Floreat Redingensis 2019

Floreat Redingensis 2019 September

The Magazine of Reading School

Community

Contents INTRODUCTION 03 The Headmaster’s Update

EXCELLENCE 26 Student Successes and Competitions 33 Academia

THE ORA 04 ORA President’s Report 06 ‘Boys to the War’

39

08 OR Profiles

LEADERSHIP 34 School Captain and Prefects 35 The LRC

10 Reunions and Events

TRIPS 36 A Small Sample

11 Remembrance Services 12 In Memoriam

30

COMMUNITY 14 The Houses

ARTS AND CULTURE 38 English and Drama 40 Music and Art

16 Boarding

SCHOOL LIFE 42 Sport

18 In School

46 Staff

20 Clubs 24 Student Initiatives

42

25 RSPA

47 School Cryptic Crossword LEGACY 48 Supporting the School

16 With thanks to all contributors: staff, students, ORs, the RSPA and particularly Jas Chhokar and Piatrice Hutchinson in the Development Office for all of their help with images and information throughout the production of this edition of ‘Floreat Redingensis’.

2

Floreat Redingensis

SEPTEMBER 2019

The Headmaster’s Words “Our school community is shaped by our core values, ethos and associated culture. Our community is shaped by a narrative of being a school of character that seeks to develop a community that values academic excellence and a community that builds good young people.”

As a school we can be considered a self-governing community, a collection of people, all working together towards a shared goal. Therefore, as a community, we need to identify the values and virtues that we admire, strive to embody them and recognise areas in which we need to refocus our efforts in order to flourish.

Over the past year we have had a number of different aspirations to help build our community. Primarily, this has been within School, whether this is through our sports teams, our boarding family or our new initiative to integrate tutor groups across the years to develop nurturing relationships across the School. Our Floreat, social mobility, co-curricular, and academic programs place positive community values at the heart of the organisation.

However, we have also looked further afield. As a community, Reading School needs to be outward-looking.

We have a responsibility to work with other schools and organisations to play a part as a system-leader. Our local and international partnerships are complementary to our vision for building effective partnerships and community. As part of this ideal, we welcomed visitors from China, Denmark, Kenya and Australia, among others to experience our School’s ethos, as well as sending trips out to Canada, Kenya, Germany, Sweden, Spain and beyond.

It is hoped that this edition of ‘Floreat Redingensis’ evidences our commitment to building a culture of belonging to the School community, but also the wider world. There is a shared, collaborative approach to sharing ideas across our community and a commitment to learning from others.

The laudable aim of building a strong cohesive community cannot be achieved by us working as individuals or in silos.

Indeed, in order to build a flourishing community culture, we must work with governors, parents, external parties and of SEPTEMBER 2019

course, students. The concept of community should be strengthened to include all facets of the Reading School family, including the Reading Foundation, Alumni and parents. We need to work in partnership with the different constituents of the Reading School family. This is where the role of the Society Office is so integral. Our 2025 vision emphasises the importance of positive stewardship.

I would also like to mention our flagship Future Stories programme, that seeks to level the playing field within our local communities. We are entering our fifth year of running this programme, which seeks to integrate a wider cross section of students across the local area to consider applying to Reading School and to support their learning within local primary schools. In addition, the Future Stories International Ambassador Scheme ensures our commitment to strengthening our partnerships in Kenya.

Thank you to the Reading Foundation for their unwavering support of our drive to strengthen the community by funding this initiative.

Finally, Reading School looks forward to celebrating 150 years since the laying of the Foundation Stone at Reading School on the Erleigh Road site on 1 July 1870. Edward, Prince of Wales laid the Foundation Stone of Alfred Waterhouse's buildings, which then opened in 1871.

Therefore, the first part of the celebrations will commence in the academic year of September 2019 to July 2020 which we hope you will all be a part of. This will mark the beginning of the trajectory of events and activities as we build up to the momentous 900th Anniversary to be celebrated in 2025.

If you would like to be involved with these celebrations please do get in contact with the Society Office at development@reading-school.co.uk

Floreat Redingensis

3

THE ORA

Old Redingensians’ Association LTD President’s Report 2018-19

As I write this report in late June 2019 I reflect that about this time last year I with others attended a reunion at the School for the 63/64 leavers cohort. Although I had actively participated in the OR cricket section (now sadly no longer in existence) and been involved in a professional capacity with the School (extensions to the Physics Laboratories and the cricket pavilion, and to my great personal sadness the sale of the Headmaster’s Lodge and garden – memories of boys teas with Charles Kemp and his wife!), I had not previously had the time, or I admit the inclination, to take an active role in ORA matters.

having a very able Executive and Council to help me through the year. My particular thanks to Michael Barrott (immediate Past President), and Ned Holt (Chairman) both of whom have lent invaluable support. My thanks also to other members of the executive, particularly Richard Taylor (Treasurer) Ken Brown (Archivist), Chris Widdows (Membership), and Ian McKinnon our Vice President elect who takes mine and everyone’s best wishes into the new ORA year.

Apart from the two main formal functions before Christmas, attendance at the Commemoration Service and the Senior Following the reunion last summer imagine my surprise Prize Giving at the University Great Hall, one particular event when Ken Brown our dedicated archivist telephoned me to stood out – the 1918 Armistice Centenary OR say that at short notice the ORA needed a president by the Remembrance Service in the School Chapel. This was a very end of September, and to ask if I would consider taking the moving occasion with a full house in the Chapel, supported role. The AGM and OR Dinner were by then only a few weeks by various parades and great music under the auspices of away. Having only recently fully retired, and after brief the school’s Director of Music James Tunstill. discussion, and with no little trepidation, I accepted. If ever At the present time I am looking forward to attending there was a case for the ORA, its network (more of that various reunions, parties, sporting events, and the Summer later), and the common factor school “glue” that binds old Fayre on the school field organised by the very dynamic boys together in a communal loyalty, then I consider that Reading School Parents Association. case rested!

The ORA continues to support the School as much as it can As far as I am concerned I consider my election to President in a number of ways, including during the year the for the year to be a great honour, and of course the journey continued provision of a contribution to the Library’s has been, is, and will continue to be, very enjoyable. It modern fiction section; supporting an excellent joint started with the AGM in Big School, and OR dinner on the production (with Queen Anne’s School Caversham) of Les 29th September in the School Refectory, the latter with I Miserables; sponsoring the School’s International Book have to say disappointingly small numbers at 40. The Week; funding three Music masterclasses to date; and Dinner this year will be held on the 28th September in Big making a significant contribution to the cost of the School School, with Ian McKinnon presiding as president elect and Magazine. I must also mention the considerable already the numbers are looking much healthier. commitment made by twelve ORs to the School’s Careers I should say at this point that I have been very fortunate in Convention – held on the 15th January. Lizzie Ayres the

THE ORA organiser commented that the presence of so many experienced ORs added much to the credibility of the event, and showed that high achievement for Reading School boys was possible in a wide range of career paths.

The ORA membership continues to grow from a membership of 1700 last year to just over 1750 at present.

We do take every opportunity throughout the year to encourage the Year 13 leavers to join the ORA, and we provide a subscription free incentive whereby membership is automatically offered for the first five years after leaving as part of that encouragement. The Association does provide a fraternal link across the generations of Old Boys, which I firmly believe is of significant value; it is a meeting place (via the excellent web site and Linked-In); it arranges a number of social events through the year; it has a thriving golf section (contact Stephen Johnson through his pa at louise.sansome@harpsden.com); but first and foremost its primary objective is to support the School via the Headmaster Ashley Robson and his team.

One of Ashley’s laudable objectives is to “build good men”.

The School has a virtually unmatched reputation for academic achievement – testimony to the quality and dedication of the school’s teaching staff. At the same time, the School under Ashley’s leadership does not neglect the wider attributes needed to achieve success in in the world beyond the school environment – including leadership, integrity, and a sense of community. There are of course other attributes that come into play – application, determination (both of which are needed in some considerable measure to achieve a high academic standard), and very importantly the ability to get on with, and communicate with, one’s fellow human beings. An essential element of success in the commercial world is the ability not only to head up a team, but also where necessary to participate as a team player in achieving a joint objective in whatever sphere.

Whilst I appreciate and understand that resources are scarce and that academic achievement and standards should be a main priority, I sense that in the search for variety and diversity, the “sports offer” at the school and

particularly the team ethic which used to be such an important feature of school life in my day (I know – 60 odd years ago I hear you say!) has to a degree taken a lower priority. I know that over the years there have been new and increasing pressures on teaching staff. Gone are the days when the likes of George Vale and EL Moore used to take an U/14 div on the School Field or at Morgan Road for a couple of hours on a Tuesday afternoon. I appreciate there probably just isn’t the time these days to fit such commitments into an increasingly pressurised timetable.

It is a matter of some regret to me at least, that the School can no longer (and I gather has not been able for some time) to put out three senior Rugby and cricket sides on a Wednesday or Saturday despite the School having nearly doubled in size in the last fifty years. Also that the School no longer plays hockey, no longer plays tennis, no longer rows, and no longer swims at the school - the swimming pool having been permanently out of action for some years.

I am not sure that football, lacrosse and table tennis fill that void. On the plus side, the School does excel at Badminton at a national level, and there are moves afoot to reinstate a boats club.

I make no apology for concentrating on the sport factor at the school during my term of office. It was I believe a major beneficial influence on my own working life, and like everything it is a question of achieving that optimum balance.

Finally, if there are ORs out there who feel they could contribute in any way to reinstating these aspects of school life, then do please contact either; Myself ( JHShort@btinternet.co) Ashley Robson ( ARobson@reading-school.co.uk) Mrs Jas Chhokar the Society Manager (jchhokar@readingschool.co.uk) Any of us would be very pleased to hear from you.

FLOREAT REDINGENSIS

John Short, ORA President (OR 1956-1964)

THE ORA

Boys to the War: The First XV of 1914

1st XV 1914 G Dymore-Brown; O Fielding Clarke; D J Davies; R F McIlroy; R F Wright; H B Preece; G Devos; B H Churchill A H Bull; D E Pope; A P Aveline (Capt); W M Cooper; W L Pauer L C Shore; W G Mattingley

This centenary of the 1914-18 World War has been given great prominence, rightly so, in the media – and at Reading School – over the last five years. In that war lives changed for many millions who had, at least known other times.

The twenty young men – fifteen in the team picture below, plus the five others (Boshell, Boultbee, Fuller, Knowles and Middleton) who also played some matches that season for the Reading School 1st XV, were pitched straight into a world at war when they left School. Such an atmosphere was all they knew as they entered manhood; a very different introduction to life from that of their elders.

The early days of the 'war to end all wars' brought news of what seemed to be distant happenings that hardly disturbed the life of the School; but this was a youthful team and most of them had a year or more before they left Reading School.

When they did leave there was little doubt about the horrors of the Western Front and the wider conflict and their possible destiny was all too clear.

Of the twenty, no less than seven became Captain of School before they left, the turnover in the post being rapid as boys became men wanting to serve their country. All were to wear their King's uniform, with the possible exception of Percy Middleton (not yet proven), three were to be decorated, four to be wounded and four were to lose their lives in the conflict. A further two who survived the 1st World War were to give their lives in the 2nd World War. Brief details of what happened to the fifteen Reading School boys in the team photograph above follow in alphabetical order, with their years at the School (and 'C' indicating a Captain of School):

This article is compressed from a much more detailed study which also covers the five not in the photograph.

THE ORA

Alec Pendock Aveline (1909-15) 'Ack' became a career soldier Sandhurst. Royal Berkshire Regiment.

MC France 1917. Wounded. Last man off RMS Leinster, torpedoed 1918, with 700 lost. Brigadier 2nd WW. Deolali Area command post war.

CBE. Married, one son. Died 1982, aged 84.

David James Davies (1909-15) ‘C’ Awarded 10 Higher Certificate Distinctions; First in England from 1700 candidates 1915. Drapers Scholarship. Open Classical Scholarship, Trinity College, Oxford.

Died in command of his tank at Passchendaele the day before his 20th birthday, 1918

Alfred Howard Bull (1911-15) After driving ambulances, this son of a Reading Mayor and Department Store founder was commissioned in the Army Service Corps. Qualified I.Mech.E. Established advertising agency Howard Bull Limited. Major RASC 2nd WW. m. two children.

Chairman of his firm until d. 1977, aged 79.

Gaston Devos (1914-15) Outstanding sportsman who served with the Belgian Army (1st RAL) and subsequently studied mechanical engineering at Brussels University.

Last heard of in 1958 as General Manager of an industrial plant near Brussels.

Bertram Henry Churchill (1913-16) A career soldier. RMA Woolwich cadet in 1916, RFA commission 1918. MC. Croix de Guerre. Adjutant Manchester Regt. 1931. Staff College, Camberley 1933. Lt. Colonel. m. one son d. 1965 aged 67.

Oliver Fielding Clarke (1911-16) Commissioned RFC 1917 (RAF 1918).

Hertford College, Oxford. MA. BD. Marxist C of E Clergyman ordained 1924. Authority on Berdyaev.

Translator and author ('For Christ's Sake', etc.), autobiography 'Unfinished Conflict'. m. d. 1987, aged 89.

William Marsden Cooper (09-16) ‘C’ Also Captain of Rugby and Cricket.

Passed into Sandhurst in 2nd place.

Prize Cadet. Commissioned into Worcs. Regt. and went to France in 1916. Killed in action on the Somme 17th Feb. 1917 aged 19.

Gordon Dymore-Brown (1913-17) Another fine sportsman. Member of the eponymous brewing family. Joined RNAS, ended war as Lieut. RAF. Was a licensed victualler near Taunton when he died aged 55 in 1955. m. one child.

Wallace Grierson Mattingley (13-17) Career soldier: 2nd Lieut. KOSB 1918.

Played in Army trial XV 1927.

Promoted Captain 1930. Major 1938.

Died Burma 1944, aged 43 as Lieut.

Col. Commanding 2 KOSB. m. one son (who became Brigadier KOSB).

Roland Fitzgerald McIlroy (1908-15) Added two years to age to enlist. RE Sapper. Served Gallipoli. Wounded.

France. Master Draper in Hastings until 1937, then in Cirencester. ARP 2nd War. Chairman Cirencester UC. m. two children. d. 1966, aged 68.

William Lambert Pauer (1909-15) ‘C’ Turbulent military career encompassed Sandhurst, wounding, loss of commission in Devonshires.

Re-emergence as ranker in Munster Fusiliers, wounded again. MM, Medaille Militaire, promoted King's Sergeant on the field for bravery, Bar to MM, DCM. Twice m.; two children. d. 1945, as Major RE., aged 48.

Donald Edwin Pope (1910-18) ‘C’ Served as midshipman RNVR on the destroyer HMS Grampus. Fine club rugby player. Worked in printing and advertising. ARP 2nd WW. m. two children. d. 1994 aged 93.

Howard Blinco Preece (1911-15) Royal Navy rating 1916-19. Took Holy Orders and became missionary priest in Africa. Director of Kroonstad Mission 1948-59. St Agnes Mission, Basutoland 1959 on. Unm. D.o.d. uncertain, probably c. 1960, aged 62.

Leonard Charles Shore (1910-15) The son of an old soldier, he was in the tax office in Richmond, Surrey, before joining up in 1917. Serving with the Lincolnshire Regiment in France when he died of wounds, on 19th August, 1918, aged 19.

Reginald Francis Wright (09-16) ‘C’ White Scholar, he served in RNAS before going up. Rowed in St John's boat. Taught at Hurstpierpoint. MA. Took Holy Orders. Chaplain RNVR 2nd War. Vicar of Romford. Hon. Canon.

Unm. d. 5th March, 1979, aged 81.

Ken Brown, OR 1955-63

James Boultbee (1909-15) ‘C’

Henry James Fuller (1913-14) (wounded)

Walford Vernon Knowles (1909-16) ‘C’ KIA 31/12/17

Percival Victor Middleton (1912-15)

Gerald Barron Boshell (1913-15)

THE ORA

Distinguished OR Profiles A LIFE IN MUSIC - CHRIS RENSHAW

Chris Renshaw attended Reading School from 1963-70.

Academically, he performed well in English and German (his father, Walter Renshaw, was the German teacher at the time). He took singing, piano, and organ lessons from Fred Griffin, a “genius” music teacher at the school who Chris credits with giving him the confidence to believe that a career as an actor or musician could be possible.

In his mid-30s, Chris switched to directing musicals, following his celebrated series of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Operattas. His first major success was The King and I, which started in Australia before achieving huge success on Broadway. He was nominated for a Tony – the equivalent in theatre of an Oscar. The show then came to London Palladium, where he worked with Elaine Page.

Outside of the classroom, he took up any opportunity to participate in music and drama. Particular highlights included playing Mabel in the Pirates of Penzance as a 12-year old before his voice broke, playing Prospero in the Tempest, and directing and acting in Look Back in Anger.

In 2002, he worked with Queen, directing We Will Rock You, which played in London for 12 years in the West End. Other highlights included: Zorro (2008), which played across major cities around the world; Taboo (2001), in which he collaborated with Boy George; and Carmen La Cubana, in which he applied a Cuban angle to the famous production.

Chris achieved a music scholarship to study at Magdalen College, Oxford. During this time, he discovered the London opera scene, and spent much time attending performances in London while at University.

Following university in the early 1970s, Chris was a resident director assistant at Glyndebourne, directing opera performances. This set him on the path to becoming an opera director, which saw him manage over ten shows in the Sydney opera house in Australia including Norma with Joan Sutherland.

Chris’ career has taken him around the world. He has lived in Australia, New York, and Los Angeles, and built a house in Nicaragua along the way. He now lives in Miami.

Chris continues to enjoy developing new shows, and is planning a new one focused on Louis Armstrong, as well as a potential return of Zorro.

THE ORA MASTER VIOLINIST - WALTER REITER Music in London.

Walter spent two years in Israel, practising and studying intensively while living in an old mill under a fig tree in an idyllic village just outside of Jerusalem. After this, he played in Yehudi Menuhin’s orchestra for three years during the mid-1970s, while still spending periods of months at a time continuing his studies with Shevelov.

From 1979 he devoted himself to teaching talented youngsters in the Jerusalem Conservatory of Music, while at the same time performing regularly in the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. A number of his former pupils have become professional musicians in their own right.

In 1985, Walter took a sabbatical year, in which he developed his interest in historical performance – in particular the study of how Baroque music, composed between 1600 and 1750, was performed at the time of its creation. This included finding treatises outlining how the instruments were played during that period, and ensuring that the instruments were set up in a contemporary fashion.

Since then, Walter has followed his passion for Baroque music. He spent 30 years playing with The English Concert, with whom he performed all over the world, including in the Wigmore Hall in London, Carnegie Hall in New York and throughout Europe and Japan. He continues to teach the violin at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague in the Netherlands – the biggest conservatory in the world for Baroque music.

Walter Reiter attended Reading School from 1959-66.

Academically, he particularly enjoyed arts-based subjects, and his A-level selections included music – quite unusual at the time.

While at School, Walter was heavily involved in music and drama, participating in annual opera productions, usually by Gilbert and Sullivan, but also by Benjamin Britten and Handel. He particularly appreciated the efforts of Barry McBeath, the Head of Music at the time. As a violinist, Walter was a leading member of the school orchestra and was captain of music for East House.

Walter studied Philosophy and Drama at the University of Glasgow. During that time, he played in various orchestras, drama productions and chamber music productions, and attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music.

After leaving university in 1969, Walter spent a summer studying the violin with Ramy Shevelov, a renowned violin teacher in Tel Aviv. Inspired by the high standard of music making there, Walter came back to the UK determined to study violin full time with Professor Shevelov and in the summer of 1970, he graduated from the Royal Academy of

Key highlights have come from Cordaria, which he founded in 1999. In particular, he recorded Vivaldi Violin Sonatas Op 2 in 2007, and Biber Mystery Sonatas in 2009, under the Signum label. He is also especially proud of his contribution to the development of Baroque music in Cuba. Over the last twenty years or so, he has made fifteen trips to Cuba to train local classical musicians in this genre, teaching violin in the morning and directing orchestras in the afternoon. Through his work, he has contributed to a substantial expansion of this musical genre in Cuba.

Oxford University Press will shortly publish Walter’s fiftylesson course in the Baroque Violin and Viola, designed for students and professional performers who have an interest in this genre. In the near future, he plans to continue his work, perform more recitals, and organise courses in connection with his new book.

Most recently he has returned to Reading School to deliver a Master Class to the boys, which was very well received by all who attended.

Arthur Truslove (OR, 2003-08)

THE ORA REUNIONS AND EVENTS

The ORA provides a framework for sports enthusiasts to attempt to relive their school days and meet old friends. On 30th March footballers from recent years took part in two matches on the School Field. The first saw a close match in which a team from 2014-16 leavers narrowly defeated one from 2015-17 in a game which ended 5-4. Those players still able to move then took on a staff team. As this was their second contest on a warm sunny day a 2-3 defeat was highly creditable. Given the make-shift nature of all teams, some impressive individual and team skills were on display, and the whole day was a success in both sporting and social terms. Pictured above are the two teams from the staff game.

On June 21st a twenty over cricket match took place between the School 1st XI and an OR team. In a closely fought match the OR team held their nerve in the field and the boys fell just six runs short of what had seemed an attainable target of 118 to win. Thus the Kays Cup, presented by his parents in memory of Christopher Kays, passed back to the ORs after a fine School win in 2018. Chris, who captained both rugby and cricket first teams when at School, was appallingly killed in

the Bali terrorist attack in 2002.

The next OR Sport occasion will be the Rugby at the start of the Autumn Term. If you would like to participate in or attend any of these very enjoyable occasions please contact Olly Davidson, the OR Sports Coordinator, via the ORA or the School Events Office.

In addition to these sports' contests, the Association has for some years been involved in conducting or supporting reunions for particular year groups. This year saw very enjoyable reunions, held at the School, for those who left in 2014 and 1998, the latter attending with many family members at an event which happily coincided with the PA Summer Fayre. These are always very enjoyable chances to catch up with old (or very old!) friends and will continue to be a focus for Association activity. Any year group interested in similar events in 2020?

Many thanks to the School, in particular Headmaster Ashley Robson and the Society Office team, for their involvement with these occasions.

OR Golf Society The two meetings of the OR Golf Society in 2018-19 took place at Flackwell Heath Golf Club near High Wycombe on 26th September 2018 and Tylney Park Golf Club near Hook on 19th March 2019. Society numbers continue to increase and 20 participated in the latter event.

New members welcomed in the current year were John Short (1958-64), Jeff Morgan (1967-74), Bill Montague (1971-77) and Craig Thomson (1962-63).

The overall winners at the two meetings were Steve Johnston with 34 points at Flackwell Heath and Chris Manning at Tylney Park with an outrageous 42 points and the handicap committee has since been forced to hold another emergency meeting. The shared experience of having been educated at Reading School always brings together the generations represented at these meetings, and both breakfast and lunch were excellent social occasions. John Short, current year’s President of the OR Association but unable to play because of a knee injury, joined the Society for lunch at Tylney Park and was congratulated on the brevity of his speech.

Stephen Johnston, OR 1979-86

The picture shows the September 2018 winner presenting the winner’s medallion to the March 2019 winner. The expression on Steve Johnston’s face underlines the outrageous score posted by Chris Manning!

THE ORA REMEMBRANCE (Blitheman) and also supplied the concert band which had played on the terrace prior to the service. John Spence (11W) once again most skilfully sounded The Last Post and Reveille.

Captain David Morris commanded the wreath laying party, drawn from members of the School CCF. This year the address was given by Dom Timothy Gorham OR (1964-71) a Benedictine monk; not inappropriate in a school that sprang from the Benedictine foundation of Reading Abbey.

Remembrance Sunday 11 November 2018

The Chapel was satisfyingly full, aided no doubt, by the introduction made by Michael Barrott OR (1966-73) of the ‘Eventbrite’ booking system. The congregation had been greeted at the Chapel door by John Short OR (1956-64), ORA President (who later read the lesson).

James Tunstill, the School’s new Director of Music, not only played the organ but came down from the loft to conduct the Chapel choir in a moving performance of In Pace St George’s Church, Ypres Below right, is a photograph of part of the interior of the Anglican Memorial Church in the centre of Ypres that was built in 1928/9. The architect was Sir Reginald Blomfield.

Among the numerous plaques, which altogether provide a stunning effect, is one commemorating ORs and OKs who fell in the First World War (left). It was designed by the Archivist and photographed by him whilst he was visiting

The Archivist, Ken Brown OR (1955-63), read the Act of Remembrance and spoke about those old boys who had died in 1918 in the service of their country.

Rev Clive Windebank OR (1952-59), ORA Chaplain presided over all with his usual grace and aplomb; and the Refectory was the scene of much animated discussion after the service.

Ken Brown, OR 1955-63 war graves in April this year. He was particularly pleased to be able to send an image of his visit to the grave of Lt W G (Billy) Haynes OR (1899-08) to Billy’s nephew C W (Charles) Cook OR (1935-37) in Australia (photographed centre).

Charles donated Billy’s 1st XV Colours cap to the archive and has had a lifelong interest in his uncle and relatives’ history.

Ken Brown, OR 1955-63

Current members of the OR Association Council & Executive Committee President: John Short jhshort@btinternet.com Vice President: Ian McKinnon ian@cybore.demon.co.uk Chairman of Council: Ned Holt Nedholt54@gmail.com Past President: Michael Barrott michael.barrott@btinternet.com Secretary: Jeremy Chadwick jeremychadwick@icloud.com

Treasurer: Richard Taylor richard.taylor@lpi2.co.uk Membership Secretary: Chris Widdows 0118 962 3721 cwiddows@aol.com Archivist: Ken Brown 0118 327 9917 kcbrown@aol.com Careers Lead: Ray Sawyer raysawyer33@yahoo.co.uk

Sports Lead: Olly Davidson ollydavidson15@gmail.com Other Members of the Council: Nick Burrows Mike Evans Richard Griffiths Simon Lambert Ashley Robson, Headmaster Arthur Truslove Rev Clive Windebank

THE ORA IN MEMORIAM Since the last issue of Floreat Redingensis we have received notification of the deaths of the following Old Redingensians.

Full obituaries will appear on the ORA website. Overleaf there is some additional information on a few of the ORs listed below.

D A (David) Anslow (1950-57) MD Huntingdon Research Laboratories Died 12 March 2017 aged 77

J F (John) Hillier (1929-34) Insurance Surveyor Died 30 March 2017 aged 98

L K (Larry) Baker (1953-60) Teacher Died 26 April 2018 aged 76

R (Raymond) Holley (1945-51) University Lecturer Died 11 February 2013 aged 78

J (John) Bartlett (1944-51) Computer Programmer Died 20 November 2017 aged 84

M J (Michael) King (1957-63) Insurance Broker Died 21 November 2018 aged 72

D G (Dermot) Bates (1972-79) Management Consultant Died 20 November 2017 aged 57

P G (Peter) Latham (1928-36) Life Assurance Died 21 December 2018 aged 98

P (Peter) Batten (1940-49) Rotarian and Businessman Died 10 August 2018 aged 87

D G (Dermot) Bates (1972-79) Management Consultant Died 20 November 2017 aged 57

R (Robert) Blassberg (1941-47) Mechanical Engineer Died 17 March 2019 aged 89

Revd Dr J (John) Ogden (1951-58) Clerk in Holy Orders Died 2 February 2019 aged 79

D C (Denis) Boak (1935-37) Engineer Died 21 March 2018 aged 97

D A (David) Owen (1939-45) Senior Bank Manager Died 31 October 2015 aged 86

D R P (Roger) Breese (1946-54) Financial Director Died 18 December 2018 aged 80

K H (Ken) Pinker (1930-36) Insurance Died July 2018 aged 98

A D (Kim) Bull (1946-50) Tutor Librarian Died 24 June 2018 aged 80

D S (David) Rhydderch (1958-65) Electronics Engineer Died 29 May 2019 aged 72

L J (Len) Bunting (1945-50) Fire Insurance Underwriter Died 16 July 2015 aged 84

L O (Ladislas) Rice (formerly Reiss) (1939-44) Chairman Burton Group Died 21 September 2017 aged 91

D R (David) Butler (1941-51) Civil Engineer Died 13 February 2019 aged 85

R S (Roger) Scotford (1944-52) Royal Naval Offer/Businessman Died 15 October 2018 aged 82

P W (Phil} Cocker (1955-60) Businessman Died 5 march 2019 aged 75

J M H (Jonathan) Sheppard (1991-98) Schoolmaster Died 29 December 2018 aged 38

P W (Peter) Denney (1954-1960) Civil Servant Died 25 May 2019 aged 76

J H (John) Simpson (1938-40) Businessman and Musician Died 11 November 2018 aged 94

N L (Nigel) Druce (1953-60) Insurance Died 21 January 2019 aged 76

M J (Michael) Wild (1940-48) Composer Died 11 November 2018 aged 87

N L (Nigel) Gomm LSO Trumpeter Died 30 October 2011 aged 52

D A (David) Youens (1944-52) HR Director Died 30 November 2018 aged 84

G L (Graham) Guppy (1963-70) Financial Adviser Died 12 December 2018 aged 66

FLOREAT REDINGENSIS

Requiem ĂŚternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.

THE ORA

An image of Graham Guppy in command of Zulu Company Royal Marines Cadets.

He was also a Past Master of Reading Old Boys Lodge and former ORA Councillor.

Before he was ordained, John Ogden was Head of Computer Science at the University of Reading. He will also be remembered for his fine organ playing in the chapel.

Despite polio Adrian Bull was a great achiever; Kim in the Scouts, fine accordionist, jazz band performer, photographer, craftsman, composer and novelist.

Michael Wild was the first winner of the Boulting Medal for drama at School. He became a prolific composer of musicals achieving West End success and was a lifelong performer in cabaret.

Former Captain of School Jonathan Sheppard, was a gifted musician but read Physics at St John’s College, Oxford. He died of a heart attack when head of science at St Bartholomew School, Eynsham.

COMMEMORATIVE WALL PLAQUES A further eight ‘tea trays’ are to be hung in Big School. They are presented below in alphabetical order.

For the eagle-eyed who spot typos on two of the trays, they have been corrected since these images were taken!

Ken Brown, OR 1955-63 and Chris Widdows, OR 1955-62

COMMUNITY: HOUSES Once again, the Cock House Cup was fiercely contested. County’s vice like grip on the trophy has finally been broken, with School House claiming a famous victory. Their success is well-earned, with the older boys putting in particularly dominant performances, winning both the Y11 and Senior competitions. Laud House are getting closer to having a full compliment of boys, with two years to go until they match the other houses for numbers and become a force to be reckoned with.

Overall Position 1st

House School

2nd

County

3rd

West

4th 5th

East Laud

LAUD I am proud to announce another successful year for Laud House, steadily forming a unified and well-established House within the school. I must express my gratitude all the wonderful boys who have put in every ounce of effort for this House, each one of you who so consistently show an attitude of selflessness and an unconditional commitment for our proud institution. The newly appointed prefect team are exemplary representations of these qualities and I hope that they inspire you all to pursue greatness for Laud. Special appreciation should go to the new juniors who have been nothing short of incredible with their numerous exceptional placements in the house competitions. To all of Laud House, on behalf of myself and the rest of our leadership, I hope that I can see these remarkable traits from you all, we are all unified in our endeavours for this House, and we will make this next year one to remember!

Joel Baby, Laud House Captain 2019/20

Firstly I would like to thank the awesome Ms Ayres for her contribution to Laud House over the years. With new leadership comes the opportunity to solidify the House’s ideals moving forward. Laud House has decided to focus on three main character pillars; pride, respect and resilience. Like Joel has said above Laud House has experienced another very successful year, building upon the solid foundations laid in previous years. Two notable results in the House competitions this year were the Juniors winning House Eisteddfod and the year 9 Basketball team winning their basketball competition.

As a House we are looking forward to many more successes in the future. Enjoy your summer Laudies and come back refreshed and ready for another enthralling year.

Mr Gunson, Head of Laud House

SCHOOL School House could not have hoped for a better year this year. It started with an incredible House Music win which paved the way for us to win the overall Cock House Cup, ending a run of six consecutive wins for County House. House Eisteddfod was another particularly successful event with us winning overall and I was so pleased with the number of boys taking part.

I always try to maintain that it isn't all about winning and that I just want as many people as possible in the House buying into the ethos and doing their best for each other. I must thank an incredible group of House captains in Ieuan Galvin, Harry Manocha, Ben Blaker and Dennis Ianev.

Mr Allen, Head of School House

WEST What an exciting first few months in charge of West House. I don’t want to take any credit and wish to make sure boys and tutors are recognised as they make this House unique. I have to admit that I have enjoyed all the challenges this new role brought to my door. It has been a very positive year for West House with a strong team of prefects leading the House with special mention to Rajiv Maini (West House Captain) who demonstrated his capacity to be a role model for the House.

The new Year 7s managed to finish their first year at Reading School having dealt with some sharp learning curves, not just academically but personally. Year 13, who have just finished their journey with us, we wish you all the best in your new adventure, I am sure you will be a good example wherever you go.

I am looking forward to starting a new year leading West House promoting positive relationships, respect and of course, aiming for the victory in the Cock House Cup. I am sure John Wellman and his Prefect team will do an amazing job and will work hard to make the most of every opportunity for West House.

Mr Sanchez, Head of West House 14

Floreat Redingensis

SEPTEMBER 2019

COMMUNITY: HOUSES COUNTY This year Umar and the prefect team have led the house superbly well, organising the house fantastically which is a true reflection on the hard work, dedication and positive attitude that students display towards the spirit of County House.

Unfortunately this year County were not able to maintain their vice like grip over the Cock House Cup, finishing a close second in the competition. The 6 year reign of house champions has come to an end. County are reigning champions of softball, cricket, art, badminton, basketball and lacrosse and I know the students that remain within the house will be looking to add to this tally in next year’s competition and regain the Cock House Cup under the watchful eye of Hugo and the prefect team. A big go well to all the to the students and staff of County House that move onto pastures new in the next academic year, it has been a privilege to work with you. I wish you all the best of luck in the future.

Mr Steadman, Head of County House

EAST I feel very honoured to have been given the opportunity to lead East House and it has been a fantastic year. I have especially enjoyed getting to know the students from all year groups.

Our house performed well in many aspects of the house competition with excellent participation and enthusiasm. Special thanks to Tommaso and Matthew for their leadership in House Music. Winning house football and house rugby were of course highlights of the year.

This year, East came together to show true camaraderie for House Eisteddfod. There were a lot of rehearsals and some fantastic performers. Our second place was well deserved and the East House spirit really came through. Special thanks to Laurie and Muhammed for organising it.

I could not be more proud than I was this week on Sports Day. Our athletes were on form and so keen to achieve the best possible results for East House. They were given amazing support by their fellow Easties and I was impressed by the enthusiasm and the respect demonstrated by all.

As we are getting ready to welcome the new Year 7s in September, I would like to congratulate our current 7E on making it through their first year at Reading School, for settling in so quickly and being so keen to get involved in all the opportunities the school has to offer. Fond farewell to Year 13 students and our House Captain Tim, as they embark on a new adventure.

Mrs Williams, Head of East House

1 3

2

4

5

1. County House Seniors perform in House Eisteddfod; 2. Senior House Rugby; 3. The inaugural House Ghost competition, as Tom Jordan takes aim; 4. Ashqar Ahmed in Y7 House Football 5. Y10 House Cricket on the School Field

SEPTEMBER 2019

Floreat Redingensis

15

COMMUNITY: BOARDING THREE PEAKS CHALLENGE - FOR THE BOARDING CHARITY COMMITTEE Just after 4am on Saturday 29th June 2019, two minibuses full of eager boarders, staff and parents set out from Reading School. Their destination - Ben Nevis.

12 hours later, we found ourselves at the foot of Ben Nevis, ready and raring to go. At 4:30pm the 24hr clock was started and we set off up the mountain path, ably guided by our mountain leader. Frequent pauses for cereal bar consumption and Mr Sanchez's constant motivation from the rear kept us all in high spirits, as we continued towards the rocky scree slopes leading to the summit. We made it up the highest mountain of the three, and the only loss had been the soles of both of Tomi's walking boots! Well fed and keen to escape the huge population of midges which were attacking us in the valley, we set off for Scafell Pike at 11pm.

Thankful for the few hours of sleep which we'd been able to get, just over half of the walkers set off up Scafell Pike at 5:30am on Sunday morning. We made good time reaching the summit, which is owned by the National Trust and dedicated to the men of the Lake District who gave their lives in the Great War of 1914-18. Keen to escape the very strong winds and rain at the summit, we determinedly headed down the mountain, and were soon out of the cloud and treated to lovely views of Wastwater. After some skilled minibus manoeuvring on the single-track road leading away from the Wasdale Head car park, we headed off quickly for Snowdon.

It was 2:30pm by the time we reached the foot of Snowdon on Sunday, and despite having given up hope of finishing the challenge in 24 hours by this point, we were still determined to complete our task, by reaching the summit of all three peaks. Snowdon was certainly the most challenging of all in terms of the weather conditions we faced on the ascent. High winds threatened to destabilise us, but with expert advice from our mountain leader, we all stayed safe and continued carefully to the summit.

Obligatory photo taken (below left), we descended, finally approaching the car park at 8:15pm. Karen, South House Matron, came out to give us all a big hug and a medal. We had managed to complete the Three Peaks Challenge in an impressive 27 hours and 45 minutes!

Huge thanks are owed to the minibus drivers for safely transporting us over such long distances, to our mountain leader for volunteering his services to keep us safe whilst hiking, to all the staff for accompanying us and encouraging us from beginning to end. It was a fantastic experience and we will all treasure the memories for a long, long time.

Thank you also to everyone for raising and donating so much sponsorship - the money we have collected will be split equally between the three charities which we have been supporting throughout this year: Brookfields School (https://brookfieldsschool.org/), The Challenging Behaviour Foundation (https://www.challengingbehaviour.org.uk/) and Sure24 (http://www.rainedgeinternational.org/sure24homes/), all of which provide vital help to those who need it most, in Reading, in the UK, and in Kenya.

COOKING CLUB

Cooking Club has grown in popularity this year, thanks to Mrs Cash. Above are some of the boys creating and enjoying their masterpieces.

16

Floreat Redingensis

SEPTEMBER 2019

COMMUNITY : BOARDING BOARDING IN ACTION

1

3

2

6

4

5

7

1. Rohan O’Connor decorating a Warhammer piece in Warhammer Club; 2. South House and East Wing do battle in the annual Tug of War contest; 3.

John Spence conducts the boarders in preparation for performance; 4. Nirbhay Kaul on the bowling trip; 5. Nick Legh-Smith, Paarth Ningoo and Rohan O’Connor being rescued following wipe outs on kneeboards; 6. South House Y7s celebrate their Escape Room success; 7. So too do East Wing

FOND FAREWELL highlights to mention here but his work with the IBSC on sustainability and in general the partnerships that he has helped foster with our international friends are certainly legacies that will continue to thrive as Mr Sanchez takes the helm.

Mr Nicholas is moving on from East Wing this year after six years of dedicated service. In that time he has seen his family grow with the arrival of Alex, Emma and Sophie, whilst the boarding community has continued to flourish.

There are countless boys with many reasons to thank Mr Nicholas for his patience, guidance and for the opportunities he has provided them and I am sure that the whole boarding family will miss him. There are far too many SEPTEMBER 2019

I am sure that Mr Nicholas will be looking forward to having some more time to pursue his passions; Watching England regain the Ashes (optimistic?), watching Everton push for European football (wildly optimistic?) and of course giving more time to his family as they embark on their school careers. We wish him every success as he continues as an Assistant Head and teacher of Geography here at Reading School and I am sure that we will see him around the boarding community in the future.

Thank you Mr Nicholas from all of the Boarding Family.

Floreat Redingensis

17

COMMUNITY: IN SCHOOL CHAPEL

MENTORING Mentoring is a fundamental part of the way the Reading School Community functions. It has been given greater prominence than ever this year with the role of Mentoring Prefect being created to help coordinate the School’s efforts to provide support within our community for those who need extra assistance.

In 2019/20, Grant Taylor will be taking on this significant role in the School with aim to promote a sense of community between years and to establish systems that will allow for a successful mentoring programme for years to come.

Biology Mentoring Report Chapel remains as resplendent as ever

This year has seen a very impressive Commemoration Day service with a highly engaging and interesting speaker in Mr Sammy Nawali. We also had well-attended services for the new boys and the Boarders’ Carol Service while Mr Tunstill has produced a wonderful and high quality School Carol Service the first of many more, we believe.

We had some engaging speakers in some of the chapels and that is an aspect we would like to see utilised even more in future. As always, Mr Robson and Mr Evans contributed with insightful and motivational messages, but we also had Tads Ciercierski-Holmes who spoke to the students about his personal growth as a human being through adversity, but also in terms of his experiences in Thailand where he became very aware of the plight of people in the sex industry. One of our own members of staff, Mr Sharma gave a message which was profound and challenged us to accept that all humans are priceless.

We also saw the first glimpses of contributions by the chapel choir during some chapels. This will certainly become a more permanent fixture in Chapel. We are very appreciative of the on-going contribution made by our organists under the leadership and inspiration of Mr Tunstill. A big thanks to all of you.

During the 2018/19 academic year, Biology Clinic saw considerable growth in both general attendees, mentees and lower sixth mentors volunteering their time to aid our school’s younger communities in their curricular and extended studies in Biology.

The weekly Thursday sessions comprised, primarily, re-visiting topics such as homeostasis, transport in animals and teaching GCSE students how to apply their knowledge to unseen contexts. The mentees found the sessions useful and all felt better prepared for their upcoming exams. Biology Clinic this year was also fortuitous in the sixth form mentors’ ancillary learning and gave rise to the provision of the opportunity for many new students to integrate into the wider school community.

One-on-one mentoring was an additional accomplishment this year; with the advantage of tailored teaching in the weeks leading to exams, students were able to practice and perfect their exam technique and responses – a key vantage point in Biology.

Huge thanks to the mentors and Biology Clinic Team; much progress was made in many ways due to their beneficence and guidance.

We look forward to building on the rich tradition of the Chaplaincy in order to shape the thinking and actions of the boys of Reading School and to equip our boys to face the moral, spiritual and cultural challenges that will come their way and to truly become role-models of the Reading Way. We remain determined to continue to emphasise in our messages and through our conduct the immense value inherent in each individual while at the same time fostering a strong sense of community. It is a wonderful privilege to share the love and acceptance of God with such a diverse community of different faiths, non-faith and ethnicities.

Semu Serunjogi works with Sida Li

18

Floreat Redingensis

SEPTEMBER 2019

COMMUNITY THE LEARNING RESOURCE CENTRE More Than Just a Library: A Community

World Mental Health Day

We are very fortunate to have such a well-resourced LRC which is both a vibrant social hub as well as an independent learning space.

We celebrated World Mental Health Day in the LRC with herbal tea, fresh fruit, chilled music and a selection of well-being books. The event won the National School Library Association Wellbeing photo competition! The idea came from Well-being Prefect Jamie Cottle and was a great way to start the conversation about mental health and well-being in the school community.

“I think that the LRC is the best place in school to socialise, and I think we're really lucky to have it”.

The LRC connects with the local community, the School community and also supports groups within the School. We also work hard to encourage a vibrant reading community.

Local Community Connections: Arab World Day

This year we were delighted to support our fantastic parent and community volunteers who ran a very enjoyable Arab World Cultural Day for all Key Stage 3 pupils. Staff and pupils were invited to try Arab World food, traditional dress, Arabic writing, Islamic art, a Bedouin rug floor, books, handicrafts, quizzes, music, Dabka dance and documentaries. The event was organised by parent Mrs Tamim.

Following the event, she said “We would like to thank Reading School for welcoming us to their community. Reading School is always encouraging parents to be involved in school activities. We were looking to this event to celebrate the Arab World from our perspective. This world is rich with Culture, History and Heritage. The success of that event was from those elements”.

Juniors and Sixth Formers mingle to discuss mental health

Reading School as a Reading Community: Write Path

Pupils could try a range of different Arab World activities including Arabic writing and phrases. It was a very positive experience for the boys to experience another culture that exists within their community.

Mrs Romano conducts proceedings in the Write Path collaborative writing project

Aditya Kapoor getting to grips with Arabic writing

Write Path is an annual international collaborative writing project enabling budding authors from around the world to contribute to story starters devised by famous authors. This year 7C rose to the challenge to continue stories from authors including Piers Torday and Jo Cotterill.

Work began at 5.30am in Mumbai, with each school getting just one hour to write a story continuation. The stories have now been published in a book, so the boys can look back and be proud of their efforts.

Tom Adams and Tarith Alawatta in traditional Arabic clothes

SEPTEMBER 2019

Our fantastic community of parent volunteers, who made this day possible

Floreat Redingensis

Our thanks go to Mrs Romano for preparing and delivering the writing activity.

19

COMMUNITY: CLUBS BOOK CLUB

ASTRONOMY CLUB

Book Club, which meets every Tuesday lunchtime, has grown from strength to strength in recent years.

The boys like the inclusivity of the group – it’s more like a family who look out for each other. It’s very rewarding running the group; seeing the younger boys growing in confidence as the year progresses, and even volunteering to be ambassadors for Book Club at the Open Afternoon/ Evening in April.

As twilight draws in, the Astronomy Club begin their observations

Wednesday 27th March 2019 saw a fantastic revival of Reading School’s Astronomy Club. During an evening session, parents and students made use of the school’s telescopes and observatory to see astronomical sights beyond the reach of the naked eye.

Members of the Book Club took part in an exclusive question and answer session with dystopian author Sarah Govett

Each week is slightly different. The boys may choose to run a bookthemed multiple choice quiz for each other, or have a group discussion on different genres of books – e.g. dystopian literature. This is a great way of sharing books, authors and genres, and also gives them confidence with public speaking.

We shadow the local Berkshire Book Award and the national Carnegie Book Award. Both awards encourage the boys to read books from different genres, and ones that they may not necessarily normally choose to read.

In late February/early March we once again ran our hugely popular and beneficial Book Festival. This is a great way for all boys to meet and learn from a real life author. Members of the Book Club took part in an exclusive question and answer session with author Sarah Govett (pictured above). Students “really enjoyed the meeting with Sarah Govett, as it was exclusive and it was informal so I could interact more casually.”

Sights on offer included the planet Mars, the Orion Nebula and the Pleiades.

Fantastic weather also provided brilliant viewing conditions for multiple constellations and attendees were even lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the International Space Station during its full pass across the sky.

Reading School would like to thank Mr Sharma and Miss Ayres for facilitating the evening and the Sixth Form members of the Astronomy Club for guiding visitors through the night sky.

Keep a look out for more Astronomy Events in the coming year. Details of future events will be published in the Headmaster’s Bulletin.

Book Club continues to be a place where boys can enjoy books. A Year 13 said that during their time here “the club has matured or become more sophisticated. The light-hearted 'banter culture' of the Book Club community is still very much alive and well, which is probably why I've stuck around for so long. It has always been a welcoming space to talk about the love of literature we all share, and a space to reflect upon many of its themes”.

Students of all age groups thrive here. One Year 8 described it as a “happy club, as it’s a relaxed and welcoming environment where everyone is treated equally regardless of year/house group.”

20

Floreat Redingensis

An image of Orion’s Nebula captured from the School’s Observatory

SEPTEMBER 2019

COMMUNITY: CLUBS CYCLING CLUB

PHILOSOPHY AND CHRISTIAN UNION This year saw the continuation of some clubs and activities in the Religious Studies department. The Christian Union continues to meet on a Friday during lunchtime in H1 while the Philosophy Club meets on Fridays, during lunchtime in Room 8.

Ash Linkens and Robbie Usher take on the track at Palmer Park

In the Religious Studies Department we are keen to play our role in developing our students both as “Champions of Character” and as skilful academics and these clubs serve this purpose, alongside the spiritual development that the Christian Union can offer.

Philosophy Club is a rigorous environment for debate and certainly has helped to enhance students’ preparation for the more challenging aspects of studying a Philosophy course at A-level standard from Year 9.

In its first year, Cycling Club has been an immediate hit with students.

Utilising the facilities at Palmer Park, Miss Stratford and Mr Newman have provided another opportunity for the boys to experience a new and challenging sport at Reading School, during Wednesday Games sessions.

Mr Newman outsprints Robbie Usher

WARHAMMER CLUB Warhammer Club, which meets every Friday after school, has had many exciting events over the last year. Resources for new players due to school funding, participation in interschool events and programmes and a fresh wave of new players, 2018-19 has made this one of its best years.

Of particular interest this year was taking part in the School League; a national level competition for school Warhammer Clubs. The team won the regional qualifiers for Reading, then came first in one of the semi-final brackets and ultimately finished fifth in the final. In addition to the friendly competition, the team was able to enjoy the exhibition hall at Warhammer World and participate in a range of mini events across the rounds.

2018-19 also had exciting new ventures for Warhammer Club. Painting club was established, to great effect, on Friday lunchtimes, with the support of Ms Creegan. New game systems were tried out, with the club’s first games of the skirmish-based Kill Team and high fantasy Warhammer Age of Sigmar. These have taken the existing community of Warhammer Club to new levels, letting more senior painters to share their knowledge with younger students, providing a space for students work on Warhammer related projects and bringing new, exciting means of play to the club.

SEPTEMBER 2019

No two weeks of Warhammer Club are the same. There have been a number of exciting student led events; encouraging leadership and promoting management skills, both in the higher and lower years. We’ve used our budget to great effect, providing terrain to make games more immersive and cinematic, while the club’s models have provided equipment for new players.

Arran Johnson, James Ross, Haadi Khalid and James Laynesmith celebrate winning the semi-final and qualifying for the national finals

Floreat Redingensis

21

COMMUNITY: CLUBS MiG 25 CLUB

ROBOTICS CLUB Robotics Club has been running for the last seven years, and we have built up an excellent sense of community within it.

With an average of around 20 attendees each week, we compete in three main competitions: the FIRST LEGO League (FLL), Pi Wars, and Student Robotics.

This year was the first in which we competed in the latter two, and although we didn't win, we were very pleased with our performance considering the amount of time we'd spent on the two competitions, not long, as our main focus had been on the FLL until the end of March, because we reached the national finals (pictured below).

The team after winning the regional finals

We have great fun taking part in these competitions, as well as internal competitions like SUMO - where the students who don't get the opportunity to take part in the other competitions (because we can only take a limited number of people) build robots to fight each other, and do so by controlling them remotely.

All of the students who take part in the SUMO competition learn a great deal about robot-building and team-working, having immense fun along the way. The sense of community in the club is lovely.

Robotics Club is immensely popular, but is always eager to have new members.

Building robots for the SUMO competition

22

The MiG 25 Club working through some difficult Maths

Following a year of fun, Fibonacci and fascinating Mathematics at MiG 25 this year, the club has successfully launched and run the Mentor-Paced Programme where Y12 and Y13 Mentors work together on fiendishly challenging mathematical problems and study university-and-beyond level mathematics. This year our Mentors have been the Team Members Semu Seranjogi, James Davey, Rene Chuka and Pranav Sahni. The Mentees have included Johnny Sammon, Sida Li and Luke Holland. Further activities have included the superb JMC training sessions for Y7s, by Sida Li, as well as the delivery of the incredible presentations and problems by Johnny Sammon and Sida on topics such as Fractals, Number Theory, Infinity, The Perilous World of Paradoxes and even The Blancmange Function.

Johnny Sammon has been the inspiration behind the launch and future establishment of the MiG Library, comprising a small (but nonetheless exponentially growing) selection of books, the library will allow adventurous mathematicians to expand their repertoire.

The collection currently includes classics such as ‘A Prime Puzzle’ and ‘The Backbone of Pascal’s Triangle’.

Under the Leadership of Shreyas Pandit and myself there will be new changes. These will include restructuring the MiG sessions. Over the past year the club has presented ever more advanced and demanding bits of mathematics, which is superb for the more mathematically mature.

However, this year the club aims to reach out to the younger years with UKMT style problem sessions on a regular basis, whilst maintaining the high mathematical standard of the previous year. Furthermore, we also hope to introduce some more advanced STEP style problems into MiG 25, providing challenges for students from Year 7 to the dizzying heights of Year 13.

It would be impossible to have made the club into the impressive beast it is today without the constant help and support of Mrs Sikkel, and the guidance and leadership of past Year 13s, including James Davey, Semu Serunjogi, and Ben Blaker.

Tom Haley 12DWH

Floreat Redingensis

SEPTEMBER 2019

COMMUNITY: CLUBS DEBATING SOCIETY Founded in 1879 and re-founded in 2018, the Debating Society has returned to its roots. Not only this, I think we can safely say we are the most popular lunchtime club or society in school. We have continued the usual weekly debates in the Lecture Theatre on Tuesday lunchtimes which attract an average of 70-80 boys a week.

There have been some extremely fiery debates, some controversial debates and in some cases some funny debates. One favourite was when we debated whether or not Chapel should be compulsory at Reading School. Over 120 boys squeezed into the Lecture Theatre to see an intense clash of logic and elocution. Luckily Dr. Evans and I got the win for the opposition and Chapel lived to see another day. We use the parliamentary style and take a vote before and after the debate, the side with the biggest swing wins the debate.

The society has also taken part in inter-school debates with Queen Anne’s School which have been a great success.

Earlier in the year Reading hosted the debate, and 6 students from the two schools debated whether feminism had gone too far in a riveting match of wit and argument.

Later in the year Queen Anne’s hosted, with the debate concerning whether private schools should be abolished (a

controversial but excellently argued debate, with an audience of mostly Queen Anne’s girls voting to abolish private schools).

However, as a society we have also made an effort to recognise our heritage. We have worked closely with Ken Brown, the archivist of the ORA, to revive many aspects of the old debating society. For example we have introduced “legacy debates” in which we debate motions that were contested over by Reading’s debating society years before.

In 1935 the boys of Reading School narrowly voted in favour of co-education for all British Schools, however, 83 years later they were overwhelmingly in opposition of such an idea (possibly as in 1935 boys of Reading School didn’t have snapchat or Instagram as a means of easily interacting with the opposite sex). We have also brought back “characters” this year, which is featured later in the article. This was/is a brief review of each debater in his involvement in debates in the past year. It was a mix of objectivity and encouragement, and was sometimes rather savage with J. V. Mack’s character being “He would be the first to admit he was a beginner” in 1948.

I look forward to hearing more speeches, more points of information and more wit next year.

Debating Society Characters, 2018-2019 H. Rompani (President) – a passionate speaker who never hesitates to pick holes in other speakers’ arguments.

B. Coneybeare (Secretary) – possibly the most accomplished speaker of the year having taken part in over 10 debates. He consistently demonstrates flair and wit and always draws a crowd when he is due to debate.

J. Wallace (Committee member) – a measured speaker who’s calculated style often sways the audience. He has mastered the tricks of the politician.

We are sad to see him go but wish him the best of luck at Oxford.

O. Amole (Committee member) – he always forces the house to think deeply about issues he speaks on through his slow and fluent style. We will miss his eloquence and slightly communist views. We wish him the best of luck debating at university.

A. Campbell – a sophisticated speaker who has a great understanding of how

SEPTEMBER 2019

to sway the audience. He is definitely one of the more skilled debaters.

matches that of a great orator. He has many years to develop his natural talent.

A. Krishna – a speaker who knows how to confront the other side of the house, R. Phillips – demonstrates the we look forward to more from him. determination and wit of a great speaker. The society awaits more from J. McAnally – sometimes relies too him. much on the notes in front of him but never fails to speak well.

A. Kaura – a quietly confident speaker who always puts up a good fight and P. Saunders – an incredibly talented can construct very convincing speaker who wowed the audience in arguments. his debut debate concerning the abolition of the monarchy with his witty G. Taylor – definitely a crowd favourite retorts. A very promising speaker due to his confidence and humour. He indeed. never fails to put in maximum effort.

M. El-Beik – made several appearances M. Dasgupta – one of the youngest this year characterised by careful speakers who has improved greatly. His thought. confidence in clashing with 6th formers is commendable.

E. Bruun – an inexperienced but promising speaker who never shows T. Sharkey – an incredibly nerves. We are excited for more from knowledgeable speaker with a fiery him next year. style.

A. Adavikolanu – one of the youngest speakers. What he lacks in experience he makes up for in his style which Floreat Redingensis

R. Usher – has an excellent understanding of logic and how to set out an argument.

23

COMMUNITY: STUDENT INITIATIVES RECYCLING AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS IN SCHOOL However, the impact of all this is not just seen in the standard school day but also in boarding. Mr Nicholas, the East Wing Housemaster, writes: "The new recycling scheme is an important addition to the school. Boarders have been committed to acting sustainably for a number of years now through their Boarding Sustainability Promise and this scheme has been particularly helpful in promoting involvement and awareness. Since much of their week is spent on the school grounds, it is vital that the boarders have the chance to develop their social responsibility and are provided with ways in which they can engage proactively with the wider school environment. In this way, the new scheme has been a tremendous benefit to both the school and the boarders.”

Looking ahead to next year the school needs to go much further. Perhaps setting up places to dispose of food waste around all parts of the school, perhaps solar panels - the possibilities are vast! But what is definite is that students need to become a bigger part of the school’s action. So, expect to see more and more of our pupils taking more and more visible roles – equally expect to see more initiatives and days where the school can truly focus on making our school environment, in the long term, safer.

Muhammed El-Beik promoting recycling in the School

This year, school-wide recycling bins have been put into place to promote recycling and to encourage more commitment from our students towards the School community.

But in addition to key messages like recycling, I must also bring up last year’s ‘Big Pedal’ initiative that was wonderfully organised by the previous Environment Prefect, Tommaso Leonardi. The initiative promoted the essential need for people to take eco-friendly transport methods. Discussing the initiative, Tommaso writes:

Whilst, for the most part, the general waste that our school accumulated was segregated and recycled, it was distinctly a missed opportunity to not have separate recycling bins within the school. As a result, at the beginning of this academic year we obtained new recycling bins. The reason for this is two-fold.

“This year Reading School took part in an initiative called the Big Pedal run by Sustrans, which involved encouraging walking and cycling to school as well as public transport.

Each day a volunteer from each form counted that form’s journeys, and this was recorded. Beyond the direct reduction in transport emissions these schemes are crucial Firstly, with separate bins, the recycling process is smoother when they change individuals’ and groups’ attitudes and a lot cheaper as most of it has been segregated already. towards the impact they can have against climate change and thus motivate them to further action.”

This, at the very least, financially benefits the school.

Secondly, by having a separate recycling system it allows the All in all, this academic year has seen some good steps school to directly promote and inform about good taken in making the school eco-friendlier. Reading School is environmental care. Instead of students leaving all their steadily becoming more invested in the cause but for next rubbish in waste bins and only a handful knowing much year we can do more. I hope to build off this year’s progress about where it will end up, placing recycling bins all across and show students that they themselves, as members of the the School and in all classrooms unambiguously tells school, are part of what it takes to make long-lasting students that they should be taking action. positive alterations to our community.

By now, the current recycling provision is most likely quite If there is anyway you can help with supporting the School’s familiar to students. In classrooms and the LRC we have the drive to recycle more, please contact the School. white recycling bins. Furthermore, inside the Refectory we Muhammed El-Beik 12MJK, Environment Prefect have a considerably larger metal bin.

24

Floreat Redingensis

SEPTEMBER 2019

COMMUNITY: RSPA FUNDRAISING AND SUPPORTING THE SCHOOL Virgin Giving campaign provided an additional £4k of resources for the Biology department, with Mr Napoleon Bone-a-part (pictured below) aptly named by Riley Clack in Year 8 being a memorable donation but we also provided much needed practical Biology equipment, such as a haemocytometer, a micro centrifuge & a genetic engineering kit. In Art, £4k raised at the 2018 Christmas Market has gone both to provide the boys with some new mediums to use in the classes but also to create a platform in the school to showcase the boys art. We are delighted to have a selection of the boys’ art on display at the Fayre this year.

The new canopy provided by money raised at the 2018 Spring Fayre. It is always well appreciated by students sheltering from the weather

The RSPA has had a really exciting year, from our amazing fundraising, to an outstanding amount of corporate matching by our parents and the launch of our new website at www.readingschoolpa.org.uk, here are just a few fundraising highlights from the year.

Firstly, we have developed our corporate matching and donations to the School. With more and more companies having a community focus the RSPA have been lucky to benefit greatly from this. In 2018/2019 we saw the RSPA increase our fundraising by parents providing corporate matching at many of our events, with local companies matching the fundraising we did by donating over £10k.

We have not only benefited from financial matching, but also the donation of their services and products, with so many local businesses donating and helping out Summer Fundraising be so successful. We know there must be many more parents in the Reading School community who could help us increase our fundraising by utilising their corporate matching schemes, so if your company corporate matches or you want to understand more please reach out at contactus@readingschoolpa.org.uk.

Furthermore, this school year saw us donate an additional 11 laptops as part of our ongoing project to maintain a bank of 30 research laptops within the LRC. We helped the Geography Department with a whole new set of classroom text books and provided the History Department with £1K of additional classroom resources. We also provided four new benches for the school grounds and brought new resources for the Chess and Robotics Clubs.

The RSPA also supported the School, parents and the boys in numerous other ways. We run the Second Hand Uniform Shop and the Twice Termly Lost Property Sort. We sponsored the Junior Prize Giving, helped with the organisation and running of the 2019 Careers Evening; hosted new starter and Year 13 leavers events, as well as provided support for parents via our membership communication portal Classlist and our Facebook and LinkedIn groups.

If you are not a member of the RSPA and would like to join, drop us an email at rspamemsec@gmail.com and we will be very happy to welcome you into the Association.

Clare Shandling, RSPA Chair

We have also been directly responsible for some of the School’s new facilities. Last summer saw the installation of the new Canopy outside the LRC. It was the 2018 Spring Fayre raising £20k in funds, along with matching from the Reading Foundation that enabled this to happen. We are delighted to see this is now used on a daily basis by the students as both a place to study but also to socialise, giving much needed escape from the rain.

The Biology and Art Departments also received support from the RSPA. In October our successful Quiz Night &

SEPTEMBER 2019

Left: Two of the four new benches, provided by RSPA fundraising Right: Mr Napoleon Bone-A-Part, who was bought following the RSPA’s Quiz Night fundraising

Floreat Redingensis

25

EXCELLENCE: STUDENT EVENTS AND COMPETITIONS BRITISH INFORMATICS OLYMPIAD

Left to right: James Balenthiran, Joe Iddon, Daniel Stone, James Davey and Johnny Sammon, who excelled in the BIO

First round, Reading School December 2019 The British Informatics Olympiad (BIO) is an annual competition in computer programming for secondary schools and sixth form colleges. Any student who is under 19, in full time pre-university education and resident in mainland Britain, is eligible to take part and may win prizes, including an expenses-paid trip to the prestigious International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI).

The first stage of the BIO is a three-hour exam, taken at school, in which students solve problems with the aid of a computer. An able group of computer scientists took up the challenge to complete the British Informatics Olympiad

2019 paper. The three hours rapidly passed and shown above are some of the top performers. This competition is extremely exciting, yet demanding, so well done to all who participated.

One student said “The Informatics Olympiad was a really fun experience because the questions required you to carefully consider your algorithm before attempting a solution.

Although I would have loved to have more time to tackle the problems, the time pressure added to the excitement and again made it very enjoyable. I'm looking forward to next year!”

BIO FINAL 2019 Cambridge 29th-31st March 2019 Reading School was fortunate to have one student, Saleem Rashid, achieve entry to the finals of the BIO this year.

Saleem performed really well in the first round and based on his results, joined the top 13 other competitors in Cambridge for the final during the Easter holidays. The best four make up the team to represent Britain at the IOI. Saleem arrived back from Trinity College Cambridge after the BIO having had a weekend of algorithmic challenges and coding implementations. Three were 14 finalists in total this year and Saleem felt he was placed in the middle of the group academically.

Saleem started well, submitting his solution first for the

26

Terminal Velocity challenge. He felt happy with himself as he planned how to complete the algorithm in the 30 minute preparation time. Some of the other challenges he was set involved caterpillar graphs and Heron’s Formula, which of course we all understand! It became more challenging as the competition progressed and although he did not make it in to the top four he is ready for BIO 2020, as he is currently only in Year 12.

Reading School will be seeking to develop algorithmic skills within the curriculum and prepare students for the coming years with the BIO, so If you are interested in joining in later this year, you can get ready by practicing using the past papers from here: http://www.olympiad.org.uk/. The first round of the BIO 2020 competition will take place in December 2019.

Floreat Redingensis

SEPTEMBER 2019

EXCELLENCE: STUDENT EVENTS AND COMPETITIONS MODEL NATO SUMMIT

The delegates all take in the wisdom of Mr Jamie Shea (NATO spokesman 1993-2000)

On the 16th of January 2019, Year 12 students were given a unique opportunity – to participate in a model NATO summit put together by NATO officials themselves. This promised to give a fascinating insight into the world of negotiation, the workings of NATO, as well as what happens to Reading School students when placed in control of nuclear weapons and huge militaries. A absorbing day was guaranteed.

on many issues, over Article V countries were declared to pose a threat to European security, others to be launching yet another blasé war in the Middle East. The news that IREZ had placed a chemical weapon in the hands of a terrorist group only fanned the flames. The system of notepassing between delegates turned into a flurry as countries attempted to win over others to their schemes through less official channels. When lunch was called, this issue Once the Assembly had convened, the Secretary General for appeared to be a barrier to any progress in talks – the the day, Mr Jamie Shea (NATO spokesman 1993-2000, now outlook on European security and relations was poor.

Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges) introduced the crisis at hand: the Islamic Happily, as ever, the delegates appeared to be more cordial Republic of Elburz and Zagros were suspected of collusion after some lunch. A joint French-Canadian-Bulgarian in attacks on the Turkish Embassy in IREZ, as well as the proposal united the house by, among other resolutions, kidnapping of two ambassadors. To the North, the state of proposing an ultimatum and to seek a UN mandate for any Volgodina had been destabilising governments around the further action. In the words of the Secretary General, we Black Sea and Caspian Sea. To complete the trifecta, had found a way to allow the ‘hawks’ and the ‘doves’ to climate change has been ravaging the interiors of Caucasus roost together, as well as prove that NATO is equally as states. Having received our brief, as well as a fascinating effective when “eagles fall out” as when “crows shout”, to talk in which Mr Shea spoke about the possible approaches stretch the avian motif to breaking point. All that was left to crises, along with outlining some of the events he has was to draft a list of resolutions, as well as a press had direct involvement with and an introduction to the statement. philosophical side to his field which ranged from Napoleon I would like to take the opportunity to thank the Institute of to Aquinas, the Assembly fell into deliberation, with every Statecraft for providing such an engrossing day of country contributing and outlining their nation’s positions. negotiation, as well as taking the time to devise such a wide The most pressing question was whether or not to invoke -ranging and sophisticated scenario. As France in the Article V – which would have meant collective war on IREZ. scenario, I found it very enjoyable and an interesting This was to prove divisive – despite our Secretary General’s challenge, not to mention a great insight into the workings masterful leading of the debate, which exhibited an of such an influential institution as NATO and what working impressive even-handedness in addition to an there may entail. In conclusion, a great day for all concerned encyclopaedic knowledge of international agreements, and for European security! conflict began to arise. Although nations were cooperative Theo Sharkey,12DAW

SEPTEMBER 2019

Floreat Redingensis

27

EXCELLENCE: STUDENT EVENTS AND COMPETITIONS MCILROY ESSAY COMPETITION

UKMT MATHS CHALLENGE

Joshua Conaghan, 9E won the 2018/19 iteration of the annual McIlroy Essay Competition. His composition “I’d Like To Be A Champion…Of Literacy” was anonymously judged by the panel, drawn from the Reading School staff and members of the Reading Foundation, to be a terrifically inspiring and well-expressed piece of writing.

Once again Reading School has had a sensational number of students participate in the UKMT Maths Challenge and it is great to see so many of our boys putting in the time and effort in order to do well in this event. I would like to give a special thank you to Sida Li (9W) who helped tutor the Year 7s for the recent Junior Maths Challenge during his free time. We had 205 participants qualify for the second round of their respective challenge. 39 took part in the Olympiad.

Josh is the youngest ever winner of this prize writing about a child’s recovery from life altering injuries through the power of language; the impact of words from world leaders and Albus Dumbledore’s timeless idea, “words are our most inexhaustible source of magic, capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it."

There were a record number of submissions in 2018, and the essays covered a wonderfully diverse range of topics. We had students championing kindness, vegetarianism, quantum mechanics, compassion, peace, Classics, mountaineering and even origami. Thank you to every student who invested time, thought and skill into crafting a submission.

All shortlisted students will receive an English Subject Award badge for their efforts.

The English Department would like to thank the Reading Foundation for its generous support of the competition in funding the £250 prize. The competition is now open again for our 2018 – 2019 cohorts, with the details available on the school website and SharePoint homepage.

Commendations include:

Andrew Yang – Distinction, BMO round one Daniel Cooper – Medal and prize, Maclaurin Olympiad Ewan Azlan Luk – Medal and prize, Hamilton Olympiad Sida Li – Medal and prize, Cayley Olympiad Luke Holland and Shlok Thakur – Medal and prize, Junior Olympiad Peyan Han – Best in school for Junior Maths Challenge and Merit, Junior Olympiad Jonny Sammon – Merit, Caley Olympiad Additionally Reading School came first in the Regional Team Maths Challenge

CHEMISTRY OLYMPIAD

From right to left: Ben Blaker, Tommaso Leonardi, Merlin Dillingham, Anujan Kirupakaran, Nicholas Lee, Luke Ridge, Joey Kaufman, Ali Akhbari

Congratulations to the following boys for their brilliant results in a very challenging Chemistry Olympiad. This is the most challenging competition for A level Chemistry students so this is an incredible achievement for the boys involved. Special credit goes to Luke Ridge for making it to the 2 nd round and earning himself a weekend working in Cambridge. This put him in the top 30 of over 7000 students taking part in this competition.

28

Floreat Redingensis

Luke

Ridge

GOLD

Tommaso

Leonardi

GOLD

Ben

Blaker

GOLD

Merlin

Dillingham

GOLD

Nicholas

Lee

GOLD

Edwin

Hughes

SILVER

Anujan

Kirupakaran

SILVER

Ahmed

Ahmed

SILVER

Michael

Goon

SILVER

Joey

Kaufman

SILVER

Siddharth

Sasindran

BRONZE

Joe

Iddon

BRONZE

Ali

Reza Akhbari

BRONZE

Napat

Pantawong

BRONZE

SEPTEMBER 2019

EXCELLENCE: STUDENT EVENTS AND COMPETITIONS MOCK TRIAL COMPETITION

STUDENT INVESTOR CHALLENGE

The Magistrates’ Court Mock Trial Competition has been running for 25 years, and involves over 4,000 students as well as 1,700 lawyers and magistrates.

13 Year 8 and 9 students spent their Wednesday afternoons, after school for three months, to compete in this national competition.

From left to right: Hemkousik Nandipati, Karthik Donthula, Kostas Demiris, Aditya Singh, Jinseo Ahn, Morgan Kirby, Sida Li, Richard Addae, Ayush Tiwari, Arun Dhillon, Luke Russell, Dev Goyal, Adithya Krishna, Suyash Singh, Arkin Fernandez, Rohan Chikkam

When I originally heard of the Student Investor Challenge, I thought of it as an opportunity to play around with the financial markets and learn a few things on the way. So, I joined a team which consisted of Aditya Singh, Karthik Donthula and Kostas Demiris, and we named our selves HAKK2018.

We submitted our application form and participated in the practice round, where we got to know that we would only be able to invest in FTSE 100 stocks. We were handed two portfolios: an active portfolio and a strategic portfolio, both with £100,000 in virtual cash. In the strategic portfolio, you can only make a few trades per month, which encourages long-term thinking. On the other hand, the active portfolio allows you to trade every day, so you can benefit off short term spikes.

The competition was a great experience for us and we have all learnt a lot from it – including how court proceedings work, and it improved our self-confidence and public speaking.

The competition involved the students taking roles of legal professionals such as lawyers, magistrates, ushers, witnesses and legal advisers. The Mock Trial is an extremely hard competition as everyone had to learn speeches and the etiquette in court had to be flawless. Failing to do so lost lots of points.

By the time the real competition started, we had a list of how the markets moved and what affects the stock price, and we invested in popular blue-chip stocks such as Coca-Cola HBC and Rolls-Royce. We chose stocks based on their popularity and how they changed previously and hoped that it would follow the same pattern again - technical analysis. Even though this worked earlier in the competition, it stopped working as FTSE started to go down in value.

At the start of the competition, both of our portfolios’ value was increasing steadily and we were climbing up the rankings, thanks to our risky investment in the British American Tobacco PLC. After some of our stocks lost money, we decided luck wasn't a good strategy, and we started using other methods to analyse stocks, such as the price to earnings ratio and the earnings per share ratio.

Over the span of one and a half months, our active portfolio rose to £108,000, when FTSE valued at only £98,000, meaning we essentially beat the speed of the market. However, in the last few days, the market experienced a big dip, and so did the size of our account. £4,000 was lost within the span of five days, which had taken two weeks to gain. We immediately cut all of our losses and sold most of our shares, and reinvested into other stocks that were safe to invest in, and we managed to rank 127th in the country, meaning that we could move onto the next round.

In this round, we were asked to predict the price of the stock at the end of the week. Unfortunately, we didn't do as well, due to our poor judgment. However, we aim to do better next year and hope to make it into the finals. Finally, I would like to say thank you to the Economics department for giving us this opportunity.

SEPTEMBER 2019

Floreat Redingensis

The team after round one of the competition

This was the first year that we had taken part in the competition. We all managed to learn the material, and we successfully got to the regional finals.

Unfortunately, despite performing well, we didn’t make it through to the Nationals.

The competition was a great experience, and even though it was our first year running it, everyone enjoyed the experience.

The competition ran under the great leadership of Ms Cash and Ms Pravda, who supported us and the competition wouldn’t have happened without their hard work and dedication.

29

EXCELLENCE: STUDENT EVENTS AND COMPETITIONS WORLD INDIVIDUAL DEBATING AND PUBLIC SPEAKING CHAMPIONSHIPS free time meeting ORs living in Toronto and sightseeing the CN tower and Niagara Falls. We made countless numbers of memories and learned so much about having the courage to step up on stage and speak about something you actually cared about. But I also got to the Finals in Impromptu Speaking and then came 3rd – so who was really right? Probably Mr Allen.”

Arvind A (10S) commented:

Mr Robson congratulates Aleks Sekulic on his 3rd place finish

This Easter, the Reading School Debating Team participated in the 31st World Individual Debating and Public speaking Championships (WIDPSC) from 11 th- 17th April 2019 hosted by Branksome Hall, in Toronto, Canada.

The World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championship is an annual international English language debating and public speaking tournament for individual high school-level students representing a diverse range of countries and cultural backgrounds.

Reading School students Benedict Coneybeare (12MRC), Aleks Sekulic (12AC), Malhar Dasgupta (10S), Arvind Adavikolanu (10S), Hugo Rompani (12CF), Sanskar Dasoondi (11C) & Robbie Usher (12DAW) competed with over 100 other high school students in four different events: Debate, Impromptu Speaking, Persuasive or After Dinner Speaking and Interpretive Reading. Special congratulations to Aleks Sekulic on achieving 3rd place in the finals for Impromptu Speaking.

Aleks commented: “When I got selected for this competition by Mr Allen I told him ‘I’m going there to win’, to which he replied ‘it’s also a great experience’ – and he was right. I got to meet people from all around the world and enjoy their performances and spending our free time with them. We also spent our

30

“At WIDPSC, I was the youngest competitor by far and this was quite a daunting challenge to go up against 18 and 17 year olds in a world competition, but it was an extremely rewarding experience. I achieved a full set of 90s in my second debate which was unheard of from someone my age and I also did pretty well in my persuasive speaking and my impromptu. At this competition, you learn to communicate various societal ideas, problems and solutions which could someday help the human race and we get to speak freely about our own thoughts and feelings.

We also learn to communicate with members of the global community and not just our close knit country team, for example I was paired with a South African for my debate and he was a great guy and very intellectual, humorous and kind, and it was a rewarding experience working with someone like him. All in all, due to the many great and kind people I have made lifetime bonds with, and the Old Redingensians who we had the pleasure of meeting, this was a trip of a lifetime and I hope that I get the opportunity to go another year.”

This occasion also brought with it the opportunity to meet with Reading School Alumni living in Toronto. The RS Debate Team met with Old Redingensians, Thomas Santram, VP of Cineplex and keen County House supporter, as well as Nick Oldland, a successful entrepreneur of the Hatleys clothing line. Both were excited to hear how the school is flourishing and proud to have a Reading School team representing in the WIDPSC championships. We thank both Thomas and Nick for taking the time to meet with Mr A M Robson, Headmaster, Mr S Allen and pupils of Reading School.

Special thanks to Mr A M Robson, Headmaster and Mr S Allen for supporting the pupils and accompanying them on this world class event.

Floreat Redingensis

SEPTEMBER 2019

EXCELLENCE: STUDENT EVENTS AND COMPETITIONS DATA SCIENCE FINALS - TEEN TECH 2019 TeenTech helps young people understand the opportunities in the science, technology and engineering industries, no matter what their gender or social background. Their lively, focused age appropriate initiatives help young people 8-18 understand their potential and raise their aspirations.

Jack Hygate (Year 13) and I entered the IET Savoy Place with trepidation. We were located on the Mountbatten Exhibition Room, and set up our posters as planned. At 12:25, the presentations for our category, the Data Science Category, started. The first project was VIEWS from Maiden Erleigh, and the team created an impressive device to detect drones at airports, following the Gatwick and Heathrow accidents. Soon, it was my time to shine. I prepared my app demo, and loaded my presentation.

My project is Speed Bot. Speed Bot is an app that recognises and safely notifies you of any traffic signs within the live images that the app takes. It uses purely computer vision and neural networks to achieve this, so is not locationrestricted like GPS. Yet with GPS allowed, Speed Bot will alert you of your speed and tell you to slow down if you exceed the speed limit. It is currently available on Google Play for free.

The presentation went smoothly, as did the Q&A that followed. Luck was definitely on my side as my tech demo worked successfully!

After that came the awards ceremony. Since my category was second last, I was forced to wait for 18 other winners to be announced before the crucial moment arrived. After watching all the introductory videos, I recalled just how amazing the other teams were.

But then Speed Bot was announced as the winner and my

Sida Li and Jack Hygate at the Speed Bot presentation stand

SEPTEMBER 2019

Sida Li and Jack Hygate at Teen Tech 2019

victory track started being played. I ecstatically walked up to the stage and collected my trophy. After months of non-stop programming, my efforts had paid off and were recognised.

TeenTech has paved a path to my future, and whilst the finals have finished, this just marks the start of Speed Bot's journey.

Congratulations to Sida on an amazing effort, showing both his ability and independence in pursuing this project. Sida will receive his award as the 2019 winner of the Data Science category from the HRH Duke of York at Buckingham Palace.

A special thank you to Jack Hygate (a previous TeenTech winner) for supporting and mentoring Sida as well as other students with all of their projects.

If you are interested in joining in with the competition, then review the TeenTech website here https:// www.teentech.com/ and get in touch with the Computer Science team within school.

Sida speaking to the judging panel and audience on the main stage

Floreat Redingensis

The winner of the Data Science Project Prize 2019

31

EXCELLENCE: STUDENT EVENTS AND COMPETITIONS WESTMINSTER MODEL UNITED NATIONS and a quickly disappearing diplomatic relationship with India. Russia got a resolution of theirs passed and we heard the frequent “I disagree” fired about from North Korea.

Sunday was arguably what the past two days had been for – the General Assembly. First, we met up in our committee rooms. In the morning, I’d managed to get my resolution on nuclear disarmament selected and passed. We had also been subjected to a joke crisis (30,000 giraffes airlifted into Beijing on orders from Trump) from the giraffe onesieclad Secretary General. It was a fantastically light-hearted way to finish our committee discussions.

Muhammed El-Beik, Sam McDougall, Sam Shipp, Theo Sharkey and Abel Felix, our Model UN delegates

This year, a small group of Reading boys have thrown themselves deep into the competitive, rambunctious and passionate world of Model United Nations. Boys from Years 10-13 have now competed in three events, earning awards at each one. Who’d have thought that making speeches, arguing and negotiating passionately would suit Reading School boys well? Model United Nations or MUN offers students the opportunity to take part in simulations of the Model United Nations and attempt to solve crises on an international scale working with delegates from schools around the country and the world. We have also been lucky enough to compete in beautiful surroundings at Westminster School, Queen Anne’s Caversham and Regent’s University. Muhammed El-Beik (Year 12) offered his thoughts on WesMUN 2019: Having eventually entered the school grounds one was met with a striking view of the Victoria Tower, which set the tone for a fascinating and spectacular three days in the heart of London. As part of the ‘Disarmament and International Security’ committee and being Poland, I had some clear objectives with peace as a priority. So, it was undoubtedly quite a novel experience talking to India, USA, Iran and North Korea within the first five minutes of entering our room. After a thought-provoking talk about the benefits and disadvantages of democracy by the philosopher A.C. Grayling we soon got busy with ‘informal lobbying’, trying to get the five required signatures of approval in order for our resolution to be considered for the formal voting process.

Fortunately, mine was one of them after a quick discussion with France.

The following day was a long one. During that time, we discussed, altered and passed resolutions (these were the documents that outlined our policies for a certain topic). I had a long-winded debate with the USA about transparency 32

To finish the event, however, we had the General Assembly.

Here the strongest resolution from each committee was picked and approved by all nations and people present. Our own Theo Sharkey did well enough to have his resolution discussed and eventually passed at the assembly. The assembly was, personally, one of the best parts about the event. Passing back-channel notes to other countries, standing up in front of all delegates and harshly criticising other resolutions was something that got us all involved. It was tremendously enjoyable yet also surprisingly humorous. Peru launched itself into an angry comedy rant against Venezuela and several delegates made a shockingly wide variety of doughnut metaphors (including “This resolution is like a ring doughnut. Sweet on the outside but with a great hole in the middle.”). Needless to say, we had a brilliant time.

At the end, to round everything off, prizes were given out.

This included the top two delegates from each committee and the top three countries overall. Reading School, in a remarkably stylish underdog fashion, came out with one of the top three prizes as ‘Distinguished Delegation’ and with one of our very own winning the prize from his committee.

The Westminster School Model United Nations was an incredibly fun event filled to the brim with laughs and debates. It was an amazing three days and I would certainly do it again!”

We are already looking ahead to next year with lots of exciting competitions across the UK and possibly even beyond. Watch this space.

Floreat Redingensis

SEPTEMBER 2019

EXCELLENCE: ACADEMIA UNIVERSITY OFFERS We are delighted by the success of our most recent Y13 cohort. Cumulatively, they received 593 offers from top Universities. This number included several unconditional offers, often for courses which are amongst the most competitive globally, including some which have up to 12 applicants per place.

Pictured left are two groups of students who have achieved offers from Oxbridge (top) and Medicine (below). We wish all of our students every success in the coming years and look forward to hearing of their accomplishments going forward.

Oxbridge, left to right back row: Mrs Drummond, Reza Batley, Abhishek Manikandan, Ewan Millar, Harry Lauchlan, Alex Fisher, Joshua Wallace, Tommaso Leonardi, Semu Serunjogi, Michael Li, Mr Lloyd Front row: Fergus Fox, Fred Newbold, Luke Ridge, Rohith Manikonda, Tal Barnea, Sam Shipp Not pictured: Deavin Fok, Cian O’Hara

Medics: Left to right back row: Chaitanya Singh, Huseyin Turacli, Thomas Hanna, Devarsh Joshi, Mrs Pickering, Andrew Au, Hadi Daoud, Umar Asghar (Dentistry), Rishabh Mathur, Alex Kurowski-Ford, Rohit Murali (Bio Med), Natapon Suwanatip, Mrs Drummond Medics: Left to right front row: Moatism Asim, Michael Li, Shourya Sharma, Hamza Mahmood Not pictured: Omar Barakat, Joe Holland, Satesh Mistry, Cian O’ Hara, Conrad Orleans-Lindsay, Napat Pantawong, Vinay Patel, Patrick Sharman, Siddharth Sukla, Fergus Fox (vet)

YEAR 13 DEPART Year 13 students celebrated their time at Reading School with some great fancy dress costumes ranging from inflatable suits to crime scene investigators!

After entering the gates of Reading School as students one last time, Year 13 students ended the day by enjoying a leavers’ breakfast with their tutors, followed by a final chapel service which included rousing renditions of ‘I vow to thee my country’ and ‘Jerusalem.’ This auspicious occasion saw some emotional farewells to peers and teachers which forms the fond memories at Reading School.

In his final address, Headmaster, Mr Robson offered thanks to the Class of 2019 for their integral contribution to school life which has shaped Reading School. They will always be a part of Reading School, whether this has been across seven years or just two.

We are proud of this cohort’s development, character and progress and we would like to wish all our students good luck in their A Level examinations as well as every success and happiness for the future. We also thank all our staff and parents for their support during the examination period and throughout your son’s time at Reading School.

SEPTEMBER 2019

A number of Y13s enjoying the informal final day of School.

Floreat Redingensis

33

LEADERSHIP PREFECTS 2019/20

SCHOOL CAPTAIN 2019/20 Hugo Rompani

The Prefect Team has been a vital cog in the running of the School for a number of years, but the cohort for 2019/20 appear to have already made extraordinary progress towards their stated goals.

It is particularly pleasing to see so many students, new to the School in Y12, who have been chosen for these prestigious roles.

In preparing to write this I had a look at what past School Captains have written, and for the last few years nearly all have made a joke about the ability to graze sheep on the front field and to carry a sword round school. One also made a joke about not making a joke about this. So I really am out of options…

Progress, Projects and Wider Society Ben Coneybeare Charity Prefect Arun Singh Dhillon Community Service Prefect Alexander Maillet Future Stories Prefect Muhammed El-Beik Environment Prefect

Instead I want to express just how grateful I am to have been given the role and to have such a strong group of prefects, committed to ensuring the smooth running, and gradual improvement, of Reading School over the next year.

Oliver Ellingham 2 Ajai Gill Mithesh Duddekunta Corin Bertrand

I am looking forward to speaking publicly, attending various events and organising the prefect team. But that is not everything that being School Captain is about; I am also determined to develop the sense1of community at Reading School, with it being the newest of Reading’s four values.

With the help of my Vice-Captains and the prefect team as a whole, I hope to improve upon Reading’s identity and sense of brotherhood in conjunction with the 150 year anniversary of the Waterhouse Building next year.

It is with a great feeling of excitement that I step forth into this role and I am confident that this year’s prefect team will be one that truly flourishes.

Floreat Redingensis!

Hugo Rompani Tom Haley Tom Jeffreys Alex Sutton Tomi Sanusi

34

School Captaincy Team School Captain Vice Captain Vice Captain Vice Captain Vice Captain

Events and Co-ordination Team External Relations Prefect Events Attendance Prefect Break and Lunch Supervision

Sixth Form Team Aleksandar Sekulic Daniel Chapman Liam 3Prowse Siddharth Sasindran

Careers Prefect Year 12 Integration Prefect Social Prefect Legacy Prefect

Student Body Team Sam Slocombe Theodore Sharkey Grant Taylor James Balenthiran Shaan Mohan

Sports Prefect Student Voice Prefect Mentoring Prefect Junior Social Prefect Well-being Prefect

House Captaincy Team Hugo Warner Alexander Shandling Liam Ball Joel Baby John Wellman Muyiwa Aruna Tomi Sanusi

Floreat Redingensis

County House Captain School House Captain East House Captain Laud House Captain West House Captain Boarding Team South House Captain East Wing Captain SEPTEMBER 2019

LEADERSHIP PUPIL LIBRARIAN TEAM

LONE WOLF INITIATIVE

The pupil librarians work incredibly hard to maintain the sense of community within the LRC. “Magnanimous, Legendary, Supreme.

All attributes in opulent abundance within the confines of my pupil librarian team, my community. I am of the belief that no other members of any organisation, not the student council, nor the house captains and not even the prefect team, embody the four tenets of our school: excellence, integrity, leadership, community, as beautifully and perfectly as my librarian team. From the Subject Champions, all the way to the event organisers, I am proud of them all”.

Ojebo Adoh, Joint Head Pupil Librarian “The LRC is an amazing place. A place to relax. A place to socialise. A place to keep out of the rain. Numerous clubs run in it, and everyone who enters is very grateful for the opportunities it provides. The atmosphere is always jovial, and the community spirit is astounding.

Students who may never normally interact do so frequently, and it helps to bring us all together.”

Matthew Grove Joint Head Pupil Librarian

2

1

3

Pupil Librarian Team Activities Include: Regular LRC loans desk cover Organising the Macmillan Cancer Support Bake and Donate cake sale1 Participating in activities for National Poetry Day Re-designing areas of the LRC to maximise space Assisting with the Read for Good Readathon2 Design, collection and analysis of the annual LRC Survey Creating and running the House Reading Quiz3 Devising and judging the Jon Robinson Writing Competition Running the Scholastic Book Fair Supporting author talks Designing an Egyptology LRC Activity Creating LRC publicity Promoting subject resources to peers through subject champions

We would like to thank the Reading School Parents Association, Reading Foundation and Old Redingensians Association for all their support.

SEPTEMBER 2019

Floreat Redingensis

Tom Kirby takes on the monkey bars, mud and water

I have been watching my dad take part in the Wolf Run (www.thewolfrun.com) obstacle race series for the last three years and have been eagerly wanting to take part. Finally, this year, they launched their first ever Junior Wolf Run which took place on Sunday 2nd June 2019, at Stanford Hall in Leicestershire ahead of the main adult event. As soon as I heard about the junior event I knew that I wanted to participate and I thought that it could be a good opportunity to raise money either for school or for charity. I decided to try and raise £500 for the PE Department at school as I'm a keen, and competitive, sportsman and have represented the school at rugby, football and athletics in my first year as well as taking part in as many of the House competitions as possible.

The Junior Wolf Run was based on a 3km loop which you could do once or twice. It started off with a group warm up and then we were off, through the river and into the woods. Along the way we tackled rope climbs, cargo nets, tunnels and monkey bars and of course lots of mud and water!

The run finished with another river crossing and then over the finish line for a well deserved bottle of water and a medal. The showers were only a little bit warmer than the river, but the sun was out and at least the water was clean. Hopefully there will be another event next year as it was great fun and different from just going for a run.

I'm really pleased that with the support of my family and friends I was able to exceed my fundraising target and that we can use the money to get a dedicated Athletics kit for when we represent the school in competitions.

Thomas Kirby, 7W 35

TRIPS: A SMALL SAMPLE BERLIN

NORMANDY This year the MFL department ventured into pastures new and in November 2018 took the Year 8s to Château de la Baudonnière for an immersive language experience. The boys really valued the experience and their testimonies and some pictures of trip give a flavour of their time in France.

Year 12 historians with Mr Kearle, a devious Miss Senftlechner and Miss Stratford in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the end of our three hour walking tour

This year saw the introduction of the, hopefully annual, Berlin trip. Mr Kearle, Miss Stratford along with, the legend that is, Miss Senftlechner, took 26 Year 12 students on an intensive WW2 and Cold War experience. And intense it was as they visited 13 different locations around Berlin in four days, not to mention the three hour walking tour we undertook on arrival.

With the walking tour we were shown around some of the key sites in Berlin where the reach of the Nazi party was evident to see, like the location of the infamous book burnings, which alongside our visit to the vast Holocaust Memorial in the heart of Berlin more than provided some sombre moments for our boys.

The boys also had an opportunity to experience the Berlin underground tour which gave them an insight into escape attempts by citizens of Communist East Berlin trying to reach the Capitalist West. Some of the boys had the chance to try and lift the manhole covers quietly to see how difficult it was to remove and replace them quietly without bringing their illicit actions to the attention of the authorities. As the boys gave it ago it’s safe to say that if they were involved in an escape attempt they would have been very quickly arrested based on their incaution!

The group assemble in front of the Chateau

“All communication at the chateau was in French. If we did not understand something, we took turns to guess until we knew what they were telling us about. This is of course a great way to learn. I picked up a lot in a short space of time, and it definitely brought attention to the French way of speaking.”

Hal Rust D-Eye, 8S

They also visited the former headquarters of the East German secret police, or Stasi, which is now a museum. Here the spying techniques and tactics used by the Stasi when interrogating individuals were seen, as well as the red suitcase containing blackmail material on other chief ministers the Stasi head carried at all times.

“My highlights of the trip were doing the obstacle course; going to the French market to speak French to the locals to buy items; eating snails and watching Ms Fondu eat her first snail.”

Next on the agenda was the German Resistance memorial and museum that stood where a number of individuals were shot from their “crimes” against the Nazis. It was fascinating to hear about all those that stood against the Nazis like the Swing Youth and Hans and Sophie Scholl. One room in particular, that will sick with all, was the office of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the man that came closest to killing Hitler during the July bomb plot of 1944.

Samuel Amos-Osebeyo, 8W

With more visits to places, like the hands-on DDR museum about life in Communist East Berlin and a moon-lit walk along the East Side Gallery, an Eastern stretch of the Berlin Wall, home to some of the most famous graffiti in the world it is safe to say this most certainly was an intense and highly enjoyable trip .

36

Floreat Redingensis

Sam Scott dives into the obstacle course and fancy dress is the order of the day for Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix

SEPTEMBER 2019

TRIPS: A SMALL SAMPLE LULWORTH COVE On Tuesday the 25th of June 107 Year 9, Geography Students ventured down to the South Coast to visit Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door for a day field trip.

Students left Reading on a slightly overcast morning excited to see the different coastal formations they had learnt about in class. Moreover, many students had never ventured to the Jurassic Coast so were very keen to soak up a new environment.

As the coaches arrived at Lulworth Cove around midday the weather had cleared up leaving the Reading tour group with perfect weather to explore the coast. Seeing the famous arch of Durdle Door and the world renowned Lulworth Cove was a real eye opener for students and staff. All students coped well with the walking trails and found finishing the field trip extremely rewarding when they had time to purchase ice cream.

The boys explore the beach in the shadow of Durdle Door

The next Geography lesson back at school saw the Year 9 classes solidify their coastal geographic knowledge with a brief recap. Many students commented on how much they benefitted from seeing different landscapes and processes in person rather than just from a textbook.

This was a really valuable trip for the boys and one to be repeated in future years.

Year 9 taking in the view

ENRICHMENT WEEK Due to the timing of the magazine’s creation, the trips and activities that go on during Enrichment Week are unable to be featured at great length in ‘Floreat Redingensis’. Instead, please find below a list of the extra-curricular events taking place and a small selection of photographs to provide a flavour of what the boys experienced during Enrichment Week.

Y7 Community Week Y8 Egyptology Week Y8 Asterix Week Y8 Mosel trip Y8 Cordoba trip Y8 Geneva trip

1

2

3

4

Y9 ‘Building Good Men’ Week Y9 Sorrento trip Y9 Sweden canoeing trip Y10 Preston Montford Geography trip Y10 Battlefields trip Y10 Arts Week

Y12 Work Experience

SEPTEMBER 2019

1. Y8 at the mosque-cathedral in Cordoba; 2. Y10 exploring RADA on Arts Week; 3. Y9 taking in the amphitheatre in Sorrento; 4. Y7 at Dinton Pastures on their self-made rafts

Floreat Redingensis

37

ARTS AND CULTURE GOOD MEN; GOOD ENGLISH DEPARTMENT expert in F. Scott Fitzgerald and all round academic goodegg Professor Nicolas Tredell who gave our boys, along with their peers from Kendrick and Emmbrook schools, a taste of undergraduate lecturing on a key exam set text. Their feedback? “His enthusiasm for the book, and his amazing knowledge of it, was really inspiring,” “It’s really helpful to have someone like him come and talk directly to us, and for us to be able to ask him questions too,” and “He sang a good song!”

The BBC Young Reporter team tracking news in the local area

Fans of “Macbeth” will know that the adjective good appears fifty five times in the play, even though the main fellow himself is a bit of a rotter. Arguably the goodest character created by Shakespeare in that drama is the king Duncan who “hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been so clear in his great office” that nature itself collapses when he is murdered.

How have we contributed towards shaping Good Men in the English Department during the 2018 – 2019 academic year?

Starting with the dastardly Scottish usurper, the whole of Year 10 visited the Barbican in London to see the RSC’s latest production which featured Christopher Ecclestone and Niamh Cusack. “I’ve now changed my mind about my interpretation of Macbeth’s character,” said one student; “It made me consider the pace of the deterioration of the Macbeths’ relationship,” added another; “Dr Who was good in it,” finished a third.

Our A Level students enjoyed a visit from international

A group of inspirational Year 13 students set up and ran their own Poetry Club this academic year. The breadth and depth of talent on display has been tremendous, as they shared ideas and compositions with each other. A club visit to the National Portrait Gallery to create brand new works for a soon-to-be-published magazine was described by one and all as being: “very good”.

Speaking of other good things: June 2019 saw the first joint A Level enrichment session shared between Kendrick and Reading School in over twenty years, during which Year 12 girls and boys collaborated on investigations around “Hamlet” and “Paradise Lost”.

Our current McIlroy Essay Competition champion is a Year 9 student Joshua Conaghan, who champions the cause of literacy in his winning entry.

Our team of Year 8 journalists participated in the BBC Young Reporter project and produced articles on road safety in Reading, the future of a local sports club, and proposed plans for the Reading Gaol site.

What’s next? We will continue to be inspired by the attitude described by the very good Stoic, Marcus Aurelius: ““Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.”

Y12 collaborate with Kendrick to explore Hamlet and Paradise Lost

38

Floreat Redingensis

SEPTEMBER 2019

ARTS AND CULTURE DRAMA IN 2019 extract from ‘1984’, with Lighting Design from Sean Laing, while Jamie Cottle and Joe Hicks performed in the opening scene from ‘The Lieutenant of Inishmore’. For these pieces we completely redesigned the performance space in DS1, building a PVC Frame which supported fabric to create the effect of a photography softbox in order to create a ‘room without darkness’ for ‘1984’. Even after years of rehearsing for shows together, I think it is fair to say that trying to build an entire set in a double period pushed us to our limits of co-operation…

Bryn Verity-Legg’s sinister agent of Big Brother interrogates Winston Smith, played by Tommy Allwright in their version of ‘1984’

With Miss Capon departing last year, the Drama department was always going to be different in 2019, but with the irrepressible Mrs Fooks at the helm, our final year was always going to be magnificent, and so it proved.

This year, we had to prepare two short extracts up to a ‘workshop’ standard, before a final extract that was examined practically. For our first extract, we performed sections from ‘Angels in America’ and ‘The Lisbon Traviata’ – both hard hitting pieces set in 1980s New York exploring the lives of gay men at the time, set against the backdrop of the AIDs crisis. For our second extracts, we chose ‘The Dumb Waiter’ and ‘Mojo’, with the experience of performing the unique writing style of Harold Pinter being a particular challenge for our actors!

As we moved onto our final extracts, Bryn Verity-Legg and Tommy Allwright performed in the Room 101 torture scene

The final performances were a huge success, but even more special was the opportunity to reprise all of the scripted extracts (as well as a brief section from ‘Man Co’) as part of a special ‘Gala Performance’ to staff, family and friends as a chance to celebrate not only our work over the last two years, but all the hard work that Mrs Fooks has put into the department over her years at Reading, and in particular this year. It has been an incredible two years and we feel so lucky to have been part of Drama at Reading School.

Jamie Cottle cowers away from Joe Hicks in ‘The Lieutenant of Inishmore’

DRAMA IN 2019 However, for those of us who have taken Drama at GCSE or A Level, we have been lucky enough to see Mrs Fooks on her ‘home turf’ – there is no way that the students would be as successful as they have been without all the work that she has put in to all aspects of Drama at Reading School.

The 2019 A-level class say goodbye to Mrs Fooks

The end of this year marks the end of the wonderful Mrs Fooks’ time at Reading School. Being a teacher in a small department, Mrs Fooks is one of very few teachers who can claim to have taught almost every student in Reading School at some point. She will be missed hugely next year we are sure.

Mrs Fooks has always given up her time to help students at the school, whether it was supporting Medical Applicants in their preparation for Interviews, her extensive work within PSHE, or her time as a Head of Year 12 or 13.

SEPTEMBER 2019

As a final memory, the partnership between Mrs Fooks and Miss Capon was always one of the strongest elements of the Drama Department at Reading School – the perfect introduction that our class got to GCSE Drama was a quick improv scene with the two of them, with Miss Capon playing a stereotype of a young hairdresser, while Mrs Fooks played her client – an uptight, old fashioned and difficult customer.

The scene had us laughing in seconds, and this atmosphere that was created by the two of them, and successfully continued this year by Mrs Fooks, has always been what makes it such a special part of the school.

We are sure that Drama will continue to go from strength to strength under new leadership next year, but it definitely won’t be quite the same!

Floreat Redingensis

39

ARTS AND CULTURE MUSIC THROUGH THE YEAR

A selection of the wonderful performers from the 2019 musical, Les Miserables. From left to right: James Govan as Monsieur Thénardier; Ollie Ellingham as Jean Valjean; Ollie Binnie and Danny Lewis as Courfeyrac and Marius; Alex Richards and Sid Mathur tie up Andres Buencamino as Javert with Ollie Liles, Danny Lewis, Jamie Rainford and Yuvraj Deshpande making up the rest of the boys on the barricade

Since September the new-look Music School has been buzzing with the usual run of weekly rehearsals for choirs, orchestras and bands. However, alongside this, there has been an increase in student-led initiatives with a number of students from Y7 and Y8 forming bands and getting together regularly to rehearse. The sounds of crunching distortion and thumping drums are fast finding their place amongst the more established orchestral tones!

The choir perform in the Gala Concert

Alongside this there has been the usual array of concerts: Reading Unplugged (the new boys concert) in September gave students new to the community their first chance to take to the stage including some wonderful piano playing from Peiyan and many people’s first introduction to beatboxing thanks to Harry. The Junior Concert in October showcased our KS3 cohort and featured a fabulous performance by Brian who sang and played a song he had written himself. December’s Colts Concert included consummate performances from students slightly further up the school with outstanding horn playing from John and some wonderfully lyrical pianistic skills from Ralph. The two nights of Y7 Concerts involved almost the entire cohort and saw the premier performance of the new Y7 Song ‘Look To The Light’ which was specially written for us this year by Nigel Dalton Ginever; alongside this there were more amazing solos and small groups giving it their all as well as a performance of “The Rooster Rag” featuring all the students and enthusiastically conducted by Mr Newman. The concert calendar concluded with our Gala Concert in March. This was an evening where our ensembles got to show their skills starting with a rousing 40

rendition of Movement I from Symphony No.5 by Beethoven. There were also some soloists involved – many from the lower end of the school – who were outstanding to a man and included superb moments from Benedict, Avaneesh, Thomas and Ewan.

There have been a number of new initiatives this year which have provided students with more opportunities to get actively involved in all aspects of music whether on stage or behind the scenes. This was particularly evident in our collaborative production of Les Miserables (Schools Edition) with Queen Anne’s School where the cast and crew were simply outstanding throughout the entire process. This was the first full school musical for over a decade and a fabulous way to re-establish Musical Theatre as a regular feature of life here. Remembrance Sunday also took on a new slant in this important commemorative year with the CCF being played onto Parade by the Concert Band and the service itself featuring music from The Chapel Choir. More recently The Chapel became our destination for Choral Evensong; this was the first event of its type in well over a decade and once again was led by The Chapel Choir with wonderful solo singing during the Anthem (‘Hear my Prayer’ by Mendelssohn) from Nicholas.

As we bid a final farewell to our outgoing students it would be easy to wax lyrical about their gamut of past successes but I would rather look to the future and conclude by thanking all the returning students for the dedication, commitment and leadership they have shown within the musical community this year. The shape of music over coming years is in their hands and it looks very exciting indeed!

Floreat Redingensis

8W perform in Year 8’s Got Talent

SEPTEMBER 2019

ARTS AND CULTURE GCSE AND A LEVEL ART EXHIBITION Temporarily colonising the Refectory, a fantastic end-ofyear exhibition, with the diversity of practice shown a particular strength. Work was created in response to a wide range of personal inquiries, such as the human impact on nature, buildings, music and emotion, and the ethics and

bias behind the artificial intelligence and algorithms inveigling their way into our society. Examples of this work are displayed below. Well done to all our artists and makers this year – we are excited to see their further growth in the months to come.

EXPLORING ART Trips for Year 10 and Year 13 to the V&A to see Videogames: Design/Disrupt/Play and Manga at the British Museum, with pupils seeing inspiring examples of real-world contemporary practice as well as historic works. Year 9 paid a visit to the Institute of Education at the University of Reading to work with the ceramicist-in-residence to create seedpod-inspired pieces for a public sculpture installation that were, excitingly, fired in a raku kiln, which involved setting pieces ablaze.

In particular, given the strength of the creative industries within the UK, and the broad personal, cultural and financial contributions the Arts make to society, the most inspiring trips offered real-world examples of successful pathways with regards future education and career ideas.

2 1

3

3

1 SEPTEMBER 2019

Floreat Redingensis

1

3

1. Students exploring the Videogames: Design/ Disrupt/Play exhibition at the V&A; 2. A compilation of highlights from the Manga exhibition at the British Museum 3. Ceramic work at the University of Reading

41

SPORT RUGBY Rugby has had an encouraging and thriving year within the Games department at Reading School.

We have seen increased numbers in participation leading to the School being able to field B sides on Saturday morning at Year 7, 8 and in Year 9. The junior teams have thrived in the county cup competitions with the Year 7 and Year 8 teams enjoying a day off of timetable at the county championship held at Bluecoat School.

The Year 7 side eventually lost in the final of the second tier plate competition. Both the Year 9 and Year 10 sides made it through to the County Cup quarter-finals but got beaten narrowly, with both games being within one score and both sides have shown the potential to continue to develop next season.

Year 7 mix together with Forest School after a hard-fought game

Senior rugby has gone from strength to strength over the last couple of years, numbers have maintained (at over 60) which meant we were able to be competitive in the local league competitions. Each league has a round robin followed by a play-off system, this year both the first and second XV lost in the finals to Halliford and Reddam House respectively.

It has been a very good year for rugby, all the pupils that have represented the School have done so with superb dedication, enthusiasm and confidence. There is a lot of potential within school for rugby to thrive, I am hoping that some year groups and individuals start to achieve this during the 2019 season as rugby continues to grow at Reading School.

Mr Kearle wins Coach of the Year at Sports Personality of the Year 2018, for his efforts with the Y8 rugby team

Another successful line out claim by the First XV

42

Floreat Redingensis

SEPTEMBER 2019

SPORT FOOTBALL We often talk about whether a player can do it on a cold night in Stoke. Well can they do it on a cold, rainy night in Thatcham?

After a long season, a piece of silverware win was both desired and deserved. The season had been very successful for the First XI, playing 20 games and losing only two. Runs in both the National Cup, reaching the last 16, and the County Cup, losing on penalties in the semis, meant that the Gibbs Cup was the last chance to bring home a trophy. This was especially motivating for the Year 13s, for whom this would be their last game ever for school.

The run started off with a quality 5-2 win against Kennet, coming from 1-0 down. A tough game made much harder by the mud bath of a pitch.

The quarter final was a game on a 3G pitch against Easthampstead Park. From kick off Reading were once again slow to start, going 1-0 down. However, a quick goal brought it back level. From there on Reading once again dominated, the score ending 8-2 in an exceptional game from the team. Goals came from Tom Jordan, Curtis Pate, Devante Folami and Tim Cato.

Top row, left to right: David Cobbinah, Tim Cato, Umar Ashgar, Jack Lewis, Sam Slocombe, Curtis Pate, Tom Jordan, Devante Folami, Matt Rudd Bottom row, left to right: Samjoth Sandhar, Fred Newbold, Joe Holland (c), Adam Smith, Harry Keech

A rather confusing altercation lead to Reading being awarded a free kick at the edge of the Windsor box. Curtis Pate stepped up to take the free kick, producing a ‘Messiesque’ finish into the top right corner. Once again, this lead did not last long and the First XI were put back under pressure as Windsor equalised on the brink of half time. Mr The semi-final was always going to be a much tougher game Allen was not allowing this to get anyone’s head down, and the boys were worked extremely hard. A goal from reminding everyone of the importance of the game and the Samjoth Sandhar put Reading in the lead. From there on season we had just been through. the game was evenly matched, and some great defending The second half started off evenly, with both teams allowed the First XI to hold out for a 1-0 win, in what was a searching for that elusive goal. Some tiki-taka straight off very gruelling match. the Barcelona training ground created space in the The Cup Final. A cold, wet, rainy night in Thatcham under opposition box and Fred Newbold hit home Reading’s third the headlights. This was the chance for Reading to win its of the game. 3-2. first Gibbs Cup in 13 years. A motivational speech from Mr Allen had the First XI ready for what was to be a tough game A spectacular display from the First XI kept chances coming and kept the Windsor attack at bay. In the 65 th minute against Windsor Boys, who had won the National Cup only Devante Folami (pictured below left) went on a mesmerising two years prior to this. run, going past four players and fooling the goalkeeper, The game started off quickly, with Reading winning a slotting the ball home to put Reading 4-2 up. Injuries to penalty within 15 minutes, after a hard challenge on both Joe and Samjoth meant the team had to reshuffle. This captain Joe Holland. Samjoth did not break under pressure, took time to adjust to and as a result, Windsor got one back, slotting home the penalty and giving Reading a 1-0 lead. putting Reading under pressure once again. A backs to the However, the lead did not last long, and Reading were back wall performance and with the newfound energy in the level. substitutes Tim Cato, Sam Slocombe and Umar Asghar meant Reading held the lead till the 90th minute. Victory was almost ours.

Devante Folami taking on some Windsor defenders

SEPTEMBER 2019

However, in the last minute of stoppage time a penalty was awarded to Windsor. Heartbreak for the lads, who had put everything into the game. Adam Smith was the only person between extra time or victory. Their striker ran up to take the penalty, shooting the ball out of Adam’s reach. Luckily for Reading, the ball was also out of the goals reach, going high and wide. Reading had done it. The First XI had returned the glory of the Gibbs Cup back to Reading School.

Floreat Redingensis

43

SPORT ATHLETICS

CHESS

The team, from left to right: Richard Mladek, Peter Isaksen, Nikhil Kadambadi, Anthony Zhang, Shaan Mohan and Harvey Zhang

The U16 team, left to right: James Atherton, Saif Noori, Aryan Gupta, Josh Sidhu, Danny Lewis, Andres Buencamino, Ben McCabe, Finbarr Sheedy and Mr Allen

The U13 team, left to right: Thomas Kirby, Alex Campbell, Matthew O’Donoghue, Eli Toussaint, James Trust, Ashqar Ahmed, Aryan Gavankar, Nathan Brown, Vincent Jeffrey

It has been our most successful athletics season for Reading School with the senior team winning the Reading and District League for the first time as well as both the U16 and U13 teams winning the Reading Town Championships. Reuben Henry-Daire as athletics captain has done a superb job of organising and motivating the teams and junior captains Hal Rust D’Eye and Tom Kirby have proven that the future of athletics at Reading School is in good hands. All the boys who have been involved this season have pushed themselves to the limit for the team and been an absolute pleasure to work with.

Furthermore, the annual School Sports Day was also a triumph success, with records tumbling all over the place: Matthew O’Donoghue (7W) in the 400m, previous record from 1998 Ed Mercer-Gray (8E) in the Long Jump, previous record from 2012 Hal Rust-D’Eye (8S) in the Javelin, previous record from 2013 Andres Buencamino (9C) in the 100m, previous record from 1998 James Atherton (9C) in the Long Jump, previous record from 2018

Suresh Kamani (9S) in the Triple Jump, previous record from 2018 Reuben Henry-Daire (10E) in the 400m, previous record from 1985 10E in the 4x100m relay, previous record from 2006

Once again, Reading's chess team travelled to Uppingham School to compete in the ECF National Schools Chess finals, hoping to defend last year's title.

Round 1 yielded a 5-1 victory against Nottingham High School, with a particularly strong performance from Harvey Zhang (9S), and Shaan Mohan (12MK), who turned around a tricky game to come out on top. Round 2 against City of London started out with convincing victories from Harvey and Shaan again on boards 5 and 6. Peter Isaksen (11C) and Nikhil Kadambadi (11W) had to settle for draws in the middle boards, so it all came down to the more senior players – Anthony Zhang (12FS) and Richard Mladek (12PF). Unfortunately, time played against us in the end game and both players were unable to secure a draw to see us through into the top 4. City of London went on to win all their matches to become this year's champions.

Rounds 3 and 4 were easily won by Reading to secure 3 out of 4 victories in the tournament, a commendable achievement for a team that's rebuilding itself after 3 players left last year, including FIDE Master Matthew Wadsworth, now top board for Cambridge University's chess team.

In the 2019 varsity game Matthew held world leading female player Hou Yifan to a draw, a remarkable result.

Joel Cable (12W) in the Javelin, previous record from 2018.

Ultimately, the House Athletics event was won by County, who managed to secure the win by a mere three points over East. Laud House deserve honourable mentions in their final year of being undersubscribed in this event. Next year they will have a full contingent and be able to challenge fully for the competition.

Special mention should also go to Mr Gunson, who won the unofficial staff race. There is hope that this race becomes a permanent fixture in the Sports Day schedule in future years.

44

Floreat Redingensis

Former Reading School chess star, Matthew Wadsworth earns a draw against Hou Yifan, the world’s number one female chess player , in the 137th Varsity Match

SEPTEMBER 2019

SPORT BADMINTON School, and the nation at the World Schools Badminton Competition organised by the ISF. It will be held at the home of the Ancient Olympics, Olympia, Greece.

Members of the community should always seek to add value. Talent gets you into the Badminton Court but attitude helps you remain on court when things get more challenging. Any community that seeks to be strong and seeks to flourish must exhibit both talent and tenacity.

Community is built on effective teams rather than individuals metaphorically freestyling in their own direction, oblivious to the team situation.

The National Badminton Champions: from left to right: Coach, Steve Pedlow, Tony Xu, Toby Dillingham, Adi Gupta, Alex Dillingham, Dev Mohan, Thomas Godfrey

We believe in creating sporting opportunities in our community.

One of our key objectives is to inspire more members of our community to play badminton. Under the leadership of coach, Mr Steve Pedlow, we are once again crowned National Champions following the regional and national rounds. We aim to strengthen our footprint in terms of Participation, Progress and Performance.

We are proud to represent the community of Reading

Johan Cruyff maintained that ‘Quality without results is pointless. Results with quality is boring. Undoubtedly, sport in general and Badminton in particular, can play a significant role in bringing communities together. The Badminton Team showed quality and commitment.

Strength in depth has been a key factor in explaining our Badminton success.

The potential for exposure at an international level is to be encouraged. Badminton can only go from strength to strength under the leadership of Mr Pedlow. He has nurtured a community of Badminton players that play the game for fun, play with a passion and are also not frightened to play the game to win.

CRICKET sessions with up to 67 boys!

Our Year 13 leavers led the 1st XI team to good performances and helped the Year 12 boys to gain the confidence needed to exploit all the opportunities for next season. We were unbeaten during the season until we played our last tournament at Reading Blue Coat, where the team demonstrated that there is talent and future at Reading School and with the right work ethic, attitude and commitment we will be in a strong position next year.

The First XI after another victory

Cricket is going from strength to strength at Reading School.

This cricket season has been very good for us, despite the poor weather conditions that prevented the 1st XI to play most of the games, we managed to fit a considerable number of games throughout the summer term. As a Department, we have played over 70 cricket matches this season, with incredible results across all year groups, U14 making the County Cup semi-final, U12 winning the Reading School League vs Bohunt and U14 and U15 playing their respective finals in the Reading School Leagues.

The participation in after school session has also been remarkable this season with outstanding numbers in the lower years. Mr Beckey managed to run after school SEPTEMBER 2019

Mr Allen wanted to recognise Josh Sidhu, as team captain.

He has organised the team superbly and special mention has to go to Jai Goyal, Ansh Barot and Sid Subramaniam as the bowlers and Jamie Goodwin and Guy Smith as batsmen.

Mr Harvey ended the season with incredible results and he highlighted Nihal Muhajan as the bowler of the team with 12 wickets this season and Hrishikesh Rao with 116 runs as best batsman.

The PE Department is very proud of all the boys who represented Reading School to a competitive level and participated in after school sessions and we encourage more and more boys to be involved next year. We hope to see you all involved next summer term!

Floreat Redingensis

45

STAFF LEAVING STAFF watches.

Left to right: Alan Walder, Caroline Fooks and Mary-Clare Maunder

This year Reading School says goodbye to four long-serving members of the teaching team who between them have over 60 years of teaching time at our school and have all been Heads of their departments. Having honed our skills on the BBC Young Reporter project, we interviewed Mrs Fooks, Mr Longstaff, Mrs Maunder and Mr Walder about their time at the school and the new challenges that lie ahead for them.

Mrs Fooks joined the school full-time in 2006 and since then has been very proud to see how much the school’s drama students have developed and achieved. Mrs Fooks recalled a time when she took her drama students to watch Billy Liar at South Hill Park Arts Centre. During the interval, she bumped into an old friend, got talking and accidentally missed the interval bell. The venue layout meant that she would have to cross the stage to reach the seats so she continued chatting instead. Afterwards, the students teased her that she did it deliberately because the production was so poor! Mrs Fooks is going to be combining her teaching and acting skills into a new project, so watch this space.

Mr Longstaff has taught at the school since September 2004 and says his happiest memory is of moving into the new Science Block from a freezing cold Science building built in the 1950s. He will especially remember his Chemistry Department team (now Mr Wheal’s) and the camaraderie in the staff room. Mr Longstaff advises new students to “make the most of your time here and you will become something very special”. During his retirement, Mr Longstaff intends to spend time walking his dogs, join the Shropshire Geological Society and develop his interest in

46

Mrs Maunder joined Reading School in 2001 and has many happy memories particularly of the many moments of laughter with staff and students and of moving into the new biology laboratories. She is proud of her students who have achieved many successes in the UK Biology Olympiad and when representing the UK in the international competition.

Mrs Maunder explained how much more formal the school used to be. As Head of Department, she once received a note from a senior staff member reminding her “to ensure that my staff wore gowns to chapel and that they sat in the appropriate seats”. By this it was meant that the seats at the back with arms were for ‘higher ranked’ staff only! Mrs Maunder is going to use her retirement to travel more, starting with visiting her grandchildren in Sydney.

Mr Walder has taught in the Maths Department at Reading School since September 2002. His favourite memory of his time, is of taking many groups of students (including Mr Lloyd!) to play cricket in the Caribbean. As well as going to the Caribbean, Mr Walder has also visited China, India, France, Switzerland and elsewhere in the UK with the school. During his time at the school, Mr Walder also used his teaching skills to benefit local children in Kenya, travelling there with his wife to teach Maths, Geography, cricket and card games! Now, Mr Walder is retiring to spend more time with his grandchildren, fishing and playing golf.

A special mention should also go to the extraordinarily longserving Helen Stapleton, who left the School before these interviews, but whose longevity and commitment to the School was truly remarkable. Generations of medics and scientists owe Mrs Stapleton a profound debt for enabling such a remarkable range of practical experiments to be undertaken during Chemistry lessons. She will be missed.

On behalf of everyone in the Reading School family, we would like to thank Mrs Fooks, Mr Longstaff, Mrs Maunder and Mr Walder for the enormous contribution they have made to Reading School and wish them all the best for the future. We hope that they will stay in touch and come back to visit as often as possible.

Ben and Tom Silvester-Radcliffe

ALL STAFF LEAVING THIS YEAR

Amanda Snow

Joined 18th July 2013

Helen Stapleton

Joined 1st September 1981

Vasiliki Zafeiradou

Joined 1st September 2015

Mary-Clare Maunder

Joined 6th December 2001

Esther Garcia

Joined 1st September 2016

Alan Walder

Joined 31st August 2002

Lucy Purnell

Joined 1st September 2016

Steven Longstaff

Joined 31st August 2004

Paul Fooks

Joined 22nd June 2018

Caroline Fooks

Joined 1st September 2005

David Morris

Joined 1st September 2018

Floreat Redingensis

SEPTEMBER 2019

CROSSWORD CRYPTIC CROSSWORD - WITH A READING SCHOOL THEME One of our Year 12 students, Alex Shandling, has taken to creating his own cryptic crosswords to challenge staff and his peers. He has produced a special school themed crossword for this year’s magazine. The solution will be published on the website in September. Good luck. Answers will be published on the School website.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

25.

24.

26.

27.

28.

29.

31.

30.

32.

33.

34.

Across: 1. Reading to a bunch of fish. (6) 5. A small thankyou contained in posh soap ingredient.

(6) 10. Cleo plays with gel after one. (7) 11. Kirk’s panic at alteration. (7) 12. Exec to put straight French missile system. (6) 15. Bearing a dish. (6) 16. Weird Celt, you are not starting a sermon. (7) 17. Try out for cricket. (4) 18. Law enforcement scattered endless waste. (4) 19. Volatile Amy aced secondary school. (7) 20. Boys and girls cracked code. (4) 22. A meat and vegetable dish from the west, cooked well? (4) 25. Walk aimlessly to me and don’t start her. (7) 27. Financier rubs Ra the wrong way. (6) 28. A priest within direct or indirect line of sight. (6) 31. A little flower as a ribbon prize. (7) 32. Rhythm for erratic dance found in state religion. (7) 33. Chief nurse adrift on tram. (6) 34. Improve by an inch again (jumping). (6) SEPTEMBER 2019

23.

Down: 2. Cruel hard tissue. (7) 3. Old tests are the lowest stratum. (6) 4. Gladly, he found America. (4) 5. Pug acne oddly about to teach lessons. (4) 6. Sneak past the top and the bottom. (3, 3) 7. Fight and ruckus for the little bird. (7) 8. Church, concealing convoluted pact, admits. (6) 9. You sent a doctor to depose a king. (6) 13. Lecturer found in hospital with acute ache, right now. (7) 14. Crazed stunted scholar. (7) 15. Someone who packs a lot in is a poor studier. (7) 20. One hundred unsettled boy frogs, evenly selected to be artificially augmented. (6) 21. You raise a strange, vast land. (7) 23. Colossal cruise ship. (7) 24. Campaign lair custodian. (6) 25. Expert overlord. (6) 26. Again, aider heard you. (6) 29. Confused man from Denmark leads a university. (4) 30. New three, done by elevens. (4)

Floreat Redingensis

47

Society Office Next Year marks 150 Years of the laying of the Foundation Stone on the Reading School, Erleigh Road site. On 1 July 1870, Edward, Prince of Wales laid the Foundation Stone of Alfred Waterhouse's buildings, which then opened in 1871.

Today we stand on the eve of celebrating the 150th Anniversary, the first part of the celebrations will commence in the academic year of September 2019 to July 2020, which we hope you will all be a part of. This will mark the beginning of the trajectory of events and activities as we build up to the momentous 900th Anniversary in 2025.

Reading School is often listed in the top 10 State Grammar Schools nationally. Reading School consistently delivers a high level of secondary education to all the young men that embark on their time with us embedding the Reading School values of Excellence, Integrity, Leadership and Community.

This momentous occasions allows us to celebrate our past whilst embracing the future.

We look forward to working with the whole school community in ensuring the success of all our events.

If you haven’t already done so please link to Reading School, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to be kept updated of events and celebrations and news about the School.

Key Events for 2019-20: Michaelmas Term Thursday 10 October 2019 – School Commemoration in Service at Reading Minister of St Mary the Virgin Thursday 17 October 2019 – 150th Anniversary Frank Terry Memorial Lecture Saturday 19 October 2019 – 150th Anniversary event - Vintage/Generational Dinner (TBC) Sunday 10 November 2019 – 150th Anniversary Remembrance Sunday Service Sunday 24 November 2019 – 150th Anniversary House Music Competition Monday 9 December 2019 – 150th Anniversary – Nine Lessons and Carols at St Luke’s Church Thursday 19 December 2019 – 150th Anniversary Senior Prize Giving, The Great Hall, University of Reading Lent Term Tuesday 31 March 2020 – 150th Anniversary event – International Cultural Festival Summer Term Friday 26th June 2020 – 150th Anniversary Celebrations – Drinks & Canapé evening Thursday 9 July 2020 – 150th Anniversary – Junior Prize Giving Who would like to celebrate their reunion on the 150th Anniversary of the laying of the stone? Please get in touch.

If you would like to be involved in the above events and can provide sponsorship opportunities or offer facilities to hold events or reunions please get in touch with Jas or Piatrice in the Society Office at events@reading-school.co.uk

Special thanks to Lucas Oyler, Jakab Zeller and Wei-den Wong (Y13) for the 150th to 900th Anniversary logo design.

48

Floreat Redingensis

SEPTEMBER 2019

BU I L D I N G F O R T H E F U T U R E How can you help?

Reading School recognises the importance of providing a fully rounded selection of activities in co-curricular programme.

It represents a substantial part of the educational experience, involving activities that take place beyond the academic curriculum – and usually outside the class.

These projects enrich the experience of many students by enhancing the academic and personal development opportunities we are able to provide.

None of them could happen without your generosity – gifts of all sizes have a direct impact on the Reading School experience.

It costs approximately £365 a year per student to cover costs such as resources, materials, venue hire, specialist coaching, travel, hospitality, competition fees, mentoring schemes, as well as Inspire Lectures.

Unfortunately, our limited and diminishing government funding does not cover this vital area of our work and therefore we struggle to keep up with activities and clubs offered by our Independent counterparts. We continue to work on extending our offering but these are limited due to insufficient resourcing.

Over the last 12 months, there have been many generous voluntary contributions made and this year funding has helped to support a fantastic array of co-curricular clubs and activities offered at lunchtimes and after school.

“The students enjoy developing their skills together and extend their knowledge exponentially, as they strive to solve the challenges they set themselves! The funding enables the purchasing of components that enhance the students’ projects and provide them with a 'no-limits' opportunity to use their imagination and make something amazing.”

Stephen Ling-Winston, Head of Computer Science Raspberry Pi Club As a result, we request voluntary annual donations of £365 or £30.00 per month which equates to £1.00 a day. This will allow our students to participate in a large number of activities, therefore helping them develop new skills and expand their knowledge and interests. Regular gifts are incredibly valuable as they enable us to project our funding income and budget more effectively allowing us to offer new and fresh opportunities.

TESTIMONIALS “Thanks to the generous donations from parents and alumni we have been able to participate in competitions and ensure we have resources to offer our students the practice required to achieve the high standards our pupils are capable of in competitions such as Biology Olympiad, Junior Biology Olympiad, Mathematical Olympiad and the UK Linguistics Olympiad to name a few. “ Mrs F Howson, Head of Biology “It pushes us to the limits of our economic 'brains' with challenging questions.

Overall, the Economics Discussion Group has been a great tool for me to expand my knowledge and passion for economics and I would fully recommend it to others, even if not pursuing it for university as you develop skills applicable anywhere.”

Ollie Hooper, Year 13 on Economics Discussion Group “To be able to turn up to Book Club on a Tuesday lunchtime and remove myself from the world of studies and lessons is such a delight. I've been going to Book Club for nearly seven years, and it has always been a brilliant source of enjoyment, friendship, and wonderful new books to read! Mrs Jackson's dedication and hard work has meant that Book Club continues to be the great place it is, for everyone who goes.”

Patrick Sharman, Year 13 on Book Club SEPTEMBER 2019

Floreat Redingensis

49

WHY DO YOU GIVE? "Giving back to the school will help instil the same spirit of service in the next generation so they continue the tradition of supporting the institution that has given us so much."

Alumni of 1982 Year 7 Parent

Alumni of 2007

Year 8 Parent

FOCUS ON NEXT YEAR Introduction of new clubs and activities Building for the Future 365 Fund

Increase in department specific Inspire Lec-

Next year marks the 150th Anniversary of laying of the Foundation Stone at Reading School.

Help us reach a target of ÂŁ150,000

Refurbishment of departments most in need

Alumni network around the world with valuable expertise 1026 pupils

To the generous support of our current and former parents, alumni and supporters for their direct donations to Reading School.

In addition, we would like to thank The Reading Foundation, Reading School Parents Association and Old Redingensians’ Association who have donated and supported specific projects from which our pupils directly benefit.

50

Floreat Redingensis

SEPTEMBER 2019

YOUR CONNECTIONS MATTER Reading School is a growing network who have gone onto pursue a diverse range of careers across the globe. As a part of our core value “Community” our mission is to help Old Redingensians connect with each other and unlock growth opportunities as a part of the “Reading School Family”.

Take steps to join the Reading School LinkedIn • With over 622 alumni members and with over 1000 followers in over 18 months • Reconnect with friend and colleagues • Enhance your professional network • Reading School news items shared and reunions formed

HOW CAN YOU HELP MAKE AN IMPACT? Every contribution you make to Reading School makes a significant difference.

You can support us in our mission to provide and maintain our co-curricular programme as well as refurbishments of key areas by making a donation in one of the following ways: Regular gifts can be made by Standing Order on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Please see details below to set up a Standing Order and email development@reading- school.co.uk to confirm your regular gift and record gift aid or matched funding.

ONLINE: VirginMoneyGiving.com BANK TRANSFER or SET UP A STANDING ORDER: Bank: Lloyds TSB Account name: Reading School Charitable Fund Sort Code: 30-67-99 Account No. 40733560 Reference: student name/donor name CHEQUE: Made payable to "Reading School" and complete the Donation Form and return to the Society Office at Reading School

EXISTING PARENTS: Can also donate via Scopay EMAIL: Contact us at development@reading-school.co.uk if you wish to discuss your contribution.

Interested in Leaving a Legacy working in partnership or sponsorship opportunities with Reading School please contact with Mr A M Robson (Headmaster) or Mrs J Chhokar (Society Office) at development@reading-school.co.uk

SEPTEMBER 2019

Floreat Redingensis

51

Key Dates for the Michaelmas Term 2019 ORs Tuesday 3rd September: Council, School Resources Centre, 6:30pm for 7:00pm Saturday 7th September: OR Rugby 7s tournament Saturday 28th September: Reunion for 1969-76 year group and OR AGM and annual dinner Remembrance Sunday 10th November For more key dates, as they are confirmed, please visit www.oldredingensians.org.uk/

School Wednesday 4th September: Term commences Wednesday 11th September: Y7 and Y12 School Photographs Saturday 14th September: New Y7 Entrance Test Thursday 10th October: Commemoration Service Friday 11th October: Staff Day Saturday 26th October -Sunday 2nd November: Half term Monday 9th December: Carol Service Friday 20th December: Term ends

Follow the School and ORs on social media to get all the latest news: School

ORs

Twitter:

Instagram:

Facebook:

@Readingsch - School account

Rdg.art - Art Department

www.facebook.com/ groups/2216021486

@RSPAReading - Parents’ Association

@RSSportandPE - PE & Games

Facebook:

@RSBoarding - Boarding

www.facebook.com/pages/ReadingSchool/74952596374

@RSMaths - Maths

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/ groups/2346992

@RSHistory - History @RSGeography - Geography @RSChemistry - Chemistry @RSLib - LRC @RSPhysicsandCS - Physics & Com Sci @FloreatReading - Floreat

Website: http://www.reading-school.co.uk/

Website: www.oldredingensians.org.uk/