainly hockey, and all things Irish. A proud sportsman and national, his assemblies on such themes were passionate, memorable and often emotional. Mark made a great contribution to hockey, going on tour to Argentina and South Africa with teams, and taking matches whenever he could. Perhaps his most memorable sporting moment was the organisation of the 48-hour hockey marathon, which raised over £28,000 and involved over 500 pupils, staff and parents. As a school we were also delighted to be awarded a World Record Title for the endeavour!

Outside of school Mark is a keen and accomplished sportsman and a family man. As Head of Lincoln Minster School, Mark won’t necessarily be able to drive home and back every day but we were all delighted to learn of Mark’s success in being appointed as Head of LMS, a position we knew he was destined for. Our loss is certainly

their gain as Mark has made a terrific start to his time in Lincoln and we hope that his new school will go from strength to strength under his guidance.

NEWS

Farewell to...

When the time came for Mark to say farewell to KGS, staff were asked to contribute one word to describe him. The adjectives and superlatives came flooding in, ranging from “brilliant” and “supportive” to “warm”, “friendly” and of course “lovely”. On behalf of everyone at KGS, I would like to thank Mark for all that he did for our School. He will be missed and we wish him and his family our very best as they gradually make the move to settle to their new lives in Lincoln.

V S Humphrey & S R Lehec

EDWARD L ANG It should not have come as a shock when Edward Lang announced his desire to leave KGS this year to complete the final move of his family relocation to Bath, but nevertheless we were surprised and sad in equal measure to hear of this stalwart’s departure. Edward had been our Bursar and Clerk to the Governors for 10 years, having joined KGS in 2005 originally as an interim bursar. The school liked Edward so much that they offered him the full-time Bursar post and we haven’t looked back since!

Edward has occupied his turret-like office for the past 10 years and has overseen some huge changes to KGS in his time. As well as managing the finances of the business, Edward has looked after the support staff of KGS as well as managing the London Road site and Ditton Field. Since Edward started, the school and its sites have changed in areas beyond recognition.

Edward’s first major achievement was overseeing the purchase and construction of the Queen Elizabeth II building on the London Road. This was a huge undertaking, requiring Edward to manage both the finances and the building project. The amazing structure we have today is a true testament to his vision and dedication to the cause.

Major refurbishments have continued under Edward’s tenure, including the Cage, the Fairfield building and Ditton Field. Edward himself is particularly proud of the boathouse, another project he was heavily involved in and one that hints at his own sporting prowess whilst at school himself! Many staff have enjoyed working with Edward on projects at school with one particularly fond memory being signage and the designs for the new Quad and front of school. Edward has an eye for detail and design, if not for colour, and he never ceases to think up ways to improve the working environment for all.

Edward has directly overseen the Bursary and its running, and this quiet engine room of the school baffles many staff and pupils who wonder what actually goes on in there. Edward would be quick to point out, rightly, that it does a lot more than just handle the post and give out replacement lunch cards! He has managed the transition to more complex and efficient office systems and has

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ensured that the finances of the school are always shipshape which, with ongoing developments over the years, has been no mean feat.

As Clerk to the Governors, Edward has played a pivotal role in bridging the gap between the school and the Governing Body. Servicing the most important meetings, often late into the evening, Edward has approached this side of his role with dedicated, good cheer and professionalism.

Serving three very different Chairmen of Governors and a constantly evolving body of governors, Edward has always ensured that governors have everything they need to understand and assist the School. The role he has played in this area cannot be overestimated and the Governors, along with countless others, will no doubt miss him hugely.

Edward has decided finally to leave the smog and noise of South West London to take up residence in Bath, where he and his family are embarking on the building of their dream home. Just as in his professional life, Edward has managed this project superbly and will continue to do so – we can almost hear the diggers breaking ground for the foundations! Those lucky enough to see the plans can safely say that the building will be stunning when it is finished and Edward and his family can finally enjoy the life of retirement they have been working towards in a home that Kevin McCloud would be proud of!

We would all like to thank Edward for all he has done for the School during his time with us. He has left a lasting legacy throughout the whole school and we shall miss his presence and advice hugely. We wish him and his family all the very best with the next chapter of their lives.

S R Lehec & V S Humphrey

KEITH BALKHAM The retirement of Keith Balkham after 37 years’ loyal and distinguished service to KGS left a great gaping chasm in the very structure of the School. During that time he had made himself so much part of the fabric of the place as to be almost indispensable. The number and variety of roles he took on and filled with such distinction are quite astonishing.

Keith joined KGS in November 1977 as a Chemistry, Physics and Biology technician, before the growth in sets and appointment of further support staff allowed him to dedicate (in all senses of the word) himself to Chemistry.

The dawn of the computer age then saw Keith appointed to a new role as AV/Resources technician, with a remit to look after the first BBC computers that were beginning to make their presence felt in the School and assist with stage lighting as required (this latter a vital task that Keith fulfilled in the manner of unsung hero so typical of him).

Keith’s involvement with IT came to be his defining role in many people’s eyes. Entirely self-taught, he became a vital source of wisdom and advice and remained right until his retirement (and beyond, if we are honest!) many people’s unofficial go-to guy if they had any computerrelated problems, which was most of us most of the time.

During the official phase of this incarnation, Keith also began to assist with the layout and production of school publications, another essential role he filled, with varying degrees of official status, until retirement.

Following the completion of the Creber Appeal, Keith assisted the then Director of Development, Brenda Boyd, with the merging of databases from the Appeal, the Old Kingstonian Association and the Old Kingstonian Golf Club, forming the basis of the database currently used by the Development Office and KGS Friends. Thus began his involvement with alumni relations, another key area he would grace up to retirement and beyond. Keith’s encyclopaedic knowledge of alumni and related fields has made him an invaluable living resource.

Shortly after the arrival of 386 new PCs, Keith stepped aside (officially) from Resources and AV and added yet another string to his bow in the role of Desk-top Publishing Secretary, responsible for producing school publications either for in-house printing or by an external printer.

As DTP Secretary he also undertook the scheduling of appointments for parents’ evenings and assisting the Development Director with mailings to contacts using the former pupil and parent database. He also supported the OKA in their contact with former pupils making use of the database and was very heavily involved with the setting up of the online database using the Donor Strategy software which is still in use.

It was perhaps an inevitable development that Keith should be appointed our first Alumni Officer with a greater role in supporting the OKA and Development Office and losing the general school publications, although he continued to produce publications aimed at KGS Alumni. The typesetting and lay-out of ‘The Kingstonian’, however, remained a major annual un­dertaking until his retirement. As Alumni Officer, Keith was instrumental in setting up KGS Friends, the new alumni body, and took on the organisation of a number of hugely successful reunions, most notably the Golden Reunion in 2011, part of the 450th Anniversary celebrations, for those who were at the School when the Queen visited on the occasion of the 400th anniversary, and the Diamond Jubilee Reunion a year later for those here at the time of the accession.

The creation of KGS Friends and the expansion of the Development Office saw the Development Assistant becoming full time and a young Alumni Officer appointed, allowing Keith, now Alumni Administrator, to concentrate on maintaining the database and improving its usefulness by building on the contact data with additional information such as alumni’s interests.

Alongside all of this Keith, who was never very good at turning down people’s cries for help, found himself, among much more, willingly preparing electronic reports and printing them for sending home to parents and helping on GCSE and A Level results days sorting out the figures and statistics and presenting them for publication. For many years he was a key member of the CU team on camps and houseparties.

In his retirement, Keith continues his strong links with the School, supporting KGS Friends as representative of former staff and continuing to sit on the KGS Friends Committee. His experience of alumni relations has made him a vital part of AROPS, the national body for alumni associations, for whom he is currently Honorary Treasurer.

He also has the time to indulge his interest in musical theatre and attend recordings of popular BBC radio shows. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude for his many years of varied service at KGS, often working well into the evening, and wish him health, happiness and a long, fulfilling retirement.

N Bond

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J Smith

GAIL JOHNSON Gail Johnson was a stalwart of KGS who announced her retirement during the academic year. Gail had been at KGS for 20 years and in that time had occupied a multitude of roles from AV technician to the guru of the photocopiers and all things reprographic. From her trusty shed down the secret side passage in school, Gail masterminded the printing and copying of many of the school’s publications and leaflets. In addition, she managed a large part of the stationery budget and oversaw all aspects of AV in the hall; many a member of staff has to be thankful to Gail for getting them out of a sticky spot when trying in vain to show YouTube clips in assembly or work a complex PowerPoint! In her time at KSG Gail had seen a large number of pupils pass through the school, some of whom have now returned as staff, as well as members of staff and of course Heads. In addition, Gail has navigated the ever-changing world of AV and copying – I don’t think anyone should underestimate the changes Gail has had to manage in her time and how she embraced new technologies and innovations. Taking it all in her stride, Gail helped to move the school forward into a new era of design and printing.

Within school, Gail was well liked and trusted. She knew the inner workings of all areas of school life and could be relied upon to know why something was done in a particular way and what the history and background was to a particular event or incident. Gail was well known to the children around school – often helping them to prepare their assemblies and rescuing them with lastminute printing and photocopying.

Gail had a well-known love of cats and Scandi dramas not necessarily at the same time though - and many staff enjoyed catching up with Gail following a new installment of their favourite show or talking about their cats and their ailments. Gail was a support to many staff who needed cat advice, me included, and I know many staff would want to thank her for this.

Gail’s contribution to KGS cannot be measured and she is missed by all those who worked with her and who knew her. After 20 years of dedicated service to KGS Gail is enjoying her well deserved retirement and we wish her well with all that she choses to do. Gail lives locally and is a keen walker. I know many staff would love to see her and she would be more than welcome to pop in when she is next passing. Thank you, Gail, for all you have done for KGS. V S Humphrey

AL AN ASKER Alan Asker has retired from KGS after 15 years’ service to the school. Alan’s association with KGS began some years before he was employed directly by the school.

Soon after the school became coeducational, in the late 70s, Alan was contracted to convert the changing facilities in the Boathouse to create accommodation for girls as well as to bring about a general refurbishment of the building. During his time Alan has contributed to the development of the school and has taken on various roles. He is, as anyone who knows him is aware, a perfectionist in his craft as a carpenter.

There are fine examples of his work in various parts of the school that testify to this, recent pieces being the display cupboards in the Fenwick library and QE2 building. He has also supported his colleagues and proved he could fulfil a variety of roles - groundsman, caretaker, decorator, builder, plumber or plasterer. Alan is a rare example of a craftsman who can turn his hand to any job and complete it to a high standard. Aside from his craftsmanship Alan is renowned for enjoying a “chat” with his colleagues, who wish him well for a long and happy retirement.

NEWS

As editor of the Kingstonian, I would like to add my own tribute to Keith for all the sterling work he has done on the publication over the years. He undertook the design and page layout duties, thus enabling us to expand substantially the scope and comprehensiveness of the magazine. In this capacity he liaised with the printers too. But in addition to this, I am indebted to him for all the suggestions and reminders which he was able to provide. His huge knowledge of the school has been an invaluable resource, which has contributed significantly to making the Kingstonian the publication it is today.

I add my very best wishes to Keith for his retirement.

J Farmer

NICOL A JACKSON C. Duncan Baxter (former head­­­­­ master of KGS) did not always agree with me. On one thing and one thing only, however, we were in total agreement: Miss MacDougall’s interview was one of the most impressive ones we had ever conducted. In particular, she dealt with the relevance of Machiavelli’s “Prince” to modern day politicians confidently and without a break in her stride. One of her referees described her as the most organised teacher he had ever met. Such panegyrics almost invariably reflect the desire – albeit laudable - for mentors to secure prestigious posts for their students rather than an objective evaluation of the student’s real strengths and weaknesses. For once, however, a reference was true; Nicola Jackson is undoubtedly the most organised person… ever. In the History and Politics classrooms this quality alone made students feel immensely secure in her lessons.

They knew for certain that all aspects would be covered, copious and precise revision sheets would be produced and that deadlines would be met. They would learn. Her resources were a life-saver, too, for the rest of the History and Politics department, both for their quality and the range of topics which they covered.

Mrs Jackson is an enthusiast for Medieval History as anybody who has been bombarded by her with arguments for studying the Wars of the Roses and for reading the novels of Sharon Penman will be aware. It was surely this quality which Mrs Fletcher (another past Head) appreciated whilst team teaching with Nicola for the Sixth Form coursework unit on “the Golden Age of Spain”; she recognised a kindred spirit. Shortly afterwards, Nicola was appointed Director of Careers and Universities and from her command headquarters in the Sixth Form Office,

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she and her able satrap, Stephen Morris, issued a stream of advice, recommendations and directives which, building on the ground work of Richard Barker, transformed the scope and range of Careers and UCAS advice in the school.

There was a host of innovations which included the hugely popular evenings on the theme of “careers in…….” which brought alumni back to school and unbeknownst to many was their initial introduction to the skills of networking.

There was the inspiring Fifth Form trip to Somerville College, Oxford and the organisation of the careers evening as a fair rather than a series of talks to be attended. Her favourite job though was talking to the students and most of all helping them find the right university.

Nicola is an immensely talented individual who has given a huge amount of herself to the students, the subject and the institution. We miss her as she leaves to become Head of the Sixth Form at St John’s, Leatherhead.

J M Davies

ANTONIA BRUCE The impact Antonia made right from her first day at KGS as an NQT was apparent in everything she did. There is no denying that Antonia lives and breathes languages, be it in the classroom, at MFL events, trips or on the stage and indeed in her own time – one of her current challenges seems to be learning the languages of the Scandinavian countries she has on her ‘to experience’ list. She has put the MFL Department on the social media map, regularly creates Spotify playlists in various languages and she has been the forerunner for many i-pad initiatives.

Her boundless energy and enthusiasm for her subject shines through in everything she does; she is highly motivated and is fearless when experimenting with new and original resources. Her creative and innovative approach has made her the teaching idol for our department!

When the PSA bought a ‘dressing up box’ for the department, as suggested by Antonia, allegedly to motivate students to become more confident and adventurous with their speaking, we were all a little suspicious, and still are, that this was purely for her own pleasure! Antonia can often be seen wearing a wig in the colours of the German flag, carrying an inflatable guitar or wearing comedy glasses whilst teaching or presenting House events.

Antonia has showcased her theatrical and musical talents at many Kingston Revue shows and Christmas pantomimes – another excuse for dressing up! She has demonstrated on many occasions that she is not afraid to make a fool of herself and this is what she expects of her students as well. Films watched on coach trips to Germany have to be played in the karaoke version; free time on school trips in France and Germany is spent filming herself walking into shops and buildings whilst documenting this in the appropriate language to demonstrate the correct use of the dative and accusative case. Moreover, every important event, project and initiative is documented to the world of linguists on Twitter.

Most colleagues know Antonia as the school’s social secretary. She helped to reignite the social lives of her colleagues with her weekly Friday reminders about meetings in the local ‘library’ – venues changing as new discoveries were made! And like with everything else, Antonia always led by example!

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Antonia will be missed at KGS and we wish her all the very best in her new post at Fettes College in Edinburgh.

TM Russell & RJ Sharp

LORC AN O’BRIEN Following four very busy and eventful years, we were delighted, although at the same time saddened, that Lorcan was leaving to take up the post of Director of Sport at Cranmore Prep School, a leading independent prep school in Surrey, situated in West Horsley between Guildford and Leatherhead. The school is fully co-ed from 2½ until age 7 (end of year 2) with boys only from ages 7-13.

This will be a very different environment for Lorcan, having worked in secondary education thus far in his career. However, as well as bringing its own very different challenges, it does allow Lorcan to work at the same school that his daughter, Tilly, attends and I know this was very important to Lorcan in making his decision.

Lorcan joined KGS in 2011 from RGS Guildford, where he was Assistant Director of Sport. He took up the post of Director of Sport and straight away put together a detailed strategy which implemented the findings of the Sports Review that had been conducted prior to Lorcan’s arrival.

This was indeed a very interesting time for Sport at KGS with the remit for sport being to maintain the school’s national reputation in rowing and hockey, while increasing participation within these sports and, at the same time, putting in place development plans for all the other sports we offer and building the programmes within these sports to make sure there was a proper infrastructure in place for coaches (to coach) and pupils to develop as players.

Lorcan can look back with an enormous sense of pride in what he and his team have managed to achieve. When he reflects upon how the sports programme looks now, he will see a programme that is so much better for the pupils, one that caters for those pupils who want to test themselves at the cutting edge of their sports, while at the same time offering other pupils participation and aspirational strands to their chosen sports.

As well as the significant development of the football, netball, cricket, tennis and athletics programmes, Lorcan can look back fondly on the introduction of Golf, Girls’ Cricket and Sailing to our sports programme and the ‘industry leading’ (as described by Neil Rollings, independent schools sports consultant) Senior Games programme we run. In addition, our ‘pioneering’ Sports Scholar programme, the development of football, participation in hockey and cricket tours in our sports tour provision are further testament to what we now offer following Lorcan’s leadership of sport.

Lorcan can also be proud of the partnerships he worked so hard in developing at KGS. We now have Brentford FC, St. Mary’s College and Surrey CC as partners of the school to name a few.

Lorcan’s sense of humour and fun will be missed by all and we wish Lorcan, Michelle and Tilly all the very best for the future.

J M Wallace

Robert McCarthy joined the Chemistry Department as an NQT in September 2012. With a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry, post-doctoral experience at UCL and a PGCE from the Institute of Education, he very quickly established himself as a highly capable, knowledgeable and hardworking Chemistry teacher. Many students have profited from his willingness to give of his time in extra help and the whole Chemistry department has benefitted from his dedicated and professional approach to every aspect of his work, both academically in Chemistry lessons and pastorally in his role as a fourth and fifth form tutor.

Robert’s activities were not confined to Chemistry and he was appointed Head of Football soon after joining the school. His dedication in this role has seen Football’s profile raised within the school, with more students than ever before now playing football, both recreationally and representing the school in competitions, with almost ninety football fixtures in the 2015-16 school calendar!

A stalwart of the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh project, Robert also helped students prepare for their expeditions; Robert’s calm, measured and good humoured approach was invaluable to the success of these trips.

A great teacher and a friendly, approachable colleague, Robert will be hugely missed but we wish him every success as he takes up his new post at King’s College School, Wimbledon.

L H Winning

PETE SCOTT

NEWS

ROBERT McC ARTHY

Pete joined KGS from Surrey Cricket in February 2013 and has enjoyed three fruitful cricket summers at the school. When he arrived, KGS Cricket was at a crossroads. Pete drove the programme, with pupils at the wheel, and all KGS pupils now enjoy a varied, vibrant and fun programme. He established a competitive fixture block, established the first ever overseas KGS Cricket tour to Sri Lanka and started Girls’ Cricket with some considerable success. Walworth House is grateful to him for taking on the Head of House role during Mrs Wakely’s maternity leave. Pete, who loves coffee, his hair, cycling and romantic strolls on the beach, is leaving KGS for King’s College, Wimbledon, as Director of Junior Cricket. We wish him and his family all the best in this new chapter of his life and work.

L O’Brien

Jess Murray, 5RM

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WELCOME to...

CLEMENT BEQUIGNON Bonjour and Guten Tag KGS! I was born and educated in France where I gained my two degrees, a licence in English with German and a maîtrise of Lingusitics and French as a Foreign Language. During my studies, I have been very lucky to travel extensively and got the opportunity to live and study in College Station, Texas, as well as in Aberdeen, Scotland.

These were great experiences that have really reshaped my way of thinking and have led me to settle here in London, one of the most exciting and multicultural cities in the world. After gaining my PGCE, I taught a few years in a London grammar school and I am delighted to have now joined the KGS community. I am particularly looking forward to the French exchange which should be an amazing experience for everyone involved.

BEN C AMPBELL After completing my undergraduate degree in English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford I was looking for a way to develop my love of literature into a career. This choice became easy to make once I discovered the HMC Teacher Training program on which I am now enrolled. I am delighted to be joining the English Department at Kingston Grammar, and I look forward to learning just as much as the students in the years to come.

EMMA C ARLSTEDT-DUKE I was delighted to join the PE department at Kingston Grammar School this September.

After working as sports coach in Melbourne, Australia, I graduated from the University of West England, Bristol with a degree in Sport Science. Knowing I wanted to continue down the career path in education, I spent last year teaching sport at St Mary’s School, Ascot. Whilst at university I spent my time developing my knowledge throughout many sports, particularly focusing on netball. This has become a huge part in my life as I specialise as both a coach and official to a high level, in addition to still playing myself. Outside of school life I like to keep fit, enjoy sailing from the Isle of Wight and experiencing the London life.

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CHRIS CONNEELY I am delighted to be taking up this role whilst Kathryn Moore is on maternity leave and I’m really looking forward to getting to know my fellow colleagues, pupils, alumni and friends.

I join Kingston Grammar School from Westminster School, where I was Head of Alumni Relations. Prior to that, I worked in alumni and development roles at St George’s, University of London, as well as Royal Holloway, University of London, which is also where I gained my Bachelor’s degree in English and French.

I grew up not far away in Putney so am well acquainted with the local area, and my more recent visits to Kingston have been water-based - which is to say that since 2011 I have taken part in the annual charity dragon boat race on the Thames at Canbury Gardens, raising funds for a local charity called Family Line.

I hope to make a valuable contribution to the school during my time here and have already been made to feel very welcome. I wish Kathryn and her husband Graham all the best as they start their new family.

Philip Cooper Philip Cooper returns part-time to teach Mathematics.

ELEANOR COULBER For my degree I studied Geography and Biology at the University of Durham, then as I had enjoyed being a student so much I decided to stay on to complete a doctorate in geographical education. When I eventually returned south I still hadn’t had enough of studying so I did my PGCE at the Institute of Education and it was then definitely time for me to get a proper job. As well as teaching, I have worked in the education department of the Royal Geographical Society and as a geography tutor for participants on the Teach First scheme. I live in Kingston with my family, so I am delighted to have been able to take up a position at KGS and I am already enjoying my time here a great deal.

I am delighted to become Director of Careers & Universities at KGS. A love of languages encouraged me to study French & German at Newcastle University.

After completing a PGCE at the University of York, I spent a number of years working in Sweden, Austria and in Poland with VSO. In the UK I worked briefly as a freelance translator and interpreter and taught French, German & Spanish in grammar schools. In 2005 I studied for an MA in Careers Guidance and for my thesis focused on career decision-making behaviour of Korean students.

I have ten years’ experience advising students about careers and higher education. It is a real privilege to accompany a young person on their journey to finding their career and higher education pathway.

I enjoy helping with Duke of Edinburgh and have plenty of experience organising exchanges and visits, including to Germany, France and Japan. In my spare time I enjoy hillwalking, gardening, singing, and kayaking.

PAMELA FURSDON After I had worked for many years as a Technical Trainer for Barclays Bank PLC, my passion for books and reading led to a career change and my becoming the Librarian at Collis School in Teddington. There I developed and promoted the library till it became a fully utilised, wellresourced and loved part of the school. I am delighted to be at KGS now and part of a team that also promotes the importance of a library and a love of books.

In my spare time I am an active volunteer for the charity Save the Children, a member of Kingston Rock Choir and a keen and regular visitor to all the wonderful art galleries and museums in and around London.

KAYLEIGH FREEMAN I joined KGS in May 2015 as the Finance Officer, Payroll. Prior to this employment I worked for one of London’s Largest Estate Agencies.

I was responsible for producing accurate and timely financial information, steadily moving up within the organisation to Payroll Manager.

I hope to bring my knowledge to the already experienced Bursary department and look forward to being part of the team for many years to come.

COCO GU After graduating from University in China with a BSc in Chemical Engineering in 2001, I went to Germany to pursue a Master’s degree in Chemistry. My fellow German students asked me to help them learn Mandarin. It was there and then that I discovered my interest in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. I have continued to do so for the last 14 years, whilst living in the UK, Indonesia and Japan. In 2011, I took a training course in Beijing Normal University and achieved a Certificate in Senior Grade Chinese Language Teaching. I am very proud of the Chinese language, not only because it is one of the world’s most ancient languages (which is still used on a daily basis by over 1.3 billion people), but also because of the rich culture, history and philosophy that come with it. And this passion is exactly what I love to share with my students.

I am delighted and honoured to join the KGS community and look forward to the new professional challenge.

NEWS

ANTHONY FITZGERALD

ALEX HALL Hello, I am “the new Gail,” having accepted the baton of the reprographics and resources provision here at KGS from the recently retired, stalwart keeper of board markers, Gail Johnson.

I myself have many years of experience in reprographics from my previous job at McDonald’s Head Office in East Finchley. Also known as Hamburger University, it is where an almost constant flow of restaurant managers attend courses to be trained in the art of fast food and earn their stars.

I was duly kept busy printing endless streams of course material and activity sheets. Outside of work I have a wife and two children aged 9 and 3, and mostly spend my time doing activities with them. I am also studying, in what little spare time I can find, to complete a degree in Engineering Design with the Open University and have recently achieved a diploma in Design and Innovation.

MARTYN HALL After graduating from Brunel University (Borough Road) with my MSc in Sport Sciences, I took up the position of Sport Scientist in Reading FC’s Academy.

After completing my FA Fitness Trainers Award and Weight Lifting qualifications I became a regional Strength and Conditioning coach for the FA, working with England Female Youth Teams.

I then took up a position with Brentford FC Community Sports Trust, using the power of sport to engage young people in health, education and sport participation. I was at the Trust for nine years and managed various projects, the most recent being the Futsal BTEC programme. As well as working at the Trust, I also did some work with Brentford FC’s first team as a Performance Analyst, travelling with

KINGSTON GRA MMAR SCHOOL 2015

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them to home and away fixtures and providing data and feedback on their performances and oppositions.

PAUL JACKSON

I am a Level 3 Football (UEFA B) coach but am always looking to develop my coaching in football/futsal and other sports.

After eleven years teaching (three schools and three continents), I join the Kingston Grammar community, looking forward to driving Physical Education and Sport further and assisting the talented students in fulfilling their potential.

Outside of work I love watching football, cycling and have two young sons who keep my wife and me busy!

I am very excited about joining KGS and developing the Football programme as well as supporting all sports and meeting students, parents and staff.

STEVE HARDY Following an eight year period as a head teacher at an independent faith school and more recently a maintained sector primary school, I have come to KGS, the arch rivals of one of my previous schools, St George’s College. My roles provide excellent preparation for headship and inspection work that I complete for ISI along with my work with England Hockey as Centrally Contracted Coach and Senior Coach Educator. It was somehow fitting and predictable that my first away fixture with the KGS girls’ first XI was to Weybridge, where, as you would expect, we won. It was been a pleasure working on the games field with hockey and cricket teams and I am now also enjoying some geography teaching.

ANNMARIE HENDERSON Having grown up in Kingston-uponThames, I am delighted to have joined Kingston Grammar School this academic year. I decided to become a teacher after completing my degree at King’s College, London, where, after experiencing a tutorial system of teaching, I reflected with fondness upon the huge amount of care and support I received from my own teachers whilst at school. The following year I completed my PGCE at The University of Oxford in 2004. After becoming a qualified teacher, I decided to take a year off to travel around America, learn to play the guitar competently and work at Nicky Clarke hairdressers in Mayfair, London. However, teaching was never far from my thoughts and since returning to teaching I have worked in schools for the past ten years, taking on different roles in both the History Department and most recently as Head of Sixth Form.

I was thrilled to join KGS this year and am immensely looking forward to working with the new staff, and getting to know the students better by taking an active role in the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

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KINGSTON GRA MM AR SCHOOL 2015

I began my career in a Grammar School for boys in Buckinghamshire, where I thoroughly enjoyed working with some fantastic students and staff. I then left the UK to start an International teaching post with my wife, in Bangkok, Thailand. It was an amazing experience on so many levels! However, after two years, we decided we wanted to be closer to family, but were keen to stay on the International circuit for a while longer. This move took us to Dubai, UAE! Three years in the desert and two children later, we’ve now returned to the UK and we’re looking forward to a new adventure on home soil.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the experiences gained from teaching in diverse cities and I hope to use these experiences in developing Physical Education and continuing Kingston Grammar’s proud tradition of sporting excellence.

When I’m not at work, I enjoy spending time with my wife and two children, cooking, playing sport whenever I get the chance, and keeping fit and healthy.

I look forward to getting to know the Kingston community better.

MARY-JANE JEANES My love of Chemistry began while at school at the French Lycée in South Kensington due to an inspirational teacher. I continued studying Chemistry at Oxford University and very much enjoyed my research into organometallic chemistry.

During my time at university, I tutored school students for their A levels and this led me to choose teaching as a career. Over the years, I have taught in a wide variety of schools, mostly in the independent sector, and enjoyed my time as Head of Science in my previous school. I have also been an examiner for many years; currently, I mark for OCR. I am delighted to have joined the Chemistry Department at KGS and look forward to getting to know colleagues, pupils and parents. I hope all pupils will be as fascinated

by Chemistry as I am.

LIZZIE NOBLE

I am very much looking forward to beginning my teaching career at KGS in the History Department.

For the next two years I will be training to teach through the new HMC Teacher Training Scheme and undertaking a PGCE at the University of Buckingham. After graduating from the University of St Andrews, I continued studying History by undertaking a Masters in Global and Imperial History at the University of Oxford. After my Masters, I decided to pursue further academic research and I have recently submitted my PhD thesis on human rights abuses during the end of the British Empire in Cyprus, Kenya and Malawi. Whilst in Oxford, I worked part-time at a local school and it was during my time there that I decided to embark upon a career in teaching. I am delighted to be joining KGS and look forward to the challenges this post will bring.

As a student I was inspired by some very enthusiastic Geography teachers. Determined to travel the world and experience first-hand the places I had learned about at school, I studied Geography as the University of Leeds, and on completing my degree packed my bags. I spent 4 years teaching in a school in Hong Kong and exploring Asia before returning to university to undertake a Master’s degree in Biodiversity and Conservation.

Anoushka Lett I am delighted to be joining the staff of Kingston Grammar School in my new role as Assistant Head teacher. Having taught at a variety of schools for the past twenty years in and around London, I am passionate about championing STEM subjects across the curriculum and particularly at A-Level. I have always enjoyed the practical aspect of chemistry; I feel great joy when I see my students make a connection with a discovery in the lab and the everyday chemistry of the wider world.

I was educated at a girls’ school in Kingston before taking up a place to study Chemistry at the University of Exeter.

It was there that I met my husband James and so I always look back fondly on those years. I have two children, Olivia (aged 10) and Freddie (aged 8), which leaves little time for personal interests but I count skiing, cycling and hiking as my pastimes. I look forward to joining the school community in the New Year.

Róisín McBrien Originally from rural Co. Fermanagh, I have recently moved to Kingston from Belfast. I graduated from Queen’s University with a Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics and Physics, and having been prompted to pursue a teaching career through my experience of tutoring as well as endless advice, I stayed on at Queen’s to complete a PGCE. When I’m not in the classroom, I enjoy finding nice restaurants and exploring London. I am delighted to be joining the Mathematics department at Kingston Grammar School and look forward to working with the staff and students. Aside from maths, I will also be involved with the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, which will be an exciting challenge!

NEWS

KATE KENNEDY

Since graduating, I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work in a variety of geographical roles (including managing a nature reserve in Colombia), to work in local government and more recently as an ecological consultant.

I am delighted to be joining the Geography Department at KGS, and I look forward to working with a new generation of Geographers.

MARK SCOTT Originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, I thought I was settled after studying Theology & Modern History at Queen’s University Belfast and working as a youth worker in Holywood, Co. Down, but the desire to move into the educational sector was too much.

So after completing my PGCE (again at QUB), my wife and I upped sticks across the Irish sea for me to take up the post as teacher of Religion & Philosophy at KGS. I’m extremely excited to be here and involved in a forward thinking and exciting department with a fantastic set of pupils. I’m a keen rugby and football player and am looking forward to getting involved in the sporting life of the school and the local community.

ANGUS SHARPE Growing up in the Roman city of Bath must have had a profound effect, as I have been studying some form of Classics for the majority of my life. Having whetted my appetite with A Level Latin, I headed up to Edinburgh to try my hand at some Ancient Greek as well and spent three wonderful years in the ‘Athens of the North’, with the privileged interruption of a year’s study in Montreal. I gained my MA in 2013 and managed to bag a spot on the PGCE course at King’s College, London, one of only two institutions in the country still churning out Classics teachers. I was lucky enough to spend my second training placement at KGS and it is a pleasure to continue my development into NQT year in such a warm and supportive environment.

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JANE SMITH

CHRISTOS STAVROU

I am a Chartered Secretary, married with one daughter and two very spoilt tabby cats. Outside of school I enjoy embroidery and am a member of Teddington Theatre Club.

I finished secondary school in 1999 in Cyprus. I then served in the Cyprus National Guard as a mechanised infantry second lieutenant for two years.

I subsequently left Cyprus for university. I graduated with a BSc in Physics from the University of Bristol. This was followed by a PGCE at Oxford University, two years teaching and then an MSc in Fusion Energy at the University of York. I left York to come to London, where I worked as a teacher for a year before starting my PhD in Plasma Physics at Imperial College. I am currently finishing my thesis write-up.

I started my career working in Luxembourg with a multi-national corporation before being transferring to the Isle of Man to assist in the establishment of a new manufacturing facility producing industrial diamonds.

My first experience of working in schools was when I joined The King’s School, Canterbury as Finance Manager.

Following my marriage I commuted to London for nine years as the Chief Accountant and Company Secretary for a small national charity focused on regeneration and heritage.

In 2003 I returned to the world of education at Walton Leigh, a Surrey school for pupils with severe and profound learning difficulties. I joined KGS from Grey Court School where I had been the Director of Finance & Operations for the past five years.

C AROLINE STANLEY A proud army child (or “brat” as John Boyes has taken to calling me), I went to boarding schools in Bristol whilst my parents sunned themselves in Malaysia, before taking two years off after A-Levels (when I worked for a charity for deaf children). I studied Psychology at university but right at the last minute, and after two clinical psychology internships, I decided that Psychology wasn’t for me so joined a marketing agency in central London. When I could no longer see the bright lights of the big city through all the pollution, I upped sticks to Walton on Thames, and joined Kingston Grammar School in the marketing department.

The role is totally different to anything I have done before and there was a slight baptism of fire, but I have enjoyed myself immensely so far and hope to continue doing so in the future. In my spare time I enjoy running, pilates, knitting and other varied pursuits.

Zara Najiballah ICT Support Technician

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KINGSTON GRA MM AR SCHOOL 2015

KARL TURNER Bonjour! Guten Tag! I grew up in Ashford, Kent. Being so close to the continent, I was fortunate enough to be taught French and German exclusively by natives for the entirety of my senior school education. They inculcated me with a real passion for French and German, culminating in my reading them for my undergraduate degree.

This saw me study abroad, with six months spent at the Sorbonne IV and a further six months at the Universität Düsseldorf.

Further to graduation, I worked in Paris in a project management position for a further year, before returning to London for two more years, taking a role in audit, and then a role in the diamond jewellery industry.

Disappointed with the few opportunities I had to exploit my language skills, and unsatisfied with the rat race and daily commute, I decided to return to university and complete a PGCE at Cambridge.

I am very excited to embark upon my teaching career at such a prestigious rowing school, and look forward to many more years teaching French and German here.

Victoria Ward Victoria Ward has returned to teach Design Technology (maternity cover).

Captain of School Prizes School Captain Prize Lewis L Wales

School Vice-Captain Prize Flora L Blake-Parsons

School Vice-Captain Prize Lydia G G Cozens

CCF U6JWS U6JWS U6CMW

D R Hattersley CCF RAF Prize Lewis J R Ahl

J S Riley CCF Army Prize Hal D Boulter

Alex McLean Charitable Work Prize

Alex J Harper Lara E Horin Anya Williams-Doherty

PSA Service Prize

U6ID U6JAD U6JWS

U6LHW U6JWS U6DF U6JWS U6JWS

U6SG U6LHW

Community Service Prize L6 Robert G G Bern Johnny M Bridge Charlie A Sanford

Hannah M Arnold Matt Newton

Paeony M de la Garde Tingay

P W Rundle Prize for Classical Civilisation

U6CMW U6MJR

Oliver Davis Prize Ella M A Styles

Design & Technology

Serena K Sekhon Nick A Semple

Lever Brothers’ Prize for Technology

U6ID U6LHW

Academic Achievement Prize Isadora M L Jones

Sean E Mansfield

Lewis J R Ahl U6JH

Dra ma

3RS

A.L. Brown Memorial Prize for Drama Rishi J Manuel

Art The Head’s Prize for Outstanding Artistic Achievement Alex R Pitcairn

Polly May Stevens Prize for Sculpture Phoebe J Cowley

S J Miller Prize for Art and Design Lara E Horin

U6ID U6ID

L6CGW

L6SRM

The Worshipful Company of Joiners and Ceilers Prize

Academic Achie vement Hugh J Harvey

L6JSS L6EP L6CGW

Courage & Determination

Lovekyn Chantry Lodge Prize

Hemmings Cup

U6LHW

Classics

Elisheba S Marshall

Old Kingstonians’ Prize

U6DF

Tom A Whittle

Agnes Ellen Jenner Prize for Classics U6JWS

U6JWS

Ellen R Potts

Robert G R Matthews

The Elvidge Prize Anya Williams-Doherty

Max J Salisbury

Community Service Prize U6

Governors’ Prizes – Oxford

U6JH

Charit y & Communit y

Governors’ Prizes – Ca mbridge

Isobel L Dodds Duncan J Green Max J Salisbury Harry A Style Lewis L Wales

NEWS

PRIZES 2014 - 2015

KGS Dance & Drama Society Award Lydia G G Cozens Sam P Kan U6JAD

Duke of Edinburgh Award

U6JAD

DoE Gold Award

Matthew D Maginnis

U6JH

U6RJS U6CMW U6JAD

U6RJS

U6JAD

Engineering The Gopal Srinivasan Engineering Award Hal D Boulter

U6JWS

KINGSTON GRA MMAR SCHOOL 2015

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English Humphrey Memorial Prize for English Sam J Underwood

R C Sherriff Prize for English & Drama Peter W Alvey

Literature Prize Issy K Macleod

Short Story Prize Grace Everitt

Music U6CMW U6RJS U6RJS

Anna M V Hartley

Extended Project Second Prize

Alex J Harper Annie K Irwin

Hazel A Scurr

J Stanley West Prize for Geography Peter W Alvey

Georgia E Jones

James S Wakefield

U6ID

Ye Ji Hwang

Library/RP Project Prize Penny A Cairney-Leeming

Duncan J Green

The Philip Cooper Prize for Mathematics James F Shriver

Alex J Harper

Srinivasan Presentation Prizes (Middle School)

L6LRR

Religion & Philosophy

U6RJS

Walker Memorial Prize for Divinity Sam J Underwood

U6SG

Biology Fieldwork Prize Lydia G Bisping

Robinson Memorial Prize for Chemistry Lewis L Wales

Surrey Comet Prize for Biological Sciences U6JMD

Anya Williams-Doherty

Val Packer Prize for Outstanding Work in Physics Harry A Style

4DB

U6DF

2MW 2HN

5RM 5JG

U6CMW

1AP

Senior 1st

Harry A Style

Senior 2nd

Chris J Robbs U6JWS U6JH

Senior 3rd

Tom F Miller

Intermediate 1st

Charlotte A S Smith

Intermediate 2nd Hakeem A Shittu

Intermediate 3rd

Harry E T Kershaw U6ID

Third Year

Max T Cairney-Leeming Muhyuck Im

First Year

Thomas E R Bowser

KINGSTON GRA MM AR SCHOOL 2015

U6MJR U6JWS U6JWS

U6JWS

HG Woyda M athematics Competition

Second Year

16

U6JH

Science

Modern Foreign Languages Helga & Jack Sherman Prize for Modern Languages

Izzy H Pleasance

Oliver J Cole Matthew R Pugh

M athematics J A Strover Prize for Mathematics

Tom W Sayer

Second Prize U6ID U6ID

Library G E Rapley Memorial – Library Prize

P R Ekberg Prize for the Most Outstanding Contribution to School Music

Srinivasan Presentation Prizes (Junior) First Prize

Law H S Lees Prize for Law

Cameron G R Leckie

U6JH

Presentation & Public Speaking

History The Snelling History Prize

Baxter Prize for Singing

Timothy E Shipley

Geography Geography Fieldwork Prize

Peter E Le Tissier

3SC

E xtended Project Extended Project First Prize

A B Creber Prize for Music

U6JWS U6LHW U6JWS 3NR 4HW 5NF 3RS 2KB 1MD

Junior School Sport Prize

The Tony Smith Award for commitment to sport at KGS

Athletics

Matthew D Maginnis

Craig Rowing Prize

Will H G Burden Flora L Blake-Parsons

Molly A Chesney Amy F Falconer U6RJS

Max W Dawson L6JJT U6JWS

Max H G Griffin

Football

Ralph P H Harvey-Kelly

Hockey

Jonnie M Bird

Hockey

Emma C Headley

Golf

Matthew D Maginnis

Netball

Joanne J S Davies

Rowing

Isobel L Dodds

Rowing

Lachie P R Ives

Tennis

Hari J Clarke

Andy de Quidt Award for the Most Improved Rower Bea M W Stokman

Celia Tullett Award for The Most Improved Girl Hockey Player

Holly A Brown

Daniel Kenn Award for The Most Improved Boy Hockey Player

Sam Langston

Dodds Trophy for Junior Hockey Sally J P Sime

Matchmaker Junior Hockey Cup Will H Mackintosh

Edward J Darwin

Athletics

Nathan P Farr

Cricket

Eva Gray

Football

Teddy J Coward

Golf

Sam H Reid

Netball

Rea Georghiades

Rowing

Emily R Gibson

Rowing

Sam J D Helm

Tennis

Matthew J Cooper

Niall A Shinn

Clara L Lyckeus

Netball

Sara K Gotham-Pardo

U6JMD

Rowing

Aryan Bhasin U6MJR

Rowing

Freya B King U6JMD

Tennis

Lucas W Askeland

3SC 3SC 3RS 3PS 2AB 3PS 3PS 2KB

U6DF U6RJS U6RJS U6LHW L6JJT L6JJT

School Prize Art

Martha A Horn

Biochemistry Chris J Robbs

Biology

Rachel E Finlay

Chemistry

Anya Williams-Doherty

Critical Thinking 5TR

Sophia A Shafiee

Design & Technology Lucy S E Roberts

L6MAR

3PS 3PS 3HL

Economics

Oliver C Axbey Max J Salisbury

English

Josie C Darwin

French

Paeony M de la Garde Tingay

Geography

Georgia E Jones

German

Middle School Sport Prize Sport

Football Golf

S H Le wis Sport Prize Cricket

Cricket

3NR

NEWS

Sport

Lewis L Wales

History

4DS 4SC 4MB 5LS 4DB 5JG 5NF 5NF 5JG

Jonnie M Bird

Italian

Alex J Harper

Latin

Katharine J M Sealy

Mandarin

Josh R Thompson

Mathematics

Anya Williams-Doherty

Mathematics and Science Jake W J Paterson

Music

Paeony M de la Garde Tingay

Philosophy & Ethics Johnny M Bridge

Physics

Laura Antalffy

U6RJS U6LHW U6LHW U6JWS L6EP 5JG U6JMD U6DF U6CMW U6ID U6SG U6JWS U6JMD U6ID U6RJS 2MW U6JWS U6LHW U6ID L6EP U6DF

KINGSTON GRA MMAR SCHOOL 2015

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Politics

James S Wakefield

U6JMD

Psychology Zoe K E Lowrey

Spanish

Matthew D Maginnis

Sport Studies

Emma C Headley

Theatre Studies

Amelia S Cashman Milly F Stell

L6MAR U6RJS U6DF U6SG U6SG

Middle School Prize Creative Arts Jess R Murray

English

Emily R Gibson E Meg Hugill

Humanities

Miranda R W Worth

Maths

Matthew R Pugh

Languages

Emily R Gibson

Performing Arts Megan Nicholls

Science

Katie H Annesley

Frances C Hedley

English

Daisy E R J Kakkar

Humanities

Joe E B Young

Languages

Isadora M L Jones

Maths

Toby A Cole

Performing Arts Omid Alavi

Science

Stacey Kozhevnikova

5RM 5NF 5TR 5TR

18

Jamie W Bisping Ellie L Falconer Maddie F Kelly Lauren A Lever Domi Rybova Greta A Weston

5JG

Fourth Form Prize

5NF

George A Casci Edward J Darwin Kirsty S George Kate M J Jarvis Fiona J Kennedy Emily W J Liu Charlie H P Perry Daniel T Piche Hainsworth Kate B Scott-Taylor Zoe H Sharpe Hakeem A Shittu Thomas R Sweeney

5CJ 5CJ

3SC 3HL 3RS 3RS 2KB

5CJ 5TR 5NF 5RM 5NF 5LS 5TR 5JG 5JG 5LS 5NF 5TR

5TR 5CJ 5JG 5NF 5RM 5LS

4HW 4DS 4MB 4RP 4DB 4HW 4RP 4RP 4RP 4DB 4HW 4SC

Fourth Form Progress Prize Tilda M Blohm Peter J Dawson Nathan P Farr Holly E Godliman Ye Ji Hwang Anouk M Vaessen

4RP 4HW 4SC 4MB 4DB 4SC

2KC 3NR

Lower Sixth Form Prize Emily M Bertin Ari S Biggart Stefan S Hales Zoe K E Lowrey Stephanie A Martin Hazel A Scurr Stephanie A Semple Sophia A Shafiee William A Vine Anna K Wallich Ellie G R Huxter Laura A Marcus Kezia I M Milligan Maya Yousif

Katie H Annesley Evie A Benincasa Jack R Bowman Nicole M George Emily R Gibson Catie G R McMahon Ben J Park Matthew R Pugh Lucy S E Roberts Jenny Shpeter Lucy G P Skinner Bethany F Williams

Fifth Form Progress Prize

Junior School Prize Creative Arts

Fifth Form Prize

L6CGW L6PJR L6LRR L6MAR L6JSS L6LRR L6LRR L6EP L6LRR L6NEM L6EP L6JSS L6EP L6PH

KINGSTON GRA MM AR SCHOOL 2015

Third Form Prize Max T Cairney-Leeming Reuben A D Cooper Hugo M N Dreux Grace Everitt Frances C Hedley Isadora M L Jones Stacey Kozhevnikova Daisy E Langton Clara L Lyckeus Ellen A Lyckeus Charlotte A S Smith Joe E B Young

3RS 3RS 3SC 3SC 3SC 3RS 3NR 3HL 3PS 3SC 3NR 3RS

Lucy M W Evans Elin H Humphrey Freddie J Kar Jonny J P Kerr Stefan Saoulis Ben J Harrison-Hyde

First Form Prize 3SC 3HL 3NR 3HL 3SC 3SC

Second Form Prize Felix T Adams Toby A Cole Anna B Gray Izzy J S Hepburn Will C Hunt Issy K James Nonny D Jones Adwait Joshi Lucy M Pringle Chloe N Taylor Lydia K Underwood Maia D White

2SB 2KB 2AB 2HN 2MW 2KC 2AB 2HN 2SB 2SB 2AB 2AB

Penny A Cairney-Leeming Isla E Flett Jasmin P Good Sean R Graham Charlotte I Higham Izzy C Kerr Ben P Little Louisa M Marshall Zoe R Mason Hannah M Orrell Sofie I M Procter H Tarun Ramphul

1AP 1AP 1MD 1AP 1LJ 1SC 1MD 1AP 1LJ 1MD 1SC 1AP

NEWS

Third Form Progress Prize

First Form Progress Prize Daisy E Bainbridge Frances C Chorley Anouk M Delattre Tom N Romberg Zac O Sampson-Regal Erin L Shrimsley

1LJ 1MD 1AP 1MD 1SC 1MD

Second Form Progress Prize Tim Baker Giulia Duggan Alexander T M Furmston Manvir S Nijjar Alexander H Smolenski

2HN 2MW 2SB 2HN 2KB

Officers of the School. Back row: Martha Horne, Harry Style and Matt Newton. Middle row, left to right: Hal Boulter, Issy Dodds, Joanne Davies, Cameron Leckie, Nick Semple, Sam Kan, Emma Headley and Hannah Arnold Front row, left to right: Matt Maginnis, Flo Blake Parsons (vice Captain), J M Wallace (Deputy Head), S R Lehec (Head Master), Lewis Wales (School Captain), Lydia Cozens (Vice Captain), and Max Salisbury.

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TEA M HONOURS

SPORTING ACHIE VEMENTS

HOCKE Y

Eva Gray

Boys’ 1st XI

Member of the U15 England Cricket Women’s Development Programme and the Surrey Ladies’ Cricket 1st XI, U17 & U15

Boys’ U16

Eddie Hunt

Reached the Quarter-Final of National tournament

South of England Finalists; London Runners-up

Boys’ U14

Finished 3rd in South Heats; London Runners-up

Girls’ 1st XI

Runners-up Quarter-Finals of South Tournament; London Champions

Girls’ U16

Finished 4th in South Heats; London Runners-up

Girls’ U14

Runners-up Quarter-Finals of South Tournament; London Champions

Girls’ U13

Runners-up Quarter-Finals of South Tournament; London Champions

ROWING

County and regional swimmer, Junior Captain for Teddington Swim Club. Eddie has won 20 races so far this season.

Clara John

Member of Chelsea Football Club’s U13 Girls’ team.

The team has only lost 4 games this season.

Ellie Lord

Represented the Middlesex U13s girls Cricket Team

Ben Mallinson

Represented the Middlesex U13s Cricket Team

Holly Munro

Member of the Surbiton Hockey Women’s 1st XI that won the National Premiership League, The National Finals and won gold at the England Hockey Club Cup Finals

Sam Reid

Won the Surrey Schools Golf Championship.

Cameron Spurling U15 winner at the British Rowing Indoor Championships

British Rowing Championships: Boys’ Junior VIII (composite with Molesey Boat Club)

INDIVIDUAL HONOURS

3rd Henry Grills, Lachie Ives, Robert Bern, Stefan Hales, Laurence Milward, Tristan Taylor, Jams Dyson and William Burden (Cox)

Chess

Boys’ J16 coxed four

Silver Robert Bern, Laurence Milward, Tristan Taylor, James Dyson, William Burden (Cox)

Girls’ Junior Eight (composite crew with Lady Eleanor Hollis School) Silver Flo Blake-Parsons

National Schools Regatta 2015

Boy’s J15 coxed four

4th Hakeem Shittu, Cameron Spurling, Nathan Barnett, Will Holman, Sam Shapley (Cox)

Girls’ J16 coxless pair

6th Millie Gibson & Bea Stokman

Gabriel Thompson

Won the Silver Plate Competition in the U16 section of the Southern Gigafinal 2014 in the UK Chess Challenge, a national competition attracting 15,000 entries. He also successfully qualified for the Southern Gigafinal in the 2015 UK Chess Challenge after winning the U17 section in the Surrey Megafinal.

Design & Technology Callum Farr, Nathan Farr, Thomas Gibson, Adwait Joshi, Cameron Macpherson

The DT team came 9th overall at the National Final of the Vex Robotics National Championships and came 5th in the Robot Skills Challenge.

Drama Honours Rishi Manuel

Member of the National Youth Music Theatre.

Rory Stroud

Appeared in Ah Wilderness! at The Young Vic

REPRESENTATIVE HONOURS Flo Blake-Parsons

Rowed for England in the Home Countries International 2014 winning gold in the WJ VIII

Ellie de Heer

Represented the U16 England Hockey Team

Holly A L Munro

Represented the U18 England Hockey Team. Holly is a member of the Surbiton Hockey Women’s 1st XI that won the National Premiership Finals and also won gold at the England Hockey Club Cup Finals

Zach Wallace

Represented the U16 England Hockey Team

Owen Williamson

Represented the U16 England Hockey Team

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KINGSTON GRA MM AR SCHOOL 2015

Lucy Tait

for performing at The Rose Theatre, Kingston upon Thames

OLD KINGSTONIAN HONOURS

Penny Cairney-Leeming

Ella Barnard

Selected for the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain (NCO), U12 Orchestra on Flute.

James Dick

Captain of the Cambridge University Lightweight crew who won the Oxford v Cambridge Lightweight Boat race 2015.

Vivek Haria

Coached the Surbiton Hockey Women’s 1st XI that won the National Premiership Finals and also won gold at the England Hockey Club Cup Finals.

Awarded Second Place in the ‘Baroque 12 years and Under’ category at the Kingston upon Thames Festival of the Performing Arts in November 2014.

Selected to sing with the newly formed Vocal Ensemble, Parry Voices, of the Royal College of Music Junior Department (RCMJD) at a fundraising Gala in London in December 2014.

Panu Hietanen

Awarded 1st place in the Elementary Guitar Class at the Kingston upon Thames Festival of the Performing Arts in November 2014.

Aoife Parr

Selected for the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain (NCO), Main Orchestra on French Horn for 2015. She also performed twice at the Royal Festival Hall, in December 2014 and February 2015 with the NCO as well as at the Barbican in March 2015 with the Thames Youth Orchestra and made her début at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in the ’Big Band in a Day’ event, also in March 2015.

Emily Sprackling

Selected for the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain (NCO), U13 Orchestra on Cello.

Peter Le Tissier

Principal Horn with the Thames Youth Orchestra and played at the Barbican in March 2015 in Mahler’s Second Symphony with the Thames Youth Orchestra (a local U18s orchestra with students from 25 local schools).

The following pupils played in the Piano Masterclass with international pianist, Andreas Boyde in November 2014: Anna Kimberly Djehanian, Bijan Ghamsari, Kevin Liu & Cassie Quick

Brett Garrard

NEWS

Music Honours (2014-15)

Sarah Haycroft

Member of the England Senior Women’s Hockey Team.

Captain of Surbiton Ladies 1st XI for the 2014/15 season, winning the National Premiership League, The National Finals and won gold at the England Hockey Club Cup Finals.

Iain Mandale

Won a silver medal in the World U23 Championships 2014 in Varese, Italy. Rowed for ISIS in the winning crew of the Isis v Goldie 2015 Boat Race reserve crews.

Harriet Tibble

Member of the Surbiton Hockey Women’s 1st XI that won the National Premiership Finals and also won gold at the England Hockey Club Cup Finals.

KGS STAFF HONOURS Cledwyn Ellison

Coached England’s Women’s J VIII and Women’s J IV in the Home Countries International 2014.

Natalie Maclean

Member of the Surbiton Hockey Women’s 1st XI that won the National Premiership League, The National Finals and won gold at the England Hockey Club Cup Finals.

J Mark Wallace

Selected for the Irish Masters Hockey Team for the Home Nations Cup 2015.

Winners of 2014-15 First Year Song Productions: Francesca Bern, Daisy Bainbridge, Charlotte Higham, Emilia Hazel, Maya Dickens Joint 2nd year group winners of 2014-15 Second Year Song Productions:

Group 1

Emily Adam, Natasha Burrell, Jessica Cropley, Chloe Taylor, Heidi Wort

Group 2

Madeleine Hayes, Issie Kwiecinski, Philip PisarroJensen, Harry Stephenson

Right to left: Jon Alexander (OK) and Sarah Haycroft (OK), the guest speakers at Senior and Junior Prizegiving, alongside the Head Master, Stephen Lehec.

KINGSTON GRA MMAR SCHOOL 2015

21

News

Graduation and Leavers’ Ball 2015 On Wednesday 24th June, we celebrated U6 Graduation in the Hall. As usual the students arrived looking stunning in their evening dresses and black ties and they took their seats while Max Salisbury played the piano. None of us could agree on who was wearing the best dress! Mr Lehec’s speech was full of pride as he spoke of the bright future ahead of them and their many achievements in academic, co-curricular and community fields. Proud parents looked on as the students all came up to receive their prizes and leaving certificates from Mr Lehec and Miss McDonald. Almost as proud were the tutors, who had special words for each form group, when their turn came.

After the ceremony, we retired to the QEII courtyard for a drinks reception, where parents and staff could enjoy a glass of sparkling wine while the students rushed to have their prom photos taken in the Theatre. Fortunately, it was a beautiful, balmy evening and, when the students left for the Ball, the parents could continue with their soirée hosted

by Mr Bond and Mrs Moore. We headed off to Hampton Court Palace Golf Club (a wonderful venue) and had a welcome drink and lovely three course meal. Cameron Leckie gave

a fine speech during dinner. Having danced the night away (joined enthusiastically by Mrs Davies), the students finally headed off into Kingston, many of them to continue their evening at Prism! Overall it was a successful and heartwarming event which truly represented this warm, friendly and cohesive year group. I was very proud of them and shall miss them greatly.

B A McDonald

Upper Sixth Form 22

KINGSTON GRA MM AR SCHOOL 2015

Exceptional A Level Results

GCSE 2015

Kingston Grammar School students celebrated an exceptional set of A level examination results. Head Master Stephen Lehec was absolutely delighted for this year’s cohort of KGS leavers and very proud of all the staff and students of the School for what they have achieved.

Despite the ongoing concerns of examinations being made harder to pass at the top level and stories of deliberate ‘grade deflation’, KGS students achieved wonderfully well across the board. Of the nearly 1300 GCSE examinations taken 44% were graded as A* and 78% at A*/A.

The 113 students of Kingston Grammar School’s Upper Sixth maintained the School’s wonderful record at A level achieving very nearly 90% A*-B grades. 58% of all results were at A* or A and 40% of the students gained three A*/A grades or better. This has enabled the majority to go onto their university of choice, including a 100% success rate for the students who were holding offers for places at Oxbridge.

The average grade for each of the exams taken by the 128 students of Kingston Grammar School’s GCSE cohort was well above an A grade as they accumulated an average of over 10 A grades per student! All students achieved the national benchmark statistic of at least 5 A*-C grades including both English and Maths GCSE with ease.

Top perfomers in this year’s examinations included Lydia Bisping and Harry Style, who both achieved three A* grades.

Lydia plans to study Biomedical Sciences at UCL whilst Harry, who also achieved an additional A grade, will be reading Physics at Oxford where he will be joined by School Captain Lewis Wales, who gained A*AA to attain his place to read Chemistry at Oxford. Another student who achieved three A* grades and an A is Anya Williams-Doherty, who declined her offer of a place at Cambridge University to study Veterinary Science at the prestigious Royal Veterinary College, while Max Salisbury (PPE at Oxford) netted 2 A*s and 3 grade As. “The totality of these results is quite wonderful and very rewarding for everyone concerned,” said Head Master Stephen Lehec, “especially in light of the wider national concerns regarding grade deflation making the highest grades much harder to achieve at every level.”

He continued by saying that, “Whilst we are all very, very proud of every student’s achievements, I feel bound to say that we are perhaps most especially so in those instances where we know that individual students have done exceptionally well under very trying personal circumstances. What some students have achieved and overcome is simply staggering. We have some very special people at this school and it is gratifying to know that high academic standards and exceptional pastoral care are not mutually exclusive but can be excellent bedfellows on the road to successful futures.

NEWS

EXAMINATION RESULTS

Head Master Stephen Lehec is exceptionally proud of the results produced by the students, saying that he believes that “this reflects very well on the Fifth Year students of Kingston Grammar School and the hard work put in by all of them and the staff who have taught and supported them over the last five years.”

Over a third of the year group achieved straight A*/A grades in 10 or more subjects and the Head Master was keen to highlight some individual successes, such as students Matthew Pugh, Lucy Roberts, Jenny Shpeter and Bethany Williams, who all achieved straight A* in all of their GCSE exams, along with Loulou Backhouse-Spriggs, who had 11 A*s and 1 A. Three students - Lucy Skinner, Emily Gibson and Ben Park - achieved 10 A*s and a further 8 had 9 A*s.

Mr Lehec added, “What is so great about all of these students is that as well as being very gifted and working hard to achieve such excellent results, they also have many other strings to their bows, being superb sportsmen and women, actors, musicians, debaters and much more. Most especially, we know that they all contribute in many ways to their School and their community. Their results are a lesson in getting back what you put into your education and into life!”

“The KGS motto is ‘Work Well and Be Happy’, and these results are a ringing endorsement of this ethos.”

KINGSTON GRA MMAR SCHOOL 2015

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News

C AREERS & UNIVERSITIES I feel the only way to start this account of the brilliant year we have had in the careers and universities department is to thank all the parents and alumni who have given their time and expertise to support our many events. We cannot do it without your input, as this provides the backbone to the vast majority of the events that we run.

Careers evening was, once again, a well-attended and informative evening.

We had 45 different speakers attending, 22 of whom were parents of past or current pupils, and 9 alumni. A particular vote of thanks must go to the First Form parents, who provided a significant number of speakers. If you are interested in being involved next year, please do get in touch.

The ‘careers dinners’ this year covered Finance and Healthcare, and we also had a wonderful evening back in October when we were hosted by Spink Auction House and OK Tim Hirsch to hear about the life of an Auction House.

Numbers of students attending these events has continued to grow, and the remark “that was the best evening ever”, from a Fifth Form student after the Careers in Healthcare dinner, sums up what we hope to achieve in these evenings. Next year we hope to offer the careers dinners in creative agencies and/or entrepreneurship, hosted by DawBell and OK Richard Dawes, and STEM industries. If any parent or OK would like to be involved in any of these, once again please do get in touch.

There have been a lot of opportunities for students to develop broader employability skills. The Business Networking Dinner for the Sixth Form was a great success once again, and we are hugely indebted to Meera Winder, a current parent, for running a presentation skills session for Sixth Formers, both in the Autumn Term. We continue to offer a range of interview preparation for all students, with particular focus on Oxbridge candidates. This year we introduced a further optional programme for any interested Lower Sixth students with Oxbridge Interviews, for Oxbridge or more general interview preparation. This 90 minute workshop was a real hit, providing students with lots of food for thought over the summer.

For the third year running, we took the top performers in the Fifth Form on a trip to Somerville College, Oxford, to learn more about what studying at Oxford or Cambridge would be like. This year the trip was made even better by the involvement of 6 of our OKs currently studying at Oxford, who looked after smaller groups of students for the afternoon, showing them around the city and their colleges.

Considering it was exam season, these students were very generous in giving up their time, and the Fifth Form very much appreciated it. The Fifth Form excelled once again in Work Experience week, gaining a great deal of experience in a wide variety of fields. The feedback from their hosts was, as always, hugely positive.

We had a good range of new events and talks on offer for students this year. We were pleased to welcome Sporting Elite to KGS to talk to students interested in applying to American universities on sports scholarships. Next year looks to be a bumper year of KGS students to study in the States – an exciting prospect. KGS has always had good links with the Army and RAF, with liaison officers visiting each year. This year we welcomed a Navy representative to speak

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on Engineering in the Navy. This was well attended and gave students an insight into the breadth of opportunities available to them.

We also collaborated with The Square Root (founded by Catriona Wallace) in putting on our first ‘Alternatives to Higher Education’ Evening (our annual Higher Education Evening for the Lower Sixth is a long-standing successful event), attended by KGS students as well as other students from Trinity Group schools. This was a huge success, with big name firms such as EY and CapGemini talking to students about the opportunities available that do not involve £9,000 a year of debt. This is becoming more and more popular, with two of our students having chosen the KPMG School Leavers’ Programme rather than universities in the past two years, and KGS students were lucky to get this detailed insight.

We were very pleased to welcome Bentalls once again to run our annual Lower Sixth Dragons’ Den Event. Greg Hughes (Managing Director of Bentalls) very kindly came in again to launch the event with a talk on enterprise and employability skills, while the Dragons’ Panel comprised KGS Chair of Governors, Dermot Rice, and KGS Governor, Lorraine Adam, who sat alongside two senior managers from Bentalls, Andy Barker (Head of Merchandising) and Amanda Bell (Head of Homeware). At the end of the event they professed themselves to be extremely impressed by the overall quality of ideas and the teams’ presentation skills – they felt that at least 5 of the final product ideas would be strong sellers in store! The teams were competing for two awards - Best Commercial Product/Service and Best Presentation. While all the teams demonstrated an abundance of innovation and creativity, “Clinger” (a mobile phone operated tracking device) won Best Product and “Popup” (a provider of temporary pop-up stands within department stores) won Best Presentation. Once again this has been an incredible opportunity for KGS pupils to gain experience of and develop crucial employability skills such as communication, innovation, teamwork, leadership and presentation skills. And, of course, our sincerest thanks go to Bentalls for supporting this fantastic event so generously.

In the world of universities, KGS students were once again hugely successful. Their excellent A Level results meant 79 students achieved places at their first choice university, 15 at their second choice and 10 through clearing. Four students are off to Art School to do a one-year Foundation course prior to starting their degree courses and one student is going to Drama School, with 10 pupils planning on reapplying, or applying for the first time, next year.

Top choice universities were Nottingham (12), Bristol, Exeter & Leeds (9) and Edinburgh (6), while top courses were Engineering (15), History / Politics (11) and Biology, Languages, Economics, Philosophy, Physics and Psychology (6). Seven students successfully achieved places at Oxford and Cambridge: Isobel Dodds (Biological Sciences), Duncan Green (Maths & Philosophy), Alexander Harper (Modern & Medieval Languages), Lara Horin (Asian & Middle Eastern Studies), Max Salisbury (PPE), Harry Style (Physics) and Lewis Wales (Chemistry).

As I round off this account of the year, it only remains for me to stay goodbye, as I have made the difficult decision to leave KGS for pastures new. However, I leave you in the very capable hands of Mr Stephen Morris, who continues in the careers department, and the new Director of Careers and Universities, Mr Anthony Fitzgerald, who joins KGS from Newstead Wood School in Bromley.

N Jackson

NEWS GCSE Graphics Project – Dylan Baxter

A Level Resistant Materials – Gus Nicholds

GCSE Resistant Materials Project – Tom Gooding

GCSE Resistant Materials Project – Alice Thiroff

A Level Resistant Materials – Lewis Ahl

GCSE Resistant Materials Project – Katinka Ronberg

KINGSTON GRA MMAR SCHOOL 2015

25

news

change and trends in communication

by Stephen Lehec, Head Master

One can hardly believe that a year has flown by since I was writing my first piece for that hardy annual, the Kingstonian magazine, introducing myself to the School community at large and setting out past experience as an implicit indication of what might lie in store for the future of KGS. Flown it has, however, and we have experienced a year where the winds of change may have blown but hopefully not to the extent that they will have delivered an unwelcome gale into anyone’s life.

A number of changes in key staff have taken place and whilst we wish our former colleagues well, we welcome with warmth and high expectation those who have been promoted, those who have newly joined and those yet to join us still. There is of course always, inevitably, a change in the student body as the upper sixth reap the rewards of their A level success and proceed to university (for the most part), but also to careers and gap years for some. As each year rolls up through the School an opportunity is opened for a new cohort of First Years who will no doubt thoroughly enjoy their time at the School, taking all it has to offer and in return being responsible for writing the next chapter of our future history – a necessary juxtaposition. It is my hope that over the course of the last year I have had the opportunity to meet most if not all parents and students, as well as innumerable alumni and friends of KGS, at a range of events and learned from you all a little of what you expect of me and the hopes you have for Kingston Grammar School in the future.

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Kingston gRa MM aR sCHooL 2015

Tangible changes are of course those things that often make the keenest impression and difference to our lives at the School, such as the new website and some of the electronic communications, as well as the introduction of the new fortnightly timetable and its six fifty-minute lessons per day.

The latter of these two is only the start of a new emphasis on the importance of providing the very best teaching and learning at the School. This should be at the heart of all we do and will therefore continue to evolve and maintain high, if not paramount, importance.

The former change is part of our strategy to begin to catch up and keep up with the world of modern technology. If a year seems to have passed quickly, one can guarantee that even a week can feel like a lifetime in the world of technology and technological development. In schools I believe that one should never seek to get too far ahead of the curve as one could then be described as being ‘bleeding’ rather than ‘leading’ edge and end up with costly outgoings, redundant methodology and tools, and a moth-to-the-flame-like relationship with technology and progress. This should not, however, be an excuse for falling behind, simply waiting for everyone else to make a move. Different strategies will suit different schools, different teachers and different students and we must engage with what works for Kingston Grammar School with regard to communications and more importantly with teaching and learning, whilst never disregarding the key importance of face-to-face conversations, a well constructed letter, a timely ‘phone call and enjoying the benefits of a good book. In short, we must learn new skills, use new tools and methods but not lose precious and important talents and resources.

In relation to this you will no doubt be aware that alongside the ‘failure’ training we introduced in the lower school last year, we also brought in expertise in educating our more senior students in the ways and means of using social media positively. This culminated in a fantastic final day for our Fifth Year but also taught us all an important lesson in the

So where are the young now? If you are lucky you may be able to discuss Snapchat or WhatsApp with your son or daughter, but to no real purpose other than to discover that it’s instantaneous, fun and simply how they stay in touch with each other on a daily basis. Healthily, there’s no ‘like’ or status but, rather unhelpfully, teenagers now respond to the buzz or beep of having received a message on their smartphone faster than Pavlov’s dog could ever salivate for fear of being left out and not up to date with the latest news. Therefore, the education process is now no longer just about a positive promotion of self but also a healthy dose of teaching oneself how and when to switch off. This one time metaphorical device has taken on literal meaning with our children today. At the same time, no matter how speedy

and short some forms of communication have become for the young, we still have a responsibility to try to educate and ensure that all forms of communication are meaningful, sensitive and respectful.

So you might be surprised to learn that I do not believe that we should be necessarily worried by this phenomenon. I am sure that I am not the only person who was not entirely taken aback by the introduction of the first modem at my workplace and did not care a great deal for the fact that I had to wait half an hour for a buzzing and beeping connection to learn something on the internet that I could have looked up, in a book, in less than half the time, yet now I don’t think my life would fully function in the way I wish it to without the internet. Equally, a few years ago I really didn’t wish to learn via Twitter that a famous personality was at Nando’s for his tea and now I find the same App incredibly useful to keep the KGS community abreast of what’s happening. In other words, things move on and once we as adults have invaded Snapchat and WhatsApp, which we inevitably will, then our children will once again move on to another free, instant and common form of communication using their Apple watches, Google glasses or whatever is next around the technological corner of development. This is no different to cultural shifts that have been going on for all eternity. Parents have always been on the periphery of understanding the culture of their children.

Whether it was the often banned literature of a new age, musical epiphanies such as rock and roll and punk, radical and rude new comedy or reinvented styles, themes and directions of film making, adults have always been asked to keep the door closed on the interests of the young and yet parents rightly keep that door on their children’s life and culture just ajar. Whilst it’s simply not cool to occupy the same territory, the door must stay open a little, just enough to lend support and advice if and when needed, and to ensure that we know just enough to be able to download the best of what’s on the internet ourselves – just don’t tell the kids!

NEWS

inevitable differences in the uses of technology and social media by old and young. Looking back, it is clear to see patterns developing that follow a potentially worrying trend.

When Facebook was launched it was intended for university age students and their ilk, but as it grew in popularity and complexity, it drew in first a much younger audience who wanted to be part of groups, to advertise their status on an hourly basis and have a growing number of ‘likes’ and anonymous ‘friends’. The vast potential for marketing and contact was quickly realised by an older generation who descended on Facebook in their hordes, abandoning traditional online facilities such as Friends’ Reunited for this more flexible format. This resulted in the demographic of Facebook getting older and older until you were far more likely to discover teachers and parents on Facebook than anyone of university or school age. Teenagers and young people had deserted Facebook for the more instantaneous contact and gratification of smartphone applications or ‘apps’ such as Twitter. Spilling out your daily routine, relationships, dining arrangements and status in 140 characters or less was far more appealing than updating and maintaining a profile.

Yet the older generation and marketing companies soon got a hold of this platform too and so the young moved on again. You might see a shadow of them on Twitter today and they’ll no doubt post their favourite shots from holidays and outings on Instagram (now owned by Facebook) but this latter device and all its myriad of photographic possibilities has also been consumed by the older generations and those wishing to promote their group or event.

I hope that everyone enjoys this year’s Kingstonian and its reflections on the last year. We have much to thank Mr. Smith and his editorial team for, in putting this incredibly important publication together for now and for posterity.

Finally, I hope that everyone enjoys a happy and successful academic year in 2015-16.

KINGSTON GRA MMAR SCHOOL 2015

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News

THE LIBRARY It has been another very busy year in the library with comings and goings, fantastic reading achievement, excellent research projects and for the first time, a trophy!

We said goodbye to Mrs Murphy and Mrs Rothwell. Mrs Murphy continues to read avidly while caring for baby Delphi, and former library assistant Mrs Rothwell is kept busy looking after, amongst other things, the book hospital in a school library in Bahrain. And a huge hello to new library assistant Mrs Fursdon who brings 15 years’ experience running the library at Collis Primary School in Teddington and an unrivalled knowledge of contemporary fiction.

First Years raced through the reading challenges and a record 42 read books from eight different genres to complete the Shooting Star challenge. Congratulations to Charlie Higham and Jasmin Good who achieved the Bronze and Silver level respectively in the A* Reading Mission.

Matilda Howell, Hannah Orrell, Jasmin Good, Ed Jones, Joe Studholme and Seb Fernando saw their book reviews published in the children’s book magazine Books for Keeps and Simi Isaacson won our school bookmark competition.

We welcomed a number of high profile authors to KGS. Michelle Paver wowed the Juniors and guests from local primary schools with research tales for books such as her Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series while Alan Gibbons helped Second Years to sharpen their creative writing through gothic workshops. Students involved in shadowing the Carnegie Prize were lucky enough to meet (in virtual form) shortlisted author Frances Hardinge, who joined us from her sofa. Eva Molchanova received a signed copy of Fly by Night for asking the best question.

competition from local rivals Tiffin, LEH and Claremont.

Huge congratulations to Kate Scott-Taylor, Zac Procter, Ye Ji Hwang, Issy Jones and Ellena Eley.

As part of the library lesson programme, all of the First and Second Years flexed their research skills, from note-taking to bibliographies, by completing research projects. The former, in conjunction with the Religion and Philosophy department, undertook an investigation into a symbol for either a religion or a world organisation such as the United Nations. Many received Commendations but congratulations to Penny Cairney-Leeming who won the First Year Library Project Prize for the best project overall.

Second Years discovered a new author and completed a variety of tasks, including creating a Fakebook profile for their favourite character, to deepen their understanding of the book.

Mrs Cleaves had the opportunity to share highlights from KGS at the Westminster Forum on the future of school libraries and as one of three finalists in the national School Librarian of the Year award.

Our team of pupil librarians got to grips with, amongst other things, the art of book covering at speed, the Dewey Decimal System and e-readers, to become excellent additional support. Congratulations to Ye Ji Hwang who was Pupil Librarian of the Year 2014/15.

To round off a very successful year, a group of library prizewinners and pupil librarians enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour of the British Library and took part in a creative writing workshop inspired by some of the ‘treasures’.

H Cleaves

Our literary quiz teams had a brilliant year. Our Junior team finished sixth out of 25+ teams in the regional heat for the Kids Lit Quiz and our Seniors won the Kingston Literary Quiz Cup for the first time beating off stiff

Mental Health Conference The mental health of children and adolescents has been much in the news recently and rightly so. How on earth have we got to a situation where one in ten of our children has a diagnosable mental health disorder and where our schools now routinely hire counsellors and other therapists to help with problems such as self-harm, eating disorders and depression ?

On 16th September, KGS welcomed over 150 delegates to our first conference “Improving mental health in children and young people”. Delegates from all over the country heard from a number of high-profile speakers including Sarah Brennan, CEO of the charity, Young Minds, and Dr Aric Sigman who spoke about the effects of the internet and screen time on children’s mental health. We were also

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delighted to welcome Norman Lamb MP who spoke about current mental health legislation. During the afternoon, delegates could choose from specialist sessions on subjects such as depression, eating disorders and, most importantly, what schools should be doing to tackle the problem.

The conference was a great opportunity for schools to share best practice and to discuss and develop ideas and current research. Here at KGS, the happiness and wellbeing of our students is paramount and we will continue to do everything we can to support our students through difficult times.

N Forsyth

After a long, gruelling campaign, starting with the manifesto launches in March and ending with the official announcements of the KGS constituency result, we had a winner!

The victorious communists led by Ainsworth and Style had fought a textbook campaign based on canvassing the voters. An approach which was deemed to be too demeaning by the other party leaders had, with the exception of Ben Moore, resulted in mediocre polling figures right up until May 7th.

NEWS

The School Election

It had all begun in mid-March with the manifes足to launch held in the QE2 Quad, which showed off the oratorical skills of the party leaders to an appreciative audience.

The lunchtime Question-time events had attracted some 70-80 pupils eager to hear the policy options and ideologies of the parties expounded in what can only be described as something resembling a boxing match. Our esteemed Election Analyst, Max Salisbury, wrote lucidly and wittily, exposing the foibles of each candidate, perfectly capturing the KGS political landscape. One should mention the capable chairs of the debates, who included Mrs Jackson and Mr Davies. Both had distinctive styles, one preferring a strong element of control, the other rather the opposite. However, this simply required the panel to show more flexibility, which those on the left of the political spectrum found easier than those on the right. And the discomfort of some was noticed by the voting audience who drew their own conclusions with their polling decisions. The online poll using firefly was an excellent innovation and set the election alight from the third week in April onwards.

Polling day on May 7th was a more subdued affair than in 2010 with few reports of outright bribery or poll rigging. Nevertheless, a story circulated that three liberal democrat voters had arrived to cast their votes only to

find the ballot boxes had been removed for counting. This cast a slight pall over what had been very much a good natured election day.

All in all, the School Election was a superb opportunity for pupils of all ages to learn about party ideologies and gain some insight into the adversarial nature of UK Westminster style politics as practised by our well-informed 6th form students.

The result in full: Total turnout: National turnout:

64.4% 63.1%

Communist Conservative Green Labour Lib Dem UKIP

131 129 59 83 124 37

D A R Sorley

KINGSTON GRA MMAR SCHOOL 2015

29

Short story

Third Year Short Story Competition winner: ‘Which Way Blows the Wind?’

by Grace Everitt, 3SC The autumn breeze was starting to pick up as the cool afternoon dragged on, and he had to position his vast canvas, yet again, back on the stand it having been knocked off.

Lake Constance was sparkling in the few rays of sun left bouncing upon its surface.

Both a mile or two in front of their simple bungalow in Germany, and brought to life on his canvas an inch or two in front of his softly aged face. The man’s steady hand dotted precise green spots where the greenery below his feet reflected on the lake’s surface, while his halfmoon glasses balanced precariously on the end of his large nose.

Should he add more shadow to the left side of his painting, or even…

The peace was shattered in less than a second as the patio door cracked against the red brickwork beside it, and his wife stormed out towards him and his watercolour scene. His grip on the paintbrush had tightened and an awkwardly-sized green splodge had positioned itself in the middle of the painting, at the same time as the door handle made a large dent in the bricks. He hadn’t noticed that his glasses had fallen into his lap, but he could feel her eyes that were usually so beautiful now piercing into his turned head. The man knew instantly that he had missed her voice calling him for dinner, for the fourth time this week. Yet, as he turned to face her, he could plainly see that something else had triggered her outburst that followed. Her bundled fists were clutching the stained apron against her rounded belly, and her tanned, wrinkled face was either close to exploding with tears, fury or both.

“Deine Bildder sind nutzlos, sie machen un skein Geld!”

His first thought was fury, definitely fury. But then, useless? How are they useless, they earn us enough money to sustain a good life, don’t they?

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“Wie kann man einen von ihnen verkaufen, wenn sie alle von der gleichen Landschaft?”

It was true, his paintings were all of the same landscape, but to him this single place on earth meant so much more to him that just a few watercolours to make money from it. It was his whole family’s hometown after all. Where his wife, he and all his children grew up, but where only the two of them remained.

His train of thought drifted away from her fury and accusations. As she noticed this she took a seat in one of the rusty garden chairs, and her grey, blue eyes held despair for the first time he had seen for a long time.

“Alles, was du, ist Malen. Malen, malen, malen, und ich sehe dich nie.” Tears gently rolled down her full cheeks as she spoke the words that obviously pained her to say to him.

Her truth hit home in his weathered heart. He had neglected her even more than usual, whilst trying something new with his watercolours, but failing. He had not only failed his artist self, but his wife too. She saw the recognition in his face, so dabbed her eyes on her flowery dress sleeve and headed back inside. He took this as a sign and followed her a few moments later into the kitchen, where his plate was alone on the table, and cold. Like a stiff wax sculpture of a meal in one of the many museums they had visited. The man had been silenced by both the hostility and the truth of his beloved wife. His canvas had been blown down from its perch, his watercolours and brushes scattered across the patio, but through the carefully closed door, he could only hear the rattle of the leaves skimming the windows, from the storm building outside.

The night was a quick one. As soon as his head had so much as brushed the scratchy pillow designed for sitting on, not sleeping, on the couch, his weary eyes closed, the thin blanket spread over him up to his head. Replaying the events of the past hour through once more before he fell heavily to sleep.

The man woke the next morning with a chill, despite the warm morning glow peeking through the shutters.

The air was cold, however, and he scrambled slowly off the couch, his back sore, as he realized he had left the patio door slightly ajar, with his canvas outside.

His footsteps quickened along with his heartbeat as he stepped over golden coloured leaves along the hallway. A misty current of air ran under his wife’s door, and startled her awake and as soon as she heard his footsteps, she quickly caught up with her husband still slowly stumbling towards the open door.

Her husband obviously did not share the same ideas, and she did not notice the river of tears flowing from his pained eyes, until his voice cracked when he said the only words he had spoken since the morning before.

“Ruiniert.”

One word - Ruined. All those hours sitting in the garden painting, for it to turn into a single careless word. She told him what she thought and that it looked stripped down to its origins.

“Es sieht so aus… bis auf die Ursprunge befreit.”

The man paused for a moment, wiping his damp cheeks on the soft sleeve of his pyjamas, still sniffling even afterwards. He considered his wife’s train of thought: ‘Stripped back to its origins…, befreit – liberated…, true nature laid bare’. At first he had thought it to be just another remark that people made, people who did not understand art as he did. His wife’s smile had disappeared by this time and she had turned to go back inside, when as if a light bulb had gone off above his head, he stood up, his knees damp from the dew on the ground. He opened out his hands towards his wife, a smile spreading from ear to ear; she turned back around towards him, a confused expression appearing on her face. He took her frail hands in his, as he told her.

“Genie. Genie!” A surprised laugh escaped his lips, and he shook his head in disbelief. He looked at her with such amazement in his eyes that she could not help but catch his contagious smile and join in with his merry laughter. Their smiles reached all the way up to their eyes, just as they had when they were young. The man embraced his wife in a tight hug, pressing out all the disagreements of the past day.

another hour or two, leaving him alone with the mess of their garden, and his canvas. Ignoring the destroyed state of their garden, he carefully reached down and reclaimed his canvas from the mud, put it back on its stand. He looked at it for a moment, considering which medium to follow the rough and dark natural remnants of the night’s storm. He then walked inside to fetch his paints. Not his flimsy watercolours, but his thick acrylics. He rearranged the dirt already on his canvas, leaving a lighter patch in the middle, where the lake would be. He continued switching between mediums, quite content, until it was almost late afternoon.

He was still in his pyjamas and hadn’t remembered to bring a chair up to his work, when his wife came outside, carrying two bowls of steaming chicken and vegetable soup, and a wide smile.

Short story

She placed her hands tenderly on his shoulders as he knelt down beside the destruction of not only their garden, but also his painting. It was not entirely destroyed, with only one or two small tears in the canvas fabric. But as he picked it up, as a child would pick up a broken toy, you would think it was. However, what interested his wife was how the natural, autumn coloured leaves, the dirt stained canvas, and the now slightly wrinkled surface not only added to the rural location of Lake Constance in his painting, but created a feeling of history behind the canvas.

“Es ist schön,” she said, gesturing towards his now full canvas. He was pleased with how his painting had turned out, despite putting the piece together in such a short time, with no real guide to what he was doing.

It wasn’t what he was used to either, but he enjoyed it much more than watercolour and felt it expressed what he was picturing much more successfully.

They settled down in their creaking table and chairs in the garden, sipping their soup through innocent smiles glowing with the afternoon light.

There is an artist, living on the outskirts of Lake Constance in Germany, who doesn’t just make works of art. Rather, he lets them make themselves, with his steady helping hand. He lets his non-living, thickly painted creations evolve into the natural, living wonders of his world, through time, age and sometimes deterioration. Underneath the battling rains, sun, winds and moon. Like himself. He once thought of himself as a traditional watercolourist, but now he is free to evolve, change and age with his art. He is a quiet, sensitive soul, whose words are rarely animated through his own speech. His words speak through his art, and his wife and his art speak along with him.

After what seemed like minutes had passed, they freed themselves from their entangled arms. She gave him a gentle nod, indicating what they both knew he had to do next. She returned to their bedroom to sleep for

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BLUE STOCKINGS: the Senior Play, 2014 Set in Cambridge in 1896, ‘Blue Stockings’ explores the experience of the university’s first female undergraduates.

Though the subject matter is certainly not lightweight, the 2014 Senior Play delivered an extremely entertaining evening out, providing comedy and heart as well as a reminder of the struggles faced by these educational pioneers to whom we owe so much.

Jessica Swale’s script, first performed at The Globe in 2013, follows a group of female students breaking new ground in their pursuit of a top-flight education in the face of institutionalised misogyny. The play revolves around four ‘Girton girls’ (ably played here by sixth formers Laura Marcus, Milly Stell, Maya Yousif and Charlotte Samady) and the hostility they must face on a daily basis; the great and the good in the 1890s found it difficult to countenance the idea that a woman’s place was anywhere but in the home.

In researching her piece, Swale discovered instances of such prejudice that they now seem difficult to believe: female students buying tickets to their own lectures, only to be refused entry, or the same women forced to carry chamber pots due to the lack of toilet facilities provided by the university.

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The KGS cast were able to do justice to this serious subject matter whilst providing entertainment and without losing sight of the personal stories of each of the characters.

Laura Marcus (as Tess) began the play as an earnest undergraduate, fizzing with newfound intellectual passion, and her performance became ever more nuanced as her character wrestled to balance this passion with a chance at love. The relationships between Tess and the other girls were highly convincing, elegantly demonstrating the strength of bond forged in difficult circumstances. Maya Yousif, in her first term at KGS, proved her talent as Tess’ cheerful accomplice, delivering a layered performance that showed her character’s intellectual ferocity towards the end of the play. Facing an impossible choice between family responsibilities and academia, Milly Stell was

performing arts convincingly heartbroken. The struggle of a character trying to escape the expectations placed upon her not only by her sex but by her class made for an emotionally affecting performance. Charlotte Samady, faced with the challenge of a less immediately likeable character, was able to convey a wide-eyed innocence and emotional depth that had attracted the audience’s sympathy by the final curtain. The female leads were well-matched by their talented male counterparts: Tom Currey (as Ralph) was a smooth-talking but ultimately fickle love interest for Tess, and James Gawn, Rishi Manuel, and George Parrott balanced their various conflicting points of view, reminding the audience of the range of reactions - from curiosity and tentative support, to bafflement, to blind rage – that faced the Girton Girls.

The supporting cast showcased a range of talents, with particular highlights including Fergus Ainsworth as a brilliantly pompous lecturer, Lara Horin’s comic relief as a strict but knowing chaperone, and Sam Kan as a gentle tutor willing to sacrifice career advancement for the sake of his convictions. Lydia Cozens was the lynchpin of the more political ‘degrees for women’ narrative, with Peter Alvey playing her staunchest opposition and relishing his role as the true ‘baddie’ of the drama.

This accomplished acting was set against an elegant and artistic backdrop that was as beautiful as it was versatile,

with a convincingly marbled floor and books frozen midflutter, elegantly symbolising an educational environment steeped in history but in the midst of disruption.

In summary, ‘Blue Stockings’ was a skilfully acted and superbly produced piece of drama, showcasing the wide range of talents we are lucky to have here at KGS. Our thanks and congratulations go to Miss Boulton, the director, her excellent cast and the fantastic crew behind the set, lighting, props and costumes.

L Knight

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Jane Eyre Middle School Pl ay Although there is only one ‘Jane’ in the script, in this enchanting take on the classic we were presented with two Janes, or rather two halves of one person; Jane had a double in Bertha.

Mrs. Varley’s clever direction saw that the actors playing Jane and Bertha switched continuously, heightening the sense of a dual identity – a feat which the actors dealt with marvellously; their swift and crisp change in voice, movement and expression made it appear that they were donning a new personality as one would a costume.

On top of these changes, these parts were shared between actors of different ages to try to convey the effect of a person ageing with experience; this was another technique that established the sense of these roles being get-ups that each actor adopted – in rather Brechtian style. The staging enabled Bertha to be positioned upstage left in a raised room, with her presence always felt as she fidgeted and twitched, watching over her other half. Miranda Worth was a particularly maddened Bertha as she achieved very

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convincing spasms and convulsions – the dangerous and hidden alter ego to Jenny Schepter, who was herself a most powerful Jane/Bertha, both wild and woeful. But of course, to match the traumatized female lead there must be a commanding Mr Rochester. In suite with the style, this role was also shared between Teddy Coward especially authoritative and suitably unnerving which was a great balance with his nervous Jane played by Lucy Tait - and the excellent Jack Bowman.

With these constant changes some audience members declared that they were suffering from some mild confusion, but in fact they created a quite dramatic sense of uncertainty and shadowiness as the actors endlessly moved on and off stage and the roles were recreated – each time with great confidence. The presence of a looming Bertha and some smart direction of dream and memory sequences developed this shadowiness and continual feeling of someone lurking in the darkness – a nice way to channel the secrecy that is key to the plot.

This approach to the story could not have been achieved without the conviction of the actors, and en masse they were very convincing. From the bold Katie Crawford to the shy Daisy Kakkar, everyone gave their all. Their fantastic performances were played out against a looming and bleak red set – a malleable space, fit for all scenes – to make a dark and dramatic piece of theatre.

As some left our Performing Arts venue slightly bemused, I walked out feeling suitably moved and disturbed, having just watched a fine telling of the story of ‘Jane Eyre’.

Sam Kan, U6JAD

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Oliver Twist Junior Pl ay If the audience of this year’s junior play were expecting a similar production to Lionel Bart’s lighthearted musical Oliver!, they were to be disappointed. In keeping with the naturalistic style and occasionally dark tones of recent junior productions such as Lord of the Flies, Mr Crohill brought us a truly Dickensian, realistic production influenced by Victorian music halls, rather than twentieth century musicals. There was categorically no exclamation mark in this production’s title.

The mood was set from the beginning, with a London skyline backdrop and set design (courtesy of Simon Gray and Chris Edwards) that dropped us straight into a slightly grimy, down-at-heel East End pub, complete with bar piano. The music hall setting was evoked with a row of shell-shaped ‘gas’ stage lights. Indeed, the lighting throughout was hugely atmospheric, conveying both the gloomy warmth of the bar, as well as the sinister night-time shadows of

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London Bridge at various points in the play. Charlie Stuart should be commended on producing such an effective design, as well as Isabelle Whitehill for doing a faultless job with the spotlight to ensure the audience didn’t miss any of the fantastic character performances.

The action largely followed the novel, from Oliver’s inauspicious workhouse birth to Dickens’ redemptive ending, where our protagonist is united with his newfound family and father-figure, Mr Brownlow (an extremely mature and dignified Daniel Selimi).

Zac SampsonRegal played the lead role beautifully throughout with the guileless innocence the part requires, as he was alternately helped and manipulated by so many of Dickens’ famous characters, from the angelic Mr Brownlow to the devilish Bill Sykes. Of particular note was Omid Alavi’s Fagin, who both unnerved and entertained the audience with his heartless self-interest coupled with charismatic humour. Indeed, Omid’s comedic turn as Fagin imitating a naive old gentleman waiting to be pickpocketed was one of the few well-chosen echoes of Bart’s musical: in this case the iconic Ron Moody. Similarly, Marcus Tapper and Louisa Marshall as Mr and Mrs Bumble were a beautifully judged combination of appallingly callous and humorously inept. Suzi Garforth made a very impressive Nancy, the hardened teenager who nevertheless cares deeply about those in need. Her arguments with Bill Sykes conveyed the genuine power struggle between the two, and her determination to help Oliver, no matter what the cost. Jack Durden’s performance as Bill was superb; his thuggish yet calculating menace was genuinely

performing arts frightening and exciting: a really electric performance.

Arguably, however, it was Clara John’s performance as Jack Dawkins, otherwise known as The Artful Dodger, which stole the show. The charm, humour and pathos of the character won the audience over from her first peek around the theatre curtain, right to her final wink before disappearing off stage. The feat of delivering long monologues explaining the action in a Cockney accent (thankfully not at all redolent of Dick Van-Dyke), as well as playing the role with subtlety and depth in the group ‘den’ scenes was outstanding. She will certainly be an actor to keep an eye out for in future KGS productions. All of these impressive individual performances were, of course, built on so many other pupils’ in the chorus playing roles of workhouse boys, Fagin’s gang, and Victorian Londoners, without which the true breadth of Dickens’ novel could not have been conveyed.

Acknowledgement should go to Mr Tierney for fantastic musical direction of the numerous songs integrated into the action – both group and solos – many of which he arranged personally, as well as the fantastic pianists of

Tash Burrell, Millie Rossner and Edward Jones, and Anna Gray of the violin. The raw ‘bar-room’ feel of some of the pieces, combined with the more upbeat vaudeville songs gave a naturalistic originality to such a well-known show.

Mention should also be made of those literally behind the scenes, in particular Jacob Hollaway as Stage Manager, Zoe Sim as Deputy Stage Manager and Juhi Moghul, Anand Aggarwal and Izzy Kerr as Assistant Stage Managers. In a play with a complex set, such a large cast and musical numbers, their job was a challenging one which they accomplished with precision and professionalism.

While anyone who has seen Oliver! the musical will no doubt have extremely fond memories of it, it was refreshing to see a production so much closer to Dickens’ great work, with as much focus on the harsh realities of the life of London’s poor and marginalised as on the heartwarming friendship, families and communities Dickens loved so much. Thanks to Mr Crohill and all those pupils involved for giving us such an enjoyable and gripping evening.

P W E Stones

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House Drama 2015 This year’s House Drama Competition was a seriously impressive and impressively serious event, though there was a huge amount of fun along the way as well. The adjudicators for the evening were Lorna Rees, a highly experienced theatre artist, performer and director who is currently Artistic Director of Gobbledegook Theatre, and Eleanor Buchan, an actress, theatremaker and story-teller who has worked in just about everything, from rep and Shakespeare to sitespecific improvisation, dance and immersive theatre. Both of them declared themselves overwhelmed by the quality of what they had seen, and by the maturity, professionalism and total commitment of everyone involved.

This included the ‘amazing’ compéres, Lydia Cozens and Sam Kan, who were slick, confident and very funny.

The theme of the Competition was ‘Difference’, and first on stage were Lovekyn with ‘Four Walls’, devised and directed by George Parrott, Charlotte Samady, Archie Sturton and Natasha Thomas, a play which set out to show the effects of mental illness on family life.

This was a cleverly constructed piece in which stylised mime and movement blended with realism to create the tortured inner confusion that plague a young man who is convinced he is the target of relentless and remorseless bullying and belittling by everyone with whom he comes into contact, all of which we see meticulously acted out. Take two, and we suddenly see the same events and conversations played out subtly differently, this time showing how the boy’s version of events and his low self-esteem are the result of paranoid delusion. Take three and we see the boy’s dawning realisation of this and thus the emergence of something like hope for his future. The adjudicators were full of praise for the energy and maturity shown by a young cast and the confident performances of the two leads, Jamie Bisping and Maddie Kelly. This was, they said, fantastic work, with the switch between the

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artifice of mime and realism producing a genuinely surprising revelation. The theme was handled with great compassion, making mental illness something we could all empathise with and understand.

In contrast, Queen’s gave us jollity, warmth and noise with ’The World’s End’, set in a pub of the same name, crowded with colourful characters, a focal point of the local community. A large cast of young performers gave us some great ensemble work as the regulars come together to try to save their pub from the merciless hands of the property developers, represented by Miles Compton. Miles was excellent, and his character, as the adjudicators pointed out, carefully drawn. He was no black-hatted villain, just the bloke who had the unpleasant job of telling landlords they had to get out if they couldn’t afford to buy the land their pubs occupied. Of course, the regulars try all manner of fundraising ruses, but inevitably fall short and so it is the end of the world for The World’s End. The adjudicators thought this a ‘beautiful piece of work’ by directors Laura Marcus, James Gawn, Niamh Cullinane and Grace Kelly. They loved the mix of ages in the cast, and the enthusiasm and commitment with which they created the busy, happy pub, where diverse characters and social oddballs were given space and love, but for whom there was, realistically but all too sadly, no fairy-tale happy ending. The ensemble playing was excellent and the play dealt with serious contemporary issues with great compassion. The judges found special praise for Omid Alavi’s comic timing, and I was taken by the performances of Luca Kamleh Chapman as the landlord, Olivia Arnold as the landlady and Dennis Rigby as the flashy Gregg. And it was great to see that blue hat on stage again – first sported in House Drama almost a quarter of a century ago. I think it should appear every year.

After the interval came Taverner, with ‘Inside the Outsiders’, an insight into the minds of patients at a group therapy session, written by Danny Livingstone and directed by him and Joanne Sivanathan, Teddy Coward and George Kitson. Danny also acted and began the play setting out the chairs for what was to follow. Danny created the mood and atmosphere and set out his character perfectly, and by nothing more than the precise, deliberate way he moved and spoke. And the eyes, and the glistening white trainers.

(That blue hat has a very similar effect!) In the days when we had an award for best actor, Danny would have won it before he even opened his mouth. There followed a series of harrowing monologues, each superbly delivered while the rest of the very strong cast acted out the anxieties being described, and all cleverly linked by commentaries from Lydia FisherNorton’s therapist Rosemary. The adjudicators loved this staging, commenting on the detailed ensemble playing it involved and praising Lydia for holding it all together with such skill. All the actors gave convincing

And so at last to Walworth, with ‘Nightmare’, directed

by Jose Palmer, Maya Yousif and Paula Antalffy. This piece involved much satirical humour at the expense of the press, the NHS and pushy mums. Amidst many others, the most notable theatrical device was the hilarious gender-blind casting of Christian Maddock as the mum. No-one else could have pulled it off half so well, and the adjudicators loved it. Again, beautiful ensemble work and stagecraft won special mention (the chorus of four doctors and reporters were very funny). The two leads, Rory Stroud and Sofie Procter, rightly earned particular praise (and might have jointly challenged Danny for the acting prize had there been one) and the switching of stories, the physical working out of the narrative and the music sequences all worked very well. If we still had an award for best supporting actor, two real contenders would have stood out from this cast, along with Omid from Queen’s. Joshua Stainer created a real connection with the audience, and Amelia Metcalf was strikingly disciplined in her movement, gesture and eye-lines. Hers was a small role but a riveting performance.

And then we all relaxed and waited for the verdict.

What a difficult task, we felt. And the adjudicators agreed! They said it had been an almost impossible decision, but in the end had concluded that Walworth were fourth, Taverner third, Lovekyn second and the winners were Queen’s. Congratulations to all of them.

Thanks too to the Drama Department and Miss Boulton in particular for overseeing it all, to the unseen marvels of the technical crews and to our brilliant adjudicators, who spoke such wisdom. Thank you to everyone involved for yet another wonderful evening of House Drama.

N Bond

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performances, they said, but Danny deserved special mention for taking on the very challenging task of writing, acting and directing, as well as for his superbly detailed and finely observed performance.

Sixth Form Dra ma Festival In this, the second year of the Sixth Form Drama Festival, the evening opened with a monologue from The Lights by Howard Korder performed

by Lara Horin (U6). In this bleak tirade on modern urban life, Lara portrayed Rose’s angst with her usual aptitude and coped well with the demands of constantly suggesting more than meets the eye. In a short period of time, she intrigued the audience, giving insight into a compelling character.

This was followed by Matilda Liar by Debbie Isitt, with Laura Marcus in the title role. This dramatic, though at times comical, short play explores the premise of a compulsive liar who is suddenly compelled to tell the truth and the consequences which follow. Laura Marcus brilliantly captured the diverse role of Matilda as she manically revealed the secrets of her clearly dysfunctional family at the climax of the piece. James Gawn, George Parrott, Ismay Bickerton and Josie Palmer all gave convincing performances as the troubled family members.

Abduction was the first of the A2 Level pieces which both explored verbatim theatre through the use of physical theatre. A chilling atmosphere was created by the use of simple and stark lighting and staging, as the cast of Peter Alvey, Amelia Cashman, Rishi Manuel and Sophie Smith portrayed the tumultuous emotions associated with abduction. This excellent cast made this a compelling and unique performance.

In the final complex performance, Conflict, a wide range of different types of conflict was explored.

The cast of Lydia Cozens, Tom Currey, Alice Reid and Milly Stell began by discussing large scale conflicts such as war and terrorism, moving on to disputes in domestic situations and finally showing internal conflicts - excellently conveyed by Milly as she took on the persona of someone with a mental illness.

This experienced cast seamlessly switched not only between these aspects of the production but also between roles.

Overall I was hugely impressed by the way in which the Upper Sixth worked together on these A2 pieces, tackling these challenging subjects with intricate physical dynamics, and congratulate all the performers on a very thought-provoking and enjoyable evening.

Fergal Dunn, U6

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How Like It All Is: Beyond Journey ’s End On Friday 25th September Roland Wales’ play ‘How Like It All Is: Beyond Journey’s End’ had its second world premiere. Second premiere? Well, yes, because this play about the life of R C Sherriff during and following WW1 was first performed at the Rose Theatre Studio last year (my review of it appears in Kingstonian 2014) but it has since been rewritten and the new version was performed in our own Studio to a select, but highly appreciative audience.

The rewriting involved structural changes that sharpened the emotional impact of individual scenes. A key feature of the new version was the positioning of two photographs: the first, a wartime shot of Sherriff and his comrades brings the first half to a close; the second, following the interval, shows the survivors at a reunion party to watch a performance of ‘Journey’s End’. (Both are genuine extant photographs featured in the programme). The juxtaposition of these tableaux scenes in which the two photographs are taken marks the passage of time, and the wartime fatalities, poignantly.

However, the main focus of the play is the debilitating effects of war on those who survive it. The play charts the fate of Sherriff and his companions, but also integrates three scenes from Sherriff’s unfinished sequel to ‘Journey’s End’ in which we see Stanhope struggling to come to terms with the pressures of civilian life whilst haunted by the past. Thus the playwright is seen to have some affinities with the fate of his fictional hero. Sherriff himself is a forlorn figure, grieving lost comrades and burdened by guilt for not having returned to the frontline after his wounds healed. Jamie Bisping, who played Young Sherriff in the previous production, here stepped up to play the older man. His astonishingly compelling performance captured Sherriff’s vulnerability and diffidence. Jamie conveyed the demeanour of a broken man, an impression deepened by comparison with the more robust looking Young Sherriff

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(Tomas Morgan-Young). In a performance of exceptional maturity, Tomos displayed the playwright’s sensitivity and the depth of his wartime attachments.

The whole cast are to be commended for their engaging performances: Ben Cave (from last year’s Upper sixth), who returned to play Capt Warre-Dymond, George Parrott (as Major Clark) and James Gawn as Lt-Col Thomas were the surviving companions, whilst Jamie Thomson (Lt Kiver), Will Freeman (Lt Douglass /Father) and Dennis Rigby (Captain Tetley) played those who perished. Jess Murray suggested the resolute love of Sherriff’s mother. Teddy Coward was impressive once again in the role of Stanhope, whilst Josie Palmer and Luca Kamleh-Chapman played strong supporting roles.

Writer Roland Wales and Nick Bond (for his inspired direction) are to be congratulated on their triumphant collaboration. It was a hugely impressive piece of theatre.

J S Smith

Producing a play at the Edinburgh Fringe festival is an incredible opportunity, and thanks to Mr Crohill’s organisation and enthusiasm, 14 Lower and Upper Sixth Drama students were able to do just that.

best, and left feeling theatrically and culturally stuffed.

Being part of 2015’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival was a genuinely unforgettable experience which would not have been possible without the hard work and good humour of the students involved, and most importantly, the vast amounts of preparation, organisation and inspiration provided by Mr Crohill.

P W E Stones

The trip began a week before we took the train up to Scotland, with a week’s worth of intense rehearsals of our chosen play, ‘Female Transport’, a drama set on board a female convict ship travelling from England to Australia.

Convicted of petty crimes in 19th-century London and sentenced to hard labour, the convicts are condemned and abused due to the bias of the male-dominated class system. Our production modernised the setting, with the convicts dressed in orange jumpsuits, and the play’s themes of gender, power and freedom are just as relevant today as they were two centuries ago. As part of the rehearsal process, the cast had the fantastic opportunity to meet and discuss the play with Steve Gooch, the playwright, allowing us an inspiring insight into the work and research that had gone into writing such an emotive and thought-provoking piece of drama.

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‘Female Transport’ Edinburgh Festival trip

From the first rehearsal to the train home, staff and students worked together as a professional theatre company, and this was reflected in the outstanding quality of the production. The play is hard-hitting, and performing for a week’s run, rather than the usual three nights of a school production, meant everyone involved had to give their all. However, the reactions from audience members and reviews demonstrated the success of the students’ hard work. Comments often focused, rightfully, on the consistently high level of acting throughout the cast, describing them as a “capable young cast” and “brilliant” actors giving a “stellar performance” which was “intense and engaging.” Indeed, the production was named as one of the top 15 feminist Fringe recommendations by The Tribe magazine. While we were lucky enough to have a number of students’ family members and KGS staff come and support the play, the large audience numbers alone proved the success of the production. The 80-seat venue was often almost full, and as the average Edinburgh audience is 7, our frequent audiences of 50, 60 and even 70 were an extremely rewarding surprise!

However, the trip was anything but ‘all work and no play’, and an integral part of the full Edinburgh Festival experience was going to see a huge variety of other extraordinary shows. As ‘Female Transport’ had a latemorning slot, everyone had the opportunity to fit in a huge number of performances, including an improvised musical, courtesy of ‘Showstoppers!’, comedic physical theatre (Blam!), a heart-stopping acrobatics and circus performance (Traces), an immersive monologue with use of astonishing audio technology (The Encounter) and thought-provoking drama (Submarine, Trainspotting).

While it is impossible to sample everything on the Edinburgh Festival smorgasbord, we certainly did our

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MUSIC REVIEW This was another exciting and busy year for Music at Kingston Grammar School. The Music Department welcomed several new Visiting Instrumental Teachers, amongst them Anna Beryl (Cello), Simon Kennard (Bass Guitar) and Nick Ireson (French Horn). We also had the fantastic support from our Music Assistant Joshua Selimi, who provided general administrative assistance, directed the Junior Boys’ Choir, acted as a classroom assistant and cover teacher, as well as helped with all aspects of the co-curricular programme and the busy concert and events schedule throughout the year. Joshua also organised the Jazz Night in May which was a huge success.

We are very grateful the outstanding work and continued support from the Music Society, which has supported us in a large number of ventures throughout the year, including generous funding for music lessons on double bass, oboe, bassoon and trombone, as well as funding for a new school oboe and a large contribution to a new grand piano in the Lovekyn Chapel. Our double bass teacher Jamie Kenny left at the end of this academic year to take on a position as a double bass player in the String Scheme of the renowned Halle Orchestra, and we wish him all the very best for his future.

Open Evening and Open Morning saw the large and diverse array of musical talent and enthusiasm of KGS musicians on display, and it was hugely successful. Excellent performances and activities were created by Mr Hoj, as well as by all performers and Music Scholars at various locations, including the QEII Quad, the Hall, the Smike Studio, MU2, the Ekberg Room and MU1.

The Junior Concert on 15th October was the first major event of the year, and involved the First Orchestra, Junior Girls’ Choir, Junior Guitar Ensemble, Jazz Band and the

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excellent First Year Choir accompanied by the “Matilda Band”. Mr Tierney conducted songs from Matilda with enthusiasm and great panache, and the First Year Choir gave an exciting and hugely enjoyable performance which was completed by Penny Cairney-Leeming’s excellent narration.

This year we continued our Partnership Project with the Maggini Quartet, and our best musicians were treated to a lunchtime concert on 4th November in the Lovekyn Chapel which was highly appreciated by all. The Maggini Quartet also introduced the works and provided some fascinating background information. During the same week, on 5th November, four of our most talented pianists participated in a master class with the internationally renowned pianist Andreas Boyde, who also performed an excellent lunchtime recital featuring such famous works as the Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven. Kevin Liu, Cassie Quick, Bijan Ghamsari and Anna Kimberly Djehanian enjoyed some intense master class sessions, and they performed marvellously in the early evening concert.

The AGM of the Music Society was held on 11th November, which was also the launch event for our new grand piano in the Lovekyn Chapel. The talent of our new Music Scholars and some of our best pianists was on show, and they were all in extremely good form.

The School Concert on 20th November provided something to delight all musical tastes. This was a concert which really satisfied the audience. The evening began with the Senior Guitar Ensemble, directed by Mrs Thurston. The players’ concentration was evident in the interweaving and balancing of their different parts, setting the scene for the rest of the evening. The Chamber Choir followed, and their clarity of performance and expression was impressive. This was contrasted by some uplifting, vibrant modern music by Martin Hoj’s Contemporary Music Groups in the form of ‘Stay with me’ and ‘I’m not the only one’. The players’ sheer delight in playing each piece was strongly evident in the performance.

After the interval the Jazz Band resumed the concert with ‘Shotgun’ and again, the players’ own enjoyment of performing was communicated and enjoyed by all. The School Choir then performed three familiar numbers, which were both beautifully balanced and well sung. Finally, the evening ended with a powerful and satisfying rendition of the first movement of Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony. Altogether a delightful evening was had by all. The concert was wellbalanced and performed with energy, passion and sensitivity; it left the audience satisfied by those performing a hugely accomplished programme.

December is the month of our annual Christmas extravaganzas. On a grey morning on 27th November the School Choir brought some joy and delight to a large crowd of shoppers and onlookers by singing some beautiful carols at the traditional opening of the Christmas Tree in Kingston Town Centre by the Rotary Club, which was followed by an informal lunchtime concert on 5th December, and ABRSM exams on 8 December. The next Carol singing event was our annual appearance at John Lewis on 9th December.

The Junior Celebration of Christmas followed on 15th December, and the School’s Carol Service on 16th December featured performances of a variety of beautiful and challenging choral settings, sung with style and beauty by the

2015 started with the annual Maroon Town workshop on 13th January for Third Year Music Students, which gives them an opportunity to learn more about Ska and Reggae, and to refine their improvisation skills. Two more workshops were held during the early spring term: an opera workshop for the First Year Students on 24th February, and an African Drumming workshop for the Second Year students on 26th February. Both events were highly enjoyable and students were actively involved at all times.

Inspired by the Maggini performances, our Music Scholars and a few selected talented musicians formed chamber groups, rehearsing for a concert in February, and members of the Maggini Quartet came back to KGS for two workshops, on Wednesday 14th January and Tuesday 10th February, where they worked very closely with our musicians on the finer points of rehearsal and ensemble skills. Their hard work paid off on 28th February, when it was time for a joint concert of the Maggini Quartet and our musicians.

The audience was treated to an inspiring variety of music and the concert was a great opportunity for our groups to share the limelight with the Maggini Quartet. We look forward to continue the partnership with the Maggini Quartet next year.

The busy term continued with an informal lunchtime concert on 5th March, and ABRSM exams on 9th March, which were closely followed by the Oratorio Concert on Sunday 15th March in the Rose Theatre in Kingston. As in previous years the concert provided a great opportunity for the adult Choral Society to perform with both the School Choir and School Chamber Choir accompanied by a professional orchestra, which includes some KGS staff and students, and professional soloists. This year’s programme comprised the Oratorio Saint Paul by Mendelssohn, an early work of a 26-year-old Mendelssohn, which was particularly popular in Britain during the 19th century but is rarely performed these days. The dramatic story tells of the persecution of the early Christian communities and of Saint Paul’s life from his conversion (from Saul to Paul) until his death. The mesmerizingly beautiful and powerful music, which is based on a chorale by the famous JS Bach and which follows his choral composing tradition, was enjoyed by a large audience and the impressive choral and orchestral forces on stage alike. Much exquisite singing was heard from all choirs and from our fantastic soloists: Charlotte-Anne Shipley, Soprano; Norbert Meyn, Tenor and Samuel Evans, Bass. The School and Chamber Choirs shined in various movements including the Conversion and

the Sleepers Wake chorale, and the beauty and clarity of their singing stood out. The concert was a tremendous achievement by all.

The School Concert on 25th March was another highlight of the term. It was a testament to the talent of our musicians, drawn from all years and performing with confidence and enthusiasm in front of a large audience in a thoroughly enjoyable event. The concert started with a punchy rendition of Ravel’s Boléro by First Orchestra, followed by the Junior Guitar Ensemble’s cheerful and rhythmic performance of La Bamba. They were then joined by the Senior Guitar Ensemble with Elena de Mello Martin, Marina Kornilova and Tali Box singing/ performing ‘Chan Chan’, a Cuban love song from the Bueno Vista Social Club, arranged by Mrs Thurston. Horn Group performed next, playing the Ave Verum Corpus, which filled the hall with the rich and warm sound of French horns.

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School and Chamber Choirs at the beautifully refurbished Kingston Parish Church.

Junior Boys’ Choir followed with an emotional performance of Elton John’s famous ‘Your Song’ directed by Joshua Selimi, which was a fantastic way to end the first half of the concert. After the interval the Junior Girls’ Choir entertained the audience with an array of songs all based on the same four chords (the genius idea of Mr Tierney), ably and impressively conducted by fourth year students Olivia Merrington and Fiona Kennedy and with an unforgettable performance of ‘Not Pretty Enough’ by Mr Lehec from the front row of the audience. The String Quartet followed with Timothy Shipley and Mark Berrow on violin, Vivek Haria on viola and Paeony de la Garde Tingay on cello. They gave a confident and accomplished performance of Quartet No. 1 in F Major by Beethoven.

School and Chamber Choir upped the pace next with ‘The Best of Bond’ a medley of well-known James Bond themes.

Peter Le Tissier shared the directing with Mr von Freyhold and the Choir gave a polished performance of a number of popular themes including Goldfinger and Diamonds are Forever, accompanied by Zac Procter on the drums and Mr Tierney on the piano. The final piece of the evening was Senior Orchestra and the first movement of Dvořák’s New World Symphony. The Senior Orchestra gave a stirring and moving performance with an impressive brass section clearly enjoying their triple forte moments.

The summer term began with a Saturday Music Technology master class for six primary school students held by Mr Tierney. In only two hours the keen participants created a song using Logic Pro X and a microphone, and the astonishing result can be heard on soundcloud.com/ sequencekomplete.

The Jazz and Popular Music Night on 8 May 2015 in the Theatre was enjoyed by an audience of 120, and there was

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performing arts some outstanding musical talent on show, displaying the breadth and wealth of talent at KGS, including students from the First Year to the Lower Sixth. We are blessed with several established bands, such as the Third Year band ‘Bare Feet’, the more diverse ‘Musical Sandwich’, the small jazz band ‘Riff’, and ‘The Banned’, with their Hendrix selection, several solo items, the Junior Boys’ Choir and the marvellous Jazz Band under the direction of Mr Gough. Joshua Selimi hosted the night in a most charming and enthusiastic manner, and the event was also supported by the Music Society, Mr Gough and Mr Hoj, Mr Gray, and the School catering staff who provided a splendid and copious buffet. There was a true buzz throughout the evening and many have commented on what a brilliant evening they had.

On Thursday 14th May we said farewell to our departing musicians at the Soirée. The evening provided an opportunity to celebrate their achievements during their years at KGS, held in the inspiring setting of the Lovekyn Chapel. On offer were many exquisite solos, including Faure’s Apres un Reve, and the excellent School String Quartet playing Shostakovich, and all performances were highly appreciated by a sizeable audience. Plenty of refreshments comprising cake and bubbly were kindly provided by the Music Society after the concert.

Two of our Visiting Music Teachers, Mrs HarwoodWhite (oboe) and Mr Watson (bassoon), demonstrated their instruments to the First Years during an assembly on Monday 15th June. They explained how a sound is produced, and performed a short piece to the

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students, which was a powerful experience. During the same week, on Thursday 18th June, we had another informal lunchtime concert in the Lovekyn Chapel.

This was a great opportunity for students who were taking ABRMS music exams the following week to practise and try out their pieces. The audience included parents, students and staff and all performances were extremely well received.

The first event of the House Music Competition on 17th June was a resounding success. We heard a large variety of fantastic performances, and we are particularly pleased that so many soloists came out of the woodwork and supported their Houses. The grand finale of this year’s House Music competition was then held on 30th June, and we were extremely pleased that Simon Toyne agreed to adjudicate the evening. His comments about the performances were highly informative and constructive, and we heard some truly memorable performances that evening. All houses should be proud of their contributions on the big night, as well as their numerous performers on 17th June. The result was incredibly tight, with Lovekyn winning the overall competition by just one point! Many thanks to all performers for an evening of musical entertainment and great fun. With such a wealth of talent and enjoyment on show, this was a fantastic evening. It was enjoyed by a very appreciative audience, and concluded a brilliant series of school concerts and events as well as a fantastic year of music making at KGS. M von Freyhold and the Music Department

House Music is one of the highlights of the KGS musical calendar. On one of the warmest summer evenings of 2015 the audience was treated to a brilliant evening of competitive spirit and fine entertainment from its most game and exciting musicians.

We were extremely fortunate to have Simon Toyne, Tiffin’s Musical Director and assistant Head Teacher, adjudicating. His judgements were delivered with wellplaced constructive criticism and helpful advice.

A change in the format of House Music this year, meant that students across the Houses were able to shine in the run-up smaller competitions, their brilliance and commitment being rewarded and acknowledged across the board, not just the final event. The change in format produced what seemed a much fairer, more enjoyable competition, culminating in the June 30th evening and House Music 2015 did not disappoint. The audience enjoyed a showdown between the overall winners - Lovekyn - and, snapping at their heels, Taverner, merely a single point behind, but with some really delightful, enthusiastic and often polished performances from all Houses.

First to play was Queen’s. Queen’s Small Band opened the evening with a change to the billing, and gave a very creditable performance of Sam Smith’s ‘I’m not the Only One’ with some very pleasing harmony between Suzi Garforth and attractive treble from Philip Pisarro-Jensen.

This was followed by the Ist movement of Mouquet’s ‘La Flûte de Pan’ with a very accomplished performance on flute from Penny Cairney-Leeming whose effortless, mellifluous and fluent tone, belied the complexity of the piece, perfectly suited to the early summer evening. Well done Penny on scooping first prize in the solo instrumental class for Queen’s! Finally 3 pieces in the form of ‘12 bar blues improvisation’, a rendition of ‘New York, New York,’ with some beautiful alternation between voice and guitar from Laura Marcus and Lois Freedman and the ‘Four Chord Song’ with small choir singing a fun medley of songs and supporting instruments, completed the offering from Queen’s.

Next up was Lovekyn whose Small Band kicked off with the very familiar and exciting Jazz standard, Brubeck’s ‘Take Five’ ; it was performed with obvious enjoyment, vigour and a nice warm sound, by George Casci and friends, making light work of the unusual 5/4 time signature that really set the bar high for Taverner and Walworth to follow. After this, Anya Aziz performed the difficult and exposed solo

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House Music Review

‘Somewhere’ from ‘West Side Story’ which soon relaxed to reveal a voice with real potential. Finally Lovekyn Big Band ended with Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’ and the balance of good, strong instrumentals, supporting 5 vocalists made a punchy and vibrant finish to Lovekyn’s contribution.

After the interval, Taverner commenced with Sam Smith’s ‘Stay with me’. This was especially enjoyable due to the great balance between the players, Daniel Selimi on Piano, good, supportive playing from Peter Dawson on Bass, Clara Lyckeus on Guitar and excellent vocals from Lauren Betts; Grace Lloyd was rightly commended for her subtle leadership on drums and the group scooped first prize in the Small Band Class, for a pleasing and well-performed offering. Taverner’s Big Band contributed a robust and full sound followed by Aoife Parr’s distinctive almost-but-not-quite-Adele-like voice, singing ‘Yours’ to a Piano accompaniment. Congratulations Taverner for such a well-balanced programme!

Finally Walworth concluded the evening, with an unusual and charming contribution from their clarinet Choir; Nonny Jones then sang with a voice properly commended by the adjudicator for its attractiveness and accompanied herself on the ukulele. To round off the evening, Walworth’s Big Band performed ‘Walking on Sunshine’ ably conducted by Olivia Merrington. Whatever the performance might have lacked in tuned instrumentation, it fully made up for in the enthusiasm of its singers and their infectious delight which was a pleasure to see.

Although the competitive spirit is the driver for House Music, this really was a situation when ‘everyone’s a winner’. Whatever the outcome, to see music-making so enjoyed by the participants, and just how dedicated each and every one of the participants was, is truly inspiring.

Well done to all who took part, you should be rightly proud of yourselves. Roll on House Music 2016 – can’t wait!

Mrs T A Bland

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CHARITIES REPORT The Charities team have had a successful year of fundraising due to the hard work and innovative thinking of the charity reps. Thanks go to the pupils and staff for their dedication over the last twelve months. We are extremely grateful for their tremendous efforts as well as the generosity of the wider KGS community, without whom we would not have been able to raise a total of £9,700 that has been donated to 19 charities.

The Autumn Term was a busy one for the Charities reps at KGS. They put in a huge amount of work and we would like to thank them, and all others who helped raise a fantastic £5,179 before the Christmas holidays. There were over 12 charities supported from the local Royal Marsden Cancer Charity to Smile Train in India and The Children of the Andes. The First Years kick-started the term’s charitable proceedings with the most successful penny snake competition on record. They raised a fantastic £630 for the charity Hello Beautiful, which raises awareness of, and supports women with, breast cancer.

Other individual year groups also organised events, such as the Second Year cake sale for Make a Wish Foundation and the Fifth Year cake sale, led by Jamie Bisping, to raise money for Alzheimer’s UK. The Sixth Form put on their ‘traditional’ Christmas panto to raise money for the Shooting Star Hospice and took a brilliant £547 from their audience to support a charity close to their hearts. A big thank you goes to Mrs Garside for helping them run the event. There were mufti days, tutor forms individually raising money for Oxfam Unwrapped gifts and the sixth formers Josie Darwin and Jo Davies delivered Christmas candy canes for the charity, Project Trust.

Having had a record-breaking Autumn Term, the Charities team again worked hard to support a variety of causes in the New Year. A day of love was enjoyed on February 14th to support local charity LOVE Kingston, of which Kingston Grammar is a founding member. The Fourth Year baked their socks off to produce some beautiful love themed cakes and the rest of the school community supported them well by

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eating copious baked goods and taking part in a mufti day.

Overall nearly £1200 was raised for this worthwhile cause.

Red Nose sales were off the charts with many pupils donating more in an attempt to complete their nose collection. The School’s support of the campaign was evident in the fun whole School photograph, which was full of red nosed faces. Also, the second years took part in a fun run for Sports Relief. In sponsorship of the creative fancy dress outfits and speedy finish times the year group managed to raise a whopping £1,055. Sacred Heart, KGS’s link School in Ghana, was supported through a mufti day and a cake sale was dedicated to the charity Y Care International.

During the final term the fundraising continued. Most notably, a group of first year girls’ led by charity rep Isla Flett, organised an impromptu cake sale when they were devastated to hear the news about the Nepal Earthquake.

With an enormous baking effort the pupils raised £207 in one break time. Also, a mufti day took place in support of local charity The Joel Community Trust who run the first ever permanent night shelter for single homeless people in Kingston upon Thames.

It has been another brilliant year for the Charities Team, the success of which is down to the support of all pupils and staff involved! We look forward to another year of fundraising in 2016 and perhaps even beating our previous total.

K Raymond

KGS students have continued to work with their local communities this year, volunteering at a whole host of different organisations.

This year, several students have volunteered with charities which support children and adults with learning difficulties. Rob Matthews has been a committed volunteer for the Elbridge Community Link and INSPIRE has welcomed a strong team of sporting volunteers, including Charlie Sanford, Natasha Thomas, Stephanie Martin, Holly Munro and Charlotte Bassett. Umar Ahmad must also be congratulated for the several years of volunteering he has offered MENCAP Seekers Club; he will be greatly missed by members of the club next year. I would like to thank Mrs Stones and Mrs Pinnock for their ongoing support of these projects.

Students continue to be involved in Community Service projects working with the elderly in the local area – Rob Bern and Josie Palmer must be congratulated for the many hours of their weekend which they gave during their volunteering at Rosclare Care Home. We are also very proud of the numerous Rosclare Tea Parties that were organised

by Mrs Pinnock and hosted by every one of the 2nd Form tutor groups this year; 69 2nd Form students were involved in these events this year. These vibrant events feature musical entertainment, homemade cakes and fiercely competitive games of bingo. Thanks you to Mrs Pinnock for her tireless work in organising these events and to all 2nd Formers and their tutors for their enthusiasm throughout the year.

It has been another popular year for the primary schools reading project involving many Lower Sixth students offering up their free periods to help primary school students at King Athelstan and St Joseph’s to improve their reading. Many thanks to Katie Ryan, Paula Antalffy, Ismay Bickerton, Hazel Scurr, Natasha Thomas, Charlotte Bassett, Charlie Sanford, Winnie Benson, Alex Calver and Maya Yousif. Thank you also to Mr Deepchand who has worked so hard in ensuring this project has run smoothly.The Minimus project is still going strong with Sophia Shafiee, Kezia Milligan and Lucille WoodChambon running a Classics Club at St John’s Primary School.

Many thanks to Miss McDonald for organising this.

This year also saw the launch of two new projects which support homeless shelters in the local area. Building on the success of the volunteers at the Open House Soup Kitchen in Soho Square, KGS has set up a partnership with Joel Community Project, a homeless shelter organisation based at St. Peter’s Church on London Road. With around 400 people threatened with homelessness in the local borough

each year, this very worthy charity seeks to offer not just short term shelter, but long term support to residents seeking to rehabilitate themselves. This year, several students have volunteered each week, cooking meals for and serving residents, followed by chats and games thereafter. KGS also raised over £500 for Joel through the mufti day fundraiser at the end of the summer term. Many thanks to Emily Bertin, Johnny Bridge, Jess Taylor, Joanne Sivanathan, Ben Moore, Anna Olsen, Ari Biggart, Niamh Cullinane, Hugo Delattre, Anna Wallich, Georgie Cossey and Maddie Perkins for their commitment this year. Many thanks also to Mrs Hunt for her hard work in launching this project so successfully.

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Community ServicE

The second new project undertaken by KGS has involved students cooking vast quantities of food for the homeless shelter at St. Stephen’s Church in East Twickenham. In the confident hands of Mrs Jackson, students developed their culinary skills every fortnight, cooking up delights such as pork casserole with sage dumplings, lasagne, sausage casserole and spaghetti Bolognese – excellent cooking practice for university indeed! Students also volunteered their services as servers of the Christmas meal at the shelter, a highlight for both students and residents. Thank you to Ari Biggart, Anna Olsen, Bea Sayer, Maddy Perkins, Johnny Bridge, Ella Styles, Alice Grimley-Evans, Anna Wallich and Alex George, as well as Mrs Jackson for your commitment this year.

In addition to these volunteering projects, several students have already signed up to be involved in the Summer Reading Project in collaboration with Kingston libraries. Other students have also volunteered at charity shops, church groups and within subject departments as mentors throughout the year. Well done to all students who have given up their time for such admirable causes.

After a year of so many achievements and some exciting new projects, it has been a great honour to oversee Community Service at KGS again this year. Mrs Pinnock and I look forward to welcoming more keen volunteers to our fantastic projects in September. We also look forward to sharing tales about our new 3rd Form volunteering project in the Kingstonian next year- watch this space! If anyone in the Sixth Form is still interested in summer volunteering opportunities, some of which would still be open to applicants, details can be found on the Community Service firefly pages.

C M Williams

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Clubs and societies

KGS CCF 2014/15 2015 marks the 100th year of The Combined Cadet Force at KGS and to celebrate this occasion the CCF held two significant events, the first being the Centenary Biennial Inspection on 19th March 2015 and the second being a formal dinner, held on 21st March 2015 in the school Hall.

Both events were a great success and saw many of the school alumni, both old and new, including Lieutenant General Jonathon Riley OK, our reviewing officer and guest of honour respectively, return to help us mark this extremely special year in the CCF’s illustrious history.

Over the Easter period the CCF visited Sennybridge Training Camp, in South Wales for a 4 day adventurous training camp. The cadets got the opportunity to test, and in some cases improve, their navigation skills and try them out in the form of a day’s group navigation exercise in the Brecon Beacons. Following what turned out to be a very windy but rewarding day on the hills, the group got to test their will by visiting Llangorse Outdoor Activities Centre, where they participated in various outdoor activities, including rock-climbing, high ropes confidence courses and horse-riding in the foothills of the Black mountains.

On all accounts the camp proved to be very enjoyable and one that we will be looking to expand on next year by introducing mountain-biking as another activity for the cadets to get to grips with.

CCF Dinner/Biennial Photo – The guest of honour Lieutenant General Riley and the CCF Army Officers In addition to the Centenary Celebrations we have had a very busy training year, including the recruit training exercise at Hankley Common, where 20 3rd year recruits, directed by the Officers and Senior Cadets of the contingent, were put through their paces on a rigorous overnight exercise, introducing them to the various aspects of the fieldcraft syllabus. This was swiftly followed by the contingent’s annual range camp to Pirbright during the February half term, where the cadets, both junior and senior, got to practise their shooting on the Defence Close Combat Trainer (Electronic Range) and a live firing long range, with some of the cadets earning the Class 1 shooting badge.

AT Photo – High ropes course: CSgt Style reaches the top of the high ropes!

In addition to the training activities detailed above (and this is not to mention the days spent flying tutor aircraft at Royal Air Force Benson, by the RAF section), the contingent is also extremely proud to have taken part in several civil engagements throughout the year, such as the Kingston Crown Court Service, where the contingent provided parade support in the form of route lining the main street in Kingston for the Major’s service and of

The Contingent Preparing to Fire on The Ranges at Pirbright Training Camp

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Remembrance Sunday – The cadets get to meet with the Mayor of Kingston.

As we move further into the summer term, the CCF has yet another busy period for activities. These include a trip to watch the mass bands of the Household Division perform the Beating Retreat ceremony at Horseguards Parade, in central London, providing cadet support for the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Factory Battle of Waterloo Ceremony, a range day on the Defence Close Combat Trainer, RAF Summer Camp to Royal Air Force High Wycombe and, last but not least, the Army Section’s Summer camp to Barrybudden, in Scotland.

This alongside growing numbers of cadets parading on a weekly basis, cadets attending nationally recognised courses such as the Cadet Leadership Course at Frimley Park (the national cadet training centre) and a greater presence amongst the wider school population, all go to prove the Contingent is striving and in the parting words of our Reviewing Officer, Lt General Riley, ‘I am best-pleased by all that I have seen and commended the contingent, its officers and cadets, on an excellent turn-out. The contingent is in a fine place for the future’.

A E Beggs CCF Contingent Commander

The CCF in the Remembrance Sunday Parade This year being the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War, the remembrance parade in Kingston was particularly special. As such, a healthy contingent of 16 cadets of both sections and all ranks met at school with neatly pressed trousers, perfectly moulded berets, and boots shiny enough to see the mayor of Kingston’s face in.

Because the manoeuvres necessary for this parade are very simple, there was very little rehearsing to be done, so there was time for a Danish pastry each to help keep us from fainting during the parade (evidently the sea scouts next to us had not had this luxury). Fuelled up, we marched off through Kingston, with everybody managing to keep in time right up until the twisty and narrow section leading into the memorial gardens. The act of remembrance passed without a hitch, with the KGS wreath being laid on the memorial by the newly promoted C/Sgt Hugo Lockyer.

Clubs and societies

course the Service of Remembrance, on Remembrance Sunday, in Kingston. The service was very moving and, with so many groups taking part, the march past afterwards was an impressive spectacle, with the CCF taking a lead role, led amicably by Cadet Sergeant Major Boulter. This was quickly followed by an invitation to lunch by the Major in the Town Hall, where the cadets got to meet and talk with the Major himself and other dignitaries, including local councillors and important figures in the community.

After the act of remembrance, we and the other units marched on the church for the service of remembrance, a moving ceremony featuring a sermon on the questions raised by warfare, delivered by the Bishop of Kingston, who is himself an OK. There followed the most testing part of the proceedings: the march past. For this, we had thankfully managed to position ourselves in front of the police cadets, while the sun, which by chance had appeared and made for a rather pleasant temperature by November’s standards, was now directly in front and slightly to the left of us. This caused a minor problem as our eyes went left on passing the mayor, whom none of us could see, let alone recognise, as we all totally lost the step. However, we were spared any embarrassment by an immediate halt, to enable some of the cadets to fall out for the next in the sequence of events.

While Mr Gardner marched the others back to school, eight cadets, myself included, went with Mr Beggs and Mr Behnoudnia to the Guildhall for a reception hosted by the mayor. On entering, we had our photograph taken, and were then ushered up the stairs to the council chamber, wherein we found lots of food and had the opportunity to talk to members of the Town Council, senior armed forces personnel who had been on parade, as well as members of rival, sorry, other organisations.

On behalf of all the attending cadets, I thank Mr Beggs, Mr Gardner and Mr Behnoudnia for leading us on the parade, and I am very proud to have taken part in the act of remembrance under their command.

Cpl Matt Pugh, 5JG

CCF Banner – Our new CCF Banner, which was kindly donated to the Contingent by the PSA, on display at this year’s Biennial Inspection.

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Duke of Edinburgh This year a record number of pupils participated and completed all 4 sections of their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award. Perhaps most praiseworthy, and unusually, the test expedition was completed on the hottest day of the year!

N E Mackay

21 students passed the Expedition section of the Gold Award – a tough 4 days over Dartmoor through some of the worst weather South-East England could throw at them.

Christian Union The question I am most frequently asked after a Christian Union trip is: ‘What do you actually do?’ It is a very good question, and one that doesn’t have a particularly short answer! I have, therefore, broken it down into five slightly more bite-size questions to give you a flavour of what the Christian Union has been up to this past year.

What events took place?

The first trip of the year was in October, when a group of 5th form boys had a weekend away at a farm in East Sussex. The Senior CU then went away for a two-night stay in the New Forest during February half term, whilst the Junior CU had its four-day trip to Norfolk during the Easter holidays. Finally, in August about 60 pupils decamped to Devon for a whole week under actual canvas!

What were the highlights?

It depends who you ask: for many of the boys, I imagine it would be any of the epic games of football played – either in pouring rain (the 5th form trip), or late night under floodlights (SCU houseparty), or the 20+ games played at different venues across a week of camp! But for others it might have been the mountain boarding (basically skateboarding in a lot of mud) or go-karting trips to a Splashdown (a massive outdoor water park), the veritable smorgasbord of silly games thought up by over-imaginative leaders (anyone for covering your face with shaving foam and having your team throw wotsits at it?) or just hanging out having quality time with friends on walks, on steam trains, or in the summer sun in a beautiful field in Devon.

Each day of a Christian Union trip is always packed with activities to cater for every taste, though sometimes you

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Alastair Cowan, Lara Horin and Matthew Maginnis have since gone on to complete all the other sections of the award – many congratulations to them.

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stumble across something which is a hit for both old and young, such as the inflatable assault courses we hired onto camp this summer. However, for me, always one of the highlights is seeing pupils from across all year groups getting to know each other and enjoying each other’s company, and seeing them coming back year after year to recreate those experiences with friends old and new.

What makes it a ‘Christian’ trip?

As well as seeking to put on a fun holiday that will appeal to every type of student, we always have a Christian element to each day of a trip. In general, each evening there is a meeting which has songs, games, and discussions, along with a talk given by a speaker about the main theme chosen for that particular trip: on SCU Houseparty we heard talks about the Old Testament character Jonah, on JCU Houseparty we heard about Jesus’s story of the Lost Son, and on camp we looked at various encounters that Jesus had with people in John’s gospel. Every morning there are then small group discussions where, in a relaxed and open environment, pupils discuss the ideas from the night before and ask any questions they might have. We really try to make all our sessions accessible and relevant to children of all faiths or none, whilst also giving the Christian pupils opportunities to develop their faith further. For Christian students, the smaller trips, like the 5th form weekend in October, give great opportunities for deeper discussions as well as the statutory football and fun!

What happens at school?

JCU and SCU meetings have continued to happen on Tuesdays and Fridays each week. The sixth form CU committee run these sessions: games and sweets are pretty much a pre-requisite here, before handing over to someone to give a short 10 minute talk on a specific topic. This year we have looked at, amongst other things, the New Testament book of Acts, the Lord’s Prayer, and a series on ‘Big Questions’. We are very thankful to have a partnership with a local church in Kingston which is willing

The Christian staff, for all their help, particularly Miss Postgate, Mrs Rhys and Mrs Jackson for all their support.

Anything else?

And last but not least, the great team of Old Kingstonian helpers, who commit themselves year after year to help run the CU trips – without them it would not be possible!

It’s not just the pupils who get a slice of the action either!

For parents, there is a thriving Christian Parents’ Group that meets up once a term for a catch-up over coffee and cake, as well as hear about and pray for upcoming CU events. Staff in school also have their own weekly meetings to pray for the school, each other, and wider events happening in the world. If you would like to be involved in either of these groups, please let me know!

In summary then…

Dates for your diary: SCU Houseparty (4th – U6): 18th – 20th December 2015 JCU Houseparty (1st – 3rd): 9th – 12th April 2016 Summer Camp (all years): 20th – 27th August 2016 C Wenham

Run by Christian staff and students, the CU welcomes people of any faith or none to its events - events where anyone can come and enjoy fun, activities and time with friends, and also have an opportunity to listen to someone speaking about an aspect of the Christian message. We hope you will come and join us at some point this year!

Thanks go to: The CU committee who have run the show this year, and particularly to Rachel Finlay, the leader, who leaves with our best wishes as she now heads off on her gap year. Jess Murray will take over the reins, ably supported by Elsie Birchall Xander Chevallier, Matthew Cooper, Alex Cozens, Alice Metcalf, Megan Nicholls, and Troy O’Dowd.

Junior CU House Party, 2015

5th Form CU camp

CU camp

Clubs and societies

and able to provide regular speakers, which takes a load off our shoulders.

The Group at CU camp.

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Young Enterprise 2014-15 The Young Enterprise Company Programme once again proved popular, with around 30 Lower Sixth students participating and forming two companies – Imperium and Phoenix.

The campaign kicked off in September with an “Ideathon” which generated several early product ideas and built up strong team spirit after a highly exciting and competitive egg drop competition! And while the first few weekly board meetings were dominated by product and market research, both companies simultaneously embarked on feverish fundraising campaigns, setting up stalls at school events throughout the Autumn term (Open Days, school matches, PSA Christmas Fair, cake sales, etc).

Both KGS companies demonstrated innovation, commitment and teamwork during the year to drive their products forward. After months of market research and product development, and with finances in place, both teams were ready to sell in time for the all-important Christmas period.

Once again, our companies came up with distinctive products targeted at the ever expanding smartphone market. Phoenix’s sleek portable smartphone charger and

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Imperium’s fun interactive smartphone gloves generated significant interest with both companies making very healthy profits at the end of the year.

In addition to direct sales at school and to family and friends, both teams were highly organised and proudly represented KGS at the Pan-London Trade Fair held at Spitalfields Market, as well as the South London Trade Fair in Croydon and the Kingston Trade Fair. In the face of fierce competition, our pupils marketed and sold their products with great enthusiasm, professionalism and innovation. Lastly, in relation to marketing, both companies produced high quality videos advertising their products, which were played in Senior Assembly – with Phoenix’s advert attaining near cult status!

The year ended with both companies producing company reports detailing their production, marketing, selling and financial story, as well as giving coherent and professional presentations in front of a panel of judges at the Richmond & Kingston Area Preliminaries. While neither company made it through to the Finals this year, they learned a great deal from their experiences and developed highly valued employability skills such as problem-solving, innovation, teamwork, leadership and communication.

Overall, another most enjoyable year and we look forward to seeing what ideas next year’s companies come up with.

S R Morris

Over the past two years, many of our older and more experienced players have left the school.

As a result, many new younger players joined the chess team on a permanent basis. This year we were involved in the 4th division of the Briant Poulter Chess league and were keen to avoid relegation for the third year in a row. The chess team consisted of Year 12 Gabriel Thompson, Year 11 Ben Park, Year 9 Kyungsung Kim, Year 8 Tim Baker, Year 8 Adwait Joshi, Year 8 Joshua (Je Hyun) Lee, Year 8 Bijan Ghamsari and Year 8 Thomas Gibson. To help us achieve victory in the upcoming matches there was a weekly chess club run by Candidate Master Christopher Briscoe on Thursday lunchtimes in HP3.

In the Briant Poulter League Fourth Division we played matches against four other teams. In each match both schools select their six strongest players. The two strongest players from each school play on Board 1, the second strongest on Board 2 and so on. The teams will play with opposite colours which means that if we have white on the odd Boards (1,3,5) we will have black on the even Boards (2,4,6) and vice versa. On Each Board a win results in one point for the team, a draw results in half a point and a loss results in 0 points. After all six games have been played the team with the highest number of points obtains victory over the other. If both teams have the same number of points (3) the match is a draw. The time control for each game is 60 minutes plus an extra 15 minutes after 30 moves. In the league, a victory is worth 2 points, a draw 1 and a defeat 0.

Each school plays two matches against each other school, one home and one away. At the end of the season the school with the fewest number of points is relegated and the team with the highest number of points is promoted.

Thompson, could help the team avoid an embarrassing 6-0 defeat. Thankfully, he prevailed and as such we were defeated 5-1. In our remaining matches in the first half of the season we were defeated 4-2 by Reigate Grammar’s 2nd team, 3.5-2.5 by Trinity’s 2nd team and 4-2 by Wallington.

This meant that as we entered the Christmas Holidays we had lost all four of our matches so far and sat bottom of the table with 0 points.

However, all was not lost and if we did well enough in our remaining four matches we could easily avoid relegation.

In our fifth match of the season we played Trinity at home and despite having only five players (which means we automatically lost on Board six), we prevailed and obtained victory by a score of 4-2. Following this, we had a 3-3 draw with Wallington before an outstanding performance by all six of our players enabled us to defeat Wilson’s 4th Team 6-0. Which meant that a victory against Reigate Grammar in our last game would see us avoid relegation. Although both Gabriel Thompson and Joshua Lee won their games, the match ended 3-3 and thus we were relegated to Division five of the Briant Poulter League.

Clubs and societies

Chess Report 2014-15

Naturally a portion of this review must be devoted to the ‘What if” Scenario. What if some of our players did not end up in Friday Detention and were able to play? What if some of our players knew how to win endgames when they are two pawns up? What if some of our players learned their openings and didn’t fall into simple traps? Well, then we would probably still be in Division 4.

You guys know who you are and the one thing I am certainly not doing here is blaming you. But I hope you all know how to improve, so that we can do as well as possible in Division 5 Despite being relegated, there were many positives to take from our performance this year. The Improvement in many of our younger players such as Adwait Joshi, Tim Baker and Bijan Ghamsari has been outstanding with both Bijan and Adwait winning more games than they lost. I feel that this improvement has been reflected in our results as in the second half of the season we were victorious in 2 matches and drew 2, compared to having 4 defeats in the first half of the season. The enthusiasm for chess within all of our younger players is clear and I have no doubt that they will continue to grow as players and help the Kingston Grammar School Chess Team to victory in many of our future matches Gabriel Thompson, L6SRM

Our opening match of the season was against Wilson’s 4th Team. Sadly, in little over an hour the bottom five boards had all lost their games, meaning only our Captain, Gabriel

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technology club round the pole flying A new addition to the wide range of Technology Club projects is RTP flying. Students build model spitfires using balsa wood and decorate them in various insignia. The model planes are fixed to wires and fly around a fixed pole with tissue paper attached to the rear. The opponent then flies in true Battle of Britain combat style to try to cut the tissue paper of the opponent. The levels of excitement are reflected in the noise of competitive dog fighting carnage.

Thomas Skeates, Tarun Ramphul, Chris Wilding, Harry Fletcher, Oscar Bird Martinez.

L to R: Harry Fletcher, Tarun Ramphul, Oscar Bird Martinez, Chris Wilding and Thomas Skeates

Problem Solving Heathside School, Weybridge February 2015 The annual problem-solving challenge is always a popular event in the calendar and was held in a packed hall at Heathside School, Weybridge. Three keen and enthusiastic KGS teams participated in three different age categories at this regional event. This year, the challenge was to use the weight of sweets to act as the energy force to rotate a device as many times as possible in a set time limit.

The students worked with creative enthusiasm to design and construct their clever contraptions. Although we did not win any prizes, it gave the students a real insight into real world challenges and how to solve them with limited resources and time constraints.

Lower School team left to right: Adwait Joshi, Tim Baker, Tom Pryse-Davies, Matthew Wilson and Thomas Gibson

Sixth Form team left to right: Martha Whittal, Lewis Ahl and Lucy Evers

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National Physical Laboratory, Teddington Wednesday 17th June, 2015 The annual Water Rocket Challenge at the National Physical Laboratory is a regular event in the Technology Challenge calendar. This is the 16th year since the competition started way back in 1999 and Kingston Grammar School has attended every event. This in itself is worthy of an award but (as is customary) the main challenge is to fly pressurised air and water rockets made from old two-litre plastic drinks bottles. Teams must then fire them into zones to achieve extra points. Flight accuracy was wayward to start with but with some tinkering and weight addition to the nose cone, we managed some very respectable rocket flights into the landing zones. The event is very well attended by school, scout, youth and adult teams with fun and enjoyment as the main focus. Congratulations and thanks to our rocket team: Kevin Liu, Nathan Farr, John Gallop, Aaron Farr, Matthew Wilson, Callum Farr and Thomas Gibson. Our long and fruitful association with the NPL science team continues.

Clubs and societies

Water Rocket Challenge

Well done to the Team.

D Farr

Water Rocket Team (left to right) Aaron Farr, Matthew Wilson, Kevin Liu, John Gallop, Nathan Farr and Callum Farr.

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German trip to Boppard 24th to 28th June 2015 Thirty-nine Second and Third Form German students and five members of staff set off early Wednesday morning to make their way to the beautiful Rhineland in Germany.

Despite the strike of the port workers in Calais, demonstrations that disrupted the Eurotunnel service and a little detour due to ‘Operation Stack’ on the M20, we made it to Boppard to enjoy a few days of fun in that lovely part of Germany.

This is what the students thought about it.

Thursday 25th June Nürburgring Racetrack We arrived at the majestic Nürburgring and already the presence of great racing drivers hit us. We were allowed on a special balcony with a sensational view across the track. We were also taken to the podium where the race winners stood, which was very special. We had photos taken like we had just won a race. Then we went through and looked at the memorial which contained pictures of all the great drivers who drove at the Nürburgring and won, Niki Lauda, the Schumacher brothers, and James Hunt to name but a few.

Overall this trip was very memorable.

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Cochem At lunchtime we arrived at Cochem. The long bus journey was worth the beautiful views of the Rhine and the Mosel.

In our free time we walked along the waterfront and learned more about German culture. We had a chance to practise our German as we ordered lunch. After a long and strenuous walk up the hill through vineyards we arrived at Cochem castle. The climb was worth it as we stood looking down at the pretty village below and the tour of the castle that we got was amazing. We learnt about different architectural features from different time periods. We also learnt about trap doors that you had to open by stroking a carving of a woman (!) and balconies suspended over nothing, 300 feet in the air. I would love to go back to Cochem one day as it is a truly breathtaking village.

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10 tanks. We also saw oak barrels containing wine that was 100 years old. Then we watched a video about wine production and George brought grape juice from the same grapes they grew there in the vineyards. It was delicious and after that we waited out in the sun for the bus to arrive before heading back to Boppard.

Saturday 27th June Boppard

Friday 26th June Trier – Germany’s oldest Roman city The amphitheatre At 8 o’clock we set off to the wonderful town of Trier.

It is the oldest Roman town in the beautiful land of Germany. We arrived at the amphitheatre where our guide was dressed as a real gladiator. He did a fantastic job of keeping us entertained and educating us about gladiators.

It was amazing to hear his voice echoing throughout the amphitheatre – the acoustics were excellent, even though the building is over a thousand years old. We especially learnt about the gruesome ways that gladiators would get killed and the armour they had to wear. The helmets were extremely heavy – we got to try them on and Tim almost fell over from the weight of his! The helmets were not only used for armour, but also for their status. The sun was very hot while the guide told us everything about the weaponry and a gladiator’s life – some of us wished we could have been wearing as little as our gladiator! At the end, we had a go at different fighting skills ourselves, such as trapping opponents with a net and throwing a spear. The spear was extremely heavy and only a couple of students and Miss Bruce managed to throw it! This was a very informative and memorable visit.

‘Weinkulturpfad’ in Trier Today we went to a wine-maker’s vineyard and winery on the side of a hill overlooking the Mosel river and the amphitheatre. George, our guide, said that they mostly grew white wine grapes (Weisstrauben). The ground that the plants were grown on had slate so that the minerals in the slate would put more minerals and taste into the wine. We also learnt that the vineyard was on a very steep hill because it helps let the intensity of the sun into all the vines. After having looked at the vineyard we walked through the vines to the ‘Weingut’ – a big house where they make the wine – and went into the wine cellar where it was nice and cool. The wine cellar had lots of tanks that contained 2200 litres of wine and there were roughly

On Saturday morning, after a slightly later breakfast, we were allowed to spend two hours of free time in Boppard.

We started off walking along the lovely promenade along the Rhine, where we sat down to admire the view and the boats going past, before heading past the beautiful old church and market place to the shops. We bought souvenirs for us and our families and we stashed up on German sweets and biscuits in the local supermarket.

Phantasialand In the afternoon we went to Phantasialand – a theme park which as usual was for a lot of students the highlight of the trip! Luckily it was very quiet so there were no queues for the rides, much to the delight of Miss Postgate, who got to go on several rides twice! The first ride we went on was ‘the black Mamba’. It is a ride with a steep drop and it was great fun. ‘Colorado Adventure’ was a deceptively slow train that quickly sped up. All of a sudden you were in a black tunnel screaming ‘oh noooo’. After we used our snack passes and bought chicken nuggets and chips, Matt oddly decided to get his face painted with a dragon (although it looked a bit like a reindeer…) while the others went to the pedalos.

Mini golf After dinner on the last night, we all walked down to the mini golf course at the end of our hotel’s pretty street.

There were 15 or 16 holes, all of which were really difficult, including loops, holes and slopes. We all had a competition in which we would give €1 to anyone who got a ‘hole-inone’. Omid won as he potted the hole first so we all had to give him €1. We then carried on playing for a short while and some of us sat down and enjoyed some drinks. After mini golf we made our way back to the hotel to enjoy our final night.

The German trip was a fantastic opportunity to experience a beautiful part of Germany and we are grateful to Frau Russell for organising it and to Mr Wenham, Miss Postgate, Frau Dutton and Frau Bruce for coming.

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4th Year French Exchange to Châlonsen-Champagne 2015 On the last Friday of the Spring Term, fourteen students and two teachers gathered in the cage to embark on the second leg of the French Exchange. After meeting Mr Crohill at St Pancras station, we took the Eurostar to Paris and another regional train to Châlons. We were greeted by our excitable exchanges on Friday evening, and we were left with our suitcases and pocket French dictionaries to our own devices for the weekend. “The fun is just beginning!” exclaimed Mr Garner gleefully, as it sunk in that the weekend would, for most people, mean speaking no English at all – an extremely daunting prospect.

However, while intense, the weekend was thoroughly enjoyable; activities included a party, shopping, bowling, bus tours and visits to nearby towns, all of which helped us settle in to our new families.

On Monday morning, we rendezvoused at Le Collège Notre Dame Perrier, where we took a coach to Paris. Mrs Hempstead eased us through the distinctly Parisian traffic with some rather cheesy jokes, as the English we hadn’t been able to speak during the weekend tumbled readily from our mouths. We visited Montparnasse, getting a view across the whole of Paris, and afterwards, looking much more foreign than we now felt, we were given some free time around the Sacre-Coeur at Montmartre.

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After returning to our families in Châlons, we discovered we could manage to say slightly more than “Oui, merci” as more French began to fall into place in our brains.

On Tuesday we went with our exchanges to Reims, after visiting a chocolaterie – even at nine-thirty in the morning, copious quantities of chocolate were consumed as we learnt about the production of chocolate. In Reims we ate

Trips lunch and enjoyed some convivialité at ‘L’apostrophe’, a fancy restaurant, had a tour of Reims cathedral and then were given some free time to explore the town.

That evening, we watched a basketball match between the local team, Champagne Châlons-Reims, and Lyon. In a closely-contested affair, with an electric atmosphere, the hosts came out on top, winning 88-71.

On the following day, April 1st, we saw around a champagne cellar, with Mrs Hempstead giving a running translation of the production process, and afterwards had a boat trip down the River Nau, which flows through Châlons.

Although there were threats of a poisson d’avril, the teachers made it through the morning unscathed, and we spent the afternoon with our exchanges. In the evening, we played basketball matches against the French, with the teachers getting involved and acting as players and coaches – little did we know Mr Crohill’s knowledge of basketball would be so extensive! The matches were followed by pizza: the perfect end to a brilliant day.

We also spent Thursday with our exchanges, this time with them in their lessons, helping them to prepare a debate in English about the dangers of videogames and observing a technology lesson. At lunch, we played the French again, this time in a now-traditional football match, before participating in a quiz around Châlons with our exchanges. Later that evening, we went to l’hôtel de ville for a welcome from the mayor – although we didn’t see the grand fromage himself, his deputy spoke to us, highlighting the links between Kingston and Châlons and the importance of international friendliness.

After one final night with our families, we met on Friday morning at Châlons station with a feeling of déjà-vu, with tearful farewells and fond memories to look back on. The exchange was a unique experience, and was well worth the nerves and awkwardness of the first nights; we have all made friends and met new people with whom we will stay in contact, and hopefully see again. The trip was a huge success, and that can only be put down to the people who organised and ran it – alors, Mme Hempstead, M. Garner, M. Crohill, Mlle Bruce et les profs de Collège NDP – merci beaucoup!

Fiona Kennedy, 4 DGB

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CERN Physicist are a burdened group of intellectuals, toiling with the mathematics of our genesis, grappling with the forces that govern our universe- and, as was the case with KGS Team Physics, defying human biological limitations by surviving a 4am wake up to reach Gatwick airport at the ungodly hour of 5:30 am. I ask the biologists angrily waving their transect squares in rage to kindly refrain from such behaviour. I am about to embark on the explanation of (real? too much?) science.

It was, of course, some consolation that we were to visit the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, the world’s largest particle accelerator, 27km in circumference and responsible for (amongst other things) the discovery of the Higgs Boson - the somewhat ironically coined ‘God particle’, accountable for mass.

For the benefit of those who know little on the subject, a particle accelerator is used to ascertain what particles such as neutrons and protons comprise by accelerating the particles towards each other, using hugely powerful magnetic fields, and looking at what results from their collisions. To any aspiring physicist a trip to such a facility is awe-inspiring. Places such as the LHC have been vital in compiling the standard model of particle physics and in explaining what happens at the sub-atomic level.

However, our trip to the LHC was to be on the penultimate day of our 4 day excursion, perhaps somewhat of a finale. The day we arrived was spent settling in to our accommodation and exploring Geneva; Lake Geneva was beautiful in daylight but intoxicating at night with amber

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lights from the coast reflecting and cascading across the water and this was where we were to spend a good amount of our free time. The next few days were spent doing cultural activities: visiting the United Nations offices, The Red Cross museum, taking a boat trip around Lake Geneva, not to mention highly competitive bowling, where for some, understanding the mechanics of Physics was utterly redundant as hand-eye coordination appeared to be something unheard of; these people were more likely to hit neutrinos with the bowling bowls than the pins.

By the third day the wait was over and the excitement was palpable. Upon arriving at the LHC we were given a talk on what CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research) was all about and the basis of how the colliders and detectors operated. It was also suggested by our guide that those ‘27 kilometers of disco’ might have been just as awesome, which I believe, we were all in firm agreement with.

We then travelled by coach to the detector, where we were given a further explanation of how the system worked, which I have tried to convinced myself was made more difficult by the language barrier and accent of our guide than the complexity of the machine and physics involved itself - an illusion I am quite happy to maintain. It would appear that even after wearing a custom CERN hard helmet and nodding any number of times, is not enough to understand completely all that goes on there. There is, of course, a certain amount of happiness associated with when a senior member of the Physics department also has

All jokes aside, the sheer immensity of the detector alone was enough to make us feel a little smaller in our oversized hard hats with the machinery towering above us. In that moment it really did feel like Physics was the science in which the infinitely big meets the infinitely small.

It would have been almost criminal to leave Geneva without purchasing a wealth of Swiss chocolate and luckily our last day saw time not only for this, but also to taste and make Swiss chocolate in a small factory. It is safe to

say we all learnt a valuable lesson from the experience: never eat cocoa beans, it’s a trap. Finally, it was time to leave picturesque Geneva, and for some, to hope that we might one day return to the LHC, perhaps to undertake our own research there.

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an expression on his face akin to a geographer being asked to decipher hieroglyphics after a few too many.

As Mr Behnoudnia says, Physics is life.

Over and out.

Meriel Philips, U6

Art at KGS Once again it was an exciting, creative and successful year in the Art Department. The KGS Art Society continued its programme of Friday evening trips and kicked off early in the term with a visit to the annual BP Portrait Awards at the National Portrait Gallery. Subsequent excursions took in work by Matisse, Malevich, Anselm Kieffer, The Turner Prize short list, Rembrandt, Sigmar Polke and Alexander McQueen at the V & A. The Leyshon Summer Art Competition, which has run since 1998, was won this year by Nyah Lear with a beautiful picture made during her summer holiday. Two pupils, Tristan Taylor and Selin Humphreys had work chosen for display at the Young Art Exhibition at the Royal College of Art. During the October half-term break the Art and Drama departments travelled to New York City to experience the world famous Museums, galleries and Broadway theatre. In December the 6th Form artists attended a conference at the Institute of Education in London entitled “The Creative Process”. Speakers included the artist Cornelia Parker RA, who is best known

for large scale installation art. Our students’ work continues to be on display in the A&E Department of Kingston Hospital and the environment there is greatly enhanced by the uplifting imagery on show. The year culminated with a spectacular Summer Exhibition in the Theatre and Baxter Gallery, attended by pupils, parents and many friends.

Highlights included work by Jess Murray, Freya Kille, Greta Weston and Jamie Bisping at GCSE level and a wide range of creative and challenging A-level work from artists such as Genya Paziouk, Phoebe Cowley, Martha Horn, Ben Cave, Lily Hines, Lara Horin, Sam Kan and Alex Pitcairn. All the U6th Artists who applied won places at the country’s top Art Schools to study Foundation Art & Design. They will be studying at Kingston University, Leeds College of Art, Edinburgh School of Art, The Royal Drawing School and St Martin’s. We wish them all well in their Art studies and look forward to hearing how their careers progress.

J Dyson

AS Biology Field Trip 2015 This year the AS Biology Field Trip visited Leeson House in Dorset for four days in June. From there we carried out five different ecology studies along the Portland Bay area.

The same day we arrived we began an investigation into estimating woodlice populations by catching, marking and releasing over 50 woodlice. The next day we carried out a freshwater pond ecology study within the grounds of Leeson House in the morning and headed out to Studland Bay to study the relative abundance plants along a dune succession in the afternoon. On our third day we had an early start down at Kimmeridge Bay, measuring limpet size and carrying out another transect, this time looking at the number of periwinkles of different species through different coastal zones. Here we were able to have some fun rock-pooling and catching crabs as well as having the opportunity to visit the local visitor centre where they held parts of the skeleton of a Fin Whale which washed up on the shore a few years previously. In the afternoon we

headed to the River Piddle after enjoying some ice cream for lunch where we sampled the freshwater invertebrates and marvelled at a rare crayfish. We were able to see an exciting range of species of both plants and animals, as well as having the opportunity to learn more about the local wildlife from out knowledgeable guide, Mike Gould.

Despite the long, hard working days we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and were able to have a lot of fun out in the field. The long, sunny evenings were a perfect opportunity to explore the extensive and beautifully conserved grounds of Leeson House and we got the opportunity to see a bird ringing demonstration as well as getting up close to the resident small rodents which we caught in our mammal traps. This was an invaluable opportunity to experience what ecology studies are really like and learn a lot about the local ecosystems.

Emily Bertin, L6CGW

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Lower Sixth Nuts Challenge 2015 On Saturday 5th September, the intrepid Lower Sixth went to Squires Farm near Dorking for their Activity Day. This year students took part in the Nuts Challenge, a “tough mudder” style fun run around an army assault course. As the coach drew up, spirits were high. We made our way to the KGS gazebo and students donned their bright green Nuts Challenge t-shirts in readiness for the adventure which lay ahead. At just before eleven o’clock, the announcer (a rather odd looking man in a kilt) called the students forward to the start line and got everybody revved up and ready to go with a serious of chants and warm-up exercises. At eleven o’clock precisely the hooter sounded and the adventure began. Students found themselves completing one lap of the seven kilometre course, which included one hundred obstacles – just to keep things interesting. The students did fantastically well, showing bravery, courage and a real regard for others when the going got tough and the mud got thicker.

They encountered slippery poles, freezing water and hay bales to climb over – but everybody got round and everybody should feel proud of what they achieved.

As one student said, “It was basically like the Reading Festival – but with obstacles” or as George Teasdale put it, “Why would you make us do something like that?!” A special mention should definitely be made of Mr Farr and Mr Davies, who also took part. Mr Farr and Tom Gooding were the first from KGS to finish in a time of one hour ten minutes, which placed them in twenty second and twenty third place out of a field of one thousand five hundred competitors – congratulations! Once the mud was hosed off filthy clothes and students had filled up on burgers and

noodles from one of the stalls on site, we headed back to Kingston tired but happy. A day that will live long in the memory and a real achievement for all who took part.

Well done!

O P Garner

Lower Sixth Activity Day On Thursday 2nd July the Lower Sixth students headed to Central London for the second of their two activity days, which was designed to be a fun and relaxing way to round off the year now that they had had since September to get to know each other. Despite a few showers in the morning, the students stoically went about their photography challenge which would take them all over the centre of town. We based ourselves near Leicester Square and watched the world go by with a cup of coffee to keep us going. Armed with cameras, the students went about solving riddles and photographing themselves in front of various objects and artefacts such as Nelson’s Column and the Spirit of Soho Mural depicting St Anne. While the task

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brought out the competitive streak in some forms, the lure of well-known coffee shop chains encouraged others to take a more relaxed approach on the South Bank and in the local parks. After meeting with their tutors for lunch in various locations such as Five Guys, the forms finished off their challenge and met for one final photo in front of Big Ben. Despite a few blisters, the day was a great success, not least because one form met the magician Jamie Raven from Britain’s Got Talent and some other students found themselves interviewed by Heart FM! O P Garner

Immediately prior to October half-term, the Lower 6th geographers embarked on the lengthy journey north to Kirby Grindalythe, a quaint North Yorkshire village, home to the renowned Cranedale Field Studies Centre. Over the course of three demanding, but enjoyable days, pupils undertook a variety of activities preparing them for their Unit 2 skills exam. The main focus of the fieldtrip was to undertake practical work in the field, measuring the River Derwent’s changes downstream, to try to quantify Bradshaw’s Model. Due to the inclement antecedent weather conditions, it was only possible to enter the river safely upstream of Bloody Beck, but students were also able to view incised meanders and floodplains

further downstream. A secondary focus of the trip was to investigate flood defences in the region, culminating in a pleasant walk along the banks of the Derwent in Pickering and Malton. On returning to KGS, the Lower 6th wrote up the Six Stages of Geographical Enquiry, and developed a suite of statistical, graphical and cartographic skills required by the AQA exam syllabus. It is these transferable skills which will help the KGS geographers stand out from the crowd when applying for university courses this coming academic year.

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Geography (Lower Sixth)

H Waddington

Geography (Fifth Year) The KGS Geography Department ran a highly successful trip to Kingston’s Central Business District (CBD) at the beginning of September to conduct their GCSE Controlled Assessment data collection to answer the question: “to what extent does Kingston exhibit the typical characteristics of a CBD?” Sixty-six fifth year pupils were involved in pedestrian-density counts, environmental quality assessment, land-use classification and clone-town surveying. To fulfil the exam board’s criteria for an A or A* grade, pupils also had to plan and investigate an ‘individual element’ in their fieldwork, such as determining if Kingston

is a nodal point. After a busy morning collecting data, all pupils returned to school to write up their methods and explain their sampling techniques. Although Kingston was not the most exotic location, pupils enjoyed the opportunity to investigate theory learnt in the classroom, and the fact that all sixty-six pupils achieved at least an A grade in this unit (with a number garnering full marks) illustrates it is a tremendously rewarding experience for all involved.

H Waddington

Geography (Sixth Form) Throughout the 2014-15 academic year, KGS 6th Form geographers had the opportunity to attend a number of extension events after school, from University seminars at Royal Holloway to Geographical Association lectures at local schools. Topics ranged from a discussion of the latest research into quasi-natural ecosystem development in the Netherlands, to a debate about the impact of globalisation on the development of lower income countries, and all themes were related to the AS and A2 Level course, often providing extension material with which to target an A or A* grade. Our A-Level students also have the opportunity to join the Royal Geographical Society, and a number of students have enjoyed making use of the free Monday

night lecture series, which are world-renowned for bringing the latest Geographical thinking and research to a wider interested audience. Our recent leavers heading to study Geography or related degree courses often commented on the relevance of the lecture topics, and how helpful these experiences were for preparing them for university interviews and lectures. We would encourage any prospective A-Level or undergraduate geographers to join the RGS and make use of the fantastic member-only resources.

H Waddington

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63

Trips

KGS Spanish Exchange, 2015 Over the Easter holidays, Miss Pastore, Mr Borrero and I took a group of Third Year students to Spain as part of an exchange programme with our partner Spanish school, I.E.S Ángel Corella. Frances Hedley and Joe Young, outline below what we did and why it was such a fantastic experience!

Miss Reynolds

The warm welcome we received upon arrival at the Spanish school “I really enjoyed this year’s Spanish exchange as I made new friends and had lots of fun. We went into Madrid two days of the week and we did many activities, including a flamenco lesson, sight-seeing, and visiting a Spanish restaurant where we had traditional Spanish food, including tortilla. The flamenco lesson was very enjoyable. We learned the history of flamenco and then we were taught a basic routine.

Another day we visited a town called Toledo with our exchanges. Here we visited a church and a synagogue, and then had time for souvenir shopping. On the weekend we spent some time with our host families. On the Saturday I went to the theme park and joined up with some other people on the trip. On Sunday I was shown round an aircraft museum, which for me was great because I’m an active member of CCF! What I enjoyed most about the Spanish exchange is going around Madrid and speaking with my host family. The trip was so much fun and I will definitely keep in touch with my exchange. I would definitely go again. I recommend this trip to anyone wanting to improve their Spanish and make new friends.”

Frances Hedley, 3SC

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KINGSTON GRA MM AR SCHOOL 2015

A fun day spent in Madrid “Al fin de las vacaciones de Pascua un grupo de veintitrés estudiantes de español y tres profesores viajamos a España para mejorar nuestro español, ver la cultura española, y lo más importante para algunos, ver a los intercambios.

El primer día nos levantamos bien temprano para tomar el tren a Madrid donde comemos en los Jardines de Sabatini, seguido por una clase estupenda de flamenco en la escuela de Amor de Dios.

Pasamos los dos días siguientes con las familias, y fui a Segovia lo que fue muy bien, especialmente debido a las vistas increíbles, y la comida.

El lunes fuimos a Toledo, donde vimos la plaza de Toros de las ventas, y unos templos e iglesias. El martes volvimos a Madrid y paseamos por el Bernabéu.

Lo que más me gustó fue Madrid porque fuimos de compras, y vimos muchos monumentos famosos. Lo recomendaría decidi­ damente como viaje, como que fue muy divertido y es una oportunidad de hablar el español”.

Joe Young, 3RS

Trips

Sailing This has been a good year for sailing at KGS and the weather has, generally, been kind to us. At the end of the Autumn half-term a crew of Upper-Sixth sailors took part in the UK National Independent Schools Sailing Championship. This was held in Cowes on the Isle of Wight and consisted of series of inshore races around an Olympic triangle course.

We were racing high performance, J80 keelboats and this was quite a step-up for our sailors who are used to sailing much smaller boats on the River Thames during their games afternoon. Fortunately we had managed to pressgang Hugh Harvey and Harry McGregor, both experienced club dinghy sailors, and so, together with Sam Underwood and Ariel Ropert we had an experienced and strong crew.

We got off to a good start in the first race and managed a good spinnaker hoist on the downwind leg which saw us finish in second place behind RGS Guildford. In subsequent races we just seemed to lack the upwind speed of the other schools but at the end of the final race we ended up in a very creditable third place overall.

The next major event was the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh and, once again, both weekends were spent sailing and camping at Chichester. The Fourth Form Students were an excellent and experienced group of sailors who spent a great deal of time training and preparing for their final expedition. They all passed their assessment with flying colours so very well done to Jess Swan, Kate Scott-Taylor, Milla Raymond and Will Lloyd.

myself and the second by a professional Sunsail skipper with Mrs Corcoran also on board. A number of the students already had some sailing ability but for others, it was a completely new experience and an opportunity to learn about sailing, boat handling and navigation. For many, a highlight of the trip was spending the night at anchor off a deserted beach in a sheltered cove. All our students had a great time and we hope to repeat the trip again at the end of summer term 2016.

Mr Forsyth

The year ended with our second trip to Geek in Turkey where fourteen, Fifth-Form students spent a week sailing and relaxing in the Mediterranean sunshine. As before, we chartered two sailing yachts, the first was skippered by

KINGSTON GRA MMAR SCHOOL 2015

65

Trips

China From the old but beautifully-preserved canals of Suzhou to the Great Wall, from Beijing’s ancient Forbidden City to the bright lights of modern Shanghai, from tea-drinking ceremonies to spectacular acrobat shows - the 2nd year KGS China trip saw them all, and so much more. For the five days we were there, I enjoyed every second of it.

songs like ‘Heads, shoulders knees and toes’ as well as facts about London and our Royal Family. After teaching them we got to have lunch in the school cafeteria, and then finished off the visit with a game of football against the school team. We dominated the play but couldn’t put the ball in the net. Diplomatically, neither could they.

On our first morning in Beijing, after a movie-filled flight, we woke up early for an exciting day ahead: we were going to the Great Wall of China! We had breakfast and started heading towards the coach. As soon as we got out of the coach you could see the amazing view of the Great Wall of China. We took a gondola up the hill towards the Great Wall and started to walk along its many undulations with amazing views on either side. As a reward for our efforts, we got to take an amazing toboggan slide all the way down the mountain. We enjoyed a superb lunch before travelling back to the capital for tea-sampling and a Kung Fu show in the evening.

We then travelled to our last destination, Shanghai. The view of the city was incredible. When we got there we took a boat trip up the Yangtzee alongside the Bund, before proceeding towards the Oriental Pearl Tower. When we got there we managed to go up the tower and look down at Shanghai through the glass floor beneath us – a thrilling experience. Afterwards we visited an acrobatic show which kept everyone on the edge of their seats the whole time as graceful dancing, tumbling and gymnastics blended with death-defying feats. I genuinely think that was the best acrobatics show I have ever seen.

The following day we caught a coach to Tiananmen Square.

There seemed to be at least another million tourists and locals milling around, and yet the square is so vast there was room for us all. From there we joined the slow-moving queue of humanity which entered the Forbidden City, the home of so many Chinese Emperors. We bowed our heads past Chairman Mao as we entered, ensuring we got the right entrance for fear of being beheaded had we erred – as would have happened in times past! The Forbidden City was epic in scale – each vast courtyard leading on to the next and the next.

After the time we spent at Beijing we travelled to Suzhou, a city which contained a beautiful water village preserved for hundreds of years. We also got to teach some students there, which was amazing. We started teaching the children

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KINGSTON GRA MM AR SCHOOL 2015

If you do get the chance to go on a KGS China trip, I completely recommend it; it’s a great, entirely new experience visiting the eastern world.

Theo Eisenstein Levett (3rd Year)

Art Katie Ryan, L6

Bethany Williams, 5th yr

Katie Ryan, L6

Lucy Brake, 5th yr

Zoe Lowery, L6

KINGSTON GRA MMAR SCHOOL 2015

67

Art

Lara Horin, U6

Ben Cave, U6

Genya Paziouk, U6th

Freya Kille, 5th yr

Maddie Kelly, 5th yr

Paula Borkmann 5th yr

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KINGSTON GRA MM AR SCHOOL 2015

Joe Mallinson 5th yr

Art Henry Bents, 5th yr

Lara Horin, U6th

Ben Cave, U6

Jess Murray, 5th yr

Martha Horn, U6

Danny Livingstone 5th yr

Natasha Markham, U6

KINGSTON GRA MMAR SCHOOL 2015

69

Art

Janseri Boran Bailey 5th yr

Lara Horin, U6

Jake Cutts 5th yr

Alex Pitcairn

Suzi Stenning 5th yr

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KINGSTON GRA MM AR SCHOOL 2015

Natasha Markham U6th

Art Elliot Hudson 5th yr

Alex Pitcairn U6th

Ben Cave U6th

Lara Horin, U6

Hattie Cashman 5th yr

Martha Horn U6th

KINGSTON GRA MMAR SCHOOL 2015

71

House Reports

LOVEKYN The Lovekyn Eagles soared to victory in 2014 and became House champions. However, with Queen’s eager to claim the title back and Mr Wenham taking over as Head of House for Taverner, we knew this was going to be a tough year to keep our title.

The first successes for Lovekyn started with the Super Saturday, where we won the Senior Boys’ Hockey and 2nd/3rd Year Football and came 2nd in Senior Girls’ Hockey and 1st Year Football. The Eagles played extremely well and everyone showed excellent commitment and teamwork on the day. Special thanks to Darcy Lewis, Chris Wort, Matt Lansdell, Will Hird, Charlotte Le Feuvre and Maddie Kelly for coaching the junior teams.

House Dance is always a fun and enjoyable competition.

Lovekyn came up with some incredible routines this year which included tap, ballet and hip-hop. The Eagles worked really hard on their performances and special thanks to Alex Pitcairn and Martha Whittall for organising the three pieces. We came 2nd overall, which was a fantastic result and I would like to thank all the Eagles who took part in this event.

The House Basketball competitions were very successful, with great wins for the U13 and U15 teams. House Chess was a very close competition, as it all came down to the very last game. We came 2nd overall with Ben Park, Gabriel Thompson and Josh Lee playing extremely well.

House DT, House CCF and House Art were the last events of the Christmas term. In House DT, they had to build a tower out of 30 straws which had to hold a Mars Bar and the highest tower won. Matt Thom, Callum Farr and Tom Hall spent a lot of time building their tower and all their hard work paid off, as they won with a tower of 124cm.

Well done boys! The House Art team, led by Sam Kan and Lara Horin, worked extremely well over the 3 day event and created a fantastic piece. Our CCF team achieved an impressive victory during the last week of term which was a vital win! So with one term down, we were 2nd overall with only 7 points behind Queen’s and 3 points ahead of Taverner. All to play for as we headed into the Easter term.

House Drama was the first big house event of 2015 and the theme this year was ‘difference’. Charlotte Samady wrote an amazing script and with the help of George Parrott, Archie Sturton and Natasha Thomas, they directed and produced a fantastic dramatic piece. All the cast were great and a special mention to Jamie Bisping for his performance of playing a boy with mental illness. We came second overall and this was a great start to the term. In Senior Debating, we were against Queen’s and we had to debate whether prisoners had the right to vote.

James Dyson, Ollie Axbey, Matt Pugh and Ollie Cole did a tremendous job and we ended up coming joint first with Queen’s. Despite the senior teams doing well in Table Tennis, Netball and Football, Queen’s were still 22 points ahead of us.

The Summer term started well with some great performances from the Junior Cricket and Rounders teams, with the 2nd year boys, 2nd year girls and 3rd year girls winning their events. Ross McGeachie, James Hall, Matt Thom and Faiz Saleem played extremely well in House Golf, coming 2nd overall and narrowly missing

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KINGSTON GRA MM AR SCHOOL 2015

1st place. The last events of the year were Sports Day and House Music. Sports Day is always a fun afternoon, with so much going on and everyone trying their very best in the events. The Eagles supported each other throughout the day and cheered on the track racers. A highlight was the 4th year boys’ relay, which was the final event of the day. Nathan Farr, George Casci and Hakeem Shittu gave Lovekyn a good start to the relay, but it was Sam Slater who sprinted the last stage and won it for Lovekyn. It was a great day and we came 2nd overall which was a fantastic result. Well done to those who took part in Sports Day. The last event was House Music. I always enjoy this event and with the new format of the smaller categories happening on the 17th June, I was looking forward to the big performance on the last Tuesday of the term. We had our best band and soloist from the smaller categories perform on the night and they were fantastic. Ross McGeachie, Will Llyod, George Casci and Robert Bern were amazing playing ‘Take Five’ and Anya Aziz sang incredibly well in the soloist category. Our big band was organised

by Robert Bern, Fiona Kennedy and Anya Aziz and sang Stevie Wonder, ‘Superstition’. I was very proud that Grace Everitt and Anya Aziz won their soloist categories on the 17th June and we won big band group on the night. It was a close competition and it came down to Taverner and Lovekyn for 1st and 2nd place. There was a difference of 1 point between the top two. However, we managed to win House Music and it was such a nice way to end the year with a win.

Well done to the Eagles who have taken part in the House events this year and many thanks to Miss Postgate, Dr McCarthy and Mr Lawrence for all their help and support towards the house. Good luck Eagles for next year and let’s get the title back and be house champions 2015-2016!

C Bradford

WalWORTH Walworth’s School Report is once again a tale of ‘underachievement’ and ‘could do better’. Whilst not without ability, Walworth needs to persevere in subjects which don’t always appeal to him/her. Progress has been slower than we might have hoped, but Walworth did triumph in one high scoring competition, Art, where Holly Munro’s interpretation of the theme of Remembrance vanquished all opposition. The juniors won Table Tennis and the seniors prevailed in Tug of War. We also achieved a clean sweep in Netball, winning both junior and senior events. And we won Shooting.

Pleasing second places were secured in U16 and U14 Basketball (the latter jointly with Lovekyn), CCF, 2nd Year Cross Country, Intermediate ergo, 2nd and 3rd Year Football, junior girls’ Hockey, Modern Languages Spelling Bee, Tennis and Intermediate Tug of War. There was widespread feeling that we deserved better than 4th in House Drama, ably led by Josie Palmer, Maya Yousif, and Paula Antalffy, with Christian Maddock and Rory Stroud among the performers. Cassie Quick and

One last point: at Sports Day Mr Sorley and I tried to list the number of Heads of Walworth who have come and gone during the time Mr Davies has been in charge of Queen’s.

We reeled off eight names quite quickly. Some were successful, but experience usually counts for something.

Time may be needed to refine one’s approach, to get strategies in place, to know your House. But perhaps too there needs to fuller involvement from the whole house team, so that the burden is more evenly shared. Mrs Wakely has resumed control after her maternity leave.

With a period of real stability I have no doubt we can climb the table. In the meantime, we continue to enjoy competing in the various events, celebrating cultural and sporting activities in a spirit of joyous camaraderie.

J Smith

Queen Elizabeth House At last we had a three-house race! Lovekyn, Queen’s and (thank heavens) Taverner vied for first place for two long terms with very little to choose between us. Indeed at Christmas we were in third place and it was not until the summer that we pulled away to establish a fifty point margin. Taverner’s long awaited revival is an excellent development for the House system. Walworth, however, continue to languish and perhaps it is time to introduce a ‘draft’ system so that the bottom team is given the pick of next year’s new school entrants.

Our victory was based on consistent results in all areas rather than on one dominant year group or activity – we began to colonise previous no-go areas. To win one of House Dance or Drama would be an achievement, to win both was a shock, although not as much as securing the House Chess cup. There was no surprise, however, in winning Sports Day or in our junior and senior boys’ victories on the hockey field. What was novel was our annihilation of every netball team in every age category.

We have some mean girls. There were fine performances, too, by the tennis players and the junior debaters.

Nevertheless, the high point of the year came in the junior tug o’ war. Facing our nemesis for the last two painful years, Lovekyn, we were dismissively and speedily hauled within a foot of destruction. I have never seen a team recover from such a situation. But recover we did; it was at that moment that I knew that Lovekyn and Miss Bradford’s long, hard dominance was finally over.

We say goodbye to a number of Upper Sixth Formers.

Ranulph Harvey-Kelley, in his own understated manner, was a natural leader who was invariably joined by Maxim Dutton, Rishi Manuel, Ben Doble and Nick Fordham

whenever there was a ball to be chased on the ground or in the air. Power and physicality was provided by Fiona Steinitz, Gus Nicholds, Cameron Leckie and most impressively by Flo Blake-Parsons. We were fortunate in having a very strong band of girls. Georgia Jones and Serena Sekhon used their intellectual abilities to good effect in the debating chamber while artistic creativity and leadership were provided by Martha Horn, Olivia Dickson, Joanne Davies and Hannah Arnold, particularly in the once rare but now almost commonplace victories in House Drama. Ariel Ropert and Alex Buxton were maverick table tennis players while Alastair Cowen masterminded our advances on the chess board. Finally, Lewis Wales informed all who cared to listen that he was ‘the man’ for House General Knowledge. He was.

As always special thanks to Miss Jenkins and Miss Brackley for their enormous efforts and for taking sole responsibility for providing what forward planning and organisation there was in our victory.

House Reports

Olivia Merrington were prominent in House music; Kezia Milligan, Stephanie Semple and Joe Hilty were to the fore in the Dance competition; House Hockey was led by Jamie White, Holly Munro, Mark Samuel and Stephanie Semple; and Football by Matt Maginnis and Nick Semple. Special mention goes to Joe Hilty, Izzy Garside and Cameron Spurling for being ever available for House events, sometimes at short notice.

J M Davies

Taverner Taverner’s year began with an exciting announcement. After centuries of our colour being a drab and dingy brown, as of 2014 the new colour was to become…bronze! Bronze? Was this for real? It seemed as if external powers wanted to entrench in our psyche that we were to be forever the third place house.

Better than Walworth (not really a challenge) but never able to aspire to break the stranglehold that Queen’s and Lovekyn have had on the house championship in recent years.

So the gauntlet was thrown down. The strapline ‘Taverner: turning bronze to gold since 2014’ was born. And what a year it has been. Evoking the spirit of Richard Taverner, our founder, in the first assembly of term I challenged the house to aim for three things: to participate, to win, but above all to have fun. And I think it is fair to say we have achieved on all fronts. The vast majority of the house have taken part in at least one event each, and every team has been filled – even for the dreaded swimming gala.

Winning has happened too: coming 4th in only two events all year, we have emerged victorious in the intermediate ergos, junior general knowledge, senior table tennis and golf, and the first years have led the way by winning their basketball, cricket, cross country, football and spelling bee competitions. This year group have been a wonderful addition to the house, their enthusiasm and skill sweeping all before them as they achieved sustained success throughout the year. Finally, it has been a lot of fun: winning things obviously helps, but it has been a joy to see so many pupils committed with such good humour even when we have not been as successful. Particular highlights have included the drama and dance competitions: our talented teams put on memorable shows on both nights, and in the dance our original choreography was deemed to be the best performance of them all.

Throughout the year then, our consistent stream of positive results managed to keep us locked in a tight threeway battle at the top of the house leader board, and at the end of the summer term, with just two events to go, Taverner remained in contention for the championship.

Could victory in Sports Day and House Music push us over the line? Sadly the answer was not quite: on Sports Day there were some exceptional performances, and the

KINGSTON GRA MMAR SCHOOL 2015

73

House Reports 74

first year as a whole continued to demonstrate Taverner’s future potential by the committed performances we have come to expect. House Music was also fantastic, our talented musicians putting on a classy programme, which, unfortunately, missed out on first place by a single point.

However, these final results meant that we had done enough to secure second place in the House Championship.

It has been several years since that has happened, and I am so proud of everyone’s efforts. It is invidious to name individuals; everyone has had a part to play. My thanks go to all the pupils, the house captains, and the house staff who have made this year such a success. Turning bronze to gold: this year we made it to silver; only one step up next year!

C G Wenham

KINGSTON GRA MM AR SCHOOL 2015

E vent

Lovekyn

Queen’s

Taverner

Walworth

Art

6

12

18

24

Basketball - U12

1

3

4

2

Basketball - U13

4

3

2

2

Basketball - U14

3

4

1

3

Basketball - U15

4

1

3

2

Basketball - U16

2

1

4

3

Basketball - U18

1

4

3

2

CCF

16

6

6

12

Chess

12

16

8

4

Cricket - 1st Year

4

8

16

12

Cricket - 2nd Year

16

12

8

4

Cricket - 3rd Year

8

16

12

4

Cross Country - 1st Year

24

8

32

16

Cross Country - 2nd Year

16

32

8

24

Dance

18

24

12

6

Debating - Senior

7

7

4

2

Debating - Junior

4

8

6

2

Drama

24

32

16

8

Ergo Competition - Intermediate

4

8

16

12

Ergo Competition - Senior

8

16

12

4

Football - 1st Year

6

4

8

2

Football - 2nd & 3rd Year

16

4

8

12

Football - Senior

6

12

9

3

Gen Knowledge (Junior)

4

6

8

2

Gen Knowledge (Senior)

2

8

6

4

Hockey Junior Boys

12

24

18

6

Hockey Junior Girls

24

6

12

18

Hockey Senior Boys

24

12

18

6

Hockey Senior Girls

18

24

12

6

House Technology

16

4

12

8

Modern Languages Spelling Bee

2

4

8

6

Music

32

16

24

8

Netball - Junior

6

18

12

24

Netball - Senior

6

18

12

24

Rounders

12

3

9

6

Shooting

1

2

3

4

Sports Day

36

48

24

12

Table Tennis - Juniors

6

9

3

12

Table Tennis - Seniors

6

9

12

3

Tennis

6

24

12

18

Tug of War - Senior

2

4

6

8

Tug of War - Junior

4

8

6

2

Tug of War - Intermediate

2

8

4

6

Golf

12

8

16

4

TOTAL

443

504

453

352

KINGSTON GRA MMAR SCHOOL 2015

House Reports

House Championship 2014-15 Results

75

Sport

Hockey GIRLS’ HOCKEY 2014/2015 GENERAL REPORT

1st XI - REGULAR FIXTURES V ST GEORGE’S COLLEGE

WON

3-1

V KING EDWARD’S SOUTHAMPTON

WON

1-0

V TEDDINGTON HC

LOST

0-2

V LATYMER UPPER

WON

0-0

V WIMBLEDON HC

LOST

1-2

V ST GEORGE’S COLLEGE

LOST

0-6

V CLFS

WON

7-0

V REED’S

LOST

0-2

V CLFS

WON

3-1

The under 16s also reached the South Tournament but were knocked out in the group stages, while the under 14s matched the 1st XI by reaching the South quarter-finals.

V ST GEORGE’S COLLEGE

WON

1-0

V ST GEORGE’S COLLEGE

WON

1-0

V LATYMER UPPER

WON

5-0

V MILLFIELD

LOST

1-3

The under 13s won the Latymer Upper tournament and were runners-up in the Surbiton High tournament before becoming London champions.

They also stumbled at the South quarter-final hurdle, losing narrowly on flicks.

V CLFS

LOST

0-4

V ALLEYN’S

DRAWN

2-2

The 1st XI girls comfortably reached the quarter-final stage of the South Tournament before narrowly losing to Eastbourne College in a tight game at Ditton Field.

Emma Headley was always a calming and experienced influence as 1st XI captain while Holly Munro was a helpful and well-organised hockey secretary.

Congratulations must go to the girls who were chosen for JAC and JRPC [hockey’s equivalent to county and south selection] and in particular to Holly Munro who represented England at under 18 level and Ellie de Heer who represented England at under 16 level.

NATIONAL U18 SCHOOLS CUP COUNTY ROUND V EPSOM COLLEGE

WON

3-0

V ALLEYN’S

WON

6-1

V TIFFIN

WON

5-0

WON

3-1

WON

1-0

Semi-final

Many thanks as always go to the hockey staff who give up so much of their time after school and at weekends – I know they are much appreciated by the girls.

Lorcan O’Brien is sadly leaving to take up a position as Director of Sport at a school nearer home. Lorcan has been a tremendous and vocal supporter of Hockey at KGS and the staff and pupils will miss him and we wish him good luck. I would also like to wish Pete Scott all the best in his new position next year at KCS Wimbledon. Thanks also to the parents, family and friends who have supported the girls throughout the season.

V JAGS

Denis Buttanshaw

V EASTBOURNE COLLEGE

Final V REED’S

NATIONAL U18 SCHOOLS CUP DIVISIONAL ROUND V BLOXHAM

WON

5-0

V BRADFIELD

WON

2-0

V KING EDWARD VI

WON

1-0

LOST

1-2

Quarter-final

OVERALL OUTDOOR RESULTS

P W D L F A

1ST XI SCHOOL MATCHES 23

22

16

1

5

61

CLUB MATCHES

2

0

0

2

1

TOURNAMENTS 1st XI OUTDOOR • London champions • Reached quarter-finals at South tournament

76

KINGSTON GRA MM AR SCHOOL 2015

4

Sport

OTHER STATISTICS

HONOURS

P W D L F A

2ND XI

17

9

1

7

39

25

3RD XI

9

2

2

5

16

26

ENGLAND U18

H. Munro

ENGLAND U16

E. De Heer

U16 XI

7

2

0

5

10

13

FUTURES CUP

[TIER 2 REGIONAL]

U15 ‘A’ XI

17

9

2

6

41

16

U18

H. Munro

U15 ‘B’ XI

10

3

0

7

8

31

U16

E. De Heer

HIPAC

[TIER 2 REGIONAL]

U17

S. Martineau

U14 ‘A’ XI

31

19

3

9

101

47

U14 ‘B’ XI

16

8

2

6

30

28

U13 ‘A’ VII

20

11

1

8

65

55

U13 ‘B’ VII

19

11

3

5

50

35

U13 ‘C’ VII

18

12

1

5

56

34

U13 ‘D’ VII

13

7

1

5

32

39

U12 ‘A’ VII

16

1

0

15

12

88

U12 ‘B’ VII

15

4

0

11

33

53

U12 ‘C’ VII

13

5

2

6

26

25

U12 ‘D’ VII

12

3

1

8

18

31

TOURNAMENTS

NOMINATED FOR JUNIOR REGIONAL PERFORMANCE CENTRE [TIER 1 REGIONAL] U18 S. Martineau, H. Munro, P. Borkmann U17 E. De Heer, L. Lever, K. Headley U16

G. Everitt, E. Pheasant

OUTDOOR

U15 A. D’Mello, M. Chesney, S. Gotham-Pardo

• London finalists

JUNIOR ASSESSMENT CENTRE [COUNTY]

• South tournament – finished 4th in group

U17

Under 14

U16 P. Roth, L. Lever, K. Headley, C. Whittle, E. Pheasant, L. Shriver

Under 16

OUTDOOR • London champions • Reached quarter-finals at South tournament Under 13 A OUTDOOR • Latymer Upper tournament – winners • Surbiton High tournament – runners-up • London champions • Reached quarter-finals at South tournament HOUSE MATCH WINNERS Senior – Queen’s Junior - Lovekyn

S. Martineau, P. Borkmann

U15 G. Everitt, O. Gooding, E. Larby, J. Werner U14 A. D’Mello, M. Chesney, E. Buttanshaw, C. Lyckeus, S. Gotham-Pardo, I. James, S. Sime, L. Anderson U13

E. Lord, K. Griffin

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1st XI Girls

The 2014/15 season for the 1st XI began with great strength with many of our players travelling to South Africa in the summer creating a side that gelled quickly. Having lost a number of senior players to universities and Reed’s, we were the youngest Kingston team to date, with the majority being lower 6th and 5th formers. Despite this, the beginning of the season was a success. St George’s 6s was a good way to start the year off. We played rivals Reed’s, winning 2-1, and then Ipswich in the final, where despite being on top and close to securing the win, an unfortunate injury to the opposition’s keeper meant that the game was tied and both teams came away with gold.

We started our journey to Nationals at the London heats where we faced Tiffin, securing a 4-0 win after Saffi Martineau put away several drag flicks. Following this we played Alleyn’s, continuing our attacking streak with excellent work down the right from our captain, Emma Headley and Holly Brown, which resulted in a 5-1 win.

Determination in the defensive line from Paula Borkmann and Kristin Read meant KGS kept a clean sheet in our final game against Epsom (3-0) - a brilliant start to our campaign.

The London Finals were soon upon us where once again we showed grit against a good JAGs team in the semi-finals. A hat-trick from Holly Munro secured Kingston a place in the final against Reed’s. It was a tough game, but persistence from Kingston and some quality link up play from Ellie De Heer and the forwards meant that Reed’s could not withstand the pressure. A dangerous ball across from the right was deflected stylishly into the top corner by Holly Brown to put Kingston through to Souths.

A good start to a tournament is important and KGS did not disappoint in the South rounds against first opposition, Bradfield. Goals from Munro and Headley as well as some sound work from Natasha Thomas in defence left the final score at 2-0. The tournament had started on a good note.

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In the second match we faced King Edward VI School. They were a strong opposition and fought hard throughout. We had multiple chances, including a brilliant intercept from Anna Cox after a misread pass which was smashed across goal to Ellie who despite a committed, full length dive, narrowly missed the goal. In the last minute Holly Brown worked a foot in the D and a top left drag from Holly was guided into the back of the net by Emma. A 1-0 win from Kingston, scoring at a critical moment. Our final match was against Bloxham, the home team. After two minutes Kingston were on top despite some agricultural challenges along the way. A second goal followed a few minutes later, worked by Meg Hugill and Lauren Lever, and then a third after that. The second half continued in a similar vein where a further two goals were scored with debutant, Zoe Lowrey, helping Steph Semple to capitalise. Paula Borkmann in the dying seconds unwittingly attempted a professional foul on the centre-forward. Unfortunately the ‘take out’ was not subtle enough and we conceded a stroke. However, the forward was no match for Loulou in goal, who rounded off a great day with a clean sheet (5-0).

I think it’s fair to say that as a team we slightly lost momentum after the South Heats and were complacent going into the South semi-final against Eastbourne College.

Although we had multiple corner chances, we were unable to capitalise and Eastbourne counter-attacked us very well, outrunning us in the final part of the game.

Unfortunately, our road to nationals ended here as we lost 2-1, despite a great amount of effort from all the team.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our coaching staff, Mr Hardy and Miss Naismith, for their efforts this season, despite not getting the outcome we wanted.

The continuous encouragement and support has been invaluable. As well as this, we wish all the players leaving for university and other schools the best of luck. You will be missed!

Holly Munro, L6EKP Squad: Holly Brown, Anna Cox, Ellie De Heer, Emma Headley, Lauren Lever, Saffi Martineau, Holly Munro, Kristin Read, Steph Semple, Paula Borkmann, Natasha Thomas, Zoe Lowrey, Loulou Backhouse-Spriggs (GK), Meg Hugill, Immy Mobley and Olivia Arnold.

Senior Girls’ Hockey numbers this year in particular have been very positive, and it gives me great pleasure and a huge sense of pride to see so many girls competitively participating on a regular basis.

2nd XI Squad: Katie Headley, Immy Mobley, Katinka Ronberg, Olivia Arnold, Rachel Finlay, Sophie Gallagher, Martha Whittall, Suzi Stenning, Bea Sayer, Miranda Worth, Emma Pitcairn, Paula Roth, Beth Yarde-Leavett, Hannah Arnold, Charlotte Bassett, Beth Routledge, Selin Humphreys, Anna Olsen, Laura Lewis and Lucy Skinner.

Miss Naismith

2nd XI Girls

3rd XI Girls

A reasonably young, yet talented group of predominantly 5th and L6th girls, kept in line by the experienced upper 6th and led by Miss Tibble, formed the 2nd XI squad for the 2014/15 season. A busy and very competitive fixture list, with most of the matches being against other schools’ 1st XI sides, did not seem to faze the girls and the challenge was seen as a positive one, with many players also trying to push for 1st XI places of their own.

Another encouraging, fun and eventful season for the mighty 3rd XI girls’ team. Led with guile and a clear hockey fashion sense, by Alex Pitcairn, the team quickly formed an attacking playing style on the field. This helped the girls with an excellent 4-0 win in their first game of the year, away to St. Benedict’s. With confidence high, the girls produced two solid performance against CLFS and Reigate Grammar, losing both narrowly in two hard fought and competitive games. A great performance away to Woldingham resulted in a fine 3-2 victory, Beth Routledge being the heroine of the day, scoring a fantastic individual effort late on, to win the game. A poor, lacklustre performance in terrible weather against Harrodian, result in a 0-7 loss – a low point of the season. After an inspiring team talk by our great captain, and great performances

by Suzi Stenning, Laura Lewis and Elspeth Birchall in midfield, the final three games of the season resulted in three excellent performance against, St. Mary’s Ascot, CLFS and West London Free School. Well done Beth Routledge, easily one of the players of the seasons, along with Suzi Stenning, Charlotte Bassett and Domi Rybova.

Both Miranda Worth and Charlotte Bassett spend time between the nets and both excelled. A special mention to the brilliant Olivia Arnold and Beth Yarde-Leavett, who for U6th pupils added depth, experience and a touch of class to the team.

Out of the 17 matches played during the season, there were 9 wins, 1 draw and 7 losses, with a positive goal difference (+14) thanks to Miranda Worth in goal and indeed the forwards of Sophie Gallagher, Bea Sayer, Emma Pitcairn, Charlotte Bassett and Martha Whittall.

The opening game of the season was against St. Benedict’s and the 2nd XI started in fine form, highlighting their strength as a squad with a 6-0 win. Rachel Finlay and Suzi Stenning launching attacks from the midfield positions.

Other notable wins came against St. George’s (6-0), Alleyn’s (4-0), KCS (6-0) and City of London Freemen’s (21).

Tougher games were to follow, however. A very strong Reigate 1st XI, littered with junior internationals and regional players, got the better of the 2nd XI (3-1); however, it wasn’t all plain sailing for them. Katie Headley and Katinka Ronberg, as they had done throughout the season, demonstrated their natural ability to keep a calm head to play the ball out of defence with pace and accuracy whilst a high work rate was maintained by Martha Whittall and Paula Roth, who ran tirelessly throughout, harrying the players on the ball. Other notable performances came from Sophie Gallagher, who brought a great energy to the games, and Bea Sayer with her natural eye for the goal.

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This has definitely been a building year for the 1st XI and with some new senior recruits and many talented young players from both 3rd and 4th year coming up next season, we hope to return to true KGS form and make our mark at Nationals.

L O’Brien 3rd XI Squad: Miranda Worth, Suzi Stenning, Evie Benincasa, Anna Olsen, Charlotte Bassett, Alex Pitcairn, Olivia Arnold, Domi Rybova, Lucy Cowan, Elspeth Birchall, Laura Lewis, Beth Routledge, Ella Robinson and Beth Yarde-Leavett.

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U15 ‘A’ Girls

Under 15 ‘B’ Girls

The Under 15 girls had an excellent season overall, conceding just 16 goals and scoring 41 from 17 games. This was down to superb goalkeeping from Louisa Shriver, and a strong defence of Charlotte James, Izzy Toner, Fiona Kennedy, Rebekah Beaumont and Jemima Baker (when she wasn’t side-lined due to a broken ankle!).All the girls can be really pleased with the part they played, as everyone contributed something in every match.

For the second year running, KGS Hockey has ample enthusiasm and numbers to field an U15 ‘B’ team. This is nothing short of an excellent achievement by the girls and they produced a fine year, playing 10 fixtures, winning 4 and losing 6. After a heavy defeat to Reigate U15 ‘A’ early in the season, the girls picked themselves up, dusted off the losing blues and narrowly lost two consecutive games, by one goal – Wellington College 1-2 and Portsmouth Grammar School 1-2. Their first win came with an excellent performance against West London Free School, with two fine goals from Anouk Vaessen and Tilda Blohm.

This was soon followed by an excellent losing performance to a strong St. George’s College - the score line could have been a lot worse, if not for the outstanding performance of our keeper, Emily Perkins, who was easily the player of the season. Holly Godliman added some strength to the midfield later in the year, and our final four games resulted in two great wins for the team, against Surbiton High School and St. Mary’s, Ascot, the latter, a great 3-1 victory. Jessie Howard was easily the most improved player this season, being a rock at right back, and her performance against St. Mary’s, Ascot, in the final game of the year, was outstanding. With such a fine year under their belt, the future looks bright for senior hockey at KGS.

We began the season with a tight loss against Wellington, although soon upped our game to compete against a strong Portsmouth Grammar side, and came away with a 2-2 draw. At this early stage in the season, it was encouraging to have such a close match with St George’s, our long-term rivals, whom we were determined to beat at some stage! Unfortunately, although we fought hard and probably deserved a draw, we came away with a 2-0 loss, with their second goal coming at the end of the match from a breakaway attack. Against Wageningen in October, we lost our first game 3-1, although we came back strongly later to beat them 1-0, a result the whole team was really pleased about.

These two results clearly had a great impact on the team, as we then went on a streak of goal-scoring against Tormead (1st XI), Latymer Upper, and WLFS, where we scored 18 goals in these matches and conceded nothing. This was partly due to the solid midfield of Charlotte Whittle, Eva Gray and Jasmin Werner, whilst Eloise Pheasant, Eleanor Larby and Holly Godliman were excellent in taking chances we created in front of goal.

However, we then lost the return fixture against St George’s, 2-0, which again, was closer than the score line reflects. We then went on another winning streak to end the season on a high, against CLFS twice, St George’s U14s (who went on to become national champions), Surbiton High, St Dunstan’s and St Mary’s Ascot – our last game of the season, and our last game as a team.

Overall, it has been a great season with many positives we can take out of it. It was a shame to lose Jemima Baker to injury halfway into the season, although when she came back we realised what we had missed!

Eva Gray, 4MB Squad: Eva Gray, Jasmin Werner, Fiona Kennedy, Eloise Pheasant, Charlotte Whittle, Rebekah Beaumont, Eleanor Larby, Holly Godliman, Izzy Toner, Charlotte James, Louisa Shriver, Anouk Vaessen and Jemima Baker.

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L O’Brien Squad: Harriet Cronin, Nadia Dayem, Thea Eady, Ellen Garard, Zoe Sim, Anouk Vaessen, Hannah West, Lucy Tait, Jessie Howard, Tilda Blohm, Kitty Jackson and Emily Perkins (GK).

competition, gave them the one place available in the South Finals.

Disheartened, but with no time to dwell, we got straight back to business proving we were a force to be reckoned with, clocking victories against Surbiton Hockey Club 4-1 and Tormead 6-1. Credit to the defence of Ellen Buttanshaw, Olivia Gooding, Aoife Parr, Sara Gotham-Pardo and Grace Everitt for remaining strong throughout, giving passes with pace and accuracy from which to launch goal scoring attacks.

Sport

Under 14 ‘A’ Girls

April saw us begin our European venture with the exchange to Wageningen, Holland. A tough insight into Dutch hockey was taken as a huge learning curve, with the final game of the tour, our 3-0 victory over the hosts, being a fitting end to a long and successful season. Special mention goes to Zoe Clark for her outstanding performances in goal and Issy James who was named Player of the Tour.

It was yet another busy season for the U14 ‘A’s, playing 31 games, 5 of which were in Holland as part of the Wageningen-KGS exchange, currently in its 30th year.

A successful season it was, though - 19 wins, 3 draws and 9 losses representing the willingness to learn and develop, both technically and tactically, from a hard-working group of girls.

The season started with a tough end-to-end game against Reigate Grammar School. We were still relatively new to 11-a-side hockey and still learning the game, so a 3-3 draw was a fair result. The links were quickly forming and joining as we showed huge amounts of progress every week, with notable results early on in the year being a 9-0 win over Surbiton High, a 5-2 win versus Portsmouth Grammar and a 2–2 draw with a tough U15 Wellington College side.

U14 ‘A’ Squad: Zoe Clark, Aoife Parr, Ellen Buttanshaw, Grace Everitt, Olivia Gooding, Sara Gotham-Pardo, Sally Sime, Daisy Langton, Izzie James, Aoife D’Mello, Lauren Anderson, Clara Lyckeus, Lucy McNeil, Elizabeth Stevenson and Molly Chesney.

Under 14 ‘B’ Girls

The first obstacle in reaching the National Finals was the London Heats which came very early into the season. Playing on new home turf proved successful for us as we defeated Alleyn’s 1-0, Epsom 2-0 and Streatham and Clapham 5-1 to progress to the London Finals.

A very, very wet London finals, held at St. George’s College, was the next stepping stone for the girls. A ground out 2-0 win on a waterlogged pitch was enough to progress into the finals against Alleyn’s. A newfound energy and spark to our game, led by the forwards of Lauren Anderson, Molly Chesney, Clara Lyckeus, Elizabeth Stevenson and Lucy McNeil, saw us crowned London Champions with an emphatic 7-1 win.

There wasn’t much preparation time once again before the South Tournament. However, with each and every practice, the girls, led by Sally Sime, showed improvement in playing as a team. Wins against St. Mary’s, Ascot (2-1), Bloxham (60) and Stowe (3-0), fuelled with Aoife Parr’s Treats selection and our armoury of middle-century-named short-corner routines, resulted in our deservedly taking the title of South Champions.

A new quarter-final stage of the national competition was without doubt the toughest hurdle. A tense battle which was tied 0-0 at half-time between KGS and St.John’s, Leatherhead proved a nail-biting thriller for the crowd.

Despite some great attacking moves through Daisy Langton, Issy James and Lucy McNeil, KGS could not find the back of the net. A brief lapse of concentration allowed St.John’s the upper hand and eventually, despite our only conceding two goals and not losing a game until this point throughout the

The U14 ‘B’s had a really enjoyable season which included a tour to Belgium. We started off the season reasonably new to 11-a-side hockey; however, we proved we were a strong team with early victories over Reigate (2-0) and Surbiton High (8-0).

As a team we got on really well and this showed on the pitch with good communication and working hard for each other. Our most successful part of the season was our 7 match winning streak. We showed great improvement in our skills and Sasha Harman, Elin Humphrey and Lauren Betts scored on several occasions. When needed, Jess Francis would also step up to short corners and powerfully hit home.

In every match and training everyone showed 100% effort and a lot of commitment. Amy Falconer ran tirelessly up and down the wing and Melina Williams defended well, releasing a lot of pressure from our new found, yet unbelievably talented goalkeeper, Rachel Heynike.

Fuelled by team selfies, Beyonce and waffles, our hockey moved to Belgium. Mr O’Brien and Ms Clifford were great at keeping up the banter and the team spirit, as it had been all season, was fantastic. The tough opposition of British School of Brussels and Leuven once again

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challenged our hockey playing ability. It was a fantastic end to an amazing season.

Squad: Lauren Betts, Lydia Fisher-Norton, Jess Francis, Sasha Harman, Rachel Heynike (GK), Sorrel Humphrey, Elin Humphrey, Kate Ukiah, Melina Williams, Amy Falconer, Eren Humphreys and Ellen Lyckeus

Under 13 ‘C’ and ‘D’ Girls

Sasha Harman, 3RS and Sorrel Humphrey, 3SC

Under 13 ‘A’ & ‘B’ Girls

This year, we feel that we have improved our hockey knowledge in both our game understanding and also our technical abilities. The ‘C’ team also played a few eleven-a-side matches for the first time, which all went surprisingly well.

This year has been great fun and very progressive for the U13 ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams. It was a busy term full of matches and tournaments. Everyone worked hard and came together as a team in all the fixtures that took place.

The A’s started the season strongly with an easy win (71) against Reigate Grammar School, followed by a not so easy win against Alleyn’s (4-3). The B’s started with a 1-1 draw against RGS and a 3-2 win against Alleyn’s. However, after a promising start to the season, we struggled in games against St George’s, Danes Hill and Surbiton High.

In the ‘A’ team, Suzi Garforth was consistent in goal and Lucile Toulemonde and Sara Gotham-Pardo (the defenders) were great at passing the ball between each other and stifling the attacks. Lizzie Stevenson and Ellie Lord were strong in midfield and Tash Burrell and Maia White were valuable goal scorers. However, the B’s kept all of the A team on their feet as there was not much difference in the standards between the two teams. Issy Garside was a strong attacker and Lexi North a strong defender. Ciara Kennedy used her speed to outrun many defenders and Lydia Underwood tackled many attackers.

The U13 teams participated in several tournaments such as the Surbiton High Tournament, where the ‘A’ team came second, and the Latimer tournament (where both teams won). The most important tournament was the London Tournament, which KGS won, beating Surbiton 2-0 in the finals. This took us through to the South tournament where we won our group and went through to play Wycombe School in the quarter-finals. Unfortunately, we just lost on penalty flicks. It was a disappointing end to the season but KGS can’t wait to make a comeback next year, playing eleven-a-side for the first time as a team. The U13s would like to thank all the coaches for helping us improve and compete.

Issy James, 2KC

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Our focus in practice sessions was scanning before passing to ensure the ball went either to the correct player or to an open space for the player to run into. The ‘C’ team implemented this well and managed to use this skill to their advantage when passing the ball into the D and won their first few matches. The ‘D’ team decided that they needed a little more focus on this and kept on working hard to improve.

Unfortunately, in our next few matches both teams lost and we decided that we needed to work on another attacking principle. This involved passing on the defenders’ left side.

This is their weaker side, out of the way of their stick and reach. We then went onto win our next matches; in particular, we had an impressive 6-1 win against Portsmouth Grammar School.

The next point for our focus was tackling, as that was an area which needed some more improvement. We learnt steals and sweeps and used them in our match against King Edward’s, winning 4-2 and 4-0. The ‘C’s also won another eleven-a-side match, this time against Tormead, winning 6-1.

One of the final skills we touched on was V drags and hitting, especially to help us score as soon as we got into the D. We focused a lot on V drags as we were losing possession of the ball when coming up against a defender.

We used these techniques in our matches to continue our winning streak, especially against CLFS, where we won 4-0 and 6-0.

Our spacing on the hockey pitch has improved as the season has progressed. We have tried to get into good habits and make sure that there are plenty of options for the player travelling with the ball, such as one player in front, one wide and another behind.

Overall we are very happy with our improvements in this hockey season, and we know that the useful techniques we have learnt will also be used in the years to come.

Chloe Taylor, 2SB Squad: Maia Booth (GK), Gaia Aherne, Giulia Duggan, Isabelle Whitehill, Lily Abbott, Eloise White, Lucy Pringle, Heidi Wort, Katie Daubeney, Milly Whittle,

Under 12 Girls A & B Squads

year group. This was an enjoyable year for the group and one in which they developed as hockey players.

Squad: Izzy Kerr; Jasmin Good; Lily Mercier; Emma Sloan; Matilda Halliwell; Jess Larkin; Rosie Callen; Anouk Delattre; Clara John; Simi Isaacson; Clara Boucher; Zoe Mason; Sophie Fairweather; Sofie Proctor; Maria Uria Kabashina; Grace Neil; Clara Hinde; Evie Yarde-Leavett and Shayma Al Saraf.

Sport

Chloe Taylor, Issie Kwiecinski, Victoria Touzet, Emily Adam, Ha Eun Kim, Emilia Kinzler, Izzy Pleasance, Millie Rosner, Emelie Robinson, Carla Cotton and Madeleine Hayes

U12 Girls C & D Hockey Under 12 ‘C’ Girls

The 2015 season saw many girls picking up a hockey stick for the first time; with this in mind it has to be viewed as a successful season. All players, whether in the A or B squad, proved to be hard working in both practice and match situations. Basic skills have improved across the teams, in terms of both stick skills and understanding of the game. To ensure the U12 ‘A’ and ‘B’ squads improve further, this attitude must continue as the girls are exposed to high quality coaching throughout the year.

Although effort and enthusiasm were high, results were hard to come by for the uuU12 ‘A’ team. Regularly playing against more experienced opposition, the girls always strived to play good hockey, utilizing the skills taught in training. In terms of wins/losses the season was tough; however, the improvement in match performances throughout the season is to be commended. The ‘A’ team developed throughout the year, with Lily Mercier controlling the ball in the midfield.

When moving forward with the ball, Emma Sloan showed good skills and a turn off pace that saw her beat many a defender.

Emma, combined with Clara John, made attacking options abundant. Defensively, Jasmin Good was rock like, ably supported by Matilda Halliwell.

The strength in depth of the U12’s showed, with many ‘B’ team players being promoted to represent the ‘A’s throughout the season. As with the ‘A’ team, results were hard to come by. However, the girls always stuck to the task at hand and represented the school and themselves with merit.

This year Under 12 ‘C’ team has been very enthusiastic to take part in hockey. We had numerous girls who wanted to take up the sport. The coaches made sure that everyone got game time in all the matches we played. We won a lot but along with victory came some defeats. We learnt to play as a team by facing some teams that had played together for years! We are all excited and looking forward to playing hockey again! Thank you to all the sports coaches who organised all our fixtures, helped us train and supported us throughout our matches.

Gabriella Linney, 1LC Under 12 ‘D’ Girls This year the KGS Hockey ‘D’ team was brimming with eager first years ready to try their hardest. We had so much fun working together as a team and getting to know each other better through hockey. Every Saturday we would meet and play a match; we faced a whole host of different schools during the season – this was an experience not to be missed. We were gunning to win but it wasn’t the end of the world if we didn’t. We got to see how the other teams played and the pressure to pass the ball made it that much more fun. Trying to find a way through the opposition’s players really improved our skills. Overall we had so much fun and with each match we played we became more confident.

Erin Shrimsley, 1MD

Special mention this year must go to the goalkeepers.

Both ‘A and ‘B’ teams were indebted at times to excellent goalkeeping displays from Simi Isaacson and Shaymar Al Saraf, who have developed into very capable goalkeepers.

With this being their first exposure to playing in goal, both must be happy with the progress made.

A large number of girls have represented the U12 teams (A, B, C and D) this year and all have shown the application to become good hockey players. Mrs Stapleton and I were provided with headaches regarding selection week-onweek as a result of the progress made by all girls in the

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BOYS’ HOCKEY 2014/2015 GENERAL REPORT The 1st XI boys had an excellent run in the under 18 National Cup this year, ultimately losing to a strong Repton team in the quarter-finals. Jonny Bird captained the 1st XI by example and Mark Samuel was a very efficient and helpful Hockey secretary.

The under 16s had another good year, comfortably reaching the South Finals where they finished runnersup to Whitgift. Again. To reach the National Finals they now needed to beat Queen’s, Taunton in a play-off which they lost 0-2. The under 14s were runners-up in the London Tournament, but unfortunately they narrowly missed out on qualifying for the quarter-finals at the South Tournament.

Congratulations must go to the boys who were chosen for JAC and JRPC [hockey’s equivalent to county and south selection] and in particular to Zach Wallace and Owen Williamson, who represented England at under 16 level.

I must take this opportunity to thank the coaching staff who give up much of their valuable time – I know they are appreciated by the boys. Thanks also to parents, family and friends of the boys who turn out to support at weekends in all kinds of conditions and particular thanks to the Hockey Society for tempting us with their bacon butties and steaming cups of tea and coffee.

Absolute life savers!

Sadly, as you all know, Mark Wallace has left KGS to take up the Headship at Lincoln Minster School. Mark has worked with the under 12 group over the last five years and he has been an inspiration to all the boys he has coached. He has been a tremendous supporter of all aspects of KGS Hockey and he will be sorely missed.

We wish him all the best in his new position.

Although Dick Barker retired from teaching at KGS a few years back, the under 14 ‘B’ boys have been lucky enough to have benefited from his calming influence and excellent words of wisdom on the hockey pitch since then. Dick’s understanding of the game [which he played at the highest level] and his wealth of coaching experience will be a sad loss to us. His time will now be taken up by his lucky grandchildren!

Denis Buttanshaw

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1st XI - REGULAR FIXTURES V. DAN KENN XI

DRAWN

3-3

V. ST MARY’S UNIVERSITY

DRAWN

1-1

V. BRUNEL UNIVERSITY

WON

4-2

V. MATT DALY XI

LOST

3-5

V. RGS GUILDFORD

WON

7-2

V. WHITGIFT

LOST

1-5

V. SIR WILLIAM BORLASE

WON

9-1

V. LANGLEY PARK

DRAWN

2-2

V. MILLFIELD

WON

4-1

V. LANGLEY PARK

WON

3-1

V. WHITGIFT

LOST

2-5

V. REED’S

WON

3-0

V. WINDSOR BOYS [National Cup]

WON

8-0

V. CHARTERHOUSE

WON

2-1

V. KCS WIMBLEDON

WON

4-0

V. REED’S won on flicks [National Cup]

DRAWN

1-1

V. RGS HIGH WYCOMBE [National Cup]

WON

5-1

V. BRADFIELD COLLEGE won on flicks [National Cup]

DRAWN

2-2

V. WATFORD

WON

10-0

V. REPTON lost on flicks [National Cup]

DRAWN

2-2

V. HOCKEY ASSOCIATION

LOST

4-8

OVERALL OUTDOOR RESULTS

P W D L F A

1ST X1 SCHOOL MATCHES 16

10

4

2

69

32

CLUB MATCHES 5 1 2 2 15 19

TOURNAMENTS 1st XI OUTDOOR • Reached Quarter-Final of National Cup

HONOURS

P W D L F A

England

2ND XI

17

4

5

8

37

49

U16

3RD XI

16

6

0

8

32

32

U16 ‘A’ XI

23

12

1

10

57

61

U16 ‘B’ XI

13

6

0

7

29

24

U14 ‘A’ XI

32

16

7

9

68

49

U14 ‘B’ XI

22

6

3

13

33

66

U13 ‘B’ XI

11

6

2

3

21

24

U13 ‘C’ XI

11

3

0

8

10

42

U12 ‘A’ V11

13

3

1

9

14

41

U12 ‘B’ V11

13

8

0

5

28

18

U12 ‘C’ V11

10

8

1

1

31

9

U12 ‘D’ V11

10

3

2

5

19

18

U16 OUTDOOR • London runners-up • South finalists

O. Williamson, Z. Wallace

FUTURES CUP [TIER 2 REGIONAL] U16 O. Williamson, Z. Wallace, R. Harvey-Kelly HIPAC [TIER 2 REGIONAL] U17

M. Samuel, B. Park

NOMINATED FOR JUNIOR REGIONAL PERFORMANCE CENTRE [TIER 1 REGIONAL] U18 F. Ainsworth, J. Miller, B. Gibson, J. Winterbottom, B. Park, J. Hughes, M. Samuel, A. Wickerson, A. Farr U17 Z. Wallace, O. Williamson, R. Harvey-Kelly, T. Gooding U16 J. Adshead, M. Moran, N. Farr, J. Kerr

• Lost in play-off for a place in National Final

U15

U14

JUNIOR ASSESSMENT CENTRE – [COUNTY]

OUTDOOR

U17 F. Ainsworth, J. Miller, B. Gibson, J. Winterbottom, J. Hughes, A. Wickerson, A. Farr

• London runners-up • Finished 3rd in South Heats

HOUSE MATCH WINNERS Senior - Lovekyn Junior – Queen’s

1st XI Boys This season’s squad was the most tightly bonded group of players anyone could have asked for. Even after 8 of the 16 in the squad had left from the previous Upper Sixth the influx of 5th years gave such a massive boost to the chemistry of the team and gave us possibly something

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OTHER STATISTICS

A. Rice-Oxley, J. Askew

U16 R. Harvey-Kelly, T. Gooding, E. Darwin U15 J. Adshead, M. Moran, N. Farr, J. Kerr, J. Hall, R. McGeachie U14

A. Rice-Oxley, J. Askew

teams in previous years had lacked. The 1st XI went into the season with lower expectations than what we achieved and this really emphasised how close we were and what a great experience it was.

The year started off with games against Dan Kenn XI and the Matt Daly XI who both posed a more physical threat than most school teams would throughout the year. The

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results were 3-3 and a 5-3 loss. The games that followed were against the universities of St Mary’s and Brunel.

It was clear to see that the team had not yet clicked completely, although we drew 1-1 with St Mary’s and beat Brunel 4-2.

Once we started facing school teams it was clear how much the team had progressed with an emphatic 7-2 win over RGS Guildford. This was followed up by a 5-1 loss to Whitgift, except the score line didn’t reflect the game as we competed everywhere on the pitch but failed to be clinical enough in the final third. After this our good run of form continued with good wins in four straight games, notably a 4-1 win against Millfield. However, Whitgift came across our path again and it was the same story all over again but the score this time was 5-2. However, we managed to keep our heads held high and dictated the game against Reed’s, whom we beat 3-0. Other friendlies in the rest of the season included a 2-1 win over Charterhouse, a 4-0 win over KCS and a 10-0 win over Watford.

The National Cup is where this team really started to perform to a very high standard. In round 1 the game had to be abandoned at half time owing to the, already, 8-0 score line. Then the drama began. We went into a game against Reed’s in the 2nd round full of confidence after the 3-0 win earlier in the season, but this possibly made us complacent and we only scraped through on penalty strokes, after a last-gasp equaliser, largely thanks to great goalkeeping from Matt Newton. High Wycombe were the team we faced in the second round and this was a much easier game where we dominated from start to finish winning 5-1. Round 3 we won, again, on penalty strokes after another last-gasp equaliser, but in the quarterfinals, against the eventual winners, Repton, we lost on penalty strokes after a well fought match.

Lewis ‘Micah’ Godliman were always lifting the spirit of us all on the pitch and in the changing room. Harry ‘engine’ Style was constantly dangerous, using his pace and stamina to cause all sorts of problems. Matt ‘hero’ Newton was a candidate for player of the season with a string of outstanding games in goal and on two occasions saving us in penalty strokes. Billy ‘pub’ Winter put on some great shows of skill but is still yet to produce the infamous ‘billy spin’. Finally, Jonnie ‘Jacqui’ Bird. Captain, leader, legend. No one could have asked for someone better to lead us and the technique he showed during the season in defence was superb.

It cannot be said in words how much of a privilege it was to be part of this squad who have proved to everyone the sort of potential each and every one us has to excel both on and off the pitch. Huge thanks should go to Mr ‘Vinny’ Williamson, who coached us with class and a lot of patience at times. We couldn’t have achieved what we did without him.

Mark Samuel Squad: Matt Newton, Alex Harper, Jonnie Bird (c), Harry Style, Lewis Godliman, Max Griffin, Billy Winter, Mark Samuel, Jake Winterbottom, Fergus Ainsworth, Aaron Farr, Ben Gibson, Owen Williamson, Ronan Harvey-Kelly, Andrew Wickerson, John Miller and Ben Park.

2nd XI Boys

With so many new 5th years and many Upper Sixth in the squad it was up to the Lower Sixth to be the bridge between the two years. Fergus ‘Stephen Caulker’ Ainsworth was solid at the back all year round, forming a rock solid partnership with the skipper. Aaron ‘Rango’ Farr knew his basics and was always a threat when overlapping down the wings. Jake ‘bit-part player’ Winterbottom was a great squad player and always raised the mood even in his abuse to his teammates. Mark ‘all journey no destination’ Samuel managed to collect up a (presumed) record number of yellow cards in a season but also offered a route linking defence to attack.

From the 5th year, so many personalities and characters were added to the team. Ben ‘Gibbo Gibbo’ Gibson showed great potential all the way through the season along with Owen ‘ham’ Williamson, who often carried the team from the centre of midfield and also saved us with his penalty flick after the final whistle in the match against Reed’s.

Whether he meant to put it through the keeper’s legs is a question only he can answer. Ronan ‘Shleg’ Harvey-Kelly was a terrific addition up front along with Andrew ‘Noddy’ Wickerson who both always had so much energy and entertained us no matter what the situation. John ‘great banter’ Miller always made us laugh, even on Mondays!

Ben ‘Richmond/Bushy/Old Deer’ Park was a real danger to any defence with his pace and finishing.

All the Upper Sixth can leave KGS hockey with their heads held high. Alex ‘Colback’ Harper proved his experience in the 1st XI, being one of the best and most consistent performers all year round. He is one of the most composed players you’ll ever come across. Max ‘Griffo’ Griffin and

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This proved to be a testing season for a relatively young 2nd XI team. With no fewer than seven fifth years in the squad, winning games was always going to be tricky against more experienced opponents. However, the true purpose of the second team lies in developing talent and building confidence, and so, to that extent, a great deal of progress has been made.

After a solid start to the season with three draws, a narrow defeat to the Old Kingstonians and a 3 - 0 win against Guildford Royal Grammar School, the boys ran headlong into the Whitgift juggernaut. Attempting to eke out a result would have been challenging at the best of times, but with the bare bones of a squad being reduced to nine and a half players with the redoubtable George Kitson pulling up lame in the first half and the cornerstone of the back four, Jamie White, gamely playing on despite a strained calf muscle, a ten nil drubbing ensued as our handicapped defence wilted like spinach in boiling water. The scoreline didn’t reveal the whole story though as our boys kept fighting heroically to the last whistle and in the process revealed great determination and character, qualities

As the season progressed, the boys each took on more responsibility in matches with Jakob Kridle directing operations from centre-half and the indefatigable Archie Sturton leading the forward line to great effect. Tom Gooding took his opportunity to show his prowess in front of goal with a well-taken hat-trick against Watford and only a misguided bet Alistair Dean placed with goalkeeper Abel Lamaj, (a quarterpounder from Burger King if he could beat three opponents in a row!), scuppered his chance of playing the full seventy minutes of a game.

James’, as well as tight matches against St Benedict’s, Trinity and RGS. Indeed, there were only a few matches across the two terms when the opposition outclassed us, but we emerged from the campaign on a fairly even balance in terms of results and goals.

Core Squad: Ollie Axbey, David Buchanan, Sam Mackenzie, Leo Malka, Andrew Merriman (GK), Tom Miller, Max Salisbury and Tom Whittle.

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which go a long way in sport. Sure enough, after a mixed bag of results against Trinity, Millfield and KCS Wimbledon, the boys entertained Whitgift in the return fixture. Augmented by the presence of Jake Winterbottom on loan from the 1st team, the boys put in a powerful performance that resulted in a narrow 2 - 1 defeat and were only a short corner routine worthy of the name away from a famous victory.

Under 16 ‘A’ Boys

With only the energetic and consistent Ben Doble and the rapidly improving speedster Gus Nicholds leaving us, the future prospects of the team look very rosy indeed.

Squad: D.Buchanan, A.Merriman, A.Sturton, J White, G Nicholds, B Doble, M.Cooper, T.Gooding, A.Lamaj, N Foulsham, A.Dean, E.Hudson, G.Kitson, J.Kridl, S.Svarovsky Mr Durban

3rd XI boys

Looking back on the season as a whole, the one word I would use to describe it is overachievement. We knew we had a squad with the capability of going far in the national tournament, but the question was whether we could put this capability into practice on the pitch.

The start of the season saw us play a number of friendlies with mixed results and things not quite going to plan.

When the start of the national tournament came around we were drawn against Trinity school, where winning would not be an easy feat. After what proved to be a tense and nervy affair, we came out on top with a 4-2 victory, helped with a hat trick from Zach Wallace and a goal from Will Freeman. However, the final against Whitgift demonstrated how far we needed to improve to go as far as we wanted to.

This season has been a challenging one for the Third XI, not only because of the strength of the teams that we have played against, but also due to the difficulties in selection posed by a small squad. This is not to say that the team were any the less committed, but with longer term injuries in the higher sides, the Third XI were often left with only a handful of regular players to be joined by players from the Second XI (often meaning that both sides were fielding the minimum eleven players) or increasingly common as the season wore on, fielding girls from the 2nd and 3rd XI teams. My thanks therefore go out to those boys and girls from other teams who represented the Thirds on a number of occasions, including Alistair Dean, George Kitson, Matt Cooper, Nathan Foulsham, Sophie Gallagher, Lucy Skinner, Katinka Ronberg, Charlotte Bassett, Paula Roth and many others who turned out at least once.

As it happens, a lot of good Hockey was played, with pleasing wins against King’s College (Wimbledon), Reed’s and St

The next stage of the tournament was in Southampton at King Edward VI’s School. We progressed through this round by winning all three games [Ardingly 2-1, King Edward VI, Southampton and Magdalen College 3-2] with help from Joe Hughes’ pin-point drag flicking and solid defence.

After progressing through this stage we had to play a match against Stowe, which saw us perform dominantly and win with a comfortable 5-0 scoreline reflecting our attacking and defending ability.

Next we travelled to Tonbridge to play in a knockout game against Sir William Borlase. This was a tense affair with us just coming out on top with a 2-1 win to qualify for the South Final. If we had won the final then we would be through to the national finals. However, we once again came upon a dominant Whitgift side who won the match 5-1, but I think with the ‘rub of the green’, things could have been different.

This loss put us into an ‘Onward qualification’ stage against Queen’s School, Taunton. This is what our season had led to: if we won, we would qualify for the national finals, but if we lost, game over. Unfortunately for us,

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it just wasn’t to be. Even though we felt we put on a dominant display, we lost the match 2-0, therefore being knocked out of the National Cup. In spite of all this, the season was one of real achievement; we had gone further than anyone had expected. It was just a shame that we fell at the final hurdle.

Ed Darwin Squad: Ed Bradley, Will Garside, Ed Darwin, James Hall, Zach Wallace, Michael Moran, Sam Reid, Nick Browning, Nathan Farr, Jamie Thompson, James Adshead, George Kitson, Will Freeman, Tom Gooding, Elliot Hudson, Jakob Kridl, Luke Tomiak, Alfie Style and Ross McGeachie.

Under 16 ‘B’ boys

This season with the u16 boys was an interesting one to say the least. After a hectic start due to lack of a consistent squad, we were able to gel as a unit and begin producing some half decent hockey for our coach, inspiration and leading light, Mr Beaumont to be proud of. With Daniel Piche-Hainsworth, Henry Kitson and Seb Svarovsky at the back, there was almost no need for a keeper (Special thanks to Will Lloyd and Toby Fairhurst for stepping in when needed). Guy Morley constantly getting down the side-line helped us carve open defences on numerous occasion. Matt Cooper and Nathan Foulsham were a great help, spraying defence-splitting passes all over the pitch.

With these three alongside me (Ross McGeachie), we became more productive every game. All that was left was for our dynamic upfront three of Henry Kennaway, Alec Neil and Sunny Patel to provide the finishing touch.

As the year progressed, their movement, interchange and finishing all got noticeably better. Henry Kennaway clearly believed that minimal movement would suffice, although what he lacked in dynamism he more than made up for with finishing. Sunny Patel’s ability to tackle meant we were able to counter from the opposition’s wayward passes at 16s. Alec Neil improved greatly throughout the season in many aspects of his game, including his positioning and spatial awareness. Player of the Season must go to Ali Dean, who captained the team and made notable contributions throughout the season; he was a real leader, both on the pitch and off it. The whole team came on leaps and bounds through the year and this was demonstrated by the number of boys who started off in

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the U16’B’s and went on to represent the ‘A’ team in county and regional competitions and those fifth formers who played for the 2nd XI on a Wednesday. All in all, the team were very happy with the progress we made as a unit. This was by no small part down to Mr Beaumont’s leadership and we are looking forward to starting again next season.

Ross McGeachie Squad: W Lloyd, T Fairhurst, A Lamaj, W Garside, E Bradley, N Foulsham, M Cooper, R McGeachie, S Svarovsky, A Dean (capt), G Kitson, D PicheHainsworth, H Kitson, H Kennaway, A Neil, S Patel, G Morley, L Tomiak, A Style,

Under 14 ‘a’ boys

This under 14 team hoped to emulate the performance of two previous KGS U14 teams who finished as champions and in 4th place in the country respectively, though without the talented individuals that those teams possessed, it would be a very difficult target for this group to reach.

It was obvious from the first game that what this group lacked in individual talent, they would make up for with determination and team work.

There were some high scoring wins against Kent College and Reigate Grammar, but the most pleasing performances were in wins over two strong teams: a 1-0 win over Guildford HC and a 3-1 win over Reed’s who went on to finish 3rd in the country. What the team lacked was a goal scorer and despite the determination of Ed Nicholas, who could rarely have given any more, the team was not able to build on strong approach play.

Winning well over Alleyn’s and Trinity in the London heats, the boys went on to qualify for the South round by beating Dulwich College with a composed performance. Although fighting with great spirit and creating some very clear-cut chances, KGS were unable to get past Whitgift in the final.

Failure to put away chances led to our exiting the national competition in Sussex, despite having the better of all three of our group games.

James Thompson read the game very well and his pace carrying the ball out of defence and covering complemented Josh Askew’s composure and skill in possession at the heart of defence. At half backs, Joe Young and Luke Mobley played with increasing confidence and technical skill. In the second half of the season Jacob Holloway was deservedly promoted from Mr Barker’s ‘B’ team, bringing composure, technical skill and confidence

Jonny Kerr led the team very maturely from midfield, always working exceptionally hard and providing energy all over the field, setting up and scoring goals as well as covering in front of defence. Also in midfield, young Sam Mayhew made great progress, matching the work rate and determination of his elders and proving a skilful and determined competitor while Artie Rice-Oxley provided the finesse in the team with incisive passing and some tight control around the circle.

In a pacey forward line, Ed Nicholas was outstanding in his energetic leading and defensive work, while Sam Langston improved very rapidly to become one of the team’s outstanding players by the end of the season with his skilful dribbling and energetic running. Min Seo also made huge improvement, adding greater control to his outstanding pace. Yiorgos Karidis and Ruairi Parker made a number of appearances as did Magnus Wright before leaving KGS in December.

This team was wonderfully enjoyable to coach and they showed a mixture of excellent determination and good humoured team spirit, always making the most of their collective abilities.

Squad: Josh Askew, Jonny Kerr, Artie Rice-Oxley, James Thompson, Ed Nicholas, Will Macintosh [gk], Min Seo, Joe Young, Sam Mayhew, Sam Langston, Luke Mobley, Jacob Hollaway, Jude Boden, Yiorgos Karidis and Ruairi Parker.

M P Williamson

Under 14 ‘B’ Boys

To paraphrase the cliché: “a season of two halves”. Before Christmas, performances were quite encouraging, and the team broke even in terms of results, but from February onwards things tailed off a bit. Probably the reason for this was that we came up against stiffer opposition from other Under 14 sides than is sometimes the case, but the pounding by Whitgift in February and the subsequent injury to Oliver Cann may have affected the overall confidence of the group. Oliver had a very good run as a pressing striker until February and after his departure we were seldom able to ask too many questions of opposing defenders consistently. Also, the deserved promotion of

Jacob Holloway to the ‘A’ team took away one of our more polished players. Interestingly, we had been able to dish out our own pounding to Kent College in February, before these two players’ departures.

50% of the regular season (pre Holland) goals were scored by the captain, Max Dawson, who had the ability to score from unlikely angles as well as to despatch a loose ball firmly at goal, but we tended to lack consistent penetration, despite the efforts of a revitalised Yiorgos Karidis after he recovered closer to 100% fitness. Jude Boden caught the eye with some exciting individual ball skills and he is a very interesting prospect for the future; Rob Bradley was an energetic creator in midfield, usually on the right. Also creative on the ball was Mathew Wood, who generally played centrally, and most of the more memorably incisive passes came from him – though not forgetting Max Dawson’s remarkable (and perceptive) overhead to set up a goal for Boden. Later on in the season, Will Hunt came into the side and his athleticism and neat touch made him look like a potential striker of the future. Kyun Kim was ‘Mr Versatile’ in many positions but most often in midfield where his pace and economic use of the ball were strong assets; economic ball usage also applied wholeheartedly to Alex Lieu, who almost always played at left midfield where he did the simple things well and made sure his team retained the ball.

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to the team. Though he had little to do in many games, Will Mackintosh was outstanding in maintaining a very high level of performance when needed in goal, maintain impressive concentration to add to his athletic shotstopping.

In a patchy season it was perhaps not surprising that defenders had the chance to stand out and first and foremost of these was Toby Fairhurst (in goal), who not only had an excellent attitude but also was the best ‘B’ team keeper for some years and one who could easily have played in the ‘A’s. He had some outstanding games and it is difficult to remember many obvious errors. Jacob Holloway became a polished sweeper in terms of his reading of the game and his reliable distribution - after conversion from midfield - and I was glad he got his chance in the ‘A’s. Christian Werner also had some outstanding games defensively at sweeper, especially early in the season, but he wasn’t quite so effective latterly. Finn Snow was an honest and wholehearted out-and-out left defender who got better as the season progressed, as did Ben Merriman, who operated either on the right or in the middle. Callum Farr was probably the most combative and thus useful tone-setting defender who relished getting stuck into the better players in the opposition ranks – and did so with gusto and passion; his distribution was less certain and an area that he knows he needs to work upon.

We had the extreme luxury this year of willing umpiring assistance from Melanie Wood, to whom we offer our grateful thanks, and my gratitude also goes to all the boys for giving me an enjoyable time (there’s more to it than just results) and to the parents who supported us. It may not have been astonishing in terms of results but there were some memorable moments and I look forward to seeing several of these boys in contention for the 1st XI in years to come.

Squad: Jude Boden, Robert Bradley, Oliver Cann, Max Dawson, Toby Fairhurst, Callum Farr, Jacob Hollaway, Will Hunt, Yiorgos Karidis, Kyun Kim, Alex Lieu, Ben Merriman, Finn Snow, Christian Werner, Matthew Wood.

Also played: Sam Langston, Ben Mallinson, Tom Nicholls, Ruairi Parker, Daniel R L Barker

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Under 13 ‘B’ Boys

The under 13’B’ team have had a very good year with strong players in all positions. We won a total of six matches against teams varying from Reed’s to Portsmouth Grammar School, and we drew only two of our eleven matches; the most tense of these ended up 6-6! As we were a team made up of only second years we did lack some size and strength against some of our under 14 opposition, but what we lost in that department we compensated for in speed and skill. The team had two new players to add to its strength this year, Thomas Sayer and Matthew Thom.

They are both much improved hockey players with Tom playing up front and Matthew a good, solid defender. Ewan Galloway-Hale and Ed Jones also played well in defence with Thomas Nicholls showing some amazing skills on the left hand side of midfield. On the other side of the pitch, at right midfield, we had Sam “The Train” Tallis who used his impressive speed to leave the opposition miles behind him. However, we would have won nothing if it weren’t for our deadly striking trio of Will Hunt, Danny Sullivan and newcomer Thomas Sayer. They worked quickly and efficiently as a team with precision and finesse to exploit opposition defences and score well taken goals. Mr Farr, Mr Beaumont and Mr Buttanshaw have all been supportive coaches providing rousing half-time talks to rally us back into play!

Matthew Thom, 2KC Squad: Bijan Ghamsari [gk], Thomas Cutts, Edward Jones, Lucas Askeland, Matthew Thom, Sebastian Fernando, Tom Nicholls, Daniel Sullivan, Sam Tallis, Tom Sayer, Thomas Hall, Ewan Galloway-Hale, Ben Mallinson and Zil Burkhardt-Dawood.

Under 13 ‘c’ boys

This season the U13 ‘C’ team retained most of last year’s players and had some additions, such as Alex Gavrilescu. The season started brilliantly with an unexpected 3-0 win against Reed’s. Hopes were high, with morale at a peak, until the shattering 0-8 loss against Teddington, where unfortunately our striker, Tom Sayer, was playing for the opposition. The next week we climbed aboard a massive 50-seating coach with only 13 people, and because of this, everyone was happy and ready. Once playing, we were going well with attacks and counter-attacks. We were the stronger side, but suddenly we slipped up and Portsmouth scored a last-minute goal. We were down-heartened, but we still had hope. The following week, in a ‘not so fancy’ mini bus, we arrived at Reed’s. As this was the only team we had beaten so far (and we beat them last year), we had a flicker of hope. They put up a strong fight in the first half but their defence crumbled in the second half, leaving it open for opportunities and we rushed in there to clean up and score two goals. This was a blaze of success and we were hopeful the following week because we were playing Portsmouth. This time, however, it was the year above us! This was highly unfair and morale was low so not all the team put in the full effort and we lost 0-6. The next match was cancelled owing to the pitch frosting over and this half of the season ended with snow angels; Mr Buttanshaw took us to have some burgers from ‘Maccie D’s’ on the way home.

The second half of the season started with a nippy morning and a 0-2 loss against KCS. We were concerned about our next match as everyone was scarred from the events of last year when we played Whitgift (the record-breaking loss 27-0). The two previous matches against Whitgift had both been cancelled and this was our first. We ended losing 1-6, but, to make it fair, we gave ourselves a head start of 10 goals. At least it didn’t end up like ‘the-game-that-shall-not-be-named’! Another loss [0-4] against Langley Park and then we were playing Reed’s again. We were full of hope but when we saw some really tall guys we realised they were a year above us. Positions and tactics fell apart and we ended up losing 0-6, but the Reed’s students were really nice so it was fine in the end. We played Watford and lost 0-7 the next week, but captain Alex Furmston’s famous battle cry about Warburton’s uplifted our spirits. In the final match we played KES and we were up 2-0 with two players missing. We ended up winning 4-2 and it was one of my favourite matches. I had a great time being centreback for the U13C’s and I won’t forget it and it’s hard to leave behind. I think winning three matches was pretty good for us.

A good season that ended with cookies and burgers!

Finn Farrer, 2MW

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Under 12 ‘C’ boys Team: Andre Vasilisin-Tack, Tom Romberg, Benedict Short, Max Burrows, Elliot Boss, Yann Rice-Oxley, Max Lloyd, Samuel Parker, Sean Graham and Tarun Ramphul.

P W D L F A 10 8 1 1 31 9

This has been a hugely enjoyable and encouraging first season of hockey with the first years. With so many of the boys being new to the game, (seven of nine in the A team having never picked up a hockey stick before joining KGS), they have made remarkable progress in such a short period of time.

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Under 12 ‘A’ and ‘B’ Boys

As the record suggests, this was a hugely successful season.

Winning 8 out of 10 games is a fabulous return for all the hard work the boys put into their games and after school sessions. The only game they lost was to Reigate GS ‘A’ team and this game was much closer than the scoreline suggested.

Their best performances were against Reed’s (they played three times against Reed’s, winning them all), and the 7-1 wins over both Portsmouth GS and KES, Southampton. The boys have a real understanding of their positions and how each of their roles plays its part in the team’s set-up. They work hard for each other and have a never-give-up attitude.

The boys are in a good place and I look forward to hearing of their further progress as they move up to the U14 age group next year. A bright future is ahead.

With all the boys training so diligently and with such great commitment, squad selection in this tremendously competitive group proved to be one of the most challenging aspects facing the coaches. Marcus Newbury, Thomas Bowser and Patrick Gubbay, quite apart from the rapid developments they were making to technical aspects of their game, vied for the unofficial title of fastest player in the team, whilst Jamie Hughes, Rohan Saha, Freddie Wilson, Joseph Hughes and Roddy Reid impressed with astute positional play and their ability to assimilate tactical instructions. Both squads were blessed with exceptional goalkeepers with the outstanding Theo Piche-Hainsworth just fending off the excellent James Dick for the A team spot.

The B team had a very successful season too, winning over sixty percent of their matches, but, more importantly at this stage in their development, playing in a disciplined and cohesive way that will stand them in good stead for the future. Oscar Bird-Martinez, Thomas Skeates, Daniel Nicholas, Jamie Moore and Silas Nevstad made for a dynamic and fast flowing attack, whilst Noah Hollaway, Ben Little, Eliot Crutchfield and Jack Housego-Woolgar contributed to a robust and thoughtful defence. The boys showed great maturity in managing their own substitutions and played with a selflessness and intelligence that belied their years.

The boys in both squads have demonstrated a capacity to absorb both tactical and technical instruction swiftly and we belief they have the potential to develop into very accomplished hockey players indeed; an exciting prospect for school hockey at KGS! Mr Durban Squad: Roddy Reid, Rohan Saha, James Hughes, Patrick Gubbay, Joseph Hughes, Freddie Wilson, Theo Piche Hainsworth (gk), Marcus Newbury, Thomas Bowser, Daniel Nicholas, Jamie Moore, Elliot Crutchfield, James Dick (gk), Silas Nevstad, Ben Little, Jack HousegoWoolgar, Thomas Skeates, Noah Hollaway and Oscar Bird-Martinez.

Under 12 ‘D’ boys Team: Max Vokans, Oliver Sandry-Butler, Ed Knight, Rohan Danjal, Faiz Saleem, Joe Ives, Tom Aymat, Jonny Eldridge, Christopher Wilding, Tom Curtis, Malik Saparov, Justin Brooks, Tom Farrell, Jack Atherton and Tim Daw. P W D L F A 9 3 2 5 19 18 This was a good season overall for the boys. They had a good round of three fixtures with Reed’s to get the season started, winning one of those games and only just being edged out in the other two. A comprehensive defeat of Merchant Taylors’ (7-0) was, without doubt, the performance of the season from the boys. They finished their excellent approach play with vigour and I really hoped that this would spur the boys onto winning more of their games.

However, despite regularly dominating their games, it was often their finishing which let them down. This always gave opposition teams the chance to stay in games and on two notable occasions, despite KGS dominating the game from the start, by not scoring we let Reigate and KES score lastminute goals to steal victories. The boys will undoubtedly learn from this and get better as they move up to the U14 age group next season. I wish them all the very best.

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Netball Seniors

of our opponents – this has given us more flexibility when affected by injury and clashes with other commitments.

The Seniors have had a great latter part of the season.

The squad gradually increased to 15 girls, which meant they were regularly able to field both 1st and 2nd teams.

Results were mixed but the girls definitely improved as the season went on, with the 1st VII winning most of their matches and the 2nd VII narrowly losing some of theirs.

The versatility and dedication shown by our squad can only mean good things for the future, and with our upcoming tour to Gibraltar in October, there is no better time for us to keep training hard and reaping the positive results.

They came 3rd in their section at the Surreys, ranking them 6th overall, but the highlight was at the Borough Netball tournament for the Seniors who played two longer matches against both Holy Cross and Tiffin, winning both games with quality, tactical netball. They are proud to be U18 Borough Netball Champions. The girls also played their best netball in the final game of the season against Emmanuel, beating them easily! This was a great measure of their improvement over the year and how they matured as players.

Under 14

Squads: Jo Davies (Captain), Alice Reid, Alice Thiroff, Rea Georghiades, Nicole George, Niamh Cullinane, Martha Prior, Ellie Huxter, Greta Weston, Katie Annesley, Charlotte Le Feuvre, Sarah Rogers, Jenny Shpeter, Anu Sivabalan and Martha Horn.

Under 15

Fiona Kennedy, 4DB

Over the year of the netball season, we have really come together as a team, from our strong defenders, Olivia and Iona, to Lucy and myself shooting. We came second in boroughs, winning silver medals, with great interceptions and overall play from Rachel. We’ve lost some matches and won some with the help of Amy and Emilia (most improved) making great links between all the thirds and keeping the team strong throughout all matches. We couldn’t have done this without Molly, our amazing centre, who will be greatly missed when she leaves (especially in Gibraltar) and Alice, Yoonha and Adiana bringing brilliant team spirit to all matches and training sessions.

Jess Francis, 3HL

Under 13

When the U15 Netball team reconvened to start training again at the beginning of the season, it is unlikely that anyone thought we would have progressed so much by Easter.

Despite struggling to find enough players for a team in September, we finished the season well, coming second in the borough tournament for the third year in a row.

We beat tough opposition, such as Sutton High, with our shooters excelling and our goal count high into the twenties, while our defenders kept their shooters at bay, not allowing them even to reach double figures.

Throughout the season, nearly every player has learnt how to play in a new position, and responded swiftly to the demands of each position in matches, often to the dismay

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The U13 team have played in many fixtures, with the the ‘A’s winning more than 80% of their matches and the ‘B’s winning over 70% of their games. In Surrey they are ranked 5th with training in the Spring term focused on preparing for the Kingston Borough tournaments in which the U13s are ranked 4th out of the 8 Borough schools they narrowly lost out by 1 or 2 goals against Tiffin, Holy Cross and Surbiton. They have had a few injuries which has affected the flow and cohesiveness of their squads but we are looking forward to next season and the Gibraltar tour to get them back playing their high standard of netball.

Squads: Sara Gotham Pardo (Captain), Lydia Underwood, Millie Whittle, Lucile Toulemonde, Ellie Lord, Katie Daubeny, Lily Abbott, Issy James, Elisabeth Stevenson, Guilia Duggan, Maia White, Chloe Taylor, Gaia Aherne, Suzi Garforth, Lauren Araujo, Phoebe Williams, Tash Burrell and Ha Eun Kim.

The U12 have improved so much in their netball playing during their first year at KGS and they have also bonded as a team. From being thrown together at their first netball club meeting, handed a ball and told to shoot in and defend a goal, the girls have come on in leaps and bounds. There have been some tough times when playing an excellent team and giving up altogether was the easiest way out. However, that didn’t deter them from netball and they turned up to the next practice willing and determined. The fabulous girls have competed in the Surrey and borough tournaments, coming 5th in their section (10th overall) in Surrey and 4th in the borough.

I know that everyone is really proud of the progress our U12 netball girls have made and we can’t wait to see them continue to play in the 2nd year. I am sure that the girls will join me in saying a massive thank you to Mrs Stapleton and Mrs Story for all the hard work and time they have put in to make our girls the best they can. I also want to say a massive well done to Jess Larkin for the amazing progress she has made this year in netball. She is an excellent GS and a brilliant sportswoman. Well done to everyone!

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Under 12

Jasmin Good, 1MD As the season draws to an end, all teams can reflect on what they have achieved this year and be inspired and motivated for September 2015.

Easter Fun

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Football 1st XI

next season will see similar or even greater success for KGS football.

Ralph Harvey-Kelly, U6MJR

2nd XI

P16 W8 D4 L4 The top sides in modern football share similar traits: a good youth system, someone who scores 15+ goals a season, good cup runs and the ability to win games even when they are not playing particularly well. The KGS 1st XI this season was no different. With Ronald and Mr Gwynne moving on, Ahmed Mittoui, once a player at Crewe Alexandra, became our third coach in two seasons. He worked to impart his own style of football on to the 1st XI this term, and the first sign of its impact was our goal in the second game of the season against Alleyn’s: after roughly twelve passes, starting with our keeper, we had the ball in the back of the net, having lobbed the Alleynian keeper. In that game, the starting line-up consisted of six graduates of the Mr Gywnne U16/3rd XI academy from the previous season.

The core stalwarts of the defence were Matt Maginnis in goal and the two centre-backs, Ben Dreux and Maxim Dutton. Peter Alvey added some steel to the defence and Arjun Rao, who was always at training, was a regular at left-back. Captain Ralph Harvey-Kelly and Rex Hopley sat in front of the back four, and were key to the team’s defence and attack, with Tom Currey and Alex George either side of them, pace was not in short supply. James Gawn played behind Miles Watson. James scored 15 goals, all of which were well taken and valuable to the team.

Miles’ work rate was always worthy of praise, putting their defence under pressure whenever they had the ball.

After great wins against Harrodian and Royal Russell and solid performances against Boxhill and Hampton, the autumn term was rounded off with a home cup tie vs Dulwich College. It went the distance to reach penalties and although KGS did not come out on the right side of them, we still gave the crowd something to cheer about having led for more than half the game.

After Christmas, we somehow got drawn against Dulwich again in the second cup competition, away this time. It ended in the same result: Dulwich going through. We then put those two results vs Dulwich aside and registered five consecutive wins against Sutton GS, Royal Russell, Ewell Castle, Caterham and RGS Guildford. All were hard fought battles, coming from behind away to Sutton and the team showed a solid defensive performance collectively to hang on to a 1-0 win away to RGS Guildford.

The attitude of the boys this season was commendable and they should all be proud of their efforts. Hopefully

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This was as effective, talented and creative a side as has ever played for the 2nd XI. At least half the team could consistently pass the ball accurately and with the correct weight. Initially, however, there was something missing because of my belief that pace was necessary up front. Alas, we were not scoring goals. It was only when I remembered the elegant and effective Teddy Sheringham that the obsession with speed was jettisoned and the decision was made to put our own slowcoach – Alex Graham – at centre-forward. Alex has no acceleration but he has a beautiful feint and the ability to hit the corner of the net with a one stride shot. Uniquely, too, he could hold up the attack and wait for the pace of Rishi Manuel to arrive supported (once he had recovered from his goalkeeping broken thumb) by the hair-banded Daniel Savvides.

We were blessed in having a passing spine running right through the side. Central defender Nick Fordham was elegance personified while Alborz Farahati had genuine vision and understanding with his forwards. Both too, astonishingly, began to tackle opponents. Of course, it was not just skill which made us a good team; we had the usual, necessary and brutal muscle of Nick Semple and Middlesex rugby player Hugo Delattre to rely on when boots were flying around. It was good to see Lower Sixth Formers Gajan Prabhaharan and Owen Paterson transforming themselves into reliable defenders and to admire the stamina and persistent, although always legal, aggression of Hari Clarke. As always, it was a pity that a number of Upper Sixth Formers faded away when we moved into the cold at Old Cranleighans, but nevertheless the contributions of the huge Lucca Colarusso were massive in every sense of the word as was the brio of Tim Shipley. We missed George Parrott and he us, once first team supremo Ahmed realised that our 2nd XI thespian could indeed “Bend it like Beckham”. However, the highlight and player of the year for me was Rahul Patel.

Last season he had been a reluctant defender, whilst this season he was an extremely reluctant goalkeeper (“Half a game only, Sir. No more!”) until he produced the greatest,

J M Davies Football 2nd XI Squad: G Goonetillake, H Clarke, N Semple, N Fordham, A Graham, R Manuel, A King(Referee) A Saaoulis, G Prabaharan, A Farahati, R Patel, D Savvides, O Patterson – not pictured.

G Parrot, L Colarusso. H Delattre

Under 16

Something all top class teams around the world crave is consistency. Unfortunately for the current U16 KGS football squad, in previous seasons the only form of consistency was a weekly thrashing at the hands of other schools, only to be marginally comforted by sympathetic coaches saying “on our day, it could have been a different story” (it’s a football report – of course there are clichés).

This season, however, many positives can be taken from our eclectic bag of results.

Right from the off, our defiance against Sutton Grammar School to secure a 2-2 home result felt like a win after years of suffering from our lacklustre performances; it wasn’t just the fact we showed great character and determination to recover from 2-1 down and scored late in the game, but our overall style of play was particularly encouraging with notable performances from Troy O’Dowd (“the anchor” in midfield) and newcomer Darcy Lewis, which set the standard for the rest of the season.

We subsequently used this display as a springboard to overwhelm local rivals Thames Christian 6-1 - Tom Shingler making a name for himself upfront as the “target man” by scoring a hat-trick.

Despite this positive start, many in the squad - myself included - were sceptical as to how long our vein form would last and whether it would simply all come crashing down like Arsenal’s annual title challenge. To some degree this did occur, losing three out of next four games, including a 7-1 drubbing at home to Chessington.

Nonetheless, there was never a single moment where squad morale deteriorated; there were no banners waved from the sidelines stating “McCarthy out” or calls from the fans for a mass exodus of underperforming players in the January transfer window. All in all, we were playing attractive football. Exceptional and often heroic performances from the immense centre-back Toby Dutton

and our agile goalkeeper Harry Kershaw (who took on the role superbly after a serious injury to our previous shotstopper, Tim Wilcox) at the heart of defence, inspired the rest of the team to improve their efforts and by midDecember a 2-0 home win against Sutton Grammar gave us a healthy form guide to take into the new year.

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non-professional, save I have ever seen against a strong Hampton side. Even he realised that his place really was between the sticks.

With January mocks on most of our minds and the cold, harsh weather conditions affecting participation in training - which up until this point had received an excellent turnout – our form made another slight dip, but at least we were still scoring with Josh Hill finding his golden touch to cut inside from left-wing and score five goals in three games. A special mention and possible contender for ‘goal of the season’ goes to James Smith (probably KGS football’s longest serving player) who thumped home his long awaited first goal for KGS with a side-footed scorcher from outside the box against Royal Russell to help secure a 4-2 win. (Liverpool are reportedly interested in signing the youngster as a potential long-term replacement for Steven Gerrard).

We did lose our final two games, which included a challenging encounter with Reigate’s 1st XI, but this did little to dampen the team’s overall satisfaction with how the season went. To conclude in true football punditry style I’ll admit that at the end of the day, all the lads ran their socks off all season and gave 110% in every match, but we now need to focus on the next game. A thank you goes to departing coaches and organisers Dr McCarthy and Mr Greggor for arranging matches and training. However, let’s make sure to play and beat both their new schools next season. Come on Kingston.

Teddy Coward, 5LS

Under 15 The season as a whole was somewhat of a disappointing one in my opinion. However, that is not to say we didn’t play well or improve our football as a team. Generally, our win-to-loss record was significantly worse than the previous year’s, but I felt that a lot of the time we controlled the games we played, but struggled to get the results we deserved. In order to progress I think that we will need to improve the way we pressurise oppositions and for the defence, midfield and attack to move around the pitch in unison. On too many occasions we played as individuals and for us to be able to challenge the teams we lost to previously, we will need to learn to play as a

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team. Often, all that we lacked was one more clinical finish or the ability to seal games we had the lead in and maintain our concentration for the full seventy minutes.

On the other hand, I believe we had a very good balance in the squad.

Our go-to formation was usually 442 and primarily our defence was well organised by our goalkeeper, Joe Woodcock, who had an outstanding season. The midfield was also very balanced with pace from the likes of George Casci and Sam Slater and we had a good depth of midfielders in the squad with good passing ability.

Furthermore, set pieces would often be a good weapon at our disposal with the likes of Dennis Rigby taking corners and free kicks, and Christian Taylor was consistently on target to apply the finishing touch to our attacking moves.

We played a number of teams of varying ability, many of which were worse than us on paper and several which, arguably, were better, but the majority were of a similar calibre to our squad. I believe that in previous years we would have betted on ourselves to be beat such sides, but last year we tended to lose too easily and in some respects let ourselves down, most notably in a weak 1-1 draw against Ewell Castle. All negatives aside, I remain confident that the team, with a few adjustments, has the potential to be a very strong outfit that would be confident to beat the majority of teams we would face.

James Castle, 4RP Squad: Joseph Woodcock, Alexander Ritchie, James Adam, William Hewetson, Sandeep Sivlal, Lucas PreFontaine, Dennis Rigby, James Castle, George Casci, Christian Taylor, Samuel Slater, Hakeem Shittu, Luca Kamleh-Chapman, Frederick True, Joseph Rona, George Grigg, Jack Wise, Harry Williams-Doherty and Edward Bradley.

record which will surely take some time to beat. The next match brought an emphatic 9-0 victory against Hampton Court House School. The boys were involved in some tough matches after this, losing out to Sutton Grammar and City of London School for Boys but managing to get a good victory against Thames Christian and a draw against Lingfield Notre Dame.

The second half of the season started with a tough away fixture in central London against Westminster School. The boys lost but played with great determination throughout.

This would be a turning point in the season where the boys went on a great run winning seven of their remaining nine matches, only losing out to a strong Royal Russell School and a very strong side from Halliford School (8-5). They recorded victories against Hampton School, Ewell Castle and Whitgift to name a few. To defeat teams of this calibre demonstrated the great progress that the boys had made throughout the season and sets them up very well for next year.

Hugo Dreux, who made some invaluable saves in goals, and the back four of Reuben Cooper, Josh Wilcocks, Jack Thorpe and Aadam Qureshi were outstanding, especially late in the season against a very talented Whitgift forward line.

The midfield of Lucas Goonetillake, Euan Tasker-Macleod, Gregory Vasilisin-Tack and Oscar Warman, played with increasing confidence as the season progressed and worked extremely well as a unit. Up front, Niall Shinn and Jem O’Dowd complemented each other well, both scoring some vital goals throughout the season. Nikita Magnitskiy and Daniel Sykes provided some excellent help off the bench, and made some great progress from the start of the season.

Squad: Reuben Cooper, Aadam Qureshi, Jack Thorpe, Hugo Dreux, Josh Willcocks, Nikita Magnitskiy, Euan Tasker-Macleod, Gregory Vasilisin-Tack, Jem O’Dowd, Niall Shinn, Lucas Goonetillake, Oscar Warman, Daniel Sykes.

R A McCarthy

Under 14

Under 13

P W D L 19 9 1 9 The U14 football team had an extraordinary season this year, in which they made the most of their limited player base to maximise their potential and grind out some very impressive victories, none more so that their last match of the season against Whitgift. The season started off with a frustrating 8-4 loss to Harrodian, a scoreline that in many ways reflected the high scoring nature of the football that the boys would create for the season ahead. Another sign of things to come was the hat-trick scored by Niall Shinn, setting him on his way to scoring 40 goals in the season, a

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P W D L 10 2 1 7 The U13 Football team had an encouraging season, with the team developing greatly under the management team of Rodgers and Greggor. There may not have been many victories but the scorelines certainly reflect the progress that was made.

One of the best performances of the season came in the second match against Hampton. KGS played a great defensive game and held Hampton to a solitary goal. A 1-1 draw against the local rivals was a great result, with Felix Adams scoring for the home team.

Things improved slightly in the next home fixture, which was against Sutton GS. Despite conceding eleven, KGS scored their first goals of the season with one apiece from Matt Shipley and Adam Green. The first away fixture of the season, against Royal Russell, who are traditionally a very strong team, saw a better defensive performance from KGS and more scoring from Matt Shipley, the final score being 7-1 to Royal Russell.

The final win of the season came against Ewell Castle, a school that normally produces junior football teams of a similar standard to KGS. We handed out the sort of defeat to Ewell Castle that we had been experiencing ourselves.

A 5-1 victory was the culmination of a season of hard work and dedication, where everything went just right. Two goals from Matt Shipley and one each from Adams, Harry Torrance and Ben Parsons provided a Saturday morning to savour.

It took until November for KGS to register their first win of the season with a spirited and determined performance against Twickenham Prep. Goals from Shipley and Will Pengilly resulted in a 2-1 win for the boys in red and grey. This performance signalled a good run of form that allowed the double-digit losses to be consigned to the annals of history.

Into the New Year and KGS faced a tough home match against Hampton. Despite being asked to bring a D team, they brought a squad with C team strength. With this in mind, the 3-1 loss and the performance from the boys was an impressive result. Pengilly was again the scorer.

A second away fixture against Royal Russell demonstrated the improvements that KGS had been making. Ben Mallinson was on the scoresheet twice but the concession of six goals at the other end meant a second loss of the season against the boys form Croydon.

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The first match of the season came a bit too early for the fledgling squad at home against a very strong Harrodian side. In previous years, fixtures against Harrodian have been competitive but that was not the case this year, with KGS losing 12-0.

The last two matches of the season were tough fixtures against Whitgift and Halliford respectively. Shipley was the lone scorer against Whitgift in a 6-1 defeat and Mallinson scored again in the 4-1 loss to Halliford.

Despite not winning many games, the KGS U13 team certainly proved themselves to be a developing squad.

The progress on the pitch was clear for all to see and this bodes well for next season.

M Rodgers Squad from: Matt Shipley, Cameron Macpherson, Aleks Brown, Sayem Ahmed, Ben Davies, Will Pengilly, Michael Larkin, Ben Parsons, Harry Torrance, Felix Adams, Tom Driver, Toby Cole, Ben Mallinson, Jack Durden, Adam Green, Manvir Nijjar, Zil Burkhardt-Dawood and Anand Aggarwal

Chris Wort 5th yr

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Cricket 1st XI

2nd XI

P16 W9 L7

The 2nd XI had a tough year, struggling to get a team out at times and struggling to compete, but all in all it turned out to be a very enjoyable season. New players came in to great effect, as well as players returning after a year out of cricket, with mixed results. One of the highlights was Alex Graham returning having not played for around a year and a half. After a shaky and slightly nervy start in the match, he quickly capitalised as the wickets fell, eventually reaching 44 in an otherwise disappointing outing. Also in the fixture was a debut for Davinder Tucker, who took his first wicket for the school, and a return for Julian Style, who also took a few wickets, emphasising the effectiveness of line and length bowling. The biggest highlight of the short season was the final game against the Sturgeon’s XI where we secured our first and only win. With a wide range of year groups taking part, what followed was a greatly enjoyable game of cricket. Losing the toss and being put in the field proved to have been a stroke of luck. Max Dawson surely stole the show - taking four wickets for relatively few runs proved a very useful performance, and the Sturgeons found themselves all out for under a hundred. Our opening partnership of Matt Cooper and Tom Gooding proved very fruitful, scoring 40 odd relatively quickly, but then in true KGS style came the collapse, losing 5 wickets for relatively few runs. It then gave me as Captain great pleasure to come in at 7 and knock off the winning runs. A great afternoon finished in a very satisfying way. After a mixed season, I hope next year can prove more successful.

KGS 1st XI enjoyed a very successful season in 2015, completing the season with 16 fixtures, including 9 wins and a few close losses to the likes of Emanuel School and to a touring Australian team during our 3-day tour to Bath.

The season got off to a flying start with a comprehensive win over the local rivals, Tiffin. With Tiffin winning the toss and opting to bat first, their total of 158 off 40 overs never seemed enough. This turned out to be the case with KGS comfortably chasing this total in just 28 overs for the loss of just 3 wickets. Another memorable match was the win over Sutton Grammar School in a T20 where, on debut, Ed Darwin smashed 81* in a comfortable 84 run victory. Another notable performance came against the MCC. Despite a disappointing run chase, the match was memorable for an outstanding performance by Ralph Harvey-Kelly, who claimed 6-40 against a strong MCC batting line up.

Without doubt the side was a lot more consistent this year than in years gone by. This was evident in our loss to Emanuel during the last game at Ditton Field for the season. The groundsmen had produced a good hard track and the weather produced a humid and overcast day leading to an interesting encounter between bat and ball. Having lost the toss KGS were sent out to the field to watch Emanuel pile on 305 in their 40 overs on what seemed a fast, flat deck. In reply, KGS lost opener Max Griffin in the first over of the game and the match seemed gone. However, KGS showed resilience with supporting knocks from 4th former Joe Woodcock and senior Lewis Godliman. After Matt Maginnis was dismissed in the 33rd over of the game for 112 it seemed that Emanuel had held their nerve in the field. After some big hits from 5th former Joe Hughes, it seemed the chase was back on; however, some tight death bowling meant that Emanuel won by 19 runs in a memorable match in which almost 600 runs were scored in under 80 overs.

Andrew Merriman

Under 15 A keen and talented group of players embarked on this season confident of performing well, and with a number of the players having gained confidence on the Sri Lanka tour some of the usual early season rustiness was absent.

In my honest opinion, the 2015 season was a turning point for KGS Cricket as there is a core of young players, including Surrey Women and England’s Eva Gray and wicketkeeper/batsman Ronan Harvey-Kelly, combined with seniors such as Fergus Ainsworth. With another dedicated coach to replace the outgoing Peter Scott, the 1st XI could undoubtedly continue to contend in fixtures with strong schools and especially the MCC. If the school now considers Cricket as one of its primary sports by taking steps such as introducing an honours board in the pavilion and a well organised senior tour, I have no doubt the standard of KGS cricket will continue to improve.

KGS beat Sutton convincingly by 6 wickets in the first game and then went on to post large numbers batting first in matches against Wallington, Christ’s Hospital and Alleyn’s to win these matches very well before chasing down 141 to win in the last over against Halliford.

Matt Maginnis 1st XI Captain (2015)

A number of players were promoted to the 1st XI on Saturdays, which left the Under 15 group much weaker on these occasions and the remaining team lacked allround strength, losing to Latymer (albeit narrowly), Lord Wandsworth and Emanuel.

There were losses to Reigate and Charterhouse in cup competitions and while both these opponents were comfortably stronger, sloppy KGS fielding errors allowed a batsman from both these teams to post a century, leaving a feeling of disappointment that in these games KGS were not able to compete with more intensity.

In the bowling department, James Hall led the way with sustained quick and accurate bowling which included a 5 wicket haul against Christ’s Hospital and Guy Morley provided some energetic swing bowling from the other

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of 183-4. Although Mackintosh hit a gritty and hard-earned 45 runs for KGS, we were bowled out for only 70 runs, resulting in more time for tea!

The batting was led most reliably by Joe Woodcock and Nick Browning who each scored two half centuries while Will Freeman also smashed one and Zach Wallace came close. Sunny Patel also contributed regular runs, while Eva Gray, Sunny Sivlal and James Adshead all managed some strong contributions with the wicket-keeping shared between Ross McGeachie and James Adshead. Ed Darwin, Eva Gray, Sunny Patel and Joe Woodcock all enjoyed the considerable challenge of captaincy at some stage.

The next game was against Christ’s Hospital. After losing the toss, KGS had to bowl first and after 7 overs, it was looking very hopeful…but then Shinn uprooted their opener’s middle stump and allowed their number three batter to walk to the crease. He scored quickly. Christ’s Hospital made 132-3 which looked like an average target.

Then came our batting. Rice-Oxley hit a sturdy 25 with Vasilisin-Tack hitting the second highest KGS score with 15. Shinn looked like he would be our saviour but it was not to be. He lost his wicket playing a forward defensive and was bowled.

This was a very enjoyable season where all the players were able to play a very useful part in the team and contribute to some really good team performances as well as competing with some spirit and energy. I hope to see many of these players representing the 1st XI next season.

Regular squad members: Nick Browning, Sunny Patel, Eva Gray, James Adam, Sunny Sivlal, Ed Darwin, Joe Woodcock, James Adshead, Ross McGeachie, Zach Wallace, Will Garside, James Hall, Guy Morley, Will Freeman M P Williamson

Under 14 ‘A’ The 2014/15 season was a challenge for the U14 ‘A’ team.

Wins were hard to come by, not helped by a multitude of injuries and the odd abandoned game due to some inclement weather. The team found it hard to get into a good rhythm and it wasn’t until around game three or four that we felt we were gelling as a unit.

Reigate Grammar were our first opponents and a prolific 100 not out from their best batsman dashed KGS’s hopes almost immediately. They made 236-7 with Greg VasilisinTack taking three great wickets and two for Artie Rice-Oxley.

The KGS batting got off to a good start with Jack Thorpe making a quick 38 and James Thompson making a steady 22.

Max Dawson and Artie Rice-Oxley had a good partnership of 48 but unfortunately this was not enough as the rest of the batting order crumbled and KGS were bowled out for 135.

Our next opponents were Sutton Grammar. Sutton batted first and made a convincing 149-8. Again, Rice-Oxley hit a solid 25 with Thorpe and Dawson’s successful partnership of over 70 runs in 8 overs. A great cameo by Thorpe saw him reaching 49 on the shot that secured KGS victory.

The next fixture was against Latymer Upper and was a convincing victory for the KGS side. We batted first and scored 124-6, with Thompson scoring a brisk 19 and Dawson hitting a sensible 36. Will Mackintosh hit an inspired 21 off the last 13 balls. Luke Mobley adorned the keeping gloves and took two brilliant catches and a spectacular stumping. 4-17 were Niall Shinn’s figures and Dawson took 1 for 4 off two overs.

Lord Wandsworth College were our next opponents. We won the toss and elected to field first. After we put in a tidy performance in the first 20 overs, their big hitting number five came in and hit 39 off 20 balls, resulting in a huge total

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end while seam bowlers Nick Browning and Eva Gray, and James Adam and Sunny Patel with spin, also enjoyed decent performances with the ball.

The last match of the season was against Westminster at the lovely Vincent Square in central London. The sound of Big Ben resonated in the background as we took our positions. KGS won the toss and decided to field first. An inconsistent bowling performance allowed Westminster to score 156-4. Vasilisin-Tack and Dawson took two wickets each. Dawson made a brilliant 51 off 40 balls with Mackintosh scoring the second best with 28. The tail end crumbled after Dawson got out playing a lofted cover drive straight to short cover.

There are certainly some talented cricketers in the Under 14 ‘A’ team. With a little more structure in training and a bit more focus in matches I think that the Under 14 ‘A’s could be a very successful team in years to come. Thank you, Mr Beaumont for taking us this year and we all hope that you will stick with us next year.

Max Dawson, 4LHW Squad: M Dawson (capt), A Rice-Oxley, J Thorpe, W Mackintosh, L Mobley, G Vasilisin-Tack, T Fairhurst, N Shinn, E Nicholas, S Langston, J Thompson, M Seo and R Khandelwal.

Under 13 ‘A’ The U13 ‘A’ team made positive progress in a season when they came up against some very strong teams.

The weather was kind with no cancellations at all due to inclement conditions, the first time this has been the case for a number of years. A very strong bowling side, the U13 ‘A’ team struggled at times to put enough runs on the board to defend, but did have some good results against some decent teams.

We started with the obligatory season opener against Tiffin. The opponents scored 151 for 7 off their 25 overs, with Will Pengilly taking 3 for 29 from his 5 overs. The lack of winter nets was apparent when KGS batted, being bowled out for only 76 runs, with Ellie Lord top scoring with 15.

Next up was a 20/20 match against Rokeby. KGS batted first and were bowled out for 83. Despite some good bowling from Danny Sullivan, who took 2 wickets, Rokeby knocked off the runs in less than 17 overs with the loss of only 3 wickets.

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The first win of the season came in a nail-biter against Sutton GS, a school that normally gives KGS a good match.

This again turned out to be the case. The loss of some quick wickets brought Ruairi Parker to the crease earlier than would have been hoped. He batted with patience and maturity and steered KGS to a decent total of 103 for 3, scoring 41 not out in a partnership of 63 with Will Pengilly, who scored 15 not out himself. Sutton got off to a quick start but some tight bowling in the middle overs, particularly from Aleks Brown, who took 1 for 7 off 4 overs, and Will Pengilly, who took 3 for 23 off 4 overs, left things on a knife edge with only 12 runs needed from 3 overs. But some tight bowling and late wickets from Ellie Lord meant that Sutton fell 2 runs short, giving KGS the victory.

The next fixture was against Latymer Upper, which is normally a close fixture. Unfortunately, that was not the case this year, with KGS being bowled out first for 76 runs.

Latymer knocked the runs off for the loss of only one wicket. The next match, against Christ’s Hospital, saw KGS bounce back and secure their second win. Christ’s Hospital adopted the strange tactic in a limited over match of simply trying not get to out. It took 8 overs for a run to be scored, although this was in part as a result of some excellent KGS bowling. Ben Mallinson bowled 5 overs, four of which were maidens, taking 3 for 6. Will Pengilly again bowled well and took 2 for 8 off 3 overs. Ellie Lord also chipped in, taking 2 for 3 off 4 overs. The meagre total of 34 was knocked off by KGS in 10 overs although 4 wickets were lost along the way.

Next up was another 20/20 match against Reed’s School, traditionally a very strong opponent. KGS struggled to score 84 for 7 off their 20 overs, Sam Tallis top-scoring with 20 runs. The total did not prove much of a challenge for Reed’s, who passed the KGS total in 13 overs for the loss of only 2 wickets.

Following half term, the next fixture was a mixed U12/13 match against Lord Wandsworth College. The opposition batted well, scoring 146 for 6 off their 25 overs, Danny Sullivan taking 2 wickets. The KGS batting line-up struggled to deal with the Wandsworth bowling, giving them plenty of catching practice as they were all bowled out for 93.

Adwait Joshi and Ellie Lord were the only batsmen of note, scoring 21 and 34 respectively.

The penultimate match of the season came against Mr Greggor’s Halliford School. On an artificial wicket with small boundaries, Halliford scored 144 for 7 from their 20 overs, which was the result of some overly short bowling from KGS and some good batting from Halliford. Will Pengilly, Danny Sullivan and Jude Boden each took two wickets. KGS made a solid start with Ben Mallinson and Adwait Joshi putting on a partnership of 52 before Joshi fell for 16. Mallinson carried the captain’s responsibility and scored 65 before falling to a good catch on the boundary. KGS were still 37 runs short of the Halliford total but Sam Tallis and Danny Sullivan stepped up and saw KGS to a famous victory, Tallis scoring 36 not out and Sullivan ending 9 not out.

The last match of the season was against a strong Emanuel team. KSG batted first and were bowled out against a strong bowling attack for 64, Mallinson again top-scoring with 30 runs. Emanuel chased down the total for the loss of only 3 wickets.

There are certainly some positives to be taken from the season. The quality of bowling improved significantly throughout the season and bowling extras became few

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and far between. With greater application to batting technique, this group of players will definitely improve next season.

Results: Played 9; Won 3; Lost 6 Squad: Ben Mallinson, Tom Nicholls, Ellie Lord, Joe Studholme, Will Pengilly, Daniel Sullivan, Adwait Joshi, Sam Tallis, Ruairi Parker, Jude Boden, Tom Sayer, Aleks Brown and Zil Burkhardt-Dawood M Rodgers

Under 12 ‘A’ The season started promisingly for the U12 ‘A’ side with a resounding win over Sutton Grammar. KGS batted first and started slowly, stuttering to 33 for 3 after 10 overs, losing team captain James Dick early on. It was then that Faiz Saleem found his range, hitting a quick fire 43 from 56 balls to bring KGS up to a defendable total of 96 from 20 overs.

Sutton never looked likely to reach the target in the face of some tight bowling, notably Ed Knight returning figures of 2 for 3 off 2 overs and KGS eventually won by 28 runs.

The team took confidence into the next fixture against Latimer Upper, building a strong total of 114 against a strong bowling attack. James Dick, as he would go on to do through the season, led from the front, top scoring with 29, but ably supported by Joseph Hughes (25). In defence of the target, KGS came up against some high quality batsmen and Latimer cruised home with 8 wickets to spare. Oliver Sandry-Butler can take credit, however, for taking the only two wickets for an economical 18 runs, and Thomas Bowser also managed a tight spell conceding only 12 runs.

Captain James Dick managed his best all-round performance of the season in the next fixture against Christ’s Hospital, scoring a powerful half century and taking 2 for 10. His captaincy was put to the test, however, as CH set about chasing KGS’s total of 98. At 46-9 they were surely out of the running, but the number 3 batsman began to swing from the hip, scoring 57 from 59 deliveries. James managed not to panic, placing his field carefully to protect the boundary. In a thrilling match, KGS eventually triumphed in the final over, winning by just 5 runs. Andrei Vasilisin-Tack, whose aggressive pace bowling was a real asset throughout the season, finished with excellent figures of 2 for 8 off 4 overs.

Unfortunately, some rather heavy defeats characterised the latter half of the season, as the team came up against strong sides from Tiffin and Emanuel in particular. Against Emanuel, a number of batsmen managed double figure scores, notably Jamie Hughes returning from injury, but could not go on.

KGS stuttered to 75 from 20 overs, which was always going to be difficult to defend. Andrei Vasilisin-Tack again came to the fore, taking 3 wickets from his 3 overs to give the chasing side a scare, reducing them to 64-5. Emanuel limped home to win by 5 wickets, a disappointing end to the season.

However, KGS had once again put in a disciplined bowling performance, a great credit to the positive attitude they had shown in the field all summer.

T Benson

The U12 ‘B’ cricketers have won two matches and played in three mixed U13 teams.

From the start of the season their experience using a hard ball has been limited, but with extensive nets, fielding and wicket practises they have all made significant contributions to our matches. Furthermore, pairs cricket has flourished with many of the boys really enjoying playing and they are aiming for the ‘A’ team slots.

We learnt the importance of bowling a fuller length and to the off side forcing the batter to play to our field.

Against Christ’s Hospital and Emanuel we managed this very successfully conceding few extras and setting ourselves moderate totals. Our natural desire to hit to leg was moderated as we learnt to hit through the line of the ball to the off side. Noah Hollaway and Jo Ives did this perfectly, scoring 43 runs in our final match for the first wicket, setting up an impressive win.

Squad: Chris Wilding, Max Lloyd, Tom Aymat, Johnny Eldridge, Ben Little, Marcus Newberry, Roddy Reid, Silas Nevstad, Shaun Graham, Tom Farell, Malik Saporov, Jo Ives, Noah Hollaway, Thomas A, Sam Parker, Tarun Rampul, Benedict Short and Rohan Saha.

U12 cricket report The U12B cricketers have won two matches and played in three mixed U13 teams.

From the start of the season their experience using a hard ball has been limited and with extensive nets, fielding and wicket practises they have all made significant contributions to our matches. Furthermore, pairs cricket has flourished with many of the boys really enjoying playing their they are aiming for the A team slots.

We learnt the importance of bowling a fuller length and to the off side forcing the batter to play to our field.

Against Christ Hospital and Emanuel we managed this very successfully conceding few extras and setting ourselves moderate totals. Our natural desire to hit to leg was moderated as we learnt to hit through the line of the ball to the off side, Noah Hollaway and Jo Ives did this perfectly scoring 43 runs in our final match for the first wicket setting up an impressive win.

Squad: Chris Wilding, Max Lloyd, Tom Aymat, Johnny Eldridge, Ben Little, Marcus Newberry, Roddy Reid, Silas Nevstad, Shaun Graham, Tom Farell, Malik Saporov, Jo Ives, Noah Hollaway, Thomas A, Sam Parker, Tarun Rampul, Benedict Short, Rohan Saha

Junior Girls’ Cricket Report (U12, U13, U14) KGS Sport launched its first ever formal Girls’ Cricket programme in the summer term. With interest and passion for the sport within school high and considerable governing body support, we had a great platform to get going. 15 fixtures and 2 competitions across 3 age groups enable the girls to learn, play and enjoy the sport. All U12 and U13 fixtures were pairs softball, with the U14s progressing to a number of hard ball matches over the term.

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Under 12 ‘B’

U12 SQUAD - Jasmin Good (Capt), Clara Hinde (V-Capt), Gabi Bergmann Chornik, Clara John, Lily Mercier, Rosie Callan, Annabel Theron and Charlotte Higham.

The U12 were captain by Jasmin Good and Clara Hinde, who did a great job organising team, getting numbers to training and inspiring the girls to 3rd place in the Trinity Schools Girls’ Cricket Festival. Particular mention to Charlotte Higham, who batted and bowled brilliantly all year, and went on to represent the U14 Girls’ team in the Surrey Cup. U13 SQUAD - Kitty Griffin (Capt), Issy James, Millie Whittle, Izzy Garside, Isabelle Whitehill, Suzi Garforth, Gaia Aherne and Giulia Duggan The U13 were brilliantly captain by Kitty Griffin, who led the side so well over the term. Highlights for the team were fixtures against St. George’s College, West London Free School and an excellent 5th place at the Trinity School Cricket Festival. Issy James, Millie Whittle, Izzy Garside and Isabelle Whitehill all put in some fine performances for the school and have laid the foundations for a great season next year.

U14 SQUAD - Molly Chesney (Capt), Sasha Harman (vice Capt), Philipa Graham, Aoife Parr, Olivia Gooding, Ellen Buttanshaw, Rachel Heynike, Ellie Lord, Lucy McNeil, Daisy Langton, Lauren Anderson and Grace Everitt.

Molly Chesney and Sasha Harman both took charge of the U14 girls’ side this year, in what can only be descried as a brilliant cricket season. An excellent performance against Lord Wandsworth College paved the way for a quick progression to hard ball cricket; the side then beat a very strong St. George’s College and Ibstock Place on their way to joint 2nd place in the Surrey Cup Finals. Ellie Lord (U13) and Charlotte Higham (U12) both made appearances for the side, where Olivia Gooding shone like a bright star as wicketkeeper and Rachel Heynike and Lucy MacNeil played superbly well all summer.

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Tennis – 2014/15 This year has seen Tennis at KGS continue to make great strides, both in terms of performance and participation.

For the first time in KGS history, Tennis became an all year round sport in 2014-15 with Junior and Senior team training taking place after school during the Autumn, Spring and Summer terms on our fantastic new hard courts at Ditton Field (as well as on the indoor courts at St Mary’s University College). Moreover, KGS Tennis enjoyed its most successful season ever in terms of competition results.

Once again we entered boys and girls teams into the U13 & U15 Aegon competitions and the U12, U13, U14, U15 & U18 Surrey Leagues. All our teams competed with enthusiasm and spirit, achieving the following highlights: the U13 Boys qualified from the group stages to reach the Surrey League semi-finals; the U15 Boys also progressed from their group, reaching the Surrey League quarterfinals and just missed out on winning their Aegon group (losing a closely fought final match); the U13 Girls won through their Aegon group undefeated to reach the semifinals; and the U15 Girls similarly topped their Aegon group before losing in the semi-finals. In addition, the U12 Boys made an encouraging start to their KGS careers, winning 3 out of 5 fixtures. Lastly, despite a tough season for our U18 Boys’ and Girls’ teams, of special note was an exceptional individual result by our Boys 1st Pair (Hari Clarke and Matthew Cooper) who beat the Reed’s 1st Pair (Reed’s are the World Schools Champions).

Additionally, on the competition front we held the annual KGS Road To Wimbledon U14 Boys and Girls tournaments in May. As ever, this was a really enjoyable event with some fantastic performances, in particular from some of our younger players in the First and Second Years. In the Boys’ Final Lucas Askeland beat Tom Bridger 6-3, while Elizabeth Stevenson came through 7-6 in an extremely

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close fought match against Issy James to win the Girls’ Final. Congratulations to our champions who also went on to represent KGS in the County rounds of the competition.

Furthermore, in another first for KGS, our top pair from each of the U12s, U13s, U14s and U15s competed at the Boys’ Surrey Schools Festival in June. This was a great experience for all involved and particular congratulations go to Lucas Askeland and Bijan Ghamsari who reached the semi-finals of the U13 tournament.

In addition, the annual Family Tennis tournament took place on Sunday 21st June. This year saw 24 KGS parents and pupils play in the event at Ditton Field. The competition was run in a round robin format and after seven rounds of hard fought matches Thor & Lucas Askeland emerged victorious in a close run battle, just ahead of Alistair & Thomas Cutts, Alexis & Jack Housego-Woolgar and Thomas & Tom Romberg. All the matches were played in a fantastic spirit and many thanks to everyone involved.

Lastly, Tennis has also been extremely healthy in terms of overall participation. In addition to the Summer Term Games afternoon and Monday night team training sessions, the after-school match play sessions on Tuesdays and the Saturday morning coaching sessions have continued to enable pupils of all standards and age groups to play tennis regularly in a structured environment. These sessions have again proved hugely popular and with the greater number of purpose-built courts now available we have been able to cater for larger numbers.

Once again, it has been great to see so many KGS pupils playing and enjoying their tennis and we look forward to further success next year.

S R Morris

SENIOR BOYS Rowing 1st viii Rowing is a strange beast in many ways but one of its oddities is that, when a rower looks back on his or her career, some of the best memories may not have been their headline achievements – the medals won or titles gained – but could just as easily come from quiet training days or achievements in defeat.

The KGS 1st VIII of 2014/15 brought home some nice pieces of silverware: victory against all-comers on home water at Thames Ditton Regatta and a “pot” at Reading Regatta, having beaten the students of University College London in the final.

However, two of the best memories came elsewhere. A week in the sun at Easter on training camp in Soustons, south-west France, brought some high-quality sessions on glass-like water a world away from the wind-blown and ferry-churned Thames. The squad made good progress and were confident of being able really to attack the regatta season.

Marlow Regatta at the end of June was a real highlight.

The eight won the C-final in the Intermediate 2 category: unremarkable in itself but achieved alongside leading schools, clubs and student crews at Dorney Lake. Despite their usual fast start, they were fifth at 500m gone but fought back to take the lead by halfway and held off a charge from an Eton College crew at the death.

With Henley imminent, they also beat several of their biggest rivals in the chase for qualification for the Royal Regatta, many of whom were physically bigger than this group of lower-sixth formers.

The following Friday, though, came a season lowlight: failing to beat two of those crews and missing out by less than half a second in the Henley qualifying races. Being so close to one of the biggest events in the rowing world and to just miss out was very difficult for many of the group.

Perhaps more commitment during the winter, and more focus during the busy period around major regattas and exams, would have allowed them to reap more summer rewards.

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Rowing

In the Schools Head of the River Race, the major event at the end of the Spring Term, the crew of Tristan Taylor, Will Vine, Lachie Ives, Laurence Milward, Miles Seabrook, Luke Hillier, Stefan Hales, James Dyson and cox Will Burden finished eighth out of 25 in the 1st VIII category and 31st overall, slightly below expectations, after they failed to attack the first half of the race.

With Sam Helm on board in place of Stefan at National Schools Regatta in May, they raced hard but could not grab a place in the final of the Child Beale Cup for 1st VIIIs, over-powered in the second half by some older and more powerful rivals.

Looking back on the season they might be consoled in part by those regatta wins. Beating Canford School’s top crew in front of friends and family at in the Challenge Eights event at Thames Ditton was particularly special. Unlike most sports, home fixtures are rare in rowing.

Crew coach John McArthur has talked since his arrival in autumn 2013 about the “TYP”, the three-year plan to bring out the best in this squad. Six rowers plus cox Will are back for more and are excited about what they can achieve in the final seasons of their junior careers, feeling it has all been building up to this. There are also some strong, motivated individuals coming up from the lower years who should really help push the 1st VIII up to a new level in 2016.

Will Burden and MWG

Ollie Cole, Alex Cozens, cox Will Lingard, Joe Underwood and Theo Cons celebrate winning their Novice pots

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Rowing 2nd viii The Fifth Year rowers of 2014/15 were eternal bridesmaids, often impressing on the water but just missing out on the silverware they were aiming for. The summer brought some local success, though, and those continuing with rowing in the Sixth Form have a solid foundation on which to build over the next two seasons.

A group of eight or so boys with lots of raw potential joined the senior squad in September. They made up in maturity and ambition what they lacked in experience and got used quickly to the increased workload required at this level.

That ability to perform towards - but not quite at – the top of the field showed itself in November when a four of Sam Helm, Joe Underwood, Alex Cozens, Ollie Cole and cox Will Lingard finished second behind a very strong Winchester College crew at Kingston Small Boats Head.

Just before the end of the Autumn Term the same four were agonisingly close to victory: two seconds behind a St Paul’s School boat which took 18 minutes four seconds to win the Under-16 event at Wallingford Head. In a coxless event, the four also finished third out of nine in February’s Hampton Head.

The Spring Term brought more events in eights and the group were victims of their members’ success, as individuals being tried out in the 1st VIII meant they were unable to race at J16 level and instead raced against adult crews or school second eights made up of older boys.

Besides the four, the likes of Peter Betts and Theo Cons were impressing with their scores on the rowing machine, while Alfie Hester and Ben Sinker contributed to crew morale in their inimitable fashion. Sixth formers such as James Dyson, Henry Grills and Rob Bern all joined the boat for races during the term.

The eight were in the middle of an adult pack – also beating several school second boats – at January‘s Quintin Head and were second – behind only the students of Imperial College – in the Novice category at Kingston Head in March.

At the first major event of the season, the Schools Head of the River Race, they were 12th out of 18 2nd VIIIs. A late substitution meant they were all under-16 and their

Joe Hilty won J18 single sculls at Richmond Regatta time would have put them sixth in the J16 1st VIII category – significant as six crews reach the finals of multi-late regattas such as National Schools.

The Easter training camp was seen by many of the group as a highlight of the year. They made good technical strides and every one of them rowed well as part of crews alongside sixth formers. Sam Helm at that point secured a place in the school 1st VIII - a great achievement for him but a mixed blessing for those left behind, now definitely racing at 2nd VIII rather than J16.

In April they won heat races in both the four and eight at Bedford Regatta - the four meeting Winchester again in the semi-final - and also raced on home water at Thames Ditton Regatta while also dealing with the challenges of GCSE exams.

At National Schools Regatta they rowed down Pangbourne College in their semi-final but were unable to reach the top six of the 2nd VIII event – always a tough ask for such a young group. Again, with a forced late substitution, they were all under-16 and their time would have put them in the mix for the medals had they raced in J16 1st VIIIs. However, the failure of the coxless four to reach a final was a great disappointment for a crew who had worked well together all year.

With exams out of the way, the group continued training most days, both in the eight and in singles.

Reading Regatta showed the eight at their best all year, defeating a Southampton University crew in a thrilling heat before falling to University College London in the semi. (The KGS 1st VIII then beat UCL in the final). Marlow Regatta was a chastening experience, however, showing the importance of keeping their heads even when all around are losing theirs.

Theo Cons won two events in a day at Richmond

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Richmond Regatta in late June provided some reward for the hard work of the year. A four of Theo Cons, Ollie Cole, Joe Underwood and Alex Cozens plus cox Will Lingard beat

The British Rowing Junior Championships, in the second week of the summer holiday, saw the season end on a slightly disappointing note as the J16 coxed four were fifth in their final, after a lengthy journey to Strathclyde Park.

Alex, Peter and cox Will were part of the J18 eight that also finished just off the podium.

A season of hard work brought several hints of what might be, but scant reward for hard work. With more of the same application, though, results will come for several of these rowers in the sixth form.

MWG

ROWING: Senior Girls Last year can be considered a bit of a mixed bag for the KGS Senior Girls. There were some good results, from local heads and regattas up to national competitions and team trials. Unfortunately, injury and illness sometimes hampered what could have been some even better results.

The year started as ever with long distance training and racing. Two of the senior girls, Issy Dodds and Flo Blake Parsons, achieved the first ergo cut off for the November GB trials and travelled up to Boston, Lincolnshire to race in the long distance ‘ID’ race. Whilst Issy performed well to come in home in the middle of the pack, Flo had to pull out just before the race owing to an injury. Moving forward to School’s Head in March, the seniors boated a quad with Issy, Liv Van Buren, Millie Gibson and Flo. This boat experienced some difficulties, including grounding on an ebbing tide during marshalling, a couple of crabs down the course and nearly the whole crew being submerged in the Thames at some point. Regardless of these issues, the boat performed respectably to finish just inside the top 10 in 9th place.

The end of this race signals the start of the summer season and so the whole senior squad shipped off to Soustons in the south of France. Here, miles are covered and high intensity pieces perfected ready for the regatta races in the summer. The training load is very intense and although not everyone coped with all the sessions, everyone definitely came home a week later better athletes and rowers. The next big event was the April trials in Nottingham where Issy and Flo raced in a pair, coming fourth in the B final. This would be as far as they reached in the GB trialling system, but was further than the year before and further than any girl had got in many years. With the GB Junior Team finishing 4th in the medal table at the World Championships in the summer the competition for places in the team is brutal!

as impressive as in years before, there was significant improvement in actual boat speeds and so the scene is set for even better results in the years to come.

Flo Blake Parsons

WILL burden (coxing)

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a burly boatload of adults from Vesta RC to win their Novice pots – a landmark for any rower - and there was a pot for Joe Hilty in J18 singles. Theo won his second event of the day by a roundabout route that included a collision, a broken blade, a capsize, a ride in a rescue launch, a motivational speech form his coach and an outstanding performance in the final of J16 singles.

After a school rowing season lasting 10 months, I had one week off until I was back in the coxing seat to represent England at the Home International Regatta at Strathclyde Park in Scotland. I was ecstatic to be a member of a national team.

I was part of a coxed four, selected from those who just missed out in trials for the Great Britain team, but also an eight which was a combination of that four and King’s School, Canterbury, the winners of the coxless four at the British Junior Championships the previous weekend. With only a week available, we trained mainly in the coxed four.

All five of us were from different clubs. At first we didn’t know each other at all, but we spent a large amount of time together and formed a team quite quickly. Because we all wanted to win, we had a common goal and every time we were on the water there was purpose and intent to improve and to make the boat move as fast as possible. There was a really strong desire to win by as much as possible.

The four had a slow start but my most vivid memory of the weekend was when I made our special call about two minutes into the race, whilst sitting down by a length on Wales. The boat came alive and we flew off, moving further and further away. We crossed the finish line 11 seconds ahead of Ireland, 18 seconds ahead of that Welsh crew and feeling very happy.

In the eight we had a bigger challenge on our hands, going up against crews that on paper were faster than us. We went out hard and the field was much tighter. Pushing hard we held onto Ireland, which pulled us out in front of Wales and Scotland. But with an early sprint, Ireland slipped our grasp coming into the final 500m and we finished second, less than a boat-length behind the Irish.

The experience was fantastic and has only fuelled my desire to gain even higher international honours.

It gave me a small taste of an international event and highlighted some of the weaker areas on which I need to work this year. I am aiming to earn a Great Britain vest at the World Rowing Junior Championships in Rotterdam next August and I hope this was an important step along the way.

Will Burden

And so on to the last big event of the year, the National Schools Regatta. There was racing on both days with the boat club fielding a four, a double and some pairs. The best result came from the J16 pair of Bea Stokman and Millie who came sixth, reaching the A final which was a fantastic result. Although, on the whole, results were not

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Junior Rowing Overview For the first year in quite a long time, good conditions prevailed on the Thames for most of the year. Only a very few sessions had to be moved to the gym because of fast stream, and so the technical development of the newest rowers continued uninterrupted. The J15 boys four had a very successful regatta season, picking up three trophies.

There were multiple wins at events such as Maidstone Head and Peterborough Regatta, most noticeably amongst the J14s, but less success at National Schools this year. Cameron Spurling won the British Rowing Indoor Championships and many other events in his single and in crew boats.

As always, the unsung heroes are dedicated team of coaches whose patience and creativity have nurtured the talents of the large squads of rowers. None of what follows would have been possible without Mr Beard, Miss Sharp, Miss Christie, Mrs Gilby, Mr Lawrence and many others that I have coerced into helping.

3rd years J14 rowing

Harwood to victory and their first “pots”. This was followed by the long but very successful trip to the “Peterborough Junior Championships”. Nearly everyone came away with medals, some with two. The boys octuple showed how much they had improved since NSR by convincingly winning over BMS and Yarm School. The girls octuple had a really exciting race with Headington, just holding onto the lead on the last stroke to win by just 0.3 second. Also beating Stratford, BMS and Yarm. In addition, a girls quad got a silver medal. A fantastic day.

The end of year celebration was a trip to Henley Royal Regatta to watch and learn, and to be inspired to train harder over the next few years. The rowers are keen to make the finals at National Schools next year, and to go on to win more medals over coming years.

Boys Octuple, National Schools Regatta: (time trial:20th of 27 crews) James Ahl, Aadam Qureshi, James Beynon, Stefan Saoulis, Ben Harrison-Hyde, Duncan Ridsdale, Sean Huh, Jimmy Gibson, Aryan Bhasin (cox) Girls Octuple, National Schools Regatta: (time trial: 11th of 26 crews, 4th in semi-final) Emilia Munns, Izzie Jones, Alice Chevallier, Stacey Kozhevnikova, Charlotte Smith, Freya King, Amelia Petersen, Frances Hedley, Ellena Eley (cox)

Roughly equal numbers f boys and girls commenced rowing in the 3rd year, with great enthusiasm. The better river conditions this year enabled them to reach a greater degree of proficiency and to become competitive early on. As well as participating in local Head Races (Hampton and Kingston) they also travelled to Maidstone in March, where both a boys quad and a girls quad won their events – a very unexpected bonus at this stage and an achievement never known before. Another “first” this year was the British Rowing Indoor Championships help in the spectacular Olympic Velodrome - a small group represented KGS and came very high up in the rankings despite limited practice.

A three day “Training Camp” was held at our boathouse during the Easter holidays. This presented the opportunity to get out in small boats again and even run a singles trial – top honours this year to Sean Huh and Emilia Munns.

One of the features of this year’s squad was the talent and enthusiasm for coxing. Aryan Bhasin, Ellena Eley and Jonathan Christov all learnt very quickly and showed the command of crew and boat that enabled much of the success at regattas this year.

Experience was gained at Marlow Spring Regatta and Thames Ditton Regatta before the demands of the National Schools Regatta in Nottingham. Excited by the big event, with added motivational inspiration from Mr Lawrence, the boys octuple put in a great performance in the time trial but missed qualification for the semi-final by just one second. The girls octuple did a fantastic time trial to get into the semi-final. A poor start in the six-lane race left them a lot to do, but a truly determined last 500m got them back close to the qualifying places. This was one of the very best KGS J14 efforts I have seen.

After the school exams, the trip to Reading for Thames Valley Park Regatta enabled Aryan Bhasin to lead a quad of Oli Jackson, Jimmy Gibson, Aadam Qureshi , and Freddie

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Girls’ J14 Octuple at the start of the Peterborough Regatta

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Boys Octuple, Peterborough Junior Championships : (GOLD medal) James Ahl, Joe Schomberg, Tom Dugdale, Hamza Ahmad , Duncan Ridsdale, Ben Harrison-Hyde, Stefan Saoulis , Sean Huh , Aryan Bhasin (cox).

Girls Octuple , Peterborough Junior Championships : (GOLD medal) Lauren Betts, Alice Lehec, Daisy Kakkar, Lillie Sunderland, Sorrel Humphrey, Izzie Jones, Charlotte Smith, Emilia Munns, Ellena Eley(cox)

4th yr J15 Rowing J15 Boys A rather small group of boys became even smaller this year due to persistent injuries and illness, and a degree of lack of commitment. The talent within the group led to some great results but it was frustrating that a lot more could have been possible.

A good start was made during the sculling head season, with excellent results for Cameron Spurling in his single (including a couple of wins) and in a double with Thomas Reed. A group also did the British Rowing Indoor Championships, with Cameron coming away as the winner of the J15 category. Getting enough boys at training to fill an eight proved hard, but the eight did race at Quintin Head and at the Schools’ Head, coming a reasonable 9th in the J15 first eight category after a good row. However it was decided that the regatta season would be more productive if the boys raced in two fours. A training camp at Wycliffe College enabled a lot of miles to be rowers on the Gloucester canal, but the time was again affected by injuries. The boys did enjoy ducking under the bridges though! The first regatta, Bedford, proved to be the only one where both coxed fours managed to race. The “B” four won their category convincingly, beating Radley College and then Norwich School in the final. The “B” four also reached their final and looked to be beating Norwich until fading horribly in the last few hundred metres. The top four went on to win at Thames Ditton Regatta and Thames Valley Park Regatta as well. At National Schools Regatta, the boys four knew they were a likely medal hope but were surprised by the challenge presented to them in the semi-final by clubs Tideway Scullers School and Walton Rowing Club. In bold fashion they went all-out for the win in the final and were part of a very intense 4-crew battle with never more than a few feet between

J15 boys in training (Cameron, Thomas and Nathan) the crews – TSS, Henley and Walton prevailed in the last few strokes and the crew missed the bronze medals by just 0.4secs and gold by 3 secs. A vital lesson learnt about the narrow margins between winning and losing, and perhaps of the effects of the preparation through the winter on the result.

J15 Boys 1st 8+, Schools’ Head – 9th William Touzet, John Gallop, Thomas Reed, Oli Burden, Nathan Barnett, Cameron Spurling, Hakeem Shittu, Will Holman, Tomos Morgan-Young (cox) J15 Boys 4+, National Schools Regatta – 4th in Final Nathan Barnett, Cameron Spurling, Hakeem Shittu, Will Holman, Sam Shapley (cox)

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Sport J15 at Wycliffe during the training camp.

J15 Girls Back in September 2014, a squad of fifteen girls was a really exciting prospect! It was great to have the opportunity to work with such a dynamic group of girls; this might start to sound a little like a school report, but they were determined, dedicated, and motivated team players. Head race results rarely reflected the ability and hard work of these girls, with the number of very good WJ15 crews as competition clearly increased over past years. One highlight of the season was the unexpected with in WJ16 four at Maidstone Head in March.

meet the likes of schools that had simply started learning to row at least two years earlier than themselves and had physical strength and size on their side. Nevertheless, the girls always put up a good fight, and the experience of side by side racing, such as that at Thames Ditton Regatta, certainly paid dividends. They were even more triumphant when they won a particularly hard round at TVP Regatta towards the end of the summer term. I had never seen such beaming faces!

One final good result to end the season was the gold medals won in coxed fours at the Peterborough Junior Championships, defeating (amongst others) the best four from the St.Peter’s York eight that had been so impressive at Nottingham.

Squad: Zoe Barnard, Sophie Bien-Nowakowski ,Lucia Eales, Kirsty George, Florence Haly, Sarah Holliday, Rebecca Holt, Rosie Kelly, Maddy Menzies, Rebecca Penrice, Jessica Pringle, Bella Rona, Millie Shafiee, Zoe Sharpe, Isobel Thom.

J15 Girls 4+, Peterborough Junior Championships gold medal Izzy Thom, Lucia Eales, Sophie Bien-Nowakowski, Kirsty George, Tomos Morgan-Young (cox)

Easter Training Camp in Gloucester was a real turning point for the girls. They were able to make full use of the water time to really step up in terms of developing their technique, experiment with different boat types and positions within the boat, and some even managed to steer a coxless quad whilst on a narrow canal – sometimes having to duck or lie down as their boat passed under a bridge! There was the welcome realisation that everything they had been learning through drills and exercises both on and off the water, was not only to be done to a high standard as an individual task, but could be applied to their rowing. The quality of their rowing improved greatly and they started to appreciate how they could move the boat faster through the water.

For National Schools’ Regatta we were able to break with tradition and enter one eight and two coxed quads, thereby allowing the whole squad (more or less) to compete at least once over the course of the weekend.

The squad’s achievements over the Easter Training Camp certainly provided good foundations for the hard work and commitment necessary in the weeks running up to the regatta of the year, and their approach to this could not be faulted. They found news levels of determination and competitiveness; however, they were always going to

J15 Girls racing at Bedford – Isobel, Kirsty and Zoe

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J15 Girls’eight line up at the start of Bedford regatta

A happy group of medal winners by the boat trailer after Maidstone Head

Sport Girls’ J15 coxed four on the way to winning the WJ event at Maidstone Head.

Peterborough Regatta – everyone won a medal

J15 boys’ double, Tom and Cameron, Weybridge Sculls Head.

J15 coxed Four, winners at Bedford Regatta.

Cameron Spurling – J15 Indoor Rowing Champion (photo by Mrs S Spurling)

British Indoor Championships – KGS team at the Velodrome (photo by Mrs S Spurling)

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Development

The KGS Foundation This year, after re-launching the new Ditton Field facilities in September, we have got to work promoting the impact and merit of our scholarships and bursaries scheme. Here are just a few of the hundreds of alumni who have received financial support in order to study with us. All were given a great start at KGS and are now looking back, grateful for the skills and traits KGS instilled in them.

SIMON REES (OK, 1978)

Simon was a strong sportsman whilst a KGS pupil and his passion for sport and education remains today.

“My mum was always incredibly keen for me to attend KGS. I feel like she had my name down since I was 4!

I attended the state primary school, Tolworth Boys, and there was no way my parents could have afforded to send me to KGS without an Assisted Place. I remember being incredibly proud on my first day of school. I think I wore the same blazer throughout my entire time at KGS. It was 6 inches too long in the arms on my first day and 6 inches too short on my last!

“I was an energetic and enthusiastic pupil. Under Arthur Hammond’s hockey coaching, I learnt to play hockey, a sport I grew to love. I still remember the thrill of being listed on Mr Hammond’s team list and that carried on right up to playing international Hockey throughout my 20s.

Whilst at KGS, I represented the county at athletics and swimming and played hockey at international level for U16, U18 and U19s. I left School needing to finance my sport myself as I was driven to continue playing hockey professionally. After applying for a few jobs in the paper, I was offered a place on the Welsh hockey squad (I’m half English, half Welsh). I was persuaded by the fact the coach said he would help me get a job. That job was in advertising and that’s an industry I’m still in decades later.

“I was appointed to my first board at 28 and I was MD of Carat at 32. Subsequent Chief Executive positions at WPP, Evanti and more recently DCM. I have done well in my career but I’ve always lived by a rule of modesty. I remember George Hartley being an incredibly talented yet modest man. I think that’s a common trait amongst Old Kingstonians: modesty and groundedness. These are traits I’d really like to pass on to my children.

I also believe that the rounded education I received has helped me get further in life. You have more to bring to a company. I have lots of energy and enthusiasm to make changes for the better and so many of my appointments have been companies in transition, often mergers or making restructures. I often think that you mould a lot of who you are during your school days and I often try and revisit my schoolboy energy and vitality to reenergise. Advertising can be a brutally competitive industry and big successful companies can expose flaws easily yet it can be wonderfully creative and encouraging of independent thought. I think it’s important to remain your own person, with your feet on the ground as advertising is much maligned, so it’s best to have thick skin.

“In my spare time, I have been Chairman of a charity called Basic Needs which places those with mental health issues in paid employment both in the UK, Africa and Asia.

“I have two phrases that I use quite a lot: “Just do it” and “Always make a difference”. I use them professionally and personally and it means that the future will hold a lot of exciting opportunities for me. KGS was undoubtedly one of the key building blocks for my life, blocks which I have built on thereafter and I am proud to say that I’m an Old Kingstonian.”

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Development Officers of the School 2004. Allegra is second from left in the middle row

Allegra Bell, class of 2004 “I went to BPP Law School in London to complete a Law Conversion and then continued straight on to my BVC thanks to my sponsorship from chambers. Financial support has been key for me right the way through education. From receiving a Sixth Form Scholarship, to various awards and sponsorship, I know that I couldn’t have progressed as far without that crucial financial backing. It’s also made a real difference in terms of my CV. Training to be a Barrister is hugely expensive and without sponsorship from one of the Inns, it’s really tough. It’s fiercely competitive and I knew that it would be pretty futile if I hadn’t been sponsored as it’s then so difficult to get into Chambers without the sponsorship route.

“I think a co-educational environment was good preparation for the male dominated industry I find myself in. Whilst around half the intake for the BVC and pupillages are female, as time goes on and seniority rises, this decreases to around just 20% of the team being female. Whilst it feels like a long time ago, I’m very grateful for the sound grounding and financial support KGS has given me.”

So what are the next plans for the KGS Foundation?

Allegra is a Barrister at the Financial Conduct Authority having gone into Law after Studying Biology at UCL. Allegra received an assisted place to study at KGS. “I was pretty studious all the way through my time at KGS. I came from a state primary school when I joined the Prep School at KGS. I was a little behind, to be honest, but within a year or two I’d caught up and was doing really well.

We are planning and researching our Trusts and Foundation applications in order to make bids in the 2015-16 school year to restore the Lovekyn Chapel’s stonework. The Chapel, built in 1309, has suffered from crumbling stonework and the School would love to rectify this but fundraising is crucial to support this ambitious project, in partnership with Historic England. Look out for your opportunity to support the upkeep of the country’s oldest freestanding chantry chapel and the oldest building in Kingston.

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KGS Friends

KGS Friends The last year has been an extraordinarily busy one for KGS Friends, with an at times bewildering array of activities tumbling over each for space in the calendar, and a very impressive level of engagement by former pupils, parents and staff.

Social get-togethers and reunions are at the heart of what we do. The year began with the class of ’92 celebrating turning 40 at The Bishop in Kingston in September, and later that term the class of 2004 decided a champagne afternoon tea at School was just the thing for their Ten Year Reunion. As ever, One Term On attracted large numbers of the summer’s leavers and their teachers to the Rubi bar in Surbiton, while a new departure was a simultaneous party for the leavers’ parents in the somewhat more restrained surroundings of the Bosco Lounge. There was also a reception for KGS Friends committee members and year reps before the annual Carol Service. A different kind of entertainment was provided by the KGS Friends Quiz Evening in October, a shameless copy of the PSA quiz but great fun for all that. But the centre-piece of the term had to be the Decade Reunion for those who were at the school in the 1970s in November. Some 120 OKs and a healthy number of former members of staff, including Headmasters John Strover and Sidney Miller, enjoyed drinks, lunch, a tour of the School and tea.

The social theme continued in the spring with a party in the pavilion at Thames Ditton for anyone interested in the workings of our organization and a chance to meet the committee, before really getting a full head of steam up in the Summer Term. The 9th May saw the Thirty Year Reunion at the Olde Swan in Thames Ditton, while June was packed with reunions marking five years (a noisy, heaving event at the Gigalum Bar in Clapham), ten Finance Dinner years (a slightly more refined affair at School with crepes) and thirty-five years (also at School) as well as a Graduation Party for the Upper Sixth parents while their children, the newest batch of OKs, were at their Leavers’ Ball. Two large

Pre 1970 reunion

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Feast at the Field scale events dominate the Summer Term each year: the Feast at the Field, with the Sturgeon XIs taking on the School at cricket and the Family Tennis tournament, this year enjoying glorious weather with their BBQ, Pimms and ice cream; and the Henley Reception on the Saturday of the Royal Regatta – more sun, more Pimms and a delicious buffet.

But KGS Friends is about more than just the social whirl.

Travel awards were made to help fund the charitable gapyear activities of leavers Joanne Davies, Josie Darwin and Rachel Finlay, and we were closely involved in two major historical events last year: the celebrations of the Boat Club’s 125th anniversary and the CCF’s centenary, both with formal, black-tie dinners at their heart and both well attended by alumni and former staff from across the generations. There was serious careers business to conduct too, in collaboration with the Careers Department. Seventeen recent leavers came in to help at a special UCAS event in June, alumni played a prominent role in the Careers Evening in February, there was a visit to the Spink Auction House, courtesy of MD Tim Hirsch, OK, in November, and there were two very enjoyable and successful careers dinners – one on finance in February, for which we took over the whole of the Waterloo Bar and Kitchen, and one on healthcare in March at the Brasserie Blanc.

This term has seen the busy round starting up again. We have already enjoyed a marvellous ‘decade’ reunion for those at the School before 1970 (which attracted some of our very oldest living OKs – in fine form and rude health, we are pleased to report), another very enjoyable quiz, a City Networking event at the Tokenhouse in Moorgate, a visit to the offices of PR company DawBell, courtesy of founder Richard Dawes, OK, and a Twenty Year Reunion, with the Carol Service reception and One Term On in the offing. It never stops, and long may it continue!

Our thanks go to everyone who has helped make the last year so memorable – to all the year reps, committee members, OKs and other KGS Friends who have given so generously of their time and expertise. If you would like to get involved in any way, or would like help with running an event, please contact friends@kgs.org.uk N Bond

1. H ow did you enjoy your time at KGS? Any stand out moments?

I absolutely loved it!! I have so many great memories.

Some highlights include winning the U18 National Hockey finals in 2004 and 2005. Going on hockey tour to Australia and the Geography trip to Morocco and school discos!! hat did you get involved in? Sport? Art? Debating? Fa2. W vourite subject and teacher? Were you always keen on hockey? How do you feel that your participation in sport enhanced your school days? Growing up, who were your sporting inspirations?

I was involved in a lot of sport, hockey as my main sport and tennis in the summer but then every other sport possible I tried to get involved in. I was part of the school newspaper that my year group set up and charities committee, I just tried to get involved with as much as possible y favourite subject was Geography, probably down to the M teachers, hard to pick a favourite teachers but Mr Morton, Miss Williams and Mr Yates were probably favourites.

I ’ve always been keen on hockey and had played a bit before I came to KGS but KGS really developed my hockey.

Sport was a huge part of my time at KGS. Being part of a team is so important for developing friendships, learning teamwork and developing that drive and determination that can be applied to so many different aspects of life.

We obviously trained quite seriously at school and that level of commitment we had to have and the desire to want to win and succeed for the team was invaluable. hilst at school I always looked up some of the older playW ers within the school playing in the 1st XI. Kate Richardson-Walsh from a hockey point of view was pretty inspirational (and still is!). id you receive any sports scholarship, sponsorship or 3. D financial support to encourage you to continue with hockey? What does it feel like to play your sport on an international level?

I received a sports scholarship to KGS in 1st year. I received funding from ‘winning students’ when I was at Edinburgh University which is funding for Scottish U21 and senior athletes attending Scottish universities to support with training, travel, equipment etc. I have been fortunate to have been supported by the SportScotland institute of sport since I was 18, which supports me in all aspects of performance from physio and medical care to strength and conditioning, performance lifestyle, nutrition etc and this has massively helped me progress my hockey career. I am also fortunate enough to sponsored

by Adidas so all my hockey equipment; shoes, sticks etc is given to me which is great.

hat do you think if the new hockey facilities at Dit5. W ton Field? What do you think this will do for OKHC and hockey at KGS? The new facilities are amazing and it looks great. Ditton field will always be special to me as I have so many fond memories from there. My parents live in Thames Ditton so I still head down to Ditton field to train every time I’m home and I look forward to having a go on the new pitch at some point. I think the new facilities will only continue to drive the sport on at KGS and inspire the younger generations. alk to us about your life playing hockey, representing 6. T and your coaching/teaching career now.

Hockey is a very major part of my life along with my teaching. In terms of hockey we are not Full time so training is fitted around work. In June, July and August we go full time so we train every day as a squad which is great.

A week consists of two weight sessions with all Edinburgh based Scotland players (both at 6.15am!), two club sessions and a match, one regional based pitch session and at least one full squad session, plus 3 running/sprint based sessions plus work! So I’m usually quite busy!

KGS Friends

Alumni Profile, Becky Merchant (OK 2005)

I am currently a PE teachers at Fettes College, a boarding school in Edinburgh. It is a boarding school so it’s pretty full on with long days and Saturday school but I love it. I teach a lot of the academic PE so GCSEs and A Level but I also coach a lot of hockey and my main teams are the 1st XI girls and 1st XI boys (we are one term hockey for each) and the U13 girls and U11 boys in the Prep school.

I love coaching and really enjoy the different challenges it brings. ou’re a teacher now; do you think the teaching you 7. Y received at KGS inspired you?

Definitely! I only decided to go into teaching a few years ago, although I had thought about it before but wanted to try a few other things first and I am certain I’ve made the right career choice. I had some brilliant teachers at KGS and I would like to hope that I’ve taken little bits from lots of my teachers at KGS into my own teaching. o you feel that KGS gave you a good start in life? In 8. D what way?

Yes. KGS gave me a great all round education both academically and sporting. I made so many great friends at KGS, many of whom I’m still friends with now. As I mentioned previously I don’t think I would be where I am now in terms of hockey or my teaching career without KGS and the support and experiences that I received whilst I was there. hat would you say to anyone who was considering 9. W sending their child to KGS? Do it!! I’m so pleased that my parents decided to send me (and my brother and sister) to KGS and I really wouldn’t change anything about my time there.

Playing sport for you country is amazing and without sounding ‘cheesy’ there really is no better feeling that singing the national anthem with your team mates and representing your country. I have been fortunate enough to have played nearly 90 times for Scotland and I hope to continue. It’s not easy and a huge amount has to be sacrificed for the training, travelling and it’s a lot of hard work but I definitely wouldn’t change any of it. hen you look back on your time at KGS, do you think 4. W you gained any particular skills, ethos or approach to challenges?

The skills, attitudes and approach to hard work was invaluable.

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OBITUARY

TONY PRICHARD (1927-2015)

From quiet homes and first beginning, Out to the undiscovered ends, There’s nothing worth the wear of winning, But laughter and the love of friends.

Hilaire Belloc is not now in fashion, but his Dedicatory Ode says much, though not all, about Tony Prichard. Tony taught at KGS for 38 years, serving under five headmasters. He died peacefully in September following many years of ill health, which he had combated with his characteristic tenacity.

Tony’s father was an Anglican priest, and he himself had tested his vocation after leaving Oxford. He turned instead to schoolmastering. After a short period at Hurstpierpoint he applied for a post at KGS. In 1954 stamp duty was payable on employment contracts, and Tony was asked by the Headmaster to bring a 6d stamp when he signed his.

The school has ever been frugal. He joined a common room the membership of which changed little, retirement apart, for perhaps the next 15 years. His colleagues were what we loosely call the post-war generation of schoolmasters, men (and only men) whose experience often included active service during WWII. They did not usually have the luxury of specialising as teachers do now. As well as history (his degree subject) Tony taught Latin, Greek and Divinity possibly other subjects too. No one would regard his classes, and some of his teaching methods, as other than memorable.

They were also very successful.

For those with surnames at the end of the alphabet Tony was the first person they met at KGS, as the form master in perpetuum of 1C. He was also for many years housemaster of Taverner. His last appointment was as Head of the Lower School, a role in which he excelled. It is fair to say that he did not welcome change, the admission of girls far from excepted. But he accepted their arrival with his usual equanimity, and he was well liked by them too. When he retired, the Governors organised a river boat party, never to be forgotten, on the Thames. He was given a copy of the New Grove Dictionary of Opera, which he prized and which will return to the school under his will.

Tony coached hockey, cricket and rowing. He had coxed the St Edward’s School eight in the first Princess Elizabeth Cup and after that Lincoln College. He shared his rowing duties with R C Sherriff. The school archives contain a delightful exchange of correspondence between them in which Sherriff, a highly accomplished oarsman, deferentially offers his services.

There were annual Easter trips to Paris and later Rome, which achieved the status of legend. One Paris visit took place at the height of the Algerian crisis of the 1960s, with terrorists exploding plastiques in cafes and metro stations around the city. A bomb injured the minister of the interior in his home next to the Lycée Bossuet, where the party stayed. In Rome a KGS party attended a papal audience and, easily recognised in their striped blazers, were acknowledged by the Pope.

As ever, Tony was enormous fun to be with. He himself spent part of every summer vacation in Provence, travelling there immediately after the term ended, in early years by motorbike. The attractions included the music festivals and the vineyards. He returned with ample supplies of CrozesHermitage, with which he generously entertained. For much of the rest of the summer he was in the arena at the Proms.

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Tony was himself a fine musician, playing a succession of instruments in school and local orchestras and singing in school and other choirs. He introduced many pupils to opera, and to the intermittent bankruptcy which that passion entails. Parties regularly attended performances at Covent Garden, in very good seats but at heavily discounted prices.

One OK is now the artistic director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. A few years ago John Elvidge and I stumbled across each other at the Bayreuth Festival. His influence was long-term.

The faux intolerance and intransigence which he affected were not even a mask for his extraordinary kindness, so transparent were they. He remained as gregarious as ever in the care home where he spent his last year, amusing and teasing the staff. They returned his affection. He received regular visits from many OKs, but his principal comfort was his sister Judith, who travelled to see him almost every day.

Tony had spent part of his National Service with the Royal Army Service Corps. He occasionally regretted that he had not followed a career connected in some way with catering.

But it is difficult to imagine him running Tesco or Sainsbury.

And the loss to the school would have been immeasurable.

He had an enormous influence on the lives of many. They are all very grateful.

Chris Swift (OK 1967)

Back Cover: Art work by Domi Rybova, 5RM Back Inside Cover: (Top) Jamie Bisping as the older Sherriff and (right) Tomos Morgan-Young as young Sherriff in the production of Roland Wales’ ‘How Like It All Is: Beyond Journey’s End’.

(Below) In March we were honoured to welcome US Ambassador Matthew Barzun to address the Sixth Form. He presented commemorative coins to Matthew Pugh and Oliver Cole, winners of the award for best team in the Benjamin Franklin debating competition.

www.bainesdesign.co.uk A63322