The Hymerian: 2020-2021

The

Hymerian 2020-2021 The annual magazine of Hymers College

Snapshot of the Year | Contents

JUNIOR SCHOOL Visits & Trips ................................................................. 5 Sports ............................................................................. 8 Year 6 Leadership Club ........................................... 11 Design and Technology ......................................... 12 Japan Week ................................................................ 14 Music .............................................................................. 16 Loose Parts Play Area ............................................ 17 Productions ................................................................. 18 Year 6 Speech Day ................................................ 20

SENIOR SCHOOL Lockdown Sport ....................................................... 23 Sports ........................................................................... 24 Festival of Hockey .................................................. 32 Music ............................................................................. 33 Drama .......................................................................... 36 Art ................................................................................... 40 No Zoom Day ............................................................ 44 Assemblies ................................................................. 45 Clubs & Activities ..................................................... 46 Cat Zero ...................................................................... 56 Enrichment Week ..................................................... 58 What the Students Say.......................................... 60 Academic News ....................................................... 62 Examination Results ................................................ 68 Careers ........................................................................ 70 Destination of Leavers ............................................ 71

Snapshot of the Year

Contents...

September 2020

October 2020

November 2020

December 2020

January 2021

February 2021

March 2021

April 2021

May 2021

June 2021

July 2021

August 2021

Staff Leavers & Joiners .......................................... 72 HCA ............................................................................... 75

OLD HYMERIANS The Development Office ...................................... 76 Events ........................................................................... 77 Fondly Remembered ............................................. 78 News ............................................................................. 84 Letters ........................................................................... 85 Legacy ......................................................................... 86

Credits: Editors: Mr D A Thompson & Mrs E Pennack (OH).

Design: Mrs S Gibson.

Printed by: GKD Print, Hull.

The editors are grateful to everyone who has helped compile and proof read the magazine.

Headmasters’ welcome At all times, we strove to provide for our pupils the richest and broadest possible educational experience within the parameters that kept them and the wider school community safe.

Throughout the year, the school prioritised the emotional and physical welfare of the pupils who were experiencing the most demanding time for young people in living memory.

Over the summer the Hymers staff put a great deal of thought and energy into ensuring the school was ready in September 2020 for the ‘new normal’ of education.

Enhanced sanitisation, year group bubbles, face mask wearing, one-way systems, assemblies over Zoom: these were some of the mitigations implemented in response to Government guidance to ensure that the highest standards of education for pupils across the age range were maintained.

Every means was found to promote regular communication with pupils, open channels of support, and ongoing opportunities to reach out, connect and do physical exercise with friends.

Lockdown proved no impediment to these components of pupil welfare; in fact, it was a stimulus for the development of more inventive means of providing them.

As the school year got underway, it soon became apparent that constant vigilance, monitoring of the Covid case-rate both within school and in the wider community, regular liaison with the local Health Protection Team and ongoing open communication with the parent and pupil body would be required throughout the academic year.

As the restrictions on wider society and accordingly school-life were relaxed, subsequently reimposed and then relaxed again, staff and pupils showed remarkable ingenuity and flexibility in switching between physical, on-site education and digital activities.

During the period from the start of the Spring Term in January until March 8th, the school’s entire curriculum, in its broadest sense, was delivered online. Before and after this period, however, wherever we could, teachers and pupils relished the opportunities provided by face-to-face interaction and learning.

The Senior School’s No-Zoom Day allowed pupils and staff alike opportunities for creativity and fresh air, as well as much needed time away from their digital devices.

In the Junior School the Year 6 Leadership Club oversaw the community’s excellent fundraising efforts.

Another way in which the pupils’ learning was enriched was through regular online talks and presentations from Old Hymerians who were keen to share their wisdom and insight with the younger generation. We are truly fortunate in being able to draw upon such talented and diverse alumni.

Embedded within the tapestry of pastoral care and broad educational opportunities provided

by Hymers was a rich programme of co-curricular activities and clubs, many of which have long been a part of the wider life of the school but some of which sprang up in lockdown.

While for most of the year the pandemic put paid to competitive fixtures against other schools, pupils enjoyed midweek and Saturday sports practices

The previous year had seen the school transition over the course of a weekend to remote learning for all pupils. The challenge of maintaining continuity of education remained throughout 2020-21. It was joined by further tests: that of providing a hybrid model of education for the pupils which catered for the needs both of the majority who were in school as well as for those who were at home self-isolating, together with the requirement to maintain social distancing as far as possible in a large school. developing their fitness and skills alongside their peers.

Concerts and plays in the Autumn and Spring Terms lacked a live audience but parents and supporters of the school were grateful to be able to watch their children perform online.

The opportunities that the Summer Term provided for some cricket and tennis fixtures against local schools as well as outdoor theatrical and musical performances were particularly appreciated. A further highlight was a memorable Enrichment Week that included the Senior School’s first Sports Day for a number of decades.

Due to the nation-wide disruption to learning, external examination results in 2021 were awarded on the basis of Teacher Assessed Grades.

The results achieved by Hymers students at both A Level and GCSE were exceptionally strong.

At A Level 39% of all examination entries were awarded the very highest A* grade; 69% were awarded either A*/A grades; while 89% of all examination entries were graded A* to B. Two-thirds of all Year 13 students gained at least 3 A*/A grades.

Another way in which the pupils’ learning was enriched was through regular online talks and presentations from Old Hymerians who were keen to share their wisdom and insight with the younger generation. We are truly fortunate in being able to draw upon such talented and diverse alumni.

The results achieved by the Hymers A Level Class of 2021 saw 90% of students gain places at their first choice university, three gain places at Oxbridge, and 14 take up places to read Medicine, Dentistry, or Veterinary Science. Results at GCSE Level in 2021 were similarly outstanding, with 71% of all grades at 9-7 (old A*-A) and the average grade was 7.4.

Pupils and staff alike can be proud of their efforts over the course of another momentous year.

Justin Stanley, Headmaster WELCOME | 3

Headmasters’ Welcome

The academic year 2020-21 was the second played out under the shadow of Covid-19.

Junior School

Junior School Hymers Junior School is a vibrant learning environment and the principles of our CARE Code lie at its heart. Its core values of Care, Acceptance, Respect and Effort foster a culture in which strong, empathetic relationships exist between pupils, staff and parents. Teachers develop each child’s self-confidence and sense of identity by, for example, providing a wealth of performance opportunities and imbuing children with a sense of responsibility.

Welcome The pandemic presented a host of challenges and the response of the Hymers Junior School family was both remarkable and inspiring.

In difficult times, the CARE Code shone brightly and pupils led an incredible, innovative and moving push to support important causes throughout the year. Perhaps most remarkable was Year 6 Leadership Club’s charity work during the lockdown which raised a staggering £3,089.

As the lockdown began in January 2021, staff were determined that children’s mental and physical health would continue to thrive whilst they engaged in remote learning at home. From the reassuring routine of our structured online day, to the laughter, kindness and pastoral awareness that punctuated the teachers’ Zoom sessions, every child’s well-being 4 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

was monitored and nurtured. Our fantastic sports teachers also delivered a truly outstanding, innovative and highly varied physical exercise programme on Zoom. We are not aware of a better remote sports offering anywhere, and this undoubtedly contributed hugely to the children’s overall physical and mental health.

Pupils returned to school in March 2021 highly engaged with their teachers, recognising the tireless endeavour of their caring stewardship throughout the lockdown. The teachers then turned their creative energies towards providing a plethora of inclusive performance, sporting and leadership opportunities within the restrictions of socially-distanced, bubbled school life, continuing to build the confidence of every child.

Peter Doyle, Head of Junior School

Its core values of Care, Acceptance, Respect and Effort foster a culture in which strong, empathetic relationships exist between pupils, staff and parents.

Going on an

adventure…

Year 4 trip to Yorkshire Wildlife Park

Year 4 set off to Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Wednesday 9 July 2021.

We were all really excited because this was the first trip we had been able to go on this year because of Covid.

We enjoyed ourselves on the bus heading to Yorkshire Wildlife Park and some children brought games and books to entertain themselves on the journey.

When we arrived, we headed through the huge gift shop towards the entrance. First we saw the baboons which were really cute and funny with their pink bottoms.

We were all really excited to see all of the animals in the zoo.

Next, we saw the painted dogs which were even more exciting than the baboons! After seeing all of the animals it was decided

that the lions and tiger were the favourites! After that the two classes 4O and 4J took it in turns to go to the woodland classroom where we learnt about animal skins and even held a real ostrich egg (it was a bit old). Whilst 40 were in the woodland classroom 4J were eating lunch at the picnic tables with ice creams for pudding!

to bring some money with us to spend in the gift shop. The gift shop was packed full of teddies and many amazing souvenirs. Lots of children bought things in the gift shop to remember their day. Year 4 really enjoyed themselves at Yorkshire Wildlife Park and would recommend this place for families that haven’t been before.

The teachers said we were allowed

By Sophia T & Harriet P (4J)

JUNIOR SCHOOL | 5

Junior School | Visits & Trips

Visits & Trips

Junior School

Year 5 trip to Murton Park

Year 5 enjoyed a History trip to Murton Park near York in June 2021. The children spent a full day learning all about the life of a Viking settler. The Viking village was made up of several houses, workshops and fields which enabled the children to get handson with lots of activities such as pottery making and milling corn.

After the children had put their Viking costumes on, they were taken to the settlement to meet the rest of the viking community and prove to the lord and lady

6 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

of the village that they had the necessary skills to be an asset to the settlement!

The children learned all about farming and food in the Viking age, pottery and household tasks. They especially enjoyed the guard duty when the children learned how to defend their village from attack.

Year 5 were a pleasure to take away and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Murton Park was a very interesting day out for our young historians.

Miss L Watson Year 5 Teacher

The children spent a full day learning all about the life of a Viking settler.

Junior School | Visits & Trips

Year 6 Activity Week Normanby Hall

At Normanby Hall we did a number of different activities including the GoApe Course and we all had a brilliant time high up in the trees.

We started on Level 1 which was not too tricky and gave people

confidence to go higher. We then made our way up to Level 2, it was pretty high but I wasn’t scared, however, on Level 3 I was!

One of the obstacles was really wobbly because it was wooden platforms hanging from ropes.

We spent over an hour in the trees but it felt like 10 minutes because we were all having so much fun.

riddles and challenges and we had to find small lockets to open the safe to free him.

We also did an Outdoor Escape Room where we had to save a monkey that had been trapped in a cage! There were lots of clues,

After some great team work and problem solving we were able to save him.

By Daisy H & Cecily B

Allerthorpe Lakeland Park

At Allerthorpe we all had a wonderful day doing different water sports activities. My group got to do the Run of Kit activity first. We were able to try lots of different activities including: paddle boarding, canoeing, kayaking and pedalos.

on the inflatable course. It was amazing! There were slides to slide down which led to the water and platforms that were very slippery. I think everyone fell off at least once.

I learned how to paddle board, which was so much fun, then we all jumped off them. Even the teachers had a go! Thankfully it was very hot and sunny so it was a brilliant day to go there.

The hardest obstacle was a tube that you could either slide across with your legs wrapped around it or run across to get to the end. It was really hard and I fell off that loads of times and so did all my friends.

It was a brilliant day and I would love to go again!

After lunch my group had a go

By Daisy H & Cecily B

Bridlington Beach Hymers Pool Party

This day we were supposed to travel to Bridlington for a day on the beach, however, it was unfortunately cancelled due to the poor weather conditions. The teachers arranged for us to have a day of games and activities

including: building spaghetti and marshmallow towers, giant connect four, French boules and a pool party. Despite not been able to go to the beach we still had a great day and lots of fun. My favourite part was the pool party where we

had music on and were able to play water polo and with lots of inflatable toys. We finished the day with ice lollies as we were going to at the beach!

By Daisy H & Cecily B JUNIOR SCHOOL | 7

Junior School

Girls Sport Sadly competitive sports fixtures for our Junior School pupils were another victim of the Covid pandemic. As Covid restrictions stopped travel, matches against other schools were cancelled until towards the end of the academic year. However the girls enjoyed being in school for the Summer Term and throwing themselves into the sporting opportunities here at Hymers.

The girls didn’t lose their focus in Games sessions and trained hard against each other, pushing each other to develop their game play.

U11 There was a large number of girls in Year 6 making selections for teams challenging. With a high level of skill and athleticism on display the inter-house competitions were competed in good spirits, with players demonstrating a high level of sportsmanship.

Throughout the SummerTerm, the girls trained hard in the athletic disciplines developing sprint technique, long jump, high jump and their ball throwing.

The Summer Term allowed them to train in the different Athletic disciplines and also something new this year, mixed cricket!

Due to having limited fixtures, they also had time to try hurdling which they thoroughly enjoyed. This year group showed great promise in their athletics awards with three girls achieving Gold and six girls achieving Silver.

The U11s were excited to be able to compete in their first fixture in the Summer Term with an athletics competition against St. Peter’s.

The girls excelled winning the sprints, the long distance, the long jump and the high jump competitions!

A special mention to the Year 6 relay team: Ruby F, Lily L, Hannah N and Grace S which, if they had competed at the HMC competition, would have been challenging for the record! They won with a 50m lead over all the other teams - a really fantastic performance.

U10 The U10s again trained hard in the hope that when they get to Year 6 they will be able to go on their Sports tour. They took a while to settle back into hockey and netball sessions but by the end

The girls enjoyed learning to play cricket and some of the girls were already quite proficient due to playing outside of school.

They had the opportunity to play a fixture against Hill House School and it was a delight to see the whole year group playing.

Junior Sports Awards Well done to the Junior School pupils who received Hymers sport awards for their efforts last term. ‘Player of the Year’ and ‘Most Improved Player’ trophies were awarded for netball and football in all year groups.

Congratulations to all students that have won awards!

8 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

of the Autumn Term played some competitive inter-house matches, with Holderness winning on goal difference.

During the Summer Term, the girls focussed on their rounders and athletics. They were extremely competitive in rounders with strong fielding by Annabel W to stop halfrounders being scored.

With Chiara K having such a good throwing arm, the opposition struggled to score against them.

In athletics the girls trained hard and a number of them managed to achieve Bronze standard this year.

I am hoping with more practice that some of these girls will continue to develop and achieve the next level next year.

U9 The U9 girls enjoyed learning hockey and netball this year. They are a competitive year group and are already showing great potential.

Mrs J Fillingham Head of Girls’ Games

It will be nice to see the girls developing their cricket skills throughout their time in the Junior School.

The girls didn’t lose their focus in Games sessions and trained hard against each other, pushing each other to develop their game play.

Junior School | Sport

Boys Sport The 2020 – 2021 season is one that, unfortunately, will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

The Covid-19 pandemic wiped out the entire Autumn and Lent terms, which meant there was no rugby or football to play.

Despite this, I was thrilled by the level of enthusiasm shown by the vast majority of pupils when it came to sport, both those jumping around their living rooms in Zoom physical activity lessons, to playing noncompetitive inter-school football when we were allowed back into school. Club attendance was as high as ever in all year groups and there seemed to be a real buzz around the games field.

U11 Cricket Thankfully, regulations did allow us to get something of a cricket season in, and the U11 boys had a particularly successful season. With plenty of boys playing outside of school for clubs, the strength and depth with both bat and ball was exciting to work with.

The season started with a warmup game against the U12A team, but the batters struggled. The bowlers fought back well but two steady knocks resulted in a 7 wicket victory for the U12s. Next up was St Peter’s. This was bound to be a tough game and, having lost two wickets in the first over, followed by being 17-4, it looked like we were in for a short afternoon!

However, perhaps one of the best partnerships I have seen at this age group emerged between Tyler H (48 off 46 balls) and Charles H (25 off 32 balls), propelling us to challenging total of 104. Wickets were evenly spread as Hymers remained in control, with St Peter’s ending on 96-9.

Next up was a comprehensive

victory over Pocklington School in a pairs Incrediball game, with Tyler H again impressing with the bat with 24 off just 10 balls.

Pocklington never came close to their target of 334 as the bowlers, once again, shared wickets around. Then came a good win over Birkdale, with extremely tight bowling limiting Birkdale to 87 runs.

Hymers knocked the score off, but not without a wobble at the top of the order! Ashwin K and Tyler H restored control and got Hymers over the line with 6 wickets down.

The season ended with a rematch against the U12s. It was, once again, a brilliantly contested battle with the U11s falling just 14 runs short, despite yet another brilliant 31 from 32 balls from Tyler H. Tyler deservedly won the Player of the Year award, finishing with an astonishing batting average of 123, only getting out once all season.

U10 Cricket The U10s had limited opportunities to play cricket against other schools this year, but they were able to play in a super 6-a-side

cricket festival at Scarborough College, against two U11 Scarborough Teams and a strong Terrington U11 side. First up was Scarborough A, who posted a decent 36-2 off their 5 overs.

However, Robert G and Dashenka K took just a ball under 3 overs to knock it off, with some blistering shots. Then came a strong performance against a weaker Scarborough team, with Robert G again in fine form. The Terrington game proved one step too far, however. A highly impressive opening partnership propelled Terrington to an imposing total of 55 and, despite some fine batting from Robert G and Jake H, Hymers fell 18 runs short. We have some super players in Year 5, many of whom have now had some hard ball experience, so I hope next year they will kick on once more.

to the historical norm and I am looking forward to seeing how this group develops as they continue their cricketing journey at Hymers.

The highlight of the year was a fixture against Hill House where all our Year 4s were playing and enjoying the game. Particular stand outs in the A team were Roshan V (15 from 7 balls), Sophia T (10 from 6 balls) and Ted H who hit three massive sixes on his way to 24 off just 8 balls, resulting in an 8 run win. Cricket is a difficult sport to pick up, with plenty of technique to master. However, I am delighted with the efforts of all our boys and girls in Year 4 and I am sure they will continue to go from strength to strength next year.

Mr M Hodsdon Head of Junior Sport

U9 Cricket This year was the first year that we introduced mixed cricket where all the boys and girls train together and fixtures involve both boys and girls. It was a refreshing change

JUNIOR SCHOOL | 9

Junior School

Junior School Sports Day

You could not have wished for better weather for Sports Day 2021. Bright blue skies, not a cloud to be seen. It turned out to be the most closely fought Sports Day in history! The only thing it sadly lacked were parents to add the atmosphere, although a combination of the children and ‘DJ O’Hara’ did go a long way to reduce the impact.

Ruby F then launched herself into the record books herself, just pipping Lilly’s jump with 4.16m!

The field events in the morning ran smoothly and there was plenty of success. The most notable event must have been the Year 6 Girls’ Long Jump. First, we saw Lilly L smash a long standing record, being the first to jump over 4m with an incredible 4.13m. This is no mean feat! However, not to be beaten,

Well done to the Brandesburton Boys Year 6 4x100m relay team of Theo B, Danny M, Felix R and Edward C for beating another long standing Sports Day record.

10 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

The track events were also fantastic to watch. We had a number of new records, with Edward C taking the 100m and 200m Year 6 Boys’ records, Ruby F taking the Year 6 Girls’ 600m record and Frank F taking the Year 4 boys 400m record.

Throughout the track events, it seemed to be a three-horse race with Holderness struggling to keep

up with the other three houses.

However, the Tug of War contest changed all that, with Holderness dominating the event.

That left the relays with everything to play for. In the end, just 9 points separated all four houses which, considering one event win was worth 8 points, was phenomenally close. Holderness just did enough to hold on to win what looked like an unlikely victory!

Well done to all the children and thank you to the staff for your help.

I hope parents will be able to join in next year!

Mr M Hodsdon Head of Junior Sport

Bright blue skies, not a cloud to be seen. It turned out to be the most closely fought Sports Day in history!

Each year, our Year 6 Leadership Club organises an event in the Junior School to raise funds for certain chosen charities.

In February 2021, during the lockdown, their leadership skills were really put to the test: could they run a remote charity event and successfully engage the children, staff and parents whilst at home?

The answer was a resounding ‘yes’ as they employed their newly acquired IT skills to communicate their ideas in imaginative, thoughtful and exciting ways.

staff, directed by Leadership Club members, mimed well known films; particularly memorable was Mrs Gillett’s portrayal of ‘Up’, which included some excellent homemade props. The Year 6 organisers employed their Zoom hosting skills expertly, also running a ‘Guess the Song’ competition, a Kahoot quiz, Scavenger Hunt and a game of Pictionary. The afternoon was a real success, thoroughly enjoyed by the Junior School children and staff (as well as some parents too!).

Three charities were chosen by the Leadership Club: Spread a Smile, Meningitis Now and Hull Foodbank.

JustGiving pages were set up for Spread a Smile, Meningitis Now and Hull Foodbank and it was humbling to witness the wonderful spirit of giving within the Hymers family despite the challenging circumstances of the pandemic and lockdown.

Year 6 pupils joined a Zoom assembly to explain the important work of the charities and to encourage all the Junior School children to take part in one of three sponsored 10-day challenges: the Act of Kindness, Write a Book / Song or Steps challenge.

These challenges were designed to be achievable during the lockdown, whilst also having a positive impact on the participants’ well-being.

The charity effort culminated in a fantastic afternoon of fun activities on Zoom on the Friday before February Half Term. The afternoon began with ‘Speed dress a stuffed animal’ which proved both creative and hilarious, not least Mr Mills’ swimming teddy creation. This was followed by Charades in which

In all, £3,089 was raised … thank you to all those who donated so generously and to the members of Leadership Club who co-ordinated the events so brilliantly.

Mr P Doyle Head of Junior School

… could they run a remote charity event and successfully engage the children, staff and parents whilst at home?

The answer was a resounding ‘yes’ as they employed their newly acquired IT skills to communicate their ideas in imaginative, thoughtful and exciting ways …

In all, £3,089 was raised … thank you to all those who donated so generously and to the members of the Leadership Club who co-ordinated the events so brilliantly.

JUNIOR SCHOOL | 11

Junior School | Sport & Leadership Club

Year 6 Leadership Club – Charity Event in Lockdown

Junior School

Design and Technology Much of the Autumn Term was spent looking at Healthy Eating and saw the DT workshop transformed into a food room. From Year 4 Sandwiches and Year 5 Salads through to elaborate (but not so healthy!)

Gingerbread Structures created by Year 6, great fun was had by all!

Year 4 had another visit from Mr Pilling (aka The Lego Man). He brought his van full of Lego to be transformed into Magical Christmas Scenes, complete with glowing fireplaces and twinkling Christmas Trees! Year 5 made light up Rudolph cards, a very delicate task made even more difficult by the freezing temperatures in the classroom. Well done for persevering children!

Despite another unsettled year due to Covid, the Junior School children have produced some amazing work! Many thanks to all the parents who got stuck in and also for providing resources for the children to use.

Year 4

12 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

In January, we joined in with the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. Year 4 were set the task of designing and building bird feeders from recycled materials. Some went a little further than this and managed to access a few of the Old Hymerian ‘Man Caves’ out there – well done and thanks to all those who supervised this task!

Year 4 and 5 children made paper chairs for their cuddly toys, built dens (indoors and outdoors) and did marvellous things with shoeboxes to celebrate World Book Day. Year 6 had a go at interior design and made shoe boxes into their ‘Dream Bedrooms’. They also designed and made fabulous novelty cakes during a ‘Live Zoom Bake Off’ lesson.

Watch out Paul Hollywood!

Year 6 also took part in the ‘Helping Hands’ project and made beautifully stitched flags to decorate the main gates and say thank you to all those who made our lives run more smoothly during the pandemic.

Once back at school, the children worked hard to complete Wind Chimes, Electronic Buzz Games, Cushions, Bags and even their Acrylic Projects were finally completed!

I hope you enjoy seeing these photographs of all their wonderful work.

Mrs Z Gillett DT Co-ordinator

Junior School | DT

Year 5

Year 6

JUNIOR SCHOOL | 13

Junior School

Japan Week

Following the success of ‘Brazil Week’ in 2016, ‘Hull Week’ in 2017, ‘History Week’ in 2018, and ‘Invention Week’ in 2019, the Junior School had missed being able to hold their annual Theme Week in 2020.

With the relaxation of Covid rules, it was decided that the 2021 Theme week would go ahead following a slightly different format.

The principles behind this projectbased week remained the same and centred around developing pupil-centred learning, creativity, collaboration and resourcefulness.

With the Olympics and Para Olympics due to be held in Japan during the Summer, the Junior School took the opportunity to explore this amazing country further with the theme week in 2021 being ‘Japan Week’.

The week began with a ‘Wow’ day where the staff led a range of activities including Tabata, Japanese zen gardens, decorative plates, food and a map activity. We

14 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

were also delighted to have a Taiko drumming workshop led by Tengu Taiko drummers.

During the rest of the week, the children worked in groups to put together presentations focussing on Japanese culture, art, entertainment, music, architecture, gardens, technology, food, sport, clothing and fashion. The pupils remit for their work on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday was to produce a creative, interactive showcase for a living exhibition on Friday. This pupil-led learning encouraged the children to work as a team as well as being able to research many aspects of Japan independently and present the information in a creative way.

In normal times, parents would have been invited to view the

exhibitions on the Friday of the theme week. This year, unfortunately, this was not possible.

Instead, the children showcased their exhibitions to members of staff from the Senior School and the support staff team. The presentations were also videoed and sent to parents for viewing at home. We were very grateful to the catering team who also entered into the spirit of ‘Japan Week’, decorating the canteen Japan-style and serving Japanese cuisine on the Friday.

Despite the challenges, the week was a resounding success and demonstrated once again how creative and resourceful our Junior School children are.

Mrs S Julian Year 4 Team Leader

Junior School | Japan Week

The pupils remit for their work on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday was to produce a creative, interactive showcase for a living exhibition on Friday.

JUNIOR SCHOOL | 15

Junior School

Christmas Concert 2020 The children in the Junior School filmed their Christmas Concert for parents and friends to watch.

There were some lovely performances from all of the musical ensembles in the Junior School, beginning with the string group who performed Christmas Calypso and Jingle Bells. The Wind Group followed with The Little Drummer Boy. The Percussion group went more upbeat with Twinkle, Twinkle Little Rockstar before the Recorder Quartet brought a more traditional feel to the programme with Good King Wenceslas. The Year 4 Choir performed Frosty the Snowman and The Wizard with wonderful

Summer Concerts 2021 As live performances were still not possible in the Summer Term, the various musical ensembles and soloists once again recorded their items in the Junior School Hall.

The Chamber Concert saw an array of talent, from fabulous flautists to perfect pianists! It was wonderful to hear the many different pieces of music being played or sung and a great opportunity for the children to perform in front of their peers and for the camera.

The Summer Concert began with the Junior String Group, led by Mr Quick, who performed Rachel’s Boogie Woogie followed by the Junior School Wind Group, led by Ms Pearson, who played Two at Twilight, Stardom Waltz and 5 Jive.

The Recorder Quartet, led by Mrs Redhead, played The Oak and the Ash. All the Junior Choirs, led by Mrs Redhead, then performed. The Year 4 Choir sang Si Si Si, The Moon and Gonna Rise up Singin’. The Year 5 Choir then sang Storm which was written by a Year 5 pupil, Tom and then arranged by Mrs Redhead, followed by Hushabye Mountain and The Ghost Ship. The Year 6 Choir finished off the programme by singing Tuimbe, You Raise Me Up and The Rhythm of Life.

It was great to see that, despite all the difficulties faced this year, the children have still been able to access music lessons, attend Year Group Ensembles and perform in some way. Thank you to all Music staff for their dedication and patience with technology!

Mrs T Redhead Head of Junior School Music

Wings of Hope –Year 6 Choir Charity Song The children in the Year 6 Choir worked towards a special project in the Summer Term in order to help raise money for Barnardo’s.

They recorded and filmed a song, composed by Mrs Redhead, entitled ‘Wings of Hope’ which is about looking to all the things in the world that give us signs of hope – especially pertinent during such unsettled times. Mrs Redhead’s son, Jacob, orchestrated the song and Mr Shepherd, our guitar teacher at Hymers, produced, mastered and mixed it. The Choir was also especially grateful to VIP Creative who made the film.

As the Junior School Choir regularly competes in the Barnardo’s National Choral Competition, an event that raises much needed funds for Barnardo’s and which Hymers became 16 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

champions of in 2020, the school felt it would be a good idea to try to help out this particular charity. Donations were made to a JustGiving page and £700 was raised.

Mrs T Redhead Head of Junior School Music

enthusiasm followed by the very large Year 5 Choir who showed off their ability to sing in parts with The Drunken Sailor and Firefly. The beautiful tone of the Year 6 Choir ended the concert with two very moving performances of Stronger with Time and Believe.

A special well done to all of the children and a thank you to all staff who have worked so hard to ensure that music can still continue throughout these difficult times.

Mrs T Redhead Head of Junior School Music

Junior School | Music & Play

The Loose Parts Play Area

The Loose Parts Play Area is an outdoor space filled with objects that would not be found in a toy box.

It allows the children to imagine, create and explore whilst using these objects and also allows them to develop key skills such as: communication, team work and problem solving.

From building dens to walking the plank, the possibilities for fun in this area are endless. The thrill and sense of discovery for each child is there for all to see when they are playing in this area with smiles that stretch from ear to ear.

As well as providing opportunities for the children in the Junior School, it has also empowered our pupils in the Senior School. It has enabled a number of prefects to develop their skills in facilitating the learning of children playing in this area.

Mr C Bloomfield Year 6 Teacher

‘It is my favourite part of the school.

It helped me make lots of new friends because you have to work together when making things like dens and space ships.’

Ethan S, 4W

‘I love it because there are lots of different resources that you can build with and I just generally have fun with my friends when I am playing here.’

Thomas J, 5J

‘I love being able to make dens and playing on the swings. I love solving the problems associated with building dens and I really enjoy the chance to work as a team with my Henry R, 6B friends.’

JUNIOR SCHOOL | 17

Junior School

Year 4 Christmas Production - ‘Superstar!’

After an unusual first term at Hymers, it was lovely to have some Christmas excitement as the Year 4 children produced a fantastic performance of Superstar!’

Time was against them as they were isolating at home in the weeks leading up to production but, as we have come to expect from this year group, they didn’t let this faze them.

audience. Class 6C did come into the theatre to make a small socially distanced audience and did a fantastic job of making themselves sound like a full audience with loud laughing and clapping.

Lines were learnt whilst isolating, costumes sorted and the production was all pulled together in the week they returned to school. In a ‘normal’ year, the Year 4 children would be supported in their singing in the Christmas Production by the Year 5 and 6 children. This was not possible this year with the children being in bubbles so the pressure was really on to fill the theatre with their excellent acting and beautiful singing.

I could not have been more proud of each one of the Year 4 children.

They acted like true professionals and sung their hearts out to produce an excellent performance.

It was hard to believe, watching them that they had been at Hymers for only a matter of weeks.

Performance day brought about another challenge as the children had to do their final performance to a camera instead of a live

Year 4 Team Leader

18 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

Enormous thanks go to our Musical Director, Mrs Redhead, and to all parents for their support with learning lines and providing costumes.

Mrs S Julian

Junior School | Productions

Year 5 Production - Hoodwinked

All the children in Year 5 put on a stunning performance of the musical ‘Hoodwinked’ in the Judi Dench Theatre on Thursday 22 April which was recorded for parents to view at a later date.

The children had worked incredibly hard in the short space of time available due to the lockdown.

Having learnt many of the songs and the dialogue via Zoom in their Music and Drama lessons, the children only had four weeks to put the show together once they were back in school.

The show was split into three equal parts, one part for each class, meaning there were three Robin Hoods and Maid Marians! Every

child therefore had a role as well as singing in the chorus. There were some incredibly humorous moments - the three greedy friars, the dim deputies and the jesters as well as the superbly villainous Sheriffs of Nottingham! The singing in the show was also stunning, with the children expertly singing in three parts at times, and there were some fantastic, moving solos.

Throughout the process, it has been clear that the children

had loved working towards this performance and their confidence and self-esteem grew. A huge well done to all of the children - this is a very talented year group and I was very proud as the Year 5 Team Leader and also the musical and drama director!

Mrs T Redhead Head of Junior School Music

Year 6 Production - Peter Pan

At the end of every school year, the children in Year 6 get to perform in a production.

This year, the show was Peter Pan the musical. The play was around 80 minutes long and included 12 songs. The play was split into

3 equal parts; the beginning performed by 6W, the middle by 6M and the end by 6C. On Tuesday 29 June, they performed the show in the theatre to the cameras so that parents could watch at a later date. The play was spectacular and everything went amazingly well considering the amount of time we had to practice. The play

opened up with the beautiful song ‘Tell Me a Story’ and featured other great songs such as ‘Tick Tock’ and ‘Don’t Look Down.’

I enjoyed playing the part of Mr Smee as he is extremely funny, a bit daft sometimes but always loyal. Some funny moments included Tinkerbell being extremely sarcastic towards Wendy

in 6W and also the pirate scenes in 6M and 6C. Thank you to Mrs Redhead and Miss McLeod for all their efforts to make the show magical. Also thank you to the technical team and to anyone who helped with props and costumes.

Riya 6C

JUNIOR SCHOOL | 19

Junior School

Junior School Year 6 Speech Day Due to the ongoing Covid Pandemic, the decision was made to go ahead with the Year 6 Speech Day in July following the same scaled-back format used the previous year.

The event was held in the Theatre with all of the Year 6 children, all staff and our special Guest of Honour, Mr Taylor. Mr Taylor had been this year group’s Team Leader at the start of their Hymers journey in Year 4 and it was lovely to see their reaction to Mr Taylor’s return. We are very grateful to him for giving his time and speaking to the Year 6 Leavers.

Speech Day Choir

Internal Awards The Friends of Hymers College Music Shield Hannah G

The Whiting Cup for Boys’ Games Theo B

The Friends of Hymers College Prize for Outstanding Musical Performance Martha B-G

The Bryan Bass Sports Cup for Girls Ruby F

The Bridgeman Shield for Endeavour Felix R

The Paul Bryan ‘Ethos’ Shield Liba A & Joshua A

20 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

The HCA Shield for Endeavour Daisy H

The Art Prize Bebe S & Elijah D-C The Design & Technology Prize Charlie T The Drama Prize Verity B & Elizabeth J The Creative Writing Prize Scarlett W & Mia O The English Prize Bethany H & Agnes S The Geography Prize Georgina W The History Prize Charlie R The ICT Prize Hannah N & Seth W

The Maths Problem-Solving Prize A ishwarya V & Joshua A The Pure Maths Prize Riya K & Ashwin K The Music Prize Lara D The Modern Languages Prize Esme D The Physical Education Prize Annie J & Lucas W The Religious Education Prize Ella F & Olivia P The Science Prize Danny M

Medals Delina R for creative talent in Art

Hanfa F for her excellent attitude and progress

Scarlett B for being so kind and polite

Cecily B for her positive, hard-working attitude

Rose J for outstanding effort and ‘Can Do’ attitude

Henry R for his excellent attitude

Maisie J for her sunny and kind nature

Tyler H for his friendly and supportive nature

JUNIOR SCHOOL | 21

Junior School | Speech Day

Year 6 Academic Awards

Senior School

Senior School

22 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

Hymopoly and more...

It is never easy to teach games remotely, but our staff and students rose to the challenge during lockdown.

Students in PE were guided towards exercising in a manner that they enjoyed and some students cycled, ran, walked, did exercise videos, used home gyms or created circuits. It was great for the staff to receive feedback on what was achieved and inspirational in many ways.

Games lessons were led by the staff with some innovative ideas to maintain student interest such as Hymopoly, a Wheely Fit challenge (where students spun a wheel to find out what exercise they had to do and there were links to videos of staff doing the exercises) and many circuits led by Mr Hartley who became very fit throughout this period.

We also continued with live exercise classes with pilates, yoga and exercise to music.

From a co-curricular perspective, the Strava bike and running clubs provided portals for students to record their efforts and the Daily Mile Challenge gave the students (and staff) the challenge to complete a mile a day. (Many did many more!)

There were also a number of online challenges set by staff which many students responded to and live sessions such as boxercise.

One thing is for sure, Hymers students love their sport.

Return to school It was clear from the outset that our students were desperate to return to school and numbers attending our sporting co-curricular clubs were amazing. In some cases we had over 85% of students in year groups coming to practices.

Saturdays in particular proved to be very popular and many students benefitted from the quality sessions delivered by staff.

Annabelle and Milly running the ‘Daily Mile’

Rugby and netball in the Spring Term gave way to tennis, athletics, rounders and cricket in the Summer Term and still amazing numbers of students attended clubs.

One thing is for sure, Hymers students love their sport.

Mr S Walmsley Director of Sport

‘Borg v McEnroe’ during one online lockdown excercise activity!

Mr O’Hara’s online footy challenge

A still from Gracie’s ‘swimming’ video

SENIOR SCHOOL | 23

Senior School | Lockdown Sport

Sport during Lockdown

Senior School

Hockey

Firstly I want say my thoughts go out to all those who have suffered throughout the last year and a big thank you to all those who have helped, particularly the NHS staff.

It may be understandable that some players, teachers and coaches felt they had been short changed at first with so many fixtures and tournaments cancelled.

However, performance is just one part of sport and although it is critical to bring it back for those that strive to test themselves in a competitive environment, we cannot ignore the huge positive that recreational sport has provided us

A year like no other! As I started the term, I didn’t know what the term would hold for all the Year 7 girls embarking on their hockey at Hymers.

As the term progressed, I was blown away by the adaptability and enthusiasm of every girl in Year 7. With no fixtures to work towards, the emphasis shifted to be solely focused on participation.

24 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

particularly for health reasons both physically and mentally.

stick and turn up just for a knock about.

We can never again underestimate the importance of what it means just to be able to turn up, coach and play for fun alone.

I think the biggest highlight of this year that I will never ever forget, is those first beaming smiles on the pupils’ faces after the first time they had played in a while and the parents thanking us for providing the opportunity to play on a Saturday or after school.

It has truly highlighted how lucky we are at a school like Hymers that strives to provide these cocurricular sporting opportunities and in particular its hockey programme. As soon as there was an opportunity to get on the pitch and get out of the house, the popularity of sport shone through like never before.

I have been coaching hockey for over 20 years at Hymers and I do not remember a time that I have seen so many players pick up a

The happiness was overwhelmingly infectious, perhaps most importantly born out of a love for the social side of hockey. We now look forward to putting the performance and participation together to grow the sport even further, and we do so with a brand new top of the range, hockey pitch.

Mr J Tapley Head of Hockey

I think the biggest highlight of this year that I will never ever forget, is those first beaming smiles on the pupils’ faces after the first time they had played in a while …

We had Saturday morning and after school hockey club, with over 75% of the year group regularly attending. This included a full range of standards from at least 15 complete beginners to advanced players.

Throughout the term there was a sense of the girls loving being outside and just playing hockey with their peers, this culminated with a highly competitive inter form tournament with all the girls involved.

built a strong foundation to their hockey careers at Hymers. I would like to thank all the members of staff, but especially Mrs FerryBolder for her commitment to the sessions and the girls for being an absolute pleasure to teach.

I enjoyed watching all the girls develop their skills whilst they enjoyed being together on the hockey pitch.

So whilst the term was like no other, the girls had a great time and learned so much about what team sport has to offer. I know they have

Mrs K Wylde PE & Games

The 2020 girls’ season for the Seniors was greatly enjoyed by all with the main focus on smaller sided games. Due to the ongoing Covid pandemic there were no outside fixtures, and so we mixed the two senior squads for the majority of practices.

This allowed many players to appreciate the commitment and skill level required in the 1st team, as well as enabling them to develop and improve swiftly, due to playing with and against more skilled players.

A match against the boys’ senior team, at the end of their season in March, rounded off a strange but equally fun season for the girls.

I really hope that many will continue to play next year, whether that is at Hymers, university and/ or club.

Miss K Walker Chemistry & Games Despite not having any fixtures, the Year 10 girls had a very successful hockey season.

The girls showed sportsmanship and dedication throughout the hockey season and made great improvements in both their skills and confidence on the pitch.

Throughout the season we focused upon different elements of play including: marking,

tackling, attacking principles and a successful press but ultimately emphasised the importance of a strong team ethic and positive work-rate.

Towards the end of the Autumn Term in their afternoon Games session, the girls competed in an inter-form competition.

The competition itself was composed of a mixed A and B competition with each team playing the representative team from each form in their competition, and each match lasting 12 minutes.

After a closely contested tournament in the hall, the winning form was 10C. Throughout the term the girls have exceeded expectations, with more than 25 girls consistently attending co-curricular sessions. The girls have been a pleasure to coach this season and I look forward to seeing them develop as players.

Miss E Thompson PE & Games

The Autumn Hockey Term for the Year 8 girls proved to be extremely positive despite the many frustrating restrictions in place.

This brilliant set of girls worked hard on improving their individual and team skills as well as their overall fitness levels and tactical awareness.

The hockey staff have been so impressed with the attitude of this group and numbers at practice have been extremely high despite it not being compulsory to attend.

Although there have been no competitive matches this year, this has not affected the motivation levels of the girls or the staff and the sessions have been fun, engaging, thought provoking and challenging. The girls have certainly stepped up to the situation and have shown an impressive work ethic throughout. They have been a pleasure to coach.

A special mention must go to Jemima P at the back of the pitch who impressed me at every single session. Her defensive awareness is exemplary and her outlet is truly impressive.

My two most improved players would have to be Stella S and Mary G. I was so impressed at the progress they made throughout the season and they placed themselves firmly at the forefront in a very talented team of girls, well done you two.

My performer of the season would have to be Evelyn B. She was so fantastic to watch on the pitch and her understanding of the game was remarkable.

I could not praise these girls enough and I wish them every success in their hockey moving forward in the school.

Mrs W Johnston

improved in their use of space on the field and transferring the ball.

Our inter-form competition was especially competitive. It all came down to the game between 8C and 8A, it was a thriller of a game that resulted in a last minute winner for 8C! They ended up with 3 wins from 3 games and the bragging rights until next year.

Overall it has been a pleasure to coach this year group in the shortened season we had and I look forward to seeing their hockey progression as they move through the school.

The 2021 season for the U15s, although short, just 3 weeks long and with no fixtures, was greatly enjoyed by all with the main aim of keeping it fun!

It showed a bright future for boys’ hockey at the school, with consistently good turnout at

Head of PE & Netball

Mrs A Powell PE & Games & Miss M Caley English & Games The Year 9 Grils Hockey squad have been outstanding this season.

To be faced with a potential season full of upset and disruption, due to no competitive fixtures and no National competitions, to say that this group of girls could not have dealt with it any better would be an understatement.

They turned up to training week in, week out and worked so hard to better their performances.

The progress made by the girls was excellent and their thirst for knowledge and physical improvement was huge.

Aside from their attentiveness in training, these girls were also full of energy and enthusiasm. They always turned up with a smile on their faces and filled our sessions with plenty of fun and laughter.

Taking away the competitive element was obviously frustrating for the girls but it gave lots of them the opportunity to thrive in a friendly, completely performance focused atmosphere.

If I had to pick a captain this year it most definitely would have been Eva J. Her calm, considered approach to the game is outstanding and I am confident she would have led this group of girls admirably.

Due to the majority of the Easter Term being remote, the boys had a very short hockey season.

The emphasis of the season was to develop the core skills involved in game play and how to successfully integrate these into competitive situations.

Attendance at co-curricular hockey sessions drastically increased session by session, with numbers increasing from 6 students in the first session to 30 students in the last.

Mr T McConnell

training and a lot of development was made by all, especially on team work.

History & Games

I really hope that many will continue to play next year, making debuts in the senior squad.

The U13 boys have been full of enthusiasm in what has been a shortened season.

Chemistry & Games

Miss K Walker

Numbers at training sessions have always been high, and this was evident at the end of term inter-form hockey competition. The squad have shown lots of improvement working on the fundamentals of the game and have considerably SENIOR SCHOOL | 25

Senior School | Hockey

Senior Girls

Senior School

Rugby

This was a most frustrating season for all those involved in the rugby season.

There were numerous times when the RFU suggested we would start to play fixtures, and allowed us to introduce ‘contact’ into practices, so that the boys could try to prepare for games.

Alas, it was not to be and we went the full season without playing a competitive fixture.

We did however put on lots of rugby internally.

The younger age groups, U12s to U14s, were totally committed to practices and in Games lessons; they continued to train after school and on Saturdays, and we had great numbers every time. On Saturdays there were approximately 30 per age group and the boys did (when allowed) play some contact games against each other, albeit with adapted laws.

The U15s and 16s both had good numbers to training and enjoyed their sessions, particularly when contact was allowed; they probably felt more aggrieved that they could not play competitive fixtures and were desperate to do so. It is to their great credit that they continued with such positivity.

The age group that probably felt the effects of the Covid hit season the most was the Seniors.

26 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

They were so keen for fixtures, particularly against local rivals that they have played for years as they have gone through the school.

They trained with real intensity and when we thought the RFU were going to sanction fixtures, they committed fully to preparation, fitness and team plays, and were a real credit to themselves.

I felt they deserve much praise for how they reacted to the season. Much of the positivity was generated by Ben C, who was Captain; he also captained the Yorkshire U18s Academy when they were eventually allowed to play fixtures (as part of elite sport being allowed). Well done on this Ben. Mr P Cook Head of Rugby

It is to their great credit that they continued with such positivity.

Senior School | Rugby

SENIOR SCHOOL | 27

Senior School

Netball xxx

End of Season Netball U12

U13

U14

Year 7 has had a particularly challenging term, with only one previous netball session post lockdown, their enthusiasm and commitment have been outstanding throughout the term, even with such a limited amount of court time.

The highlight for the girls was the Inter-form competition. The girls were super motivated and enthusiastic, warming up quickly and effectively giving us plenty of time to run a full round robin tournament between all teams. Six matches of six minutes with two teams per form. Some matches 4 a-side, 5 a-side and 6 a-side.

All girls played fantastically and organised themselves quickly against other forms.

The Year 9 netball team showed so much promise. It is such a shame these girls did not get their opportunity to compete in the National schools event, as I feel that they would have excelled.

They trained week in, week out and their progress and development was superb. Each and every one of the girls put in 100% at every training session and their commitment and dedication was outstanding. I thoroughly enjoyed coaching these girls and know they will go on to be very successful next season if we manage to return to fixtures.

For their second and final session the girls were divided into eight mixed ability teams and then played a tournament of end ball golden goal.

This involved end ball, touching the ball down on the baseline to score a point, with the addition of the option to score a bonus 3 points if a successful shot at goal was then made.

The girls loved this and all worked so hard during the session, it was great to see the more experienced games players supporting the novices and all just having fun together.

The eventual winners were Gracie, Zainab, Ibaa, Ashwika and Ava. There was also a special award for outstanding leadership made to Issy. Congratulations to all the girls!

Mrs K Wylde PE & Games

There were laughs and triumphs galore! Some amazing leadership and sportsmanship from certain individuals added to overall scores.

The winning individual team were team 1 from form A. The overall inter-form winners were form D with an impressive accumulated score of 51 points!

Congratulations to form D! I am extremely proud of the Year 8s and their commitment to netball in cocurricular. There have been 34 girls in non-compulsory attendance, which is 3/4 of the year group. Massively impressive!!! Huge thank you to Miss Caley and Mrs Ferry-Bolder for all their help with Year 8 netball!

Mrs A Powell PE & Games

Aside from their commitment to improving their skills, this group of girls also made sure they had fun at every session. They never failed to turn up with smiles on their faces and the enjoyment they so obviously get from playing netball was evident to see.

If I had to select a Captain this year it would have undoubtedly been Jemima P, who always showed leadership throughout the sessions and her positivity was contagious.

The Vice Captain would have been Jessica T who was a constant and consistent performer who naturally gained the respect of her peers.

Well done to all the girls and best of luck for next season.

Mrs W Johnston Head of PE & Netball

U15 Year 10 had a short but sweet netball season. Despite only having three netball sessions, it was fantastic to see the girls’

enthusiasm to be back on the netball courts. This was especially noticeable at the non-compulsory co-curricular sessions, with more than half of the Year 10 girls consistently attending.

Within games lessons, there was an emphasis on game play and the integration of tactics. In the final week of the term, the girls competed in an inter-form competition. The girls organised themselves into two teams and played nine minute matches against their respective team from each form. All girls demonstrated great sportsmanship and showed great team-work. After a series of highly competitive matches, the overall winners of the competition were 10C. I look forward to seeing how the girls develop over the next few seasons.

Miss E Thompson PE & Games

Seniors Although the girls knew they only had a short netball season, they entered back into training with enthusiasm and determination. A few sessions were held over Zoom, where they worked on netball based strength and conditioning, before finally getting together in a games afternoon in person.

There was a good turn out of nearly 30 girls choosing to take part in netball. Considering the girls hadn’t played for so long, they quickly slipped back into netball mode, and showed how much fun can be had from playing as part of a team.

It was bitter sweet for some of the girls: Lucy D K, Shrinidhi K, Hattie R and Sana N had aspired to play for the first team for their school since I had coached them when they were in Year 4. Luckily many of them had played up to the first team in last year’s matches, but just hadn’t had the opportunity to lead the younger girls as first team captains.

These girls have shown dedication to their sport and have been a pleasure to coach.

Mrs J Fillingham PE & Games

28 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

“

Netball has been a massive part of my life for the past 10 years since I started at Hymers, having had no previous knowledge of the sport beforehand.

switch off from the chaos of life.

It has given me the opportunity to meet new people both inside and outside of school, as well as finding a focus that both improves my fitness and lets me

Looking back on the countless evenings and weekends of playing netball, I wouldn’t have changed any of it for the world and can’t imagine what I would

Lucy D K

Netball has been a huge part of my school life since Year 4.

I’ve formed some of my closest friendships through playing netball at school and loved every opportunity we’ve had to train together.

struggles of fitness sessions as well as the excitement of winning matches together.

schools tournaments. Many of my fondest memories of my time at Hymers are from netball and I have loved every minute of it.

It has been a joy to grow as a team together over the years and develop our passion for the sport, going through the Playing netball at Hymers College has been fantastic! The group of girls who were chosen each year have been lovely which makes the season even more enjoyable than it already is.

Having played for Hymers since Year 7 all the way up to the First Team in Year 12 and 13; however sadly due to Covid-19, netball matches during my final

Netball has enabled me to play in large tournaments and go on trips that I would never have dreamt of, such as the South Africa tour.

We’ve had plenty of laughs, my favourite being the big game of ‘killer’ with the staff (with Mrs Powell being the current reigning champion), as well as many intense and exciting moments including the tight game against our rivals Wyke and the national

have done otherwise. I am so grateful for the experiences and memories that the school has given me through sport and hope that this continues throughout the rest of my life.

Thank you to all the staff who have made it such an amazing experience and I hope to continue netball in the future!

Srinidhi K

”

season couldn’t take place, I learnt a lot about resilience and team work.

At every match, all the girls put in 100% effort which really made the team thrive. Not only would I recommend to anyone at the school to participate in the Netball opportunities offered to them, no matter what year they may be in, but I’d like to thank

all the coaches also, who have made the netball season brilliant ever since Year 7 when I first joined the school.

Hattie R

Aside from their commitment to improving their skills, this group of girls also made sure they had fun at every session. They never failed to turn up with smiles on their faces and the enjoyment they so obviously get from playing netball was evident to see.

SENIOR SCHOOL | 29

Senior School | Netball

“

Leavers Comments:

Senior School

Cricket Summer 2021

The cricket in the summer of 2021, has been severely hampered by the Covid pandemic.

In spite of this some meaningful cricket matches did take place.

It was not until 22 May 2021 that Hymers managed to play our friends from Pocklington School; the cricket was competitive with all games being close.

The first team managing to win by the closest of margins, just 7 runs separated the teams with Hymers making 91ao and Pocklington making 84ao on a damp and sticky pitch; George C’s 40 runs being by far the best score on the day.

All other age groups had competitive matches, which resulted in a positive day’s cricket.

After half term the fixture against Pocklington was reversed, with again some close games and another enjoyable day’s cricket.

During the week, Hymers had several fixtures against Hill House and more locally South Hunsley.

There were some fixtures later in the term lost to weather and the re-emergence of Covid.

One special note must go to the U15 team: despite low numbers, the boys maintained their enthusiasm and showed great commitment to cricket throughout the term.

30 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

I would like to thank those who supported the cricket and I hope they found it worthwhile.

Thanks again to all involved in the cricket this term, I hope everyone has a great summer break.

Though only a few games were played there were a few noteable performances

Head of Cricket

George C 50 no Max B 53 no Mukund T 51 no Callum M 58 runs Adwaya D 50 no Bowling: Charlie P 3 for 20 Tom P 3 for 41 Guhan B 5 for 3 Joe S 4 for 10 including a Hat Trick The most exciting fixtures of the term were when the Year 6s took on the Year 7s, both games were close with two narrow victories for the Year 7. Both matches were played in good spirit and with the right amount of competiveness. If it’s any consolation to the Junior School team, they were the only side to take the wicket of Paddy K who batted though to retirement against all other teams, finishing with an average in excess of 120. Well done Paddy!

Mr G Tipping

The most exciting fixtures of the term were when the Year 6s took on the Year 7s, both games were close with two narrow victories for the Year 7s.

Both matches were played in good spirit and with the right amount of competiveness

Senior School | Cricket & Tennis

Tennis Summer 2021

It has been a strange but rewarding term for tennis at Hymers. Strange in that we have played very few fixtures but rewarding in the number of students playing the game.

We have been inundated with players keen to improve their performance and have had to invent new games, such as trebles, to cater for the numbers.

Year 7 and 8 have been particularly keen which bodes well for the strength and depth of tennis in the school for the future.

Instead of fixtures on Saturdays, we have had 2 sessions for Year 9 and 10 and one for Year 7 and 8. It has been great to see so many players with smiles on their faces enjoying the challenges that we have set them.

On the Saturdays that we have played, we have had 10 teams representing the school and it was great to play our old friends and rivals from Pocklington. We have also played year group matches against South Hunsley which are often fun as the two groups of players know each other. We also played against Pocklington in the East Yorkshire League, with our U15 boys winning handsomely, our U15 girls losing in a 10 point tie break and both the U13 boys and girls teams losing decisively.

Mr Tapley has become our tennis guru leading Games sessions

and his innovative ideas have maintained the players interest.

We have also been lucky to call on the services of Dave Kitchen, probably the best coach in the area, for two lunchtimes a week. He makes sessions fun for the students and it is good for the staff to learn from him.

Mrs Wylde has run the girls’ tennis programme for the last six years and I would like to thank her for her efforts. Lots of girls have enjoyed playing tennis under her guidance and the standard of tennis has remained high. Mrs Wylde has come to particular

prominence when helping to organise and run the Eton Tour.

The Independent Schools’ Tennis Association Committee have been particularly praiseworthy of the help that Mrs Wylde has given running the tournament and I know that the students have always been grateful of her efforts making these tours such fun.

A final vote of thanks goes to the parents who provide support for our players as well as transport. The tennis programme in the school could not operate without you.

Mr S Walmsley Director of Sport

SENIOR SCHOOL | 31

Senior School

Hymers College Festival of Hockey and Family Fun Day The Hymers College Festival of Hockey and Family Fun Day in September 2021 was a resounding success.

There was a superbly vibrant atmosphere around the school with hundreds of people in attendance.

The day started with GB Tokyo Bronze medallist Fiona Crackles cutting a ribbon to open the new Astro and this was the catalyst for a day of exciting hockey and fantastic enjoyment.

The first workshop attended by about 50 U12 players saw many players new to hockey experience the joys of goal scoring in a six way rotation. A large number of our senior players volunteered to help out with this session and we are very grateful to them for their input. Players were selected by the coaches to win prizes for their performance presented by Fiona.

The second session for U12 to U16 players was again well attended by a further 50 players. They again focused in on goal scoring, but at a higher level. Gareth Ikin, the England Over 35 coach and Beeston goalkeeping coach, looked after goal keepers and updated them on some of the tricks of the trade. Fiona Crackles gave demonstrations of her skill which can’t help but inspire our young players. Prizes were once again awarded to those who had made a big impression. Many thanks to the coaches, Gareth Ikin, Lucy Horsfield, Alice Powell, Jo Fillingham, Ellie Thompson, Kathryn Walker and Fiona Crackles for these sessions. It is a tough ask to be at the top of your game for all 12 sessions, but somehow this is what they achieved as each of the players left the Astro inspired.

The next phase of the day was a couple of very well fought out matches. The first game was between Hymers U19 team and Kingston. A number of Hymers leavers played their last game for the school in a titanic encounter with the score just going the way of 32 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

Kingston 3 goals to 2. Many thanks to these boys who have been great servants to Hymers Hockey over the years. The second game was the traditional encounter between recent leavers (the President’s team) and this year’s 1st Team. This was a great game of hockey, with the President’s just coming out on top 3 goals to 1. Again this game helps to show the loyalty of our recent former students who are keen to come back and play.

While all this was going on, the HCA Fun Day was in full swing, with bouncy castle, field games and the uniform sale. There were also refreshments, a Pimms tent and a barbecue. The HCA work tirelessly for the school and we are hugely grateful to them for their contribution to the day. Other attractions were the Hull Sisters

stall raising money for Afghan refugees, the Wasps Hockey stall and an ice cream stall.

Our celebrity guest, Fiona Crackles, was interviewed for Look North and along with Gareth Ikin stayed for most of the day as they enjoyed themselves so much.

The final part of the day was the Old Hymerian Tournament. It was wonderful to see groups of Old Hymerians reassembled. It was easy to see the true bond of friendships that exist in the various groups and, whilst many hadn’t played for a number of years, they were all up for the challenge.

Six teams of seven players plus subs played a very competitive round robin event. As an exciting finale, two teams came out on top with the exactly the same playing record, so a penalty / shuffle play

The main talk after the event was “can we do it again next year?” off took place with a team of Old Hymerians taking the medals. The main talk after the event was, “Can we do it again next year?”

The event, a full year in the planning, was masterminded by Head of Hockey, James Tapley, and huge credit goes to him for pulling things together. Hymers Hockey is indeed in a strong place and we look forward to the momentum built by this event leading into the new season.

Mr S Walmsley Director of Sport

Senior School | Music

Play on, play on …

A review of an unusual Year from a Music Department perspective

by Richard Quick Delighted though we were to return to the classroom in September, it was to a ‘new reality’ of open windows, screens, distancing, masks, sprays, foggers, seating plans, etc. etc.

Orchestras were not able to sit in the usual format of all ‘cellos together, all second violins together, but had to be sat in year groups, regardless of instrument, which led to many comic moments. The flutes, for example, usually sit in front of the conductor, so a big gesture directed to their normal spot, to bring them in for an important musical moment, would find (depending on the group) a perplexed group of Year 12s or 8s wondering what on earth Sir was doing? Again.

Unable to perform our Christmas concerts in the Main Hall to a live audience, the pieces were all recorded, and at a wide variety of times, and with different children every week – Intermediate Orchestra was only Year 7 and 8 one recording, then Year 8 and 9 the next – due to the dreaded year group bubble isolation, and much staff time was used up listening to different recordings deciding which was best. Mrs Fong then spent hours and hours editing the recordings into one whole coherent concert. Real live concerts are much, much easier.

Exams We welcomed a real live (socially distanced) examiner in December, but with so many year groups sent home, some candidates had their exam on their first day back in school. The results however were excellent, and we were all delighted.

No fails, 23 passes, 13 Merits, 2 Distinctions and a Diploma (ARSM).

As the year progressed our students took advantage of the new recorded examinations, and over the whole year (including the above results) 106 music examinations were taken.

There were 46 Passes, 42 Merits, 16 Distinctions (the highest mark being a staggering 139 out of 150) and a further Diploma.

Everyone is very proud of every single examination candidate from this year.

Zoom Staff are now experts in Zoom, getting used to Zoom updating when least expected, unstable internet, requests to restart Zoom, and most importantly for us instrumental teachers, adjusting the settings to make the sound as good as possible – it is quite funny to find that playing the violin, an instrument I love and have spent all of my life playing, is assessed by the Zoom ‘machine’ as background noise and as such is immediately suppressed. I’m sure some parents have sympathy for that view…

then suddenly it all came back to life – actually for the last note. The student beams at me and said: “I’ve been working really hard on that sir, especially that nasty bit in the middle - what did you think?”

Should I say it was really good since he was clearly pleased with what he’d just played, or tell the truth? What would you have said dear reader? (I went with the truth).

Everyone is very proud of every single examination candidate from this year.

In order to put on streamed concerts of solos over Zoom, pupils sent in recordings. These needed to be tweaked – it was a lovely window into home life when a recording finishes off with an older voice saying – “ooh, that was really good love”.

As ‘performers’ the music staff have missed concerts enormously.

We put concerts in the calendar fully aware that we may have to change date or venue or format (live to recorded usually) or even just cancel.

Music examinations can now be recorded and sent off - that simple sentence covers over so many problems - from a fully charged camera deciding to mysteriously run flat in the final minute of a 40 minute Grade 7 recording to something as simple as, “Hey! Where’s the camera tripod gone?

It was all there when I set the room up before lunchtime!”

I have a whole new work wardrobe for teaching by an open window in the cold - long sleeved polo shirts, smart jumpers, even vests (not Rab C Nesbit), and a whole new appreciation of conversations with students with no time lag and no constant requests to “repeat that last sentence please, you froze.”

This Zoom freezing is not without its funny side though, and raises an interesting moral conundrum too. During the January lockdown (3.0?) a student working toward Grade 8 started to play one of his pieces – it’s about 7 minutes long.

Almost straight away the picture froze and there was no sound. I shouted and waved my arms in the hope that he would spot something, but he didn’t. I made a cup of tea safe in the knowledge that I would hear if Zoom restarted. I returned to the same frozen picture, and SENIOR SCHOOL | 33

Senior School

HYMERS COLLEGE SUMMER CONCERT Friday 2 July 2020 A variety of pieces played by

our leaving Year 13 students.

Main Concert Jungle Book | Star Wars Windband – Director: Lester Bart lett 1st Contact (Star Trek) Senior Percussion Ensemble – Director: William Hayton

Concerts We were all excited that, what with the warm weather and the approaching summer holiday, we were going to put on a real live concert, outside, with all the Senior and Intermediate Groups playing and singing – the first such concert for over a year.

The stage was up, the engineers were sorting out the lights and the microphones and the speakers and the cables, and the news came in that all of Year 12 had been sent home (due to a potentially Year wide loss of taste and smell) and that therefore the Senior Groups would not be able to play in the Concert.

I was bitterly disappointed, but we pushed on with the now ‘Intermediate Summer Concert’,

34 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

and it was a great success. I hope that we can make that a regular fixture.

As we were experiencing a rapidly changing situation, we decided not to print a programme, but here is the last version, a ‘working document’, with a line through the groups who were unable to perform that night. Those lines represent hours upon hours of rehearsal time on pieces which no one ever heard performed.

Pirates of the Caribbean | A Million Dreams Intermediate Strings – Director : Richard Quick Harry Potter Intermediate Orchestra – Director : Richard Quick Chamber Choir-Director: Corinne Cook Million Dreams Intermediate Percussion Ensemble – Director: William Hayton Intermediate Choir – Director: Corinne Cook Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man Izzy Doyle and Friends Back to the Future | Rocky Brass Group – Director: Lester Bartlett Moana | Godfather Senior Strings – Director: Richard Quick Jurassic Park | Indiana Jones | Superman Senior Orchestra – Director: Rich ard Quick

Over the years several students have gained places in the National Youth Choir, not least Mrs Cook.

At the very last minute, our Year 13 students asked if they could come and join in the concert since their Leavers Ball, which was at the same time as the concert, had just been cancelled.

chamber performances to start the concert off. They are a credit to themselves, the school and to their families. Thank you Gemma W, Srinidhi K, Rithvik N, Elly H, Emma P and William F.

They played in all of the pieces to help out the younger students, and also produced some wonderful

All the Music staff were delighted that our Head of Department, Mrs Fong, was able to come to the

concert and sit in the audience, leaving her new daughter, Harriet, at home. Harriet had made a dramatic and early entrance to the world a few weeks before the Concert – but that is another story for another day…

Mr R Quick Acting Head of Co-Curricular Music

This year Adam C who gained a place in the Training Choir in 2019 whilst still at school, has been invited to join the acclaimed National Youth Chamber Choir.

Rachel W (Yr 12) attended the Training Choir summer course in Suffolk where one of the Music staff at that course was yet another Old Hymerian, Sarah Lucy Penny, who progressed through the ranks of NYC to gain a Fellowship, before being appointed to the staff.

Congratulations to them all.

Mrs M Riley Music Teacher (Vocals)

They are a credit to themselves, the school and to their families. Thank you Gemma W, Srinidhi K, Rithvik N, Elly H, Emma P and William F.

Some final thoughts… from Mr Bartlett It has been a difficult year in so many ways but with it came new challenges to be overcome which has given a sense of achievement to both staff and students.

Teaching musical instruments over Zoom has its difficulties, but I was extremely proud just how well students coped with this. It was also good to have parents able to watch the lessons, and so be able to help with their children’s practice.

I found one of the hardest things being unable to have ensembles like Brass Group and Wind Band.

Making live music together, as a team, is so important.

I decided to set up a YouTube channel making videos of varying silliness to entertain everyone stuck at home. One of my favourites involved myself and a friend performing a Piano duet, in our local park, of Pirates of the Caribbean. Having been seen by a mother of one of my students I was told that her daughter would be stoked if I was dressed as a Pirate for her next Zoom lesson. The look on her face when that lesson started was priceless!

I also undertook running to School, teaching and running back dressed as Santa Clause for charity and was supported by many of my students’ parents. Thank you! Normal dress code has now be resumed.

Mr L Bartlett Music Teacher (Brass and Piano)

SENIOR SCHOOL | 35

Senior School | Music

National Youth Choir news…

Senior School

A school production in a time of Covid…

The Autumn Term at Hymers College is usually devoted to the Senior School production.

This is sometimes a musical and sometimes a play. It is open to members of the school from Year 8 upwards for musicals and Year 10 upwards for plays, in order that the upper years can take on more challenging work.

In 2020, however, when we were able to be in school, year groups were being taught in separate ‘bubbles’. This meant that a large cast production with mixed year groups was not going to be possible. In September of 2020 theatres up and down the country were still closed to audiences (although some venues had begun to perform productions which were filmed and streamed to audiences via the internet).

We began the audition and rehearsal process not knowing whether we would be able to mix or even perform to an audience and ultimately took the decision to cast Sixth Form students only.

I had long wanted to direct a production of Hedda Gabler. It is currently a set text for the A Level Drama course that we teach, so this seemed the perfect opportunity.

I love Ibsen; I think it is notable that so many of the issues raised in the play are still played out in modern society. Hedda as a character draws a range of responses from audiences and from the beginning of the process I urged the cast to find something to like about her. I am a big fan!

After a well-attended audition process, we took the decision to double up the roles so that the actors were taking on two roles which they would perform on alternate nights. This added to the complication of the rehearsal process, but in the end, this decision saved the show. During the weeks of rehearsal, various cast members were isolating at different times; sometimes being absent for numbers of weeks.

Having doubled up the parts, we were able to continue to rehearse, but as we neared opening night things took a more problematic 36 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

turn; one of the cast missed several rehearsals due to Covid and another was required to isolate the week of the performance.

It was so sad that Charlie S had to miss out on performing after so many weeks of rehearsing. He would have been a brilliant Tesman.

Luckily we had the wonderful Tom J, who had also been cast in the part and was therefore able to play the role both nights, with a different Hedda each time.

streamed performances were excellent. The only role that was doubled in the final performance was that of Hedda Gabler herself.

Phoebe T and Rachel W were both outstanding in their portrayal of this complex character. They both delivered a comic portrayal of Berte, the maid on alternate nights.

Izzy D’s Thea was a wonderful contrast to the manipulative Hedda and Bethany S’s performance as the doting Aunt Juliana really drew the audience’s sympathy.

Hedda Gabler ~ The Cast Jorgen Tesman - an academic Hedda - his new wife Aunt Juliana - his Aunt Berte - the maid Judge Brack - a family friend Eilert Lovborg - a writer Thea Elvstead - a visitor Lighting Sound Stage Manager Video The next challenge was the performance itself. Theatres were still closed to live audiences and so we decided to record the performances and stream them to audiences once they had been edited. On opening night the cast performed to a small audience of members of staff and to three cameras operated by Oliver L and Dr Pickles. As ever the technical team of Oscar S, Eliza C, and Will C brought the piece to life. Oliver undertook the editing process and the resulting

Tom J / Charlie S Tom J Phoebe T / Rachel W Beth S / Izzy D Beth S Rachel W / Phoebe T Dane J / Dane J James L / James L Izzy D / Beth S Izzy D Oscar S Eliza C Will C Oliver L & Dr Pickles Dane J, as the sinister Brack, was horribly convincing and James L gave a splendid performance as the dissolute Lovborg.

This is a challenging play on many levels and with the added restrictions placed on us by Covid, it is amazing that we achieved the level of success we did. I am so impressed with this astonishingly talented young cast who were so committed and enthusiastic in their rehearsal process and so brilliant in the two performances.

Ms S Rosser Drama Teacher (Vocals)

Senior School | Drama

I love Ibsen; I think it is notable that so many of the issues raised in the play are still played out in modern society. Hedda as a character draws a range of responses from audiences and from the beginning of the process I urged the cast to find something to like about her. I am a big fan!

SENIOR SCHOOL | 37

Senior School

Greek Plays Year 7 to Year 9

Francesca interviews Miss McCleod, Ms Rosser and Mr Hartley about the complexities of staging the Greek plays during the Summer Term.

Tell me about the plays and how you chose them?

Briefly, what are the storylines for each of them?

We knew we had to run the production as separate plays for each year group, as the school had been put into year group bubbles as a Covid measure. It seemed an appropriate time to consider an outdoor stage and production, due to the fact that restrictions also meant that no live audiences were allowed inside the theatre.

It seemed a shame to waste the glorious weather of the summer (what was I thinking?) and prerecord it, and so we decided to hire an outdoor stage.

The Year 7 production, ‘Jason & the Golden Fleece’ is a long poem, essentially, that takes the audience on the epic adventure of Jason searching for his crew of Argonauts, who would accompany him through rough seas and through many lands in order to acquire the golden fleece and bring it back to his uncle, who, if handed the fleece, must relinquish his role of the King, and give back Jason his rightful throne that he stole from him when Jason was just a boy.

Ms Rosser had mentioned a Greek play as a potential, and a name I couldn’t pronounce or remember for weeks on end floated around in our initial conversations, which turned out to be the Year 9 play ‘Iphigenia in Aulis’. We all searched for some exciting scripts and the idea of the Greek Festival was born. ‘Troy 24’ was a contemporary adaptation of the story of Troy spoken about in drama teaching circles as an exciting version to explore at school. Enthusiastic and ‘down with the kids’, it seemed obvious to give Mr Hartley this innovative, fast-paced and humorous text. Having recently watched the old classic movie, I was on the look out for a Jason and the Argonauts story, and after reading a couple of scripts, I came across a really funny, exciting, rhyming(!) version of ‘Jason & the Golden Fleece’ which would require imaginative use of staging to dramatise the slaying of dragons and and murder!

38 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

It is a tale of heroes, kings, goddesses, sirens, harpies and the occasional shipwright.

The Year 8 production, ‘Troy 24’, followed a 24 hour news broadcast of the latter part of the Trojan War. Greek champion Achilles has returned to the fray to seek vengeance upon Hector for killing his cousin Patroclus. The news broadcast was first at hand to give an overview of the entire war so far, as well as live updates from reporters in the field, to the team back in the studio. The play builds up to the much anticipated fight between Achilles and Hector, the fight that would decide the outcome of the entire war.

The Year 9 production, ‘Iphagenia in Aulis’ is the story of how Agamemnon comes to decide to sacrifice his daughter to ensure good fortune in the Trojan War. It is a domestic tragedy set against a heroic landscape. This version retained Euripides’ classic poetics but managed to have a contemporary resonance.

Covid must have made things difficult in terms of rehearsals and time constraints; how have you adapted?

We took all of the elements that were against us and used them to our advantage. Can’t have an audience inside? Fine, we’ll do it outside. Can’t work on one production with the Year 7-9s? Fine, we’ll make a thing of it and run it as a Festival!

Rehearsals were occasionally disrupted by cast members isolating, with Ms Rosser and her cast & crew being most affected, with the lead role being recast at least twice before the rehearsals could get properly underway, but nothing we couldn’t handle.

Being outside meant that each year group had an opportunity to rehearse on the stage during the school day and not disrupt any lessons by being really loud (just the rugby training had to compete with war scenes from ‘Troy’, which was quite surreal!)

We’ve seen some wonderful musicals at Hymers over the years.

How do you think straight plays compare and which do you prefer?

Musicals are a fantastic part of what we do and allow us to work alongside the Music department, but giving students an opportunity to perform straight plays is an essential part of the co-curricular programme.

Enthusiastic and ‘down with the kids’, it seemed obvious to give Mr Hartley this innovative, fast-paced and humorous text.

Senior School | Greek Plays

We are used to seeing some Sixth Form productions over the years: namely ‘Hedda Gabler’ more recently and prior to that ‘Our Country’s Good’, but actually, until we did ‘Mary Poppins’ the Musical with Years 7-9 a couple of years ago, prior to that, we entered Shakespeare Schools’ Festival and so had a different type of challenge and experience with that.

In answer to what I prefer, it is like being asked if I like chocolate or crisps. It depends whether I’m in a sweet or savoury mood, and without one of those products, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the other.

Both are equally important and enjoyable and offer you a different flavour!

How have you found getting involved with the drama department and plays this year Mr Hartley?

who helped to make the outdoor performances possible. Thanks to Dr Pickles for arranging, booking and running the sound, which was brilliant.

Thanks to the Music department for choosing to share the planning and financial cost of hiring the stage, so that music and drama events could take place for the students.

Thanks to Mr Thompson for his support in planning the event and to Mr Hartley and Ms Rosser for all of their support to their casts and crew and for putting so many hours in, at such an uncertain point in the year. Lastly, thank you to the children who were involved, who never cease to amaze me with their dedication and resilience to change and rise to the occasion.

... thank you to the children who were involved, who never cease to amaze me with their dedication and resilience to change and rise to the occasion.

Francesca W Year 9

I have absolutely loved being a part of the drama department.

Drama is my subject and I have a real passion for it so I was over the moon to work with and learn from Ms Rosser and Miss McLeod. I was also delighted to be given the opportunity to direct Troy 24 and to work with the marvellous Year 8s who made my job a pleasure.

Is there anything else you would like to say Miss McCleod?

I am massively grateful for, and proud of the students and staff

SENIOR SCHOOL | 39

Senior School

Senior School Art Exhibition Year 7 Lockdown and online learning provided an opportunity to explore the world of digital art with several year groups.

Opie before choosing a favourite celebrity to immortalise in his style.

Tintin comics, and proved an achievable drawing challenge using a mouse and keyboard!

Year 7 enjoyed looking at the work of digital portrait artist Julian

The simplicity of the visual language - dot eyes, heavy outlines and ‘flat’ colour - may remind some of you of Herge’s

Zooey Deschanel by Danae B

Boris Johnson by Kinga K

Lewis Hamilton by Keiji A

Sophia O

Emilia J

The examples below show how well the children used line to create features, gradients to

Year 8 A highlight of Year 8’s creative journey was the Superheros Project. The students researched classic comic book artists including Jack Kirby and John Buscema.

We practiced the drawing skills required to create a heroic character, designed their powers and costumes and finally rendered them in heroic poses.

After creating single-point perspective backgrounds, we finally added a range of digital effects like glows and motion blurs to give our creations a touch of Hollywood!

The examples show off the superb figure drawing, perspective and digital effects skills our students developed during the project.

Daisy F

40 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

colour their subjects and layering to add patterns and backgrounds shadows to make their people pop!

Tammam E

Camila Mendes by Gracie I

Perhaps the most exciting learning experience of the year was our Digital B-Movie Posters.

Year 9 researched the art of the

golden age of the B-Movie, in all its gaudy 1950’s glory. We then designed our own monsters before letting them loose upon our

photomontages of world cities and panicking crowds. The titles were hand-lettered using fifties inspired fonts researched online.

Maisie M

Rebecca L

Krithi R

Francesca W

The examples below show how adept the students became at layering and resizing photos, as well as creating chimeric monsters!

Year 10

Sienna S

Ava D

Ella A

Lockdown and online learning provided an opportunity to explore the world of digital art with several year groups.

Anna H

SENIOR SCHOOL | 41

Senior School | Art

Year 9

Senior School

Year 10 Year 10 began their GCSE course by exploring drawing, painting and photomontage before beginning to develop their own personal lines of enquiry.

Here, light and dark is investigated through chiaroscuro portraiture, the landscapes of Van Gogh and Hockney are reinterpreted, and body image is explored inspired by Jenny Savile.

Isla G

Mahdiyah K

Madeleine C

Erin A

Year 11 Despite a year complicated by lockdowns and uncertainty, Year 11 displayed immense levels of focus and commitment to produce some absolutely magnificent portfolio work both in school and at home, supported by remote learning.

The work was immensely varied in individual focus, but featured the common threads of personal engagement, creativity and a positive attitude to taking creative risks.

Freyja H

Elise G

42 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

Freya W

Year 12 began their A Level course by exploring a range of themes and techniques including photography, drawing, digital photomontage and painting.

Their personal investigations are now exploring a range of diverse themes including mythical and fantasy creatures, food, light and dark, relationships and surrealism.

Amelia L

Yasmin K

Amelia L - Amelia explores contemporary portraiture techniques

Natasha R - Natasha creates a vivid response to light and dark

Yasmin K - Yasmin combines Klimt and Vivienne Westwood

Natasha R

Year 13 Year 13 focused on completing their personal investigations throughout the year.

Their portfolio work was truly outstanding and a testament to their resilience, work ethic and ability to be flexible and cope with change.

Dane J 1&2: Dane explored the concept of shadows literally and figuratively through portraiture Rifah H: Rifah’s work culminated in a highly personal piece exploring faith and connection to the universe

Dane J (left & above)

Victoria M: Victoria explored natural and man-made textures in a series of rural scenes

Victoria M

Rifah H

SENIOR SCHOOL | 43

Senior School | Art

Year 12

Senior School

No Zoom Day… get out of your room, creativity boom!

Teaching over Zoom seems like a distant memory for me now (though as I write, the Junior School have had to revert to remote learning for three days).

There were definitely some plus points and a lot of people (staff and students alike) learned a lot of new skills. Innovative solutions to unexpected problems were in abundance and some newly learned pedagogy has remained now we are back in classrooms.

However, the experience of sitting in front of the same screen in the same room for hours on end was pretty grim!

Come the end of January 2021 and still no end of the lockdown in sight, the school made the decision to give staff and students a day off Zoom!

The ‘No Zoom, get out of your room, creativity boom’ day was born.

On Tuesday 9 February 2021 the staff and students avoided their screens and took on a variety of activities, from creating a piece of artwork on paper or by running a route and recording it on Strava.

There were meals cooked by students for their parents and some amazing looking cakes. Students danced and created music and took some fantastic photographs.

But most of all, No Zoom Day gave birth to an army of snow men! Yes, we definitely got the timing right.

There was a fresh covering of thick snow under our feet and a clear blue sky above our heads as we woke to a day without screens. The children of key workers still came into school. But instead of sitting at the same computers in the LRC we enjoyed the snow, making a 7ft snowman dressed in Mr Wright’s academic gown and recreating the outline of the Hymers shield on the rugby pitches and on Strava.

Mr Whittaker and Miss Robinson took the students to the Art department and created a huge Keith Haring inspired mural.

They finished off with some of their own creations and drew some Celtic knots.

The response from all of the students was great, with many submitting their creations to the No Zoom page on Schoogle the following day (which seemed a bit ironic). I was amazed by the range of talent in the school. The ‘No Zoom, get out of your room, creativity boom’ was clearly a success and, I hope, was a welcome break from the dreaded screen.

Mr R Simpson Senior Leadership Team

44 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

Instead of sitting at the same computers in the LRC we enjoyed the snow, making a 7ft snowman dressed in Mr Wright’s academic gown and recreating the outline of the Hymers shield on the rugby pitches and on Strava.

Our assembly programme has continued to be interesting and varied, despite the most unusual school year. Our beautiful Main Hall was not used for any assemblies, as the Pandemic prevented us from gathering en masse.

Boris Johnson, Prime Minister

To coincide with Black History Month, we shall be taking the opportunity to learn about black figures from across history. Throughout October our PSHE lessons and within history lessons, in both the Senior and Junior School, we will be carrying out project and research work with a focus on achievements of people such as composer Joseph Boulogne, heroic nurse Mary Seacole and inspiring rugby legend Clive Sullivan.

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My grateful thanks to all who have contributed to our assembly programme this year and particular thanks to Mrs Cook who coordinated the programme and worked hard to make sure we had a balanced and varied programme.

“Black History Month always provides a fantastic opportunity for us to recognize the outstanding contributions people of African and Caribbean descent have made to our country over many generations.”

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As ever, students were excellent contributors to assemblies and many proved to be more successful at filming and editing their own video clips than the staff!

Highlights included Mrs Copeland demonstrating that chickens sometimes have better world knowledge than students, Mr Bartlett’s adventures in recording music during the lockdown and Drs Denton and Smith unravelling the complexities of American Politics in the Trump vs.

Biden election campaign.

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An unexpected bonus was that many Old Hymerians were able to

A small ‘TV studio’ was set up in the Ashurst room of the LRC, where Dr Pickles generally read the notices before handing over to the speaker who may be joining (“Zooming”) live or via a prerecorded video clip.

A theme throughout the year was looking at different subjects, where academic departments in school had the opportunity to tell us all why they think their subject is the best!

C l iv e

Instead, assemblies over the past year have been broadcast online using the Zoom platform.

Students have sometimes attended assemblies in classrooms with their form tutors and at other times they connected from home via the internet. Many of our regular contributors were able to make video recordings at home which they sent in to be broadcast, thus maintaining connections with the various faith and community groups which form a key part of our assembly programme.

record video assemblies and it was wonderful to hear from ex-students from around the UK and beyond, including a memorable OH video which was filmed in Hong Kong and Sweden! Many of our contributors would not have been able to travel to Hymers, so we were able to hear from Old Hymerians that otherwise would not have been able to present in assembly. We hope that we will be able to continue this once the pandemic is over.

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Coming up this month...

Assembly:

Friday 2 October Introduction to BHM Assembly:

Tuesday 20 October Exploring BHM & its affects

NEW to

Schoogle

recommendations for students on books, podcasts, films & TED talks Lectures: During their history lessons, Year 13 students will be attending lectures on the following topics: > Ancient African civilisations > Black Abolitionists > Civil Rights Movement in twentieth Century America > Guest Speaker: Mr Angelo Irving

In addition...

Year 8s have the opportunity to learn West African Djembe drumming in Music this term as well studying Mansa Musa and the Empire of Mali; Year 9s are concentrating on The British West Indian Regiment and in Year 13 History there is also a focus on Civil Rights in the USA, and in Politics we are looking at the effects of colonialism on the Igbo population of Nigeria.

Dr Pickles Senior Leadership Team

Extract from Black History Month Assembly...

We also hear of the story of John Blanke who was actually a court trumpeter to Henry VIII and in fact even managed to receive a wedding present from the king!

The music you just heard being played was the String Quartet Number 3 in G Minor composed

by Joseph Boulogne and played

by Chineke! the UK’s first ethnic minority orchestra.

Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, was born a slave and his work was actually copied

by Mozart. He performed his own composed violin concertos for high society, and was the music teacher and favourite of the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette. The second president of America, John Adams, described Chevalier de Saint-Georges as ‘the most accomplished man in Europe.’

So how come we don’t know more about Boulogne? He has largely been forgotten by history, in fact when Chi Chi Nwanoku played his work at Westminster Abbey to commemorate the bicentenary of the abolition of slavery music, critics commented that ‘he sounds just like Mozart’ – when in fact it’s the other way round.

This is only one of many forgotten stories of the black presence in European history and in this, Hymers inaugural celebration of Black History Month, we intend to challenge existing perceptions of Black History and to create new conversations around it.

It was the author Afua Hirsch, on the panel of last year’s Booker Prize and herself of Ashanti Ghanian descent, that said [quote].

This perfectly encapsulates what we are trying to promote, Black History shouldn’t be seen as ‘Other’ but instead it is an integral part of our island story and who we are today.

So our aims for Black History Month at Hymers are to show to you that Black History is a fundamental part of British History and that this has been the case for thousands of years.

We are going to focus on black success, and hopefully tell you new stories that make you think differently about Black History.

So rather than talk about William Wilberforce (who went to Pock School anyway) we will introduce figures such as Olaudah Equino who wrote numerous pamphlets on the evils of slavery and Toussaint L’ouverture – the slave leader who beat Spanish, French and British armies and established the modern country of Haiti.

So Britain has always been an immigrant nation, there were Africans making their home in Britain before there were English people in Britain.

This might sound strange, but if we think that the terms English and Anglo-Saxon are seen as synonymous with one another, then consider that Africans were making this their home, when the marauding tribes of Angles and Saxons (from what is now Denmark and Germany) and their violent invasions were little more than a distant nightmare.

As you can also see, archaeologists and genetic biologists now argue that multiculturalism in Britain isn’t something new and has been around since at least the Roman times if not earlier.

This evidence of a black presence in Britain is also shown in Medieval and Tudor records; we can see a black figure decorating part of an early Medieval Domesday Book, whilst it is clear that the parishioners in Ulfcombe Devon would have considered St Maurice to be black.

These stories continue throughout Britain’s history. The Admiral Horatio Nelson is regarded as one of the nation’s greatest military leaders, and judging by historical evidence he too had a diverse body of followers. In the bottom right corner of this slide there is a picture of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, on the base of it is engraved an armed black sailor.

On one of the portraits of his death at the Battle of Trafalgar, painted at the time, a black fighter can also be clearly seen.

This shouldn’t be a surprise as it wasn’t uncommon for black servicemen to risk their lives for king and country, in fact during the American War of Independence there was an entire regiment of Ethiopian troops fighting for Britain against the Americans.

Georgian London also seemed to be a cultural melting pot if we consider Cruickshank’s quote.

Once again black figures are present in illustrations that would be seen by thousands of people across the country.

SENIOR SCHOOL | 45

Senior School | Assemblies

School Assemblies through the pandemic

Senior School

Hello, we are the Time Capsule Club!

Our hope is to create a time capsule for future generations of students to open and see how Hymerians lived during a global pandemic.

We have been meeting on Zoom and in person since the first lockdown and recorded our thoughts and feelings about each development as it has happened, from the crazy toilet roll shortage to the vaccines being used for the first time.

We have interviewed and written letters to Old Hymerians and even had our own club picnic, but our

most notable project so far was our letter to Buckingham Palace.

After talking about the loss of HRH Prince Philip in one of our Time Capsule Club meetings, we decided to create a card to send to the Queen, especially since she had had to endure a Covid funeral.

After lots of discussions, we decided to let Oscar design the front image of the card: “I decided to make it quite sentimental, and not just an average ‘sorry for your loss’ card. It needed to be something that could remember the good times the Queen had enjoyed with her beloved husband.”

Oscar drew a lovely picture of Buckingham Palace with a cut-out hole revealing a photograph of Her Majesty and Prince Phillip.

We discussed how to address her and the words we should use to commemorate him and his work throughout the many

years he served as her Consort, as well as telling them about our club and what we have been doing throughout the Coronavirus lockdowns. With the help of Mrs Doak, we tweaked the last few words and eventually it was ready to send off. We took it down to Mr Stanley’s office to show him and, of course, took photos to commemorate its completion, which will go in the finished time capsule.

A few months later, we received a reply from the Queen’s lady-inwaiting, which was both an honour and a surprise, as well as a card containing a picture of Prince Phillip. We hope you enjoy seeing photographs of our card and the Queen’s letter!

Lydia H, Lydia A, Maud, Emily, Keira, Oscar and Florence The Time Capsule Club.

Virtual Remembrance Day service The Remembrance Day service is an important regular event in the Hymers calendar where staff, students, Old Hymerians and guests from the Armed Forces join together to remember those who gave up their lives in wars and conflicts.

This event takes place every year in our Main Hall and wreaths are laid at the War Memorial.

However, like many events in the past year, the Covid-19 pandemic meant that the Remembrance Service could not take place in the usual way. It was not possible, or even sensible, to have 800+ people in the Main Hall for this event. Instead, Hymers ran its first ever Virtual Remembrance Service.

over the internet to students in classrooms around the school and also to students and Old Hymerians watching at home.

Fittingly, the main part of the service was broadcast from the Memorial Hall Foyer – the location of the school’s war memorial.

The service was broadcast live

The Headmaster led the event,

46 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

Musical interludes were prerecorded, including trumpeter Owen R playing the traditional Last Post and Rouse, bookending the two minute silence.

giving a moving tribute to Hymers students lost in conflicts and the Heads of School, Srinidhi and Dane, read the names of the staff and students from our war memorial. The Year 12/13 Girls’ Choir performed beautiful versions of the hymn Abide with Me and The Seal Lullaby by Whitacre and the Senior String Group played Idyll

by Sibelius with great sensitivity.

Amelia S read the poem Perhaps

by Vera Brittain, Thomas G read In Flanders Fields by John McCrae

and OHA President Emily Pennack read from the Bible.

Staff, students and Old Hymerians laid wreaths at the memorial, led the prayers, and the Ode of Remembrance. Behind the scenes, Mr Walker kept the technology working and, despite the unusual format for this traditional event, the whole service was a fitting and moving tribute to the fallen. We will remember them.

Dr M Pickles Senior Leadership Team

Cpl Morris (OH – but remains a member of the detachment)

Annual Camp 2021 After over a year without face-toface training, cadets from Hymers Detachment joined with their peers from across Hull and East Yorkshire to attend a one-week Annual Camp in Driffield.

While not the 2-week camp in Scotland that was originally planned, the cadets still had an action-packed week taking part in a range of activities that included orienteering, laser clay pigeon shooting, a day of water sports at Welton Waters, the ‘gun run’ (a timed physical and mental challenge

where the cadets construct and transport a field gun over a course), a number of fieldcraft exercises, a day of competition shooting and a virtual reality experience. Corporal Morris especially had a great day on the ranges and came away with the highest score of all cadets shooting that week.

This Covid-secure camp, with no Covid cases either during or as a result of the camp, proves that with the correct precautions in place we can make the exciting and safe return back to regular residential training – much to the delight of the cadets!

Hymers Detachment walk the Appalachian Trail In an effort to move virtual training away from yet more hours spent in front of a computer screen, on 4 February 2021, Hymers Detachment embarked on a mammoth trek along the east coast of the United States from Georgia to Maine - albeit individually and within our local area!

Using The Conqueror Challenge mobile app, our team of 15 cadets, parents and CFAVs logged individual distances walked, run,

cycled and kayaked during the lockdown period. The app tracked the collective distance travelled and marked our location on the map of the Appalachian Trail.

The trail itself is over 2000 miles long. Every year thousands of people attempt to hike the trail endto-end, also known as “thru-hiking” - a gruelling challenge that involves summiting 27 peaks that takes, on average, 5 months to complete and finishes with a scramble up Mount Katahdin (5269ft). The challenge was completed after 196 days – averaging just over 10 miles per day.

Appalachian Trail Medals: Top: (L-R): Cadet Kock, Cadet Benson, Lance Corporal Donnelly Below: Lt. Johnson (Regional Instructor), Corporal Jackson, Sgt Summers (Detachment Second in Command and OH 1999 – 2004)

To complement the physical challenge, the cadet force instructors produced short videos to develop the cadet’s expedition skills and Scarborough & Ryedale Mountain Rescue were invited to talk to the cadets about the common mistakes people make that result in them needing to be rescued and how to avoid them.

In the Pipeline Over the coming term, our cadets will be attending STEM camp with the Royal Engineers in Liverpool and range days in October. In November they will be competing in the inter-unit competition and in December we will be making use of the new digital range in our region – a 10-lane, indoor range, where we’ll fire the cadet rifle at a combination of video and

computer-generated imagery (kind of like a really, really fancy Xbox with a real rifle and kickback!).

Any of this sound like fun?

If you are 12 years+ and in Year 8 and above and would like to join us on our adventures, we meet on Thursday evenings from 5.20pm – 7.30pm in the green building on the far side of the Astroturf. If you’d like some more info, you can speak with Mr Summers.

SENIOR SCHOOL | 47

Senior School | Clubs & Activities

Hymers Army Cadet Force

Senior School

The Main Hall - reflections

In December 2020 Mr Penny made a short film for a virtual assembly in 2021 reflecting on the history of the Main Hall at Hymers College.

This article is an adapted version of his script.

My name is Andrew Penny and I have been on the music staff at Hymers College since 1977. I think this Main Hall, built in 1892, is a wonderful example of its kind and merits a good look around.

Behind me are two portraits, one of Charles Gore the first Headmaster and one of Dr. John Hymers, the founder of the College who left the bulk of his fortune in the 1880’s to “found and endow a Grammar School in Hull.” Unfortunately his home-made will was successfully contested and his younger brother Robert inherited. However the intention of the will was clear, even if it was not correctly drawn and Robert immediately gifted £40,000 to carry out his brother’s wishes which is why Robert’s portrait is also here at the opposite end of the Hall.

While we are here with Robert, here is the Field Bell which called in generations of pupils to school in the morning and off the fields at lunchtime. The inscription here reads as follows [inset}.

The Hall is in the form of a Triforium.

You can see that it is an interior gallery on three sides opening on to the tall central space at an upper level. The wonderful vaulted wooden roof is remarkable and is mirrored in the Memorial Hall, built much later.

a violinist. I was a young member of the audience at a concert in the 1960s which was given by violinist Ralph Holmes who was in the Junior School here from 1947 to 1949.

He became a very famous player indeed and came back to his old school to give a charity concert.

If you look at the pictures of all those birthday cards that were sent to Captain Tom Moore when they were laid out in the Great Hall of Bedford School, you will recognise that other public schools used the same design, Dulwich and Hailybury for example.

Let’s go down the imposing staircase, pausing on the landing half way.

Before we leave the balcony there is one more interesting point. One of the spindles in the bannister is the wrong way up. The Victorian builders deliberately incorporated a mistake into some feature to show that only God is perfect. I bet many a bored student during assembly has looked up here and never noticed that.

My first memory of this Hall was sitting on a balcony bench and looking down at a grand piano and

The College Division Bell The College Bell was ordered by Messrs. Botterill (Son) and Dilson Architects, of Hull at a cost of £16.18s. 4d and installed in September 1892

by Messrs. Marsden and Hodson, Builders.

Its diameter is 22 inches and its weight 2 cwt: 1 qr: 7lbs The note is G sharp It is inscribed John Taylor. Founders. Loughborough. MDCCCXCII* The bell and the clock, which had stopped for over 20 years were cleaned and restored in September 1984, during the Headmastership of Mr B G Bass by Mr D V Stipetic of Hull *1892

48 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

At this point I had the idea many years ago of positioning a small choir here for an item in the Remembrance Service. They were unseen but the sound went round the Hall in a most effective way. I may not have been the first to use it but it became a regular feature after that.

There is the West Door and the suites of offices. As I make my way across the floor here are a series of marks on the floor put in by Peter Hopkinson, one of the porters from years ago, so that he could place the chairs accurately for Assembly.

I have used them myself many

The Hall is in the form of a Triforium.

You can see that it is an interior gallery on three sides opening on to the tall central space at the upper level.

The wonderful vaulted wooden roof is remarkable and is mirrored in the Memorial Hall, built much later.

The building work was undertaken

by G.H. Houlton whose family have maintained a connection with the school going back four generations.

Looking at the offices from left to right we see the Deputy Head’s, the Head’s the Head’s Secretary’s Office, Reception and the General Office. That is how many people will remember the layout. Except now it is the Head’s, the Head’s Secretary’s Office and Reception, the General Office and the Deputy Head’s.

John Ashurst was appointed in 1971 and stayed for twelve years.

Almost straightaway he had to deal with the ending of the Direct Grant system which determined whether schools like this were incorporated into the state system or went wholly independent. Along with the hard working Governing body, by 1976 they had saved the school really.

people behaved to each other and John faced it all head on. An immensely likeable chap, his sense of family at home transferred to the school I think. The phrase Hymers Family was born.

After 16 years John retired and David Elstone was appointed. It was he who made a lot of people in Hull realise what was hidden here off the Spring Bank. He made

I pointed out to the Head’s Secretary the other day that she is the first women ever to sit where previous Headmasters always had their desks!

Remember the portrait up on the Balcony? That was Charles Henry Gore, the first Head from 1893 through the First World War to his retirement in 1927, that is 34 years, an incredible period of service.

He was succeeded by William Victor Cavill who served from 1927 to 1951, that is 24 years. A bluff uncompromising fellow by all accounts who seems to have ruled with firmness shall we say. He had to deal with running the school through the Second World War of course.

Here is Harry Roach. If William Victor was the archetypal believer in sporting prowess and encouraging the flannelled fool and muddied oaf, then Harry was the cultured classicist with an altogether softer touch. I actually knew him, as he took up the violin at an advanced age and joined a Saturday Morning Music School I was in as a young clarinet player.

Quite a progressivist Mr Roach, introducing current affairs chats with the Sixth Form and Russian for the bright ones. He served for 20 years.

There is a line in that poem which is the first line of a Hymn, Lord receive us with thy Blessing. The second line gives O’Brien the title of his novel, Once Again Assembled Here. Maybe he and others had to sing that many times in Assembly.

There is a description of the Main Hall in O’Brien’s novel which by the way is a great read even if you are not fascinated by the references to Hymers, or Blakes as he calls it.

Next time you are in the Main Hall think about those events that have taken place in this space over the past 127 years. Yes, there have been thousands of Assemblies, Careers Evenings and Parents’ Evenings.

These Honours Boards are interesting; names and early successes from a generation long gone. They also show links to Cambridge University where John Hymers studied. There is one that is particularly interesting; I remember this large crack occurring during a concert with ear splitting effect during a particularly loud choral note.

Down this side are the six portraits of previous Headmasters who all left their mark in differing ways on the business of educating boys and then girls at Hymers.

tries it on with the weary teachers.

But how about the Ball held here after the opening of the College in 1893?

You can see Ashurst’s memorial if you look around you. It was he who put the glass panels in the hitherto solid doors so he could see how well his staff were doing at quelling riots in the classrooms!

He introduced girls to the school and another important decision Mr Ashurst made was to appoint me to do three hours a week of woodwind teaching in 1977 but let’s move on… …to Bryan Bass. I liked Mr Bass; he was very supportive of the music in school and made the school gradually co-educational.

Bryan Bass appointed Tim O’Byrne as Head of Music and together we created the modern music department really. There were two academic teachers of music with singing brought to the fore. I headed up 16 specialist instrumental teachers who visited the school each week to teach our students on a rotational basis.

There were three orchestras, three wind bands, brass ensembles, string groups, choirs of all types, the list goes on. Everything Hymers has achieved musically since the 1980’s, and it has been a lot, began with Bryan Bass. Only quite recently has the timetable for all this music been changed.

Here is his successor appointed after only 7 years, John Morris.

Bryan Bass was at this time the only Head to leave Hymers and go on to another job; he was headhunted to lead the City of London School out of trouble. John Morris had arrived as Head of History, became Deputy Head and then Headmaster in 1990. He was a fine academic, a good sportsman and carried on what Bass had started really and developed the school even further in very changing times.

The introduction of computers and then mobile phones had an enormous effect on the way young

sure that a great many people outside the school knew about it and use our facilities, be it for sport, culture or education. Consequently this had an effect on applications and numbers of pupils. He retired in 2019 after 13 years and was replaced by Justin Stanley, who, like Harry Roach is a Classicist and like Morris and Bass a cultured all-rounder who is very interested in sport. I think all Heads need to be that nowadays as well as educationalists.

Solemn assemblies when the deaths of former pupils were announced in two World Wars.

A great party for the Armistice in 1919 when this Hall was bedecked with flags. Parties to welcome and say farewell to Headmasters and then the Old Hymerian Dinners with some very bad behaviour on occasions.

Think of those tremulous naughty boys waiting to be beaten outside the Head’s office in former days, thankfully long gone.

Of course Mr Stanley is probably the greatest of all the Heads here… because, at the time of this recording… he has decided to keep me on the staff… for the moment.

Concerts and theatrical productions, charity assemblies where thousands of pounds were presented to deserving causes.

Hours and hours of examinations taken in here and the surrounding classrooms which determined careers of thousands of pupils.

But where will they hang his portrait when he leaves here?

Memorial services to pupils taken far too early.

I hope we will have years before that problem has to be solved.

Joyful Christmas Carol Concerts when the singing made the rafters ring.

Sean O’Brien

The poet Sean O’Brien was a pupil here in the 1960s and became Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University. His time at Hymers clearly meant something to him as he has written about this place in poems and in his novel Once Again Assembled Here.

Do look up the poem Latinists for example.

The four names at the start are members of staff I know or knew well. Laurie Trewartha and Gerald Thompson. Felix was the Deputy Head Norman Walker and Windy was David Gale. It is the only poem I know that uses the word phenomenologically, as the writer

For myself, I have been part of over 100 Christmas Concerts in here; you can get fed up of O Come All Ye Faithful you know.

My favourite moments? Standing here and looking through the open door to the Memorial Hall and seeing my son aged 10 lay the Junior School wreath on Remembrance Day. Hearing my daughter’s voice in a solo here would be any parent’s favourite moment.

Then I remember conducting The Armed Man by Karl Jenkins for the school’s 125th birthday when one of my former pupils, Corinne Stead, who you know as Mrs Cook, sang her heart out in the three solo sections. We had an enormous choir of pupils and a professional orchestra with many of my friends and colleagues playing.

One of many events in the Hall… …if only these walls could talk.

Mr A J Penny Music Teacher (Woodwind)

SENIOR SCHOOL | 49

Senior School | Main Hall

times to check the audience chairs were straight for concerts.

Senior School

Languages and Culture Club Driven by the importance of promoting language-learning and cultural awareness, we created the Language and Culture Club at the start of this academic year and have had the opportunity and privilege to invite speakers from all over the world.

Language & Culture Club Leaders: Marie K, Alexandra O, Helena M and Shreya R - Year 12

Being able to discuss the influences of languages over their lives and how language skills have enabled them to expand their horizons and communicate with people on a global scale has been extremely eye opening so far!

One of our many guest speakers, Giuseppe Mazzarelli, mentioned that, “languages are an insurance, the world is constantly evolving and you never know which country will be best for your career in five years” and similarly, “languages give you options in countries where you may have a better quality of life’’.

have and the range of fascinating cultures concentrated within the school.

As the majority of us hope to pursue languages at university and beyond, we feel this club has allowed us to explore the different career opportunities through speaking to those in different professions and learning about what the expectations and mindsets we should and will adapt when travelling abroad!

Keep a close eye out for our next newsletter which includes student experiences with A Level languages and beyond, an article about Ramadan, an Newsletter introduction to Classics at Hymers and much more! If you are interested in expanding your knowledge of languages and understanding the importance of culture, then please come and join our sessions to explore a new found interest or develop your passion for languages and cultural awareness!

Along with the help of the Spanish speaking assistant, Luisa, we began working on our first Language and Culture Newsletter to highlight the Languaof ge & Culture diversity and variety languages integrated into the Hymers student body and community. We found it an invaluable experience, not only working together to display our passion, but also realising how many bilingual students we

German Speaking Cafes. We have had the chance to practice our speaking skills with both German learners and native German speakers! Not only were we able to meet new people and discuss their experiences learning languages, both English and German, but it also provided valuable practice of the language.

colloquial language, accents and simply to gather a wider knowledge about German teen culture! It is a great opportunity to improve your language through the advice and boost of confidence from German speakers.

It has been very beneficial to help develop conversational skills, as well as the fluidity and adaptability required whilst discussing topics on the spot in a foreign language!

These topics have included discussing the social impact of coronavirus, the attractions in our areas, hobbies, social media and its impacts and our future aspirations. Through conversing amongst native German speakers, we had the opportunity to hear

future possibilities if you continue to learn a language, connecting and creating bridges between people from all over the world - Germany just being one example in this case.

We would definitely recommend this experience to anyone wishing to develop an understanding of German culture, to significantly improve their language skills and confidence, or to simply meet new people.

Additionally, it is a great way to push yourself out of your comfort zone and gather an idea of the

from the Hymers College MFL Department • Issue 1

Previous Speakers at the Language and Culture Club Have you heard about the language and culture club? Extremely interesting their cultures and experiences speakers talk each week with languages. It’s fascinating about as Russia, Hungary, and to hear from such a wide many more. Our previous range of cultures such speakers were:

Eszti Pontone

Wafaa Elghoroury

Eszti, born in Hungary, has been living in England since the age of 16 after receiving an incredible opportunity in 1995, to study in England for one year in Sixth Form. She started learning English at the age of 6 and luckily, she was one of the ten students from Hungary who were granted the scholarship. Eszti gave us a whistle-stop tour of Hungary’s history, discussing its rather turbulent history, having been invaded many times and eventually losing over 2/3rds of its territory at the Treaty of Trianon. about her life with languages Eszti spoke and how English has provided her with so many opportunities which have completely shaped her life! It was fascinating to hear another’s view on the importance of languages within society and her life individually!

Nina Koshy

Nina is an old Hymerian, attending Hymers college a few years ago and is now studying languages at St Andrews University.

She spoke about the rewarding

experience she has had so far with studying languages (Spanish, Arabic, and Italian) and it was the perfect opportunity for sixth formers or those in younger years to ask her any burning questions! Many of our interested in studying languagesmembers are at university and beyond, so it was very beneficial to have that student perspective and understand how speaking a range of languages can improve your skills, professionally and culturally!

‘One of the many things I love about languages is how much they can say about the people who use it.’

Wafaa spoke about her life growing up in Egypt, being exposed to languages from a very young age! As she attended a British school in Egypt, she had the opportunities to learn English and French as well as the many other languages her parents spoke, such as the Egyptian and Libyan dialects. It was extremely intriguing to see how her drive to learn languages shaped her life and how she was able to gain fluency in different languages through reading travel, literature and watching films.

Wafaa was able to break down the stereotype(s) of ‘learning languages is too difficult’, ‘why bother learning any more if you can speak English’, her advice being that selfteaching a new language is possible, especially through media such as books, films and music.

Giuseppe Mazzarelli

Giuseppe’s parents are Russian and Italian, allowing him to have grown up in a bilingual home. Not only has this provided him with a passion and skill for languages, continued through his learning of English, but it was also interesting for any bilingual students to see how Giuseppe made the best of his advantages, now running a business that deals with clients from Russia.

Giuseppe mentioned how ‘‘languages are an insurance, the world is constantly evolving and you never know which country will be best for your career in 5 years’’ and similarly, ‘languages give you options in countries where you may have a better quality of life’’. His passion and drive were eye-opening for us, and Giuseppe’s advice really allowed us to see just how advantageous languages are and how beneficial they can be for our future!

After having the opportunity invite a selection of guest to speakers to our club, we decided to a series of presentations present delivered by the leaders of the language and culture club!

Shreya Rajesh

Shreya talked to the club about her parent’s mother tongue, Tamil, and the challenges she has had with maintaining the language growing up in Britain. Those who attended were fascinated to look at some of the oldest Indian scriptures called Vedas and the points of discussion also included how much India’s history has shaped its language(s) and societal customs we see to this day. With the many past invasions of civilization, each ‘group’ brought their unique culture and language with them to create the cultural melting pot seen in India today. The members debated the ethicality of India’s traditional caste system and how it is perceived today, this something that all the participants were able to share their thoughts and opinions on!

Helena Mills

It might be thirty years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but it remains shrouded in mystery. Helena‘s presentation took the audience on a whistle-stop tour of the 15 independent republics of the (now dissolved) Union, looking at the wildly differing cultures and languages. We then dove into the heart of Russia - the republic of Tatarstan, home to the rich culture of the indigenous Tatar people and their capital Kazan which sits on the infamous Volga river, the longest river in Europe.

We hope to hear more from members of our club, or indeed anyone who wishes to share their experiences with their culture and language(s) in the future!

Upcoming Speakers Continuing with the theme of stigmas and stereotypes superstitions, myths, and within cultures, more of our students will be talking stereotypes associated with the culture. We are about their culture and coming to speak to us about also delighted to announce fascinating their professions, and how that we have a number learning languages has about life with languages, of Old Hymerians helped shape their lives. studying languages, and If you are interested in learning You can also find powerpoints your fellow students’ cultures, more from previous talks on the feel free to join meetings Language and Culture on Fridays! page :) Language and Culture Club — Schoogle

Shreya R Year 12

German Language Speaking Café An extremely valuable and useful opportunity that some of the Year 12 German A Level students have participated in has been the online

Marie K Year 12

Chess Club The chess club has been reinvigorated this past year.

The weekly club brings out many students across all year groups and has been growing in popularity.

We have reintroduced the Hymers Chess Championship and had an exciting race to the finish.

The 2021 winners were: Year 7 - Alex S, Year 8 - Guhan B, Year 9 - Gabriel W, 50 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

Sixth Form - Pranav D; and the first Hymers School Champion - David L. Looking forward, there are some exciting new developments on the horizon including our first Hymers House Chess Cup and we are now linking up with the junior school to offer chess throughout students’ entire Hymers experience.

Overall our goal is to continue to grow and produce high level players who can compete inside and outside of the school.

Dr R Main Teacher of Classics

Overall our goal is to continue to grow and produce high level players who can compete inside and outside of the school.

Senior School | Clubs & Activities

Economics Club Economics Club has been running for two years now and happens on a Friday lunchtime. It began with students debating wider economic issues on a variety of topics such as Artificial Intelligence, this included some sessions occurring over Zoom during the lockdowns.

The club has developed further with additional activities which have included students doing their own presentations on topics such as the growth and influence of the Chinese economy.

LIBF Certificate in Financial Studies (Level 3) 37 students chose to take this personal finance course during their first year in the Sixth Form.

The qualification can carry UCAS points and is the equivalent to an AS Level.

Attending lessons after school or on a lunchtime they also were responsible for their own independent learning. They took external examinations in January and school assessments in May to achieve their grades. 100% of the students achieved a Grade C or above and 54% achieved an A* or A. This maintained the tradition of excellent results at Hymers, particularly in difficult circumstances due to the lockdowns they experienced. Well done.

Mr J Mutter Head of Economics & Business Studies

Law Society The importance of the Law within society is paramount: it ensures the vulnerable are protected, our freedoms are preserved and access to justice for all. Founding the Law Society at Hymers College signified its importance by creating a student-led, student-created forum for discussion and learning.

The Law Society are a group of aspiring young lawyers who meet every Tuesday lunchtime to discuss current affairs, hear from people in the legal profession and debate controversial topics. Creating this society allowed those interested to discuss subjects not usually covered.

Throughout the year we have heard from various different speakers such as barrister Paula Rhone-Adrien, who hosted a Q&A session. As our first speaker, she brought her knowledge, which she ordinarily shares on her popular TikTok page, to answer the questions of those in attendance.

She discussed everything from her inspirational journey to the Bar to the most pressing issues the Law currently faces. Her session, and story, motivated us all and she remains a great friend of LawSoc. We also had the privilege of hearing from Her Honour Judge Khatun Sapnara who talked about her inspiring journey to becoming a Judge and the barriers she faced as well as a second session on FGM and forced marriage. Learning about the responsibilities of those who uphold the Law demonstrated to us the importance of the profession.

We hosted Old Hymerian Natasha

Saleh who spoke about her journey from Hymerian to Lawyer. Professor Karen Harrison delivered an extremely interesting presentation on miscarriages of justice, looking specifically into cases such as the Birmingham Six and Stefan Kiszko.

Jane Eatock gave us an insight into the real life of a lawyer (clue it’s not like Suits!) These sessions have allowed us to expand our knowledge of the Law. We have held further debates around the topics of: “The idea of abolishing Racism and Sexism is idealistic and unachievable”, “The killing of George Floyd”, and “Should we reinstate the death penalty?” The Law Society has created a platform for discussion around issues faced within society and the legal system.

The highlight of the year for the Law Society was our visit to Hull Combined Court to watch an ongoing murder trial. We also had the amazing opportunity to speak with His Honour Judge Thackray QC and the honourable Mr Justice Fraser who is a High Court Justice.

The ability to observe the trials

revealed the harrowing reality of the justice system as those affected within the case were similar in age to us. This experience enhanced our understanding of the importance of the Law and the judicial process to ensure justice for all.

Mia S, Grace S, Emmama A Year 12

The highlight of the year for the Law Society was our visit to Hull Combined Court to watch an ongoing murder trial.

SENIOR SCHOOL | 51

Senior School

Genes. Glycogenesis. Golgi apparatus.

The Biology Association started in October of 2020, enthusiastic biologists met every Monday on Zoom during lockdown to engage in discussions and presentations surrounding our interest in Biology.

Throughout the year, pupils took the liberty to present what they have learned in lessons whilst layering on the wider reading they have done in biology to discuss with everyone else. Our motivation has been to combine knowledge learnt from lessons and discovering a deeper understanding of Biology in our weekly meetings through sharing our discussions and presentations.

The Biology Association has been fortunate to have the opportunity to be in contact with our Old Hymerians. The guest speakers talk about their occupation and how biology has played a role in their careers whilst sharing their experiences.

Marine biologist - Sebastian Hennige - was one of the first guest speakers we had invited to join us in developing and extending our knowledge beyond the A Level Biology Curriculum.

Whilst stationed at home he about genetic engineering initiated introduced his career and a deep discussion about the ethical described the realities of being a controversies of designer babies marine biologist. We had a great and the advantages of genetic Question and Answer session engineering where people can to dive in deep about the career overcome their genetic diseases. prospect of a Marine There have A Year in the Biology Ass ociation Biologist and the been creative HOT TOPICS course he has studied. Car T-cell Therapy: presentations, the A Living Drug to Cure Hope for Cancer?

Alzheimer’s? most engaging Public Health activity would be Campaign/registrar the Kahoot quizzes in obstetrics - Laura which often French - Laura’s pointed to our experiences in the Long COVID; A lesser-k nown complication streaking champion medical field of Public Robert T. Health was great Leukaemia is one of the most common types of cancer amongst children and adolescents, 40 per million were diagnosed in western Europe according to WHO. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell is a form of immunotherapy, otherwise known as adoptive cell transfer. It involves extracting and using the patient’s immune cells to target different cancers.

The T cells are isolated from the patient’s blood in a process called “apheresis”(separating a constituent from blood).

The cells are then genetically engineered in a laboratory where an inactive virus is inserted into the T- cells. The cells then undergo clonal selection, the T cells are now ready and can recognise antigens on tumour cells. Since the patient’s T cells are used, there is little or no risk of rejection.

is called Yescarta. This is used to treat B cell nonHodgkin lymphomas, a cancer of the lymph nodes.

This treatment in my opinion is groundbreaking. It can be used when conventional cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy have failed, both of which are very invasive and significantly reduce patient’s quality of life.

Early results have shown that 80% of children and young adults who have received Kymariah have achieved remission.

Two main types of treatments have been approved so far. Kymariah is suitable for patients with “Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia” ( Cancer of the bone marrow causing underdeveloped white blood cells). This cancer reduces the patient’s ability to fight off infection, crowds out healthy cells and often spreads to the central nervous system, liver and lymph nodes. The second type

Over two million adults in England are suspected to have had long COVID according to an imperial REACT study.

The objective of the series of REACT studies (real-time assessment of community transmission) is to understand how the pandemic is progressing across England.

The notion of long COVID is poorly understood by authorities and the public alike. The disease has been shown to cause a range of symptoms from breathlessness to skin rash and brain fog. The study has shown that out participants, 37.7% of individuals of 508,707 with symptomatic COVID-19 had experienced at least one symptom for 12 weeks or more, while 14% symptoms for over 12 weeks. had 3 or more Almost a third of people who had at least one symptom for over 12 weeks reported the symptoms as severe (had a

significant effect on their daily lives).

The study will also develop a second programme called REACT GE, which looks for “signatures” such as molecules biological variations in people’s genes. in blood or Researchers will use data collected from 8000 long COVID patients and machine learning to find markers that give people a higher risk of long covid, highlighting new treatment avenues.

References : www.imperial.ac .uk , spiral.imperial.ac.uk & www.imperial.ac.uk

A recently approved drug for Alzheimer’s called Aduhelm has recently been approved. This is the first drug that treats the root cause of Alzheimer’s, the beta-amyloid plaques in the brain.

According to the phase 3 clinical trials, Aduhelm “consistently and very convincingly reduced the level of amyloid plaques”.

This is a hallmark that paves the treatment of this life-changing way for the disease. This drug was given an accelerated approval pathway to “provide earlier access to potentially valuable therapies for patients with serious diseases where there is an unmet need, and where there is an expectation of clinical benefit despite some residual uncertainty regarding that benefit”(source FDA).

Alzheimer’s causes a “cumulative devastation” to patients since they lose their cognitive functioning greatly affecting their quality and memory, of life. A patient with late-stage Alzheimer’s loses the ability to hold a conversation or respond to external stimuli.

There is substantial evidence that the reduction in the level of plaque can reduce the severity and potentially treat Alzheimer’s patients.

The benefits for patients often debilitated by Alzheimer’s provided by the drug outweighed the risks associated.

References: www.bbc.co.uk & www.fda.gov

Written by Rohan

experience, she I want to thank Mrs Biology Association has explained the role Pennack for inviting chosen Water for Africa as our charity to support of the Public Health the Old Hymerians Sector which plays for sharing their at a very important career insights role in society. We for our aspiring discussed the pandemic curve of students and thank all the guest coronavirus and why information is speakers for giving their time to very important to control infectious share their journey after Hymers diseases. The path she had walked College. It was great to finish the continued to amaze us, from Hull year producing our first Biology to study medicine to Australia Association Newsletter inviting studying Tropical medicine and more people to join the club, then entering the Royal College of special thanks to Mrs Gibson for Obstetrics and Gynecology. putting together the newsletter. It has been a pleasure managing the Student presentations incorporated club and I hope to see some new bits of A Level material and faces next year! knowledge outside of the course to As the Biology Association, we came together as a group to choose a charity that we feel fit with our beliefs. Water, as we have learned throughout our A level so far, is essential for the survival of humans and animals. Water has lots of unique features that make it one of the molecules on earth. Farming most important sustainable prevents mass loss of habitats and many other damaging factors that affect our environment.

Therefore we aim to raise money and awareness for the charities and their missions.

We had planned

https://www.imperial.a c.uk/news/224853/over-million-adultsengland-have-long/ https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/bitstream/10044 /1/89844/2/REACT_ long_covid_paper_FINAL.pdf https://www.imperial.a c.uk/news/215193/react-study-expanded-help-better-unders tand

to have several fundraisers throughout the year but due to covid, our plans were put on hold. Therefore we decided to focus on raising awareness and have created our summaries about the charities.

The Water for Africa charity aims to drill wells of clean water for local people struggling to locate clean water. Unsanitary water can cause countless illnesses which may even lead to death. They hope that a sustained programme of investment will enable communities in Africa

https://www.bbc.co.uk /news/health-57383763 https://www.fda.gov/drugs/news-events-hum approve-new-treatment-alzheimers-disease an-drugs/fdas-decision-

to develop, become self-reliant and so break the cycle of dependency and short term aid. Anyone hoping to get involved can donate via the official website or look at all the great information and resources that they have on their can be found at water-for-africa. website which org.

We hope to be able to plan some exciting fundraising events in the future for lots of students to get involved in and learn more about the missions of the charities.

Written by Charlotte

broaden our curiosity for interests.

Diya and Rosie’s presentation

George X Year 12

British Sign Language Club Currently run by Miss Dai, sign language club became a new addition to the cocurricular activities over lockdown.

Taking part on Monday lunchtimes, the club saw an excellent show of students across Years 7 to 9.

In an interview with Year 9 pupils Mel, India-Rose and Krithi, who had had a little experience prior to joining, they emphasised how attending the club “widens communication with the outside world”, as well as being “enjoyable and productive”.

52 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

When asked what they enjoyed about coming, they each said about it being relaxed and a pleasant break from timetabled lessons; especially with Covid and working online via Zoom, staying in touch with friends and classmates was more important than ever.

In terms of learning British Sign Language and recalling the content learnt, the students said that every week they would recap over what they’d previously gone through, frequently recollecting the basics.

Often, Miss Dai would demonstrate signs for the pupils to follow, then allow time for partner work to let the content sink in. The girls said it

“made things easier to remember, especially having a week between sessions”. Despite taking on, essentially, a new language, the students described it as “logical, once you get the hang of it”.

They then went on to explain how you can create your sign name based on your trademark, for example Krithi’s plaits (a plaiting motion) and ‘Rose’ in India-Rose (a flower shape).

Commencing September 2021, Mr Calvo-Garcia will be running the club, taking over from Miss Dai who will sadly be leaving us.

Francesca W Year 9

Our motivation has been to combine knowledge learnt from lessons and discovering a deeper understanding of Biology in our weekly meetings sharing our discussions and presentations.

Senior School | Clubs & Activities

National Citizen Service (NCS) Hymers College NCS carried on with the success of delivery during the pandemic with 36 young people completing a specially designed course in autumn 2020.

This saw Hymers give over 1000 hours back to the community and raise a staggering £1200 to buy Christmas presents for the homeless community. They also tackled loneliness in care homes by becoming pen pals, buying Christmas gifts and creating a festive musical/quiz to watch on Christmas Day. Throughout the year leading up to summer, NCS continued to build on our relationships with our community through the ‘Local Action Group’. This saw Hymers creating links with two refugee charities, one of which we have helped move in to a new building, redecorate it and then also work with service users from teaching English to providing clothing.

After the tragic death of Sarah Everlard, the group also decided to tackle the issue of unwanted sexual behaviour. They did this through creating a powerful video which is now used in Hymers College PSHE lessons and also used in our partner schools.

Towards the end of the summer, Hymers NCS was asked by the EFLTrust and NCSTrust to send a representative down to meet the Prime Minister at No.10 Downing Street. Due to their incredible work for NCS, Hymers and our community, Elly H was given the well-deserved opportunity to talk to the Prime Minister about her work in the community.

people hours worked out at over £47,000 (worked out at national working wage).

Hymers NCS also created a new partnership with Northern Rail. This saw all our participants travel to various parts of our local community and helping where they can. Our stand out programme saw a team from Hymers and Kelvin Hall go to Driffield train station to

help the community group refurb their communal areas. They have also painted a mural for Beverley Train Station which will be going up in the station before the New Year.

On the back of this partnership, Hymers NCS local action group is looking to help tackle unwanted sexual behaviour, a topic that is rightly being spoken more about.

Hymers gives over 1000 hours back to the community.

Mr T Geary NCS Officer

Due to the success of our NCS programme, Hymers has now taken on four new schools in the Beverley area. This has taken our partnership to 14 schools and colleges in Hull and East Riding.

With summer 2021 approaching, Hymers NCS recruited 184 young people from our network on a new, two week programme. 181 of the participants completed the programme rating their experience 85% positive.

The young people gave 5430 hours back into our community, working with over 10 different charities and raising over £3000.

The value of the time given back into the community in terms of SENIOR SCHOOL | 53

Senior School

Debating

“ Q. When did you first start debating and what was your motivation for getting involved?

A Amelia: I first started debating in Year 7, when I joined the senior school. I’ve always been interested in forming an argument and persuasive writing, so I was really excited to join the debating society.

A Kamya: Joining Hymers in the Sixth Form, debating society was the first co-curricular I chose to partake in. I wanted to improve my confidence when speaking in front of people and expand my knowledge of current affairs and important issues in society.

Debating provided me with the opportunity to do both, whilst travelling across the country and making new friends from all ages and backgrounds!

Q. Of course, due to Covid, we learnt remotely, and cocurricular activities were done online. How did you find debating worked via Zoom?

A Amelia: Debating worked surprisingly well on Zoom - at first it was strange adapting to Zoom debating, but debates were still lively and engaging remotely.

A Kamya: The debating society thrived over Zoom thanks to the dedication of the teachers and pupils. The debates ran smoothly with the use of technology and were a source of excitement throughout lockdown.

Q. Regarding the Oxford and Cambridge schools’ debating competitions, in which Hymers competes annually, how did it compare taking place online as opposed to faceto-face?

A Amelia: Cambridge schools’ debating competition this year was a different experience to usual.

The level of debating was still exceptionally high and we still had four rounds of engaging debates, although it was a shame to not 54 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

be able to properly meet people from other schools who were also debating.

A Kamya: I was fortunate to take part in the Cambridge schools debating competition which was a fantastic experience. I met students from all over the world and engaged in some challenging debates which stretched my ability to think critically and develop arguments.

This year, the competition took place virtually which was more challenging as we could not see people face to face and had to listen very carefully. However, it was still an enjoyable and valuable experience for everyone who took part.

Q. Through debating, what skills have you acquired and how do you think they will help you going forward?

A Amelia: I’ve acquired so many skills through debating.

Communication skills, teamwork skills, problem solving skills and quick thinking are all essential for debating, and my time in the debating society has allowed me to develop these transferable skills.

These skills, as well as debating itself, have been greatly beneficial to my university applications, helping me to stand out, and will help employability.

The skills that debating teaches are fundamental to many different career paths, and I’m sure my time in the debating society will stand me in good stead for the future.

A Kamya: Through debating, I have learnt the value of clear communication and how to work together well within a team. I have also developed the ability to consider others’ perspectives and think quickly on my feet under pressure. These skills proved to be especially useful during my medical university interviews, and will undoubtedly help me throughout my life and career.

The past year has been one of success for the Debating Society, which runs weekly on Wednesdays after school in the Gore room. Despite having the obstacle of remote learning, the club ran smoothly and saw a positive turnout of students in both the Junior (Y7-9) and Senior (Y10-13) debate groups.

To help gauge a better understanding of what the past year has been like for the Debating Society, I interviewed two Year 13 students, who have a broad scope of debating knowledge and have represented the school on numerous occasions.

Q. What have you learnt about yourself through the club and what advice would you tell newcomers / younger debaters?

A Amelia: I have definitely become far more sure of myself because of debating. I have learnt what my skills are and where my interests lie, guiding me towards certain career paths. In terms of advice for newcomers or younger debaters, I would urge them to persevere with debating, since improvement comes over time and through observing and learning from more experienced debaters.

A Kamya: Debating has helped me to develop my character as I have learnt so much about myself and where my personal beliefs lie. My communication skills have vastly improved and I now feel confident speaking in front of large audiences and engaging in conversation with others. Most importantly, and the advice I would give to younger debaters, is that anything is achievable when you believe in yourself and persevere in face of challenges.

Q. Where do you get your breadth of knowledge to debate diverse and challenging topics?

A Amelia: I think I’ve gained my breadth of knowledge through keeping an eye on current affairs. A wide breadth of knowledge is very beneficial for debating, giving you a head start since you already have an idea about the major arguments for and against a motion. Don’t worry if your general knowledge is lacking though, because logic and reasoning are far more important in a debate than knowing everything about a topic.

A Kamya: Debating often requires knowledge from diverse and challenging topics. To keep up with current affairs, I found myself more engaged in global news,economics and politics. This has really expanded my knowledge of the world we live in and how quickly it is changing.

Q. How difficult is it arguing against your beliefs?

A Amelia: Arguing against your beliefs is difficult, but a very important part of debating, and an important skill. Debating helps you to consider the views of others and encourages you to rethink your own beliefs, and question on what basis you hold such beliefs.

A Kamya: Sometimes, whilst debating, you must argue against your personal beliefs. I have found this to be a very important skill to develop as it helps you really think about and understand a different perspective you may have never considered before. From debating, I have sometimes changed my personal beliefs after considering another point of view, and have been able to learn more about where my own beliefs lie in this way.

Q. What would you say your dream job is?

A Amelia: My dream job is a solicitor. I’m studying law at university next year, so hopefully this will become a reality one day!

A Kamya: I am hoping to study medicine at university this year and my dream job is to work as a doctor. Debating has set me up well for the integral parts of medicine such as communication, teamwork and decision making.

I am incredibly grateful to the teachers who run the debating society for all their encouragement and time, and I look forward to the journey ahead!

Mr M McLucas English Teacher

When interviewing Mr McLucas who, alongside Mrs Dickinson, runs the club, he too mentioned the social, communication and persuasive skills you develop through debating.

A few examples being: working as a team, gaining confidence, working well under time pressure, it encourages ‘social responsibility’ and ‘empathy for those in minority groups’, of whom many of the motions concern. In terms of inspiration for our debating subject matter, it is largely based on current affairs and topics students feel passionately about and are relevant to them, such as social media, issues raised on the news and politics. Some of the best motions come from students.

Mr McLucas said, “The best debate this year for the Junior debate was probably the motion ‘This house believes that a strong dictatorship is better than a weak democracy’, won by Riya G and Parul K, because the students engaged passionately about freedom and individual rights.”

In the weeks leading up to the Christmas break, Mr Clare and Dr Main went head-to-head with Kamya and Amelia from Year 13 in the Christmas debate, the motion being, ‘This house believes that the Grinch is better than Santa’, with the teachers arguing for the government.

“I used to do the debating club when I was here at school, many years ago. I’ve done quite a lot of public speaking but I haven’t done any formal debates really since I’ve left here,” said Mr Clare when asked about his previous debating experience. He also gave his personal opinion on the subject matter, saying “It probably was, yes,” (going against his own beliefs), “I love Christmas and I’m a big believer in Father Christmas, but it made me go away and think about it and think of how I

could make it work and make the argument work. I had to do my research… My two girls loved the fact that we got to sit and watch loads of Grinch movies.”

In response to being asked if it’s easier to debate something that you agree with, Mr Clare said, “I think probably, but I think sometimes debating what you agree is too easy or you can be too opinionated so you don’t always give it the balance of thought that it needs. I think it’s good practice to debate things that you don’t agree with because it makes you open up and appreciate the other side. So yes, I think so, but only just.”

He suggests students broaden their knowledge, enabling them to debate any subject matter by ‘Reading, reading, reading’. When you go to university they’ll ask you to do loads of reading. I think it’s really important to find good

sources of information, such as newspapers, newspaper sites, talking to parents about opinions, teachers, influential people around you. Reading’s the key one. Read lots and broadly, that’s my best advice.”

When asked how debating would benefit students if they got involved, he replied with “I think it brings communication skills. I think it brings research skills. I think most importantly, what it enables people to do, is to see other people’s opinions and debate constructively rather than via conflict. One of my big concerns that I teach my psychology students is that we are becoming a very polarised society and we’re not prepared to look at each other’s points of view, whereas I think debating is a good way of saying to people, ‘you have to acknowledge other people’s point of view.”

Francesca W Year 9

Sixth Form Mentoring The Sixth Form Mentor Scheme was Iaunched during the 2020/21 Academic Year. Pupils in Year 12 were offered this volunteering opportunity to work with students from younger year groups.

Sixth Formers were given specialist training to support Years 7, 8 or 9 with their learning in Maths and English, as well as helping with revision techniques and confidence boosting ideas.

Pictured are George X and Oscar D-C. Oscar said, “It is enjoyable and helpful to take part in this. I was interested to see how older pupils learn, and I like having help from George.”

Miss J Pettett Head of Learning Support

SENIOR SCHOOL | 55

Senior School | Clubs & Activities

In terms of inspiration for our debating subject matter, it is largely based on current affairs and topics students feel passionately about and are relevant to them, such as social media, issues raised on the news and politics.

Francesca, Year 9, looks further into the benefits and rewards of the Debating Society.

Senior School 56 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

Senior School | Cat Zero

On 8 July 2021, ten students, accompanied

by Mr Simpson, started the long journey down to Portsmouth. The boat we were going to be spending the next 10 days on was docked in the harbour, a 72 foot, half a million pound, yacht built for around the world sailing.

Cat Zero

We boarded the boat on Thursday and were able to try on all the pieces of waterproof equipment we would be so grateful for on the cold, wet nights.

We first had a day getting to know the boat from the inside as well as the outside. We were shown around the surprisingly vast kitchen, the rows of bunks and the various parts that went into the running of the vessel.

On Sunday morning we set sail, waving goodbye to the port and setting off. Over the next few days we would travel from Portsmouth, through the Needles on the end of the Isle of Wight and along the coast until we reached a small town called Fowey. These first few days we worked as a team and were taught all the vital skills for sailors like making cups of tea and cleaning the toilets. The day was fair, and we spent time admiring the fact that we were so far off the coast.

Ironically, our first night was possibly the worst. For me the details blurred together through waves of sea sickness, although from what I was told the next day it was really rough. The crew broke their backs keeping the boat on a steady course fighting against the waves. One memory, apart from the bottom of a bucket, was seeing the phosphorescence of algae in the water around the boat, as if it was twinkling all night. We arrived in Fowey early in the morning and were given a day to recover from the harrowing nights.

The village of Fowey was pretty and allowed for us to gather our energy for the next parts of the trip. Whilst in the harbour, an enormous cruise liner, The Golden Horizon, pulled into the harbour with five enormous masts. The sun set in Fowey and we were ready to move on.

Then we set back off in the direction we had come from, sailing across relatively easy waters to Plymouth. We were incredibly relieved that the harbour here had hot working showers, and after

A few key memories were navigating by the stars and seeing dolphins. When we finally arrived in Hull Marina tired and happy, we were all much closer as a crew than at the start. Thanks to all the staff for this experience. three days without one, no-one hesitated to run off to them.

After a track and trace ping for our skipper Danny, we were grounded for the night. Despite the setback we made the most of the time we had. We took a boat over to a nice area of headland and walked around it to come to a town that sold the best cornish pasties we had ever had. Satisfied we made our way back to the boat for what we hoped would be the highlight of our trip… the England v Italy Euros Final. With a box of fish and chips each we eagerly awaited England’s victory. It’s safe to say many went to bed disappointed.

With a few grumpy looks and an all clear PCR from Danny we were able to set back on with our journey.

into Lulworth Cove. Then disaster struck as there was no space in the bay. These were the moments that would make or break our crew. Using the last of our efforts we pulled through and pushed ahead to Studland Bay, just west of Bournemouth.

We were all able to rest well. In my life, I have never had a barbecue at 11 in the morning but as we pulled into Southampton cove it became reality. This doubled as training in the inflatable dinghy that was kept on board. We had burgers and sausages and enjoyed the morning. Not for too long though as we were swept back to the boat to continue up the coast.

The next part was a long three day journey up the east coast of England back to Hull. One thing that stood out to me in the last part, was how we became much stronger and proficient as a crew.

We didn’t have to think about what we were doing at this point.

There were tough times where it felt as if we were going nowhere with the wind blowing into our sails and other parts where it felt like we were getting nowhere but also bits that felt truly magical. A few key memories were navigating by the stars and seeing dolphins. When we finally arrived in Hull Marina tired and happy, we were all much closer as a crew than at the start. Thanks to all the staff for this experience.

Wiliam P Year 10

The sailing was fine and the water was like a mirror. We were all tired when, hours later, we pulled SENIOR SCHOOL | 57

Senior School

Enrichment Week June 2021 As the academic year was coming to its close, staff and students enjoyed Enrichment Week – this was the second running of an Enrichment Week following its introduction in June 2019 and its cancellation in 2020. The event draws together a range of trips and experiences that develop students’ soft skills and wider subject knowledge.

Year 7 students took part in Drama workshops, a bonding trip to ‘Let Loose’ and a half-day First Aid Training Course. They also took part in some local community project work promoting the School’s core value of ‘Service’ to our own school community, to the wider community within the city and region, and to an interconnected world.

Sports Day – Thursday 24 June 2021

Year 8 students also took part in a bonding trip to ‘Let Loose’. They took part in the ‘STEM Supergrid’ challenge, designing blades to maximise efficiency of wind turbines, completed activities to begin their Careers, Information and Guidance programme that carries through to Year 13, and had a fun afternoon of Teamwork Challenges.

After weeks of preparation and growing excitement, the day itself started badly! After waking to overcast skies and drizzle, a major traffic incident resulted in nearly half of the student and staff community being late to school.

Nevertheless, the staff who had not been affected by the incident did a sterling job of improvising and adapting arrangements, as pupils arrived over the first hour of the event. And as the number of the Hymers community on the site improved, so did the weather and students and staff enjoyed better conditions as the day went on.

Year 9 and 10 students also took part in activities supporting their Careers guidance and enjoyed ‘The Creativity Challenge’, organised by Mr. Quick, that has for many years been a feature of the Summer Term.

Thank you to all the students and staff who, again, threw themselves into the activities with genuine enthusiasm and gusto!

58 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

Rounding off Enrichment Week 2021, the Senior School enjoyed a day of sports, physical activities and bonding. Although the event was structured around inter-form competition within each year group, this day was all about participation, teamwork and spirit.

Mr. Walmsley, Director of Sport, and his team laid on a super rotation of sports to give something for all: a particular highlight of the Athletics was the huge numbers

Thank you to all the students and staff who, again, threw themselves into the activities with genuine enthusiasm and gusto!

Senior School | Enrichment Week

taking part in the 1500m race, with all competitors receiving a point towards their Form Group’s total; in the Summer Sports category, Form Groups split into rounders, tennis, quick cricket and softball teams; and in the Invasion Games category, mixed teams competed in football, dodgeball and netball.

As well as the competitive sports and games, a collection of ‘try-it’ activities were included in the year group rotation. Visitors from Elsham Hall on the south bank provided a collection of inflatable games, including Battlezone Archery, Total Knockout, Laser Tag, Drunk Goggle Football, Target Archery and Bubble Football. Students (and the braver staff!) also enjoyed use of a mobile climbing wall and a 220ft inflatable assault course!

Topping off the day, the students and staff enjoyed a free lunchtime barbeque, complete with outdoor music courtesy of the Sports Department staff, and two ice cream vans on site!

The Hymerian spirit and enjoyment of the day was summed up in the kind words of a long-standing teacher who wrote: “Thank you so much for yesterday!

I can safely say that during my time at Hymers there has never been such an enjoyable all school activity day – and I include the school’s centenary year and the Millennium!!”

like the first wave on D-Day - up the beaches, hiding behind the obstacles; but best of all, Year 7 launching arrows into the sky which fell as the original ‘blackrain’ on Towton Field (before the bowstrings got wet)!! The best moment, however, was at lunch time watching hundreds of children

happily queuing for a hotdog or burger followed by an ice-cream.

An immensely memorable day!

Thank you for reminding an aging colleague that new can mean excellent and giving him hope for the future of the profession and this great school!

Mr R Wright Deputy Head

The standout memories for me will be watching the accidental re-enactments of some of Britain’s most memorable battles: Year 10 on the ‘Zorb’ football with the terrific impacts and at the end of two minutes they scattered, prone ‘Zorbers’ highly reminiscent of the aftermath of El-Alamein with burnt out Panzers and Churchills; Year 8 on the laser quest moving SENIOR SCHOOL | 59

Senior School

What the students say… about co-curricular activities Since I joined Hymers I’ve always been busy doing something or another at lunch, whether it be music, sport or other random clubs that pop up now and again.

Music has been a consistent part of my co-curricular ‘timetable’ at Hymers and has been a great way to learn those soft skills people are always on about like communication, teamwork, multitasking, etc. I’ve enjoyed our comprehensive music department since day one.

Having percussion lessons and trumpet lessons has let me enjoy being a part of various different ensembles such as brass group, percussion group and wind band.

As with sport, this has been a great way to get to know new people and just have some fun with friends, especially when playing familiar songs such as the ‘Back to the Future’ theme tune or even ‘America’ from West Side Story.

I’ve made many friends and great memories in the music block over time.

DIYA At Hymers, there are so many co-curricular opportunities right at your doorstep, and I would strongly encourage anyone to take them and get involved. Personally, I have taken part in hockey since I started Hymers and it’s definitely one of the highlights of my school life. Playing with a team is a great way to make friends and simply have a good time.

After the lockdowns last year, I think we all recognised the importance of keeping up our fitness, for both our physical and mental wellbeing, and playing sport at school is a really easy way to achieve this.

The feeling of working together as a team to achieve your goals by the end of the season is unbeatable and the memories I have made, going to various tournaments and fixtures, will stick with me forever.

As we missed out on playing matches every weekend last year, I truly realised how much I enjoyed the friendly competition and would tell anyone to try it out and make the most of it. The skills

60 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

you learn from playing a sport, like teamwork, communication and resilience will also greatly benefit you in later life. It may seem intimidating at first but whatever your skill set, I definitely recommend giving it a go. There’s always loads of support available from the teachers and your teammates and you may never have an opportunity like this again.

Not to overshadow the hopefully genuine applause after playing a piece in a concert, but the highlights of my ‘music career’ have been from rehearsals. For example, the 5 minutes I had to eat lunch between wind band and percussion group with the few people that were in both groups were times

Going into Year 12, I started attending Medsoc and Biology Association. Clubs like these are great to go to as you have a lot more opportunity to do what you want, such as presenting topics of interest. I have gained a greater insight into the scientific world by attending these meetings and they have opened my eyes to paths in higher education, very helpful if you are unsure what you want to do after leaving school.

These clubs also gave me a support network for the intimidating process of applying to university as others in the club are in the same position as me.

There are many similar clubs, like language and culture soc, engineering soc and law soc, which are useful to attend in pursuit of future careers. If there are no clubs tailored to your interests, you can even see Mr Thompson about starting your own.

GAURAV

I weirdly looked forward to each week. Another would be, the first time a piece comes together after countless hours of practicing and learning your own part. My teacher still talks about the grin on our faces the first time Charlie and I played America correctly on the marimba, and I remember literally dropping my jaw the first time I played Razzle Dazzle with the seniors in Year 9, it was incredible! Anyway, I’d definitely recommend getting involved with music at school, and not just learning to play instruments you know, like the piano, but really get out of your comfort zone and try something new. I can’t remember why I asked my parents to start percussion lessons. But I now know it was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life.

I’d also like to mention the academic clubs that you can get involved in in Sixth Form, such as Wednesday morning Chemistry Club and Physics Club that prepare you for their respective challenges.

I’d highly recommend these sorts of clubs to current Year 11’s and 12’s as they really test your understanding of your subjects and it’s something you can mention on your personal statement, especially if you do well in them. Societies like Engineering Society can also provide clarity as to what you might want to do in the future and are a great way to talk to people who will be applying to similar subjects and work together to make a successful application.

Debating is awesome!

Of course, some people may disagree. And here at Hymers you and I have the opportunity to discuss this topic on a Wednesday after school.

Debating hasn’t just given me a materialistic badge but also a boost to my confidence. Confidence is important in many social aspects, for example speaking to an audience that’s really tired in the morning. It’s easy to list the skills I have acquired but often at times, it is the action of using them.

It ranges from listening to the opposition, organising your argument to counter their views and thinking quickly could prepare you for just about any situation that life presents to you when time is crucial since a decision must be made fast.

Don’t underestimate the ability to verbally express yourself; it’s a great skill to have! Committing to an co-curricular club allows you to connect with new people and reach out of your comfort zones.

Participating in debating promotes problem-solving, innovative thinking and helps students to build links between words and ideas that make concepts more meaningful. I enjoy exchanging ideas with people. I enjoy learning.

Sometimes you don’t see a certain perspective unless someone points it out to you. Similar situation when two people see two different images in one picture and when you see things from new angles, you strengthen your understanding of a subject.

To me, debating has taught me a lot academically and has made me more socially interactive with my classmates. Growing our conservation from rating school food to sleep should be introduced as an academic subject in school.

In a debate, we aim to look at and question both (or multiple) sides of an issue. I feel great when I challenge myself, learn something new, or make the other person question their views (all in an appropriate manner!).

To many people, debating can seem overly aggressive or competitive, but this isn’t the case.

In a debate, one must endorse contrasting ideas, convincingly engage with them, and work together to find a common ground. As a debater, I also attempt to apply this to daily life. In a society where different groups and ideas are becoming increasingly polarised, my debating experiences allow me to celebrate diversity and differences.

During the Covid-19 pandemic the Performing Arts industry has certainly struggled to thrive, and you may have seen the charities set up to support it with the tagline of “the show must go on”.

Therefore supporting it this year is more important than ever, when trying to get the industry back on its feet.

For example, the next musical (as you probably already know) is Les Misérables, my favourite musical ever. If you want a safe, inclusive place full of like-minded people, co-curricular drama is certainly the place for that.

My first year at Hymers Senior School I decided to audition for the school production of Annie because why not? And that small decision has opened so many doors for me. The shows at Hymers are outstanding, and unlike the expectations you have for an average school show, and after every performance, whether that was a musical or a play, people have certainly been amazed by the standard.

Speaking of like-minded people, The Equality Society might be for you. This club was set up last year, and we have over 50 students every Friday Lunchtime who turn up to discuss issues and listen to guest speakers who have thoughts on the difficult topics we address.

The months I am involved with the co-curricular drama are filled with excitement, and I will never forget the memories I have made, and the skills I have acquired from being so heavily involved. Whether it is the industry you want to go into, or you just want to keep it as a hobby, the school has many ways you can get involved with it.

This year there is also excitement surrounding the choirs. Our choirs at Hymers are known for their exceptional standard, and yes there is a chamber choir that makes beautiful four-part harmonies, and I still get a thrill every time we hit the harmonies perfectly,

It is a great platform within the school, where we are given the opportunity to make a difference and improve quality of life for people, regardless of who we are. Everybody is welcome and I have definitely been moved by the excitement the new club has created.

There are many other societies you can get involved with that are run by other Sixth Form students, and I’m sure there is one for you.

IZZY

Debating also equips me with various life skills. Through interacting with my classmates, I can immerse myself in a real stage environment and learn to present my ideas in a well-structured manner. I’m also learning how to be a team player. And perhaps best of all, I’m learning how to be persuasive. Wondering what’s the trick to persuade your teachers to give you less homework? Join debating!

There are so many co-curricular activities here at Hymers. There are so many opportunities to make great memories! So go and make the best out of these clubs!

SENIOR SCHOOL | 61

Senior School | What the students say

GEORGE

Senior School

Biology Challenge 2021 Biology challenge is an international competition organised by the Royal Society of Biology and UK Biology competition’s Committee for pupils in Year 9 and 10. The competition is designed to stimulate curiosity in the natural world and to test students understanding and knowledge beyond the curriculum. It involves two online multiple choice tests and this year 26,828 students from 348 schools worldwide participated in the competition.

Congratulations go to Mukund T, Rhea T, Lucy D and Muhammad H who all achieved a gold award; for which they needed to score over 80% and is only awarded to the top 5% of participants.

Prerana M was awarded Silver, while Jasper C, Ishani B, Siddharth T, Waiz Q and Atchuthan S all achieved Bronze.

A huge well done to all participants and I hope to see the Year 9s return next year, along with more Year 9 and 10 students taking on the challenge!

Lucy D and Ishani B

The Nancy Rothwell Award This year we launched The Nancy Rothwell Award, which celebrates specimen drawing in schools.

This is a national competition run by the Royal Society of Biology, and is supported by Royal Veterinary College.

Students from both the Junior and Senior School were challenged to participate. We had several entries and were amazed by the standard the students who participated.

Congratulations to Sarah-Jane T who was awarded first place within the Biology Department. We look forward to running the competition again and seeing the imagination and skills that the students display.

RSB Photography competition

Ann

Royal Society of Biology Photography Competition invites amateurs to submit photographs on a particular theme, which this year was ‘Interconnected’. This competition was open to entries from both the Junior and Senior School and we received some fantastic pictures and the diversity of the images was amazing.

Congratulations to Alex S who we awarded first place.

Ibraheem Ghori 6W

62 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

Senior School | Academic News

British Science Week During 5-14 March 2021 our Year 7 scientists took part in activities for British Science Week.

In conjunction with International Women’s Day - 8 March, the focus was on the role of women in Science.

Year 7 were challenged with researching the life and work of a female scientist and producing a poster. The response was excellent, with submissions ranging from Chien-Shiung Wu to Professor Sarah Gilbert.

After much deliberation the best three entries were chosen, Isabella H for her work on Alice Ball, Kinga K for her poster on Nettie Stevens and Emre G who looked at the life of Katherine Johnson.

All three were awarded a Science Encyclopaedia as a prize.

During science lessons Year 7 followed in the footsteps of Rosalind Franklin, and extracted DNA from peas.

They learned all about the structure and function of DNA, and the importance of Rosalind Franklin in its discovery. Though, most students found making models of DNA out of sweets the most enjoyable, and delicious, part.

Biology Olympiad - IBO 2021 2021 was another successful year for Hymers College students in the Intermediate Biology Olympiad.

Of the 23 students who participated 19 achieved ‘Commended’ or above. Special mention should go to Diya G and Huarui X who achieved a Gold Certificate, Michael K, Oscar S, Eliza C, Thomas J and Greg S, who all achieved a Silver Certificate, and Robert T, Jessica C and Miles G, who achieved a Bronze Certificate.

Diya G, Jessica C, Oscar S and Huarui X pictured with Mr Hartley, Head of Biology

SENIOR SCHOOL | 63

Senior School

Analyst The Analytical Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry runs an annual practical competition for Year 12 students.

The Schools Analyst Competition is normally hosted by university chemical laboratories - our local heat is usually at the University of Hull - but under Covid protocol schools have taken part in their own labs, using chemicals and equipment posted to them, as well as their own.

On Friday evening, 14 May 2021, three teams of three Hymers students enjoyed an investigation into three damaged chemical barrels washed up on a river bank of a rural town.

They used thin layer chromatography to analyse a mixture of organic dyes, they performed flame tests to decide which metal chloride was in the second barrel, and they used aqueous anion tests to determine which sodium salt was in the third barrel.

The students submitted the results of their analysis and evaluation online, and the competition

was externally assessed.

Congratulations to Gaurav A, Diya G and Charlotte H, who were the Hymers winning team.

preparing the materials for the competition and to Dr Martin for taking the photographs.

Thank you to Ms Johnson for the extensive and detailed work in

Head of Chemistry

Mr G Prescott

Our local heat is usually at the University of Hull - but under Covid protocol schools have taken part in their own labs, using chemicals and equipment posted to them, as well as their own.

Chemistry Olympiad

The Royal Society of Chemistry runs an ‘extremely challenging’ written examination for Year 13 students each year as part of its selection process for a team to take part in the International Chemistry Olympiad.

Students this year answered 64 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

questions about:

→ life on Venus → c alcium looping carbon capture to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

→ s ocial distancing within molecules

→D onald Trump and the corona virus

→m aking levulinic acid from

renewable resources. Levulinic

acid is a versatile chemical which can be used to make pharmaceuticals, plastics and fuels

→ fluorides of xenon There was an encouraging entry from Hymers this year: Josh B, Tom C, George G and Miyazur T all achieved Silver Certificates, and James G a Bronze Certificate.

Luke S was awarded a Gold Certificate, only the 18th ever won by a Hymers student, and putting

him in the top 50 of the 7200 elite entrants. This is appropriate recognition at national level of outstanding students of academic Chemistry for all those gaining certificates.

Luke has shown exceptional flair for the type of thinking required to solve these problems, and makes few mistakes.

Mr G Prescott Head of Chemistry

A team from Hymers qualified for the national final of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s competition Top of the Bench 2021 for students from Years 9, 10 and 11 by winning the Hull and East Yorkshire round of the competition, completed virtually during November and December.

Year 9: Samuel H and Polly K Year 10: Christopher C Year 11: Matthew A I was impressed by the way that the students collaborated on their challenging, and challengingly open-ended, task which was ‘to design and produce a poster, to be submitted as a pdf document, to INFORM and ILLUSTRATE that CHEMISTRY IS IN THE LIVES OF EVERYONE’.

The entries were judged against these criteria:

→ Originality of approach.

→ Visual impact which draws the reader in.

→ The quality of content matching the brief.

Hyg

→ Simple and effective

communication of information.

The students met physically in a distanced way, as they are in different bubbles, on a couple of brief occasions, and completed their work via a Google Doc. Mr G Prescott

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'We th ink th ere is colo ur, we think there is swee t...

Head of Chemistry

EVERY DAY C H E M IS TRY

...but in real ity there are atom s and a void'

Chemistry plays an important role in the Chemistry production allows dru and preservat gs to work chemical ion of foo too with compounds d. attacking fitting into pathogens the bindin The nitroge or g site of chemical. n found in a natural fertilisers is produc ed throug neutralisa h Tranquilisers are tion rea Food chemical ctions of are use ammonia substance d to affect in the Hab s tha the t nervous er treat stre process.

Chemistry system to ss, anxiety It has bee allows calc and menta n ulated tha the synthe l disease Also, antimi t 50% of s. sis of nitr crobials the ogen ato sweetene selectively ms in you rs and wer inhibit the r body e obtained preservat pathogen H ives too. from ealth action of the Haber process. microbes.

Crop pro tection reli Antibiotics es on the inhibit mic of new ins constant robial ecticides, production growth too and herbicide are s and fun gicides. produced, at lea st partial by chemic ly, al synthe sis.

Year 8 Periodic Table Competition Every student in Year 8 designed and produced a poster to illustrate their assigned element.

The posters were judged for following the rules of the competition, quality and impact.

Thank you to the judges: Kavya R and Praketh L, who commented that there were many fantastic designs and it was nice to see all the hard work that the pupils put into it.

First prize: Alice X 8B – silicon Second prize: Guruguhan B 8B – titanium Third prize: Daisy F 8C – neptunium

Chemistry Challenge Eight students sat the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Cambridge Chemistry Challenge examination.

The students answered questions about the analysis of clouds of molecular gas in the Milky Way, the old-school demonstration Pharaoh’s Serpent, the use of photocatalysts in the production of hydrogen from water, and the links between redox and the Periodic Table, including the effective removal of manganese (II) ions from drinking water.

This is a Year 12 competition, but two students from Year 11 also took part. Kushal K (Year 11) and Amna S obtained Copper Certificates, Greg S and Huarui X Silver Certificates, and Gaurav A, Matthew A (Year 11) and Diya G won Gold Certificates.

This is a fantastic achievement for these students, and the first time Hymers has had more than

one gold in a year of this testing examination.

Mr G Prescott Head of Chemistry

SENIOR SCHOOL | 65

Senior School | Academic News

Top of the Bench

Senior School

UK Linguistics Olympiad

The UK Linguistic Olympiad is a yearly nationwide competition which seeks to challenge those passionate about linguistic diversity, but also those who simply enjoy the logic challenge. As the name indicates, this competition is aimed at British students, however, the best 16 students across the country will move on to the international competition which is hosted in a different country every year.

During the first stage of the competition, we were all given a number of problems presented in various languages, and essentially expected to decipher the language.

From indigenous American languages to old Slavic; we were given a range of clues and from them, patterns to locate and resolve. The first phase of the competition consisted of a number of smaller, quicker problems and spanned over more topics and

languages, whereas the second round had a much smaller number of questions, with more indepth detail on each question.

The competition focused on logic, spotting patterns, and problem solving, skills which serve above and beyond languages.

It highlighted the extent to which languages are more than just grammar and vocabulary, they are constantly adapting puzzles and systems, designed to be understood and used, rather than

to be constrained into worksheets.

I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and was one of two students to obtain a gold award.

Many students also received silver and bronze awards, placing Hymers high up in the ranks of the country. Whilst none of us managed to qualify for the national round, the experience at something previously unknown to us all was invaluable.

Christopher B Year 12

It highlighted the extent to which languages are more than just grammar and vocabulary, they are constantly adapting puzzles and systems.

UKMT Mathematics Challenges UKMT Mathematics Challenges are run by the University of Leeds. They are designed to encourage a love of problem solving and to develop skills in answering questions set in unfamiliar contexts.

Certificates are awarded and there are follow on rounds that students with very high results are invited to take part in. Preparation for the challenges was disrupted due to the pandemic, which were for the first time held online Hymers students rose to the challenge and we were very pleased with the results. In the Junior Challenge Nandhan S scored the top result, progressing to the prestigious Olympiad round.

Another six students progressed to the Junior Kangaroo round. In the Intermediate Challenge Matthew A scored the top result and in 66 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

the Senior Challenge Gaurav A demonstrated excellent problem solving skills in obtaining the top mark.

A number of our younger students attended the problem solving club run by Miss Dai and this undoubtedly helped them achieve good marks in the challenges.

Mr E Tame Head of Mathematics

Senior School | Academic News

New A Level subjects added English Language and Literature The A Level in English Language and Literature is a course designed to offer pupils a range of reading, and give them the opportunity to develop their critical, analytical and creative writing skills.

The core course texts include Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ and Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations’ with the addition of Williams’ spectacular ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’.

Pupils are encouraged to read widely, and read a selection of shorter texts that encompass everything from radio plays to satirical pieces, film reviews to reportage.

The optional reading for coursework focuses on the themes of Journeys and Oppression. The Department aims to include literature that is contemporary, and offers students a selection of texts across fiction and non-fiction, showcasing works like Evaristo’s Booker-winning ‘Girl, Woman, Other’ and Nelson’s ‘Open Water’ published in 2021. Students are encouraged to draw inspiration for their own writing, as they examine the stylistic and linguistic elements that make each unique.

An A Level in English Language and Literature is always a desirable qualification when applying for degree courses.

A Level Psychology

A Level Classical Civilisation

Where there are people, there is Psychology. The study of mind and behaviour, or the Human Condition, has become one of the most popular subjects at A Level and universities across the UK.

Who did compose the Odyssey and when?

Permeating into all aspects of life, Psychology is the science of understanding behaviour and draws from several different theoretical paradigms. Central to the subject is the debate between nature and nurture. Are we made in a certain way inheriting behavioural traits via our genetic make-up or do we absorb the world around us being influenced by everything from social media to the tribalism of our football team?

Psychology has long fought for its place at the scientific table. Using empirical study and research based evidence, it shares many facets with the pure sciences.

However, independent skills in reading, researching and writing are crucial to Psychology practice so analytical skills acquired in History, English and other humanities are also extremely valuable. With skills developed in these areas it is no surprise that Psychology A Level is highly regarded by universities and unlocks potential futures in areas as varied as law, politics, medicine and business studies.

English Language and Literature graduates are able to progress into a very wide range of careers.

The skills learned are readily transferable to university courses including law, marketing, journalism, publishing, teaching and education, performing arts, travel and tourism, graphic design, health and social care, and many more.

Offering students a chance to debate and explain things that are happening in the world around them on a daily basis, Psychology broadens minds in its search for answers. In a world often at odds with itself, it seeks to help us question, quantify and analyse each other so that we may better understand those we share our world with.

Miss T Parker Head of English

Mr S Clare Head of Psychology

In what social ferment did the first germ of Athenian Democracy spring to life?

How did the ruthless victor of a bloodthirsty civil war establish himself as Augustus, the first Emperor of the Roman world?

These are the questions that we explore in Classical Civilisation A Level, a rich and varied qualification covering the societies, cultures, values, literature, beliefs and characters of Ancient Greece and Rome, and all without a passive subjunctive in sight.

My excitement at the introduction of this qualification was twofold – first, a chance to teach Greek literature and history, something that is only tentatively alluded to in Latin A Level, second, a chance for those students who did not have the opportunity or inclination to study Latin to access these fascinating ancient worlds through poems, plays and literature in English and wider artefacts like statues, coinage and architecture.

Combining the best of RE, English, History and Politics, Classical Civilisation is an excellent option for the intellectually curious student who relishes a challenge, longs to understand the very cultures which helped shape our own world and loves a vivid, gory battle scene!

Here are some comments from our current Year 13s: “I believe that the most rewarding part of studying classics is the wide scope of knowledge it gives.

From literature, democracy, religion to politics, classics, although ancient, resonates with today’s society tremendously.”

Amber R-S

“It offers you the chance to study and think about areas you wouldn’t have considered before. There’s so much variety in the course.”

Isabelle C “The small classes are great for in depth discussion and sharing points of view. Everyone always has an opinion even if we don’t all agree!”

Isabella S “Discovering Odysseus and the world of Homer has been a highlight for me. Homer’s language is so compelling and his characters, even the Cyclops, are brilliantly crafted.”

Lucy C. Mrs S Dickinson Head of Classics

Combining the best of RE, English, History and Politics, Classical Civilisation is an excellent option for the intellectually curious student who relishes a challenge, longs to understand the very cultures which helped shape our own world and loves a vivid, gory battle scene!

SENIOR SCHOOL | 67

Senior School

High Merit…

A Level Results 2021 In the face of the most challenging of 18 months for both pupils and staff, the A Level class of 2021 at Hymers College has reached above and beyond.

Living up to the School motto ‘High Merit, High Reward’, The A Level results of 2021 show that over 89% of all grades achieved by Hymers students were at A*-B, the grades required by the leading Russell Group of universities.

Year 13 students at Hymers have risen to the challenge of months of lockdown learning, lateral flow testing, cancelled plans and restricted movement.

Not since World War II have schools in the UK faced as much disruption as they have throughout the pandemic. Despite this, Hymers students have delivered exceptional A Level results.

Amongst the statistics of the day are some incredibly powerful stories from students who have overcome their own personal challenges of the last 18 months to achieve these results.

68 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

These students are heading off on a wide variety of different career paths across the country. Some paths include embarking on apprenticeships, reading medicine, treading the boards at drama school, continuing a passion for physical activity through sports science and conducting laboratory research.

Headmaster Justin Stanley commented: “Our Year 13 cohort have faced head on the challenges of the last 18 months with good grace and a smile on their faces. They thoroughly deserve these outstanding results. They have been wonderful ambassadors for our School, not just through their academic success but through all the many ways they contribute to wider School life.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our A Level pupils, and our staff, who have all worked so hard for these results. I am so proud of students and staff alike who, together, have delivered these superb results.

“As our A Level class of 2021 now leave Hymers, I thank them for being part of our community and remind them that once a Hymerian, always a Hymerian.”

xxx

xxx

Senior School | Exam Results

High Reward GCSE xxx

GCSE Results 2021 Astonishingly good GCSE results were recorded in August 2021 by Hymers pupils after an incredibly tough 18 months of pandemic disruption and lockdown learning. Despite all the challenges thrown at them, 71% of all grades achieved by the Year 11 cohort at Hymers were 9-7 – equivalent to A*/A under the old system.

“I want to thank staff and pupils alike for the speed and efficiency with which they adapted to, and embraced, online learning.”

Particularly strong results were recorded in the core subjects of English Literature and Maths where 77% and 78% of students respectively achieved grades 9-7.

Hymers also saw, in a year group of just over 100 pupils, 16 achieving 8 or more grade 9 GCSEs, the highest possible grade. Meanwhile the average grade for a pupil across all subjects remained very high at 7.4 – equivalent to an A or above.

Some of the most pleasing results overall were those recorded by students who have made enormous progress in their learning from when they first joined the School – outperforming what initial assessments in earlier years might have projected they would achieve.

Headmaster Justin Stanley commented: “In the face of enormous challenges, months of lockdown learning and real disruption to their academic lives, our Year 11 cohort have delivered an excellent set of GCSE results.

“There are some real standout performances amongst these results, especially notable are the 9 pupils who gained 10 grade 9 GCSEs. But I am incredibly proud of what each and every one of these pupils have achieved.

“I want to thank staff and pupils alike for the speed and efficiency with which they adapted to, and embraced, online learning. The success in delivering learning online at Hymers is truly reflected in these results and I applaud our teachers and students for this.

“I look forward to welcoming students back into our Sixth Form in September, ready to continue their studies and also their co-curricular activities here at Hymers.”

SENIOR SCHOOL | 69

Senior School

Careers & Higher Education In September 2020, Universities announced that all candidate interviews would take place online, on different platforms and in different formats - the challenge was to prepare the Year 13 students as best we could.

The result was the Year 13 Practice Interviews Evening in November 2020, entirely on Zoom. This involved 30 simultaneous Zoom sessions, 44 students, 88 interviews in total, 52 interviewers from homes and work places around the UK and 30 staff supervising and problem solving on the night.

Every student received their two interviews and only one link broke down.

Mr Walker, Mr Edgecombe and Mr Ward from ICT Services were worth their weight in gold, especially having to endure my daily visits in the run up.

Mr Simpson continued the excellent work by ensuring that all of the ‘real’ interviews ran smoothly across the school and from homes.

It is times like these that you realise how fantastically supportive the Hymers community is.

Of course, Covid disrupted much of our usual Careers & HE Programme, with the Careers Convention and Work Experience programmes understandably being cancelled and difficulties getting visitors into the school.

However, new opportunities arose and the students became accustomed to interacting with career professionals via Zoom, especially with the development of more Sixth Form led societies.

Medsoc continued to impress with the variety and high quality of their sessions, presenting their own

Hymers

Mr Walmsley and Mr Geary for continuing their valuable and inspiring programme with the students of Year 11-13.

material or listening to the advice healthcare professionals.

Other Sixth Form societies developed and blossomed – Law, Politics & Current Affairs, Language & Culture, BioSoc, Engineering Soc and the newly set up Design Soc to name a few – there are more hatching. This builds on the great work in lower year across the curriculum.

The Careers & HE Newsletter was remodelled and relaunched to students, staff and parents. An effective way of getting information to a wider audience – the aim being for the students to cherry pick what interests them and to grab the opportunities available, whether researching into a career area or university course or taking part in a virtual event, or virtual work experience. A special mention to our NCS team of

Hymers

College

Invitation For Parents from InvestIn Education: > Free expert advice on guiding your child to a successfu l career > Wednesday 24th February: The Skills Surgery

Things to do...

YEAR 13 → Check your UCAS Track for updates

> BBC Headroom - Mental Health Toolkit: “Whether it is everyday tips, sounds to relax your mind, strategies to cope with parenting right now or films to get you talking, we are here to help you look after yourself and your loved ones.”

→ Insight in University STEM

> Careers in Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Maths

your A level choices may Russell Group Universities lead with the Informed Choices website.

More details via: A Level Options

How to break into careers in medicine, dentistry and veterinary science

→ Research your career ideas

> Wednesday 3rd March: The Power of Networks

→ Careers Appointments

from your questionnaire results via the MyCareersChoices online app: (school email/school password) https://login.myfuturechoice.com/

with Mrs Needle - these are now via zoom and involve two students (11B/C) - Notes for meetings are uploaded to your Grofar account

→ Grofar Log in: school email - you can reset your own

(always)/school password (usually) password

→ Look for online careers opportuniti

es in this newsletter

YEARS 8-10 → Routes inti STEM - Courses apply now!

in February if you

→ Cyberfirst free online courses and computing through

(Year 8 & 9): explore your passion for tech the world of cyber security.

→ Wonder where your subjects Lots of helpful information

might lead in the future? via: Subject Links ebooks

70 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

Higher Education News...

College

HE & Careers News ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THIS NEWSLETTER & PREVIOUS VERSIONS CAN BE FOUND ON HYMERSCOLLEGE.CO.UK & SCHOOGLE

JULY 2021

Enrichment Week at Hymers College... a selection of the week’s activities STEM enrichment day

Student Finance Monopoly from the Year 9 HE Experience Day during enrichment week.

What would you do?

> On Demand Webinars | University Taster Days (unitasterdays.com) in a wide range of subject areas.

Also search for online events

> Will the Covid recovery fuel a green jobs boom for postgraduates?

LawSoc Court visit

> Seven Tech skills for entrepreneurs > Careers in law: why apprenticeships are being embraced by the elite profession > Tights! Spatulas! Action! The madcap world of chain reaction videos > ‘A remarkable privilege’: Why a career in mental health is something special — The Hull Story > Professional qualifications in accountancy via a post A level apprenticeship at the National Audit Office: “Independent of government, we scrutinise public spending for Parliament and investigate major government projects and programmes.” > Healthcare Science events for Year 10-13 from Leeds University (Deadline extended for some webinars)

in May, some availability

Some free 1 day courses...

Mr P Meadway Head of Careers

> Covid in Scotland: Dental schools unable to take on new students

YEAR 12 → MyUniChoices - log into

YEAR 11 → A level options: See where

The department had our own review and inspection from the helpful and excellent staff at CK Careers and I am pleased to say that we were awarded the Quality in Careers Standard for a further three years.

> The Conversation - Academic articles in all areas to explore your subject - great for interviews and personal statements!

(7-8pm) Pre-recorded seminars NOW AVAILABLE. Details p4...

your account and start researching university options - filter and short-list the courses that interest you.

Courses (formerly Headstart) students have attended in the past - highly recommen - many of our ded → UCAS resources via Higher Education (why not look for a MOOC?!)

How your child can build a powerful professional network

Careers News...

for students & parents Thursday 11 February

→ University Interviews - contact RDS/PM if you need help with the tech → Medical Interviews advice from Leeds University

The summer of 2021 was beginning to return to somewhere near normality, with Activities week featuring some super creative work from Year 8 CV writing, and some fun and games with Student Finance with the Year 9 HE Experience – we hope to visit Hull University next year in person!

Hymers

MARCH 2021

FEBRUARY 2021 Hymers Year 12 UCAS Information Webinar

It is times like these that you realise how fantastically supportive the Hymers community is.

College

HE & Careers News HE & Careers News Careers News...

The cherry on the cake of any careers programme is the individual guidance that is offered across the school.

Again, I am indebted to the tutors, UCAS advisers and external Zoomers from a wide range of careers and HE areas for their generosity, expertise and time over a very difficult year. Special thanks goes to Mrs Needle, our Careers Adviser, who managed to give expert guidance to the whole of Year 11, much of it online, as well as manging appointments and queries from all year groups via her drop in sessions.

> “Shift to online graduate recruitment processes resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a “significant minority” of top recruiters choosing to no longer target specific universities”.

Read more from Varsity News and the High Fliers Graduate Market 2021 Report.

> Arts graduates are flexible: why humanities degrees are making a comeback > Subject Masterclasses from Cambridge in March > Durham University English Literature podcasts & blogposts from the Department of English Studies, who deliver one of the top English courses in the country.

Explore how English at University differs - great for your personal statement! > Medic Portal Free webinars building your application > PhD students often break new ground: the importance of postgrad work in science > Durham University - updated college allocation process

An impressive output voltage from a turbine design with Year 8 during the STEM enrichment day from @ukstemdotuk.

During Enrichment week, LawSoc visited Hull Combined Court for a tour and to watch an ongoing murder trial.

The organisers had never seen a 4V output before. Well done!

They also had the amazing opportunity to speak with HHJ Thackray QC and the honourable Mr Justice Fraser who is a High Court Judge.

Follow on https://twitter.com/ HymersPhysics

Follow them on twitter: https://twitter. com/HymersLawSoc

Old Hymerian Laura Williamson, senior editor for The Athletic UK and former sports news editor and sports writer at The Daily Mail, visited the school as a part of the Year 11/12 NCS programme.

Mohsin Ahmed Durham University Computer Science

Thomas Duckworth University of Nottingham History

Ewan Anderson University of Manchester Pharmacology

Laura England University of Bristol Economics with Study Abroad

Lucas Andrews Hull York Medical School Medicine

William Foster University of Bath Economics

William Appleton University of York Computer Science

Kamya Gandhi UCL (University College London) Medicine

Thomas Atkinson Newcastle University Sport and Exercise Science

James Godber Loughborough University Chemistry

Guillaume Boa University of Hull Computer Science

George Gray University of Hull Chemistry with Industrial Experience

Joshua Breene University of Bath Chemistry with Management Chloe Brighton Manchester Metropolitan University Product Design Charlotte Burnett University of Nottingham Veterinary Medicine Jasmine Butler-Parr Gap Year Luke Carr Degree Apprenticeship Quantity Surveying (Beal Homes) Ella Cast University of Liverpool Sociology & English Michelle Chen University of York Social Policy Abdullah Choudhury University of Hull Computer Science (Software Engineering) George Clark Newcastle University Mechanical Engineering Thomas Coates University of St Andrews Biochemistry Benjamin Copley Newcastle University Business Management

Spencer Green University of Bath Politics & International Relations Ilayda Greenall Swansea University Genetics Daniel Heald University of Manchester Materials Science & Engineering Elly Hong University of Warwick English Literature & Creative Writing Bella Hudgell Hull College Art (Foundation) Rifah Husain University of Liverpool Architecture Olivier Igoche University of East London Pharmacology Thomas Jeffers Newcastle University Biology Lucy Jones Degree Apprenticeship Nestlé Dane Juler Rose Bruford College Acting

Charlotte Couper Loughborough University Fine Art

Zala Korosec University of Exeter International Relations & Modern Languages

Joe Daysley Northumbria University, Newcastle Architecture & Built Environment

Hannah Kraus The University of Edinburgh French & German

Lucy De Kok University of Nottingham Physiotherapy

Srinidhi Krishnan University of Cambridge Medicine

Gina de Lancey University of Manchester Liberal Arts

Sailesh Kumar University of Warwick Economics

Shay De Silva University of Buckingham Medicine

Praketh Lanka Hull York Medical School Medicine

Jessica Dixon Les Roches Global Hospitality Management

Clementine Lovel Loughborough University Sport and Exercise Science

Cameron Dongray-Burke University of Glasgow Digital Media & Information Studies

Lucy Maliakal University of Manchester Medicine

Anna Mehl Gap Year Sophie Middleton University of Leeds Medicine Victoria Mowforth University of Liverpool Business Management

Amelia Simmons University of Bristol Law Alice Simms University of Liverpool Physiotherapy Halle Singh Gap Year

Nitin Muthukumar University of Sheffield Electrical & Electronic Engineering

Harkerat Singh University of Hull Mechanical Engineering

Sana Naiman University of Leicester Medicine

Joseph Stead Newcastle University Business Management

Sandali Narasinghe UCL (University College London) Chemistry

Alexander Stott Northumbria University Accounting, Finance & Economics

Rithvik Narendranath Imperial College London Medicine

Ava Swift Northumbria University Business & Marketing

Alisha Nayyar University of Liverpool Medicine

Miyazur Tarafdar UCL (University College London) Mathematics with Mathematical Physics

Harmeen Nijjar Durham University Business & Management Adam O’Toole Gap Year Daniel Oliver Manchester Metropolitan University Physiotherapy Amisha Pai University of Leeds Studies in Science Edward Pearson Newcastle University Earth Science Isabella Penna University of Oxford Classics Emma Platt University of Leeds Medicine Sashin Raghunath London School of Economics Management Kavya Raghuram University of Manchester Economics Phoebe Rayner Nottingham Trent University Sport Engineering Hattie Roberts Northumbria University Quantity Surveying Luke Saharia Durham University Mathematics Nina Saxena University of Lincoln History Nuria Shafqat King’s College London Politics Rayan Shamsaee Gap Year Samuel Sheekey Manchester Metropolitan University Fashion Business & Management

Thomas Tatten Hull York Medical School Medicine Charlotte Taylor UCL (University College London) Human Sciences Harry Thompson Queen Mary University of London International Business Grace Tindle University of Leeds English Literature with Creative Writing Laura van Diesen University of Warwick English Literature & Creative Writing Ellen Williams University of Bath Physics Timothy Willis University of Nottingham Politics & Economics Hattie Wilson-Mason The University of Edinburgh International Business with Spanish Gemma Wood University of Oxford History

Erratum – Students not included in the 2019-2020 edition of the Hymerian Joseph Smith Leiden University (Netherlands) Linguistics Francesca Saunt UCL History & German Yusuf Salim Imperial College London Electrical & Electronic Engineering Oliver Biervliet Oxford Brooks University Economics, Finance & International Business

SENIOR SCHOOL | 71

Senior School | Careers & Leavers

Destination of leavers 2021

Senior School

Staff Leavers

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Holly Beaumont Holly joined Hymers College in March 2016 as a Marketing Assistant. She worked alongside Bridget Renwick for most of her time here. Prior to joining, Holly worked in New Hampshire (USA) for as a videographer, a skill that she used with great effect to promote the school.

Holly introduced the school to Facebook whilst also working

on other initiatives to develop an online presence for the school.

She helped plan and attend OH events, worked as a Team Leader for an NCS wave during the summer of 2016 and had the privilege of visiting Holland as part of the supervising staff with the 1st XI hockey team on their 2017 tour and has enjoyed the staff football.

She was also involved in the ‘Back to Ours’ initiative as part of Hull’s City of Culture programme. as a ‘venue manager’ liaising with the Back to Ours team.

Holly left to join Humberside Police, a move which we wish her the best of luck and wishes for her future career.

Mrs S Gibson Marketing Assistant

Amy Dai Amy joined the school as a newly qualified teacher in 2018. She taught across all year groups and also ran the popular problem solving club. She soon became a valued member of the Mathematics department, regularly contributing resources and sharing teaching ideas with her colleagues.

Amy also ran the sign language club as well as contributing to debating. After 3 years with Hymers Amy was offered a teaching post at a very good state grammar school in East Anglia. We were sorry to see her go but wish her well in her future career.

Mr E Tame Head of Mathematics

Karen Wylde Karen came to Hymers in September 2012 from Bishop Burton College and it was clear from the outset that we had employed a real gem. She fitted into the PE and Games Department immediately and her work ever since has been highly appreciated and well thought of.

We spent many hours inputting data for the practical elements of these qualifications as well as editing videos of candidates for practical moderation. It often felt that Karen had two jobs, one as a Teacher of PE and Games and the other as my PA doing countless admin tasks.

Karen has been in charge of our U12 sports players and her ability to help this year group adjust to senior school sport has been invaluable. She has a motherly instinct, but also the ability to instil what is right and what is wrong.

She has run successful hockey and netball teams in this age group and sets the tone of what is to follow for the next 6 years.

Karen also took on responsibility for Girls’ Tennis in the school and this sport has continued to flourish under her leadership.

She is incredibly well organised and managed teams from U12 to 1st team during this time. The highlight of the season for tennis has become the annual Eton Trip and Karen became a highly respected member of staff at the ISTA Championships, where she could be relied upon to help with the organisation. I certainly appreciated her company on such trips and her calm, assured manner

Karen became an integral part of the academic PE team, teaching mainly the socio-cultural and psychology sections of the A Level, but the whole of the GCSE content.

Staff Joiners

Karen also helped to run the Badminton Club in school alongside Alice Powell and for a number of years the team reached the National Championships finals, culminating in 2016 when our team were crowned National Champions.

It was soon established that Karen would fit in well on school ski trips and she accompanied a number of these. Her excellent organisational skills, ability to deal with issues and to get on with people made her a key member of the team and she was a hit with staff and students alike.

Karen leaves Hymers with the intention of playing more golf and spending more time with her family and we wish her the best of happiness pursuing both of these dreams.

Mr S Walmsley Director of Sport

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Sam Clare Sam was educated at a very good local school before moving north in 1999 to study at Newcastle University where he graduated with a BA Hons in Psychology.

After several years running his own business, he retrained to be a teacher in 2008 and has spent his time in schools in Hull and the East 72 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

looking after the girls.

Riding as a specialist in behaviour and attendance, culminating in him being a Deputy Head at Bridlington School. Jumping at the opportunity to restart the Psychology A Level at Hymers, Sam made the decision to return ‘home’ in 2019. He is currently completing his Masters in Occupational Psychology.

Fraser graduated from Queen Mary University in London with a BA Honours Degree in 2019.

With his drama degree he had a year working in sales with the philosophy of ‘fake it till you make it’.

Deciding that his drama bones weren’t being utilised enough he decided to look for other opportunities.

In September 2020 he took on the role of Graduate Sports Assistant at Hymers, with the

opportunity of helping out in the Drama department. As of 2021, he is completing his PGCE through the school and working his way towards a fully qualified teacher status.

Jayke Hartley Jayke joined us from Wolfreton School in September 2020.

He has a BSc in Biology from the University of Manchester, specialising in climate studies and the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease.

He went on to receive a PGCE at the University of Hull and gain a wealth of experience teaching in different schools across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

school, sharing his passion for both Biology and rugby.

As an Old Hymerian, Jayke is delighted to be re-joining the

Emma James Emma commenced paediatric nurse training at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London in April 1992.

She began her career by working on a gastroenterology specialist children’s ward at St Bartholomew’s and most recently has worked

within acute settings at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, which included Accident and Emergency and the paediatric High Dependency unit.

Throughout her career Emma has always had a strong interest in teaching others; student nurses,

colleagues and adolescents that have shown an interest in health and social care career pathways.

She is hoping to be able to combine all these skills during her time at Hymers College.

Rob Main Robert attained his BA from the University of Ottawa with a major in Classics and a minor in History.

He went on to complete his MA in Classics also at the University of Ottawa where he spent one semester as a Visiting Scholar at

Cambridge University. He then made the big leap across the pond to attend Oxford University. There he completed his DPhil in Ancient History with a focus on foreign policy in the late sixth century. He competed in several sports for

Oxford, earning a half-Blue in both ice hockey (2 years as captain), and American football. Robert has been keen to help expand the Classics programme to include Ancient Greek and to build the Hymers chess programme.

specialising in 20th Century History from Loughborough University.

Two and Key Stage Three.

Tom McConnell Tom joined us from following the culmination of his PGCE from Hull University, after successful placements at St Mary’s College and The Boulevard Academy.

He gained his BA (Hons)

A former Head Boy of Hymers, in the year 2014-2015, Tom is delighted to return to teach History, RE and Games at both Key Stage

Tom is relishing the opportunity to combine his two passions of History and Sport contributing to the cocurricular programme, taking teams for both hockey and cricket.

Emily has joined Hymers in a new role to the school after 18 years managing a recruitment business in London and Hull; relocating home when her children were born.

Emily was one of the first girls to attend Hymers in 1989 when the school went fully co-ed and is thoroughly enjoying returning to where it began for her.

Emily Pennack Emily joined us as Development Manager in September 2020, she is responsible for fundraising for our John Hymers Bursary Fund and all alumni engagement.

Eleanor Thompson Ellie developed a passion for sport and physical activity at school enjoying hockey, athletics, golf, lacrosse and cross country.

Aside from school she has had a successful club hockey career.

Ellie played for Loughborough Students Union Hockey club.

Post university – where she was awarded a Sports Science degree – Ellie worked at Sedbergh Preparatory School as the Boys Hockey Coach before being appointed as the Sedbergh Preparatory Female Sports Graduate. More recently she has

completed her PGCE in Secondary Physical Education with EBACC Biology. In addition to her PGCE she coached Kirkby Lonsdale Hockey Club U14s and worked as a female hockey specialist for Sedbergh School.

SENIOR SCHOOL | 73

Senior School | Leavers & Joiners

Fraser Hartley

Senior School

£60k

Investing in the school

Tennis/Netball courts:

deep clean and over spraying with superior acrylic sports coating to give additional slip resistance to netball standard.

Summer 2021 saw a massive investment in upgrading our sporting and science facilities in the School.

£340k Astro Pitch:

Operations Manager, Craig Schofield, hands over the high spec astro pitch to Director of Sport, Steve Walmsley.

£130k Biology L4:

complete refurbishment to include the installation of a glass wall for greater use of natural light. This now allows for 4 dedicated classrooms in all 4 sciences.

74 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

complete new shock pad and sand dressed playing surface with upgraded lighting to LED to Hockey England standard.

New playing surface allows for greater flexibility with tennis now being able to be played on it.

Senior School | HCA

xxx

The Hymers College Association (HCA) Once again, we find ourselves reflecting on the past year and on those who have joined Hymers College & Junior School throughout the pandemic. Unfortunately, like last year, Covid-19 has somewhat hampered the opportunity to welcome new faces and introduce the HCA. In years past, this would have been done at the annual Hymers Garden Party in the Summer, Open days, uniform sales, and the Michaelmas Fair, to name but a few.

Sadly, we have not been able to go ahead with these events in their usual guise. However, the HCA has worked tirelessly to bring you alternatives, and rest assured, we will be back when safety permits.

Therefore, we would like to extend a friendly hello and welcome to everyone who has joined the Hymers community over the past twelve months. As some of you may now be aware, the HCA are a group of parents and teachers who organise a variety of fun,

social events throughout the school year. In addition, we raise funds to support and assist with purchases above and beyond the normal school budget.

We very much hope to continue Terry’s great work.

This past year we have contributed to the school by running an online Easter Egg-stravaganser and helping organise the Festival of Hockey, which saw British Olympic Bronze Medallist, Fiona Crackles open the event. The HCA has also funded Choral Raisers for our wonderful Junior School Choirs, the picnic benches on the school grounds, new gym equipment, and ice-creams for the Junior School Christmas party, to name but a few.

We would love to hear from you.

You can reach the HCA at hca@hymers.org

Would you like to join our committee or volunteer your time at one of our forthcoming events?

Join us. You won’t regret it!

Zoe Overment Chair

Members of the HCA with Fiona Crackles, Olympic Bronze Medallist and Ellie Thompson, Hymers Sports at the Festival of Hockey.

Our wonderful committee and team of volunteers are the backbone of the HCA. They are instrumental in helping raise funds so that we can continue our contributions.

Our wonderful committee and team of volunteers are the backbone of the HCA. They are instrumental in helping raise funds so that we can continue our contributions.

This year, Terry Gawthorpe, our former Chairwoman, stepped down from her role after six fantastic years of leadership and support.

We hope you will join us in sending Terry our very best wishes and thanking her for her time and dedication as Chair.

The HCA reins have now been handed over to myself (Zoe Overment) and Helen Kaye, as Helen has moved to Vice-Chair.

SENIOR SCHOOL | 75

Old Hymerians

The Development Office

The Development Office Team

Message from Development Manager and OH President …

(L-R) Jenny Richardson, Emily Pennack and Vikki Bastiman

I succeeded Jonathan Leafe as President as the global pandemic hit; therefore, there were no alumni events to attend, or the opportunity to meet my contemporaries as anticipated.

However, in my dual role as Development Manager for the School and having just returned to School in September 2020, I knew that there was an opportunity to see many exciting changes and be able to look forward to meeting others in the future. We embraced our technology and I began to meet virtually with many of our alumni across the globe.

The OHA and The Development Office The Development Office continues to work with the Old Hymerians Association (OHA) to maintain links with alumni from around the world.

Jonathan Leafe (OH 1971-1979) continues his role as Chairman of the OHA, Alistair Latham (OH 19811990) Company Secretary, and Nick Auton (OH 1990) Treasurer.

We are extremely grateful for all of their support to the school and the OHA and their commitment and time they give to us.

During these difficult times, the School has been incredibly grateful to Old Hymerians (OH) who have indicated that they are ‘willing to help’ by offering work experience placements, answering industryspecific questions, sharing their career paths, mentoring, giving talks, delivering assemblies, speaking to our Sixth Form societies and so much more. We also had over 100 alumni receive a letter from a Hymers Junior School pupil in lockdown, many of whom have continued their pen pal friendship. Your time made such a huge difference, thank you. It has been amazing to see the significant rise of volunteering around the world, how Hymers alumni have

given their time and what you have done to help us.

At the time of going to print our events calendar has recommenced with both the London and Hull Dinners proving extremely popular and many more dates in the calendar for Drinks in London, bi-monthly lunches at the school, President Rugby & Hockey Lunches and much more.

Since the last edition, we have launched our new, dedicated, Old Hymerian website and have seen 1,000 new online users in recent months. Here we post our alumni news, you can view our OH Merchandise shop, read our Fondly Remembered section, book tickets for our events and read through our Digital Archives. We now operate across all social media channels and you can find us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram where we post alumni news daily.

This could be a snippet from the archives or a news story from one of our Old Hymerians. This has been a fantastic opportunity for many of our alumni to re-connect with their peers sometimes 70-80 years on!

The role of the Development Office is two-fold: to bring the Old Hymerian community together, which includes past pupils, parents

Since the launch of the Development Office we have introduced a space in ‘The Lodge’ - also known as ‘The Porter’s House’ to many - to formally display our vast range of archives and items of historical importance and interest relating to the school.

We have an original copy of every Hymerian magazine since our 76 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

& staff, and to build a long-term, sustainable bursary fund to support bursary places; helping ensure that the School continues to thrive for the next generation and beyond. Since its opening in 1893, Hymers has depended on and benefitted from, the generosity of those who shared the vision of the school’s founder, John Hymers. The success and strength of the college at present is the result of generations of giving, from the first benefactors to many Old Hymerians. We currently offer bursary funding to approximately 12% of our student body and this year we had to say “no” to 25 talented children; our 15-year vision is to never turn away a gifted child. If you feel you are able to support our fundraising efforts to increase our bursary offering at the school, either through a gift in your lifetime or a legacy pledge, for any gifts you could make we will be extremely grateful.

I look forward to meeting many more of our Old Hymerian community in the years ahead, perhaps at a future event in 2022.

You are always most welcome to visit the school. Please contact us by email oldhymerians@hymers. org, visit oldhymerians.co.uk or call me on 01482 347492.

Get in Touch …

The Development Office The Lodge Hymers College Hymers Avenue Hull HU3 1LW Development Manager Emily Pennack OH 1989-1995 epennack@hymers.org 01482 347492 Development Data Officer Jenny Richardson jrichardson@hymers.org 01482 347491

Emily Pennack OH 1989-1995

Alumni Engagement Officer Vikki Bastiman OH 1989-1996 vbastiman@hymers.org 01482 347491

opening in 1893 and have framed some of our blazers from over the years. In time we hope to introduce many more pieces to display and

look forward to showcasing these items with you. The archive library will be open for all our alumni to view.

Old Hymerians | OH Golf

OHA Annual Golf Tournament

Double delight for the Clarks

An encouraging turnout of 34 OH golfers, including 9 new recruits, competed for four trophies on a bright and breezy afternoon on 9 September 2020 at Hull Golf Club, Kirkella. Some of these particular trophies date back to 1922.

Best score of the day & Palmer Cup went to Lewis Parkinson (20102017) 39 pts with runner-up Josh Chapman (2003) 36 pts.

Chambers Cup was won by former 1st eleven cricket captain, Dan Leather (2000-2010) 36 pts with his brother, Nathan Leather (2002-2012), as joint runner-up with Charlie Rawlins 36 pts.

Kenneth Clark Cup for veterans over 70 was won by Keith Allison (1952-1960) 32 pts with runner-up John Canby (1956-1965) 32 pts.

Scratch Cup was won by Finlay Ulrick (2008-2016) Gross 80 and runner-up Anil Panesar Gross 80.

The winners being presented with their trophies by current OH President Jonathan Leafe: Lewis Parkinson (top left), Dan Leather (top right), Finlay Ulrich (bottom left) and Keith Allison (bottom right).

Pictured (left to right): Joel Chapman, Lewis Parkinson, Jonathan Clark, Julian Wild and George Clark

On a balmy evening at Hull Golf Club on 8 September 2021, 24 Old Hymerians gathered for the delayed Annual Golf Tournament.

Five trophies were at stake over the tough Kirk Ella layout with the rough being particularly punishing.

George Clark (1), playing in his first event as an Old Hymerian, scorched around in 72 to take the Scratch Cup from former school golf team-mate Will Saville (+1) who shot 77. Will is about to begin his second year at Sheffield University, whilst George is heading north to Newcastle. Both will hopefully be the premier pair for the Grafton Morrish scratch team for many years to come.

Jonathan Clark (9) took the

Chambers Cup for the best stableford score in Division One with 37 points. He just edged out last year’s Scratch winner Finlay Ulrick (9) who had 35. Division Two honours went to Lewis Parkinson (12) who took home the Palmer Trophy again with a best of the day 37 points (on back 9) from new recruit Joseph Walker (18).

Sadly Edward Clark (22) could not complete an unprecedented treble for the Clark family as The Kenneth Clark Veterans Trophy went to Julian Wild (18) with 32 points on countback from the ever consistent Allan Craig (24).

At the other end of the age scale, a new category was introduced this year. The Bastow Trophy had been

played for by Hymers students from 1981 when Andrew Edmond took the tankard. It went missing in 2010, but has recently resurfaced under the stairs in the Main Hall!

Therefore it was redesignated as an under 30s prize for this year and will hopefully attract students to play in this event next year should dates and tee times permit [watch this space!] Joel Chapman (10) prevailed with another of the evening’s 37 points, three clear of Dan Couch (27).

It was so great to see so many new faces (especially from younger OH members), and look out for the date next year on the OH website and social media.

Ganton OHA took on Old Pocklingtonians on 11 August at Ganton Golf Club in an inaugural fixture that will hopefully continue into the future.

Team OHA was represented by Jonathan Leafe, Adam Franks, Nick Leek, Gary Evison, John Britton,

Julian Wild, Thomas Martin Cocker and Richard Johnston.

An OHA win of 3.5 to 0.5 points was recorded. It was a fantastic day and enjoyed by all with warm sunshine and dry conditions of the Ganton course.

Hymers fall short at Fixby Hymers travelled to Huddersfield Golf Club on Sunday 11 July for the northern qualifier of the Grafton Morrish Trophy.

Hopes were high of a return to the finals in early October at Hunstanton GC in Norfolk when the date was pushed back due to Covid. On paper, 2021 could have been the best team assembled since the 80s with a youthful looking team which included some very low handicaps.

Sadly, a clash of dates with a Yorkshire event meant that George Clark was unable to make his OH debut, but recent leavers Will Saville and Alex Limb came into the team for their first taste of Fixby! Two other late withdrawals meant ‘veterans’ Ian Jones and

team captain Jonathan Clark were brought in to make up the six.

Played over the hilly Huddersfield course with punishing rough, scratch foursomes takes no prisoners and so it transpired. The father / son duo of Matthew and Alex Limb had the team’s best return of 26 points, but Ian and David Page and Jonathan and Will couldn’t back that up and Hymers were left 14 points off the qualifying mark. Leading qualifiers were Sedburgh with an incredible 94 points!

So, planning will start for the 2022 campaign which should revert back to its usual May date. Any single figure players out there who wish to be considered can contact Jonathan Clark on 07972 335693.

Pictured (left to right): Will Saville, Ian Jones, David Page, Jonathan Clark, Alex Limb, Matthew Limb

OLD HYMERIANS | 77

Old Hymerians

Fondly Remembered Henry Foster OH 2011-2016 died May 2020 It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of former pupil Henry Foster.

Henry, from North Lincolnshire, was a pupil at Hymers from 2011-2016 and all those who knew him remember him as a generous-spirited and warm-hearted young man, as well as an exceptional rugby player.

Joining the School in Year 7 through to Year 11, Henry was in the A Team and 1st XV at Hymers College in every year for rugby.

He left Hymers in 2016 moving to Sedbergh School where he continued his sporting success before winning a rugby scholarship at Central Washington University in America.

Tragically, in May 2020 Henry passed away aged just 20 years old.

Some of Henry’s closest friends at Hymers sought to recognise his life through a special 20-team Rugby Sevens Tournament they organised here at Hymers College in July 2021.

On Saturday 24 July the rugby pitches at School were filled with teams for the Henry Foster 7s Rugby Memorial Tournament. The tournament saw an incredible turnout with over 700 people

78 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

The final was contested by two teams loaded with ex-Sedbergh players. The standard of rugby on show in all groups was very

high, whilst also being played in a wonderful spirit. The team ‘On a Roll’ won the final, beating ‘Old Sedberghians’ 19-14.

Sean Foster, Henry’s father, who was in attendance at the tournament, remarked that it had been “a simply stunning day”; lots of friendships reacquainted, lots of good rugby and a really warm

Old Hymerians | Fondly Remembered

gathered at School. All the teams competed for the inaugural Henry Foster Sevens Cup and Plate and all proceeds of the tournament went to the Henry Foster Foundation.

atmosphere showing the feelings felt towards Henry and his family.

In memory of Henry, a tree was planted at the School as a lasting legacy and a new bench was unveiled in his memory which now sits at the side of one of the rugby pitches for spectators.

Mr P Cook Head of Rugby

Philip Jeffrey Gillyon OH 1974-1984 died 30 October 2020 Phil was very active throughout his school career, both academically and on the sports field where he became an established member of the 1st XV. It was at Hymers that Phil met Jill (then Hunter). The school was taking tentative steps towards coeducation, admitting a handful of brave girls into the Sixth Form. As Jill describes it, the stage was set for the first English class.

Phil was late, and the only available seat was next to one of the new girls. Reluctantly, he took it. Some things are perhaps meant to be, and they were never thereafter apart.

From entering the Junior School in 1974, Phil really loved his time at Hymers College, for having been there for 10 years before passing away at such a relatively young age, meant a daily involvement with Hymers for almost 20 percent of his life. He was educated at the School, in common with his father and his three brothers.

Phil was noted at school for his sense of humour, dry as a Yorkshire stone wall and quick as a whippet.

He became something of a celebratory when he received, from Downing, a “Hopkins’ offer” of two Es at A Level (John Hopkins was Senior Law Tutor at Downing).

It is not known how many such offers were ever made, but they were rare. They are probably illegal nowadays.

Phil arrived at Downing in 1984.

Presciently, Jill had herself applied to Trinity. Whilst they thrived together, Phil was committed to College life. He played in the 1st XV. He was a member of the

Patricians Society and developed a wide circle of friends, who revelled in his company and his wit.

Phil shone academically. Friends said it was a bittersweet pleasure to sit with him in supervisions, conscious that he would always know the right answer but aware that this did not mean he would help out. Although (every year) he claimed to be surprised, no-one else was surprised when he took a 1st in each leg of the Tripos.

After Downing, Phil joined Middle Temple and was awarded the Lloyd Jacob Memorial Exhibition and a Harmsworth Scholarship.

He obtained tenancy at Erskine Chambers where he built a successful practice in company law and insolvency. He was also called to the Bar of the BVI and became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. His punishing work ethic, penetrating intellect and affable nature meant that he remained much in demand.

Phil was also committed to pro bono work. The case worker for The Advocate wrote, “We are terribly sorry to hear of Philip’s passing. He was a truly wonderful person and lawyer and we were incredibly grateful for his dedication to pro bono and helping our applicants have the access to justice that they deserve.”

Meanwhile, Phil and Jill were married in 1993. Nick was born in 2001 and Amy in 2003. Phil delighted in watching Nick play rugby and Amy participate in drama productions. There is a suspicion that both want to follow their father to the Bar. Phil was introduced by Nick to the delights of football. Many weekends were spent travelling the country to watch Hull City.

A highlight was when three generations went to Wembley in 2008, bedecked in kit, to witness promotion to the Premiership in the play-off final.

For a man of such talent and accomplishments, Phil remained disarmingly modest and selfeffacing. Having done all the hard work, he had every right to look forward to many more happy years. It was a great shock when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Phil bore his illness with stoicism and his trademark good humour. He died at home with his family around him.

At his funeral, Phil’s Head of Chambers read out numerous messages of condolence from professional colleagues. Mr Justice Snowden stopped the proceedings in his Court and ordered a minute’s silence in his memory.

Jeff Gillyon, father OLD HYMERIANS | 79

Old Hymerians

Terry Glenville OH Staff 1971-2001 died 8 February 2021

Terry Glenville taught at Hymers 1971-2001 and taught many generations in Hull to swim. Here are some reminiscences of his time at Hymers.

“I learned all my swimming teaching ‘skills’ from watching Terry teach my own children. When Hymers opened their pool (which was sadly after Terry had retired), I

could hear myself repeating all of Terry’s encouraging and repetitive instructions!!”

“A lovely man - he never appeared to take life too seriously, always a smile, a joke and a glint in his eye!

A great character - may he rest in peace.”

“Sad news... Mr G was always very patient with me (despite me not being the best pupil) He was a really nice fella with a great wit and

a great temperament for teaching... all the best to Katy and James...”

time (and swimming lessons at his pool!). Very sad news.”

“Terry was a gregarious character who always had time for people.

He had a caring and generous nature and was highly respected by all that new him.James and Katy were fantastic to work with in school and a true reflection of what a nice man Terry was. RIP.”

“Another fantastic teacher and swimming coach who Mike will also remember from J2G in 1976. Mr Glenville was always immaculately dressed too in a blue blazer. All of those he taught will remember him with affection.”

“He never quite forgave me for posting his “Jaguar parking only” sign down the gap between the window and wall in his classroom.

I still to this day have no idea how I managed it. This was in my first year at Hymers while in his form, he never missed an opportunity to remind me about it anytime I saw him in the following 10 years I was at the school. He even tried to find the sign in the rubble of the junior school when it was knocked down to build the pool, and when he couldn’t find it, told me he had still “not forgiven me”. An amazing teacher and better friend. Glad to have known him.”

“My first form teacher at Hymers.

A very kind and funny man - I’ll always remember him sneakily shooting students with a water pistol under his desk during reading

Dr John Gosnold

“He was a great swim teacher and I used to remember being in his class in the junior school.

He got me interested in general knowledge by doing quizzes every Friday in our last lesson. He also taught me that there is no such word as can’t, when I was such a melt learning to swim.

Charismatic as well as being supportive of you individually. The last memory I will share is that he had a rattle snake tail in his draw in class. He shook it once and asked the class what it was, no-one guessed it right. Who would guess a rattle snake tail in a class in Hull in the 80’s.”

“He taught half of Hull to swim! He was a true gent and one of the most memorable teachers I had. Always very smart and kind. Very sad to see the passing of another Hymers icon.”

David George Atkinson

OH 1950-1960 died November 2020

OH 1945 -1955 died 17 December 2020

David went to Hull University to study law and graduated in 1959.

Whilst at Hull University he joined the Hull University Air Squadron and was commissioned as a pilot of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in April 1959 for two years.

In January 1960 David proudly received his Private Pilot’s ‘Licence of Flying Machines’.

David attended Law School in Guildford, Surrey and was admitted as a Solicitor in 1962.

John was a past President of the OH Association (2011) and he also enthusiastically organised the bi-monthly luncheons for many years. Members of the OH and Hymers College pass on their condolences to his family.

We would like to share with you some of the messages that we have received…

80 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

“He was a contemporary of mine at Hymers, and a client for some years. One of the most energetic and enthusiastic young men I know, and even retirement could not stop him! A great loss to the community.”

“I played with John at the OH Golf Day on a number of occasions and he was always great company.”

“John was an outstanding A&E medic and my wife Jo had many interactions with him. He was the finest practitioner of his time.”

“I am very sorry to hear this. John helped me when I was President

and did a lot for the school and OHA. He was also a friend of my late uncle John Robinson.”

“I know you will pass on our condolences generally and please add mine to that.”

“He was a really decent President and good guy.”

“As the man in charge of the A&E Department at HRI for many years he inspired many colleagues and helped them save lives. He also spent his spare time repairing rugby players. He was a great OH and ambassador for the School.”

In 1962 David joined Gosschalk, Austin & Wheldon, Solicitors, Hull and worked virtually every day in the Family Courts all over Yorkshire. He became a partner in 1965 and retired in 1999.

David and Gill married in 1967 and had three children James, Jane & Nicolas. David & Gill retired to Cumbria in 1999 where David happily grew show standard dahlias and vegetables. He enjoyed cooking and walking in the beautiful countryside with a succession of much-loved Labradors. The two words that appear most about David are ‘True Gentleman’.

OH Staff 1986-2010 died 7 August 2021 cricket and twenty five years later, hundreds of Under 14 cricketers had benefited from his coaching skills, passion and love of the game. He travelled with rugby teams and was a fine golfer.

Tim was interviewed by Bryan Bass in December 1985 and began as Director of Music in the summer term of 1986. He was made Director of Studies by John Morris and Deputy Head (Academic) by David Elstone.

The Music Department that Tim acquired from Desmond Swinburne consisted of Gillian Davison, who taught the violin and some class music in the Junior School, myself teaching all the woodwind instruments, and Sue Mavity teaching cello. There were a few hours of brass and percussion teaching and Denis Jack, Ian Franklin and David Scotney helped out with ensembles. Tim taught academic music throughout the whole school from Years 4 to Year 13 in those days.

He and Bryan Bass decided to build and develop the department and so within a year, Diana Bushby was appointed as Music Teacher in the Junior School in 1987 and in 1990 Janet Clarke became Tim’s assistant and would be responsible for the Choirs and singing lessons. When Bob Childs followed Ian Holmes as Head of Brass the team of six musicians who were responsible for all of the musical celebrations in the centenary year of 1993 were in place. One Governor was known to have admonished Bryan Bass and accused him of setting up The Hymers College of Music and looked quite pleased with himself until Bryan told him what a splendid idea that would be.

The musical highlights of the centenary year were the Founder’s Service at Brandesburton, the School Centenary Service at Holy Trinity Church and the huge celebratory concert at Hull City Hall.

Tim was involved in the planning of all of these and much of the success of that year was down to his eye for detail, style and execution. He generously invited back a previous Head of Music, Graham Watson,

to conduct the huge massed choir of current and former pupils, a gesture which was typical and much appreciated by all.

Tim appointed some first class musicians to the music staff over the years. Richard Quick followed Gill Davison and Dixon Laing succeeded Andrew Snell who had followed Bob Childs. Diana Pocock and then Marion Riley came to assist Janet, and Martin Couzin and Pietro Lusvardi have followed Sue Sidwell and so it goes on. Janet, now Kelsey and Mark Pybus were fortunate to be able to expand and continue what Tim had started.

In his time as Director of Music, a great many of Tim’s former students have entered all branches of the music profession. Tim Frost, Michael Gale, Matthew Glenn and Caroline Elliiot have all become successful Heads of Music themselves. The late Paul Frankish became Musical Director of several West End Shows and Beth Mackay worked with Opera North, Ben Walton became Director of Studies and a Lecturer in Music at Jesus College Cambridge, Jonathan Leathwood occupied an academic post at the University of Denver in the States, Helen Tordoff is a successful professional violinist, David Childs is a world famous euphonium soloist in the Brass Band world and Daniel Jemison became Principal Bassoon in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and thence to the London Symphony Orchestra.

As a Director of Music who coached sport he made it OK for sporting pupils to be seen around the place carrying a violin case. When Chris Fitzpatrick, the Director of Sport was seen to play the clarinet in the staff shows or my Wind Band, the difference at Hymers for sporting musicians and musical sportsmen was very important; this had not happened before.

Tim was a regular member of staff on school trips; he learned to ski on a Hymers ski trip. He organised brass ensemble trips to Holland for many years, some of these even took place on the weekend they were scheduled to.

He went to Barbados with the cricketers and I understand earned the soubriquet Alan Frescoe after developing a tendency to sleep out on the verandah; especially after a few Dark an’ Stormies or Rum Punches. He also assisted on the Junior School trips to Normandy with his wife, Nia. He worked with the Drama department on productions by Neil King and Richard Grayson, supplying music for the various plays and musicals over twenty five years. I remember particularly the magnificent Guys and Dolls and Oh what a Lovely War! His piano playing in a 1930s style As You Like It, cut down versions of Calamity Jane, 42nd Street and many others was quite wonderful.

All were successful A Level musicians at our school, but think also of the hundreds of pupils who just enjoyed contributing to the musical life of the school under Tim‘s direction.

Tim put in place so much that is taken for granted now; he reinvigorated the Friends of Hymers Music Society which raised money for school music. He devised and reinvented the fundraiser called Sherry and Carols, re-naming it Music and Mulled Wine and moving it into the Main Hall from a rather un-Christmassy Dining Hall. It remained the single biggest fundraiser in the calendar. He was also involved from the start in providing music for the Lord Mayor’s Service at the Street Life Museum and later at the Guildhall.

Many of those instrumentalists were accompanied at the piano

by Tim in national competitions like Jonathan Downing in the Audi Young Musician; the BBC Young Musician of the Year when Tim appeared in the televised rounds with Daniel Jemison who made the Woodwind Final. His accompanying at the Vocal Showcase was exemplary and much missed.

The structure of Orchestra, String Group, Wind Band and choirs for each stage of the school, Junior, Intermediate and Senior was devised by Tim and is still largely in place now, several Heads of Music later. The increasing size of the visiting music staff necessitated a designated point of contact separate to the Director of Music which was my job for several years.

That summer of 1986 was the first year Tim was involved in

I don’t think Tim ever wanted to be a Head of Music for ever; there

comes a point I assume, when you just cannot bear the thought of planning another Christmas Concert ending with four verses of O come all ye Faithful.

He taught Business Studies at Hymers and became a Governor of the William Gee School, later as Vice Chairman. He was appointed a School’s Inspector in 1997; very useful when Hymers was inspected for the first time.

So he left us in the music department and became Director of Studies. New challenges, new targets and new reasons to spend more hours at school, sorting it all out. Except that he never really left the music department and continued to play for us and advise us when asked. He joined the Executive Committee of the Hull Philharmonic Orchestra at my request, dispensing wisdom, common sense and practical musical knowledge there for many years. His devotion to the music at St. John’s Newland was greatly appreciated too.

Then finally he became Deputy Head; I was able to knock at the door which had been Norman Walker’s, John Morris’s, John Tinnion’s and was now his.

I put my head round the door and said “Everything comes to he who waits,” and closed it quietly.

You will gather perhaps that Tim and I go back a long way. There have been a great many hours of shared laughter, shared musical tastes and shared bottles. Our families are very close and linked by Godfatherly duties; he with our daughter Sarah, Lucy and me with their son Edward.

There are many of you reading this today who will have also shared friendship and hospitality with the O’Byrnes at Park Avenue.

Whenever I emerged from City Hall after Speech Day, having put the musical instruments and stands on the van, I would make my way over to the Ferens Art Gallery for a glass. I would see Tim every year at the front of City Hall with his brolly, seeing every last pupil into their cars for a safe lift home before he joined us at the reception. It was the same with the school buses, it was the same in the snow; Tim was out there sorting it out.

He represents what some of us remember as the way we were.

That is not to say we should stand still and not move with the times or have no new ideas or not embrace new thinking; that would be the world he sought to change.

He certainly did that and we are all the poorer for his passing.

Our thoughts are with Nia and the family; Katie, Tom and Edward.

Mr A Penny OLD HYMERIANS | 81

Old Hymerians | Fondly Remembered

Tim O’Byrne

Old Hymerians

Ian Middleton

Stephen Pinder

OH 1959-1966

OH 1961 – 1970 league in the country and when he stopped playing squash he became a single figure handicap golfer!

It is with great sadness that I write of the death of Ian Middleton. Ian was born in Hull in May 1948 and came to Hymers College in September 1959. He was a gifted sportsman and a very able student.

He became one of the best table tennis players in Yorkshire whilst at Hymers and excelled as a cricketer as a slow left arm bowler of great accuracy, being drafted into the school first eleven at the age of 14.

Whilst at Hymers he was asked to attend the Yorkshire County Cricket Clubs senior nets, which was a great honour in the 1960’s.

However, Ian’s greatest sporting achievement was as a badminton player. He followed his father’s footsteps, learning the game as a member of the Hull and East Riding Club. He rose through the ranks to play for Yorkshire for many years and was in the England squad. In later life Ian took up squash and played for a leading club in the top

On leaving school Ian studied at Newcastle University and achieved a degree in Anthropology before embarking upon his career. Ian was attracted to journalism and initially worked for the Sheffield Morning Telegraph. Whilst there he was spotted by the Financial Times journalist John Wyles who recommended this able and energetic young reporter to the shipping magazine Seatrade.

Ian worked for this publication from 1976 until his retirement in 2016 and established a reputation as a forthright and formidable seeker of the truth and was fearless in his questioning of those in his industry who had questions to answer as well as covering all the relevant developments in shipping and ports worldwide.

Ian was highly regarded throughout the industry and travelled extensively in search of information to keep the readers of a magazine with a global reach well informed.

Stephen’s time at Hymers enabled him to gain a place at a good university.

However, always technically minded, he left early to devote himself to work he enjoyed most: working with his hands to create and repair a variety of electronic and mechanical devices.

In 1984 he married a Welsh girl, Mair, and went to live in South Wales. His family and friends in the East Riding regretted that this

After three years working in Ottawa he spent the rest of his working life in Cheshire doing research for the Electricity Council. He lost his wife, Annette, to cancer in 1982.

In his spare time Dan was a highly respected coach and official for his local athletics club.In his later years he experienced serious mobility problems which led to a diagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease. He moved to a nursing home in Bath where, a few years later, he passed away on 15 August, 2021. He is survived by his three daughters.

Mr R Gore

OH 1952-1969

He was a British mathematician.

He was a son of the Germanborn mathematicians Bernhard Neumann and Hanna Neumann and, after gaining a BA degree from The Queen’s College, Oxford in 1963, obtained his DPhil degree from Oxford University in 1966.

Neumann was a Tutorial Fellow at the Queen’s College, Oxford, and a lecturer at Oxford University.

After retiring in 2008, he became an Emeritus Fellow at the Queen’s College. His work has been in the field of group theory. He is also known for solving Alhazen’s problem in 1997.

Neumann’s work in the history 82 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

In 1987, Neumann won the Lester R. Ford Award of the Mathematical Association of America for his review of Harold Edwards’ book Galois Theory. In 2003, the London Mathematical Society awarded him the Senior Whitehead Prize.

He was the first Chairman of the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust, from October 1996 to April 2004, succeeded by Bernard Silverman.

He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours.

Extracted from The London Mathematical Society website

Mr C Bee

After Hymers, Dan read Science at Trinity College, Cambridge and went on to take a PhD in Chemistry.

Ian married Vanessa and they had two children Tamsin and Jonathan all of whom survive.

Neumann was a long-standing supporter of the British Society for the History of Mathematics, whose Neumann Prize is named in his honour.

Kind, indeed never unkind, he was always great fun to be with.

He is mourned by Mair, his family including his parents and his many friends, some of whom made the long journey from Manchester in order to carry his coffin into the chapel.

OH 1952 - 1959 died 15 August 2021

A fitting epitaph was given by the eminent shipping economist Dr. Martin Stopford who said, ‘’Ian was a good journalist and a good man.

His integrity smoothed the rough edges all journalists have to come to terms with and he was always a pleasure to work with.’’

of mathematics includes his 2011 edited edition of the work of the short-lived French mathematician Évariste Galois (1811–1832)

Adventurous, indeed sometimes slightly mischievous, he numbered among his interests hang-gliding and a lifelong passion for the Welsh Highland Railway.

Dan Gilroy

Peter Neumann We are sorry to hear of the passing of Peter Neumann 1940-2020. Peter was born in Oxford and raised in Hull where he attended Hymers.

meant they did not see as much of him as they would have wished.

Mr T Gilroy

Keith Morrill OH 1943-1949 died 4 November 2021 It is with much sadness that we announce the passing on 4 November of Keith Alexander Morrill aged 87.

His passing was unexpected but peaceful in Hull Royal Infirmary, another casualty of the pandemic.

Much loved by his wife Lesley, their children, grandchildren, wider families and friends, he will be remembered with love and fondness forever.

Mr R Morrill

OH Staff 1962-2002 died 23 January 2021 Alex taught at Hymers for 40 years, 34 years as Head of Chemistry. Enthusiastic and dedicated he was the epitomy of the classic school master.

school what it is, but who at the same time are open to change, improvement and development.

This is what Mr Sutton has been at Hymers.”

Alex died on 23 January 2021 aged 80. We extend our deepest sympathies to his wife Barbara and daughter Sarah.

As well as running an immensely successful department with outstanding examination results, Alex was involved in countless activities within the school, from transporting sports teams, to house management of school drama productions and school trips abroad. He also wrote part of the history of Hymers, ‘Hymers College – the first hundred years’, for the centenary in 1993, and played a huge part in the Botanic Sidings appeal at the turn of the century.

He sung in the staff choir, played squash (very well) in the staff team, helped run charity appeals and senior citizen lunches and acted in school plays.

Mr C Fitzpatrick Some of the thoughtful messages we have received...

“How sad. I have particularly fond memories of him. Like me, he used to live in Brough. My mother was concerned about my maths so she arranged for him to give me extra tuition. There developed a bond and he inspired me as a pupil in his chemistry class to gain extravagant - for me - results.”

“He also came on a 5-week school trip around Greece with Gerald Thompson. An unforgettable experience.”

Peter Wildsmith

He had served as staff representative on the Old Hymerians for many years. He had the wonderful ability to remember names and faces of all the pupils that he had taught. This talent served him well when he took on the role as Membership Secretary of the Old Hymerians Association when he retired. He was also, in 1994, the only non-Hymerian to serve as President of the Association!

“Alex and Doc Emerson managed to get your idle servant an A in his subject at A Level which surprised them and me. Many fond memories of his lessons and A Level revision classes.”

“He was a very quiet, calm but determined type of teacher for whom I have lasting good memories.”

“He very much loved Hymers and all its works, he will be sadly missed.” Bill Gore

He was quiet, unassuming and caring and as John Morris, Headmaster at Hymers when Alex retired in 2002, described in assembly, “Good schools need within them members of staff who pass on from one generation to another the ethos, the spirit of the school, people who safeguard all the best traditions that make the

“I remember Mr Sutton as a fantastic chemistry teacher and I remember Alex as a thoroughly nice chap and a great supporter of the OHA and the school in his retirement.”

Jamie Wheldon

If you have any details or would like to contribute to our dedicated Fondly Remembered section on our OH Website, please contact us on oldhymerians@hymers.org or call 01482 347491.

It is with regret we advise of the following Old Hymerian deaths:

John Abram (at Hymers 1945-54) died January 2021 Trevor Barkworth (at Hymers 1942-1945) died January 2021 Richard James Bradnum (at Hymers 1948-1957) died August 2020 John Howard Clark (at Hymers 1936-1943) died 26 December 2020 Mervyn Cluff (at Hymers 1935-1942) died June 2021 Anthony Bishop Croskin (at Hymers 1928-1936 ) died February 2020 William Dodshon (Bill) died 15 January 2021 Eric Dummett (Bursar at Hymers from 1984-1997) died 21 June 2019 Henry Foster (at Hymers 2011-2016) died May 2020 Philip Jeffrey Gillyon (at Hymers 1974-1984) died 30 October 2020 Dan Gilroy (at Hymers 1952-1959) died 15 August 2021

Terry Glenville (Teacher at 1971-2001) died 8 February 2021 Dr John Kenelm Gosnold (at Hymers 1950-1960) died 18 November 2020 John Irwin (at Hymers 1946-1951) died 28 December 2020 Ian Middleton (at Hymers 1959-1966) Keith Alexander Morrill (at Hymers 1943-1949) died 4 November 2020 Knud Warren Nielsen died on 1 April 2020 Peter Neumann OBE (at Hymers 1952-1959) died 18 December 2020 Tim O’Byrne (Teacher at 1986-2010) died 7 August 2021 Stephen Pinder (at Hymers 1961-1970) Richard Richardson (at Hymers 1936-1943) died February 2020 Alex Sutton (Teacher at Hymers 1962 - 2002) died January 2021

OLD HYMERIANS | 83

Old Hymerians | Fondly Remembered

Alex Sutton

Old Hymerians

Old Hymerian Pen Pals

The Development Team has started a new initiative to link up existing Hymers pupils with our Old Hymerian community which has proved to be a great success.

In a year that none of us will forget, we wanted to engage with our alumni community. We worked with our Junior School Year 6 pupils to write to our alumni in lockdown and sent over 100 letters as far as America and Australia.

A new generation of pen pals has been created as each member of our alumni network replies.

The students have learnt more about the history of Hymers over the decades. It has been lovely to hear from past teachers, Headmasters and pupils from aged 20 - 90 and hear all the news about their school days.

Time Capsule Club Interviews Laura French

Joseph Nariculam

Hymers College, Class of 2004

Hymers College, Class of 1993

Laura qualified in medicine in 2009 and after completing her foundation years in Yorkshire, spent time working abroad in emergency medicine. She gained a diploma in Tropical Medicine from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and following that spent three years training in obstetrics and gynaecology.

However, in 2016 a passion for infectious disease, population health and tackling global inequalities led to a career change and she is now a consultant in public health medicine in Leicester, heading up the covid-19 testing programme and working on pandemic response. She also loves teaching and lectures in statistics, epidemiology, infectious diseases and global maternal health at various universities across Yorkshire and the Midlands.

Joseph left Hymers in 1993 and graduated from Imperial College School of Medicine in 1998. Following basic surgical training, he completed higher urology training at the London North Thames Deanery in 2014 and was placed on the GMC specialist register having gained his certificate for completion of specialist training (CCST).

He has been a Consultant Urologist at Darent Valley Hospital, Dartford since February 2016. His special interest is Kidney Stones and Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction. He has been an Examiner at Kings Medical School since 2018 and was recently appointed as a Lecturer at the new Kent and Medway Medical School (KMMS).

MBBS DTMH MPH MFPH DRCOG

(FRCS Urol)

Alumni showcases The Development Office wanted to celebrate the diversity of the Old Hymerian community and have started to showcase pictures of former students that reflect the pride we have in our alumni.

These are visible in a range of department classrooms and the walkway from the West Drive. They 84 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

show a snapshot of what some of our Old Hymerians go on to achieve, in their next steps after Hymers.

Amitava Banerjee Hymers College, Class of 1996 After qualifying from Oxford his interests in preventive cardiology and evidencebased medicine led to a Masters in Public Health at Harvard (2004/05) working at the World Health Organisation (2005) and DPhil in epidemiology from Oxford (2010).

A proficient cardiologist, a passionate educator and a prolific academic, his 190 publications span big data in healthcare, cardiovascular disease and global health.

During lockdown, members of our Year 8 Time Capsule Club each interviewed an Old Hymerian about their time here at school via Zoom.

Thank you to those of you that were interviewed and sharing your school day memories with us.

We learnt a lot about different decades at Hymers and they shared their school reports, maths instruments and much more in their home offices.

This will be an ongoing project, as we continue to uncover and engage with more alumni. This has proven a great opportunity for us to celebrate members of our old Hymerian community across a variety of industries and demonstrate their successes to our current students and families.

Florence interviewing an OH via Zoom

Hi Holly Lovely to speak to you this week. I have informed my Auntie that I had spoken to you and that the College archive was being put on line.

My uncle’s full title is Major Herbert Bradley Warburton M.B.E. D.F.C CdeG (OH 1929 - 1935). There is quite a lot of information online about his career but if you would like more information I would be happy to help.

Hi Emily Sending this from my work email, as my wife and I are working from home at the moment like everyone else, so she needs my laptop!

Here are the four school photos I have from Hymers. As mentioned I left the school in 1971, after the 5th form to do A Levels at Beverley GS. If it helps you with the form years I was 16 years old on 27 June 1971. There will be a few well known local faces there I’m sure.

We’ve been living in Harrogate now for 30 years. Our son Ben went to Ashville (he’s got two sons of his own now, Oscar 10 and Elliot 7, half Polish!), which is a bit ironic as I remember playing against them at Hymers and thinking what a great life it must be to board! We moved here from Leeds, where I went to University and stayed living around that area. I played most of my senior rugby at Harrogate and I’ve volunteered on their Committee quite a lot over the past 20 years, just stood down last summer.

Mike

My Auntie was so pleased to know that you would glad to place these items [medals] in your archive. When I told her you would like to write something about him, she was ecstatic and so proud that he would be recognised by his college. I hope you will find this information useful, please could keep me updated on the progress of the archive and the story of my uncle.

I will then make sure my Auntie and my brother are updated.

On Behalf of Mrs Warburton Kind Regards John Gambling

Dear Sir I enclose a pamphlet dated 1939 ready for evacuation. My husband used to carry the mask full of eggs for the headmaster on a Monday, but containing the gas mask on other days.

The Park Street Bridge containing wooden blocks interlocked with tar was often ablaze after a blitz.

Yours sincerely Mary Age 94

Dear Emily It got me reflecting, which is no bad thing, and delving into past materials...

I was struck by Edward Clark’s comments on athletics and Houses.

Attached is a print of two photos 1: Senior School Sports 1961 Trophy winners (Clark and Myself on RHS of each row. Holderness won, which is good as I became Head of Holderness House and also Captain of Athletics)

Pat Conn’s remarks on Maths Tables, slide rules rang true (still have all mine!). Plus questions on the rifle range resonated (I became Captain of Shooting and followed Dick Paden some years later as an Under Officer of the CCF).

David Meggitt

2: Relay, Senior School Sports 1960, Holderness won!! (L-R, Curtis (Gore), Doughty (Trinity), Gosnold (Brandesburton), Meggitt (Holderness) OLD HYMERIANS | 85

Old Hymerians | News

From the Archives…

Old Hymerians

Your

Legacyis their Future Supporting Hymers with a gift in your will is a highly personal way of giving that has a lasting impact on future generations. Your donation will change young people’s lives and could mean a life-changing bursary place for a Hymers student.

Please contact …

Emily Pennack Development Manager for all fundraising enquiries... epennack@hymers.org 01482 347492 86 | THE HYMERIAN 2020-2021

Legacy gifts to the school can provide an enormous boost to our fundraising to provide means-tested bursaries and improve our buildings and facilities.

All places at the School were free until the late nineteenth century, and

in the twentieth century successive governments helped to preserve access with the Direct Grant Scheme and the Assisted Places Scheme.

Since 1997 we have been entirely dependent upon our own resources. We hope to

increase our funds in order to provide more bursary places for deserving pupils.

Our 20 year vision is to never say ‘no’ to a gifted child. Last year we had to say ‘no’ to 25 talented students for a place at Hymers.

Old Hymerians

SAVE THE DATES

Hull Annual Dinner

London Annual Dinner

Saturday

Saturday

10 September 2022

26 November 2022

Main Hall & Gardens, Hymers College

The Royal Air Force Club, Piccadilly

Guest speaker: Andrew J Penny MBE “45 years on” plus more speakers to be announced

Guest speakers to be announced

For information on all future events and book tickets to reserve your place, please visit oldhymerians.com/ events

OLD HYMERIANS | 87

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