OGs Back at School

It is always wonderful to welcome OGs back to the RGS, both in person and online in webinars with pupils. Thank you to all those who have supported the School over the last year – we are very grateful that you gave your time, knowledge and expertise so willingly and generously. If you would like to get involved in careers events, talks, school events etc, please email og@rgsg.co.uk or sign up to rgsconnect.com

Russell Dean OG 1984 of Strangeface Theatre and an expert in the use of masks and puppets in theatre, spent Field Day at the RGS working with the boys. They learnt about the dramatic and psychological effects of using puppets before being introduced to the techniques of bringing them alive for an audience.

Martin Tyler OG 1964, Sky Sports Football commentator and voice of FIFA, gave a fabulous King’s Lecture about his passion for football and life in the commentary box and beyond.

Alex Norris, left with Ed Bush, RGS Head of Classics

Alex Norris OG 2020 classicist at St John’s College Oxford held an online discussion with RGS pupils about applying for and studying classics at university.

Conference speakers Gareth (2nd left) and Alex (2nd right)

Two OGs joined the illustrious panel of speakers at the conference. Dr Gareth Conduit OG 2002 is a Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Theory of Condensed Matter Group at the University of Cambridge. The group develops and applies machine learning to design new materials & drugs and researches quantum phenomena. His talk was entitled The Modern-Day Blacksmith. Rabbi Alex Goldberg OG 1993 is the Dean of Religious Life and Belief at the University of Surrey and has 20 years’ experience working on government, national and international projects to reduce community tensions and promote community cohesion. His talk was called Faith in the future: community cohesion and repairing community conflict. Max Beech OG 2015 and former Lanesborough pupil was invited to be the Guest Speaker at the Lanesborough Prizegiving Ceremony in July 2021. He gave an excellent speech, and it was inspiring for boys and parents to hear from him.

Ollie Shorthose OG 2014 took time out from studying for his DPhil at Oxford University to give an after-school talk to RGS pupils and students from the Rikkyo School. Ollie is specialising in robotics and artificial limbs in conjunction with the Oxford Robotics Institute, and discussed his innovative work in this field, specifically about building a soft robotic hand with long term prosthetic potential.

Left to right: Ben Cox, Nick Lake, Rob Lillie, Ollie Shorthose and Peter Dunscombe, RGS Director of Careers & Higher Education

The relaunch of the Careers Seminar Programme in person focussed on Engineering. It was great to hear from OGs Ben Cox 2019, Nick Lake 2007, Rob Lillie 2017 and Ollie Shorthose 2014, giving insightful and entertaining talks about the huge variety of opportunities and specialisms within Engineering – ranging from robotics to aerospace and the complexity of civil and structural projects.

Ella, Dan and Jaime Lythgoe, RGS Head of Upper Sixth Sam Cherry OG 2020 gave an online talk to the Sceptics Society.

Omeet Atara OG 2021 returned as guest chair at the RGS Model United Nations and impressed with his MUN knowledge and expertise in the Beginners’ Committee.

Dan Allchurch OG 2016 and Ella Burton from Talk Consent spoke to our Sixth Form in an honest, open & frank manner about peer-on-peer sexual violence at Field Day.

On 7 September 2021 in front of a packed audience, we returned to Holy Trinity church for the premiere event in the music department calendar, the Concerto Concert, which featured seven astonishing performances from the recent U6th musicians with Southern Pro Musica, the professional orchestra for Guildford. This was the third attempt to put the concert on, thanks to COVID, and the whole evening was a complete celebration of the wonderful talent of our Class of 2021 musicians: Ruben Berstecher

Stan Lawrence (trumpet), Henry Forrest (Saxophone) and Alex Thow (piano). The standard of playing took everyone’s breath away and the atmosphere and support from the audience was overwhelming, with standing ovations galore for every performer.