Radley Newsletter 10

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Radley N E W S L E T T E R

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| Music on Tour | The Redevelopment of the Sports Centre | | The Radley Year 2009/10 | Universities Stateside | Golf |

Music on T

One of the joys of Radley College is the all-round nature of the school. We all passionately believe in offering boys the widest possible opportunities, whether they are academic, sporting or artistic. The spectre of boys rushing into rehearsals fresh from the cricket field or the river is a common one and in my view, nothing makes them into better performers.

Indeed in one year no fewer than 6 members of the 1st VIII boat were top musicians.

There are, however, occasions when total immersion can bring benefits: the rowers frequently spend entire days at regattas thinking of nothing but rowing, the cricketers on many a Saturday miss parts of morning school to leave for a match and are rarely seen back at college before 8 o’clock in the evening, having been living the game for an entire day.

In the musical sphere it is the occasions when we take music outside Radley that not only reinforce the team nature of music but also give the opportunity for an uninterrupted focus on musical performance, whether solo or large ensemble.

For the past few years we have taken large groups of boys to perform abroad: Venice was our first foray, and was followed in subsequent years by visits to Prague, Berlin, Paris and Barcelona. Currently in the planning stages is a tour to Tallinn (Estonia), a city well known for its beautiful venues and architecture.

In planning these trips we look at a number of issues, first and foremost being what kind of concert opportunities we can find. We take a broad spectrum of ensembles with us, everything from the chapel choir, big band and baroque ensemble through to funk bands and close part harmony groups. Finding venues that will accept such an eclectic mix of music in one concert is not always easy.

We look for a very significant central church where we can sing: we have been fortunate to have sung Mass in St Mark’s, Venice, performed concerts in Barcelona Cathedral, the basilica of Montserrat and Notre Dame. We have found that visiting a local school to give a varied concert is an ideal opportunity for the boys to mix with children of their own age.

Visiting an outlying town where entire communities have turned out to pack a small church and enjoy everything from Vivaldi to funk has been very rewarding indeed. Audiences are always amazed to see the same boys performing in a

Front Cover: Note Dame, Paris, Below: St John’s Smith Sqaure, London

variety of different styles. This large mix of ensembles makes the practicalities challenging. Everything has to be taken with us, and we are becoming experts at negotiating Heathrow terminals with large keyboards, electric guitars, drum kits and saxophones of various types.

Tours involve around sixty boys from all year groups and socials and it’s wonderful to see them mix and form such a tight team. In fact teamwork is essential on these occasions and, on arrival at venues, boys are expected to help unload, put together instruments, stands, move furniture and give out programmes; in short the entire team tackles the challenge of putting on a complicated concert in a short time in a building that perhaps only has one 30 amp outlet!

For most of us, however, the summit of all these experiences has been singing in some of the greatest ecclesiastical buildings, and experiencing first-hand their amazing acoustics. The boys will tell you that listening to the echo of Notre Dame or St Mark’s in Venice is very different from making your own sound to fill the enormous void of these places, and then hearing it coming back to you. One of the most memorable experiences for me with the boys was performing a piece of Gabrieli in St Mark’s, in the same building for which it was originally composed 500 years ago. Such pieces give no printed guide as to speed. As soon as we started rehearsing, it became clear from the acoustic alone, the speed at which the composer had intended the music to go. It was a wonderful moment where the voice of the composer was coming back to us echoing over the ages.

There are lots of other nonmusical activity too: on our last trip to Barcelona, apart from enjoying the local food, the boys enjoyed seeing inside the amazing football stadium, a trip to the beach and a tour of the unfinished cathedral of La Sagrada Familia.

Foreign touring is by no means the only time when music is taken outside Radley.

In fact it happens on a weekly basis. As part of the Vth form’s community service, we take four minibuses of musicians each week to four different venues around Oxfordshire, including schools for the disabled, old people’s homes and nursing

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Tour homes. Boys lead the concerts by introducing the musical items and we finish with a singsong when the residents earn their cups of tea and cake by singing along to old classics while the boys accompany them on their instruments.

The boys then serve tea and cake, remaining for a chat before returning to school for lessons. Some of the most significant of these occasions have been some of the hardest for the boys. Staff at nursing homes have often told us that the music has provoked responses, perhaps smiles, perhaps a foot tapping, from people who otherwise have remained completely unresponsive for months.

This is indeed community service, and something the boys don’t forget.

fitting the boys in, it takes ingenuity doing the same at cathedrals in the south of England and colleges in Oxford. Nevertheless such occasions are memorable, and in addition to singing evensong the boys have the opportunity to learn something of the history and architecture of the buildings. This is followed by the customary visit to Pizza Express (we have found every city has at least two!).

The Chapel choir here at Radley is an extremely busy ensemble numbering now around 90 boys who sing services on a weekly basis. Whilst we have been very creative in our own Chapel with

Come to hear us perform at a town near you!

The increasingly busy diary also lists concerts in London, organists performing on the rather nice organ at Oxford Town Hall and the big band playing as a regular fixture at Radley Village Fete.

New College Chapel

Stephen Clarke, Precentor Coventry Cathedral

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The Redevelo

Sports The Radley College Sports Centre has been transformed to provide a much more vibrant and energetic environment, following the development of a fitness suite and weights room, and the refurbishment of the swimming pool, changing rooms and reception areas.

Together with the squash courts, real tennis court and sports hall, the centre boasts some first class facilities. Indeed, with the recent introduction of the real tennis court, Radley has become the only school to have both a real tennis and a rackets court.

The new fitness suite occupies an area that was largely unused. Not only does it provide excellent facilities, it has also enhanced the visual aspect of the centre. The suite has over thirty pieces of traditional gym equipment such as treadmills, cross trainers and rowing machines. It also has nine ‘spin bikes’ and the centre runs a number of weekly spin classes, with spinning becoming an important part of many people’s training regime.

The weights room is extremely popular amongst boys and plays a critical role in preparing them for their chosen sports.

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opment of the

Centre One of the most pleasing things has been the number of boys using the facility in the evenings. Following Prep, the gym facilities are open for the boys and there are usually at least 30 in attendance. Of course, it is not just Radleians who have benefitted from the new facilities, around 150 members of staff use the gym which helps towards having a fit and healthy workforce.

The young, enthusiastic team at the sports centre, together with dons in charge of swimming, water polo, squash and triathlon have worked hard to achieve great results in the past year. Swim training for the boys takes place five days a week and a number of boys recently took part in the ‘Henley Swim’ a 2k swim in the river, upstream! Likewise, in triathlon, a number of boys who had been training all year took part in the Henley Triathlon and all finished in the top ten.

The Sports Centre now has facilities that boys, members of staff and an increasing number of external users are enjoying.

It is hoped that next year will be just as successful with the centre going from strength to strength.

Andrew Ashton, Bursar

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THE RADLEY Tom Bower, Charles Crawford, Dr Angela Gallop, Paul Watson, Lawrence James all came and spoke just in the Michaelmas Term alone. Daniel Hannay MEP spoke brilliantly on the eve of the General Election and announced the results of Radley’s own, hotly contested, School Election in which the 4 candidates (Johnnie Bicket (Maidwell Hall, k), Lib Dem; Henry Whittingdale (Orwell Park, j), Conservative; Angus Gubbins (Cheam, g), UKIP; Ed Dillon-Robinson (Cumnor House, e), Labour) spoke really well, especially in Question Time.

General J Each term this year has started with

external difficulties to overcome: first ‘Flu, then snow, then volcanic ash. Radley surmounted the challenges…

J Radley had an excellent Ofsted Welfare

inspection in September 2009, achieving the highest standard ‘outstanding’.

J Old Radleians made their mark in

various ways across the course of the year: Andrew Strauss captained the England team to victory in the Ashes series in late Summer 2009; Owen Paterson, MP, became Secretary for Northern Ireland in the Coalition Cabinet in May 2010; Lt. Rowley Gregg won the MC for his ‘courage, forthright leadership and determination’ in Helmand Province; tragically Lt. Col. Rupert Thorneloe, the most senior serving British Officer to be killed on active service since the Falklands, and Lt. Dougie Dalzell, both died in Afghanistan; Charlie Langton sculpted the beautiful silver trophy for the Epsom Derby; Simon Wolfson (Next) became Lord Wolfson in the Birthday Honours.

Academic

Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy Five boys entered the Chemistry Olympiad Round 1 – a challenging written test of chemical knowledge. Silver certificates were awarded to Will Handy (Cheltenham, d), Nick Pattinson (Aldro, c), Jack Jervoise (Cothill, b) and Rory Robinson (Twyford, f) and a bronze certificate to Petar Dimov (Romain Rolland, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, c).

J September 2009 saw the launch of

weaker year group, were exceptional: 90.0% A*,A,B, close to last year’s record. 66 boys got 3A*/A or more; 66% of all A levels were A*/A. Will Handy (Cheltenham, d) got 6A*, Rory Robinson (Twyford, f), Jack Jervoise (Cothill, b) and Nick Pattinson (Aldro, c) 5A*s each, outstanding achievements.

‘Standing on the Shoulders of Giants’; 28 lectures by dons ranging from Black Music and Feminist Art to Marxism and Ideas of Death led to over 70 boys choosing to research and write a 6,000 word project of their own devising for an Edexcel Extended Project AS. Such an exercise is valuable, both in its own right and as evidence for universities of a boy’s willingness to work independently.

J At GCSE we had a good year with

J ‘Declamations’ was again an

J The A level results, from an historically

81.93% of papers marked A*/A. 10 boys achieved a full house of 10A*s. There were extraordinary results in English Language where 131/138 candidates achieved A*/A. J Radley competed in the finals of the

Royal Society of Chemistry ‘Top of the Bench’ competition at Loughborough and were placed 6th out of 24. The team was made up of Freddie Scheckter (Farleigh, a), Freddy Rendall (Hall Grove, c), Simon Stalder (Caldicott, e) and Alexander Budd (Bedford Prep, b).

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J The annual Radley/St Helen’s

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outstanding event; 570 boys learnt prose or poetry culminating in the finals in February superbly and sensitively judged

by Cynthia Hall, Headmistress of Wycombe Abbey. The winners were: 6.2 Ali Maxwell (Cothill, a); 6.1 Ed Dillon-Robinson (Cumnor House, e); 5th Tommy Siman (Abingdon Prep, h); Remove Charlie Huntingford (Colet Court, a); Shell Luke Olver (Dragon, h).

J Once again the school has been host

to a talented array of visiting speakers: Frankie Dettori, John Whittingdale, Sir John Rose, Professor Richard Holmes,

Conference was a great success on the subject of the Media, and once again it honed boys’ (and girls’) debating skills.

Philip Howard (Summer Fields, h) and Archie Manners (Ludgrove, c) acquitted themselves very well in the Conference debate.

J One of the unexpected – and delightful

– developments of the year was the growth of the Philosophy Society. David Vaccaro took on its leadership and has generated extraordinary enthusiasm for philosophical debate amongst the boys; lively virtual exchanges, weekly visiting philosophers from Oxford, and attendance at Oxford University open debates with speakers like Christopher Hitchens have stimulated great interest among 6th Formers, and comprise both a valuable training in itself and excellent practice for demanding university interviews. A particular success was the visit of veteran campaigner Peter Tatchell.

J It has been a quiet year for the

‘Chronicle’, but creative writing has flourished under Christopher Ellott’s aegis.

A succession of visiting poets and writers including Greg Leadbetter and the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, have conducted classes and reading to help boys, and other enthusiastic writers in the Radley community, write better.

J Debating has flourished. In the ESU

regional competition Radley were runnersup; Hamish Miller (King’s Hall, a) was ‘Best Overall Questioner’ and Will Patterson (Cothill, b) was ‘Best Overall Chairman’.

In the ESU Mace Debating Regional Final Philip Howard (Summer Fields, h) and Archie Manners (Ludgrove, c) took Radley into the top 6 of 72 entered schools in the West Region.

YEAR 2009/10 Activities J CCF has had a busy year, with our very

successful Biennial Inspection (conducted

by Maj. Gen. Adrian Bradshaw, father of Freddie, a) and the usual programme of Field Weekends and camps. In February the Army section was hosted by our new sponsor unit, 21 Sqn. Royal Logistics Corps, at Dalton barracks – KAM’s old base.

November saw the arrival of our new RSM, WO1 Leo Healy, fresh from a deployment to Afghanistan with 2 Rifles. Richard Jackson (husband of TSJ) has joined the RN section as an officer, and James Pitts (Head of IT at King Alfred’s, Wantage) the Army section.

Hugh Handy (Cheltenham, d) and Charlie Palmer (Cottesmore, b) were awarded Army Scholarships.

J Radley dons, staff and boys have given

a tremendous amount of their time and effort in support of many charities this year, through sponsored runs, cycle-rides, golf marathons, a ‘Krispy Kreme Donut Day’ and other initiatives. Perhaps the most challenging last year was the 24-hour ergo in support of Multiple Sclerosis. This year, with the memory of two fallen Old Radleians and a number of injured OR soldiers very close to our hearts, the fund-raising efforts for ‘Help for Heroes’ and the ‘Rifles Regimental Trust’ have been outstanding, raising £1,000s. Adam and Frederic Bolton (both Summer Fields, g) cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats and raised £8,000 for the Ear Foundation. Four 6.1 boys, Jamie Chaplin-Rogers (King Edward VI School, a), Humphrey Kelly (Farleigh, j), Barney Muir

(Twyford, j), Archie Nelson (Summer Fields, j) and Tom White (Twyford, j), rode from England down through France and raised £28,000 for Jack’s Place Hospice.

J Radleians continue to be involved in

Community Action Projects. Concert parties visit residential homes across Oxfordshire, and 5th Form boys, as part of the Wednesday Afternoon Activities, teach in primary schools. New this year has been the link with the fledgling Oxford Academy (formerly Peers School); 5th Form Radleians have taught able Y8 and 9 children from the Academy the rudiments of Latin, and several dons have taught – Maths and Physics – on Radley’s games afternoons.

J In July a group of eleven 6.1s

accompanied by 3 dons (MRJ, EEND and SPA) went to Moreni for 2 weeks where they taught English to 120 Romanian children.

Despite the challenge, the boys rose to it and discovered that teaching was more demanding than they would have thought.

A lot was achieved in the space of those two weeks: the children improved their English language skills and got an opportunity to find out more about English traditions, history, culture and daily life whereas the Radleians got a deeper insight into a country about which they knew so little. For both parties, it was a very enriching experience which enabled teenagers coming from different backgrounds to work closely together.

The Radley boys were Gardie James Duff (Ardvreck, a), Hugh Handy (Cheltenham, d), Will Richardson (Edgeborough, h), Andrew Sweerts de Landas Wyborgh (Cothill, a), George Hesselgren (Trevor

Roberts School, e), Alex McCourt (Oratory Prep, e), Rob Crawford (British School, Warsaw, h), Ed Leeming (Summer Fields, a), John Drummond (Belhaven Hill, h), George Popescu-Craiova (Colegiul National GH Munteanu Murgoci, Romania, k), and Thomas Binnie (Moulsford, c).

J Nine 6.2 Radleians, together with

GJAH and Rachel Batley, travelled to Kerala, India in July for the annual Community Partnerships project. The task that lay ahead was to build a house from foundations upwards, together with adding a verandah to a house built by one of the original Radley projects to the area. The main project benefitted a local farming family on Mankotta Island who were forced to live in basic shacks, often in feet of water, during the summer monsoon months.

With the recent problems of flooding in nearby Pakistan, the importance of assisting vulnerable communities such as this was evident. The boys, assisted by local builders and carpenters, set about the job with enthusiasm and humour. Following days of cement mixing, brick throwing, snake and spider dodging, and taking a little time out for Indian dancing and river swimming, the buildings were completed successfully.

The teamwork between individuals from different walks of life was rewarding for all concerned. The completion of the project takes the total number of houses built by Radleians to thirteen, and the contribution to quality of life of the local people of Mankotta has been significant. The following boys took part: Sebastian Agace (Ludgrove, b), Nicholas Downs (Malsis School, b), Henry Church (Sussex House, e), Henry Dunn (Caldicott, e), George Henderson (Summer Fields, e), Jack Jervoise (Caldicott, b), Tom Over (Horris Hill, e), Tom Parker (Horris Hill, e) and Alexander Wright (Northcote Lodge, e).

J There are approx 150 boys involved in

the DofE at Bronze or Gold level at present.

Forty two Remove and Vth form boys have completed or are about to complete their Bronze Award. Thirty five 6.1 boys will shortly be completing their Gold Award – an ‘all-time’ record! The following 6.2 boys will be going to The Palace to receive their Gold Awards this Summer: Charlie Burton (Summer Fields, c), Nick Downs (Malsis School, b), Jack Emmett (Moulsford, h), Fergus Franks (Dargon, j), Freddie Hunter (Cheam, h), James Kane (Caldicott, g), Nick Pattinson (Aldro, c) and Guy Scott (Summer Fields, d).

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and Confirmations (Anglican and Catholic), as well as at memorial services for David Goldsmith and Bert Robinson.

Orchestral musicians produced high quality performances in the Warden’s Music, Christmas Concert, Scholars’ Concert and the Competitions – Wharton piano, Hudson String, Gunn Brass and Woodwind. Instrumentalists were also part of the powerful Les Misérables band. Each week they performed at Coffee Concerts.

Meanwhile another stirring Piano Extravaganza involved over 60 pianists in a host of different partnerships.

St. Paul’s this year, for example – but even so Radley won over 70% of matches played. There were notably successful block fixtures where nearly all matches were won: Marlborough, won 17 lost 2; Abingdon, won 12 lost 3; Sherborne, won 16 lost 2; St. Edward’s, won 12 lost 1).

The Colts were especially strong (Colts 2, 3 and 4 unbeaten) as were the Junior Colts whose lower teams JC 4 and 5 were invincible). The 1st XV enjoyed nailbiters: early matches, win or lose, were typical – 36:35; 17:19; 19:20 – but they played some exhilarating rugby under Captain Charlie Goodwin (Sandroyd, k).

J It has been another good year in

Arts J In Drama the main College

production, Les Misérables, included a company of over 100 either on stage, in the orchestra or backstage and was a huge success over six performances, including one to local primary and prep schools.

The Remove Play ‘The Royal Hunt of the Sun’ directed by OHL and the Shell Play ‘Dick Barton’ directed by GHSM both fielded large, strong casts also reflecting the rapid increase in boys taking GCSE and A level Theatre Studies. In both A2 and AS practical exams a number of boys gained full marks for some very exciting scripting and performance. We have had great success with both the National Youth Theatre and National Youth Music Theatre this year. Ranulf Kinloch-Jones (Cheltenham, c), Piers Saich (Papplewick, k), Alex Poole (International School, Geneva, g), George Carter (Cothill, k) and Jon Tarcy (Shrewsbury House, g) all gained places with the NYT, and Tom Milligan (Caldicott, k) returns to the NYMT in a major role joined by Piers Saich (Papplewick, k). For the second year running Radley has provided the NYMT with their DSM, the most important backstage role on any production, with this year the place being filled by Hugh Stephens (Caldicott, k).

J Music has remained very strong

despite the exodus in 2009 of such a talented 6.2. In fact, the Chapel Choir has never been better, or larger, with up to 80 boys, including Choristers, in its number. They have sung variously at Coventry Cathedral and New College, at Carol Services, Remembrance Sunday

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the Art Department even if the Head of Department, Ian Ellis, was away on sabbatical for the Michaelmas Term – his outstanding April exhibition of sketchbook paintings recording his North American Journey were recompense. In December Jordan Reeve (Pinewood, d) won a prize and has an illustration printed in the Espo calendar. Henry Whittingdale (Orwell Park, j) went through to the second round of Articulation, a History of Art competition run by Roche Court, talking about the role of commissioned artists within schools, illustrated by our sculpture here at Radley by Julian Wild which was completed last year. Unfortunately he was not successful in the final round, but he did meet Antony Gormley, who was judging the competition! However Arthur Laidlaw OR (Dragon, h) won the Shepherd and Woodward/Turrill Sculpture Competition with his ipod man, a sculpture made whilst at Radley.

Sport J Through illness, and the usual

debilitating crop of injuries, the school continued to play its Rugby. The fixture list seems, by accident or design, to have become even tougher – the addition of

J Both Hockey and Soccer results have

been strong with about 89% of Hockey and Soccer games won or drawn. The 1st XI Hockey had some fine wins and reached the last 8 of the National interschools hockey competition, whilst Colts and Midgets sides did well in the Southern Division of hockey schools. In both Soccer and Hockey senior sides have done very well with 2nd and 3rd XIs very strong. The soccer 1st XI has, on its day, played attractive and skilful football. But the most important thing has been to see the involvement of lots of boys in a range of teams on Saturday afternoons. Sadly it is getting increasingly difficult to find opposition able to offer us 18 Hockey, or 10 Football, fixtures and we are looking further afield to provide the necessary competition.

J The cricket season has been equally

successful. By mid June the 1st XI had remained unbeaten, played 10, won 9 drawn 1, with notable scalps of Eton (away), Marlborough, Harrow (away), Winchester, Charterhouse and Bradfield.

Hector Freyne (Summer Fields, j) was proving an outstanding Captain. Alex Hearne (Dragon, j) (104 v Bradfield), Wilf Marriott (Farleigh, g) (110 v Winchester) Nick Gubbins (Elstree, h) (118 v Eton) scored centuries for the 1st XI and Andrew

1st IV finished in the top 10 schools in the country. Henrick Boris-Möller was selected to play for the Independent Schools’ Invitation VI. J The new Real Tennis court saw

Tinsley (summer Fields, d) had taken 7-29 v Cheltenham, 5-49 v Rugby and 5-22 v Bradfield for the 1st XI. Other sides, especially 2nd XI and Colts 1st XI were also strong. However, Oundle rained on our parade to end the unbeaten run. In the holidays, Wilf Marriott played for Hampshire 2nd XI, and Alex Hearne and Nick Gubbins played for Essex 2nd XI and Middlesex U17 respectively. Alex and Nick played for England Schools at Lords against an MCC side featuring Wilf Marriott.

h) and Theo Bromfield (Cothill, a)). Oscar Richards (St Ronan’s, h) won gold in the England Home Counties Regatta VIII. J In Squash Ollie Hayes (Dragon, f)

captained the seniors this year, Hector Stirling (Ludgrove, g) won the 2009-10 Martyn-Hemphill Shells championship, and Jack Roddan (Caldicott, c) became school champion in a close fought match with Ollie Hayes at the end of the season in front of a large crowd.

J It has been the most successful season

J The Water Polo team has been

on the river for a decade or so. At the National Schools Championships the 1st VIII won silver in a magnificent row which discomforted eventual winners, an outstanding Eton crew. J16.1 won gold, J16.2 and J16.3 silver and bronze, J15.1 and J15.2 won silver, and J14.2 won silver. This followed a series of wins at Wallingford and Bedford regattas.

developing into a great squad for future fixtures. Many Removes have joined in this year. In the Lent Term we won our first match defeating Cheltenham with an impressive performance by Tom Gearing (St Andrew’s SA, f) who scored 7 goals. In the Summer Term, F Social won the InterSocial Water Polo competition. This team was unbeatable.

Wallingford Regatta took place at Dorney Lake over a distance of 2,000m and was the first sprint race of the summer season.

The 1st VIII won the J18 Eights division in a decisive manner with Shrewsbury in second place and Bedford Modern in third.

The Colts 1 also won the J16 Eights division in fine style. They also won at Marlow Regatta.

J Swimming: six members of the team

Bedford Regatta over a distance of 1,200m was another good day for the Radley crews with the 1st VIII winning the J18 Eights event (despite a last minute replacement due to injury) as well as the J18 coxed four event. The four from the J15.1 VIII won the coxed four event and J15.2 won their division in the Eight. The 14.2 Octuple were also victorious in their division. In the holidays Tom Stewart (Maidwell Hall, f) and Ed Bosson (Caldicott, d) rowed for the British VIII in the World Championships.

Harry Hill (Thomas’s Clapham, h) won gold for Britain in the Coupe Regatta. Four of the J16 VIII rowed for GB J16 VIII at Nantes, defeating France (Ollie WynneGriffith (Aldro, j), Rufus Eadie (Maidwell Hall, d), Charlie Shaw (Westbourne House,

have been training towards the Henley Swim which took place on Sunday 27th June.

J The tennis club has won 70% of our

139 matches. A full fixture day would see 22 Radley teams (130+ boys) representing the school, but sadly few others can match this.

There has been success at the top of the school with the 1st team as Hamish Miller (King’s Hall, a) and Ed Monbiot (Sussex House, h) were finalists at the St George’s Pairs Competition, the team came 2nd out of 16 schools in the ISL competition for RHWM tournament. The 1st IV, led

by Henrik Boris-Möller (Svaneskolan, Sweden, g), are in the Regional Final of the National Schools Competition. The Junior Colts also won their RHWM league and each JC team went unbeaten on afternoons against Shrewsbury, Harrow, Abingdon and Marlborough. Colts teams too won every match against Winchester, Wellington, Abingdon and Shrewsbury.

Radley’s 1st IV and JC1 competed in the ISTA championships at Eton. At the National Schools’ Finals (Glanvill Cup) the

through its second full season in 200910, with 30 College matches of which 21 were won and 4 drawn. Seacourt Club, Oratory, Canford, Clifton, Eton, Rugby and St Edward’s provided junior or school opposition, while Oxford and Durham Universities, Holyport, Hardwick, the Jesters and the Dedanists the more senior.

The highlight was arguably Tom Buckley’s (Moulsford, b) victory in the National U16 singles championships at Queen’s, while he and Ben Boddington (Moulsford, g) reached the National U19 doubles semifinal. George Buckley (Moulsford, b) and Rupert Boddington (Moulsford, g) achieved the same in the U15 event. In the National Schools’ event, the 1st pair (Tom Buckley and Dan Brownlee (Oratory Prep, e)) came 4th, though the team shared the overall title with Canford thanks to the victory of Angus McAlpine (Cothill, k) and Rory Odam-Smith (Cothill, b) who triumphed in the 2nd pairs event, even beating Radley’s captains, Jimmy Donger (Dragon, h) and Ludo Roupell (Ludgrove, h). Ben Boddington and Ben Robinson (Beaudesert Park, h) gained a very worthy 2nd place in the Colts event, while Charlie Grimshaw (Woodcote House, c) and George Buckley came 4th. In the British Junior Real Tennis Singles, Tom Buckley came 3rd in U18 event.

J The Beagles hit a golden vein at

the South of England Show at Ardingly, winning 6 classes, as well as the cup for the pack with most prizes.

J Ed Bosson (Caldicott, d) is set to enter

the Guinness Book of World Records after becoming the first person to “wakeboard” across the English Channel.

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Universitie

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es Stateside One doesn’t have to dig deep to find links between Radley and the United States: former Warden Dennis Silk was born in California, whilst renowned civil rights lawyer Clive Stafford-Smith OBE (19731978, F Social) decided against a place at Cambridge in favour of taking up a Morehead Scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The current Warden and Sub Warden have on more than one occasion travelled ‘across the pond’ to meet up with ORs who live and work in the US. At any one time there will be several Radleians in the school with a US family background. Genealogical links aside, in what other ways is there a relationship between Radley and our former colony?

Recent years have undoubtedly seen a growth of interest from Radleians in continuing their education at an American university. In truth only a trickle of students have ultimately enrolled on their degree course in the USA, but this trickle looks like growing. This can be explained only in part by the increasing difficulty of securing a place at a ‘top’ UK university – that is in a sense the negative reason for looking in a different direction. What are the positive reasons?

George Cederquist (1992-1997, E Social) was always more likely than most to cross the Atlantic for his higher education, given his US family background. However, his recollection of “the exposure you get to so many different subjects” gives a big clue as to what attracts others to the US university system. Those for whom a decision on specialization does not come easily like the idea of the liberal arts approach whereby, in George’s words, you arrive “without a clue as to what you’ll major in”. As it is, George did pursue the sort of musical career that looked most likely in his Radley days, but he was more than happy to embrace the philosophy that “the knowledge of one subject can only be furthered by the knowledge of others”. A more recent Radley “export” is Henry Woodward-Fisher (20032008, G Social), who is currently studying at Harvard. Like George he appreciates the extraordinary range of options available within his studies, contrasting this with

the specializing approach that is typical of UK universities. Fully immersed in the “can do” culture of his surroundings, Henry is spending this year in China as he moves towards his degree in East Asian Studies, pausing briefly from his summer’s internship to say how “excited and amazed” he continues to be by the opportunities on offer – and to confirm plans for a visit to Radley in January to spread the good news about Harvard.

Taking a more holistic view of the applicant is undoubtedly a reflection of the more rounded approach to studying that permeates through the US higher education world. Scholarship programmes that are geared to rewarding and nurturing talented leaders, sportsmen and artists are a key feature of the selection process.

Indeed it was just one of these programmes that drew Clive Stafford-Smith to North Carolina and so influenced his career path. Even a brief sojourn within the dynamic US system can influence a young student’s outlook, as evidenced by a threeweek summer visit to William and Mary College in Virginia by Jamie Crole (20042009, H Social), funded by the Malcolm Robinson Memorial Award. He talks of the “fantastic experience” of exploring a period of history that was new to him,

something that two summer 2010 visitors to the same location (Barney Bracher, C Social and Alistair Shawcross, E Social) have also enjoyed. Barney talks of his eyes being opened to the exciting possibilities of studying outside Europe and his delight at gaining an “understanding of culture and history from an entirely different perspective” is palpable. It’s reassuring to hear from a current 6.2 student the view that the “structure and standard of Radley’s teaching” would offer every chance of academic excellence within the US system.

We naturally expect that the four 2010 leavers who are heading to US universities this autumn will be achieving just that.

Quite how dramatically the growth of OR traffic across the Atlantic will be is a story still to be told, but there are signs to indicate that there will be many exciting chapters: our US universities adviser Dr Jon Tabbert is seeing plenty of interest from parents of boys lower down the school, whilst ten 6.1 boys are shortly to start a series of SAT tutorial sessions being provided by a specialist company. It’s clear that imaginations are being captured – and an exciting expansion of Radley’s transAtlantic links looks a near certainty.

Paul Gamble, Director of University Entrance

Petar Dimov (C Social), Christian von Celsing (G Social) and Tim Nye (G Social) discuss their plans to go to university in the US with Paul Gamble in the Careers Library

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Golf We are incredibly fortunate to have such a wonderful facility as our nine-hole golf course. Anyone who has seen the way that the course has developed over the last eight years or so will realise the debt we owe to Adam King and his staff, who do a tremendous job. Week in, week out, the greens are among the best in our area and as the holes develop more character – with the planting of trees, placement of bunkers and facilitating of different levels of rough – so it continues to evolve. With the help of generous support from the OR Golfing Society we have recently started a programme of regular coaching – using professionals from Huntercombe GC and being able to use some of the course for this has been a huge benefit, especially in the visualisation of shots. All boys can benefit from the coaching, which generally takes place in pairs, roughly matched on ability; the boys are e-mailed the details about this a few weeks in advance.

As with all sports at Radley we play on a competitive circuit with regular fixtures against Wellington, Eton, Marlborough, Bradfield etc. The seniors play at least sixteen matches per year and the juniors (mainly Removes and Shells) about eight.

One of the highlights of the year is the West of England trophy at Burnham-andBerrow which takes place at the end of the Lent term. We spend two nights down at Burnham in a quality tournament involving 8 strong sides – traditionally we have an impressive record, although we haven’t won the trophy since 2004. Last term the seniors, led by Maxi Hamilton (Elstree, G Social), had one of their best starts to a season, winning the first

six matches. The first pair, Maxi and Henrik Boris-Möller (Svaneskolan, Lund, Sweeden, G Social), recorded a notable victory over the first pair from Wellington - both scratch players. The juniors are also developing into a fine squad with the likes of Keith Seward (Hereward House, B Social) and Alex Wright (Caldicott, C Social) pushing for a place in the top-side.

The coaching has had a most positive impact on the club as a whole and, in order to gain selection for one of the teams, it is advisable for boys to have a few lessons and try to fix up a game with

one of the regulars in the teams, especially Tom Beasley (Abingdon Prep, B Social) who is the Captain of Golf in his 6.1 year.

We are always on the lookout for new talent and anyone who feels that they may have slipped through the net should give me a nod.

Like other minor sports, golf has to compete for boys’ time and, in the course of a busy term, it is not always easy for everything to be fitted in. However, some of our most successful golfers have often played a number of other sports as well, such as Tom Atkinson (Elstree, G Social) and Tom McPhail (Dragon, H Social), the latter being selected for the Swift’s tour to America in 2005. Having said that, it is always useful to have a core of players for whom golf is their prime sport and it is amazing how the old adage that ‘the more they play the better they get’ rings true.

There was no better example of this than Duncan Montgomery (Cothill, H Social) (no relation to Colin!) who virtually lived on the course and his handicap plummeted from over 20 to scratch. I hope that many others will get the ‘bug’ and follow his lead – it is a wonderful game to get to know.

Harry Hammond, Master in Charge of Golf

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Website: www.radley.org.uk . Admissions enquiries: 01235 543174 . admissions@radley.org.uk