Floreat Redingensis 2018

Floreat Redingensis 2018 September

The Magazine of Reading School

Champions of Character 1

Edited by Mr A Lloyd, with special cover design by arran Johnson, 9w

Headmaster’s Words: ‘Reading School and Integrity’

We believe that integrity can be caught - through the provision of example, culture and inspirational influence in a positive ethos.

We believe also that integrity can be taught – through educational experiences inside and beyond the classroom.

We believe that integrity can be sought – through the generation of a commitment from students to freely pursue the development of courage, resilience and integrity.

We are advocates of character.

We are advocates of integrity.

education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.

Intelligence plus character – that is the good of true education’.

At Reading School we are trying to develop character and integrity.

Parents are the primary educators and we can work in partnership to positively influence a process that leads to a flourishing life. We seek to nurture integrity and leadership characteristics because we believe that to flourish is not only to be happy, but fulfil one’s potential. We seek to develop confident and compassionate young men who develop a commitment to serving others so that good character and integrity is demonstrated in action.

Fundamentally our approach to building good men involves caring for and respecting others in addition to caring for and respecting oneself.

At Reading School we seek to encourage the development of courage, compassion, gratitude, respect and integrity. The publication of Floreat is symbolic evidence that we seek to reinforce the nurturing of integrity and courage.

“Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful”

We are advocates of compassion.

We should choose the culture of life over the culture of death.

We should seek to build positive values and positive characteristics.

We should seek to build good young men of integrity characters.

At Reading School, we believe in equipping our young men with knowledge and character so that they flourish. Martin Luther King Jr maintained that: ‘The function of

The pressure to get outstanding academic results combined with a tight funding environment must not be used as excuses for not prioritising effective character education or abandoning our ideas and ideals.

Education should not be about academics versus character. That is why we believe in ‘Academic Excellence and Building Good Men’.

We are in good company, learning from our partner schools in Denmark, China, Kenya, Australia and New Zealand.

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We are mindful of the views expressed by a Holocaust survivor who wrote a letter to teachers:

“We seek to nurture integrity and leadership characteristics because we believe that to flourish is not only to be happy, but fulfil one’s potential.”

‘I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eye saw what no person should witness: gas chambers built by learned engineers. Children poisoned by educated physicians. Infants killed by trained nurses, women and babies shot by High School and College graduates. So, I am suspicious of education. My request is: Help your children become human. Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths or educated Eichmanns.

Reading, writing and arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more human.’

According to Samuel Johnson ‘Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful’.

At Reading School we believe that at its heart, education is about human flourishing. Education is therefore about more than the flight towards academic success and employment.

Character and Integrity can be exemplified through such inspirational events as Grandparents’ Day 2018 and the superb manner of Reading School’s victory in the National Badminton Championships, Milton Keynes in May 2018.

This edition of Floreat is a fine illustration of our fine young ensuring that values are put in to action.

Mr A Robson, Headmaster

School Captain’s Words Oh Captain, my Captain….

Those were the first words my father said to me on hearing o f m y appointment this time last year and, though I don’t think I had anyone standing on desks for me by the end, my experience has often felt like a somewhat cinematic journey. The question is: What kind of Captain have I been? Perhaps the ruthless Captain Hook who doesn’t take no for an answer in his meetings with senior leadership? Or maybe a far more carefree Captain Jack Sparrow who tries to get people off school in the mornings? Or at the very least, I managed to avoid any of my vicecaptains saying, “I am the Captain now”. I hope I've managed to

incorporate elements of them all to avoid disaster.

As a captaincy team we had a goal of increasing the amount of and power of Student Voice through the Student Council and the new Sixth Form Union. We were overjoyed with the 50+ pupils who have been turning up to Student Council meetings and I hope that they continue to turn up over the next few years. One of the key values that came out of the Council was a desire to improve our environmental policy as a school.

Through the appointment of an environmental prefect, I hope that next year will see a brighter and greener Reading School.

Through my time as Captain I’ve learnt so much and have had the privilege of working with a fantastic team of prefects who have all risen to their unique roles admirably. I have had to rely on them and they haven't let me down. The enthusiasm and camaraderie of my team has been a real blessing and made my job much

easier. It would be remiss of me not to give a special thank you to my ViceCaptains: Harry Fox, Alessandro Giacometto, and Elliott Callender, without whom I could have achieved nothing. So, thank you!

The last few days of being School Captain were filled with interviews and having experienced both sides of the interview panel, I have great faith in the new prefect team that has been selected for the forthcoming year. We have a fantastic captaincy team of five (Joe Barraclough, Patrick Sharman, Dan Stone, Sam Shipp, and Jason McAnally) who each have their own particular set of skills and I'm sure they will continue to improve life for students at the school.

It is with a heavy heart that I leave Reading School but it has been an honour to serve it and I will always remember the time when the School Captain was me.

Nathan Galpin, School Captain 2018

Contents: Cover: ‘Character’ by Arran Johnson

Page 15: Remembrance Sunday

Page 36-37: Drama

Page 2: Headmaster’s Words

Page 16-17: The LRC

Pages 38-39: Physics

Page 3: School Captain’s Words

Pages 18 - 19: Boarding

Pages 40-41: Biology

Page 4: School Vice-Captains’ Words

Pages 20 - 21: Houses

Pages 42: Chemistry

Page 5: School Successes

Page 22: Art

Page 43: Computer Science

Pages 6 : ORA’s President’s Words

Page 23: Economics

Page 44: Religious Science

Pages 7: Building Good Men

Page 24: History

Pages 45: Maths

Pages 8: Celebrating Recent Leavers

Page 25: English

Pages 46-47: Floreat

Pages 9-11: Events and Reunions

Page 26-27: Geography

Page 48-49: Leaving Staff

Page 12-13: Main Article

Page 28-31: MFL and Classics

Pages 50-51: Other School News

Page 14: In Memoriam

Pages 32:-35 PE and Games

Back Cover: Key Dates and Social Media

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School ViceCaptains’ Words The Student Voice has grown, if not louder, then certainly more regularised this year under the aegis of the newly-structured Pr ef ect and Captaincy teams.

Wanting to rectify the crippling hypocrisies of the present British government in our own little way, elections to the Student Council were organised well in advance of the academic year to ensure equal representation from across every form in the school, and thus to guarantee the sovereignty of the entire Student Voice—not merely that of a few individuals from the higher echelons of the student hierarchy.

As our Sixth-Form History students will tell you, attendance at Elizabethan This year’s captaincy team had a rare opportunity: with an extra member on the team compared to the last year, we had the freedom to invent a corresponding extra role so that we could tackle a problem in the school that was personal to us.

As any member of staff who taught the class of ’18 can attest, as a year group we had our fair share of behavioural problems. However, having emerged as a more mature Year 13, we wanted to try and help students in the lower school, who were ‘disenfranchised’ with school in the same way we had once been, to overcome their own issues as well as constructing useful lines of dialogue between them and the teachers they found it hardest to work with. Having learned to work around the obstacles

parliaments was never astronomical, and tended to decline as sessions of Parliament endured; acting on the precedent set for us by history, then, we too, in the Student Council saw absences mount as the year drew on— but not before several momentous contributions were made to the amelioration of life at Reading School.

With new hand-dryers installed in the refectory and JKB toilets, new clocks with working batteries in the classrooms, and audits conducted into the state of the Page IT room as well as, safety, wellbeing and enjoyment in this most academic of environments, it is safe to say that the elected representatives of 2017/18 have left an indelible legacy on Reading School.

Further benefits provided to the school by the Student Voice this year include e-mails from the LRC reminding students that “Your book is close to the due date” and, perhaps decisively, the availability of mustard in the refectory on Fridays.

year, in line with a growing, institutional and much-welcomed focus on the mental and emotional health of the pupils of Reading School, have been fully committed to sensitising the community to the programmes and dedicated spaces on offer within the school site for those needing a well-earned break from its daily stresses. As such, they have been an integral cog in the establishment of the Wellbeing Award and the promotion of the Champions of Character programme together with its weekly get-togethers, as well as serving as a key forum for L5 in its quest to solidify the foundations in place at Reading School for the management and betterment of students’ mental health.

So congratulations, boys. We could not have done it without you. Here’s to another year of strength and stability, of working for the many, not the few.

Here’s to another year of showing our top politicians how it’s done.

On a slightly more serious note, though, the Student Councillors of this

Alessandro Giacometto, Vice-Captain

we faced with our own learning, we set about trying to pass on the wisdom we had gleaned so that our younger contemporaries could experience a smoother transition through to the upper school.

with teachers we couldn’t get on with.

More importantly, in the best cases those we were helping could relate to us, and we like to think that we could provide role models and positive contact points higher up the school they perhaps hadn’t had before.

September came, and we began to assemble a team of sixth formers who were suited to engaging these troubled students, pairing off those who shared similar interests, or could find a common ground in a shared hobby. For example, an A level Music student found reaching a musically talented, but distracted, Year 10 that much more possible, while for others, a shared bus, boarding, or sport, provided a jump pad from which to launch a series of constructive conversations.

This was where our project excelled: able to reach students we could personally relate to, we could pass on our own tips for surviving school, getting through exams and dealing

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Unfortunately, with exams looming, time began to run out and we lost momentum, arranging fewer meetings and failing to take the conversations further to involve members of staff with whom our mentees found issue. That said, having handed on responsibility to an excellent new prefect team, with Fred Newbold leading the newly christened ‘Mentoring Team’, I hope, and have every faith that, next year and thereafter, sixth form students can continue to engage and help younger students to develop into confident young men who can master their situations, whatever is thrown at them.

Harry Fox, Vice-Captain

Student Successes 2018

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Champions of Character et’s face it. On a Friday afternoon, the last thing you want to be doing is worrying about exam pressures, or remembering that homework you were set two weeks ago, which you now have five minutes to complete.

Well, that is where the Champions of Character initiative comes into play.

What we, as Reading School Boys, sometimes forget is that rest time is just as important as work time. For all the uptime we put into study, there must be downtime to match. The Champions of Character group was

set up just over a year ago to this day, and has made leaps and bounds in the way the school deals with the topic of mental health.

Mental Health is a tricky subject to define. It incorporates areas of social, personal, emotional and psychological areas of wellbeing, and these must be in balance to have ‘good mental health’.

Mental health is often overlooked as well; it is not seen as a ‘real’ problem, instead being seen as having a ‘weakness’.

This is exactly the stigma we are trying to reduce by setting up the Champions of Character.

The Champions of Character was a seed planted with a simple idea: to help the boys of the school to recognise and reduce the stigma associated with mental health. They

have run various activities throughout the year, from leading successful stalls in the refectory on the topic of resilience, to the widely appreciated assemblies on the subject.

Slowly but surely, we are all beginning to understand the topic more clearly and grasp a further connection on how to help others and deal with it ourselves.

Now, you may be wondering what this has to do with that Friday afternoon I mentioned. For about a year, the Champions of Character have had C1 open on Friday lunchtimes as a place for fun and relaxation, and to escape the pressures of school life.

Look out for new initiatives next year as we step away from our inaugural year and towards the future!

Beck Walker, 10W

WIDPSC 2018 Cape Town Over the Easter Holidays this year I had the absolute pleasure of taking a group of 6 senior boys with Mr Robson to the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships in Cape Town.

I have been lucky enough to attend the previous two competitions in Sydney and Pittsburgh, but this year was our most successful to date. This is an incredibly demanding competition which involves, parliament debate, interpretive

reading, impromptu speeches, persuasive speeches and after dinner speeches where our boys were up against the best in the world.

Ben Coneybeare and Sushrut Royyuru remarkably got into two of the

finals, which was a great achievement and our best ever. Besides honing their skills in the competition we got to see the incredible city of Cape Town including Table Mountain, the historic waterfront and the oldest vineyard in South Africa. The boys also got to meet and make friends with likeminded students from all over the globe. It was truly an incredible experience and I am already looking forward to Toronto next year.

Mr S Allen

Chess Success On July 3rd/4th, Reading School's Chess team headed to the National Schools Chess Championship final, having defeated Desborough, Eton College and Abingdon in the regional stages. After an tough initial match won on board count, the team faced increasingly challenging opponents to reach the final game against last year's winners, RGS Guilford. The final round was close, but an

early victory by Peter Isaksen incoming Team Captain - gave us the advantage. With the match at 3-2, board 5 Alex Vanlint managed to score a draw, giving Reading a clear victory.

A tremendous performance that gives Reading their 3rd title in the last 5 years.

Ms E Garcia

The boys take a well-earned break from the chess tournament, to play some 45° chess

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The Old Redingensians’ Association President’s Report 2017-18 Michael Barrott (East Wing 1966-73)

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RA members were kind enough to entrust a second year of the office of President in my hands at our Annual General Meeting in September 2017 and we have continued to pursue the strategic path we set in the Spring of 2016 following our consultations with Governors, parents, staff and students. Our Chairman, David Cox, and Immediate Past President, Ned Holt, have been my constant support and their proactive enthusiasm has been much appreciated. We have also welcomed new Council Members Richard Taylor (1988-95) as Treasurer and Olly Davidson (2001-08) as Sports Lead and they have both had an immediate and positive impact on our energy and outputs. Ray Sawyer has also accepted the new post of Work Experience/Careers Lead and so the ORA Executive is now structured to meet the strategic challenges we set ourselves. We were, of course, sad to see Ian Moore retire after nearly 20 years as our Treasurer, and his wise counsel and safe pair of hands will be much missed.

As a result of our reunion programme and the active recruitment of those leaving School, our membership has grown from 1,500 to 1,700 in 201718, over the last two years this represents 36% growth from the 1,250 members we had in September 2016. Via the reunions programme (three have taken place this academic

year), we have re-established contact with another 200 ORs whom we hope we can persuade to join the OR Association at some point in the future. We have a LinkedIn page, through which we can contact ORs who are mainly engaged in commercial activities and its membership has grown from 656 to 721 (from 364 in 2016). Obviously there is an element of double-counting in these figures with one person being in contact via multiple means but the underlying picture is one of vibrancy and growth.

Synchronising our Annual General Meeting and our Presidential elections with the Academic Year has enabled us to maintain productive contacts with staff, boys and parents. Our cooperation with the Reading School Parents Association (RSPA) has continued and we have been actively involved with their fundraising efforts at their Christmas and Spring Fayres.

Particular thanks are due here to our Chairman, David Cox, and the Chair of the RSPA, Clare Shandling, who have spearheaded these efforts by willingly attending the meetings of each other’s organisations.

A hi ghl ight o f 2017 - 18 was undoubtedly the Lambeth Palace reception which was attended by over 80 ORs, staff, Governors, parents and other supporters. The venue came via our contact with the Team Rector of North Lambeth Parish, Rev Canon Angus Aagaard, and the ORA funded the canapés and refreshments. Much that is good has already come of this event, including a number of ORs providing work experience opportunities for Sixth Formers and RS Undergraduates.

The 12 November 2017 Remembrance Sunday Service saw attendance more than double to over 80 and was a fitting and touching commemoration of those boys from Reading School and Kendrick Boys 6

who gave their lives in 1917. When we mark the end of the First World War in November 2018, the School Chapel Choir will be actively participating.

The charitable objectives of the ORA are to advance the education of pupils at Reading School and to relieve poverty amongst past, present and future pupils. Apart from the initiatives I have already outlined above, this year, in pursuit of these goals, we have given £2,500 to the library, £5,000 to the Future Stories programme aimed at encouraging applications from the widest range of primary school pupils and £5,000 to pay for the School Magazine. In addition we provided £750 sponsorship to the successful RS/Kendrick Girls production of “We Will Rock You!”, £480 for two Richard Owen Cricket Scholars to attend sessions at Lords and £500 for Senior School Prizes. As our income grows, so will the range of activities we support and, next year, this will include violin and piano master classes for gifted students and a series of photos/ biographies of current and successful ORs for display around the School.

A very time-consuming activity in 2017 -18, much as in 2016-17, has centred around our unstinting efforts to seek to try to facilitate the installation of an Artificial Grass Rugby Pitch for the Redingensians Rams at the ground we own and lease to them at the Old Bath Road, Sonning. Because this involves a sub-lease to the Rugby Football Union who are offering to fund the project it has not been an easy process and, as I write, I can only report that we have done everything we can. The future of the project is now in the hands of the RFU. Both the ORA and the Rams are very grateful to Richard Griffiths DL (OR 1957-64) for his expert help in developing the framework for an agreement.

Michael Barrott, ORA President OR 1966-73

Building Good Men through building good networks

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Another year, another Palace

etworking can be considered to be a process that fosters the exchange of information and ideas among individuals or indeed groups that share a common interest. Current students and alumni are encouraged to connect for educational, social and professional reasons.

Arguably the ability to network is one of the most crucial skills Reading School students past and present need to develop. We desire to build networks that are characterised by integrity, are sincere and supportive.

Our Society Manager, Jasbir Chhokar works tirelessly to network effectively in order to facilitate the development and improvement of opportunities for Reading School students.

In addition, the Old Redingensian Association (ORA) and the Reading School Parents’ Association (RSPA) play important roles in seeking to maximise opportunities for young people associated with Reading School.

Indeed, following on from the excellent event held at the Palace of

Westminster in 2017 the ORA organised a very successful event held at another Palace, Lambeth Palace on 3 May 2018. The reception focused on the theme ‘Work Experience for recent leavers.’ In addition, the Inspire Lecture Series, generously funded by Mr Neil Thomason, OR was actively promoted. Furthermore, it was pleasing to note the display underneath Archbishop William Laud’s portrait in the Guard Room. It is not every day that you get to see the stuffed Tortoise of the famous Old Boy of Reading School.

In my speech to the guests I was able to not only promote the value of the Inspire Lecture Series but also explain the importance of the current approach to ‘Building Good Men’ with an emphasis on developing integrity, courage and an appreciation of the community and partnership. It was evident that a strong sense of community was strengthened as a

Lambeth Palace consequence of occasion.

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successful

Thanks are due to Michael Barrott and Julian Sansum for their hard work in organising the Lambeth Palace event.

Mr A Robson, Headmaster

President of the ORs, Michael Barrott, delivers his speech

Redingensians inspiring the next generation The main theme of the Lambeth Palace event was “Redingensians inspiring the next generation” and this reflected a series of new initiatives undertaken or supported by the OR Association and some individual ORA members over the last two years.

careers services for those at University.

Both the Old Redingensians’ President president@oldredingensians.org.uk and ORs’ Careers Lead, Ray Sawyer raysawyer33@yahoo.co.uk would be interested to hear from anyone who has an opportunity they can offer.

The third, funded by the ORA, involves the creation and display around the School of photo/biographies of ORs engaged in interesting or inspiring careers. The ORAs efforts here are being co-ordinated by ORA Archivist Ken Brown kcbrown@aol.com

The first of these involves ORs providing work experience opportunities both to Sixth Formers in their allocated work experience week each July and to recent RS leavers now at University. Already over 10 such opportunities are available and these are intended to supplement the substantially larger number of opportunities available through parents/friends for Sixth Formers and

The second, funded by Neil Thomason (OR 1966-73) involves the ORA encouraging willing ORs to come to speak to current students on subjects of interest whether career-related, academic or general interest. Jas Chhokar, RS Society Manager Jchhokar@reading-school.co.uk would like to hear from those willing to participate.

By all of these means, the OR Association hopes that the skills and experience of old boys can be shown to be relevant to the present generation – inspiring them to fulfil their potential.

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Michael Barrott, ORA President OR 1966-73

Celebrating Recent Leavers Following on from recent pieces celebrating the success of ORs, this year we focus on the successes of recent leavers, Mark Nicholson and David Ellis. Mark is CEO of Vivacity Labs, a company that he founded with university friends and which seeks to use artificial intelligence to optimise transport networks. David is Acting Editor of the GO section of Features within the Evening Standard, which involves interviewing a wide range of interesting people, reviewing artistic performances, and sampling the best food and drink London has to offer.

Mark Nicholson OR 2001-08: using artificial intelligence to optimise traffic flows car, for which he and his team raised ÂŁ500k, and which took up a significant proportion of his final year. A year on from graduation, the team took additional leave from work to race the vehicle in Australia.

Mark Nicholson attended Reading School from 2001 to 2008. At school, his major interests were the Sciences and tennis, in which he enjoyed playing in Bob Lewis' team. While at school, he completed an Open University Science course, and was part of Reading School's successful team in an Imperial College Science Challenge competition under the topic "predicting the future", in which the team presented on quantum computing.

During his time at Cambridge, a major highlight was his involvement in a project to build a solar powered racing David Ellis: Acting Editor of GO London, part of the Features section of The Evening Standard

On leaving University in mid-2012, Mark became a strategy consultant at OC&C, experiencing transactions and strategic change within the retail and fast moving consumer goods businesses. He enjoyed the work, but after two years concluded that it was time to move on.

Following the conclusion of the solarpowered car race in Australia, members of the team were keen to collaborate commercially. In early 2015, the precursor to Vivacity Labs was founded.

Mark and the team were initially fascinated by the autonomous vehicle space, but with limited interest from car manufacturers, they looked for ideas near to that ecosystem. conventional. On leaving school, he went to Sheffield to study law, but soon realised that his passion lay in writing.

While at university, he played guitar in a variety of bands. His earliest published writings were music reviews featuring in a local music magazine.

After graduating, David spent a year playing regularly in bands across Sheffield, and writing reviews.

David attended Reading School from 2001 until 2008. At school, he regularly performed lead roles in drama productions, and always had a keen interest in music.

David's route into journalism was not

In 2012, he joined Student Money Saver as an editor. During his time there, the publication's circulation expanded to 380,000, and David managed to secure regular columns in the Telegraph and the Independent, experience that he credits with substantially improving his writing style.

However, student finance was not David's main interest, and in 2014, he 8

Vivacity was founded to use Artificial Intelligence to help transport systems operate more efficiently. Using techniques borrowed from research into Autonomous Vehicles, the team gather live data on roads from video-based sensors and they are currently working on improving traffic lights, enabling them to prioritise cyclists and buses.

Ultim at ely, this should reduce congestion, improve air quality, and save lives on the road.

Vivacity's sensors have been rolled out across a number of major cities and local authorities within the U.K. The business received a ÂŁ1.7m Smart Cities grant in March 2017, and raised ÂŁ1.3m from a Tracsis, a listed partner, resulting in appearances on BBC Radio 4, Radio 5, ITV, and on the front page of the Telegraph. Mark's ambition for Vivacity is to make it the provider of choice for traffic light optimisation and data-driven traffic analysis.

Arthur Truslove, OR 2001-08 moved to London Live, the London-focused TV channel. However, he was swiftly made redundant as the channel suffered financial difficulties.

David then joined the Evening Standard, as part of the two-strong Features team, which focuses on culture and the arts, with his long-standing interest in theatre and music a decisive factor.

Since he has been there, the team has grown to eight, with David now Acting Editor of the GO section. He has had amazing opportunities to explore his interests - from interviewing Alain Ducas s e, drinking wit h Trum p supporters in Arizona, playing guitar on stage at a West End show, to experiencing some of London's finest cuisine and cultural venues.

Arthur Truslove, OR 2001-08

Reunions and Events Reading School 1977-84 reunion 9th September 2017 A reunion of the 1977-84 cohort took place on the 9th of September. It was held on the same day as both the ORA Rugby Sevens tournament and Annual Dinner.

Of 113 members of the group just over half were identified and contacted, with

David Warburton MP

a select group turning up on the day.

The sun shone, the beer, memories and rugby flowed and the hog roast soaked up alcohol and kept us going.

A school tour was laid on guided by prefects taking in the older, more familiar parts of the school as well as new developments such as the new science labs and space where the ‘temporary’ pre-fabs had been.

A table made up of members of the 1977-84 cohort attended the Annual Dinner. It included David Warburton MP, whose arm was lightly twisted to give an after-dinner speech. He did an excellent job of painting an accurate but humorous picture of Reading School in the late 1970s and early 1980s, from the perspective of someone who wasn’t an archetypal

Conversation flowed readily at the Annual Dinner pupil. He commended the school and hoped that it would continue to help pupils achieve their potential in life by both direct or circuitous routes.

All in all it was an excellent opportunity to catch up with old friends and refresh memories of our time at Reading School, whilst drinking, eating and watching younger ORs hare around a rugby pitch.

Ian McKinnon, OR 1977-84

Reading School 2001-08 reunion 9th June 2018

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n 9 June, around 30 ORs from the Class of 2008 descended on the School for a 10-year reunion.

The afternoon began at 2pm with drinks on the terrace, after which the Headmaster provided an entertaining tour of the new and upgraded Chemistry and Biology facilities, which none of those attending had ever seen before. We were all pleased to hear that the school's continued drive for excellence is paying off in the form of academic, sporting, cultural, and international recognition.

We enjoyed a nice barbecue in the Refectory, which was universally acknowledged to be an upgrade on eating food from the old tuck shop in our form rooms! Following lunch, some played cricket on the square while others chatted and enjoyed beers and wine on the terrace visiting the

The 2001-08 boys gather by the new Science Centre with the Headmaster, Mr Robson Kirkwood Room to view the photos which Ken Brown ha d kindly assembled.

After 6pm, celebrations advanced into town, with many of us enjoying dinner together, and, of course, visiting the Monks Retreat pub, an old favourite from our school days.

We would like to thank the ORs for the opportunity to visit the school and re-kindle old friendships. In particular, we would like to thank Headmaster, Ashley Robson for his hospitality (on his

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birthday!), as well as former teachers Matt Dawes, Ian Judd, Ned Holt and Janet Reddings for attending. We are especially grateful to Ken Brown and Chris Widdows from the ORs for attending, taking photos, and providing the "Class of 2008" display, and to Michael Barrott for encouraging the event, running the bar, and making the event so straightforward to organise.

Floreat Redingensis!

Arthur Truslove, OR 2001-08

Reading School Reunion of 1956-63 & 1957-64 Year Groups 23 June 2018 Midday on a fine June day. The School Field, the terrace and the Waterhouse buildings looking just as they did in 1871. I was attending the reunion of those who started at school in 1956 and 1957.

I stood in front of the cloisters sipping a cold beer and watched as others walked towards me along the terrace.

Would I recognise my contemporaries after all these years? Golly that looks like Geoff Bevitt. He hasn’t changed a bit and yes, that’s Mike Symons who sat behind me in the 1st VIII.

hadn’t been invented in the 1960s but we were always told we were in the top 2% of schools in the country.

It appears it was true then and is certainly true now.

Tours of the School followed, led by the Headmaster and next year’s School Captain and the Careers Prefect. The old pre-fabs for Geography, Art and Biology have long gone and so has the “new” science block to be replaced by

something much more impressive. And South House - what luxury, but what has happened to the dining room?

Finally, a look at the memorabilia collected by the ORA’s excellent archivist. A proper trip down memory lane. Sadly, and all too soon with much more catching up to do, I had to leave but it was an event not to be missed and surely to be repeated.

Richard Griffiths, OR 1957-64

So it was that our reunion began.

Soon there were 43 of us chatting and reminiscing about times past; the ORA President, Michael Barrott, acting as our barman.

Then came the call for lunch. A dining room in the old covered quad who’d have thought it?

A talk during lunch from the Headmaster reminded us all what excellent academic and other results the school achieved. League tables

The Headmaster explains to John Dowling how East Wing has changed since he was there in 1957-64

ORs Rugby Sevens - 9th September 2017

Another successful ORs Rugby 7s tournament with the winners, the ‘Class of 2008 plus Brad’ 10

T20 Cricket – ORs v School 1st XI 22nd June 2018 Against the majestic backdrop of the School terrace and clear blue skies, the ORs succumbed to a narrow defeat against the School 1st XI in a thrilling and competitive cricket match. Embracing the new T20 day/ night format, the ORs batted first and made rapid initial progress. Despite some middle-order wobbles and the occasional calamitous run out, the ORs posted a challenging total of 161, thanks largely to some brutal hitting by S Parsons (69) and S Andersson (45).

In response, the School began in similar vein, smiting the ball over the boundary with worrying regularity. Both innings saw sixes aplenty and although the roof of the pavilion remained miraculously intact, several perilously parked cars were less fortunate! Abandoning attacking fields and rotating the bowling paid dividends, as the School were then restricted to 52-3. Nevertheless, an impressive century stand from J

The ORs and 1st XI enjoyed a fantastic evening’s play Wallace (49*) and I Deshpande (61*) led the School to within touching distance of victory, needing 5 off the final over.

One boundary and a scampered single later, the School secured the win with three balls to spare, thus reclaiming the Chris Kays Trophy.

Special thanks to all involved, pupils, ORS and teachers alike. After a few years of OR dominance in this fixture recently, the cricketing pendulum has swung and the gauntlet has been laid down for next year.

Olly Davidson, OR 2001-08

The Old Redingensians Golf Society 19th September 2017 and 13th March 2018 The two meetings of the OR Golf Society took place at The Springs Golf Club,

near Wallingford on 19th September 2017 and Harleyford Golf Club near Marlow on 13th March 2018.

Society numbers continue to increase and 16 participated in the latter event.

Steve Barton receives one of his many trophies from the ORA President – carefully supervised by Steve Johnston, Golf Society Chairman

New members welcomed in the current year were Tony Richards (1963-70), Ian Canning (1966-73) and David Frood (1969-76).

11

The prize winners at the two meetings were Steve Barton, Richard Childs, Steve Johnston and Richard Hunt and the handicap committee has since met in earnest. 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.

The President of the OR Association, a keen if erratic golfer, always tries to update members on the ORA’s activities with a “short” speech.

Stephen Johnston, OR 1979-86

“Strong Reasons Make Strong Actions”

S

o declares the D a u ph i n in Shakespeare’s King John (Act III Scene IV)! Last year the Reading School Charity Committee raised over £10,000 for local, national and international charities. Philanthropy and social well-being are in the forefront of the Reading School students’ consciousness and rightly so; for those who wish to be good citizens it is a pre-requisite to serve the public interest and the common good.

Devotion to such causes is no new phenomenon at Erleigh Road. Indeed, for fundraising on a really stupendous basis the efforts of the boys of the School through the National Savings Movement in the Second World War must stand out as truly amazing; in five years the School Savings Group, founded in June 1940 - after Dunkirk raised over £60,000 equivalent to m ore than £2,5 00,0 00 today (according to the Office for National Statistics calculator).

How this was done is the subject of

this article, so let us examine it in some detail.

The National Savings movement was instrumental during World War II in raising funds to support the War effort.

Basically, it was used to finance the deficit of Government spending over tax revenue.

David Gwyn Francis (1896-1987), pictured below, was the driver of the School's National Savings effort. He came to Reading School in 1921 after service in the First War and was to spend forty years on the teaching staff.

He brought to the task of Secretary of the Savings Group, as he did with everything he undertook, all the vigour and enthusiasm that he had once shown on the field as a Welsh Rugby International.

The Government needed cash and the boys were urged to canvass their families and relations and form subgroups of their own. Virtually the whole School became involved and on Savings days (twice per week) long queues would gather outside Room 10 where Mr Francis dealt with Savings Stamps, Saving Certificates, Savings

12

Bonds and Post Office and Bank deposits.

Various methods were employed to maintain enthusiasm.

Some boys took their School Prizes in the form of Savings Certificates; films were shown; Inter-form competitions held. Each form had a boy acting as Form Secretary. Graphs and vertical indicators maintained evidence of progress made. Even in the holidays, momentum was maintained with Poynders, the stationers in Queen Victoria Street, supplying the boys with Savings Stamps when the School office was closed.

Special targets were a particular spur and forms and individuals were encouraged to raise the price of a particular implement e.g. a Tommy gun (£30) or a Bren gun (£50). However, the bulk of the investment came during the periodic drives. (Parents, ORs and Staff were particularly generous at such times.)

1940 War Weapons Week.

The Commanding Officer of the Royal Berkshire Regiment arranged for a cont ingent of arm y vehicles and a selection of weapons to give a demonstration on the School terrace, under the command of an OR, 2nd Lt (later Major) A B L (Ainslie) Clark (1934-37).

The week raised an impressive £1,290.

been 'adopted' by the town of Reading).

The sum was achieved on the first day.

In all, the week realised £5,486.

Amongst the members of staff who played the most prominent parts in the savings efforts were Messrs Savage (deputising for Gwyn Francis on occasion), Hardy, Black, Timms, Jessop and Records (all of whom acted as assistant secretaries), Miss Bailey, who was in charge of savings in the Junior School and the Art Master, Mr S J Cox, previously mentioned, whose valuable exhibitions in the Art Room made such an impact.

It is a little unfair to single out individual boys, but members might like to know about two of them who were to become staunch members of the OR Council.

Between them they collected £4,000 (or in today's money over £167,000) of the total above: V R C (Vic) Payne (1938 -45 and Staff 1959-83) President of the ORA in 1989 was responsible for £1,000 and P J (Peter) Burgess (193945) Treasurer of the OR Club 1963-84 for a mighty £3,000.

Of undoubted help was a show of models under the aegis of Mr S J Cox, the Art Master, which excited much interest; 136 aeroplanes; 126 ships; 80 other models; 140 varied souvenirs and bomb fragments; 86 drawings, paintings and photographs. All who visited the School were enthralled by this display, which apart from its boost to fundraising gave rise to the popular Model Club which flourished in the ensuing years.

Floreat Redingensis!

Ken Brown, OR 1955-63

1941 brought a private drive in June to celebrate the first birthday of the School Savings Group. The target was £300 in one week: the result was £1,000. W E C McIlroy OR (1904-10), Mayor of Reading, addressed the boys in Big School. A further drive in December brought the total in hand to £5,000 – the price of a Spitfire. It was comfortably achieved.

1942 Warship Week. The aim for this week, in April, was to raise £1,500 to cover the cost of a searchlight for the light cruiser HMS Uganda (that ship had

On the left is D T H (Derrick) Fisher (1936-43) and on the right P W (Phil) Brown (1936-44). This model display was in July 1940 in aid of the Savings Group drive to purchase a Spitfire. Derrick and Phil charged 1d to view their collection and raised 10/6d towards the target of £5,000 which was successfully achieved.

13

In Memoriam Vale to the 24 ORs whose deaths have been recorded since the 2017 issue of Floreat Redingensis.

May They Rest in Peace and Rise in Glory.

Their number included two Past Presidents of the Old Redingensians Association: Air Chief Marshal Sir Douglas Lowe GCB DFC AFC (1933-38) died 24 January 2018 aged 95 and Colonel J W (John) Chown (1941-48) died 23 September 2017 aged 87.

Another military man also departed; Group Captain G S (Geoffrey) Findlay OBE RAF (Retd) died 11 November

sepsis following a broken leg in June at the age of 72. D H (Dennis) Easby (1934-42) died on 31 July 2017 aged 92. He is remembered as a fine sportsman at School.

He became President of the Rugby Football Union and was by profession a solicitor.

Another man of the law, A C (Anthony) Simons (1950-51), both solicitor and barrister, died aged 83 on 18 June 2018 and a third, R H (Rob) Davies

Dennis Easby Sir Douglas Lowe 2017 aged 82. He served the School from 1990-96 as Bursar and as Secretary to both the Governing Body and to The Foundation. Two other former members of staff also died; Mrs T M (Thelma) Hill who was Bursar’s

Col John Chown Secretary (1965-85) died on 27 November 2017 aged 97 and A P (Phillip) Rothbart, who taught Modern Languages from 1969 and was still lending a hand to the School Boat Club as a rowing coach, sadly succumbed to

(1978-85) died on 22 March 2018 aged 51. He was a Principal Crown Advocate in the Crown Prosecution Service and, at the time of his death the Government’s criminal justice adviser to Trinidad and Tobago. Never in government but a prominent member of parliament for many years, Sir Richard Body (1941-44) died on 26 February 2018 aged 90.

Those in business included J H (John) Horler (1937-39) died 14 September 2017 aged 94; J H (John) Truss (193742) died 16 September 2017 aged 90; N (Neil) Chakravarty (1993-00) died 1 November 2017 aged 35. P E (Philip) Birch (1939-45) was the third generation to control his family firm of wholesale tobacconists; J V (Rolly) Martin (1935-44), a fine cricketer at School, died 14 February 2018 aged 90. R N (Roger) Bevitt (1950-57) who died 1 April 2018 aged 78 was a formulation chemist; A N S (Andrew) Driver (1965-72) died 29 December 2017, a translator from the Japanese and A J (Alex) Darcy (1963-70) a civil 14

Sir Richard Body airline pilot. He died 28 October 2017 aged 65. G R (Geoff) Holloway (194246) was a civil servant responsible for setting up the Intervention Board HQ in Reading. He died on 17 August 2017 aged 88. R P (Roy) Pike (1940-44) died 30 September 2017 aged 89 was a Chartered Engineer, H J (Jim) Pilgrim (1935-40) died 29 December 2017 a Post Office Engineer and R E (Ron) Atkins (1938-44) died 22 May 2018 aged 90 spent his working life in telecommunications. Ron’s brother, D L (David) Atkins (1948 - 54), died on 14 November 2015 aged 78 having worked and lived for many years in Cornwall. A J (Alan) Matthews (195966) an accountant died on 13 March 2018, aged 70 and M (Mark) Johnson (1967-74) an engineer, died on 19 June 2018, aged 62.

Neil Chakravarty Tributes to all of the above will appear online at www.oldredingensians.org.uk Ken Brown, OR 1955-63 and Chris Widdows, OR 1955-62

Remembrance Sunday: 12th November 2017 Revd. Clive Windebank (1952-59), OR Chaplain, welcomed a congregation showing an encouraging increase in numbers over last year. The service followed the pattern of recent years although some innovations are planned for 2018. In the absence of Richard Meehan, Director of Music, we were delighted to welcome his opposite number at Reading Bluecoat School, Jonathan Bowler to play the organ.

of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians was read by David Cox (1951-56) Chairman of Council and, once again, John Spence, sounded most skilfully for a schoolboy, the Last Post and Reveille.

As throughout these centenary years of the Great War, the ORA Archivist Ken Brown (1955-63) spoke the Act of Remembrance and recalled each of the Old Redingensians – twenty of them including three

former School Captains – who fell in 1917, coupled with the Fallen of Kendrick Boys School.

Members of the School CCF Contingent provided the Guard of Honour and laid the wreaths on the three War Memorials.

The guest preacher was Rev Arnold Page (195360) pictured above whose ministry in the Methodist Church has taken a less than conventional path; he delivered a compelling address.

ORs, staff, boys, parents and guests all gathered in the Refectory afterwards and we look forward to seeing them all – and more – again on 11 November 2018.

Ken Brown, OR1955-63

Rev Arnold Page (OR 1953—60)

The lesson, taken from the First Epistle

Bookshelf Recently published books that may be of interest to Old Redingensians include:

LONG MAY OUR LION ROAR. 140 YEARS OF KENDRICK SCHOOL

THE SNAIL THAT CLIMBED THE EIFFEL TOWER

Daphne Barnes-Phillips Corridor Press 2017

Martin Salisbury Mainstone Press 2017

As Daphne Barnes, the author was at Kendrick from 1955-62

A magnificent tribute to the graphic work of John Minton (1932-35)

X AND WHY Tom Whipple Faber 2018

CAPTAIN ELLIOTT AND THE FOUNDING OF HONG KONG

‘The rules of attraction: why gender still matters’ Tom Whipple (OR, 1993-2000) is Science Editor of The Times

Jon Bursey Pen and Sword 2018 Without the boy, educated under Dr Valpy at Reading School who became Rear Admiral Sir Charles Elliot there would have been no Crown Colony of Hong Kong

A HISTORY OF CHESTERFIELD GRAMMAR SCHOOL Philip Riden Old Cestrefeldians Trust 2017

THE STOCKBROKERS BATTALION IN THE GREAT WAR

Alma Mater of F H C (Bonk) Redington, 37 years on the Reading School Staff and the School where Charles Edward Kemp was Headmaster before taking up the same post at Reading School in 1939.

David Carter Pen and Sword 2014 Draws heavily on the papers of Percival Maurice Sharp, who had been Captain of Reading School in 1912

Members of the OR Association Exec Committee & Council

Other members of the ORA Council as of 1 September 2018

President: Michael Barrott michael.barrott@btinternet.com

Membership Secretary: Chris Widdows 0118 962 3721 cwiddows@aol.com

Chairman of Council: David Cox davidbriancox@tiscali.co.uk

Archivist: Ken Brown 0118 327 9917 kcbrown@aol.com

Jeremy Chadwick

Events Secretary: Ned Holt Nedholt54@gmail.com

Careers Lead: Ray Sawyer raysawyer33@yahoo.co.uk

Simon Lambert

Treasurer: Richard Taylor Richard.taylor@lpi2.co.uk

Sports Lead: Olly Davidson olly.davidson@fsp-law.com

Ashley Robson, Headmaster

Nick Burrows Mike Evans Ian Mackinnon Arthur Truslove Rev Clive Windebank Alistair Wren

15

The LRC LRC Champions of Books, Reading and Community

I

t has been another exciting year in the LRC with lots of events and activities celebrating books and reading and lots of opportunities for pupils to get involved. In fact, pupil involvement is key to the success of the LRC; from the day to day running of the Loans Desk to all the special events and activities we run throughout the year.

"The Reading School LRC has been fantastic in getting lots of people involved in a selection of different activities ranging from National Poetry Day to our annual Harry Potter quiz.

The ever-present community spirit embodied within the Pupil Librarians serves brilliantly in helping the students become young men of integrity and excellence." Head Pupil Librarian 2018, Muhammed El-Beik (11E).

Inspiring Greatness We were incredibly fortunate this year to have been visited by five bestselling and award winning authors.

Marcus Sedgwick, author of award winning books such as ‘Floodland’, ‘My Swordhand is Singing’ and ‘Revolver’ only visits the UK a few times a year, so we jumped at the chance of a talk to all Year 7 and Year 8 pupils. 70% of those pupils surveyed after the talk said that they agreed with the statement “I will be able to use a technique or idea I learned from him

16

about how to be an effective writer in the next piece of original writing I do”, with 27% strongly agreeing!

In October we were awarded the great privilege to host the Berkshire Book Award launch event with author Ali Sparkes. Over 170 pupils from six schools in Berkshire enjoyed taking part in the official countdown to the start of this years’ Award. This was followed by an incredibly entertaining talk by Ali Sparkes, author of the Blue Peter Book of the Year, ‘Frozen in Time’. LRC Book Club members were among the guests invited to attend and some enjoyed front row seats!

This event was only possible with the help and dedication of our Pupil Librarian Team, who acted as wonderful ambassadors for the school, working through their lunch break to ensure all of our visitors arrived safely and felt warmly welcomed.

"It was fun working with all of the team during the Berkshire Book Awards launch trying to get the coaches into the right places and the children to where they needed to go. It is also useful for our Floreat Portfolio which is a good benefit on the side." Robert Davis-Bater (10W).

Book Week Our annual Book Week took place at the end of February, starting with the Scholastic Book Fair, run by Pupil Librarians and Prefects, which raised £368 for new LRC books. This was followed by a range of talks and workshops.

Sarah Govett recently won the Trinity Schools Book Award in 2018 for ‘The Territory’. The Guardian’s children’s book critic called The Territory ‘The 1984 of our time' and it was included in the Telegraph’s Best YA Books of the Year. Sarah gave an engaging and informal Q&A session exclusively for our Book Club members before delivering a talk to all Year 10 on Dystopian Fiction.

Sarah Govett signs books for the boys “I thought it was amazing – I enjoyed it very much and I thought the book sounded excellent. The session inspired me to pick up dystopian literature again, something I will be very grateful for.” Oscar Mullan, 10E. “I loved getting an insight into the process of planning and writing a dystopian fiction novel.

Learning about the social problems she used in the book were really inspiring and made me want to do something about them.” Head Pupil Librarian 2018, Beck Walker, 10W. Sherlock Holmes superfan and author of the Young Sherlock Holmes series, Andrew Lane delivered a workshop to

7S pose with Tarun Matharu, who came to visit during Book Week and delivered an outstanding writing workshop 16

all Year 8 pupils, who study detective fiction in English.

“The workshop was amazing and really helped my creative thinking. I learnt a lot from this experience and enjoyed it very much. He was brilliant” Kostas Demiris , 8L. The final Book Week author was Taran Matharu who delivered a creative writing workshop to all Year 7 pupils.

He revealed his bestselling formula for creating story ideas and encouraged pupils to come up with their own.

“I really liked the Taran Matharu workshop and it helped me to decide how to plan future stories. It also inspired me to write” Siddhanth Tekurkar, 7C. Book Club Book Club which meets every Tuesday lunchtime has gone from strength to strength in recent years. We now average 20 students a week and all years are included.

The boys comment on the inclusivity of the group, being more like a family who look out for each other. It’s particularly rewarding running the group when you see some of the younger boys grown in confidence as the year progresses, even volunteering to be ambassadors for Book Club at the Open Afternoon/Evening in April.

Each week is slightly different.

Normally, the boys run a book themed multiple choice quiz for each other.

This always goes down well and appeals to their competitive nature.

We also shadow the local Berkshire Book Award. The award this year was co-launched at Reading School by author Ali Sparkes during the Michaelmas Term, giving the opportunity for members of the Book Club to attend the launch.

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

Finally, the boys will talk and recommend books for one another, this is a great way of sharing new books, authors and genres and also gives them confidence with public speaking.

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.

Taran Matharu, author of the ‘Summoner’ series returned to Reading School for the second year running and ran workshops for all of Year 7.

As Taran was here on a Tuesday, he very kindly agreed to visit Book Club and even took part in a quiz based on his books run by members of the club. He sportingly shared his winnings with one of our members.



Russia Day: A Taste of Russia in the refectory, quiz, display, film



Pupil led projects to find better ways of using the space in LRC



Competitions: Summer Photo Competition, Christmas Creative Competition, Book Week Competitions including our annual Drop Everything and Read photo competition.

“The Pupil Librarian Team has done a great job this year at providing an ever popular service. It's been a joy to work alongside and lead a diverse array of students on many different events and projects. In particular, I am happy with our refurbishment of the Fiction area and the variety of culture days we have been involved in” Head Pupil Librarian 2017, Chris Clark (13SJL).

Mrs L Kesteven and Mrs A Jackson

In summary, it’s the boys who make Book Club. ‘‘Book Club has helped me to integrate and socialise with other years: when I joined the school in year 7, I wouldn’t have dreamt of speaking to anyone older than me. Now, however, I know many people outside of my age range; am much more confident.” Matthew, Year 9.

Other Special Events Other pupil led special events and projects this year include: 

The Pupil Librarian Macmillan Cancer Support Charity Cake Sale which raised £173



National Poetry Day “poetry on the LRC stairs” event



The Hutchins School Book Swap and trip display



After school quizzes: Harry Potter Book Night and our first ever Geek Quiz

17

The annual Extreme Reader competition featured Otto Winiecki’s epic solar eclipse snap

Drop Everything And Read photo competition winners, 7L

17

News from Boarding It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone already. As we take time to reflect on a busy year in the houses, we picked out some of the most memorable moments:

staff and boarders alike, be it sign language club, cooking or Art club. As always we are grateful for our multitalented staff for offering such an array of opportunities and for our boarders being willing to throw themselves into something new.

1) Prefect bonding Our prefects in boarding are given tough leadership roles each year.

Whether it is helping new Year 7 relationships to gel, organising the next hotly contested house competition or offering academic support to the younger boarders, our prefects need to be ready for anything.

What better way to prepare them than a visit to the Escape Room Reading.

Communication and working under pressure were key components of success and both houses thrived in the experience. And yes, they both escaped (just).

2) Clubs, clubs and more clubs

committed to leading healthy and active lifestyles and embracing the challenges competition brings.

4) Boarding’s Got Talent Where else could you see a marshmallow eating contest, plate spinning and singer song writing on the same stage? At Boarding’s Got Talent of course! This fantastic evening of fun was carried off in the right spirit of camaraderie and encouragement no matter what the chosen field of aptitude. John and Kit’s memorable version of Copa Cabana was a worthy winner amongst a host of other delights.

Swimming Club at The Abbey is always popular 3) Citius, Altius, Fortius With the return of Sports Day, our boarders had the chance to be faster, higher and stronger across the full range of events. There were new school records for Napat Pantawong, Ezi Obienu and Will Lockwood in the Senior javelin, Year 10 shot put and Year 9 shot put respectively. There were also winning performances from Nick Leigh-Smith in the Year 7 high jump and Lucas Oyler in the Senior 200m, along with countless podiums and a fair few relay successes.

John Spence and Kit Haley dazzle the crowd with their take on ‘Copa Cabana’

Football club in the snow Having 83 boarders has meant an extremely busy year for the boarding community! With so many active and willing participants, clubs have really thrived, particularly in the summer sun, where cricket, capture the flag and manhunt have proved ever popular. The winter clubs continue to see some fantastic innovation from

South House win House Tug-of-War These successes follow a year of sporting prowess demonstrated across all the year groups, where boarders have represented the school in rugby, football, cricket, athletics, badminton and chess. We are delighted to see so many boarders

18 18

This, along with our traditional “Karenaoke” and a fun filled Aussie themed quiz night made up our triumvirate of events seeking to bring t oget her t he whole b oarding community and each one left a lasting impression of friendship and fun.

5) Student Voice Ably led by Senor Sanchez, the student voice committee continues to have a say in all facets of boarding

life. Food and clubs were often on the agenda with many a meal choice discussed and plenty of welcome additions suggested. We think it is really important that the feelings of the boarders are at the forefront of what we do as a community and I am sure that the committee will continue to help shape our vision for boarding moving forward.

Recently the boys have set their sights on revamping the rewards system for the younger years in the house. We look forward to seeing the fruits of their labour in act ion come September.

6) Trips As ever, the boarding trips were a highlight of t he yea r. Fr om trampolining, to ice skating, to water skiing, each term had another opportunity for the boarders to show off their undoubted skills and have fun. The trip to see School of Rock was a big hit, particularly the musical performances of a very young cast. As always it is great to see the boarders taken out of their comfort zone, to be willing to try new things and to do it all with a smile.

incredible experience left an indelible mark on both sets of boys and we strive to build on this partnership in the future. We also have our current gap students from the Auckland Grammar School, New Zealand, who once again provide excellent support for all of our boarders whilst acting as superb role models.

The boys take to the water 8) Charity begins at home This year, with the help of Karen, the boarding charity committee was established. With clear aims and an ambitious target, the boys set about organising events to raise £1000 for

our chosen charities. We are delighted to report that after much cake baking, an incredible nine hours of continuous rowing and the odd wet sponge aimed in the boarding staff’s direction, we have been able to raise £1080, to be split between Diana Brimblecombe Animal Rescue and The Rain Edge High School, Nakuru.

We are delighted to be able to give the boarders opportunities to think about the needs of others, to work collaboratively as a team and to strive for the benefit of others. The committee are already working hard towards some ambitions goals next year, including an attempt at the Three Peaks Challenge. Watch this space!

Mr P Teixeira and Mr C Nicholas

Year 7 do battle 7) Partnerships We continue to foster partnerships as a boarding community with a broad aim of sharing experiences, learning from each other and getting the best out of our communities. This year Miss Hooker and Mr Kearle were able to visit the Rain Edge High School in Nakuru, paving the way for future visits by our boarders. Some of our boarders also had the opportunity both to visit and to act as a host for the Hutchins School, Tasmania. This

The boys ran a very successful cake sale for their selected charities

19 19

The Houses Final Standings 2018 Year Group Standings Another year of County dominance, although the other houses have much to celebrate. East in Year 9 and West in the Seniors are notable performances.

Event

Champions

Softball

County

Cricket

School

Drama

School

Table Tennis

County

Music

West

House

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

Year 10

Year 11

Seniors

Ghost

School

County

1

1

2

1

1

2

Rugby

County

East

4=

5

1

4

3

4

General Knowledge

West

Laud

4=

4

N/A

N/A

N/A

5

Art

West

School

2

2

3

2

2

3

Football

School

West

3

3

4

3

3

1

Basketball

County

Eisteddfod - Writing

School

Eisteddfod - Performance

County

Lacrosse

West

Badminton

County

Chess

East

Road Race

West

Cock House Cup Final Standings for Academic Year 2017 – 2018 Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th

Points 57.5 53 47 32.5

House County School West East

Laud House With yet another highly eventful and successful year for Laud House, I feel it’s now exceedingly obvious that we’re finally forging a true independent identity within Reading School. This can all be accredited to the commendable nature of the boys who make up the house – every member of the house wants to contribute to the house in some way or another, whether that be participating in an event, helping organise an event, or even suggesting ways in which the tightly-knit community of Laud House can be further improved. Likewise, everyone is given the opportunity to be able to contribute positively. Everyone is equally invested in shaping the future of the house, and this is a fantastic quality that I believe to be unique to Laud. Throughout this year we’ve seen tremendous displays of leadership from the senior years, where almost everyone has helped take part in organising an event they have an interest in, and we’ve possibly also seen an even greater display of talent from the younger years, especially from our new cohort of budding Year 7s, which has manifested itself in outstanding performances in events such as House Eisteddfod and House Music. I’m extremely proud of everyone for all their efforts this year, and I hope for us to continue evolving as a house and once again strive towards success next year!

Abshishek Manikandan, Laud House Captain I’d very much like to echo the eloquent sentiments of our Laud House Captain. The House identity is most definitely well established with a remarkable embodiment of collaborative leadership. I’m so proud of the positivity and pride that all our Laud boys display, with their excellence, leadership, community spirit and integrity. They exemplify the pillars of Reading School daily. Here’s to another fantastic year to come!

Miss L Ayres, Head of Laud House

County House This year Joe Steveni has led the house superbly well and the prefect team have organised the house fantastically which is a true reflection on the hard work, dedication and positive attitude that you have had towards the spirit of County House. Not only did they win the house competition for another year but did it in style winning the overall competitions in softball, table tennis, rugby, basketball, eisteddfod (performance) and badminton.

Thank you once again it has been a privilege to work with you. I wish you all the best of luck in the future.

Mr J Steadman

20 20

East House Earlier this term, I made the difficult decision to step down as Head Of East House at the end of this academic year, after being in post for eight years (although I will remain at the school as an active member of the English department); this will provide a new challenge and a new direction for the House itself and will allow me to find new challenges both on a personal and professional level.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my tenure leading the ‘beast that is East’ and it has been a real privilege being a part of the East House family as well as watching you all grow both personally and academically. This wasn’t an easy decision for me to make but it’s my firm belief that it’s important to challenge yourself and that staying in a comfortable position can lead to stagnation; a new approach with a new Head Of House will help East go even further and it will also enable me to look for new challenges.

I’m proud of the strong spirit and commitment of East House and proud of each and every Eastie that has been a part of our journey over the last eight years. We’ve gone through some real highs with minimal lows, but regardless of our eventual position in the House competition, our House has always pulled together, worked hard and fostered a real team spirit. It has been my pleasure to hand out so many House Colours over the last few years as well as instituting the status of House Legend – both Seb and Alex thoroughly deserved the award and I know that there are a number of legends in waiting coming up through the ranks.

Mrs Williams has been selected to become the new Head of East House from the 1 st September 2018 and I know that the House will flourish under her leadership. She has been a tremendous East House tutor and will help East to continue to be ‘beast’.

Gentleman, it’s been a genuine pleasure.

Mrs V Geraghty-Green

West House Another year is drawing to a close and it is this time of year when people begin to reflect on the achievements they have accomplished. I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the West House highlights of the year. One particular highlight of mine is the success of the ‘West House Community Spirit’ project that we have completed in form time. The amalgamation of different West year groups working together to solve team challenges or sharing experience and knowledge of their time of the school is a valuable part of cementing the bond between the members of the house. I would like to thank the house prefect team of Pranav Prasad, Alex Kitching and Andre Christie for their fantastic contribution to running the major events this year and driving the standard of performance in the house competition. I would like to congratulate the Year 7s on making it through their first year at Reading School and for settling in so quickly and bringing a fantastic verve to everything they do. I look forward to another year of leading the mighty West House and to inspiring the future generations about the value of the House and the competition.

Mr T Bellinger

School House I am incredibly proud to have led School House through another academic year. I honestly feel we have gone from strength to strength with our approach and success in all competitions.

I am so grateful to my senior boys for their leadership and inspiration this year. It started with Jack, George and Edmund leading us to House music victory which set the tone for the success to follow. I was delighted with the success of Eisteddfod which was led by Johnny and Tom and how the whole House has really stepped up with their commitment in the sporting events as a result. To finish a narrow second in the overall Cock House Cup was a superb achievement and has set the bar for next year which I am already looking forward to.

I always talk about the importance of the way people behave and treat each other and this will again be the focus of my assemblies next year. We have an incredible team of staff and students to help us improve even further and it will be my mission to make sure we enjoy the journey.

Mr S Allen

21 21

Art

S

o the academic year draws to a close and the GCSE and A level art students have purveyed their wares and considerable talent at the Reading School Art Show. As always, there was a broad range of styles and areas of interest as befits a creative

Toby Cheng

Weiden Wong subject open to all levels of ability.

The students were successful in producing individual responses and areas of focus in a wide variety of media. Outcomes included an exploration of current affairs issues and how they relate to personal fears and feelings of isolation, cultural connections in Chinese history, the passing of time and how the use of technology impacts our lives.

really moving and emotional piece.

His drawing of a body underneath a blanket had loads of hidden meaning to it. The feet poking out had no detail or texture which I think symbolised that under the blanket was just a body and that if we removed the blanket the body would start to relate to somebody’. Vivek Dutta, 8C.

‘I thought that Wei-Den Wong made a

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Our students produced artwork that was both aesthetically pleasing and expressed depth of meaning. We hope that they will continue to develop creatively in the years to come and we congratulate them for all their hard work and achievement.

Ms C Coates

Year 8s were given the opportunity during lesson time to visit the show and give their responses and I have included their comments with a small selection of works by our GCSE and A Level artists; ‘I liked the contrast and diversity of media on display and the different meanings behind the artwork. I also liked the fact that I could see the stages of development of the final piece’. Carl Scandelius, 8C.

culture over its lengthy history. In the artwork, Richard has used different mediums to symbolise the different eras of Chinese history such as using ink washes to represent calligraphy’.

Jim Li, 8L

Tian Fang ‘My favourite painting out of them all was The Oriental Dragon by Richard Li which depicts changes and connections in Chinese style and

Wei-en Wong

‘The Oriental Dragon’, by Richard Li 22

Economics Brexit: A Very British Revolution

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n the aftermath of the shocking 52-48% leave vote in June 2016 to Donald Trumps’ surprise appointment later that year, the economic climate seems more uncertain and speculative than ever.

Here we discuss some of the options Britain could negotiate with the EU. 1) EU Single Market If Theresa May can negotiate for us to remain within the single market it would eliminate all tariffs and quotas on British products, allowing the UK to trade, free of restrictions, with all 27 members of the EU plus other countries such as Norway who belong to the single market. Inevitably it comes with evident drawbacks though: for example, needing to pay commissions to Brussels; reduced control over immigration and mandatory abidance to EU laws.

However, it appears promising in the long run, sustaining our major trading partnership with the EU. 2) Customs Union The UK could also adopt the procedure of leaving the EU single market, however remain within the customs union, undertaking a similar position to that of Turkey while continuing trade tariff-free.

An upside of this option versus the

single market is the control over services, agriculture and government.

According to research conducted by ‘The Parliament’, 80% of UK’s GDP comes from the tertiary sector. If the customs union approach is taken, the UK will be able to strike its own deals when firms sell their services around the globe, generating greater control when trading its products and overall benefiting the UK hugely. The customs union also comes with certain downsides however such as lack of control over immigration and also incurring large fees from the headquarters in Brussels.

3) Limited tariff-free deal 44% of all UK exports go to the EU whereas 16% of all EU exports come to the UK. This presents an interlocked, mutualistic relationship accumulating in a £260 billion market each annum. It would make the UK a

little like Canada in its dealings with the EU, establishing tariff-free trade on industrial goods and agricultural products but very limited access for services within the single market.

However, this would not allow the UK’s tertiary-oriented economy to flourish as financial constitutions would lose the right to sell banking, insurance and consultancy services across the EU. Nevertheless, this option is still quite likely amidst the numerous concerns regarding control over trade within the EU. 4) No Deal This scenario would revert the UK to trading with the bloc of 27 EU states under World Trade Organisation rules, meaning tariffs would be imposed on goods and services. Trade would indefinitely suffer in the short term. On the other hand, there would be no legal obligation for the UK to maintain substantial payments to Brussels, nor would there be more EU influence over British law.

In addition, ‘leave’ supporters believe that this would free the UK from all EU structures in one fell swoop. ‘No deal’ however would mean disruptions with flights and border control due to the lack of regulatory approval. Phillip Hammond, the UK Chancellor says, “No deal would be a very, very bad outcome for Britain!”

Aditya Krishna, 10E and Dev Goyal, 10W

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History A New Era

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his year has been a year of change and new starts in the history department. Having bid goodbye and good luck to Mr Bailey-Watson at the end of last year, the department has had an exciting year under the leadership of myself and Mr Kearle. Having two heads of department, a focus for this year was always going to be collaboration and we have been aided in this by the support of a wide range of staff who have chipped in to teach parts of the History curriculum this year. From the enthusiasm and energy of Miss Cash and Mrs Romano in Year 7, to the experience and wisdom of Mr Robson and Mr Evans in Year 8 and finally, the ever-willing support of our PGCE students this year, Mr Arthur and Mr Cogni. This has really been a team effort with a wide range of perspectives adding to some excellent History teaching.

Another new development for this year has been our move into a new department. We have said farewell to the JKB and have moved into the old Biology department as they move into the new Science block. The move has not been without its challenges but has given us three sizeable classrooms to teach in and has allowed us to develop our own identity in a block slightly set apart from the rest of the school. The block has begun to feel like home over the course of the year and this has been

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Trench models by Y7

greatly aided by some fantastic artwork to decorate the block, which came courtesy of Ms Creegan and the House Art competition. We look forward to continuing to make the department our own over the coming year.

Hoover and the material culture of Lutheran churches. A fascinating range, allowing students to gain a greater understanding of topics they may never have considered before. All are welcome. So, keep your eyes peeled for more next year.

Students produced art inspired by their History lessons

A final highlight was our recent trip to the Battlefields of WWI in Belgium and France, which took place during enrichment week with some of our Year 9 and 10 students. The trip was a fulfilling, enriching time with visits to many incredible monuments and memorials to those who served and lost their lives in the First World War. We were also able to spend a day preparing for the trip and were able to carry out some research on old Reading School boys who lost their lives in the fighting and were able to go and pay our respects at memorials or cemeteries which marked their service.

Teaching this year has been varied and exciting with a range of different challenges and opportunities. Our Year 11s have just sat the first iteration of the new History GCSE exam. It has been a bit of a leap into the unknown for all of us, but the boys should be commended for their relentless effort and ability to remember detail about everything from the Vikings to Brexit, via detours into the Spanish Armada, the Abyssinian Crisis and Russian Revolution amongst other things. The variety of the GCSE is exciting, but we have had to race through it this year to cover the huge range of content that is required.

A highlight of this year has been our growing relationship with the Historical Association. The Reading Branch of the HA holds several lectures a year in the Lecture Theatre at the school. We have managed to get more students than ever before to attend these lectures, given by renowned historians from across the country. A range of boys from across all years have heard talks on the fall of the Ottoman Empire, J. Edgar 24

George Lauchlan and Ross Hickman at the Menin Gate Memorial Looking ahead to next year, we are very excited to be gaining a new member of staff in Miss Stratford who will be teaching History next year and for the department to go forward under the leadership of Mr Kearle who will be taking over sole running of the department. It is an exciting time for all of us as we look to the future but always with our thoughts on the past.

Mr D Whitehorn

English

“I was more immersed in the story than when I just read the play.”

Champion Adventures in English 2017 – 2018

“I enjoyed seeing it live because it showed up some aspects we just can’t get from reading it in class.”

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amuel Beckett, Worstward Ho: “Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

Rudyard Kipling, If: “If you can fill the unforgiving minute / With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, / Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it…”

Ask any Reading School English teacher and they’ll always be ready with a handy literary quotation or two about being a champion or building a good character. As Thomas Hughes explained in Tom Brown’s Schooldays: “He who has conquered his own coward spirit has conquered the whole outward world,” and a good deal of the shenanigans we have tackled with our students this year has allowed them to be both conquered by the world and have a cowardly spirit. Oh…hang on…that may be the wrong way round.

Anyway...

Our GCSE cohorts in Years 10 and 11 have had opportunities to witness, live and in person, an example of a rather epic failure of Champion Characterfulness in “Macbeth”. Year 10 visited the National Theatre in May to watch the sold-out production starring Anne-Marie Duff and Rory Kinnear (the students said: “I feel I was better able to understand the emotions of the characters and what role they were playing”, “Being in the theatre meant I could experience the tension and the sinister mood”, “I liked the decapitation at the beginning.”).

Meanwhile Year 11 students saw the drama unfold in front of them in Big School as both the Royal Shakespeare Company and Box Clever Theatre visited us to stage performances and workshops. Here’s what our innocent flowers thought about that experience:

We also made the journey to Stratford Upon Avon with our A Level English Literature students to face the challenge of their current “Duchess Of Malfi” production. It involved several hundred litres of blood on the stage, students in the ‘splash zone’ getting treated to a liberal coating of gore, and a new appreciation of the power of apricots. Their verdicts?

“It was extremely valuable and allowed us to experience the horror of the play: it was a memorable experience.”

“It helped me understand the play as a critique of society.”

“I found it shocking and visually affronting.”

“Absolutely priceless and absolutely mental.”

A Level students at ‘Duchess of Malfi’ Perhaps this is a good time to include Mrs Harden’s pertinent words from the wise: “If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever.” (George Orwell, 1984) which should inspire all future champions to assert their characters rather than ending up like poor Winston Smith.

In the spring we hosted Professor Nicolas Tredell for an Inspire Lecture tailored for Reading School and Kendrick A Level English Literature students. He rose to the challenge of fitting his own song-and-dance routine

into a one-hour academic analysis of The Great Gatsby. According to the Champions Of West Egg, the Prof: “Gave great quotation,” and “Opened up new perspectives for us. It’s so valuable to have an expert critic discuss with us his interpretations, and he also unpicked other critical points of view and provided us with entirely fresh perspectives.”

The rousing nature of his speech called to mind the inspiring rhetoric also exhibited by Dickens’ Sydney Carton, who was accustomed to producing some similarly sublime oratory as Ms Postlethwaite reminds us often: “It is a far far better thing I do than I have ever done, it is a far far better rest I go to than I have ever known.” (A Tale Of Two Cities).

Alongside all of this characterful gadding about, students have tackled our traditional annual challenges: the current McIlroy Essay Prize winner is a Year 10 student (Swapnanil De) who emerged victorious from a record number of entries; the House Eisteddfod Competition saw fresh champions crowned in both the fields of presentation and creative writing; the BBC News School Report continued for an eleventh successive year; we even celebrated the victory of a Year 6 open-evening visitor in our interactive origami / monster box event (you’ll have to visit next year to understand…) The moral of every one of these stories is, as Mrs Hall is wont to quote from legendary American journalist Walter Cronkite, "I can't imagine a person becoming a success who doesn't give this game of life everything he's got.”

So, if you want to be inspired, enthused and intellectually tested, then challenge yourself to drop by the English Office on a daily basis. You might get lucky and meet Mr Lloyd, who could then share with you the deathless prose of a timeless classic (Rocky): “Every champion was once a contender who refused to give up.”

Mr R Baldock

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Geography

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Nettlecombe Field Studies n November, the Year 13s visited the Nettlecombe field studies centre in Shrewsbury, as part of their coursework.

Y13 discussing the coastal landscape

Azores 2018 On the 11th of April, Year 10, 11 and 12 Geography students went on a trip to the Azores. The Azores are a Portuguese archipelago of nine islands 850 miles off the coast of Portugal. These islands extend for 350 miles so have very different charact erist ics and signat ure industries such as dairy farming, tourism and fishing. We went to the island of São Miguel which is called the ‘Green Island’ to observe the incredible volcanic and natural landscapes across the island as well as renewable power and wildlife preservation centres.

On our first day, we arrived at school just before 3am and then took the plane to Lisbon from Heathrow. We changed flights and flew over to João Paulo II Airport so arrived in Ponta Delgada in the early afternoon. As soon as we arrived in the town centre, we saw how welcoming and friendly

“We enjoyed a fun, interesting and worthwhile stay during our week there.

The week consisted of visiting different locations around the local area that have links to the Coasts and Changing Places part of the specification. For example, on Monday we visited Porlock Bay where we learnt about the different methodologies that could be used to investigate coastal processes, and then on Tuesday we visited Minehead where we undertook surveys and collected different data on the place.

Days 1-3 allowed us to gain a good understanding about what the topic of our investigation would be, before going out into the field on Thursday to collect the data. The help received from staff at the centre, as well as the Geography department was excellent.

Nettlecombe itself was a lovely location to stay at, with comfortable rooms and good food being served up each morning and evening.”

Joe Wilson, 13MRC

All of the boys had a fantastic time everybody was. Also, we met our guide for the week, Pedro, who took us around the sites each day and brought our packed lunches.

As a group, a couple of our favourite moments from the trip were visiting the lava tubes, the volcanic hot springs and the tea plantation as we learned a lot about the history of the island and the role that the geology and nature plays in the what the island protects and the industry it can export.

Also, we loved visiting the beach and the calderas on the island as the views were sensational, the forest and fields that surrounded the lakes in the calderas were stunning and home to so much beautiful wildlife. It was amazing to see the island’s towns and townspeople working together to maintain the landscape and have a fantastic community.

We were able to spend free time among the community in the town centre and in the bowling alley so we had time to see the similarities and differences in the culture between the island and home. We experienced a great impression of the island’s culture and natural landscape from this great trip and we all had an amazing time.

Joe Barraclough 12MRC

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Spectacular views in the Azores 26

Model Climate Conference On Friday 1st December 2017, 15 Year 10 students represented Reading School in a school climate change conference at the Reading Civic Centre, organised by the InterClimate Network. This was designed to replicate the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which is held annually. We were in three groups of five, representing the EU, Nigeria and Cuba.

There were many different teams in total from many different schools in the area, and each of the teams gave an opening speech of their respective country or union’s goals for climate change mitigation. After these were said, there was an open debate between each of the groups, where we all had to respond to the following: Is Geography Club Geography Club is a club organised by Dr Young for anyone who is interested in Geography and wants to have fun!

We meet in G1 every other Thursday.

Read on to find out what we’ve been up to this year.

The first challenge was to build an earthquake-proof house - out of Lego or Play-Doh. The houses were judged on how they looked, how practical they were and whether they were able to withstand an ‘earthquake’ (actually just Dr Young shaking the table loads!)

We have also looked at environmental archaeology, and got to analyse an actual 12,000 year-old core from the last Ice Age. In spring, we had a ‘Cakes From Around the World’ competition. The cakes were judged by an expert team of cake-eaters – Mr Fairchild, Ms Senftlechner and Mr Nicholas, and the winners were Ollie Binnie, Toby Phillips and Siddarth Subramaniam.

After the competition we sold the cakes and raise £66 for Launchpad – a charity that helps homeless people in Reading.

Vaibhav Mahajan and Matthew Copeman 9W

sufficient progress being made on all emission targets? What more can each country do, even beyond its targets? What extra support (money & technology) will be available? This was a chance for each group to showcase their knowledge and statistics about their country, and every group took the opportunity to present their own country’s views to others. During this process, many deals were formed between groups, where one offered to help another when they are in need of foreign aid. When all these coalition plans were presented, there was a final summary of all the progress and decisions made during the entire conference.

At the very end, however, each team made pledges for their own school

Year 9 with their global atmospheric circulation models about tackling this ever-growing issue, such as developing a garden area or installing solar panels on the roof.

Overall, we all found this whole experience very inspiring, as it has given us a clear insight into how these international conferences work, and how targets are formed between countries.

Siyuan Li 10W

Forensic Science Workshop at the University of Reading On Monday the 23rd of April, 42 students from Geography and STEM Club, led by Dr. Young and Ms. Ayres were lucky enough to step into the world of forensic science at Reading University.

Beck Walker and Max Finlay solve a crime

Forensics gets the thumbs up It was a day to remember as students from Years 7-10 took part in an in-depth study of crime-solving.

The day was split into two halves. One for laboratory work, the other for crime scene investigation. We learned that both aspects are incredibly important and must be done with the utmost concentration.

Laboratory work involved analysing the pH of soil on shoes, examining fingerprints and matching handwriting styles. This 27

helps det ect ives es t ab lis h a description of the suspect. Fieldwork consisted of collecting samples from two different crime scenes, and placing them inside evidence bags for further investigation. Evidence is key in the conviction of a criminal and it was important that we did not contaminate any of it, so we were given forensic overalls.

It was a thrilling experience to be in the shoes of a forensic scientist and was overall an inspiring trip with many learning points and a whole load of fun!

Daniel Vetsko 9S

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Classical Studies and Languages

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through specific language classes, trips and, of course, interactions with their exchange partners. Equally Y12 enjoyed their work experience in a French primary school in Fougeres.

Year 10 enjoyed a fantastic, immersive French Exchange in Lyon, taking them out of their comfort zones and enhancing their language skills

And that’s not all: Y8 went to the Europa Centre; the Sixth Form took in some French film at the BFI; Y10 went to see the bilingual play, Moliere’s Tartuffe, in London; Y13 undertook a

he Classics and Languages departments have had an incredibly busy year, putting on a wide range of engaging trips, exchanges and competitions for the boys.

Ali Batley, winner of the ‘Nutty Tile’ vocab contest

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mock trial in French; there were Inspire Lectures from Dr Gerhardt of Reading University; and much more besides.

Over the next couple of pages are a collection of images and short overviews of the various activities the Classics and Languages department have done over the academic year.

Mr M Cooper

On the German Exchange visiting Europe’s biggest telescope

Y13 taking a refreshment break during revisions sessions 28

Y10 taking in the sights on the French Exchange

Michael Bullock “on the steps”

Moliere’s Tartuffe, the bilingual play, in full flow

A number of Y10s after a day in town, on the French Exchange in Lyon 29

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Mosel Valley Trip—Y8

Once again, 40 Y8s made their way to Moselkern, a village in the Mosel Valley. On the program were trips to Trier, with the Amphitheatre and Roman Baths as well as the gate ‘Porta nigra’, trips to Cochem via boat including some grape-juice tasting and a tour through Cochem castle and a day in Phantasialand, a German theme park. A must were also ice creams, sausages, football matches and of course Brezeln.

Onatti

Laura and Nathan were brilliant at entertaining Year 7 with a story about an English man with limited French who comes to France searching for a wife for Henry VIII. Various boys volunteered to come up on stage.

We have the next play booked up already for next Spring!

Lingustics Olympiad This year, once again, saw Reading School being entered for the United Kingdom Linguistics Olympiad [a series of high-end stretch and challenge logic problems through the medium of real, but unfamiliar, languages], which had seen huge national successes the previous year at all levels.

Bulgarian, Fijian, Gilbertese, Icelandic, Vietnamese, Northern and Central Pame, and Albanian. They proved a suitable challenge.

All students in Years 7-11 were entered along with all linguists (French, German, Spanish or Latin) in Years 12-13 . Years 7-9 are Foundation Level, Years 10-11 are Intermediate Level and Years 12-13 are Advanced Level.

Intermediate – 24 Gold, 37 Silver and 67 Bronze

The languages in com pet ition were:

The overall national Reading School were:

results for

Foundation – 32 Gold, 68 Silver and 108 Bronze

this year’s Lit huanian,

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Advanced – 6 Gold, 3 Silver and 11 Bronze.

Of particular note, Edmund Lea has been selected for the UK squad for the Linguistics Olympiad, which takes place in Prague July 25-31. An outstanding achievement.

Huge congratulations to all concerned.

Mr M Cooper

German Exchange 2018 Following on from the success of the new German exchange set up last year, another twenty four boys from Years 9 and 10 have just returned, from Rheinbach, in Germany, brimming with confidence and bursting with tales to tell.

Spending free time in town

A rich cultural, educational and social programme was organised for us, allowing our boys to get involved in lessons at the St Joseph Gymnasium, a visit to the beautiful cities of Bonn and Cologne and to Europe’s largest radio telescope, in Effelsberg. There was also the inescapable football competition.

We are all very proud of this new exchange, particularly as it came about as a result of our Year 8 students, whilst on the Mosel Valley Trip two years ago, being perfect ambassadors of Reading School and attracting the attention of a local

The boys enjoying the sights teacher. She was so impressed with our students’ eagerness to speak German and their polite conduct that she was keen to embark on a new partnership between our schools.

Long may it last!

Helga Majorossy-Young

The Year in Spanish Having almost finished the academic year we can say that this has been a great one for Spanish! Our boys have worked very hard showing a growing interest for the subject.

delicious meal. Spanish atmosphere and tasty food, what else do you need to have a brilliant day?

After her first year at Reading School we are pleased to say that Mrs Humphries has had a fantastic year working within the MFL Department and her contribution to the subject has been remarkable.

Spanish has had different highlights throughout the year and it’s impossible to mention all of them but we want to remember the three most popular events in 2017/2018.

Our Year 10 had the opportunity to visit “The Fisherman’s Cottage” in Reading. This is a Pub by the canal and serves traditional Spanish food like “paella”, “patatas bravas” or the popular “calamares”. The boys had to use their skills and interact with the Spanish waiters while enjoying a

Córdoba in the south of Spain. This trip is back and we wanted to say thank you to all the boys and teachers involved and who made this possible; Mrs Humphries, Miss García, Miss Hooker and Mr Sánchez.

Year 10 enjoying Spanish food The Year 11 and 12 had the opportunity to have an inspirational talk from an accountant specialised in recruitment who talked about the importance of having a second language in a business environment.

This talk gave our boys a different perspective of languages and its application real scenarios.

To finish this review we cannot forget the biggest trip the Spanish Department has organised this year,

Year 9 taking in Spanish culture

Safety first

Spanish Trip 2018 from a Student’s Perspective Our visits to Cordoba, Sevilla and Granada helped to develop our understanding of Spanish culture, from experiencing churros con chocolate for breakfast to visiting the unique Mosque-Cathedral in the heart of Cordoba. All I can say is that it was one of the greatest and most memorable trips that I have very been on, from the sightseeing to the souvenirs, from the ice cream to the free time, it was all sheer perfection. A very big muchas gracias to the MFL department for making such an incredible trip happen.

Ollie Binnie, 9S

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PE & Games What sport tells us about life

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eadership, integrity, excellence, community; these are the pillars of which Reading School’s purpose is built upon. I believe that physical education and school sport can develop all of them in abundance. We not only have the power to make better movers, but also better people, as long as we are intentional with our words and with our actions. To ensure the promise of flourishing that these pillars offer aren’t empty or become platitudes to hang on a wall we must as an institution explore their meaning together.

Win or lose, respect is shown in sport The success of school sport is often measured by winning: fixtures, tournaments, trophies, medals and competitions. From elite to youth levels the only Key Performance Indicator that matters is winning. It is how we define excellence when it comes to sport. It is the first question an adult tends to ask a child when enquiring how their game went. As first and foremost a teacher, that doesn’t sit well with me. All adults

involved in school sport need to give it a clear educational purpose that does not solely revolve around winning at all costs and the labels that not winning brings. So how else can we measure the success of a school sports programme? Well sport provides the opportunity for its participants to take on personal and social responsibility. Once again this doesn’t naturally occur, but must be explicitly guided by the interactions of all involved in school sport. Perhaps we could start to see leadership not as a position that only a few can

possess, but an act that all can aspire to. That act being the changing and challenging of the behaviours of others for the better; collectively helping the individual flourish whilst at the same time individually helping the collective flourish. This leads to creating a sense of place and belonging, a community.

Integrity is a word you hear almost every day, but it’s not a word that people spend a lot of time thinking about. According to the dictionary, integrity is "firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values."

Put another way, the root of integrity is about doing the right thing even when it’s not acknowledged by others, or convenient for you. An individual with integrity is the antidote to self-interest. There are countless examples of ways to develop integrity in life through sport.

All sport forms are governed by an elaborate code of rules in which every aspect of the task is described, defined, and denoted in explicit terms. These rules also define what counts in evaluating the participants performance of the sport. The rules of sport prescribe how an individual should behave when involved. This leads to the idea of sportsmanship, an aspirational ethos that sport is enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors. We could extend that to education or indeed life itself. However, I think sport can offer a concept of integrity that is fundamentally different but none the less important.

An alternative definition of integrity is ‘the state of being whole and undivided’. I believe that playing sport is one of the very few times we humans can achieve this state. In short, within the complex conditions of life, we are seldom, if ever, free to focus all our attention on one welldefined task and bring all the energies of our being to bear on one whole hearted attempt to perform

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that task effectively. In contrast, the rules of sport provide us with a manmade world in which freedom is fully guaranteed. Allowing the participant not to be pushed and pulled in a dozen different directions by the many priorities in life that they have.

In that moment of playing sport they can experience themselves as a fully motivated, fully integrated, fully function human being.

The experience of playing sport for children, if provided well by adults, allows for the recreation and the restoration of their own sense of wholeness.

Adityaraj celebrates a cricket victory Our expectations of sport are the true measure of our success. This for me is at the core of the experience we, as teachers and parents, should be offering through school sport. As vehicle for education, not just in the traditional sense, but as an education of ourselves. Leadership, integrity, excellence, community can be developed in sport bas long as we are embracing a code where ‘striving is more important than winning’ and it is used as a chance to learn something about ourselves and to better ourselves.

So whatever sport you do and whatever level you do it at, I urge you to use your engagement in sport to learn how to be a better version of yourself and to let the outcomes take care of themselves.

Mr A Beckey

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 mornings at Years 7, 8 and 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 side made it through to the County

Cup quarter-finals but got beaten narrowly, with both games being within one score.

The senior side have also seen an increase in numbers with over 60 boys in the Sixth Form regularly attending weekly training. This meant we were able to enter and compete in a local league for the first time.

The first team finished second in the league losing narrowly to Gordons School in two games that were both within a score. The second team managed to go one better and win their competition, beating Reddam House in the final.

Y7 at the Berkshire Rugby Festival All in all it has been a very good year for rugby, all the pupils that have represented the School have done so with superb dedication, enthusiasm, confidence and hope this continues and an enjoyment for rugby continues to grow.

Mr J Steadman

Football It has been an incredible year for Reading School football with so many boys taking part in lessons, House competitions, fixtures against other schools and the end of year tour to the Joe Hart Soccer Tournam ent at Shrewsbury School.

It was great to have Joe Hart's father, Charles, speak at the Sports Personality evening and to see how many boys have attended the tournament over the past five years. This year, our school teams have played in the County Cups, the Thames Valley Leagues and have had multiple block fixtures which have taken place during the week and on Saturday mornings. I have seen so

much progress both individually and collectively as a result of hard work and a positive attitude. Over 200 boys have represented the school at some point which is really pleasing for me.

Y8 House Football is fiercely contested I have enjoyed a very successful season with the 1st XI which saw the team improve so much tactically as

well as technically which I think made a huge difference. We even managed a 2-2 draw with national semi-finalists, which was a personal highlight. I really want the tactical knowledge to spread throughout the younger years through our principles so we can all approach games in the best possible way and produce the best possible performances. It would also be nice to win some trophies along the way!

It has been an absolute pleasure to see so much progress and I look forward to seeing more next year. I would like to say a huge thank you to all the boys and staff who have been involved this year.

Mr S Allen

Cricket Cricket continues to go from strength to strength. With glorious summer weather allowing for 61 external fixtures and 126 House Cricket fixtures allowing every pupil in the school to play competitive cricket. This is something the Physical Education department is very proud of.

The only down side to the end of a season is that we have to say goodbye to the Year 13 Cricketers; William Clennell, Adit Rajeev, Josh Blake, Pranav Prasad, Mark Cobb, Arjun

Mathur, Saket Koti, Andrew Prowse and Ragan Jain. These boys’ commitment, dedication and achievements over the past 7 years have been exceptional. Particular highlights of the 1st XI season include a defiant draw with the MCC and beating Reading Bluecoat in the County Plate semi-final. Additionally, the summer tour to St Lucia was a huge success, once again, with a record of five wins, three losses and a vast number of wonderful memories.

Mr T Bellinger 33

Joshua Wallace receives the trophy for victory in the game v The ORs

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ISF World Schools Badminton Championship April 2018 Pune India

April 2018 saw the ISF World Schools Badminton Championship held in Pune, India, acclaimed as the home of Badminton. Reading School, reigning National Champions at both Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 were proud to be England’s representatives in the School (Boys) Competition.

Fourteen teams from around the globe including Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Chinese Taipei, Czech Republic, England, France, Georgia, India, Italy, Turkey, United Arab Emirates participated in the competition organised by the ISF. Drawn in Group B alongside the pretournament favourites, Chinese Taipei, Italy, India A and Georgia the England Team from Reading School consisting of Alex Dillingham, Toby Dillingham , Michael Li (Captain) and Ian Shang were immensely proud and honoured to be representing their country in the ISF World Badminton Championships.

First impressions are important and the players and coach, Mr Tom Bellinger were certainly impressed by the quality of the venue and the warmth of the welcome from both ISF officials and locals. Certainly the opening ceremony was a superb spectacle including mass drums, numerous white stallions, turbans and what seemed to be a mile-long procession When the tournament proper commenced England got off to flying start, winning 5-0 against the hosts India A.

Whilst in the second Group B match against Georgia the final scoreline was also 5-0 to England.

Following victory over Georgia the team from Reading School successfully overcame Italy 5-0 to secure a place in the quarter-finals.

However, Chinese Taipei proved far too strong and comprehensively beat England 5-0 in the final group match.

The Chinese Taipei were fast, played as a team and were not only talented but seemed to love practicing and playing matches. In short it was evident that they loved Badminton, were imbued with the positive values of ISF and were also talented and competitive. The opposition were truly inspirational and demonstrated that further improvement would be necessary if we were to medal in this competition.

Toby Dillingham, Alex Dillingham, Ian Shang, Tony Xu, Anthony Zhang As a result of the Group matches England were pitted against France, a School from Bordeaux with links to the Badminton Development Centre at the University. England's number one pairing, the dynamic Dillingham duo, made their family, school and country proud with a stunning 2-1 defeat of the French doubles unit.

However, we could not compete with the quality of the French in the singles and eventually lost 4-1. But it was no disgrace losing to the eventual finalists, along with the eventual winners Chinese Taipei.

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England bounced back to defeat Italy 5-0 to ensure that they faced the Czech Republic in the 5th/6th play-off.

All matches were very close, with Alex, Toby, Michael and Ian saving their best badminton to last to emerge 3-2 winners. Undoubtedly winning 5 out of 7 matches and only losing to the eventual gold and silver medallists was a great achievement for the team from Berkshire. They were excellent ambassadors for their school, their country and the values of ISF. Indeed, the players are very keen to continue to make progress and are aiming to represent England again in the 2020 ISF World Schools Badminton Championships to be held in the home of the Ancient Games, Olympia in Greece.

It is pleasing to report that a week after gaining 5th place in the world, Reading School successfully defended its KS4 National Schools Badminton crown. Swapping sunny Pune for the cooler climate of Milton Keynes, Reading School emerged as winners of the 2018 National Schools Championships Key Stage 4 boys, defeating Manchester Grammar School 3-2 in the final encounter.

Certainly we made many friends and were impressed by the professionalism and integrity of the ISF team and the hospitality of Indian hosts. The ‘Joy of Moving’ ethos strengthened the underlying values of the ISF which successfully champions the development of the character, attitudes and skills of young people through the medium of sport. The values were exemplified in the inspirational Mixed Doubles Friendship Tournament following the Finals where Reading School Staff remained undefeated due in no small measure to being paired with the Chinese Taipei number one.

This was our first experience of the ISF – We sincerely hope that it is not our last!

Mr A Robson

Ultimate Frisbee Ultimate Frisbee has gone from strength to strength this year after an exciting debut last summer. We started the year with a series of fixtures against Windsor Boys School in which we were able to use our relentless energy and patience with the Frisbee to come out on top with a series of impressive performances.

Frisbee training has continued throughout the year with students from a wide range of years getting involved at one point or another. With the sun back out, it is time to get back out in force playing Frisbee as we look towards next year and hopefully competing in both local and national tournaments. This summer also sees the appearance of former Reading School boy, Conrad Wilson, competing out in Cincinnati in the World Ultimate Club Championships giving our current crop something to aspire to in the future.

Mr D Whitehorn

The thriving Ultimate Frisbee Club

Lacrosse As another year draws to a close, the Reading School lacrosse team has said goodbye to their latest marvellous coach, Joe Streuli. During Joe's year at Reading, the team has gone from strength to strength, playing home and away, rematching rivals in the rain and even getting to join up with other teams to create a South England Men's Lacrosse junior squad to play some top notch lacrosse against a university team!

Despite being on the back foot for a few games against some highly experienced teams, the boys have remained dedicated and good humoured, taking any losses Lacrosse is growing at Reading School in their stride to become a resilient and coherent unit.

Harry Manocha, 12AL Athletics From after School sessions to House Athletics, it has been a great success for Athletics at Reading School.

and we excited about the day, however we couldn’t believe how good it was going to be!

We are aware that Athletics can be very challenging and sometimes hard to commit when the temperatures are too high. Despite all of this, the level of persona and social responsibility that our boys have put into School teams to represent Reading School at Palmer Park and the high level of sessions attended after school are remarkable.

We certainly had a great day with lots of competitions, support from the grandstand and records, school records!

We cannot finish this review without mentioning the successful event held England Education Games The Year 9 GCSE PE students were invited to the 2nd annual England Education Games which took place in Stoke Mandeville and Much Wenlock.

The games they played were designed to be unified sports where able bodied and disabled people can participate on a level playing field.

Our boys were superb, working in teams with students with various disabilities, throwing themselves into activities such as wheelchair

Sam Slocombe, 11E takes the win last Monday 25th June in Palmer Park, where House Athletics took place. The PE Department has worked very hard

The PE Department wants to say thank you to all the boys involved in Athletics this year. We hope you had a great time and you continue being active and representing your school for the years to come.

Mr A Beckey

basketball, fencing and tennis at Stoke Mandeville Stadium which is the birthplace of the Paralympic Games. We got to meet and hear from former Paralympic athletes which were inspirational and humbling.

We also finally realised why the London 2012 mascots were called Mandeville and Wenlock.

Y9 trying wheelchair basketball

I was so proud of our students who could now possibly be selected for the

International Education Games in Athens as a result.

Mr S Allen

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Drama A Fond Farewell

A

s you may or may not know sadly Miss Capon is leaving us this year after over 20 years at Reading School. Of course within her roles in PSHE and as assistant headteacher she has positively affected all of our lives yet she has no doubt left the biggest impact on the students who take drama, guiding us through a course that the government has found a hobby in altering and forming great relationships with all of us along the way. With this in mind in an attempt to commemorate her time at Reading School I have collected the current ALevel students’ favourite Miss Capon memories.

The Y12s after their final showcase performance with the Drama team (from left to right: Jamie Cottle, Miss Barallon, Ms Fooks, Miss Capon, Sean Laing, Joe Hicks, Bryn VerityLegg and Tommy Allwright) Sean Laing remembers one rehearsal in particular for mine and his production of 1984 – a thrilling scene of torture testing the strength of the human mind. At least that was our intention when in reality the first run-throughs were more torturous for the audience than our onstage victim.

Somehow we managed to make teeth drilling; hand smashing and mental manipulation “mind numbingly boring” and this culminated in one of Miss Capon’s best moments of interrupting our scene mid-torture to ask “how long has it got left?” Miss Capon then called the performance soporific which upon a quick Google revealed to mean sleep inducing usually in

conjunction with drugs. Harsh, hilarious and highly accurate with Miss Capon’s and Mrs Fooks’ expert assistance the scene was ready in time for exams, this time with the audience on the edge of their seats rather than snoozing on them.

“I’ll get you back Miss Capon!”

Joe Hicks’ favourite memory takes place on one of the many long open evenings in which we usually played drama games into what felt like the early hours of the morning. In one game called ‘Holy Father’ we would admit improvised sins (like wearing socks and sandals) to a Holy Father and do as they command without laughing. Miss Capon admitted to seeing another member of the brotherhood sing Madonna and when questioned what song she replied “like a virgin”. It was at this moment that a gaggle of prospective students and parents walked in to the drama studio and Miss Capon still in character was asked by the Holy Father to demonstrate by singing the chorus. Realising the content of chorus what proceeded was a hilarious attempt to get out of singing it and still appease the Holy Father which in the end was only resolved by a vogue off between me and Sean.

Tommy Allwright wanted to remember how generous Miss Capon was throughout GCSEs and A-level not only by offering to give up her time for additional rehearsals but also in moments like getting cupcakes made for us with each of our names on them for helping out with open evening.

Tommy especially remembers how generous Miss Capon was with her time in rehearsal of ‘Mean Streets’ his year 10 devised piece and Tommy would like to apologise for “putting you through that final dance sequence repeatedly.”

One of Bryn’s favourite Miss Capon

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memories were the discussions held with her towards the end of the first term when Bryn was considering dropping the subject. Bryn remembers how supportive Miss Capon was, as is indicative of her character, but would also like to thank her for restoring his passion for theatre studies as he’s extremely glad he is still a part of the A-level team.

I have countless heart warming memories of Miss Capon including secret Santa and her ongoing support of the student led LGBTQ+ support group yet my favourite memory has to be the way she revealed my GCSE results. Miss Capon and Mrs Fooks were seeing all of us one by one in their office to reveal our practical marks and when I walked into find my two teachers downcast I was terrified.

They continued to reveal a sub-par mark with such dramatic skill that I truly felt I had failed the subject. Only after consoling me did Mrs Fooks blurt out “I feel bad” and Miss Capon revealed my full marks whilst descending into wicked laughter. I now must admit that I too would’ve found my unnecessarily worried face funny but my immediate response was a mixture of extreme relief and “I’ll get you back Miss Capon!” I do hope this published collection of embarrassing memories suffices as comeuppance.

The performers enjoy the applause Joking aside, the A-Level team and I would like to thank you so much for the support, passion and expertise you have brought to the subject over the years and the joy you have instilled in each of our lives. Thank you and good luck, Miss Capon!

Jamie Cottle, 12AL

We Will Rock You! Looking back now at ‘We Will Rock You!’, it is almost unbelievable that it happened!

By the time we reached performance, 104 hours of rehearsal had gone into this production, plus countless hours of preparat ion, choreography, paperwork and all the other little jobs that turn a script and score into a show.

When we initially approached the schools about this production back in March 2017, we could never have predicted the enthusiasm that we received from students of both schools. Back in September we held an open rehearsal for all of those interested in being a part of the ensembles, and over 130 students came along to that – more than we could ever have anticipated. Since then, our final cast of around 70 students worked incredibly hardly, week in, week out to create the show.

Emotions run wild as events unfold While there are a ridiculous number of people to thank for their help supporting the performance, there are a few people who I need to highlight especially for their support during this project: Oliver Bamber and everyone at the Whitty Theatre – we first contacted them in December 2016

Ewan Millar, Alex Kitching and Katie Hay and the amount of support they have given us since then has been beyond belief, and of course getting to perform the show in a stunning, newly built venue was just the icing on the cake. Special mentions definitely also have to go out to Mansi Virmani and Patrick Sharman, who worked with dedication to run rehearsals alongside me, teaching the choreography and singing.

Finally, our Kendrick Co-Ordinator, Emily Blanche, deserves an enormous thank you – whether it was recruiting people to help backstage or walking Year 7s to and from Kendrick to Reading School every week without fail, she has taken on everything and anything that could possibly need doing and has been a truly integral part of this production. While the production was entirely student-led, the staff who supervised rehearsals every afternoon were amazing – it wouldn’t have been possible without them. In particular, Mr Goulding, Miss Capon and Mrs Fooks gave us lots of

advice and support that helped make the show what it was.

I couldn’t be prouder of our amazing cast and crew who produced such an amazing show that raised nearly £4000 for an amazing local charity, No5 Counselling, who provide counselling services to young people with a much shorter wait time than the NHS.

Alex Essery takes centre stage Hopefully this production has opened up opportunities for future musical partnerships with Kendrick, and I’m sure that any future show will only build on our successes.

The whole cast pose at the end of the final performance 37

Sean Laing, 12HYA

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Physics

A

s referenced in last year’s edition of Floreat Redingensis, Dr Hulya Yadsan-Appleby has joined the staff at Reading School. Alongside her work here, she is also a world leading researcher. To provide us with an insight into the world she studies, here is an abridged version of an article she has written for us.

The full text can be found on the school website.

What is Quantum About Quantum Computers?

Firstly, |ψ(x,t)|2 is a probability distribution and for that reason ψ is often called a probability wave of a particle being somewhere. This means that we really cannot think of something physical like water waves when we talk about ψ. Secondly, advanced versions of double slit experiments seem to show us that a particle is passing through both slits at once which would not be predicted by a classical probability distribution theory. This suggests that the particle is everywhere at the same time leading us to Schrödinger's famous cat!

become smaller and smaller, they started to worry about the possible quantum effects. It was only in the 1980s they started to think that perhaps quantum effects could be turned into an advantage.

Q

uantum computers are proposed computers which manipulate the laws of quantum mechanics. At the heart of these laws, lies the quantum superposition principle. As any keen Y12 or Y13 Physics student at Reading School would immediately recall this principle is about waves and it states that “when waves meet, the sum of the displacements of the individual waves is always equal to the displacement of the resulting single wave”. What they may not know is that the superposition principle is a consequence of the linearity of the classical wave equation.

The quantum mechanical equivalent of the classical wave equation is also linear and it has got a well-known name: the Schrödinger equation

Although the maths is similar, quantum superposition is very different from classical superposition.

50 qubit quantum computer built by IBM in 2017

Mr Schrödinger giving a present to his daughter Many scientists are interested in quantum computers in the hope that once they are realized the conflicting features of quantum mechanics will be resolved. However, the main reason for this interest is that the quantum computation offers vast possibilities and advancement for the future, such as fast computation and teleportation via entanglement and secure communication via quantum cryptography. Originally quantum features were a concern for physicists.

As the size of classical computers

House Science

Just like classical computers, quantum computers are also going to have materials we know of such as semi -conductors and super-conductors.

The quantum mechanical properties of electrons, photons and ions will be used. For example electron spin chains are proposed as a quantum analogue of classical copper wires through which electric signals are carried from one location to another inside a quantum computer.

Dr Appleby will be running Quantum Club next year for those interested.

Full details will come in September. A more comprehensive version of this story is on the school website Dr H Yadsan—Appleby bridge, launch a pencil catapult, safely land an egg from height and a paper plane competition.

The inaugural House Science competition took place this year, with great success.

The winners were:

One participant per year group, per house was selected to compete and their task was to use their engineering and physics knowledge to build a

1st place - County Joint 2nd - place School, Laud, & East 5th place - West

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Cern Trip A lucky selection of students were able to travel to Switzerland with the Physics department in order to visit CERN. In the following article, two of the students recount their experiences.

A Trip to Remember We got to school very early in the morning, and because of this we were very tired. The bus arrived soon after we arrived, and very quickly we had arrived at Heathrow.

Once we got to Switzerland, the teachers expertly guided the group around the airport and into the hotel.

We dumped our bags and set off to the first museum of the trip, the Museum of the History of Science, where we set off with a quiz to fill out.

It was a very interesting museum, and the winners of the quiz were: Henry Billiard and Sida Li.

A sculpture in the grounds of CERN We then went on a long and tiring walk to the UN, which would later come back to haunt us, as we walked to the back entrance to skip the queues. The UN was very interesting; there were amazing pictures in all of the main conference halls, which all had symbolic meanings. We also went to the main international conference hall where the ceiling was like the ocean floor to remind us where all life comes from.

Staff and students gather for a photo 27km accelerator which was refracted. underneath our feet, and how the After lunch we returned to the Large Hadron Collider was built.

Universe of Particles and took a coach Hydrogen is used in the accelerator to another facility in France. We were for its protons because it has the least then re-joined by our helpful guides amount of electrons. The electrons who showed us around the place. The were separated from the protons guides showed us where they were which were then shot at high speeds manufacturing huge magnets for a reaching almost 99.99% the speed of future particle accelerator almost 6 light. times the size of the current LHC! The Close to the Universe of Particles one guide explained to us the different of the particle detectors was located, parts of the LHC including, the super the Atlas detector. Inside, the guide conductive magnet, which operates at showed us a video about the ‘first cryogenic temperatures and increases moment’. He then explained to us the conductivity. We were also shown a different layers of the detector and scale replica of what conditions 100m how it measured the different exotic down looked like, according to the rays coming off the reaction, for guide, each exit was >2000 meters example, electrons were detected by away from each other! the first layer which was super Gautham Kurakula, 8S and Nicholas conductive because electrons were Painter, 8S

On Tuesday we took a tram to CERN, near the border of France, we first visited the Universe of Particles exhibition, were we learnt about the purpose of the particle accelerators, to find out what happened in the ‘first moment of the universe’ (the Big Bang).

Then we went to the main part of CERN where we learnt about the Inside the Universe of Particles 39

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Biology

B

Biology Mentoring iology mentoring started in 2014, the aim was to aid st udents with t heir understanding of the subject as well as encourage and develop leadership and communication skills of A level Biology students.

One to One Biology Mentoring “Over the past few months, I have been acting as a one to one Biology mentor to a Year 11 student. The main purpose of these sessions have been to help fill in any gaps he has in his knowledge of GCSE Biology.

Although my mentee had a very good overall understanding of the content, I have been helping him to try and use the correct terminology and key words required to gain as many marks as possible in the exams. By the end of the session I try to make sure his misconceptions in that particular area have been resolved.

“Biology mentoring helps me to talk through what I learn with somebody else. In a typical session, we review the areas in which I have struggled.

We also work through some practice questions, so I can both assess my knowledge and practise exam technique, which is essential. Doing this has allowed me to revise topics more effectively, and so has developed my knowledge of Biology, which in turn has improved my confidence.”

Rene Chuka, Y11 - mentee There are many aspects to being a Biology mentor it is hoped this will also help to develop your own leadership skills and enthusiasm for the subject.

Biology mentoring – lead mentor “If are seeking leadership opportunities in Year 12, then you may want to look into becoming a lead Biology mentor.

There are numerous qualities that are required to be an effective lead mentor. The first, and probably the most important, is having good organisational skills. Being organised is paramount since you will have to create a rota for Biology clinic that will run throughout the year. You have to make sure that all of the mentors have equal opportunity to attend clinic as well as making sure there

Rishabh Mathur Y12, offering advice The teaching element of these sessions has also helped me to develop as an individual and improve m y o r g a n is at i on a l a nd t im e management skills. Much to my surprise, teaching a topic that you know well can be unexpectedly difficult as you need to be able to effectively transfer your knowledge and understanding to the other person. N onet heless, I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and it would be great if my mentee can go on to benefit from these sessions and perform well in his upcoming exams.”

Rishabh Mathur, Y12, 1 to 1 mentor

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are enough people present each week.

“If are seeking leadership opportunities in Year 12, then you may want to look into becoming a lead Biology mentor.”

Finally, it is important to have a genuine interest for Biology and have a good general biological understanding. As a lead Biology mentor you should have an interest in Biology that goes beyond the classroom. After all, you are committing yourself to helping out with the Biology department out of lesson time. You cannot do this without genuine enthusiasm.”

Fred Newbold, 12KS “Occas ionally you are asked questions that you may not necessarily know the exact answer to but these sessions give you the opportunity to learn and refresh your memory alongside the student. Also through my time mentoring I have gained the invaluable experience of how to teach others and convey my own knowledge in a coherent and understandable manner.”

Satesh Mistry, 12KS

2018 Biology Challenge Congratulations to Year 10 Biologists who achieved an impressive 28 Gold, 39 Silver and 44 Bronze awards in the 2018 Biology Challenge, run by the Royal Society of Biology. 43,000 students across the country took part including all Reading school Year 10 students and some Year 9. To achieve a Gold award a score of 110 out of 139 was required.

The competition consisted of two,

twenty-five-minute multiple choice papers to be taken online under staffsupervised exam conditions.

Questions were set on the school curriculum, but the competition also rewards those students whose knowledge of the subject has been increased by reading books and magazines, watching natural history programmes, taking notice of the news media for items of biological interest, and are generally aware of

our natural flora and fauna.

The top achieving Year 10 students in the School were Edward Reeves, Eugene Lin and Arkin Fernandes. The top achieving Year 9 students who also received Gold awards were Shaunak Satish, Archie Thorpe, Dinindu Witharan and Rovindu Hettiarachchi.

Ms F Howson

Back row: Arkin, Aditya, Eugene, Edward, Henry, Aporv, James Front row: Shaunak, Dinindu, Jonathan, Daniel, Sanskar, Faiq, Rovindu British Biology Olympiad 2018 Congratulations to Thomas Jia in Year 13 who reached the final 16 students in the British Biology Olympiad.

selection preliminary round which consisted of a challenging 90-minute paper last month.

The 16 finalists took part in practical assessments and an additional written paper at the University of Warwick to select a UK team of four students and Tom narrowly missed the selection for the team.

Thomas Jia, British Olympiad finalist The finalists competed for a place on the UK team to take part in the 2018 International Biology Olympiad, the world’s largest Biology competition for school pupils.

Tom achieved a gold medal in the first round of the British Biology Olympiad and then competed in the team

In addition to Tom’s fantastic achievement as one of the top 16 Biology students in the country, Reading School Biologists gained an impressive 13 Gold, 7 Silver and 15 Bronze medals in the competition run by the Royal Society of Biology.

Receiving a gold medal in this round demonstrates that a student is one of the most talented young biologists in the country. Chris Youseff was also selected for the second round of the competition along with Thomas.

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The Britis h Biology Olympiad challenges and stimulates students with an interest in Biology to expand and extend their talents.

It enables students to demonstrate their knowledge and to be suitably rewarded with publicly recognised certificates and medals.

The International Biology Olympiad (IBO) will be held in Tehran this year, with over sixty countries taking part.

The IBO seeks to challenge by both theory and practical tests some of the top pre-university Biology students in the world, with over sixty countries taking part.

The UK teams have had considerable success at IBO and we are very grateful to BBSRC for its continued support of the UK team's participation.

Ms F Howson

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Chemistry

2

018 has been a busy year in Chemistry, with the completion of the new GCSE course and the introduction of a greater contribution in terms of practical work in both GCSE and A level. The contribution made by the PTA has allowed us not only to provide for all of that but to enable support of more practical work in junior classes too.

We really do appreciate the help.

In addition the STEM clubs go from strength to strength with good numbers attending the junior club (in excess of 30!) and good progress being made with the Formula 24 car, which should be ready to race in October.

Formula 24 They are a group of 10 students in the process of building an electric single-seater race car to compete in the Greenpower Formula 24 racing series. A year ago they bought a standard kit car that came with the basic chassis and powertrain, and during the last year they have been making it ready to race. This has included: designing bodywork using CAD, cutting and fitting aluminium bodywork, installing new electrics to allow variable speed control rather than just the standard on/off switch and designing a new interactive steering wheel using an Arduino.

They displayed the car at the Open Day and the Spring Fayre, and are looking to start competing when they get back to school after September! You can follow their efforts on the team’s Twitter: @RSRacing24 Mr S Longstaff Chemistry Olympiad Congratulations to these boys for their brilliant results in a very challenging Chemistry Olympiad.

Ben

Iddon

Gold

Jack

Lawrence

Gold

Alexander

Bland

Gold

Luke

Ridge

Gold

Edmund

Lea

Gold

Tuhin

Vashneya

Silver

Nicholas

Lee

Silver

Chris

Youssef

Silver

Ben

Blaker

Silver

Thomas

Jia

Silver

Roy

Wang

Silver

Sohaib

Ansari

Silver

Nikhil

Anand

Silver

Ryan

Wong

Silver

Anujan

Kirupakaran

Bronze

Tommaso

Leonardi

Bronze

Michael Michael

Goon Li

Bronze Bronze

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The boys take the race car through its paces

STEM Club It has been a brilliant year, full of enrichment opportunities for our STEM boys. We have had Inspire Lectures from RAL, been finalists in the TSL sustainability essay competition and had entries into the BP Ultimate STEM Challenge.

The boys have definitely been inspired to collaborate and achieve excellence.

snowman darts! Not only this but their wisdom has inspired some older years in their scientific processes with more in-depth projects such as investigating the best vegetable as a renewable fuel.

Looking to next year, we are thinking big with rocket building and weather balloons taking centre stage in September, along with collaboration with STEM ambassadors for national competitions. Watch this space.

Miss L Ayres

Inspired by science The club has been hugely popular and could not have run without the talent, expertise and dedication of our 6 th form ambassadors.

Together, they have led lower years through investigations on viscosity, the chemistry of fireworks, crystal growing competitions, lollipop stick chain reactions and even 42

Year 8 enjoying STEM Club

Computer Science

O

Y12 Visit to Criterion Games n Friday 27 April the Y12s visited the Criterion Games for a studio tour, talks and a workshop. The aim of the trip was to give pupils the experience of a real development environment and a chance to work through some of the processes that they go through when developing games during the workshop.

Staff at Criterion also discussed different career paths that students could take and demonstrated the range of jobs available in the games industry.

Y12, Daniel commented: “My classmates and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Criterion Games on 27th April.

We were given a welcoming tour of the game studio and received multiple career talks from different members of the team at Criterion.

To top it all off, we finished with a fun and interactive brainstorming session encouraging us to come up with unique games. My team was given the two words "Dog" and "Tea" which resulted in some pretty obscure ideas.

to see the different teams of game designers collaborating with each other and sharing their ideas between themselves to really create a pleasant working environment and effectively incorporate the viewpoint of every single one of the team members within the project.

The staff at Criterion were extremely polite and helpful, and it was very exciting to see their impressive and well laid out office, as well as for them to showcase their extraordinary work to us and to display the capabilities of a team of game designers to make something as complex and ludicrous as a video game come to life. It was also extremely kind of them to allow us to listen to a member from each of the different teams (such as audio, graphics, etc.) talk about what life is like in the workplace for them, what kind of designing they do themselves and the qualities required of someone who would like to do a job similar to their own.

All the information given to us was very helpful, and presented in a very nice way which made it very easy for us, as a group of Year 12s, to understand.

However, what impressed me most about Criterion Games was the versatility of the team members and their capability to come up with new ideas and share them amongst their peers. They informed us that as a game designer, you may be working on completely different tasks, or even games, throughout short time periods which requires a huge amount of resilience and adaptability in the field. Their ability to do this, combined with the social aspects in development such as sharing ideas and criticisms, allows a company such as Criterion Games to create such entertaining and enjoyable products to the public and the highest possible standard.

Thus, in summary, visiting Criterion Games was an experience of a lifetime. It was very informative, especially as a student wanting to do computer science and game design in the future, as well as being incredibly fun and enjoyable.”

Many thanks to Miss C Zahra (Head of Computer Science) and Mr S LingWinston (Teacher of Computer Science) for arranging this visit.

After taking a physical look around the working environment at Criterion, I am even more excited about taking up a career in the tech industry.

There was a great amount teamwork and cooperation between all disciplines and the number of opportunities for all types of people was inspiring. Well worth the two hour coach journey!”

Y12 Denis said: “Visiting Criterion Games was a fantastic experience and I greatly enjoyed it. The atmosphere in the workplace was vibrant and full of positivity. It was also very admirable

Y12 at Criterion Games, accompanied by Miss Zahra and Mr Ling-Winston 43

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Religious Studies (Philosophy)

D

uring this academic year we made good progress in establishing Philosophy AS -level in Years 9-11 and our first cohort of students who did the course over a full cycle of three years will have an opportunity to show off their philosophical skills during the Summer of 2019. I am personally looking forward to see a dramatic increase in the number of A’s and B’s from our very able young philosophers.

The results from the internal examinations in Philosophy for Year 9 also look positive and as we work hard on improving the knowledgebase and the required skills like analysing and evaluating, students and parents will appreciate more and more the transferable skills that their boys gain in Philosophy! Furthermore, the quality of work, especially essaywriting skills, and the excellent examination results in Year 7 and 8 prove that our students have the ability, the self-belief and the ‘can do’ attitude to make a success of this am b it i ous p r o je ct t o em b ed Philosophy as a desirable and prestigious subject at Reading School.

This year also saw the continuation of some clubs and activities in the RSdepartment. The Christian Union continues to meet on a Thursday

philosophy at the beginning of this school year. Now I understand a variety of perspectives on topics ranging from the morality of war and the nature of art, to deriving and exploring the concepts of justice and consciousness.

The casual and conversational atmosphere of the club meant even a novice like me felt able, albeit with fewer philosophical buzzwords, to convey my thoughts. To me that sums up what philosophy is – the exploration of thoughts, peeling them back to see what lies behind them.

This is a skill which we don’t develop substantially in mainstream education, and I found it was satisfying not only to grow my knowledge, but to reach conclusions and make new links in my mind.

during lunchtime in Room 8 while the Philosophy Club meets on Fridays during lunchtime in the same room.

This is how one of our students, Sam Shipp has summarised his experience of the activities and discussions in the Philosophy Club.

“I

was

relatively

oblivious

to

In the Religious Studies Department we are keen to play our role in developing our students as “Champions of Character” through our relentless focus on emphasising and rewarding good characterqualities, instilling positive values and taking pride in their appearance.

Mr G Cornelissen

Chapel This year has seen a very impressive Commemoration Day service, well-attended services for the new boys and boarder-carol service while Mr Meehan has once again produced a wonderful and high quality Carol-service. 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 successfully face the moral, spiritual and cultural challenges that will come their way.

We are 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.

Mr G. Cornelissen, Chaplain and Head of Religious Studies

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Maths Once again, over 700 Reading School students participated in the annual UKMT Maths Challenge competitions.

Example questions can be found below, with answers on the final page of the magazine.

Billy has three times as many llamas as lambs. Milly has twice as many lambs as llamas. They have 17 animals in total. How many of the animals are llamas? [Junior Maths Challenge] The lengths of two sides of a triangle are 5 cm and 2 cm. The length of the third side in cm is an odd integer.

What is the length of the third side?

[Intermediate Kangaroo] In a 100-day period, each of six friends goes swimming on exactly 75 days. There are n days on which at least five of the friends swim. What are the largest and smallest possible values of n? [British Mathematical Olympiad] In November, those in Year 12 and 13 sat the Senior Maths Challenge and over 30 of the 150 boys taking the

UKMT Team Maths Challenge National Finals On Monday 18th June, four students, Daniyal and I from Year 8 and Saleh & Mannan from Year 9, went to the Royal Horticultural Halls, in London, to represent Reading School in the UKMT Team Maths Challenge National Final.

A total of 87 teams participated, with teams coming from all over the country. The competition was extremely intense and full of maths, but very enjoyable at the same time.

The first round of the day was the Poster Round. Every team had to prepare some material before the day so that they could create the poster and answer three questions based around the chosen topic, in just 50 minutes. The topic this year was Euler and Graph Theory. Our poster turned

paper secured a gold certificate, which is reserved for only the top 7% from across the country. In total, of the 162 who took part, 159 won either Gold, Silver or Bronze, making this year especially successful for Reading School. The highest scorers went onto the British Mathematical Olympiad.

The Olympiad stage is unique in the requirement for full written mathematical answers, and only the top 1,000 mathematicians in the country are invited to compete. Five from Reading School made it into this round, which in itself is an outstanding achievement, and Karthik Neelamegan, James Sun and Ryan Wong deserve a particular mention for securing a certificate of distinction.

James Sun was also invited into the second round and won a silver medal as a result, putting him in the top 50 in the country!

In the Intermediate Maths Challenge 115 students achieved a gold certificate, with a further 87 silver and 88 bronze. In total, 16 made it through to the Olympiad stage, which

in itself is a fantastic achievement, and three students secured a medal.

Congratulations to Ewan Aslan Luk, Arlan Abzhanov and Daniel Cooper.

Daniel did particularly well to win a book prize, which was only awarded to the top 50 in the year group.

At the time of writing, the Junior Maths Challenge results have not yet been released, but once again all of Years 7 – 11 participated and those studying A or AS Level Further Maths in the sixth form. The Maths Challenge features a series of increasingly complicated multiple-choice questions which focus on logical mathematical reasoning and require more thought than in traditional exams, and therefore provide an excellent opportunity to apply the curriculum content in a different context. For more details on the UKMT challenges, and for more challenging problems, you can go along to MiG club, which often picks apart previous Challenge and Olympiad questions.

Will Clennell, 13CZ

out to be very informative, but lacked a little bit in the decorative side.

However, we didn’t let this minor setback bring us down.

perfect accuracy. However, in the next three sections, we lost a total of 15 marks, which wasn’t enough to knock us out of the top ten schools up until that point. The fourth round was the cross-number, which was completed with 10 minutes to spare yet only two mistakes. Finally, the last round was the Relay, which combines both speed in maths and speed in walking. In a space of 40 minutes, we completed 15 questions right out of 30.

The boys grapple with some complex problems

In the end, Reading School placed 9th, out of the 87 national finalists, out of the 1742 teams nationally that entered this year’s Team Mathematics Challenge. We all had an amazing time (and an amazing lunch!) and were grateful for Miss Hooker and Mr Taylor, for taking us to the competition.

Sida Li, 8W

The second round was the Group Circus. We scored one of the top marks in this round, only losing a few marks due to time. The third round was the Shuttle. We had an extremely strong start: finishing all questions of the A section in two minutes with

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Floreat Floreat Year 9 Enrichment Week: From the Horses’ Mouths Day One: Group Challenge with Mr Beckey On Monday, we did group building activities, which taught us about the difference between a group and a team, and how communication was essential. This was done through games such as trying to get across a ‘river’ using benches. This was followed by reflection time where we had to “call people out” and then give feedback, as one of the foci was to accept criticism. Floreat activities like this allowed us to get out of the bubble in which we live at Reading School as we would never have visited areas such as social skills in the normal school routine.

Day Two: Life Skills with Miss Creegan

On Wednesday, we did Life Skills, which was a clever way of including non-curricular topics while building character. It involved learning to sew, investigating the maths behind tietying, baking muffins in the Refectory, how to check key fluids under a car bonnet and the best way to iron a shirt! This was interesting as we did non-academic activities that never failed to surprise me, forcing us to leave our comfort zones whilst embedding the ideas of resilience, perseverance and reflection. I learnt how to work with people I’m not familiar with, and how to form connections with unfamiliar groups.

Day Three: Alzheimer’s Society Awareness Raising with Mr Sanchez We had to talk to the public to raise awareness for the Alzheimer’s Society up at the University of Reading. It made us proactively engage with the members of the public, which helped our social interactions and was a good way to experience life in the 'real world', emphasising the importance of communication and group/team work.

This was difficult, but in being difficult it made completing it more fulfilling.

Because of this, I feel I am more prepared for later life now, and have helped a charity in achieving their goals. I was nervous as I wasn’t sure how people would react to me approaching them trying to raise awareness and money. However, it was quite a confidence booster and I have concluded that under no circumstances is giving up the right idea.

Day Four: Hike and Camp with Mr Fairchild and MapAdventures The best part of this week and the one that really brought everyone together as a group was the Hiking and Camping. Planning a route for a 4 hour, 13 mile hike was definitely scary at first but despite really testing my mental and physical endurance, it was valuable in helping us to learn how to cooperate and communicate, which, in my group, improved over time.

Looking at the people in my group, they didn’t look like my good friends but I feel like I have got closer with different individuals in my year and I think it really helped bring out the good side of my character/behaviour.

The camping after the hike was even better as we tried new challenges together like slack-lining and fire-

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lighting together, which taught us a lot about overcoming obstacles as a team. I especially enjoyed the cooking challenge as it helped me go outside my comfort zone and cook something more ambitious than I usually would.

The luxurious tents made the experience much better as well!

Day Five: World of Work with Mr Cornelissen The final day involved us welcoming a variety of expert speakers from the world of work into Reading School to advise, support and engage us with our first steps on the way towards getting a career in which we can help ourselves and others to succeed.

From barristers to political analysts, we were regaled with stories of best (and worst!) practice, the failures that they had overcome in their careers so far and then a chance to discuss our own motivations. We went on to write covering letters for a range of job roles that the Careers Adviser, Mrs Desai, had organised for us, and then had to do mock interviews that were our first taste of ‘real world’ pressure. I can definitely apply what I learnt here to other activities in the future and it was great to talk to expert adults other than our teachers and parents.

If you would like to be involved in next year’s Floreat Enrichment Week, or have an idea that you think would support Reading Boys flourish, then please get in touch with Head of Floreat, Mr Fairchild. gfairchild@reading-school.co.uk

Sweden Trip Ah, Sweden! What a fantastically beautiful place, with its blue clear waters, and lush green forests. Our trip was an unforgettable experience, perfect in so many ways. Here follows an account of our time on Stora Le.

A mesmerising setting We took a flight at 7 o’ clock in the morning, flying from London Heathrow to Gothenburg, followed by a two hour bus transfer to Ed, the place where we would begin our six day paddle. We had lunch, then began doing what would soon become second naturesetting up camp. We pitched our tents and prepared everything inside them.

It was extremely hot, so to cool off we took a dip in the lake. Bertel (from whom we were renting canoes) owned a pier, jutting out 10 metres into the lake, where it was safe to jump off.

Everyone had a wonderful time jumping into the water. For dinner we had a cook off- each group made some salads. There were some “interesting” creations! Eventually we went to sleep anticipating what tomorrow would hold.

Monday morning dawned bright and

Aditya and Alex chop down a tree

early, about 2 o’ clock! Nobody minded though as we were setting out upon our expedition!

We packed up extremely quickly and were taught by Jeff and Darren (our leaders) how best to pack the boats.

Awkwardly we managed to get them ready, and eventually we set off, heading at first across to the other side of the lake. There was a strong headwind that day, and as we were inexperienced paddlers, the adults had a conversation as to what could be improved. They decided to raft the boats together, using a strong, long piece of wood, cut from a tree. These would decrease the chance of capsizing and made paddling easier.

We set off again, eventually reaching our first campsite: Karls Huvud. This was a DANO, a manmade structure, raised slightly in which six of us stayed. The rest had to camp on antinfested ground!

This time everyone got to sleep much quicker. We were all exhausted!

Sleeping bags in the Dano

and prepared to leave, but the wind had picked back up! This time we created the Dreadnought - all the canoes tied together in one mega-raft!

We even managed to rig a sail using tarpaulin! This all helped to speed us to our final destination: Furrstad. It had a nice grassy slope where we pitched our tents and even a beach! It was with heavy hearts that we went to sleep that night as we would be heading south and our journey was

‘The Dreadnought’ with a sail up ending. Over the next two days we covered a distance it had previously taken us four days to cover, Furrstad to Karls Huvud and from there to Ed. We unpacked our equipment and jet-washed our canoes. We pitched our tents for the last time; tomorrow we would have to leave this magical place. The morning dawned (still early!) and we packed up our canoes, said our goodbyes, and at 17:00 we left for Gothenburg airport, savouring our last views of the lake and the memories we had made.

Eoin Rasmussen, 9E

In the morning the excitement was palpable. We were going to be sleeping on an island that night. In double quick time we got ready, packed up the barrels with food in, loaded our kit and set out into the vast blue waters of the lake. We arrived at the campsite earlier this time at 13:00. This meant we had loads of time to explore Skotton. It was amazing and had so many little coves, and inlets- even a swing! It was perfect. But unfortunately, we would have to continue North.

On Thursday we packed up with ease 47

The view up the lake

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Leaving Staff Judy Honickberg

W

hen I think of Reading School the image of the magnificent building always comes to mind. It has always made me happy; so much so that not long after I joined the school I bought a framed picture of it and it hangs in prided of place on my dining room wall.

Twenty years ago there were even more temporary buildings than there are now and my first few years were spent in a classroom called M5 in a hut exactly where my current classroom is. It wasn’t long before it was deemed not fit for purpose and condemned.

But I loved it: the classroom was big and airy it had an outside door which meant it was easy to ventilate in the summer. A very few years later a new hut appeared and needless to say I jumped at the opportunity to teach in it. It has been a wonderful room and I have been very happy in it.

I have taught so many amazing boys at the school and thoughts of them will be with me forever. There are two boys in particular who made lasting impressions on me. One was a Y12 in my second year here. I’d made lots of notes on the board and was wandering around the room whilst the class copied them. This young man has introduced colour and I was astounded at the difference it made. Everything looked so much more memorable. I got myself some coloured chalks - it was the last century! - and have used colour ever since. The other boy was 6 foot 3 inches when I started teaching him in Y9 and 6 foot 11 inches at the end of Y13. In response to a comment about the advantages of being tall he said: there are no disadvantages to being tall. I thought his positive attitude was inspirational and have put motivational posters up in my classroom ever since.

Teaching and playing Bridge had been almost as rewarding as teaching Maths. There have been so many outstanding players over the years several of whom have gone on to play in the U21 England squad. The first boy I taught in my first year here now plays professionally and is now ranked third in the country. His website page opens with “I learnt to play bridge at Reading School”.

Some of the most memorable images that I will take away with me, besides boys playing cricket, will be quad football. In the days before the refectory the quad would always be full, every break and lunchtime, with several different games and one would run the gauntlet of flying balls in order to cross it.

More recently seeing the whole school dressed as Harry Potter with all the costumes hand made in school and all so as to raise money for charity was not only an amazing sight, but also, for me, epitomises the spirit of Reading School. I have loved teaching Year 7s who are always full of enthusiasm, and sixth form, and every year in between. It has been a real pleasure to watch little boys grow into teenagers and during the course of the sixth form mature into young men. There are so many happy memories that will live in my heart forever.

Judy Honickberg, Staff 1990-2018

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Cath Harden aking my way up the drive, when the squirrels are still out in force and the sun just glinting over the rooftop of Big School, it is hard not to feel a little nostalgic. I joined Reading School in January 2006 as a part time English Teacher with responsibility for literacy and to support Margaret Macdonald with the Humanities Programme. So much has changed since then and I can, hand on heart, say I have learnt a lot and enjoyed my time here so much mainly because of the so very many dedicated and hardworking staff who are tireless in their dedication to the students.

We get the results we do and are respected as a centre of educational excellence not because of our pretty building, our history or our overseas partnerships, but because day after day and year after year our staff, both teaching and associate, go above and beyond their jobs to care and support the boys in all aspects of school life. I will truly miss the unwavering support of the English team, the positive outlook and troubleshooting mentality of those I line manage, who made my job easy by always being ready to come and have a quick chat before things got out of hand and problems escalated.

I’m really looking forward to new challenges as Vice Principal at Desborough College. I’m delighted that Newlands School for Girls is a partner school and that Miss Capon and I will be able to continue to collaborate and be a support network for each other as we face what I am sure will be tough first years out in the ‘real world’ of comprehensive single sex education. I just hope that the staff we are working with are as wonderful as you all here and I wish you every success for the future.

Cath Harden, Staff 2006 - 2018

Jo Capon I never intended to stay this long. I was married in chapel in 1999 (the guests stayed in boarding, marquee on the front field) and then somehow things just evolved. I was appointed PSHE Co-ordinator, Head of Drama, College Leader then Assistant Head. I was lucky, these opportunities arose at the right time never really presenting a need to leave! And in between I had children, Jake 16, now finishing secondary school for pastures new and Evie about to enter Year 9.

My relationship here began not when I was appointed as a young Drama teacher in 1997, but two years prior to that during University at Royal Holloway when I visited to run workshops with Margaret Mc Donald's first ever A level set! I remember trundling up the drive in my 2CV marvelling at the building, and wondering how I would cut it with all the boys. I have fond memories of that time (though barely older than them I'm not sure I cut it as a real teacher at all!) But there I was, in BS alone, to teach Brecht and Stanislavski to a group of witty, energetic entirely charming young men. And so my love of Reading School was born.

I completed my degree then PGCE and was hired by Peter Mason, just before he left. Margaret was instrumental in that and to her I will always be grateful.

There are so many people who have touched my life and shaped it. The staff are unwavering in their support and desire to give. The boys make exploring the subject a delight, with their boundless confidence and unabashed fear, just going for it, rising to the challenges we present.

Producing the sort of work audiences would pay for again and again...it's the kind of environment I hope I'll find elsewhere but wonder if it's possible or unique.

long first Girls' both

I'm delighted that as Cath Harden takes up the post of Vice Principal at Desborough College our amazing collaborative approach and friendship can continue in these federated schools, we can face our new challenges together. But I will truly miss the things I cannot take with me.

The people, those colleagues who have supported and helped to guide me and of which there are many. It would be difficult to list everyone and so I choose only one to mention personally here. As I've built the Drama Department over the years this has not been in isolation. Its success is down to a partnership that goes way beyond the classroom. In Caroline Fooks I have found not only the most loyal and fantastic colleague, but the truest and closest friend. Her background in acting is such an asset to the boys, her vision, her eye for detail, her organisation and her compassion have made the last 12 years the best ever. I will truly miss her and I wish her every success she takes the baton as Head of Drama.

The school has gone through such change, so many developments and initiatives that have pushed us on (and dragged us into the 21st Century!) I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of those people I have worked with and boys I have had the pleasure of teaching. I wish you all every success for the future.

Jo Capon, Staff 1997 - 2018

Answers to the Maths questions: 9 5 cm Largest: 90, Smallest: 25

A

s I sit here wondering how to sum up my 21 years at Reading School I am struggling! I'm struggling because the memories and experiences I take with me are so vast and so incredibly varied it's difficult to decide what to share.

Reading School has been such an integral part of my life for so very long.

There is weight of emotion associated with leaving somewhere so ingrained in your past. There are many memories, such a shared history and so much to miss. The trip to New York, directing Les Miserables, the joy and pride I've felt as I've watched each and every exam performance. The freezing studio, boiling in the summer. The 'drama kick' needed to shut the quirky front gate late at night ( replaced now with a padlock...) accidentally scraping the minibus and being banned from driving it, the office filled a metre deep with balloons, when our Yr 13 drama set left one year, but above all, beyond any treasured memory or event it's the people.

And so as I close this very chapter and embark on my Deputy Headship at Newlands School in Maidenhead I am excited and a little nervous!

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Other News From Reading School Two Old Redingensians embark on The Mongol Rally The Mongol Rally thunders 10,000 miles across mountains, desert and steppe of Europe and Asia each summer. There’s no backup, no support and no set route.

Daniel Kemp (OR 2007- 2009) joined Reading School in the Sixth form, and though he spent only two years at Reading, he credits them as two of the most pivotal years of both his education, and adolescence. After leaving in 2009 he went on to graduate as a cadet airline pilot, and has now progressed to the role of Training Captain for one of Europe’s largest airlines. This summer he looked forward – with only mild trepidation – to joining the Mongol Rally with his friend and fellow Old Redingensian, Rob. Robert Hardie OR (2002 to 2009) enjoyed seven years at Reading School following on from the strong background in Science he received, he went on to study Aerospace Engineering at the University of Bath collaborating with NASA on his Master’s thesis. He is now an

engineer in the UK space industry, working on NASA and ESA missions designing and testing the scientific instruments which are the vital foundations of those projects.

Although he thoroughly enjoys his job, in light of their upcoming challenge, his team-mate, Dan, wishes he’d gained a little more experience with automotive engineering too.

Rob and Daniel will be travelling in Wilson, a 1.2 litre Vauxhall Agila (2005), from London to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. (Disclaimer: This year the official start point was moved to Prague, and the final finishing line now rests a day north of Ulaanbaatar in Ulan Ude, Russia.)

Collecting together a gaggle of travelloving petrol-heads and their (somehow MOT retaining) chariot, the Mongol Rally sees them travel almost halfway around the world via no particular route as they search for nothing but adventure and chaos.

Of course it will be the trip of a lifetime. Absolutely. But this adventure is also about raising awareness and A LOT of money for Cancer Research UK

Reading School Bridge Victory in Loughborough On Saturday 10th March, eight students from Reading School travelled to Loughborough to compete in the Schools’ Cup organised by EBED, against over 20 teams from across the country. This was our first entry for many years and after six hours of gruelling competition the two teams of four did extremely well to finish 4th and 5th respectively, thus winning the prestigious Schools’ Plate.

Special thanks to Mrs J Honickberg (Teacher of Mathematics) as Bridge Club leader and Loughborough Grammar School for hosting.

Back row, left to right: Euan Sarson, David Fryer, Matthew Wadsworth, Jack Lawrence, Edmund Lea, Dominic Cooke Front row, left to right: Will Clennell, Nathan Galpin

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David and Rob, ready for the challenge and Mind, which are both organisations extremely close to their hearts. So please help them! http:// www.tyrestraits.com/why.html Mr C Evans (Deputy Headmaster) said: “Taking on an enormous challenge like The Mongol Rally is truly inspirational and demonstrates values that Reading School aspires to encourage in all its students. The spirit of commitment, community and care for others as well as the resilience and perseverance that Daniel and Robert will need, are exactly the characteristics we aim to build.”

University Challenge At lunchtime on Thursday 19th April, the elite of Reading School’s students and teachers locked horns in the annual Reading School Challenge. Julian Sutcliffe (OR 20072014), champion of (the real) University Challenge, returned to be our very own Jeremy Paxman, with Miss Hooker counting up the allimportant scores.

A brand new Y13 student team of Jack Lawrence, Noam Rosenbaum, Matthew Wadsworth (team captain) and Alessandro Giacometto represented the elite of the student body, whilst Mrs F Smith (Head of Economics) and Mr D Whitehorn (Teacher of History) did a sterling job of filling the gaps left by Mr Meehan and Mr Hurst, with Mr R Baldock (Head of English) and Dr J Matthews (Head of Mathematics and team captain) returning as veterans of the competition.

The quizzing got off to a bit of a slow start, with Mr R Baldock dodging a p o t e n t i a l b a n a n a s k in w h e n confronted with finding both a pearlike fruit and a character from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (Quince).

However, things soon got underway with the students dominating most of the answering, including some quick maths and physics from Jack Lawrence and Matthew Wadsworth.

As a result, the students led 110-65 at half time.

Spurred on by the prospect of defeat , the teachers quickly overtook, with Mrs Smith and Mr Whitehorn certainly earning their places, both excelling in their respective subject areas.

With three minutes to go, the staff l ed 1 6 5 -135, and not ev en Alessandro’s knowledge of French acronyms or Noam’s (eventual) identification of quartz was enough

The battle of wits in full flow to stop the reigning champions; the teachers won, with the final score: 190-150.

Many thanks to Julian, Miss M Hooker (Second in Mathematics Dept) , Nathan Galpin, all of the com pet it ors, and t he charit y committee, who were raising money throughout the event for No. 5 Counselling.

Patrick Sharman

Filming at Reading School The series climax of Endeavour (the prequel to Inspector Morse) episode 6, entitled Icarus, saw Morse employed as a teacher for the Lower Sixth class in a school named 'Coldwater' just outside Oxford. In reality, Coldwater was Reading School, filmed over the October half term in 2017.

Morris Minor, Brett Nero and Clunchfist were rather unfriendly students, unlike some of the characters we have here!

The Physics labs and the English corridor, the Gatehouse, the Terrace, the Cloisters and Big School were

included in a number of scenes. The Waterhouse buildings starred in an excellent production.

We will endeavour to ensure that Reading School is a more welcoming place than Coldwater!

Well done to our Students who were cast as extras in this first class production and thank you to Neil Goulding, The Estates Team and School Business Manager, Amanda Snow who co-ordinated this event.

Reading School is an iconic site not only for filming, but is also available for weddings in our Victorian Chapel and other areas available for social events. Please contact the School Business Manager at events@readingschool.co.uk for further information.

Young Morse solves another case, this time at Reading School

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Key dates for your diary: ORs:

School:

22nd September 2018 – ORs Rugby 7-a-side tournament

22nd September 2018 - RSPA Wine and Welcome

26th September 2018 - OR Golf Society – Flackwell Heath, High Wycombe at 8.15am. Golfers of all standards welcome.

29th September 2018 – ORs Annual Reception & Dinner 6pm for

28th September 2018 - “Reading Unplugged” New Boys’ concert 1st October 2018 -

Commemoration Service - Reading Minster

13th October 2018 - RSPA Quiz Night

7pm (ORA AGM at 5pm).

31st October 2018 -

1st November 2018 – OR London Drinks Evening – The Counting

18th November 2018 - House Music - The Hexagon

House, 50 Cornhill, EC3V 3PD at 6pm

24th November 2018 -

11th November 2018 – OR Remembrance Sunday Service at

4th December 2018 -

10.30am in School Chapel with Chapel Choir and Last Post – “100th Anniversary of the Armistice plus the boys of Reading School and Kendrick Boys who died in 1918”. Followed by buffet lunch.

14th December 2018 - RSFOM Christmas Quiz and Supper

19th March 2019 – OR Golf Society – Tylney Park, Hook, Hants at

16th and 17th January 2019 - Year 7 Concerts

8.15am. Golfers of all standards welcome.

Junior Concert

RSPA Christmas Fayre

Colt Concert

15th January 2019 - Careers Convention 13th and 16th February 2019 -

30th March 2019 – ORs Football 6-a-side tournament and 2013 & 2014 leavers’ reunion.

Les Miserables Performances

11th March 2019 - Maestros Concert at The Royal Albert Hall 2nd April 2019 - Senior Concert

21st June 2019 – ORs v School 1st XI T20 Cricket at 6pm.

1st May 2019 - Junior Concert

22nd June 2019 – 1968 & 1969 Leavers’ Reunion

11th May 2019 - Spring Fayre

23rd June 2019 – 1968 & 1969 Joiners’ Reunion 6th July 2019 – 1992-99 Year Group Reunion and family picnic.

28th June 2019 - Battle of the Bands 16th June 2019 - Junior Prize Giving 16th June 2019 - Y12 UCAS Day

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

School Twitter:

Instagram:

Facebook:

@Readingsch - School account

Rdg.art - Art Department

www.facebook.com/ groups/2216021486

@RSPAReading - Parents’ Association @RSSportandPE - PE and Games

Facebook:

@RSBoarding - Boarding

www.facebook.com/pages/ReadingSchool/74952596374

@RSMaths - Maths @RSHistory - History @RSGeography - Geography @RSChemistry - Chemistry

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

@RSLib - LRC @RSPhysicsandCS - Physics and Computer Science @FloreatReading - Floreat

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/ groups/2346992 Website: www.oldredingensians.org.uk/

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