Looking at leadership across our community 2022
Monkton Combe School Monkton Combe Email:BA2Bath7HGOMs@monkton.org.uk Tel: 01225 www.monktoncombeschool.com721100 OM NewsCommunityand
I took over as President at the OM President’s picnic in June in front of three former Presidents. It was wonderful to see some familiar faces from the class of 2013 and 2014 and it was an absolute pleasure to meet so many OMs and OCs from years going back to 1951.
Finally I would like to thank all of you who have given back to Monkton in so many ways, by making a donation or by volunteering your time, it really is hugely appreciated.Thankyou,
IntroductionKeisuke from…
Welcome from Chris Wheeler, Principal Introduction from Keisuke Suzuki, OM President Farewell from Fiona Carruthers, outgoing OM President
Although it feels like I was at Monkton just last year, it has been almost ten years since I left back in 2013. After leaving Monkton, I went on to study at the University of Bristol, after which I went back to my home country of Japan to work for two years. I returned to the UK in 2018 and I have been in the D2C (Direct to Consumer) E-commerce industry since, specialising in sport nutrition supplements.Itistrulyan honour to be appointed the new OM President, though I do have large shoes to fill, following Fiona and the past Presidents. As the next OM President, I look forward to carrying the torch of giving back to Monkton. With my Presidency, I aim to increase the participation of more recent OMs and to widen our international scope in all club activities.
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Chris Wheeler Principal
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& Becki Mckinlay www.monktoncombeschool.com
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We are always looking for new ways to help you connect and would love to hear from you all. You can personally reach me by email on ompresident@monkton. org.uk or Caroline Bone, our Alumni & Donor Relations Manager on OMs@monkton.org.uk
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As we head into another school year here in the valley, rest assured that we will continue to seek to smite the living waters from the rocks along our way - wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope and pray that you will be doing the same.
I hope you enjoy this edition of the OM and Community News and the stories it celebrates; do continue to contact our alumni office with your stories - both of your own adventures and those of others. Sharing who we are is a great joy and much of our content is generated by you!
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It is truly an honour to be appointed the new OM President, though I do have large shoes to fill, following Fiona and the past Presidents.
Welcome being showy, without needing to grab the headlines or be seen to lead, Monktonians so often find they wear the mantle of leadership well.
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Leadership at Monkton Mark Herbert, Leaderfull Rosie Brown, CEO of COOK Marcus Hember, Captain, Royal Navy Tanya Ross, Group Director, Buro Happold Monkton careers Events round up OM Club events update From the archives and OC Caroline Bone Moyle, Inkcap Design Jacqueline Burrows
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There are many OMs and OCs across the globe, each full of fascinating stories, invaluable knowledge and a willingness to connect. With the support of Caroline and the OM Club team, I hope to further facilitate connection between alumni, across generations and nations. There is a new app launching in September which I hope will help make this even easier.
Keisuke Suzuki
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If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that leaders who are adaptable can achieve remarkable things. Whilst we are focusing on making the strength of our leadership programme even more explicit with our current pupils, it is wonderful to see what strong leaders we have across the OM community, celebrated in this issue of the OM magazine. Above almost all else, leadership is about authenticity and that is something Monktonians have in abundance. Whatever they do and wherever they go, Monktonians are people of integrity who balance confidence with humility, which others will always be drawn to. Without being showy, without needing to grab the headlines or be seen to lead, Monktonians so often find they wear the mantle of leadership well.
Starting from the business networking event, to be held in London on 20th October 2022, I look forward to connecting with as many of you as possible.
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OM President
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Inevitably more of our OM communications are digital, helping to extend our reach and impact. Last year’s ‘50 years of girls at Monkton’ and the ongoing ‘Spotlight on careers’ are two good examples of how OMs are connecting more and differently.
But, in whatever ways our OM activities evolve under Keisuke’s tenure as President and into the future, it will be in response to the needs of our alumni and the school. I wish Keisuke all the best as he takes on this new role and the school for its ongoing growth and development.
I’m delighted Keisuke represents both the next generation of Old Monktonians and the international diversity of our alumni.
At the Senior School this year we launched the Monkton Leadership Award. The aim of the Monkton Leadership Award (MLA) is to make a range of implicit leadership roles and development opportunities explicit.
Monkton has been developing global leaders since the 19th century, from Eric Marshall, Antarctic Explorer on Shackleton’s Nimrod expedition and Chris Anderson, the Head of TED (talks and conference) to Ama Agbeze MBE, captain of the gold winning England netball team and Sir Richard Dearlove, the former Head of MI6.
When I assumed the position of OM President it was suggested a term of three years was probably a bit short but five too long. So, after what I hope was an appropriate four years, I duly handed over the Presidency to Keisuke Suzuki in June.I’m delighted Keisuke represents both the next generation of Old Monktonians and the international diversity of our alumni. The Monkton community has developed from an old boys’ network to an everexpanding web of expertise and experience spreading across the globe. But common to both are the Monkton connections running long and deep and I hope that is never lost as the community continues to grow.
Leadership is something we start developing at Monkton from an early age. The School’s approach is that leadership is the ability to influence others and hence all students at the school are leaders in a number of fields. In Year 6 we have a lesson per week on leadership with the introduction of leadership roles in Year 7. We no longer
The aim of the Monkton Leadership Award (MLA) is to make a range of implicit leadership roles and development opportunities explicit.
Year 12 students taking part in the MLA
Finally, thank you for all the support I’ve received, most especially from our Alumni & Donor Relations Manager, Caroline Bone, without whose unwavering commitment and relentless hard work the OM Club would be lost.
Fiona INTRODUCTIONSCarruthersFarewell…
appoint Head Prefects for Year 8 in our Prefect body and have created teams around different areas of school life – Mentoring, Wild Monkton, House Captains, Tech and Sport Captains.
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Little did I know when I took over as President, most of the last four years would be dominated by the pandemic. A time during which we’ve found new ways of working and new forms of communication. We do still seem to appreciate opportunities to meet face-to-face though. We had very good turnouts for the 1956 – 66 and MCJS reunions although the number attending our summer picnic on Longmead was small, perhaps due to the rather unseasonably cold and wet weather!
Fiona passesCarruthersonthebaton
LEADERSHIP AT MONKTON
impressive; one who “did not come to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10:45). For me, serving ought to be the primary aim in leadership.
Leaderfull
Thedate:only
The Monkton Leadership Award website
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“I am NOT a leader!”
To give students time to reflect on and consider their own leadership skills and weaknesses and to provide tools to build those skills and develop their potential into something more, the MLA focuses on character development, helping students to understand themselves and others better, developing relational and emotional intelligence.TheMLA has been designed in association with the Leadership College London which delivers leadership courses and training including for Masters courses and corporations. Monkton and LCL share a passion for developing the next generation of leaders to not only go out and influence the future but to do so understanding themselves and those around them, and to be driven to consciously influence the world around them for the better.The award is made up of 5 sections: Leadership workshops, the Monkton Lecture Series, service, leadership projects and leadership roles. Since September 76 Year 12 students have been participating in the Monkton Leadership Award.
What does it mean to be a leader? Are leaders born or made? Is leadership a realm in which only certain people ought to dabble? These are just a few of the questions I have been wrestling with in recent years.
Prior to setting up Leaderfull I was a church pastor for ten years. I often took younger people with me on various visits. This helped them to better understand what I did, but also provided the perfect context for leadership development.Ononesuch occasion, I took my thirteen-yearold goddaughter with me on a hospital visit to see an eighty-year-old man in the congregation who was dying of leukaemia. Pulling up in the carpark, I gave my goddaughter a few top tips of what to expect on a geriatric ward and some pointers for bedside manner etc. We entered the ward and my goddaughter wonderfully took over. She drew up a chair by the side of the patient’s bed, took him by the hand and began speaking. Over the course of the next twenty minutes, she read to him, made him laugh, listened to him, and prayed with him. I said nothing. Driving home that day I reflected on what has become one of my most powerful leadership learnings to
Mark Herbert
Having held a number of leadership positions whilst at Monkton (Sports Captain, Prefect, Head of House, Senior Cadet), I look back with great fondness and huge thankfulness for the opportunities I was given to learn more about myself and to develop as a leader from a young age. Many of the lessons I learned at Monkton, both from personal successes and failures and through the example of many role models, have proved to be hugely significant in my adult life.
In my work as a leadership coach I meet a surprising number of people who self-declare, with varying levels of conviction, “I’m NOT a leader!” Very often this is driven by a narrow view of what leadership means, or by some negative experience of leadership such as failure or disappointment. The regularity of hearing such comments has driven me to reflect more deeply.
Twenty years on I can still remember conversations I had with various members of staff and peers which have left an indelible mark on me.
It is the servanthood of Jesus that makes Him so
By doing so, my goddaughter was able to flourish – she was leading; taking responsibility in the moment to have a positive influence over the life of another person. Too much leadership development focuses on what a leader does, whilst ignoring the important question of the legacy the leader will leave. What (and who) a leader leaves behind is perhaps the strongest litmus test for the quality of their leadership. Good leaders do good – and sometimes great – things; great leaders help nurture other great leaders.
Mark Herbert (OM ‘03) runs a leadership development and coaching business called Leaderfull (leader-full.co.uk) and is the author of I am NOT a leader - a book he wrote to challenge leadership stereotypes and support leadership development.
I look back with great fondness and huge thankfulness for the opportunities I was given to learn more about myself and to develop as a leader from a young age.
Leadership projects have ranged from a near-space balloon launch to a sanitation project in India. In each of these projects students are being encouraged by tutors to identify areas that they are passionate and excited about and to look for new opportunities to influence and lead through Achievementsthem.and learning through the MLA can be reflected in genuinely unique university applications, but more importantly their learning is intended to foster a habit of reflection and self testing and to develop an adventurous confidence in each individual.
leading I needed to do that day was to get out of the way
Year 12: What words should define ‘Monkton’leaders?
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Students are being encouraged by tutors to identify areas that they are passionate and excited about and to look for new opportunities to influence and lead through them.
Yet having experienced being one of the leaders in my peer group, I worry that too often, we concentrate leadership attention on the ‘chosen few’ – the people who hold the leadership positions. In doing this we overlook so many other leadership qualities. In my professional life, I’ve witnessed many leaders who do very little actual leading and many who are ‘not’ leaders who in reality are leading. This has led me to draw the conclusion that leadership is primarily about influence, not position, and this has become one of the driving forces behind my company - Leaderfull. The world is full of unrecognised leaders who simply need inspiring, challenging and nurturing.Ihavebeen asked if my emphasis on servant leadership has been shaped by my Christian faith and the answer is quite simply most of it.
Leaders Create Belonging
There is no yawning chasm between effective leadership and good management. Those who dismiss the vital detail that underpins an effective operation as ‘admin’ miss the point. Equally, an overly ‘managerial’ approach, obsessed by administration and forgetting to invest in the human element of the endeavour, is doomed to fail. In ‘Action centred Leadership’ Alan Adair set out to balance the needs of ‘Task, Team and Individual’ and this established framework is a great mental checklist in a dynamic situation.
We all exist as part of something bigger, an interdependent network of relationships. By getting to know people well, engaging in our communities and the world around us, leaders encourage people to look beyond themselves to see a world with rising inequality and a planet in the grip of a climate emergency. Leaders have the courage to take actions, big or small, and light a path for others to follow.
In the Royal Navy we are fortunate to inherit a rich history and culture of success on operations, but culture is not static; it requires constant effort to develop and maintain. Leaders must do much more than pay lip-service to culture and values; they must be clearly communicated, re-enforced, and referred to if they are to be in any way
The impact each of us can have on the lives of others is immeasurable. Leadership is about recognising this opportunity and responsibility and leaning into it. It might mean challenging someone to do better; building a relationship with someone on the fringes; listening deeply to someone for the first time; engaging someone in big issues that affect us all; or simply having a laugh with someone who needs it. All are acts of leadership.
As someone who failed spectacularly to gain any position of leadership while at Monkton, it’s ironic to be writing about the subject for the school magazine. I didn’t even make house prefect – and it seemed everyone made house prefect.
Royal Core Values C2DRIL
Most importantly, leadership is definitely not about job titles, hierarchy or positions of power. They might coincide but not necessarily. Every single one of us has the potential for epic leadership whether as a parent, student, teacher, PTA dynamo or hedge fund icon. At COOK we use a few simple principles to guide our leadership, from which I’m continually learning.
Culture
The philosophy of Mission Command, brilliantly demonstrated by Lord Nelson at Trafalgar, requires a leader to develop and communicate a clear intent (what must be done), set out the strategy and ensure the resources are available, consider contingencies, then give subordinates the independence and authority to deliver with the minimum level of supervision. Easy to describe, yet very hard to do. Setting out a clear intent in an uncertain situation is hard, but vital to enable a team to work effectively towards objectives. Setting out not just what must be done, but why it must be done motivates and empowers a team. Personal investment and belief in the plan underpins all.
Each of us has the potential to achieve remarkable things. By expecting the best and setting the bar high, helping grow confidence and encouraging learning, leaders uncover the gifts in others. When someone sees our potential and truly believes in us, transformation happens.
But here we are, three decades on, and I find myself leading a team of 1,600 people for a business with £100m in sales. If nothing else, it proves even the most unlikely of us have the potential and power to lead. I’ve also come to appreciate that leadership doesn’t reside in my rather grand job title. Rather, it lives in the ability to help others understand and achieve their own potential.
I have certainly learned a few lessons about what leadership is NOT. It is not about blaming others, when you have failed to set clear expectations. It is not about responding to drama, from a place of high emotion. It is not giving all our attention to the noisy ones, and forgetting to listen to what might be going unsaid. And, if you want to retain your dignity, it’s probably not about karaoke at 2am. Mea culpa on all counts.
We all want to feel part of something and thrive when we enjoy strong relationships. Leaders create community by valuing diversity and knowing everyone matters. It’s easy to create division among people; it’s much harder to create unity. Leaders build connection, enable empathy and help everyone feel they belong.
Leadership or Management?
Those who rise to leadership positions will do so as a result of their own strong individual performance. With promotion and a larger team, some are slow to understand that however heroic their efforts, their own direct capacity is dwarfed by the potential of their team; they must ensure team performance is recognised before their own. Learning to accept differing approaches (and perhaps even a slightly lower standard that nonetheless achieves the aim) is part of this journey.
Personal characteristics
Leaders Put People (And Planet) First
Marcus Hember
Mission Command
Every single one of us has the potential for epic leadership whether as a parent, student, teacher, PTA dynamo or hedge fund icon.
Leadership is about asking yourself a simple question: are you helping people become who they were always meant to be?
We are all motivated by autonomy, the need to feel we’re authors of our own lives. Surprisingly, this begins with listening: to our own wisdom, to what others are saying and how they are feeling. By listening deeply, communicating clearly and letting others take the initiative, leaders give everyone a sense of agency.
Leaders Help Us All Enjoy Life
Leaders Excavate Potential
It’s a joyful world! Nobody wants to follow a leader who is constantly angst-ridden or stressed. Being able to relax and have fun – and encouraging others to do the same –is essential. It means accepting our fallibility, recognising we all have good and bad days, and resisting the urge to beat ourselves (or anyone else) up when things go wrong. Part of leadership is learning to enjoy the ride, so those around us can do the same.
• Courage • Commitment • Discipline • Respect • Integrity • Loyalty
From own to team performance
Themeaningful.realityof
Leaders Give Everyone A Voice
Co-CEO of COOK
I’m lucky to have served 26 years in an organisation that, at every stage of my career, has invested time, effort and opportunities to develop me as a leader. Leadership is an intensely personal endeavour; nevertheless, whilst what follows reflects a personal approach based on my experience, the Royal Navy has a strong and distinctive culture and in all this I ‘stand on the shoulders of giants’.
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Importantly, leadership starts at home, with ourselves. Living a life that is truly authentic to who we are is the first challenge and opportunity for any leader. Only when we start to live in such a way can we begin to bring others along with us. The fancy job title, the big salary, the house prefect’s badge … none of them mark out a leader.
Rosie Brown
Captain, Royal Navy
Navy
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leading people is often messy! Of course I’ve often got it wrong; fatigue has eroded my ability to be cheerful and patient for example, or I’ve failed to delegate sufficiently. The realities of my time as captain of operational warships reinforced that when I delegated properly and gave space for the team to deliver things went well, and the team enjoyed autonomy and a sense of trust. The transition from focus on one’s own performance, to focus on team performance, is hard where strong ‘hands on’ skills are a vital part of professional progress. Moving from a ‘Head of Department’ specialist role at sea to command of a ship is where, in my career, this transition was most stark and where I had to work the hardest to adjust my approach and habits.
A cheerful, energetic, and (reasonably) confident leader is easier to follow than one who is morose, irritable and who vacillates. In an uncertain, dynamic and perhaps frightening situation, communicating certainty enables a team to focus efforts and move past distractions. A leader must take personal responsibility for communicating bad news, accept ownership of a failure or setback as much as they accept the glory of success. Balancing external confidence with a healthy level of internal uncertainty is necessary; building relationships such that these uncertainties can be explored with a deputy, trusted team member or mentor will help to retain balance and perspective in tough times.
Help a 6th form student interested in your industry. Answer a few questions, review a CV or offer regular support. You can offer as much or as little time as you are happy to.
Our community plays a vital part in helping our pupils figure out what direction they want to take.
Below are a few of the ways you could choose to get involved.
Tanya Ross Group Director, Buro Happold
careersMonkton
Run a skills workshop
Our community plays a vital part in helping our pupils figure out what direction they want to take. We have been delighted that so many OMs are telling their career journey via the School website and are grateful to those who have come in to speak to our pupils or offer mentoring.
We really want to skill up our students so they are in the best place to apply for their next job or course. You know your industry better than anyone else - whatever skills you wish new joiners had, let us know and help us train up current students. Could you help run a short skills workshop for a small group of pupils? General skills such as CV writing, interviewing and networking, or industry specific skills would all be welcome.
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Offer work experience
There is no substitute for getting into a workplace and seeing how you might fit. You could offer anything from a few hours watching what you do at work to a multiweek internship or a job opportunity post school and everything in between.
If you have any ideas about how you would like to be involved or what you could offer, please email Matt Pringle, Head of Careers, at careers@monkton.org.uk. We are always keen to hear new ideas.
The first project where I undertook this role was the Millennium Dome (1996 – 1999) where we had a spectacularly immovable deadline, very public scrutiny and a decided lack of precedents to guide us. The Dome, whatever you may think of it aesthetically, was a dramatically successful solution to the challenge of hosting an enormous exhibition (details unknown) on a bleak, ex-industrial site on a curve of the Thames. (Of course, it’s not actually a Dome, it’s a PTFE-clad tensioned cable-net forming a hemi-spherical cap, but that doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as easily!)
So I learned how to say ‘no’ very politely (“no, we can’t do that, but we could do this…”), I became an expert in planning and programming, and I unexpectedly ended up representing the team in all sorts of media opportunities (including a live interview on BBC Breakfast, a Radio 2 phone-in and a Channel 4 ‘game-show’ called Demolition Day!)As a job it was fantastic, partly because it was so varied, but also because I felt I was central to this enormous collaborative team, not just engineers, but architects,
After this, I was lucky enough to go on to lead the team designing the O2 Arena that went inside the Dome (Q: How do you build a state-of-the-art 25,000 seat arena without tower cranes? A: using bridge-lifting technology and dozens of telescopic cranes with helium balloons tied to the jib end), and then, when it was announced that London would bid for the Olympics, I put myself forward to lead the engineering team for the stadium. So, starting with the first bid in 2005 and running through umpteen design iterations, I was still there when it came to opening night in July 2012 (that’s me in a hard-hat waving as Steve Redgrave brought the torch in).
landscapers, builders, specialists, caterers – all pulling together to deliver this amazing venue on time.
When I was at Monkton, (1982-1984) I had little real idea about what I wanted to do as a career. It wasn’t until after four years of University and six years of working in the construction industry that I finally found my metier: leading engineering design teams on large, complex building projects. We called it design management and I guess, certainly in the early days, it was mostly about facilitating good communications across the many interested parties, encouraging good meeting discipline and managing expectations of others. It was only looking back after 25 years of doing it, that I realised it could be called ‘leadership’.
Throughout these years, my whole attitude was to lead by consensus – I’d make sure that everyone had enough information to make design decisions and if there was any conflict, we’d sit down to review the options and agree on the best solution for the project. That’s not to say that everything went entirely smoothly, but, again, with a spirit of collaboration prevailing, we were usually able to find an answer. The London 2012 Stadium was notable for being the safest Olympic build in history, with no fatalities on site; a testament to the collaborative efforts of all in designing and building safely.
My whole attitude was to lead by consensus – I’d make sure that everyone had enough information to make design decisions, and if there was any conflict, we’d sit down to review the options and agree on the best solution for the project.
CAREERS
LEADERSHIP AT MONKTON
My role was the engineering team’s gate-keeper –making sure that all the engineers (and there were nearly 100 of them of a dozen different disciplines) had the time and resources they needed to get on and do the design and filtering out queries/demands from others.
We are on a mission to change how our students see careers. We are not about telling them what job they should have. We are about inspiring them with their options, guiding their decision making and equipping them with the skills they need for life post Monkton, whatever that looks like for them.
Sign up to mentor students
As my career developed, I ended up leading a team of my own, 24 of us, working across a portfolio of projects of up to £3 billion in total and I’ve approached it the same way: try to make sure that everyone in the team knows what they’re doing and why they’re doing it and how it contributes to the aims of the team (and indeed the company) as a whole; then giving them the time, tools and support to do their job. Not always easy, and demands a willingness to communicate and in an appropriate style to each individual, and to have difficult conversations sometimes, but when I see my colleagues successfully delivering the design for another beautifully-engineered building and deriving such pride from doing so, then it makes my job so worthwhile.
Towards the end of the Lent term over 70 of those who left between 1956 and 1966 returned to Monkton on a gloriously sunny day. Several remarked on the fact that they had not seen one another for over 60 years! The School Chapel and Chamber Choirs sang during the service which kicked off the day, before everyone headed to the dining hall for lunch.
October, Sat 1st 19:00 – 22:00
December, Tue 13th 18:00 Alumni Carol Service Monkton
Events round up
The Lent term events finished with OM hockey and netball after a three year gap, two for COVID and one for snow! Both Monkton pupils and OMs showed some great skills and played the games in excellent spirit.
OM Cricket & OM President’s picnic Longmead, Monkton
November, Fri 25th 20-years-on reunion for those who left Monkton in 2002 Monkton
This was followed a few weeks later by OM Cricket on another lovely sunny day and this year’s events concluded with the OM President’s picnic on Longmead where Fiona Carruthers handed over the Presidency to Keisuke Suzuki.
March, Saturday 4th Legacy Lunch Monkton
October, Thur 20th Business networking event London
Date TBC Australian reunion
April Date TBC Reunion for all those who left Monkton up to and including 1975 Monkton
Ten-years-on reunion for 2010/ 2011 & 2012 leavers Monkton
June, Friday 30th 2020, 2021 & 2022 leavers are invited to the Longmead. Concert and a drinks reception beforehand.
OM PRESIDENT’S PICNIC HOCKEY
CAROL SERVICE
FOUR OM PRESIDENTS OM NETBALL OM
MICHAELMAS TERM 2022
OM Club events 2022/2023
The summer term got off to a good start with the MCJS reunion at the Prep School. Around 80 people including former pupils, staff and their families enjoyed a trip down memory lane and exploring the site ably guided by some of our youngest pupils. Everyone enjoyed the new extended dining hall and outside seating area at the front of Hatton House with beautiful views across the Midford valley.
SUMMER TERM 2023
March Date TBC OM Netball & Hockey Monkton
1956 - 1966 REUNION
MCJS REUNION
2021/2022
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LENT TERM 2023
After so long without live events it was wonderful to welcome OMs & OCs back to Monkton. We started with our Christmas Carol service held in the Monkton Chapel. One OM remarked that it was the first time they had been back in Chapel since they had left Monkton a number of years ago. We hope this event will become an annual one and that alumni young and old will come along and join us. Carols were led by our Chapel Choir with readings from our Principal and current pupils.
May / June Date TBC
Date TBC Clarendon reunion Afternoon Tea at Clarendon Boarding House for all OCs.
OM REUNION
This event will be held in Sydney but with a virtual element to allow those further afield to join in.
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This project was community at its best - the pupils designed it, our community donated to make it happen and now it gives us a space to meet and have time together. Your generosity transformed the old School shop to a thriving hub of social activity at the heart of the School. Pupils are using it for project work and social activities, staff are using it for tutorials and meetings and our parents and OMs can come and visit too.
This year has seen record numbers of donors and volunteers to Monkton. With your support, we have been able to give life-changing opportunities through our bursaries, give opportunities to current pupils via our careers programme, and make significant improvements to our estate. Our focus this year has very much been about the difference your collective support can make and you have answered our call - thank you so much! Christian Leadership Bursaries Quads £17,181 The Big Nature Project £28,683 MSS café - Giving Day £30,903 Bursaries £90,096 Unrestricted £34,011 Restricted £15,957
generosityofimpactTheyour
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Chapel Quad
Donations have helped to change this space from a car park to a formal quad, with green lawns and outdoor spaces right outside the library and chapel. Completing Autumn 2022.
DONATIONS Supporter update What did you donate to this year? l
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Giving at Monkton Donors: 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 76 155 381 Gifts: 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 388 511 681 regular56 donors volunteer750 hours Thank You!!
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Big nature project
Over the next three years, Sham Field will be transformed from a golf course to an incredible space for children to use - from outdoor classrooms to wild meadows and much more.
£236,360Total
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Over 10% of pupils receive some financial support. Thanks to you, we’ve been able to increase the number of transformational bursaries to 13. Working with Springboard and various other organisations, as well as our donors, we now fund 5 Springboard pupils, 3 pupils on the Christian Leadership Bursary and we have 4 children from war-torn countries, all thriving at Monkton thanks to your generosity.
Bursaries
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the winner of a special bursary in memory of Archie Lowe (Archie Lowe Foundation). Archie was a talented young rider who tragically lost his life in 2020, aged 21, in a riding accident. Archie’s mum set up the training bursary in his memory so that other boys who have a special talent and bond with their horse may benefit. Tom was nominated by existing British Eventing coaches and will receive a year’s mentorship from William Fox-Pitt, and two other very experienced coaches at British Eventing.
James Pritchard (OM 2015) is a Youth Worker in the field of serious youth violence. His service accepts referrals for young people aged 1021 who have been victims of gang violence, child sexual exploitation, criminal child exploitation, modern day slavery and severe cases of bullying in schools. They aim to prevent re-victimisation by equipping young people with coping mechanisms, enhancing their protective factors and support networks as well as supporting young people through the court process.
James Arney (OM 2011) won Britain’s Fittest Farmer for the second year running. The competition is tough to say the least! James carried the equivalent of one small adult in each hand over a fair distance, skied 500m followed by throwing a 50kg bag over a 5ft wall, ran 3km carrying 20kg with a few rope climbs thrown in along the way and deadlifted ridiculously heavy weights amongst other rounds.
The Magpie Magazine for Christmas Term 1910 records the three patrols as the Curlews, Otters and Woodpigeons. There was also a Scoutmaster, Assistant Scoutmaster, a Corporal and a Signaller as well as two Cyclists, a Bugler and a four-strong Band! Activities included fire drill, hand signal practices, semaphore, life-line throwing, skirmishing, band practices, first aid and knot tying. Attacking the school was a popular and often-repeated activity which required the Headmaster and “the Rest” to act as defenders!DuringWW1, at the request of the authorities, the
John Delafield (OM 1955) published his autobiography A Flying Life this year. The book covers his RAF career, RAF Volunteer Reserves and his passion for gliding. It is a rich account of his flying career, from boyhood aeromodelling to designing and manufacturing modifications to enhance the performance of various gliders and later in life, business enterprises.
A Wolf Cub pack was established in 1929 and was run by the School Matrons, titled Akela and Bagheera. The school archives hold some wonderful photographs of happy groups of Cubs standing proudly under their own banner or getting out in the surrounding countryside doing tracking or just having a great time together.
3rd Bath Scouts were responsible for guarding (all day and occasionally by night) the local water supplies against possible damage by saboteurs. In 1959, one of the scouts received the Cornwell Badge (the “Scout VC”) for his courage during a serious illness.
OM & OC NEWS
The Bath3rdScouts
One of the most exciting ways to develop leadership and team skills at Monkton Prep School has always been through the extremely popular Scouts and Cubs, an important part of school life since our Scouts were first set up in 1909 as the 3rd Bath, over 110 years ago.The national Scout Movement was established in 1907, so the Monkton School Scout troop was one of the oldest in the city, and probably in the country. It was officially recognised in Summer Term 1913, by which time it had already produced three King’s Scouts, the highest award in scouting.
Every edition of the Magpie contains a report on activities, written by one of the many members of staff who have devoted their time to running the Scouts over the last century. In recent years, up until his retirement, the MPS troop was run with enthusiasm by Mr Sibley, Head of Music.
Clockwise from above: MCJS Scouts (Price archive, undated); MCJS 3rd Bath Wolf Cubs, summer 1939 (J G Wood album); MCJS Cubs after snow tracking, Christmas 1939 (J G Wood album)
From the Archives
Elles Bailey’s (OM 2006) latest album ‘Shining In The Half Light’ secured a place in the UK Top20 album charts earlier this year reaching number 11. A remarkable achievement for a blues/rock grassroots Americana artist.
Jon Bradshaw (OM 2011) has recently had an article published in “Concrete magazine”. With the emphasis in construction on sustainability and carbon reduction, the repair of historic and listed concrete is becoming increasingly common to not only keep these structures in use but also bring them up to modern-day standards. Jon who works for Concrete Repairs Limited reported on the works being carried out to the Grade II-listed Cleveland Bridge in Bath. org.uk/magazine-archived-content.https://www.concrete.
Find out what some of our Alumni have been up to over the last year
Olivia Caesar (OM 2018) Bruins’ Junior, has secured All-Pac-12 Team honours for the second consecutive season. Olivia stroked a Leander/Tideway Scullers VIII in the Remenham Challenge Cup at Henley this summer.
Ben Garrod (OM 2017) umpired the Tier 1 Under 18 Schools hockey semi final between Whitgift and Repton held at the Olympic Stadium in London. He met up with Tim Davenport (Hon OM) who is now Hockey Development Officer at Whitgift. The game finished 3-3 but Repton won 2-0 on penalty shuffles. Ben returned to Monkton to umpire the annual OMs hockey matches at the end of the month.
OM & OC News
LightbownAndrew (OM 1984) has been appointed HeNewportResidentiaryCanonatCathedral.saysthat
Jacqueline Burrows JulyArchivist2022
Wide games, with pupils roaming freely across the Monkton valley and the woods above Claverton and cooking sausages and “porridge” on open fires, were part of the weekly activities, and an annual camp at Sway in the New Forest was always a highlight, with river swimming a particular favourite.
Tom Griffiths (OM 2020) is at Hartpury University studying for a degree in Equine Sport Science and has already been voted secretary of the Hartpury Equestrian Club. He has recently been selected as
members of the Monkton community would be very welcome to drop in to the Cathedral and say hello.
Ben Wells (OM 2018) made his first class debut for Gloucestershire CC in 2021 then in 2022 he began by making 139 off 86 for Bath CC in a 40-over match against Bashley CC. Playing for Somerset Second XI he made an unbeaten 111 off just 61 balls in a T20 against Northants. Having completed his BSc in Physics at Exeter University where he was also captain of the first XI he has now signed for Gloucestershire.
OM Magazine 2022 | 17 FROM THE ARCHIVES 16 | OM Magazine 2022
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Rev Charles Skrine (OJ 1983) - London Diocese - Rector, All Souls, Langham Place
Mark Herbert (OM 2003) who has worked as a church pastor, teacher and is now working in leadership development spoke in Chapel on Mark 10:45 Servant Leadership.
PeterOMs
Tim Spenlove-Brown, OM 1962 on 21st December 2021
Monkton App
The results of the elections for the 2021-25 CofE General Synod have just revealed what appears to be a record number of the Monkton community OMs, including Old Juniors, a Governor and an OC being appointed.
Malcolm Pearce, OM 1956 on 17th February 2022
Tess Hovil (OM 2017) kindly spoke at the school Christian Union in February 2022.
IreneOCs
OMs speaking at Monkton
Rev Canon Archie Coates (OJ 1983) - Chichester Diocese - St Peter’s, Brighton
John Chester, OM 1954 on 7th April 2022
John Jeffery, OM 1945 on 1st July 2022
Announcements
Rev Mike Tufnell (OM 1999) - Salisbury Diocese - Vicar of The Lantern Church, Merley, Canford Magna Team Ministry
Joan Cansdale, Hon OM on 11th April
Record number of OMs appointed to the General Synod
John Huchinson, OM 1950 on 1st May 2022
Ronald Allison CVO, former governor on 26th July 2022
Keep up to date with Alumni news, events and social media posts all in one place. Launching soon, the Monkton app. Watch out for announcements on social media and in OM publications.
- Bath and Wells Diocese - St John’s, Yeovil - (Elected member of the Archbishops’ Council 2015-21)
Marriages
Bussell, OM 1959 on the 25th June 2022
Peter Marsden MBE, Hon OM on 22nd September 2021
Bernard Cornwell OBE (OM 1961) author and master of storytelling gave an interesting and engaging talk on “Truth & History” to pupils, parents, staff, guests and friends of Monkton, many of whom were keen Sharpe fans, at the Knight Lecture. When asked to describe Monkton in one word, Bernard said ‘kind’ - both when he was here and the School he sees today.
Peter Lee CBE, former Chair of Governors on 29th October 2022
Nigel Lea-Wilson (OM 1974)
We have set up an area on the Alumni page of the School website called Your Story. This is a private area for Alumni only where OMs & OCs can share stories of their time at Monkton / Clarendon, University or life in general with one another. If you have not used this area before you will need to register via the Your Story page. You will also be able to let us know if you are happy for this information to be shared more widely.
Rev Mark Wallace (OM 1994) - Chelmsford Diocese - Vicar of St Peter’s, Colchester (town centre parish Church), and Senior Chaplain to the Bishop of AnotherMaidstonemember of this current General Synod is Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani née Dehqani-Tafti, OC 1985
This year we have been delighted to welcome a number of OMs back to Monkton to speak to the student body:
In Memoriam
Mr James Cary (OM 1993)
OM Magazine 2022 | 19 OM & OC NEWS 18 | OM Magazine 2022 NEWS
Tell Your Story
- Liverpool Diocese - St Helen’s Parish Church (Lay Reader)
Mr Ed Shaw (OM 1995 & Governor), Minister of Emmanuel, City Centre, Bristol has been re-elected to the House of Laity. Ed also works for Living Out and is author of the book ‘The Plausibility Problem’.
More detailed announcements and full obituaries can be found on the Alumni page of the School Website www.monktoncombeschool.com
Dudley Green, OM 1954 on 16th December 2021
Ted Longman, OM 1956 on 9th July 2022
Weller MBE, OC on 19th March 2022
During sustainability day Dr Matt Pearce (OM 1994) who is an entrepreneur and works for Purifire Labs spoke on developing fuel from waste products.
Louise Smallbone (OM 2018) came back to Monkton to talk with our Year 12 Media Studies students. Louise is Sales Executive for The Times at News UK. She shared her experience of working for a media conglomerate, the impact of digitalisation on the industry and how media institutions operate.
Andrew Smith, OM 1973 married Marya McInnes on October 2nd 2021
Jack Stafford (OM 2015) used his journey of mental health issues to provide insight into the most important topic of wellbeing.
