The Olavian - 2023

Vol. 1 26

20 23

Olav ia n Edi to r: T er es ka T aylor

Old Olav ia n Edi to r: J oh n Br ow n

As sist an t Ed it or : Wafi A li

The Olave’s Skyline at Sunset, taken by Year 9 Student Eshan Ali

From the Headteacher

This magazine celebrates yet another remarkable year at St. Olave’s, showcasing the unwavering dedication and commitment of everyone in the school community. I have long held the belief that the diverse enrichment and co-curricular activities play a pivotal role in enhancing academic excellence in our classrooms. It is truly delightful to immerse oneself in these recent achievements, knowing that the ‘Olavian’ magazines will serve as a rich historical resource for generations to come. I am confident that you will find joy in exploring the highlights of St. Olave’s in 2023, which includes our Wakeham Choristers singing in the presence of His Majesty King Charles III, and other members of the Royal Family for a Service of Praise, Remembrance and Dedication. It has indeed been another year of outstanding achievements.

Andrew Rees Headteacher

Thank you to Assistant Editor Wafi Ali for all his hard work in helping to put this publication together. His dedication and support has been invaluable.

This edition highlights the many events, trips and activities that have taken place over the past year, during which we have celebrated many student successes and achievements across a vast array of subject areas such as Olympiads, competitions, sports and music. Co-curricular clubs and societies continue to flourish and reflect our students’ inquisitive interest and enthusiasm for a wide range of topics.

Thanks go to the Headteacher, Senior Leadership Team and staff for all their hard work and for ensuring the smooth running of the school. Congratulations to all the students on their fantastic achievements; they are a credit to themselves and to the school.

Tereska Taylor Editor

Chairman of the Governors

A. Boyd, M.A., M.Eng., A.C.A.

Foundation Governors

Appointed by the Lord Bishop of Rochester:

P. Bassett, B.Sc., F.S.A

Appointed by the Rochester Diocesan Board of Education:

Dr. M. Fallaha, MBBS, B.Sc, MRCS

The Revd. G. Rogers

Appointed by the Chapter of Southwark Cathedral:

S. Rose, C.Q.S.W.

Appointed by the St Olave’s and St Saviour’s Schools Foundation:

Dr D. Ryall. Ph.D., B.A.

Appointed by the Dulwich Estate:

A. Fabian, M.A. (Oxon)

Appointed by the London Borough of Bromley:

R. Evans, B.Sc., DipEd

Elected Parent Governors:

A. Baldwin-Webb, LLB, CAMS, INT.AML

R. Bhatnagar, MBA

Staffing 2022 - 2023

Elected Staff Governor:

M. Lawrence, B.A. (Hons.), M.Eng, M.A.

Co-opted Governor:

M.F. Sullivan, B.A.

A. Boyd, M.A., M.Eng., A.C.A.

S. Chaudhary, M.A., B.Ed.

Clerk to the Governors

R. Walters, M.A.(Cantab), A.C.A.

Senior Staff

Headteacher

A. Rees, B.Sc., University of Bristol

Deputy Headteachers

D.J. Budds, M.A., St. Peter’s College, University of Oxford (Curriculum)

R. Maxwell, B.A., University of Manchester (Pastoral)

Assistant Headteachers

M.D. Birtchnell, B.A. (Hons.), University of Exeter, M.A., Canterbury Christ Church University

Dr. A. Sidhu, B.Sc., UCL, M.Sc. University of Exter, Ph. D University of Warwick

Chaplain

The Revd. Dr. J.E. Bowen, D.D. (UIC, Delaware), B.A. (Hons), Canterbury Christ Church University, B.Ed. (Hons), South Glamorgan Institute

Headteacher’s P.A.

T. Taylor, M.A., Swansea University

Assistant Staff

P.E. Holland, B.Ed.(Hons), Brunel University

A.M. Kenward, B.A.(Ed.) (Hons), University of Exeter

D. Bowden, B.A., University of Lancaster

C.E. Marwood, B.Sc., The Open University; L.R.A.M., Dip. R.A.M.

M.F. Sullivan, B.A., Westfield College, London University

S.K. Wilcox, B.A., Goldsmiths’ College, London University

Dr. J. Bradley, B.Sc., Ph.D. King’s College & Royal Free School of Medicine, London University

C. Johnson, B.Sc., University of Nottingham

K.A. Hodges, M.Eng., St. Catherine’s College, Oxford

M.G. Price, M.A., Trinity College, Cambridge

P. Vasileva, B.Sc., University of Sussex

V.E. Watson, B.A., University of Sussex

L.D. Espejo, Esq., M.A., University of St. Andrews

E.A. Goodman, B.A., University of York

R.E. Hawley, B.A., Middlesex University

A. Wilkie, M.A., B.A., University of Warwick & Goldsmiths’ College, London University

J.M. Munday, M.A., Cambridge

H. McPartland, B.Sc., Bristol University

A. Lake, B.A., University of Nottingham

M. Lawrence, B.A. (Hons) (Cantab), M.Eng (Cantab)

M.A. (Cantab)

Dr J.N. Stewart, B.Sc. (Hons), University of Glasgow, Ph.D., Heriot-Watt

A.K.J. Carroll, M.A. (Cantab), M.A. (London)

P.J. Metcalfe, B.A., Warwick, M.A., School of Oriental and African Studies

S. Lands, B.A. (Hons), Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication

J. Morrell, B.Sc., Reading

R. Smith, B.Sc., Leeds

S. Difford, B.Sc., London

M.C.M. Twose, M.Eng., Nottingham

C.A. Benham, B.A., London School of Economics

P. Bassett, B.Sc., Exeter

S. Kemal, B.A. (Hons), University of Kent

K. Bishop, B.Sc., M.Sc., University of Bologna

Dr M. Ashford, M.Math, D.Phil., Oxford

R. Boyden, B.A., University of Surrey

Dr J. Carpenter, B.A., Cambridge, D.Phil., Oxford, M.Sci., Imperial College, London

N. Clegg, B.A., M.Sci., Cambridge

Dr S. Corlett, B.Sc., Ph.D., University of Liverpool

A. Jewson, B.Eng., Bristol

E. Pourjam, B.Sc., Sharif University of Technology, M.Sc., Tehran

H. Attwood, B.Mus. (Hons), Birmingham Conservatoire, M.Mus., Guildhall School of Music and Drama

S. Senaratne, B.Sc., Royal Holloway College, London University

R. Zeshan, B.Sc., National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences-FAST, Lahore

A. Clark, B.A., Plymouth

M. Wearn, B.A., Leicester

L. Probodziak, B.A., M.A., Somerville College, Oxford

Dr A. Abbattista, B.A., M.A., University of Bologna, Ph.D., University of Roehampton London

F. Affram, B.A., University of Ghana

S. King, B.Sc., Queen Mary University of London

E. Maltman, B.Sc., University of Hull

E. Roye, B.Sc., Kingston University London

I. Saunders, Licence es Lettres, University of Lille

J. Savage, B.Sc., University of Warwick

A. Shah, B.Sc. (Hons), University of Glasgow, B.Sc. (Hons), University of East London, M.Sc., University of Oxford

H. Smith, B.A., University of Bristol

T. Smialowski, M.Sc., King’s College London

M. Whiteside, B.Sc., University of York

M. Maugueret-Minerve, B.Sc. (Hons), King’s College

London, M.Sc., Birkbeck College

K. Brown, B.A., University of Stirling

J. Napier, B.A., Institute of Education, University College London

M. Pickett, B.A. (Hons), Aston University, Ph.D., University of Portsmouth

H. Scholefield, B.A., University of Exeter

A. Lay, B.A., University of Warwick

S. Potter. B.A. (Hons), London Metropolitan University

N. Proddaturi, M.Sc., Middlesex University, B.Eng., Bangalore University

E. Foster, B.Sc. (Hons), University of Liverpool

M. Chung-Faye, B.Sc.(Hons), University of Birmingham

M. Johnson, B.Sc (Hons), St Mary’s University, Twickenham

L. Prestipino, B.A. (Hons), Universita Cattolica

Sacro Cuore, Milan

A. Willmott, B.A. (Hons), Northumbria University

Valete - July 2023

Meera Lawrence - Head of Mathematics

Ben Davis - P.E. Teacher

Christine DinesFinance Manager

Andrew Jewson - Teacher of Physics

David Bowden - MFL Teacher

Neil Stewart - Teacher of Physics

Elizabeth Maltman - Teacher of Chemistry

Sandra Potter - Teacher of Economics

Ollie Ollington - Reprographics

Salvete

Teacher of Physics - Mr William Morton

Mr William Morton was educated at The Priory School, Orpington and went on to Brunel University where he gained a BEng in Electronics and Electrical Engineering. William has a very keen interest in Space Science and holds a Certificate of Higher Education in Astrophysics and Cosmology from UCL. He is also a member of the Orpington Astronomical Society. William is qualified as an ECB Level 1 Cricket Coach and as an FA Level 1 Football Coach. He has led Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Expeditions and has been involved with a range of day visits and residential trips.

Part-time Teacher of Economics - Mr Michael McCartney

accreditation in climate change from the UN and is a member of the Geographical Association. She is a Duke of Edinburgh Expedition Assessor, has led a variety of both curricular and extra-curricular trips/activities and has run Knit and Natter groups for students. Outside of school Lucy is a trustee for both a charity in Zambia and a local scout group.

Teacher of Mathematics (ECT) - Mr Ahmad Alsaadi

Mr Michael McCartney was educated at Forrester High School, Edinburgh and went on to Loughborough University where he gained a BSc in Social Policy. Michael then attended Glasgow Caledonian University where he gained an MA in Business Management, followed by an MA in Political Economy from Leeds University. He is an AQA examiner for A Level Economics and Politics. Michael has run teams and clubs in activities ranging from Young Enterprise to Cross Country as well as organising and leading subject related trips to the EU and the USA.

Part-time Teacher of Geography - Ms Lucy Rawe

Ms Lucy Rawe was educated at the Winston Churchill School, Woking and completed her A Levels at Woking College. She then went on to the University of Southampton where she gained a BSc in Geography. Lucy has an

Mr Ahmad Alsaadi was educated at The John Roan School and went on to Imperial College London where he gained an MEng in Chemical Engineering. Ahmad has extensive experience working as a Chemical Engineer in the oil and gas industry, prior to a change of career. He completed his PGCE in Secondary Mathematics at UCL Institute of Education. Ahmad is fluent in Arabic, is a keen footballer and has reached Advanced Level on the Oud musical instrument.

Part-time Teacher of Mathematics

- Mr Kevin Tavares

Mr Kevin Tavares was educated at Shabaan Robert Secondary School in Dar Es Salaam and completed his A Levels at Azania High School. He attended the University of Dar Es Salaam where he gained a BSc in Mathematics and Chemistry, followed by an MSc in Information Systems Engineering from the Southbank University. Kevin has been a KS3 Mathematics Co-ordinator, KS5 Mathematics Co-ordinator and a Year 13 form tutor. He enjoys playing tennis, table tennis and is an accomplished guitarist.

Part-time Teacher of Mathematics - Mrs Dawn Lewis

Mrs Dawn Lewis returns as a member of the Mathematics Department. Dawn was educated at Afon Taff Comprehensive High School, Cardiff and went on to Portsmouth University where she gained a BSc in Mathematics. She completed her PGCE at Goldsmith’s College, University of London and is

a registered Chartered London Teacher. Dawn is proficient in the use of Mathematical software and an advocate of electronic data analysis. She has run weekly Maths Clinics, has experience as a form tutor, has worked on all aspects of the UCAS process and assisted with Duke of Edinburgh Award expeditions.

Sports Coach/Cover Supervisor - Mr James Bunting

Mr James Bunting was educated at Rivington and Blackrod High School. He then served with the Royal Navy for over 10 years, where one of his roles was to plan and deliver training for junior members of the ship’s company. James is a keen sportsman with a particular interest in rugby. After leaving the Navy, James attended Hartpury University where he gained a BSc in Sport Coaching. James holds an England Rugby Coaching Award and currently coaches the U16s at Sale Sharks Rugby Club. He also has a Level 3 Diploma in Management (QCF), a Level 3 Certificate in First Line Management (QCF) from the Chartered Management Institute and has completed a 12-week coaches Red2Blue Mindset Course through Fit4Performance Ltd.

Part-time Rugby Coach (Autumn Term only) - Mr Jason Smith

Mr Jason Smith has been appointed to this role for the duration of the Autumn Term only. He was a keen rugby player and has extensive coaching experience, including teams in South Africa. Jason is currently on the 1st team coaching staff at Westcombe Park RFU.

Trainee Teacher of Chemistry - Mr Eugene Lee

Old Olavian Mr Eugene Lee joins us as a Teacher of Chemistry through the eQualitas Training Scheme.

Part-time Rugby Coach (Autumn Term only) - Mr George Jackson

Ms Muna Brown, Receptionist

Mrs Caroline Engles, Receptionist

Ms Belize Aksoy, Parttime Cover Supervisor

Prize Day Speech by the Headteacher

Honoured guest The Reverend Canon Thomas Woodhouse, Chair, Warden of the Foundation, Students, Parents, Members of Staff, Governors, it is a pleasure to welcome you to this celebration of the achievements of our prize winners as we reflect on another excellent year.

When I started writing this speech, a few weeks ago, and was looking for inspiration, this was shared with me from Two Schools, written by former headteacher Dr Carrington. It is the purpose for which our Grammar School was founded:

“For the good education and bringing up of youth in the love, fear and knowledge of God and His most Holy word, in good nature towards the world and their parents and finally in letters and understanding of the tongues in which is hidden and laid up the treasure of all divine and human knowledge”.

As we gather here this evening, we are not merely celebrating academic excellence or handing out prizes. We are honouring the enduring legacy of a remarkable institution and the profound purpose for which it was founded. The founders hoped for a place where youth would be nurtured not only academically. The roots of this wonderful school stretch back to a time when the pursuit of knowledge was linked very closely to faith and character.

The school was established with a noble purpose - to shape young minds into individuals who would cultivate good nature towards the world and students take note of this - their parents. It was hoped to create a sanctuary of learning where students would delve into the mysteries of language, for within these languages lay the treasures of divine and human knowledge. Today, as we gather to celebrate our students’ achievements, we again highlight our commitment to this timeless mission.

And with this in mind we reflect on another year…

The school is unwavering in its commitment to creating an exceptional environment that supports the wellbeing of our students. This extraordinary effort is powered by our devoted pastoral team, the compassionate Heads of Year, and our dedicated Form Tutors. Together, they channel their passion through our Vision for Pastoral Care, our robust Mental Health policy, the invaluable wellbeing journal, Insight, the unwavering support of

Prize Day

our School Counsellor and wellbeing team, and the heartwarming presence of our Wellbeing dog, Shelby.

This emphasis on pastoral care shows we do not only focus on academic growth but also the development of responsible, caring, and socially aware individuals who will make a positive impact on the world around them.

Congratulations to the pupils on their impressive examination results.

At A Level, 91% of the grades achieved were A* to B with 41% being at A*, and over three quarters being at A*/A. There are some exceptional individual results, which include 55 pupils securing 3 A* grades or more.

There were many successes at AS Level and at GCSE, 91% of the grades secured by pupils were grades 9-7, with half of all grades being at 9 and over three quarters being at 9/8. There are some excellent individual results, which include 9 students securing all 9s. Our overall percentage of grades 9-7 was almost identical to last year, and higher than in 2019.

All these results are notable as 2023 is the first year since the pandemic that exams have taken place without any significant adaptations.

Thanks to contributions from the Voluntary Fund, now known as our Enrichment Fund, the PA, the OO and the Foundation, the variety of sports and co-curricular activities continues to flourish, enabling our students to realise the best versions of themselves, beyond academic performance.

The last few years has understandably had an impact on our international trips, but this year, the school ran exchanges, visited the battlefields, completed a World Challenge Trip to Croatia, visited Florida and the Kennedy Space Centre with Year 9, and participated in language visits in France, Spain and Germany. We also travelled nationally to Hadrian’s Wall for a Classics Trip and triumphed on a cricket tour to Bath. Student engagement in DofE has been impressive with students taking part in expeditions across Kent and in Wales.

From the impressive number of students gaining top awards in Computing, the Maths and Science Olympiads, Essay Competitions, Chemistry Challenges, Crest Awards, MFL Competitions and Olympiads, Economics and Classics Competitions, UK Space

Design, double national champions in F1 in Schools, and an exciting Political Awareness Week. These are just some of the examples of how the students look to gain success beyond the school setting. I know I would have missed some also.

For those wishing to develop or showcase their musical talents, there were ample opportunities, with music concerts, and for royal performances in the presence of His Majesty King Charles III, and other members of the Royal Family, Wakeham Choristers sang for a Service of Praise, Remembrance and Dedication. Our choristers were exquisite in their contribution to this memorable occasion. We had notable success in the Norman Trotman Competition with Anusha SelvaRadov’s magnificent performance on the piano. It was a great pleasure to watch the cast of students in our school production of Fredrick Durenmatt’s play, The Visit, with key roles played by sixth formers, but supported brilliantly by performers throughout the school. Vast numbers of students completed a LAMDA qualification in Public Speaking and Acting or were successful in a range of music examinations.

Sport continues to be successful and enriches the curriculum enormously. Saturday morning block rugby fixtures continue to take place with some excellent wins over local schools. We have been successful in Fives, with Year 13 student, Genesis Nasenga, winning the EFA Young Player of the Year award. Genesis becomes the only Fives player in St Olave’s history to win the Schools’ Nationals at Senior level in both Eton and Rugby Fives. It has been a truly outstanding Fives season. We have also had national and international success in squash – Caleb Boy came 27th in the World Junior Squash Championships, hockey, chess, triathlon – Year 13 student Raphael Huille was part of the team who came first in the U19 European Championships - cycling and tennis. It was a great pleasure to see a competitive hockey fixture taking place on the All Weather Pitch for the first time. Well done to our U19 Football Squad for all their hard work and success in becoming champions of the North Kent League.

St Olave’s is a school which cherishes happiness within diversity and inclusion. This school year has provided many examples of how we celebrate learning together, whether it is through celebrating International Women’s Day, Black History Month, Cultural Evening, success in the the Wings of Hope Project or Inter-Faith Iftar based on the theme of Mental Health. This was another successful evening where speakers from different faiths shared their perspectives on Mental Health and how it fits in and is supported by each of their beliefs. We celebrated Diversity Week and we see this as a great opportunity to actively support and celebrate our diverse community. Diversity is far from a weakness; it is our

greatest strength. In a world where there are increasing divisions, it is so important that we provide these opportunities to be able to celebrate what we have in common together.

And so it remains important that we hold our doors open to people of all backgrounds and traditions to unlock opportunities for all our students in a wide variety of disciplines, not simply those that are measured.

We have continued to do our outreach work with local primary schools as well as inviting primary students into school for the Maths and Science Day. Our programme has also now gone beyond supporting students in only Maths and Science.

Our students are also aware of the need to reach out further than the school community and in this respect, I was delighted when our students chose to donate over £11000 they raised from various events to ‘The Norrie Disease Foundation’, ‘Oxfam’ and ‘Young Minds’. The sums donated were on top of all the cake sales, sponsored events and fundraising our students do in their own time in and out of school.

You may be aware that Mr Kenward and I ran the London Marathon on behalf of Oxfam, and also taking part was our School Counsellor, Naomi, who ran for Guy’s Cancer Charity. We all finished and were very grateful for the words of encouragement running up to the day and following the event. We all did not appreciate walking up and down stairs the following day due to the experience and the tired legs! I still have not recovered from being overtaken by someone dressed up as the Houses of Parliament as we ran past the Houses of Parliament. The head said run faster, the body chose to decide otherwise!

Our Year 8 students visited a local care home to perform drama productions for the residents. After the performances the students spoke with the residents and shared stories across generations. Students carried out litter picking in and around Park Avenue and delivered Christmas cards to residents in Goddington Lane and Park Avenue. One resident was really pleased to receive the card as, due to the postal strike, they said that it was the first Christmas card they had received! It is always important for our students to see beyond the school gates, and I hope this small gesture shows that we do care about the local community.

I truly believe that the endeavours of these young people have earned them their prizes in another highly successful year. Once again you have shone like the brightest stars. I also want us to recognise that there are many students who have not received prizes but who also work hard, give of their best and achieve in many different ways;

they too deserve our praise. Congratulations to you all.

Whilst it is a great joy to look back and reflect on success and achievement, it is more important to look forward to new challenges and the exciting times and opportunities that lie ahead; as we start the new term and as students leave for university, there will be many of these, I am sure.

So, I want to finish today by simply saying thank you. Thank you for being an amazing bunch of young people. Thank you to the parents. We are immensely grateful that you have trusted us to look after your child. Thank you to my colleagues who have supported you since you joined St Olave’s. Finally, leading this school is the greatest honour. With records numbers applying for places in Year 7 and Year 12, the school continues to evolve and go from strength to strength I wish you every success as you move onto the next stage of your education, and ask that you continue to honour the enduring legacy of a remarkable institution and the profound purpose for which it was founded.

Prize Day Speech by Director Of Sixth Form, Matthew

Birtchnell

Honoured guest, Students, Parents and Carers, Members of Staff and Governors. The last academic year was a busy one for the Sixth Form. As we had our first full year of normality after an extended period of disruption caused by the pandemic, the Sixth Form calendar returned to normal with a busy schedule of events, fundraising, trips and activities. The students threw themselves into every opportunity given to them and made the most of their time in the Sixth Form.

In terms of exams, the Year 13 students who have just left us had not had the experience of sitting their GCSE exams. Despite this, their conduct during the exam period was excellent and they responded incredibly well. The heat and high pollen levels proved challenging at times but did not stand in their way. The exam results awarded in the summer were good. The number of students receiving straight A*s across their subjects was impressive as was the A*/A percentage. These grades are a reflection of hard work and dedication to their studies but also a reflection of a variety of different journeys through the Sixth Form. The path is not smooth for everyone, with some facing more challenges than others, however every student in Year 13 should be commended for their resilience and for their determination. The student body in the Sixth Form is talented and ambitious and I would like to congratulate each individual from Year 13. I know that they will continue to go on and develop both personally and academically. To our prize winners, your families will be justly proud of you and the school community is too. Well done on your successes.

The achievements of the Sixth Form are not just exam based. 30 students completed an EPQ with the vast majority being graded as A* or A. The essays and presentations produced for this qualification were, as ever, truly exceptional with the usual impressive range of well researched topics, reflecting the wide and varied interests of our students. The presentations which form a key part of the qualification were delivered once again in-person and we were treated to a huge array of different topics that were spoken about eloquently and expertly. The support offered to one another during these presentations was also pleasing to see. Every presentation had an audience of fellow students who engaged with the content and then posed thoughtful questions to the presenter. Engagement on this academic level really is one of the hallmarks of the Sixth Form here.

Clubs and societies within the Sixth Form continue to go from strength to strength, with a real feature last year being the involvement of students in younger years. As always, the Year 13s took over the leadership of the societies and did an expert job at developing the offering, ensuring a wide offering took place. Talks were as broad and as inspiring as ever and the range of external speakers also continued to increase back to pre-pandemic levels, with a notable variety of former students coming back to share their expertise with the cohort. These societies give so much to our students - they allow them to engage with topics of interest, they develop academic skills such as research and presenting, but they also give independence and confidence. Thank you to all those who are involved, be it as President or Vice-President or as a regular attendee.

There were many other achievements beyond the curriculum. Numerous individuals and groups took part in many competitions and achieved highly in these. For example, Nathan received a Distinction in the second round of the UK Linguistics Olympiad and William became one of the winners of the Young Economist of the Year competition. These are just two achievements among many; too many to mention in a short presentation such as this, but all the students involved in extra-curricular activities should be justly proud of their achievements. Their engagement and involvement beyond the classroom further highlights their talents and their desire to extend their understanding and their marvellous achievements are one of the many things about the Sixth Form at St Olave’s which make it such an outstanding place.

The students have also demonstrated great commitment and determination in sport. They have also shown exceptional leadership and have been excellent role models for younger students in their roles as Sports Prefects. There have been some incredible personal achievements in a wide range of sports, such as Genesis

in Fives and Caleb in Squash. Nearly two weeks’ ago, many in the year group came back to play against the current Year 12 and 13 during our Young Olavians’ Day. It was great to see them back in school once again and I would like to thank those involved in organising this. We must also extend our thanks to the staff who freely give up their time outside of school to work with students and give them opportunities outside of the curriculum. This does not of course apply solely to sport, but to the many other activities such as clubs and societies, as well as the many trips and visits that take place.

Last year we were able to continue with concerts and performances, and many of the Sixth Form were involved in these, demonstrating exceptional musical talent. Cabaret is a key event in the Sixth Form calendar and last year was no exception. We saw just how talented the students are with the various individual and group performances. This was mirrored at Cultural Evening. These two events are student organised and raised significant sums of money for different charities. Festival also returned in its original format and an excellent amount of money was raised for the school’s two chosen charities, The Norrie Disease Foundation and Oxfam. The organisers of these three highlights of the school calendar showed great determination, dedication and creativity and the whole of the school demonstrated its great compassion in the accompanying fundraising. I would like to thank those in Year 13 who were involved in these charitable efforts. The willingness to undertake such things alongside an already demanding workload always amazes me and the fantastic teamwork and leaderships skills that our students demonstrate are second to none.

The Sixth Form provides students with many opportunities to develop their skills beyond the academic. A large number serve as Prefects and therefore have the opportunity to develop their leadership skills. About 100 students took up prefect positions and were once again able to engage with tutor groups in the younger years and organise events within academic departments. The Senior Prefect Team of Rohan, Rohini, Jessica, George, Max, Amoré and Teodor achieved a great deal throughout their time in post, not least taking a leading role in the events mentioned above. They can very much count public speaking amongst their key skills, having given numerous talks throughout the year. They gave their opinions on various matters thoughtfully and reflectively and I am personally very grateful for their insight. Alongside the Sixth Form Association, the voice of the Sixth Form students could be fed into the work of the school and many initiatives were introduced which will benefit future generations of students who join us. The school is incredibly thankful for the work of all prefects and the developments that they leave behind. The skills that you have learnt will serve you well in later

life and you leave behind a source of inspiration to those students who follow.

The Year 13s have very much risen to the challenge of Sixth Form and all of them have made their school proud. You have shown resilience, good-humour and optimism. I am sure that the teaching staff would agree with me that it has been a pleasure to work with your year group. You have demonstrated the skills and qualities that we would hope for our students to have and that will allow you to make great contributions to the world around you in the future and the new Year 13 can very much build on your hard work. On behalf of the whole school, I would like to thank you for everything you have done and wish you well as you embark in the coming weeks on the next stage of your lives, be that university, an apprenticeship, employment or a gap year.

Prize Day Speech by Head Of Year 11, Matthew Twose

Good evening all, Honoured guest, Students, Parents and Carers, Members of Staff and Governors.

To all in last year’s Year 11, Well Done, Congratulations you have made it! Truly well done on what have been some amazing achievements and I am not just talking about the exam results.

Let me reminisce and remind you all about just some of the highlights and amazing activities that this group have been involved with over the last three years.

I became the Head of Year for this cohort in September 2020, and I am sorry to say that the start of this journey began with bubbles, masks, zones, and tracing contacts. On a more positive note, I am hoping that this is the last speech that will start by referring back to Covid bubbles.

Our assemblies were virtual, and we all stood in 2m zones at the front of classrooms, allowing books time to be decontaminated before marking, no access to Science/ D&T/Art/Music rooms, confined to Rooms 5-9 and the New Quad! It is unbelievable to think that this was the start of your GCSEs and that you all accepted it and took it in your stride.

I remember recording an assembly, giving my first talk to the year group, outlining my hopes and expectations for them as we embarked on a long journey, final destination the dreaded GCSE exams looming on the horizon, and what a three year journey it has been.

First to sport, an unquestionably talented year group in terms of their sporting prowess. On the rugby field the boys have enjoyed a very successful stint in the purple shirt and are a team that truly embody team spirit and a ‘we are never beaten’ attitude, beating other top

rugby schools, winning games that many others would have given up on. It is pleasing to see many players representing the 1st XV earlier today and last year and at events such as Friday night lights. I have no doubt you will go on to more glories higher up the school.

To cricket and the talents continue, with the team enjoying cup runs in the Kent Cup, and local Bromley competitions, as well as competing on a Saturday with a very challenging fixture list.

Fives is a very strong sport for the school and this year group is no exception, with outstanding performances throughout the season, most impressively signing off in style as U16 National champions! Well done to Aadi and Tanish. Special mention to Bomi and Alex who were so close to making it an all-Olave’s final.

Alongside this we have many other talented and more individual athletes within the year group, including County Badminton players, Swimmers, and a national level tennis star.

Year 11 have been fully involved in the ever-growing F1 in schools at St Olave’s, working their way through the levels of competition, showing determination and resilience to achieve great success, reaching nationals on multiple occasions, and winning multiple awards.

This year’s ability to perform on this very stage matches their sporting talents. The boys have starred in several of the school’s phenomenal productions and shows during the last three years. Rapping and dancing in the Black History Month show, singing and performing in Showstoppers, and finally bringing the house down in jazz nights and music concerts. With one student making an appearance on a Netflix TV show.

A huge amount of our students have worked tirelessly, successfully scaling the various LAMDA grades, and I am sure would thrive in speaking at such an occasion as tonight. Unfortunately, this year group have been less able to take advantage of the numerous and wonderful residential trips and excursions that the school typically has to offer. They did manage to go on the Year 10 language trips to Germany, France and Hadrian’s Wall; and I know that they will take advantage of the

numerous and wonderful residential trips and excursions that the school typically has to offer and show a curiosity to explore the world where possible in the future.

There are many more achievements across the wide range of clubs and societies that are offered at this school, and far too many accolades to mention them all tonight. These are just the tip of the iceberg and I know everyone will have their own fond memories of this year group.

With all these extra achievements outside of the classroom it is amazing that the students managed to get any schoolwork done, let alone sore to the dizzy heights at which they currently fly.

Despite all these amazing successes, I have not yet mentioned the most wonderful thing about Year 11. How I have witnessed the 125 students, across their five form groups become one big team, looking out for one another, and supporting each other, through the unsettling and stressful times of Covid and dealing with the pressure of ‘back to normal’ exams, building friendships that will last a lifetime. This group will form part of the wider Leavers class of 2025, and I am confident we will see you back at an Old Olavian dinner in the future reminiscing about your time here, certain lessons, clubs, sports teams and fond memories, but mainly about the friendships, lunch time antics and people you shared the journey with.

Now let me just say thank you.

Let me first thank my colleagues for all your hard work, support, and guidance to this Year 11, I know they truly appreciate your efforts, as do I.

Thank you to last years’ Year 11 - Gentlemen you have worked tremendously hard and have achieved the results you deserve, this evening is for you to enjoy your success and prizes. Well done for getting through this check point and ultimately doing your very best, which is all anyone can ever ask. You should be truly proud of your efforts.

I have now run out of superlatives, which leaves just a final congratulations from me, a very proud Head of Year, for all of your achievements in the classroom and around the school in the wider community.

This is not the end of your journey and just marks a checkpoint, so keep striving to always do your best and continue to leave the jersey in a better place.

Good luck to you all on your new adventures.

Prize Day Speech by Guest Speaker, The Revd Canon Thomas Woodhouse

Istarted thinking about this evening in February, at a concert to raise money for the survivors of the Turkish/Syrian Earthquake. It was organised entirely by a group of students from a school near my home in Wandsworth, a group of young people like you, with inspiring stories to tell. That group will even now be turning their attention to the Moroccan earthquake –seeking to use music making to help in a crisis.

I suppose it is inevitable that in my mind I associate St Olave’s School with music, given the importance of your musical tradition to His Majesty’s Chapel Royal of the Savoy. But I am well aware that your achievements we celebrate this evening cover the breadth and length, the height and depth of the school’s curriculum.

I loved school, and the college of further education I attended in the early 1980’s, and I am grateful to Mr Rees for inviting me to speak this evening, it has given me the opportunity to think back and re-engage with those long-ago years!

The year 1984 is well known as the novel by George Orwell, a book that has given us a number of turns of phrase that might be familiar to you, for instance, Big Brother, doublethink, Thought Police and 2+2=5. For me 1984, and more precisely the 11th September – 9/11 - was the year and the day I started my working life in the town of Cirencester in Gloucestershire. I went to the Kings Head Hotel as a trained chef.

The day before I had left home, driven to my new life by my parents and sister. It is only as my own children, young adults as they are now, prepare to leave for university and work, that I realise that my anxiety at leaving home was mirrored by that of my parents.

This evening’s story begins a day earlier! I was walking in a lane close to my grandparents’ home and I picked up an acorn. Why I picked it up I cannot really remember, but I think I wanted to take something of that special place with me: their home had been my haven from the storms of adolescence we all encounter; whether the parent or the young person.

That acorn is now housed in a tiny wooden urn, and it has travelled with me for 39 years. It has always been there, worthless in the eyes of the world but precious to me. And I never forget that Sunday afternoon walk, indeed even now I could take you to the spot where I picked the acorn up and recount the emotions I was feeling.

I am not held back by the memories of my past; they are a place to return to in my daydreams and to give thanks. And if I had to save one thing – I think that acorn might

be it! It marks a starting point; a moment of departure and it represents my life to that point.

I enjoyed school, I enjoyed catering college, and I enjoyed theological college and university later. I loved being at home with my parents, with my sister and with my extended family. I had been fortunate in that regard, as in many other regards. But the world was broadening out and off I was going into a future I could only imagine.

I have never forgotten from where I came and I still return to those Northamptonshire lanes and to the Leicestershire town of my school days and I love to see the familiar streets and buildings, and even some familiar faces, although the passage of time changes them and some are now missing!

We build on the foundations of the past and the experiences of our years inform us, these moments are foundational moments, as the people we meet who influence us become the giants on whose shoulders we stand – in the words of St Bernard (of Chartres)discovering truth by building on previous discoveries. There is no doubt you will become, and perhaps already are, the foundations for others, you will become the giants on whose shoulder’s others will stand.

The choristers from St Olave’s School in each generation hold the conscience of the choir, passing down the traditions, helping us maintain the highest standards of music and behaviour. The same will be true for the many and varied disciplines associated with St Olave’s, on the sports field, in the classroom and in the wider community.

Each one of us is filled with potential and the joy is that however old or young we are, that potential remains; it is God’s gift. A medieval mystic called Mother Julian of Norwich saw God in an object the size of a hazelnut: in this little thing I saw three properties; the first is that God made it; the second is that God loves it; and the third is that God keeps it.

That is why I treasure this worthless little acorn, housed in this small wooden urn! It reminds me that we are made by God, loved by God and cherished by God. It reminds me to listen and enjoy the stories of others and be thankful.

L.W. White Prize for Sporting Activities

Caleb Boy

Special Prizes

Giles Pilcher Prize for Public Service (Awarded by The Old Olavians’ Lodge)

Rohini Kumar, Rohan Selva-Radov

The Headteacher’s Fund Prizes

Chambers Prize for Leadership

The Anthony Jarvis Shield

The Woodard Board Prize

Michael Pugh Prize for Public Speaking

The Renshaw Shield for Debating

Headteacher’s Prize for Poetry

O.O. Lodge Prize for Contribution to School Life

The Medical Fund

Cathedral Parish Prize for Voluntary Service

Leslie Sanders Prize for English Literature

French Prize

A.W. Walker Prize for German

Matthew Holmes Prize for Classics

Antiquarian Society Prize for a History Project

The Alan H. Sainsbury Memorial Prize for History

The Sarah Beston Memorial Prize for Geography

Economics Prize

Harry Little Prize for Mathematics

Paul Slade Prize for Physics

Brian Ruth Memorial Prize for Physics

Gnaanachelvan Prize for Biology

Biology Project Prize

George Dyson Prize for Chemistry

Chemistry Experimental Skills Prize

Computing Prize

Phyllis Packer Prize for Practical Musicianship

An Old Olavian Prize for Music

Religious Studies Prize

Art Prize

Graphics Prize

Design Prize

Susan Owen Medal for Drama

Amore Adams, Max Dawkins, Jessica Liddemore,

George O’ Connor, Teodor Wator

George O’Connor

Chelsea Liu

Jessica Liddemore

Niccolo Albarosa

Rohan Selva-Radov

Habibah

Choudhury

Thomas Higgins

James D’Silva

Jayda

Thomas-Arnold

Kalina Stoyanova

Kalina Stoyanova

Kavya Vijay

Esther O’Neill

Rohan Selva-Radov

Joseph Davies

Noah Saunders

William Lawson

Amelia Downs

Moosa Saghir

Isabella Fisher

Rakesh Velmurugan

Ananian Ganguli

Adam Steer

Eseohe LawrenceOrumwense

Monamie Endo

Genesis Nsenga

Eva Wyld

Kalina Poydovska

Elizabeth Scott

George O’Connor

Antonia Maraiyesa

Joseph Davies

I.W. Kirk Prize for Sportsmanship

Grace Moore

Senior Victor Ludorum Ananian Ganguli

Ben Read Trophy

Elliot Wright

Douglas Keeble Prize for Fives Genesis Nsenga

Sidney Tweedy Chess Cup Aaravamudhan Balaji

Gordon James Christie Prize for Cricket

Liam Butterworth/ Yuvraj Tibrewal

Prizes for Achievement in Public Examination

H.G. Abel Prizes for A-Level

Shreeya Agarwal

William Lawson

Niccolo Albarosa Alexander Levin

George Anderton Amba Lord

Virulan Arudchchelvan Harrison Luff

Matilda Bates Antonia Maraiyesa

Chiara Bhardwaj Vaibhav Mehra

Rohan Chavali Siddharth Mishra

Harry Chen

Sahil Chitre

David Muoneke

Daniel Newman

Nathan Choy Daniel Oliver

Christina Dales Kalina Poydovska

Joseph Davies Hania Rashed

Max Dawkins Kartik Rawlani

Chintan Dayah Samuel Rayner

Yani Dielil

Moosa Saghir

Amelia Downs Sahib Sandhu

James D’Silva Rohan Selva-Radov

Monamie Endo Joshua Jay Senoron

Isabella Fisher Mominah Sheik

Joseph Fisher Ayush Singh

Oliver Fitch Varun Srinivasan

Ananian Ganguli Kalina Stoyanova

Pranav Garg Abishek Sundararaman

Harrison Grover Milaxan Sutharsan

Jolina Haartsen Rohan Tantepudi

Samuel Iranlove Isabella Teixeira

Aneesa Kumar Tanush Upadhye

Callum Kwan Rakesh Velumurugan

Eseohe

Lawrence-Orumwense

For G.C.S.E.

Shaun Abraham Kirollos Mankaruis

Vedant Agarwal Fawaz Razac

Tanish Arjaria Aryaa Sarayankumar

Ethan Chan Arnav Sharma

Jed Debra Keshav Sheshadri

Nikita Hinksman Aravinthsri Sivasritharan

Arjun Jadhav

Denis Tekingunduz

Aashman Kumar Jawad Uddin

Bright Lan Patrick Williams

Mark Ludden

Lower VI Form Prizes

Awarded by the Parents’ Association for “enthusiasm, commi ment and imagination in the use of the Lower Sixth year”

Max Acton Aradhya Kunwar

Chinmayi Balasmudra Jake Leedham

William Blackwood Naman Malhotra

Mikel Emele Rhaedion Maranan

Nikola Kostov Aryaman Singh

Form Prizes

11H

11J

11K

11L

11M

11N

10J

10K

10L

10M

10N

9J

9K

9L

Aryan Akanda

Rathursan Karunagaran

Sulai Kirupakaran

Vatsalya Swarup

Oluwafolabomi Adenugba

Aashman Kumar

Ethan Chan

Yashas Nair

John Davies

Damyan Korada

Yiming Guo

Mark Ludden

Veer Seedeehul

Ryan Tran

Mohit Gangi Reddy

Keita Opondo

Edward Bell

Rahul Madavaneri

Devaansh Lulla

Rohan Mann

Hugo Maxwell

Eythan Soysa

Michael Qu

Franek Wozniak

Roshaan Thivagaran

Kason Wong

Thomas Howcroft

Abiram Sivakumar

9M

9N

Henry Etherington

Noah Margolies

Ozan Karayel

Tharmesh Premkumar

Grants and Awards

Governors Awards

Maxim Abou-Deeb

Muhammed Anas

Monty Bowman

Kyle Firth

Thomas Farmer

Shaun Kalangi

Sai Sidhanth Lade

Aarit Maheshwari

Kaustubh Malviya

Taran Pradeep

Eashan Rautaray

Abdul Rehman

Aryaan Shaikh

Arnav Shukla

Nathan Choy

Guneeka Chitkara

Maia Guo

Isabella Fisher

Esther O’Neill

Max Dawkins

Siddharth Mishra

Illinca Albota

Avdesh Dagar

Frank Gubars

Naman Malhotra

Pelumi Onibuje

St. Olave’s School Award

Chinedu Ndukwu

F1 National Finalists

UK Linguistics Olympiad

UK Space Design Competition

UK Space Design National Final

Kalina Poydovska Gold Award

Sri Tanav Anisetty

Aditya Awasthi

Mohit Gangi Reddy

Rory Gee

Sahishnu Jadhav

Aayush Kampani

Rahul Madavaneri

Ademiyoninuoluwa

Olaiya

Adyaith Prabhu

Aryan Sanka

Wei Hong Song Silver Award

Grants for Outward Bound, Travel and Gap Year projects

The Headteacher’s Fund

Caleb Boy Melbourne, Australia to represent England at the World Junior Squash Championships, then South Africa to play in the Men’s National Championships and Europe to compete on the Professional Squash Association World Tour prior to commencing studies at University.

The James Burdett Memorial Prize

Grace Moore

Gap year travel to Austria to train as a ski instructor followed by 5 months travelling in Japan to experience the culture, learn a new language.

The Potto Hicks Award

George Anderton

Geneva to visit CERN and explore the permanent exhibition in the main museum the Synchrocyclotron and ATLAS visitor centre prior to commencing studies at University.

The Lennie Award and The Witton/Newmarch Award

Rohan Selva-Radov Rail travel around Norway and Sweden along the Trondheim Pilgrim Paths visiting Copenhagen, Stockholm, Storlien, Sundsvall and Oslo to explore places of historical interest and learn more about St Olave’s life.

The War Memorial Scholarship

Dennis Mihailov

Cartago in Costa Rica to volunteer with the GVS children’s programme and to experience new cultures and broaden knowledge of socioeconomic issues around the world prior to commencing studies at University.

Adam Channon Tromso, Norway to broaden cultural knowledge and hike up Mount Floya. Volunteer project at Ferry Croft Scout activity centre, New Forest National Park, Beaulieu and Brownsea Island as Scout Leader of the 14th Bromley Group.

The Witton-Newmarch Award

Esther O’Neill Inter-railing across Western Europe visiting places of historical interest in Florence, Venice and Trieste such as the Uffizi Gallery, Fiesola, St Mark’s Square and the Lapidario Tergestino before reading Classics at Oxford University.

Full Colours 2023

Senior Colours Senior Prefects

Amore Adams

Max Dawkins

Rohini Kumar

Jessica Liddemore

George O’Connor

Rohan Selva-Radov

Teodor Wator

Contribution to School Life

Basketball

Chapel

Maissie Chan, Habibah Choudhury, Ananjan Ganguli, Thomas Higgins, Chelsea Liu, Amba Lord, George O’Connor, Oluwabukunmi Oloyede

Signs Awuah, Rico Rhodes-Evans

David Aderibigbe, Edoardo Holovatyuk

Cross Country Ananjan Ganguli

Fives

Football

Music

Netball

Rugby

Squash

Swimming

Table Tennis

Volleyball

Franklin Baron, Caleb Boy, Genesis Nsenga, Ethan Nancekivell Smith, Abhishek Sundararaman

Jesse Egbeku, Eduardo Holovatyuk, Daniel Kenward, Alexander Nuotio, Sahib Sandhu

Harry Chen, Alanah Clark, Harrison Grover, Joshua Señoron, Rohan Selva Radov, Eric Sui

Jessica Liddemore, Grace Moore, Sara Riolo

Niccolo Albarosa, George O’Connor, Elliot Wright

Caleb Boy

Alicia Corver, Noah Saunders

Alberto Wong

Finlay Beattie, Makipan

Ketheeswaran, Nayat Menon

Other Clubs & Societies

David Aderibigbe, Niccolò

Albarosa, George Anderton, Signs

Awuah, Franklin Baron, Matthew

Bird, Yuvraj Chahar, Adam

Channon, Rohan Chavali, Harry

Chen, Guneeka Chitkara, Alanah

Clark, Alicia Corver, Joseph Davies, Max Dawkins, Amelia Downs, Monamie Endo, Isabella

Fisher, Joseph Fisher, Ananjan

Ganguli, Pranav Garg, Maia

Guo, Thomas Higgins, Zahra

Kazi, Emily Kerr, Sophie Kerr, Ananya Khole, Poli Koci, Eseohe

Lawrence Orumwense, Chelsea

Liu, Amba Lord, Diya Manoj, Siddharth Mishra, Daniel Newman, Emmanuel Ogunsakin, Oluwabukunumi Oloyede, Esther

O’Neill, Joshua Peek, Harsha

Pendyala, Kalina Poydovska, Hania

Rashed, Dharmeni Ravindra, Samuel Rayner, Noah Saunders, Rohan Selva Radov, Joshua

Señoron, Franklina Sesay, Abhishek

Sundararaman, Isabella Teixeira, Rakesh Velmurugan, Teodor Wator

Other Clubs

Junior Colours

Chapel

Fives

Music

Intermediate Colours

Badminton Vidwanth Reddy

Chapel

Cricket

Fives

Alfred Beston

Ewan Butterworth

Raphael Dadula

Amogh Bhat, Ewan

Butterworth, Srithan Chanda, Raunak Chakraborty, Pranav Devaguptapu, Arjun Jadhav, Yashas Nair, Luke Pulford, Vidwanth Reddy, Kishon

Sathananthan, Jay Shah, Jathushan Vathanan

Oluwafolabomi Adenugba

Aadi Agarwal

Tanish Arjaria

Aryan Akanda

Amogh Bhat

Arjun Jadhav

Bright Lan

Mark Ludden

Oscar Nowatschek

Rishi Nandakumar

Alexander Sapozhenko

Alfred Beston

Music

Rugby

Vedant Agarwal, Taiwo

Akinsanya, Amogh Bhat, Srithan Chanda, Alexsander

Collins, Pranav Devaguptapu, Aarav Gupta, Arjun Jadhav, Louis Jossa, Aashman Kumar, Nam Le, Barret Marboh, Rishi

Nandakumar, Frederick NoelStorr, Aryaa Sarayanakumar, Jay Shah, Arnav Sharma, Arya

Sharma, Keshav Sheshadri, Aranvinthsri Sivasritharan, Karresh Srikandaneswararajah, Oleg Tereschenko, Jawad Uddin, Yong Wang, Patrick Williams, David Wu

Liam Butterworth

Henry Etherington

Noah Margolies

Henry Etherington

Chendoor Pushpanathan

Oscar Rushton

Liam Butterworth

Darragh Keane

David Wade

Mobolaji Alo

Mbong Esong

Rugby

Table Tennis

Other Clubs & Societies

Rory Gee

Ademiyoninuoluwa Olaiya

Aarav Thatikonda

Gabriel Doyle

Dennis Ellimoottil

Henry Etherington

Rory Gee

Abhinav Malladi

Tharmesh Premkumar

Suriya Saravanan

Aneeq Weerasinghe

Neal Ye

Ewan Butterworth

Yiming Guo

Chidera Abana

Tennis Pranav Devaguptapu

As we have moved further away from the disruption of the pandemic to Sixth Form life, the breadth of different activities that makes the Sixth Form at St Olave’s so special continues to return. The 2022/23 academic year was no exception and was a very busy year. We were joined by our new cohort of students who quickly settled into the ways of doing things and joined those in Year 13 to get involved in the many and varied opportunities available to them.

We started the year with a very successful Year 12 teambuilding day on the top field. Students worked in groups with students they had not yet met in order to complete different tasks and challenges. This day always proves to be highly popular, and this was no exception. By the end of the day, a feeling of cohesion existed across the year group, putting them in a good position to start their Sixth Form journey.

For Year 13, the start of the year marks university applications, admissions tests and interviews. The Year 13 students took all of this in their stride and achieved some extremely impressive offers, including particularly high Oxbridge and Medic offers. As part of this process, we held our annual interview preparation day where we were joined by large numbers of volunteers from the school community who gave up their time to help our students with their future academic journeys.

Before we knew it, the term was almost over and we were looking at our two annual fundraising events. Cabaret was a great success, as always, showing the musical talent that exists at the school. The students organised a fantastic evening and raised significant sums of money in the process. We then had Festival at the end of the term, again organised mainly by the student body. Again, large sums were raised. Combined with Cabaret, somewhere in the region of £7000 was raised and this was donated to the Norrie Disease Foundation and Oxfam, two charities proposed and voted for by the student body. These two events would not happen were it not for the dedication, organisation and hard work of the Senior Prefect Team who must be thanked for their outstanding efforts.

Societies continued to be a strength of the Sixth Form. This year saw more societies being extended so that younger students could benefit from them, and it was excellent to see the Sixth Form students engage so readily with those in younger years. The richness of talks and activities that take place really highlights the interests and abilities of our students. What makes these societies

VI Form News

even more special is that they are run solely by students. Many societies also continue to produce high quality journals containing articles at the highest academic level on a plethora of topics. This was also seen with the EPQ. This year saw the EPQ move to Year 12 in the Elective programme but Year 13 also had the opportunity to complete one of these highly valued research projects. The final dissertations and presentations were first-rate and on some very impressive topics, with the grades achieved by Year 13 truly reflecting the hard work that had gone into these qualifications.

As previously mentioned, the Prefects, but particularly the Senior Prefects, are instrumental in much of what takes place at school. They give of their time to help with tutor groups and academic departments. They cheerfully help with events such as entry tests and open evenings, showing people around and generally helping out. Particular thanks must go to the Senior Prefect Team (Rohan Selva-Radov, Rohini Kumar, Jessica Liddemore, Amore Adams, Max Dawkins, George O’Connor and Teodor Wator) who brought energy and vision to the role. As every team before them, they very much enjoyed wearing their purple gowns at official school functions and these had one last outing at the school’s annual Commemoration Service at Southwark Cathedral.

It cannot be forgotten that all of this goes on alongside the day-to-day business of lessons, homework, studying and revision. Students are committed to their studies, they work hard and the outcomes reflect this. It is astounding how much they achieve in their short time with us in the Sixth Form, and this is often whilst they are doing much more, including the not insignificant number undertaking regular volunteering.

The academic year 2022/23 was one in which the students in the Sixth Form continued to shine. In terms of wider life, it is perhaps a year which we will remember for negative things such as the ongoing issues in Ukraine and the developing cost of living crisis. Within the Sixth Form at St Olave’s it will be one that is remembered with much more positivity. At the end of the year we said goodbye to Year 13 in typical fashion and they have gone on to do wonderful things, which is all we can hope for. I wish every student in the Sixth Form here success and happiness and hope that they leave the school with fond memories of all that they achieved whilst they were here.

Matthew Birtchnell Director of Sixth Form

Leadership Development Programme

School Captains, Rohini and Rohan, visited The Dulwich Estate Office and took part in a Leadership Development Programme run by Rob Atkinson from Alleyn’s School. They discussed their purpose as leaders and to ‘look out not just within’, which we hope will lead to them maintaining links between the seven schools who are the benefactors of The Dulwich Estate. Rohini spoke eloquently about Inter-school exchanges and community relationships. She was pleased to have the opportunity to meet like-minded students as this gave an invaluable insight into the workings of other leadership teams and unique events.

Sixth Form Open Evening

Around 1000 prospective students and their parents attended the Sixth Form Open Evening for external applicants. Thank you to all the Sixth Form student volunteers who engaged our visitors with charm and courtesy, sharing information with them and helping them to find their way around the site. We received many

positive comments about the quality of the talks taking place in departments, with parents expressing their wish to return to school to begin studying once again. Thank you to all staff who supported this successful event and to the PA for providing invaluable refreshments.

Fundraising

Year 13 student, Habibah Choudhry, abseiled down St Thomas’ Hospital building on the 23 September 2022 to fundraise for Evelina’s children hospital.

Academic Journal 2023 Edited by Senior

George O’Connor

Prefect

Year 12 Team Building Day

It was great to see the Year 12 bonding with their new forms and form tutors during the Team Building Day. Students took part in a series of problem-solving games which required them to use their team working skills to reach solutions efficiently and collaboratively. This

included human table football, an inflatable assault course and racing inflatable horses. Students shared and built on each other’s ideas and began creating their form group ethos. The whole year group were involved in a range of games which required them at a couple of points to quite literally stretch themselves to the limit and jump over hurdles as they attempted to come out as winners.

Careers Talks

Old Olavian, Ben Cole, an Associate at Marriott Harrison, delivered a broad presentation on the law profession and gave an insight into the application process for becoming a solicitor as part of our Careers programme. Students thoroughly enjoyed his presentation and interacted with Ben with a myriad of questions. Old Olavian, Joseph Barradell, also came in to talk to Year 9, 10, 11 and 12 Design and Technology students about the Dyson Degree Apprenticeship. Joseph has just finished his first year of the apprenticeship and was able to tell the students about this alternative route to university, what the course entailed, how to apply and the day-to-day experience of working for Dyson alongside his degree. The students had some excellent questions and found the talk interesting and useful.

Head of Year 12 Miss Benham arranged for the Education Development Trust to visit pupils in Years 11 and 12 during their morning assembly. The EDT delivered an Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge awareness programme which gave students an overview of apprenticeship choices as a post 18 option with specific emphasis on Degree Apprenticeships.

Interview Preparation Day

Over 100 members of Year 13 attended the annual interview preparation day to help build their confidence and skillset for this infamously demanding aspect of the university admissions process. Each student who attended had a general introduction to interview skills and preparation from Mr Budds (Deputy Headteacher, Curriculum), followed by a one-to-one interview. Such was the level of support from parents, Old Olavians and

staff (past and present), that over half of the Year 13s in attendance had either two interviews, or an interview plus a group discussion session on life as a GP. My sincerest thanks to the 30 interviewers who gave so generously of their time and expertise on the morning to make it the great success that it was. What this team has done has offered great benefit and positive impact to our Year 13s and is the most wonderful example of our Olavian community coming together to support our brilliant students. It was particularly pleasing to see several recent school leavers, who themselves would have been through the process as interviewees over the last decade, coming back to school to help our current Year 13s.

Young Olavians’ Day

Congratulations to the School who overall won the Young Olavians’ Day competition on 2 September winning the football, netball, basketball and volleyball. The Young Olavians did manage to scrape a draw in the Fives match. Thank you to last year’s vice-captain, Nikhil Doosa, for co-ordinating the Young Olavian teams. The much-anticipated rugby match was postponed due to the hard pitches and will be played later this term.

Special Achievements

Year 13 student, Genesis Nsenga, has been volunteering at the new wallball courts in Canada Water to raise awareness of the sport and get more people to give it a go. He was interviewed on the BBC about wallball and its possible inclusion at the Olympics. Year 13 students, Joshua Señoron and Harry Chen, made it to the finals of the BAFTA young game designer competition with their game ‘Robot Waiter’. They were highly commended for “a unique and brilliantly executed game”. All the more impressive as it went from conception to finished project in a week. One of many areas highlighted by the judges’ feedback was the unique music for each level which allowed Joshua and Harry to combine their passion for composing music into a game that they created. Year 13 student, Esther O’Neill, was awarded 1st prize in the 2022 Gladstone Essay competition for her essay ‘Why does the modern world find the Romans so fascinating?’ by the Omnibus team. Year 13 student, James D’Silva, completed his work experience at King’s College Hospital and featured in their magazine.

Leavers’ Reception

This was a splendid ‘end-of-era’ occasion for parents and students to mix with staff in the relaxed environment of the Quad and to enjoy a glass of champagne before moving into The Great Hall for speeches from the Headteacher, the Director of Sixth Form and outgoing Captains of School, Rohini Kumar and Rohan SelvaRadov. The Leavers’ Ball continued at Chelsfield Lake Golf Club with a band, a buffet and the mind-blowing tricks of the illusionist. It was a reflective evening for a fantastic year group who we hope will keep in close contact with the school for many years to come.

Edward Alleyn Award

Congratulations to Year 13 student and Vice-Captain, George, who was presented with the Edward Alleyn Award. George was presented with the award by the Chair of the Dulwich Estate Trustees, Irene Bishop, for demonstrating the Alleynian virtues of creativity, enterprise and philanthropy. As Vice-Captain of School, George has responsibility for House Captains and Academic Prefects, as well as supporting charity fundraising. He is also part of the leadership group of the school Rugby Team, a Sports Prefect, and is completing his Gold D of E Award. Always keen to use his creative talents, George supported the school by designing graphics for various events and has overseen the publication of The Olavian Magazine. He is a worthy winner of this award.

Atlas Fellowship

Congratulations to Sixth Formers, Meriel Mossman, Daniel Newman, Moosa Saghir, and Rohan SelvaRadov who have been accepted onto the Atlas Fellowship, a global programme for students interested in understanding the world and working to change it for the better. The programme has an 11-day residential held over the summer in the San Francisco Bay Area. There were over 13,000 applications this year for just under 100 places, so well done to our four Olavians on their selection.

Bite Back 2030

Year 12 student, Jayda, had the opportunity to speak to Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, as well as other MPs and advisors at Portcullis House to discuss school meals as part of the Bite Back 2030 initiative which believes every young person deserves access to healthy, nutritious food.

International Women’s Day

Habibah Choudhry was lucky enough to be among the few female Officer Cadets invited to attend an International Women’s Day event at the London Fire Brigade Headquarters, Union Street. The day was incredible, with Gina Martin, political gender activist whose campaign criminalised upskirting in England, talking about deep-rooted systemic misogyny, Andy Roe, Commissioner of the LFB, listening to female firefighters’ concerns within the Brigade and steps to be taken for improving this, and a lighthearted sketch to end the day by critically-acclaimed comedian, Esther Manito. It was truly insightful to hear so many different perspectives and stories from the women who work to protect us yet receive little recognition for it.

Diversity Week

We see this as a great opportunity to actively support and celebrate our diverse community. Celebrations commenced with the hoisting of the Pride flag. The Rev Dr Julie Bowen then gave a short reflective reading with a focus on ‘being kind’, and we had a poetry reading and reflections from Year 12 student, Ben Sharp, Vice President of the Sixth Form Pride Society. There were educational displays around school and speakers from the ‘Just Like Us’ charity spoke with Year 9 during RSHE. The Library organised some excellent book suggestions, and there were Pride themed sweet treats in the canteen. Thank you to Tharmesh Premkumar and Gabriel Doyle in Year 9, who were pivotal in organising celebrations for this event.

Diversity and Inclusivity

Year 12 took part in the Diversity and Inclusivity Afternoon led by Miss Benham and their form tutors. The session covered issues surrounding gender, race, sexuality and disability to ensure the school community is as inclusive and welcoming as they are able to be, students were taught how to be active bystanders. Pupils engaged well with the material covered and widely reported feeling more confident dealing with and reporting any inappropriate behaviours. All students received resource packs which contained key information and reading suggestions, which we hope they will continue to engage with going forwards.

UCAS Day

Year 12 spent the day preparing for university applications. This is an exciting point in their education as they begin to make decisions about their futures. We were joined by Vicky Glazer from the University of Exeter who gave an interesting general overview of going to university and how to apply, highlighting the vast array of options available to students. Students then had sessions on writing a personal statement and on how to complete their applications. In the afternoon, we were joined by former students, Aaditya, Shahar, Caleb, Farah and Jahnavi who did a Q&A session with the year group. Questions ranged from how to best prepare for Oxbridge exams to what societies are there at university. Year 12 had lots of questions and appreciated the student perspective on going to university.

Interview Skills Day

Mr Joe Doherty from Sheffield University delivered an interview skills clinic to Year 12. The workshop, run by Mrs Johnson and Dr Ashford, was enjoyed by the students who engaged with the activities and gained some valuable tips for both university and employer interviews.

Cabaret

The evening started with a brilliant piano performance of ‘Skyfall’ by Genesis, setting the scene for more great performances to follow. Tony, Ade, and Akin impressed everyone with their trio performance of ‘Home’, Ade’s singing complemented by Tony’s saxophone. Finishing off the first half of the event before the interval, Ruben, Nathan, and James performed ‘Motown Medley’. Following a busy interval, everyone returned for another six performances in the second half of the evening. Ben started by putting everyone in a Christmas spirit, performing a collection of Christmas Jazz on the piano, followed by some incredible singing of ‘Make you feel my love’ by Matilda and Subomi. Joe’s solo performance, both playing the piano and singing ‘Vienna’ simultaneously, filled the hall despite not even using a microphone for his singing. The penultimate performance came from Franklin and the T Street Band singing the classic ‘Mr Brightside’, with a final performance of ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’, Ben leading the performance with some great singing, accompanied by Alanah, Maia, Amba, and Sebastian.

Our Cabaret Committee, led by Amba Lord, put lots of work into preparing the event, resulting in a great evening which raised over £2000 for this year’s Festival charities.

‘Festival’

This year students decided to raise money to support the chosen charities: ‘The Norrie Disease Foundation’ and ‘Oxfam’. Festival was full of entertainment, enjoyment and teachers participating in ‘Would I Lie to You?’. Overall, along with Cabaret, we shall have raised £6903.68 - a fantastic achievement! Individual form groups all ran stalls including ‘Wheel of Fortune’, ‘Ball Pong’ and ‘Tin Can Alley’; congratulations to 9J for raising an impressive £236. Oxfam have also given us two London Marathon places for staff to help support their excellent cause.

Cultural Evening

This was an amazing night filled with spectacular student performances, a delicious buffet and beautiful traditional dress. It was a wonderful opportunity for students and their families to share their culture through singing, dancing and spoken word. The event raised £2200 for Save an Orphan, a UK registered humanitarian aid charity dedicated to improving the lives of orphaned children, widowed families throughout the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Thank you to the Cultural Evening Committee for organising such an amazing event and to all parents/carers for their food donations.

Senior Prefect Jessica, Festival 2023

Boys vs. Girls Netball Match (left), Teachers vs. Students ‘Would I Lie To You’ (right), Festival 2023

Higher Education Evening

In March we held our annual Higher Education Evening for Year 12 organised by our Careers Lead, Ms Molloy. The aim of the evening is to start students thinking about what they will do when they leave school and to inform them of how university works and how they make applications. Year 12 heard talks from Katherine Pagett from the University of Birmingham, from Naomi Ashley-Thorne, our Wellbeing Practitioner and from Mr Birtchnell. They also benefitted from the experience of School Captain, Rohan Selva-Radov, who shared his insights into writing a personal statement and from Old Olavian, Joseph Barradell, who is currently undertaking a degree apprenticeship with Dyson.

Oxbridge Evening

The Great Hall held a packed audience of rapt Year 12 pupil and parent attendees for our annual Oxbridge Information evening. Guest speakers were Caroline Burt of Pembroke College, Cambridge and Sarah Large of Mansfield College, Oxford. Together they gave all attendees a very thorough and engrossing overview of the process of applying to Oxford or Cambridge, right from earliest thoughts of “why apply?” and “should I apply?” through to what happens once you receive an offer. They debunked many an unhelpful arcane myth and gave useful tips about all aspects of Oxbridge admissions before responding with perspicacity to a wide range of questions from the very engaged audience.

Careers Fair

The Parents’ Association and Old Olavians’ Careers Fair took place after school organised by Ms Molloy, our Careers Lead. The event was declared open by the Chair of the Old Olavians’ Society and proceeded to be a wonderful occasion for students to meet with enthusiastic professionals from a range of fields. The volunteers shared their career experiences with pupils and answered their many questions about entry into their professions. One of the highlights of the fair was the Speed Networking element which was designed, planned, and implemented by School Vice-Captain Max Dawkins. Max, assisted by Joshua Miles and other committed Sixth Form prefects, worked tirelessly to keep the event on track. Speed Networking gave small groups of pupils the opportunity to meet with professional representatives from Finance and Consulting as well as the Creative Industries, Engineering and Healthcare. All representatives gave pupils comprehensive insights into their areas of expertise.

In the Great Hall one-to-one meetings took place with professional volunteers from a range of backgrounds and Careers Consultant Mrs Jackie Roberts spoke to students who wanted a range of information about a variety of careers.

Olavian Lecture Series

It was a great pleasure to welcome Professor Jane Clarke, Professor of Molecular Biophysics at Cambridge University who explained how the physics and chemistry of weak molecular interactions underpin the whole of biology. These determine the structure and stability of biological macromolecules and the strength and lifetime of interactions of these macromolecules with other cellular components. The audience enjoyed hearing how the folding of proteins and of protein-protein interactions are key to understanding cellular function as well as hearing how research is being used to help cure cancers and illness in older people.

We also welcomed Dr Daniel Elphick for the second lecture in this year’s Series. Dr Elphick is a lecturer in Musicology at Royal Holloway, University of London, Fellow of the Centre for Russian Music at Goldsmiths, University of London and his talk was titled: ‘Musicology: 4 myths and a question’. Dr Elphick introduced some of the most frequently encountered myths surrounding ‘classical music’, including genius, biography, progress, and how to listen.

Speed Networking Event, Careers Fair

School Captain Rohan, introducing Musicology Lecture

EPQ

Congratulations to the Year 13 students who successfully completed Edexcel’s Extended Project 2023 - the A level standard standalone

School Captain Rohini

qualification designed to extend and develop students’ abilities beyond the A level syllabus. Our students showed great scholastic aptitude in facing the 7,000word Projects. In keeping with their Year 13 leadership responsibilities, external examinations and university interviews the students independently completed Edexcel’s rigorous Projects designed to increase higher order thinking skills; resourcing knowledge; absorbing new concepts; exploring critical evaluations and testing reflective thinking. Peers and staff enjoyed seeing the February Presentations in the Sixth Form Library where students illustrated their arguments on Chaos Theory (Nathan Daniel); Racial Inequality in healthcare (Rohini Kumar); Imaginary Numbers (Sebastian Garham-Jong); Socialism in the former Yugoslavia (Poli Koci) and Music in healthcare (Rakesh Velmurugan) - to name just a few. These exemplary Olavian students impressed with their superb performance – not only for themselves but as guiding lights for the younger members of the school showing the way to what is possible and achievable.

Political Economy Society

MP, Gareth Bacon, visited the school to speak to Sixth Formers about how transferable his skills are to student leaders. He also met with three Year 10 students to discuss how he can be involved with the school’s upcoming Politics Awareness Week. Hugo, Ayush and Eythan were able to persuade Mr Bacon to visit again in March.

Debating

Four Sixth Formers took part in the Cambridge Union’s Schools competition regional round, held at Ibstock Place in Roehampton. Two teams (Joseph Davies and Joshua Peek, Year 13, and Micah Sedghi and Suzanna Wade, Year 12) acquitted themselves brilliantly in a very intense competition, with four debates across a fairly relentless

day. After the draw and motions are revealed, students are given only 15 minutes to compose their arguments, and then it is into the thick of it in 40-minute debates featuring four teams. Topics included issues in economic development, education policy, and ‘Rainbow capitalism’.

Students are judged on the basis of their speeches, responses to other team’s arguments and the impact of their interventions, or ‘Points of Information’, to others’ speeches. The St. Olave’s teams were given a range of rankings in their debates, but both managed to pick up a 1st and a 2nd place. Whilst progression was on the basis of teams’ placings in debates, students were also judged on an individual basis, and here Joseph was judged to have gained the 5th most points on the day, and Joshua the 10th, making them one of the top five pairings on the day.

Life Skills

The Life Skills Company ran a workshop on ‘Optiminsing Learning and Maximising Grades’ with our Year 12 students. Students were led through a number of important skills, such as speed reading, skimming over work, note taking and presentation skills.

Imperial College London

Year 13 students Ananjan Ganguli, Chinazom Achu, Shreeya Agarwal, Guneeka Chitkara, Obaapa KyeiBaffour and Asmita Sumana, won 2nd prize in the Imperial College London Science at Heart and Lung School Teams Prize 2022. The aim of the competition was to help students stretch beyond the school curriculum and learn about the excitement of research. Their challenge was to design an ePoster which illustrated a strategy for combining hard sciences with biomedicine to reduce the number of deaths and disabilities caused by heart and circulatory disease. 55 schools submitted an ePoster and ten schools were shortlisted for the final. Our team’s design was ‘The TB Tester’. They will each receive a certificate and in addition, St. Olave’s receives £2000 to go towards supporting science-related activity in the school.

Gareth Bacon MP, and the Junior Politics Society Presidents

Senior Prefect Team 2023 - 2024

Aditi

RaiCaptain of

School Transitioning into a sixth form is already a daunting task, and doing so in a completely new environment was something that initially filled me with uncertainty. However, the move to St Olave’s was one that pleasantly surprised me and is a step I am glad I took. The Olavian community is incredibly rich in terms of all the opportunities it offers for the entire student body, all the way from the lower school to the upper school. Upon my move, I eagerly engaged in societies such as the Medics Society, which I am now Vice President of, as well as attending the numerous other societies, continuously widening my knowledge. Throughout my short time here, I have been able to grasp onto many opportunities to grow and develop myself as a person and I am very excited, privileged and appreciative of the opportunity to help contribute more directly to our school. I was always in awe of the head girls at my old school, and now that I am in a similar position, I am eager to try my hardest to make a valuable contribution. Academically, my interest lies mainly in the sciences, (particularly biology) as you can see with my A-level subjects, and I hope to study Medicine at university. Outside of school, I am involved in activities such as dance and piano, as well as volunteering schemes such as the one at Princess Royal University Hospital, and these have allowed me to gain a whole set of skills, the most important being communication, which I find myself utilising in daily life. I have enthusiastically participated in sports such as cricket and netball, being part of the school teams both here and at my prior school, and I am trying to evolve into a well-rounded individual. I believe it is extremely important to readily engage in whatever opportunities come your way, and the SPT and I hope to instil that sentiment in the student body during our tenure. As I like to say, I can quite literally start up a conversation with anyone (my Year 8 form should know that already), so please do say hi or come have a chat if you see me around – I highly doubt that I am scary! I sincerely hope to get to know the students in school better throughout the upcoming year, and to be, as cliché as it may sound, a friendly and recognisable face.

Thaddeus Otuoze - Captain of School

In the past six years, St Olave’s has been integral to my development, both as a student, and more generally, as a person that I can look back on and be proud of. Countless experiences, opportunities and memories have shaped my identity and my character, and so I cannot be grateful enough to repay such a wonderful community through my role as School Captain. In the next year, as the two previous School Captains have done for me, I want to be an emblem of everything each student loves about this school; a symbol of the values that St Olave’s has become so well known for. Being a part of this school is a huge privilege for me, and not one that I take for grantedfrom participating in the school play, Cultural Evening, and Black History month, spending time at a number of clubs and societies, to mentoring younger students, or taking part in many of the musical ensembles, I try to use every opportunity I can to contribute to St Olave’s. This type of enthusiasm is what I believe acts as a foundation for the diverse, exciting, and flourishing environment built by our students, our lovely staff, parents and Old Olavians, and within the wider community. In my own time, I find myself playing basketball with friends, practicing clarinet, going for walks, baking, and reading more into subjects I can’t get enough of in school alone, like maths – if that was not obvious from my mostly STEM-centric A-level subjects already! Together, myself and the rest of this year’s Senior Prefect Team cannot emphasise how important strengthening the Olavian community is, so that we can continue to pass on such treasured experiences to all who join us. So, please do send me a message on Teams or say hello in school if you’d like to - I’m happy to talk about anything!

Isla Clark - Head of Outreach and Ambassador, Form and Duty Day Prefects

Moving to St Olave’s is undeniably the best decision I could have made. Although I was initially intimidated by the reputation for excellence this school

holds, I was reassured by the warm and professional welcome that made me feel part of the school right away. I have been keen to throw myself into sixth form life and take advantage of the abundance of opportunities, from being part of the Cabaret committee to being the President of Classics Society and regularly attending so many others (Feminist, Poli-econ, and Theatre Societies). Looking ahead, I see my role as being able to enhance the links between year groups by creating more House spirit and rejuvenating the incredible events St Olave’s has to offer. Hopefully this encourages participation beyond our academic studies to strive to create a great work-life balance and well-rounded individuals. As Head of Outreach, I want to create closer relationships not only within school but with local schools to help foster a greater sense of community. I think the sixth form prefects hold great power in being role models to the younger years through the form prefects’ weekly activities with their form groups and the other prefects’ noticeable presence, so the Senior Prefect Team really wants to grasp this opportunity to develop these roles further to enhance the position. I am incredibly excited for the year to come, and we hope to leave a lasting legacy at St Olave’s. Feel free to message me on Teams or stop me in the corridor! I hope you see me as a friendly face for all your suggestions.

Wafi Ali - Head of Charity and Events

It has truly been an honour to have been at St Olave’s for almost six years and have each year enrich my skill set from a different lens and augment my confidence in instinctively taking up opportunities. I am proud to say that St Olave’s taught me not how to transiently learn but how to develop the motivation to pursue lifelong learning. Hence perhaps not surprising is my passion for politics and economics, with its roots deep in a childhood of local volunteering, upheld today with my co-presidency of Political Economy Society, involvement in the Cultural Evening Committee and the lead delegates team last year. My greatest aim is to expand engagement with our school’s prestigious events of Cabaret, Cultural Evening and the newly instated Iftar, making them opportunities for all students to celebrate their external identities, uniting our school body through pluralism. Not only do these events provide a balance to academic excellence in the school, but as part of our greater aim of higher engagement, they can allow those who are less confident in academic speaking to show their talent in the liberal and creative arts: after all, it is this happiness which will enrich our school community

to be inclusive. In recent post Covid times, we have seen collaboration with older years in widespread projects such as Festival drop and I intend to ensure that pre-Covid interaction levels with our most prominent charity events are brought back, whether through collectively building morale or incentivising. In my free time, I teach at a local religious centre, helping me to explore the philosophical interests of the younger generations as well as reading books about political theory and playing sports including squash and boxing. I hope that you all resonate with my vision and feel comfortable to talk to me around school or message me on Teams.

Olivia TangHead of Clubs, Societies, and Academic Prefects

One of the fantastic aspects that sets the community and environment of St Olave’s apart is its huge range of extra-curricular activities available. The sheer number of clubs and societies provided an exciting way to enrich my experience at St Olave’s, and I found myself immediately inspired by the enthusiastic and confident Year 13 student leaders creating a space to share their passions. I only hope that I can do my role as a Senior Prefect justice by developing and growing these microcosms of the community, leaving them thriving for the next Senior Prefects to take over. I also want to utilise my role to strengthen our school community, and am honoured to have the opportunity to represent the school as a Vice Captain. Being Vice President of Debating Society has taught me the importance of clear communication, and I strive to help others find their voice and express their ideas so they can articulate what they want to change about the world in order to build a brighter, fairer future. I also look forward to working with Academic Prefects to encourage passion for their subjects among students, and working with Isla to collaborate with other schools for academic opportunities such as joint lectures or interschool debates. I aspire to read Law at university, and revel in the chance to debate current topics (you might see me at a variety of different societies for this reason). Learning violin and playing in various orchestras has taught me the significance of discipline and teamwork, and I am always looking to improve my artistic skills in addition to my academic ones. Feel free to get in touch if you’re interested in any academic extra-curricular events, or just want to chat – you can find me in school (likely at a lunchtime society) or send me a message on Teams!

Thomas Farmer - Head of Sport and House Captains

There was never any hesitation as to whether I would stay at St Olave’s after GCSEs. Every year during school, including the years of the pandemic, the school has offered me endless opportunities to better myself as an individual, but also taught me to respect the community around me, including F1 in Schools, where working as a team, with mixed years, is crucial to the recent success that our teams throughout the school have achieved. Having grown up seeing the direct impact and success that the Senior Prefect Team can have, after having integrated into sixth form, I wanted to be a part of this year’s team to spread ideas about inclusivity, following the ethos set by the previous team, however my main aim is to improve engagement throughout the school, as to sustainably create a more cohesive and positively rivalrous student body for the foreseeable future. My belief is that not only House Captains, but prefects of all kinds can play a crucial role in inspiring the next wave of competitors, whether that be in a sporting, academic or creative facility. Playing Fives brings me a lot of happiness, and during my time as Captain of Fives I have learnt how to style myself as an understanding leader, but also a strong character when need be. I hope to replicate the success the Fives team has had this year over the coming year with the rest of the team, to make the school a more welcoming but fiercely competitive place. If anyone sees me around school I will always greet them with a smile and a laugh, so please don’t be afraid to talk to me if you see me around the corridors!

Senior Prefect Training

It was a pleasure to attend the Senior Prefect Team training with Mr Birtchnell at St Benedict’s Centre in West Malling. We believe it is essential for this key group to have the time and space to explore their vision and how they want to implement this over the next twelve months. The team looked at different leadership styles, what makes a great leader and what activities need to take place to achieve their vision. The day finished with them presenting their vision, which focussed on cohesion and engagement. Thank you to Mr Birtchnell for organising the day and to the students, including outgoing School Captains, Rohini and Rohan, for engaging fully with the ideas they encountered.

First Picture Outside the School, New Senior Prefect Team

Senior Prefect Training at West Malling, with the Old Senior Prefect Team

Leavers’ Destinations 2023

Name Destination Course

Achu, Chinazom Leicester Medicine

Adams, Amoré LSE Anthropology and Law

Adeleye, Ifeoluwasubomi Oxford, St Edmund Hall Law

Aderibigbe, David King's College London Law

Adesanya, Oluwateniola University of Nottingham Medicine at Lincoln

Agarwal, Shreeya Imperial College London Electrical and Electronic Eng

Aggarwal, Anvi Imperial College London Economics, Fin and Data Sci

Ainsworth, Charlotte University of Nottingham Medicine

Akinfenwa, Akinola University of Birmingham Medicine

Alade, Mayokun Queen Mary Medicine

Albarosa, Niccolò Oxford, St Hilda's English Lang and Lit

Alcober Gelpi, Didac University of York Physics with Philosophy

Ali, Arooba University of Sussex Medical Neuroscience

Amalraj, Elwin Imperial College London Biochemistry

Anand, Advika University of Warwick Law

Anderton, George University of Bristol Mathematics and Philosophy

Arudchchelvan, Virujan University of Bath Aerospace Engineering

Athawale, Ameya Imperial College London Biological Sciences

Atsu, James Manchester University Chemical Engineering

Awuah, Signs Leeds University Medicine

Baron, Franklin University of Nottingham Law

Barry, Pearse Exeter University Law with Business

Bates, Matilda Oxford, Queen's PPE

Beattie, Finlay University of York Psychology integrated Masters

Bera, Srij Cambridge, Gonville and Caius Medicine

Bharadwaj, Shravan Degree Apprenticeship

Bhardwaj, Chiara Cambridge, Gonville and Caius Economics

Bird, Matthew Lancaster University Accounting and Finance (Ind)

Boateng, Chelsea Gap Year

Boy, Caleb Loughborough University Economics with Found Year

Cerda, Albert UCL Medicine

Chahar, Yuvraj LSE Politics and Economics

Chan, Maissie King's College London Culture, Media and Creative Ind

Channon, Adam Winchester History

Chavali, Rohan King's College London Medicine

Chen, Harry Cambridge, Homerton Computer Science

Chitkara, Guneeka UCL Physics

Chitre, Sahil Rahul LSE Accounting and Finance

Choudhry, Habibah Queen's University Belfast Pharmacy

Choy, Nathan Oxford, St Hugh's Civil Engineering

Christopher, Toby Degree Apprenticeship

Clark, Alanah Cambridge, Gonville and Caius Law

Cooper, Jamie LSE Actuarial Science

Corver, Alicia Bristol Geography with Quant Res Meth

Dales, Christina Bath Natural Sciences MSci

Daniel, Nathan Warwick Engineering

Danquah, Nathan Cardiff Financial Mathematics

Davies, Joseph Cambridge, Downing Law

Dawkins, Max Imperial Mechanical Engineering

Dayah, Chintan

Kent and Medway Med Sch Medicine

Dhima, Alexander City International Political Econ

Djelil, Yani Angelo

Oxford, Wadham Physics

Downs, Amelia Gap Year

D'Silva, James Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Medicine

Egbeku, Jesse Gap Year

Ekure, Fovie Cambridge, Corpus Christi Human, Social, and Pol Sci

Endo, Monamie

Cambridge, Murray Edwards Computer Science

Eswaran, Pravin Gap Year

Fernando, Warnakulasuriya Leicester Economics

Fisher, Isabella Cambridge, Jesus Natural Sciences

Fisher, Joseph

Oxford, Keble Physics

Fitch, Oliver Bristol Veterinary Science

Fitzpatrick, Ruby Exeter Law

Fowowe, Oludolapo Imperial Medicine

Gaikwad, Anirudh Bath Economics

Ganguli, Ananjan Imperial Medicine

Garg, Pranav Imperial Physics with Theoretical Phy

Garnham-Jong, Sebastian King's College London Biomedical Engineering

Gautam, Rushil East London Accounting and Finance

Gogineni, Abhiram UCL Medicine

Gopalakrishnan, Shrivishnuvatsan UCL Physics

Grover, Harrison East Anglia UEA Film and Television Prod

Gruber, Charis Manchester Electrical and Electronic Eng

Guo, Maia Bath Mechanical Engineering

Gupta, Subhani Southampton PPE

Haartsen, Jolina King's College London Biomedical Engineering

Hackett, Samuel UCL Physics

Hamid, Amaan Imperial Medicine

Higgins, Thomas Exeter Environmental Science

Ho, Jonathan UCL Medicine

Hoang, Daniel Southampton Computer Science with AI

Holovatyuk, Eduard UCL Statistics and Management

Hossain, Safin King's College London Medicine

Houghton, Benjamin Nottingham Mathematics and Economics

Igwe, Pearl Nottingham PPE

Iranloye, Samuel Cambridge, Churchill Engineering

Kagan, Kenan Bath Mathematics

Kamstrup, Sebastian Gap Year

Kanesalingam, Tharuniyan Southampton Chemical Engineering

Kar, Tamanna Exeter Data Science

Karunagaran, Sanjay Manchester Pharmacy

Kearsley, Luke Gap Year

Kenward, Daniel Bath Spa Sports Management

Kerr, Emily Bristol Classics

Kerr, Sophie King's College London Classics and the Ancient World

Ketheeswaran, Makipan Imperial Medicine

Khole, Ananya Queen Mary Mathematics

Khumalo, Christianna Gap Year

Koci, Poli Cambridge, Trinity Human, Social, and Pol Sci

Koleosho, Olutola York Economics and Finance

Kothiwale, Vedant Oxford, Keble PPE

Kozinsky, Ethan Imperial Electrical and Electronic Eng

Kumar, Rohini UCL Medicine

Kumar, Aneesa Cambridge, Girton Medicine

Kwan, Callum Imperial Electrical and Electronic Eng

Kyei-Baffour, Obaapa Nottingham Medicine with a Found Year

Lawrence-Orumwense, Eseohe Birmingham Medicine

Lawson, William Oxford, Mansfield PPE

Levin, Alexander UCL Chemical Engineering

Li, Jaydn Degree Apprenticeship

Liddemore, Jessica Bristol Medicine

Liu, Chelsea King's College London Dentistry

Liu, Yukun Southampton Physics

Loges, Hans Gap Year

Lord, Amba Cambridge, Robinson Natural Sciences

Luff, Harrison Imperial Economics, Finance and Data Sci

Machado, Luis Nottingham Trent Property Finance and Inv

Malik, Daksh Leeds Medicine

Man, Wylan Durham Engineering (Electronic)

Manku, Keira Loughborough University Business Econ and Fin

Manoj, Diya Southampton Bio and Marine Biology

Maraiyesa, Antonia Cambridge, St John's Engineering

Maurel, Lloyd Bristol Economics and Management

Mcbennett, Eoin Surrey Chemistry with Forensic Inv

Mehra, Vaibhav UCL Robotics and AI

Mehta, Nirvani Exeter Medical Sciences

Menon, Nayat Warwick Law and Sociology

Mihailov, Dennis Bath Integrated Mech and Elec Eng

Miro, Jessé Université Paris Cité Dentistry

Mishra, Siddharth Imperial Electrical and Electronic Eng

Moore, Grace Nottingham Ancient History and History

Moulden, James York Mathematics

Moulson, Ana Leicester Medicine

Mudra, Ruslana Imperial Medicine

Muoneke, David Exeter Computer Science

Naba, Najifa King's College London International Relations

Nancekivell-Smith, Ethan Bath

Structural and Architectural Eng

Newman, Daniel Bristol Economics and Management

Nortey, Sara Surrey Economics and Finance

Nsenga, Genesis

Nuotio, Alexander

Oxford, St Hilda's Economics and Management

Queen Mary Accountancy

Obasi, Ruben Nottingham Economics

O'Connor, George Degree Apprenticeship

O'Dea, Donovan Nottingham Mechanical Engineering

Ogunsakin, Emmanuel Southampton Medicine

Ojo, Hephzibah Imperial Medicine

Olaiya, Ademofeoluwa Leicester Economics and Data Analytics

Oliver, Daniel York Mathematics

Oloyede, Oluwabukunmi Warwick Civil Engineering

Onabanjo, Esther The University of Law Law

O'Neill, Esther Oxford, Brasenose Classics

Oviawe, Anora UAL Art Foundation

Pasam, Varshini Southampton Aero/Astro/Spacecraft Eng

Pasari, Shaun Warwick PPE

Patel, Sumit Warwick Chemistry

Peek, Joshua Bristol

Pendyala, Harsha

Politics and Int'l Rels

Brighton and Sussex Med Sch Medicine

Pham, Harry Gap Year

Phillips, Emmanuel

Poydovska, Kalina

Prashar, Aryan

Queen Mary

Digital and Tech Sols (Data Analyst)

Cambridge, Gonville and Caius Psychological and Behavioural Sci

Cambridge, Queen's Law

Qureshi, Aymaan City Mathematics with Fin and Econ

Qureshi, Saba

King's College London Medicine

Raghavan, Rahul Imperial Electrical and Electronic Eng

Rajarethinam, Prithish Bath Economics

Rashed, Hania

Ravindra, Dharmeni

Rawlani, Kartik

Cambridge, Newnham Medicine

Cambridge, King's Engineering

Cambridge, King's Economics

Rayner, Samuel Cambridge, Trinity Natural Sciences

Rhodes-Evans, Rico Bath Integrated Design Eng

Riolo, Sara-Luisa Oxford, St Edmund Hall PPE

Ruparellia, Kaylan Degree Apprenticeship

Rybalkina, Alisa Leicester Psychology

Saghir, Moosa Cambridge, Lucy Cavendish Engineering

Sahu, Shashank Leicester Economics

Saju, Aydin Gap Year

Sandhu, Sahib Bath Aerospace Engineering

Saunders, Noah Plymouth Environmental Geoscience

Savchenko, Georgiy Exeter Computer Science

Scott, Elizabeth Cambridge, Corpus Christi History of Art

Scott, Pharrell Leeds Law

Seanor, Kenji King's College London Chemistry

Searby, Juliette Degree Apprenticeship

Selva-Radov, Rohan Oxford, Merton PPE

Señoron, Joshua Jay UCL Computer Science

Sesay, Franklina Bath Natural Sciences MSci

Shah, Ibrahim King's College London Medicine

Shahrabi Atari, Daniel Imperial Medicine

Shamekh, Moad Manchester Economics

Sharma, Ina UCL Medicine

Sheik, Mominah Queen Mary Dentistry

Shrestha, Sai Gap Year

Shum, James City Actuarial Science

Singh, Ayush UCL Medicine

Sivarajah, Kavin Queen Mary Medicine

Srinivasan, Varun UCL Computer Science

Srivastava, Arnav LSE Accounting and Finance

Steer, Adam Southampton Chemistry

Sterling, Hannah Bath Pharmacy

Stojanovska, Maria Southampton Economics

Stoyanova, Kalina Cambridge, Emmanuel Law

Sui, Eric Imperial Medical Biosciences

Sumanan, Asmita Gap Year

Sundararaman, Abhishek Cambridge, Homerton Engineering

Suryanarayanan, Aashray Nottingham Eng and Phys Sci with Found Year

Sutharsan, Milaxan Imperial Physics

Tantepudi, Rohan Warwick Computer Systems Eng

Teixeira, Isabella Cambridge, Girton Economics

Tripathi, Anisha St George's Medicine

Tweneboa-Koduah Jr, Michael Warwick Engineering

Tyagi, Upanshu Degree Apprenticeship

Upadhye, Tanush Imperial Aeronautical Engineering

Vadukul, Devan Royal Holloway Economics with a Year in Business

Velmurugan, Rakesh Imperial Medicine

Vijay, Kavya King's College London General Engineering

Vijayakumar, Mehalan Bath Civil Engineering

Walton, Leo James Bristol Economics and Management

Wator, Teodor Cambridge, Peterhouse Law

Wong, Alberto Sheffield Korean Studies with Japanese

Wontumi, Sydelle Manchester Chemical Engineering

Wright, Elliot Durham Physics and Astronomy

Wyld, Eva Gap Year

Xia, Yiming King's College London Physics

Yao, Stephen Gap Year

Yogakumar, Thivya Greenwich Accounting and Finance

Yorrick-Enenmoh, Lauryn Portsmouth

Zahra, Kazi King's College London

Interior Architecture and Design

Global Health and Soc Med

Zhang, Xingjian Manchester Architecture

The Duke of Edinburgh award at St Olave’s goes from strength to strength thanks to a strong programme in the school and excellent support from staff. This year we had 200 students apply to participate on the three awards, which is very much in line with previous years. They all see that the award allows them to develop and build new skills and learn more about themselves. The award is structured into four sections for Bronze and silver and a fifth one for Gold. Each section is designed to develop and build on a different area for them: skills, physical, voluntary and expedition. Gold has residential as an extra building block.

Duke Of Edinburgh

The last Bronze D of E expedition of the year was completed in glorious sunshine and high temperatures, which led to the teams having to work hard during the day. Students spent one evening and two days trekking through areas around West Kingsdown, before camping up in rural Sevenoaks, and then returning to school. The expedition finished with them pitching and drying kit through their debrief. A big thank you to the staff who supported the activity.

Silver Award

The start of half term began with our students taking part in the Silver DofE, which is very much a step up from the Bronze Award due to a much longer and more testing expedition. 37 students arrived at school prepared for the 3-day expedition. Ahead of them lay 55 plus kilometres of navigation and back packing, camping and cooking. The teams were divided onto two routes, red and blue with six staff in hot pursuit. Day One the groups enjoyed blustery but ultimately good weather throughout the day and a cool evening. The teams worked well, all getting in before 5 pm and into route planning for the next day. Day Two saw some weary bodies up and out on another long day moving across the North Downs, settling in for a very wet night. Day Three continued with rain, with the teams making their way back to school. Well done to all the teams for their resilience under some difficult conditions. As always, a big thank you to all the staff who came out to help.

Bronze Award

The first half of the Autumn term is an important time for Duke of Edinburgh. 40 students arrived at their first campsite in Sevenoaks ready for the challenges ahead. After pitching their tents, cooking and organising their equipment, the boys had some free time before darkenss descended on the camp. The teams were up early getting to grips with their day’s route planning. Once each team had suitably annotated their map, they were let loose into the Kent countryside with staff shadowing and surprising them at various waypoints. On arrival at the next campsite, teams were debriefed and advice was given on how to improve their performance on Sunday. All teams made it back to school safely, with the final team arriving back by 3 pm. Thank you to Miss Difford, as well as Mr Carroll, Miss Foster, Mr Jewson, Mr Lay and Mrs Wiltshire, who all came out during their weekend to help support the teams.

Six teams ventured out for our Bronze practice and assessed combined expedition over the Coronation weekend. The students went through all their camp craft, navigation and then spent two days and nights of back packing, covering around 30 kilometres.

Gold Award

The Gold expedition is one of the most exciting expeditions we do as it is an opportunity to test camping, navigation, people management skills, physical fitness and mental strength in uncompromising terrain in variable weather conditions. The Easter expedition was no exception as the weather gave us bright burning sun, temperatures dropping below zero at night and lots of rain in an already very wet mountain range. The group, comprising 26 students, camped, navigated and walked around 55 km over three days around the mountains of Crickhowell in Wales. As part of their expedition, the group climbed up and over Pen Twyn Glas, which is 646 metres high, before descending into camp.

These expeditions take a lot of time and organisation so thank you to Mr Holland, Miss Difford, Mr Carroll, Dr Carpenter Miss Foster, Mr Jewson, Mr Lay and Mrs Wiltshire for all their help and assistance.

Paul Holland DofE Co-ordinator

Bronze DofE Practice Expedition

Silver DofE Expedition

Tents up, ready to rest

Gold DofE Assessed Expedition

Mathematics & Computing

Faculty of Mathematics & Computing

This has been a very busy year. In November, Year 11 attended Maths Inspiration, a series of talks by professional mathematicians, hearing from experts in fields from crowd flow dynamics to the maths of juggling.

In our second year participating in the Hans Woyda competition, the team managed to reach the quarterfinals. Although the students were disappointed, they fought hard and were knocked out by the eventual winners.

Olavians performed very well in the UKMT competitions this year, with many students qualifying for follow-on rounds. This includes five who qualified for the British Mathematical Olympiad, 13 for the Intermediate Olympiads and four students qualifying for the Junior Olympiad.

During Activity Week 1, we took Year 9 to Thorpe Park to look at mathematics and computer science in action. The students really enjoyed the rides and the chance to think more deeply about how modern rides take advantage of computer science and other technologies. The Year 9 also greatly enjoyed the cut and thrust of their inter-house maths competition in the Great Hall during Activity Week 2.

As part of a new initiative to integrate Olavian pupils with their confreres at Newstead Wood Girl’s School, a group of 40 of our Year 10s participated in a mixedteams friendly variant of the Maths Feast competition during the summer term.

This year, for the first time, around half of our Year 11 students took the Further Mathematics GCSE in addition to their Mathematics GCSE. This gave them an opportunity to encounter matrices two years prior to encountering this topic as A Level double mathematicians. Our boy’s results were impressive, with 98% of the entrants attaining grades 7 – 9. This matched the fantastic outcome of 97% of our entrants attaining a grade A in the OCR FSMQ qualification. Furthermore, all teachers in the Department were delighted for the 98% of our Year 11 who attained a GCSE Maths grade between 7 and 9.

Both A Level Maths and Further Maths results this summer were very pleasing, despite the tightening up of marking and the return to pre-pandemic pass rates nationally: the proportion of our A Level Maths students attaining grades A* to B was almost identical to the 2019 figure; and the A* to B proportion for Further Maths

considerably outpaced the corresponding pre-pandemic figure. Indeed, out of all subjects sat by Olavians this summer, the Further Maths results were ranked as the best set of results for this assessment period, for which we note our thanks for the sustained hard work of the Key Stage 5 Maths Coordinator Mrs Munday and those in her team.

At the end of the year, it was Miss Lawrence’s turn to say farewell. She would like to say thank you to the Department for their incredible dedication.

Thomas Smialowski Head of Mathematics

Mathematics Trip

The Maths department took Year 11 up to the West End to listen to talks about how they use mathematics in their professional work. The students heard about the dynamics of crowds, civil and structural engineering, and finally, how mathematics can be used to analyse and innovate the activity of juggling. The aim of the trip was to expose our students to the unexpected places mathematics can be found in a wide range of careers and to encourage them to search for the mathematics in everyday life, as well as to provide inspiration as the boys try to identify future career pathways.

Year 11 Students, West End

Hans Woyda Mathematical Tournament

Our team, comprising Henry Etherington, Shaurya Mehta, Ben Joshua Yip and Joseph Fisher, beat Kings College School, Wimbledon in the first knock out round of the Hans Woyda cup competition, placing us in the quarter-finals. The team showed resilience and camaraderie in a tough fixture as they continued to defend their title from last year.

UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge

Congratulations to our students on their fantastic performances in the Intermediate Maths Challenge. Special mention goes to the following for best results in their year groups: Shaurya Mehta (Year 10), Kirollos Mankaruis and Aravinthsri Sivasritharan (Year 11) and particularly to Henry Etherington (Year 9) for his performance which was the best in school. 12 pupils across Years 9 - 11 qualified for the follow-on Olympiads, putting them in the top 1,500 (approximately) internationally. A further 149 pupils qualified for the Kangaroo, placing them in the top 9,500 internationally. The challenges each have around 700,000 entries annually, so this is a fantastic achievement for our pupils.

Mathematics Olympiad

Congratulations to Year 9 student, Henry, and Year 10 students, Shrish and Alexey, on their success in the Mathematics Olympiad.

UKMT Junior Maths Olympiad

Congratulations to Year 7 student Ahaan and Year 8 students Lakshajan, Alexei and Darunesh who qualified for the Junior Maths Olympiad following on from their excellent performance in the Junior Maths Challenge. Out of 150,000 students who sat the challenge, these students are among the top 1,200 who scored high enough to be selected for this follow-on round. In addition, 41 Year 7 and 58 Year 8 students were invited to take part in the Junior Maths Kangaroo follow-on round as they were placed in the top 10,000 entries. Well done to all who took part.

Maths and Science Outreach Day

Over 240 Year 5s from six local Primary schools attended our annual Maths and Science Outreach Day. This popular event involved turning our Science labs into research labs, learning about chromatography and various other analytical techniques - and having a lot of fun too. As well as solving a number of different maths puzzles, pupils learned how to prepare and launch rockets - the winning ballistic team managing to propel theirs over 50 metres! Thank you Mr Savage, Miss Bishop and staff for putting together this event.

UK Rubik’s Cube

Year 11 student, Shrish Proddaturi, participated in the UK Rubik’s Cube Championship and cleared stage 1 and stage 2 out of 150 participants before reaching the finals. One of his best times in the competition was 16.4 seconds.

Computer Science Society

The Society had a fantastic session with Year 12 student Joshua’s talk on Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT). Joshua showed students how frighteningly easy it is to obtain anyone’s personal information through simple searches on the internet, even guiding us through a careful sleuthing of a volunteer’s household income and house address! Although the session was a very exciting experience for the many attendees, there is a cautionary tale to be made about the information you share online.

President of Computer Science Society, Joshua Miles

Perse Coding Team Challenge

Congratulations to those students in Years 9, 10 and 11 who received an invite to participate in the final round of the Perse Coding Team Challenge 2023. There were 30 teams of about 90 students in KS4 representing St Olave’s Grammar School in the final round and competing headto-head against other national and international teams. Five of our teams received a Distinction and another three teams received Merit certificates. Special congratulations to Year 11 students Aravinthsri Sivasritharan and Arnav Sharma and Year 9 student Kyal Mehta for achieving the best team in school award with top score of 74.

Computer Coding

Year 7 took part in a Drone Coding workshop organised by Hyett Education. Pupils learnt how to code the flight patterns of their drones using block programming and Swift coding language. This led to students providing algorithms to their drone to make it take-off, land, do flips and somersaults, as well as perform a coordinated routine.

Computer Science in Action Day

Year 12 Computer Science students attended the Computer Science in Action Day trip in The Emmanuel Centre, Westminster. In five lively sessions experts from academia and industry explored relevant topics that complement the computing curriculum. Speakers included Yee Mun Lee, University of Leeds, who discussed how we can prepare driverless cars for the relative unpredictability of humans. James Arthur, Oxford University, explored why the search for truth is universal in every field of science and how computer science language ‘Lean’ can provide a proposed solution to some science problems. Miranda Mowbray, University of Bristol, discussed the algorithms from the 13th Century Venice and how its underlying design has an application to modern day computer science. It was an enlightening trip which challenged our students to see how the future is revolutionised by the advancement in Computer Science and technology and how they can play their part as a computer scientist in creating a better world of tomorrow for all.

Year 12 Students, Computer Science in Action Day

Lecture at The Emmanuel Centre, Westminster

Chess

Year 8 pupil, Vir, was invited to the Delancey UK Chess Challenge Gigafinals after successfully qualifying at a highly competitive U14 Megafinals round. Delancey Chess Challenge is a national competition open to all young chess players and is one of the largest junior chess tournaments in the world. Separately, Vir also achieved a Distinction at the Level 4 Institute of Chess exams held by the Kent Junior Chess Association.

Our B team participated in an online Chess tournament against six other schools. The competition was intense, with each match ending in a close score. Our team came 3rd, securing a spot in the regional stage of the league. We are proud of the B team’s determination and skill and are excited to see them progress to the next level of the competition.

In the Spring Term, both the A and B teams entered the regional stage. The B team won their first match against King’s School Canterbury but lost their second match. Out A team received a bye for round 1, then won against Skinners’ 5-1 leading to the regional final against Sevenoaks. Unfortunately, St Olave’s lost to Sevenoaks in a nail-biting final game.

Games Design

Year 8 student, Alex Lasiychuk, achieved a Level 2 certificate in Games Design and Development.

The Faculty of Science

The Science Faculty continues to develop as a true learning community and we all strive to communicate this love of learning to our students. We actively promote opportunities for out of school learning and make a point of mentioning interesting developments and new ideas to students. 2022-23 was another interesting and challenging year for the Science Faculty, and once again our students rose to all the challenges thrown at them throughout the year.

The Faculty is committed to adopting curriculum strategies based in evidence based educational research. A great deal of work has been devoted to curriculum planning so that students revisit previous learning at intervals throughout their time in school. In addition, lessons incorporate elements of knowledge retrieval which is a proven technique for enhancing the ability of the students to recall and articulate their prior learning. These topics could be from the previous lessons, week, month or even year. We are looking forward to reviewing the effect of these developments over the next few years.

The public examination results achieved by Years 11 and 13 were outstanding, a real credit to the hard work of the students and the dedication of their teachers. Wonderful results all round. Congratulations to all our students on those outstanding achievements. We are very fortunate to be able to teach such a motivated and inquisitive cohort of students. We look forward to welcoming our new Sixth Form students and wish all those students embarking on University courses or careers all the best for the future.

Students also excelled in National Competitions and Olympiads, proving themselves capable of competing with the rest of the country. I am amazed that so many of our students actually volunteer to sit such rigorous tests of their scientific knowledge, resilience and ability to adapt their understanding to complex situations. Their motivation and desire to overcome ridiculously difficult problems is inspirational.

However, academic success is only one part of the work of the Faculty, clubs and societies continue to thrive. The quality of presentations given at clubs such as Natural Sciences Society, Physics and Engineering Society, Medics Society and Chemistry Society is astonishing, as is the breadth of topics covered. Lower School students have their own clubs (CREST Club, Junior Natural Sciences Society, Junior Chemistry Society) which encourage them to try out experiments that go above

and beyond the curriculum.

Trips play an important role in educating our students. The Biology Field trip to Suffolk in July is a huge undertaking by the department. In addition Year 9 visited Herstmoncieux Observatory as part of Activity Week, and thoroughly enjoyed their day. Year 9 day in Activity Week 2 gave the students an opportunity to get close to a range of reptiles, carry out reactions with rhubarb and fire rockets.

All additional competitions, societies and trips are only possible because of the dedication of the staff in organising and running the activities. The students are very lucky to be taught by such a talented and committed team (and it is very much a team effort). I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the teachers and technicians in the Science Faculty for their good humour, dedication and consistently going above and beyond expectations.

There were some changes within the department, and on behalf of the Faculty I would like to thank Mrs Maltman and Mr Jewson who will pursue their other interests outside of school. Their contribution to the department was immense and the students will miss their excellent teaching. However, we will have some talented new teachers to take their place.

We look forward to another successful year.

Neil Stewart Head of Physics and Head of Science Faculty

It has been an action-packed year in the Chemistry Department. We have been very fortunate and have been in receipt of visits from many Chemists this year, which has really helped to inspire our students. More and more students are reading widely in Chemistryrelated areas and are becoming aware of the range of possible new career opportunities opening up in the Green Science sector. It has been wonderful to see the curiosity and enthusiasm of our students.

We had the privilege of hosting author Fiona Erskine for a day of enriching activities with our students. Fiona, known for her work including ‘Phosphate Rocks’ and the ‘Chemical Detective’ series, shared insights into her career in Chemical Engineering and her journey as an author. Her talk was not only inspiring but also emphasized the intersection of science and literature, providing our students with a unique perspective on the diverse paths they can take in the field of Chemistry. Fiona highlighted the scope of her career to Year 10 students, who enjoyed hearing about the diverse travel opportunities she had enjoyed. She then ran an activity session with Year 12 and 13 students who were keen to find out more about what the day-to-day life of a Chemical Engineer entailed. We are very grateful to Fiona for her visit!

Year 9 also benefitted from visiting speakers. During their Science Days in Activity Week 2 they had talks from Barry Mitcheson, an Environmental Chemist, and Dr Abby Haworth, a battery technology researcher. Barry shared valuable insights into his career, focusing on chemical detection and environmental clean-up. Our students were captivated by his work in addressing pollution issues, both locally and globally, and gained a profound appreciation for the real-world applications of chemistry. Abby shared her experiences and career journey, emphasizing the importance of research in the field of chemistry. Her insights inspired our students to consider the diverse career opportunities available to them in the world of science. They were excited by the possibilities surrounding the use of improved battery technology as an important tool in reducing fossil fuel use, as conveyed by Abby. Year 9 were very fortunate to have such inspirational talks from such accomplished Chemists.

A team of Year 10 students participated in the Top of the Bench Chemistry Competition organized by the Royal Society of Chemistry. This year, the competition focused on predicting reaction rates, challenging our students to apply their knowledge of kinetics and chemical dynamics. Their dedication and problem-solving abilities were commendable and they were very close to predicting the end of a reaction with great precision.

Our KS3 Chemistry Club has been thriving, with Year 7 and 8 students eagerly participating in engaging practical work and demonstrations led by our Sixth Form students. It has been a rewarding experience to witness our lower year students learn from their older peers while our Sixth Formers gain valuable leadership experience. Sixth Formers worked tirelessly to lead practical activities, including elephant’s toothpaste, making hydrogen balloons and making silly putty, and quizzes during the year. Students from other year groups also supported KS3 in these sessions. It has been wonderful to see the Olavian community coming together to share their love of Chemistry.

Sixth Form students have been busy organizing ChemSoc activities, participating in practical work and delivering informative talks. There have been a great variety of talks throughout the year, including relighting candles, lethal injections and fingerprint analysis – to name just a few! Some of the demonstrations and practical activities have included luminescence and vanadium colour changes. ChemSoc Presidents have been organised and communicative in running these talks, and a great deal of effort has gone into preparing to give talks. Sixth Formers giving talks have researched their topics carefully, and put together informative and engaging presentations – very impressive!

Our students’ performance in the Chemistry Olympiad and Cambridge Chemistry Challenge remains outstanding, reflecting their determination and strong analytical thinking skills. We are very proud of the 61 students participating in the RSC Chemistry Olympiad in which students obtained 4 gold, 20 silver and 21 bronze awards. Students also thrived in the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge and the Cambridge Chemistry Race – a competition at Cambridge University which we entered for the first time this academic year. Students enjoyed the competitive and fast-paced challenge!

Students have continued to thrive this year and have made the most of the opportunities available to them. The dedication and enthusiasm of the ChemSoc and KS3 Chemistry Club leaders has been impressive. We are looking forward to the talks and ideas of our students in the coming academic year! I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Chemistry Department staff for their hard work in supporting students both in the classroom and to enable them to take part in all these extra-curricular activities.

Stephanie Difford Head of Chemistry

Natural Sciences Society

The Natural Sciences Society returned to the traditional weekly sessions at the start of this academic year and has now produced its fifteenth journal. The Society are thrilled to be bringing to you a collection of articles written by students across the whole school that delve into the depths of modern science. Thank you to Ms Marwood who has been very supportive and supervised the sessions with amazing guidance and words of wisdom. Well done to President, Rakesh Velmurugan, and Vice-Presidents, Guneeka Chitkara and Siddharth Mishra for putting this journal together.

St Olave’s Natural Sciences Society Journal

OO Physics Lectures

Old Olavian Nicole Morgan presented a talk on Quantum Computing for a collaboration between Physics and Engineering Society, and the Computer Science Society. We learned about the types of Quantum Computers, the Hardware behind them, and the fastpaced advances in Quantum Technology - as well as its possible impacts on the world. The talk was detailed and engaging, perfectly introducing us to the topic to lay the basis for our own further interest. Old Olavian Lawrence Tebboth also gave a brilliant talk to students about his illustrious career as an engineer. Lawrence worked for BP for many years and talked to students about the variety of career options within engineering and impressed upon them to aim high when selecting engineering degree courses.

Chemistry Olympiad

Congratulations to our Chemists who sat the Chemistry Olympiad in January, achieving fantastic results. Our thanks to Mrs Johnson who organised the event, allowing the students to show their abilities in this competition. In total 61 Olavian students sat the Olympiad with 4 achieving Gold, 20 Silver and 21 Bronze.

Chemistry Careers

We were delighted to welcome chemical engineer and author Fiona Erskine to the school. Fiona has worked as a chemical engineer in the UK, Portugal, India, Brazil and China. She spoke to Year 10 about her career and ran two writing workshops for Year 8 to help them understand the crucial importance of strong English communication skills in all careers. In between she spoke to a joint meeting of ChemSoc and Physics and Engineering Society about the real-life events that inspired one of her fiction books.

‘Top of the Bench’

A team of Year 10 students participated in the Top of the Bench Chemistry Competition organized by the Royal Society of Chemistry. This year, the competition focused on predicting reaction rates, challenging our students to apply their knowledge of kinetics and chemical dynamics. Their dedication and problem-solving abilities were commendable and they were very close to predicting the end of a reaction with great precision.

Year 10 Students at the RSC Awards Ceremony

Old Olavian Nicole

Old Olavian Lawrence Tebboth

Year 9 Science Day

As part of Activity Week Two, Year 9 students were involved in a full day of Science activities to broaden their understanding. Students made and launched rockets with the Physics Department. In Chemistry they were challenged with a technical practical in which they had to investigate how changing reaction conditions could impact reaction rates. Finally, they were joined by Reptile events in The Biology Department, who introduced students to some reptilian friends! Students also met battery researchers and scientists working on contaminated sites, to get inspired by possible STEM careers.

Intermediate Physics Challenge

Year 10 and 11 students took part in the difficult Intermediate Challenge run by the British Physics Olympiad. They achieved some fantastic results – 3 Bronze awards, 7 Silver and 6 Gold. Gold awards were only given to the top 10% of students who took on the challenge, so this is an excellent achievement. Congratulations to all who took part.

Junior Physics Olympiad

33 Year 9 and 10 students chose to take part in the British Physics Olympiad Junior Challenge. They spent 50 minutes completing two difficult multiple-choice tests, and this was on top of a whole day of school as well! They did fantastically well and achieved 24 Gold Awards, 4 Silver and 4 Bronze. An excellent achievement all round.

British Physics Olympiad Senior Challenge

Year 13 students, Moosa Saghir and Joseph Fisher, were awarded Gold in the Physics Olympiad Round 2. Access to this round of the competition was only available to the top achieving students from Round 1, and Gold was only awarded to the top 20%, just 24 students from across the country. Well done to both students.

Year 12 students took part in the difficult Senior Challenge run by the British Physics Olympiad. They achieved some fantastic results – 5 Gold, 2 Silver and 11 Bronze awards. Gold awards were only given to the top 9% of students who took the test. Thank you to Dr Corlett for organising this event.

British Physics Olympiad

Year 10 student, Devaansh and Year 13 student, Moosa, attended the British Physics Annual Awards Ceremony, held at The Royal Society in London. Devaansh’s award was for his outstanding performance in the Intermediate Challenge, in which he gained a Gold award (all the more impressive as this competition is largely taken by Year 11 students). Moosa achieved a ‘Top Gold’ in the Physics Olympiad, which saw him invited to the Physics Training Camp during the Easter Holidays, where the

selection process for the International Physics Olympiad team takes place. He has been selected as the reserve for this team which is a hugely impressive achievement, as the team of six has been chosen from over 2,800 students who took part.

Physics and Engineering Journal

Congratulations to Lara Tatli and Paradhay Amarnath for producing and editing the Physics and Engineering Journal 2022. Thank you to Dr Corlett for overseeing this production. Participants were asked to write about a topic of their own interest related to physics or engineering complete with references and pictures. The amount of research and communication within this journal is really outstanding.

Physics and Engineering Society

Alongside our many student presentations, we also had two guest speakers. Melissa Yexley came to visit us in March to talk about the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. This was a very exciting talk about her research at the forefront of Physics exploration, and students had the opportunity to ask any questions that they had about life as a researcher at CERN. We were also grateful to Nicole Morgan from McKinsey and Co for visiting us in May and talking about life as a management consultant.

Alongside these talks, we had fantastic talks given by students ranging from ‘The End of The Universe’ and ‘Bernouilli’s Principle’ to ‘Why we can’t Launch Nuclear Waste into Space’.

We had a collaboration with Chemistry Society when Fiona Erskine, a chemist who became an author came in to talk about her books. This was very well attended and

students showed themselves very knowledgeable both about Chemistry and Fiona’s literary works.

The society published its own journal – the longest to date, with 100 pages. With articles written by students from KS4 and 5, the topics included ‘Aviation and it’s Sustainability’ and ‘Why do Shoelaces Become Untied’ – a fascinating read!

Florida Trip

It was an exciting time for Year 9 this Easter as 40 students made the long journey from Orpington to Florida, Orlando. After many hours of flying through the clouds, they touched down in Orlando International airport on the Monday evening. It was a bright and early start on the Tuesday, as the group woke to blue skies and Florida heat! After a coach ride filled with sightings of alligators and other local wildlife, students arrived at the gates of Kennedy Space Centre. The next two days were spent exploring the wonders of space, as students experienced what it feels like to be launched into space, visited the rocket launch sites used by NASA and Space X and had a chance to hear from real life astronaut Norm Thagard.

Students at the Kennedy Space Centre

On Thursday and Friday, the thrills continued as students arrived at Universal Studios. The group had two adrenaline filled days as they took on some of the world’s most daring rollercoasters, ranging from a Jurassic Park themed ride with two high speed accelerations, a daring flight on Hagrid’s motorbike, and even the chance to swing through the skies via a spider man themed simulator.

On the final full day of the trip, students were given a once in a lifetime opportunity to swim with manatees. Donning snorkels and wetsuits, students paddled into the manatees’ habitat and gazed on as the manatees grazed on sea grass and swam by. Getting the chance to immerse themselves in the natural world so closely, really was an experience I am sure they will never forget.

The trip would not have been possible without the supervision of Ms Lawrence, Ms Smith, Ms ChungFaye, Mrs Johnson, and Mrs Rogers, who helped the Year 9s navigate unfamiliar terrain and learn key life skills in the process – thanks to all involved!

Students at Universal Studios

Medics Society

Year 12 student Ayush, President of the Medics Society, organised a talk by Sanjana Mathur and Joe Rinson, who are both currently studying medicine at UCL. They spoke about their experiences as medical students and the journey to get there, including lots of helpful tips for our Sixth Form students on how to write eye-catching personal statements and preparing for exams. We are most grateful to them for sharing their insight and invaluable experiences with our students.

Special Achievements

Year 10 student, Kirthi Pranav Murali Krishnan took part in the Big Bang Theory competition and his entry was chosen for the Big Bang Theory Gallery.

English & Drama

The Faculty of English & Drama

This has been another busy year for the English Department with lots going on in lessons, and plenty of enrichment opportunities. Our year started with our annual Black History Month Show to celebrate black British artists. Students in Year 7 and Year 8 delivered a range of fantastic poems. Older students performed poems, songs, raps, dances and short scenes and every student got to watch the show and enjoy the talents of our students while being exposed to a wide range of writers, poets and artists. Always a popular event, highlights included a student written play inspired by Inua Ellam’s Barbershop Chronicles, the Gospel choir, Afrobeats dancers and a rendition of Dave’s ‘Black’.

In November, Theatre Society went to see their first play, ‘Life of Pi’ at Wyndham’s theatre which made fantastic use of puppets and set to create a fantasy world. This was followed later in the year by ‘Hex’, a musical retelling of Sleeping Beauty at The National Theatre with fabulous costumes and choreography. Finally, we went to see the musical ‘Guys and Dolls’ at The Bridge Theatre. As the set moved, the students moved around the space following the action. It was a lively and fun filled event, with several of our students taking to the dance floor to show off their moves at the end of the show. The students were fantastic on every trip and it was a pleasure to see them enjoying some great London theatre. We hope those in Year 12 will join the society again next year.

In January the whole of Year 10 took part in the speak Up, Speak Out challenge, a day of workshops developing their public speaking skills. Students finished the day by delivering speeches on a wide range of topics and a finalist was chosen from each group. These finalists then competed against each other in a Year group assembly and Edward Hawkins was chosen to represent the school at the regional final. His speech on Lewis Hamilton was engaging and delivered with skill, ensuring it was enjoyable for the audience.

Sezgin Kemal, a former member of the English department, was kind enough to sponsor a poetry competition which made a connection between the school and the Loriner’s guild. With the theme ‘horses’, students in Year 7 to Year 9 wrote poems which ranged from exploring the trojan horse, to Pegasus to war horses. Members of the guild came into school to meet to winners and were very enthusiastic about the poems they had seen. A huge thank you to Mrs Kemal for her kindness and generosity. Mrs Goodman also organised a flash fiction competition, judged by our senior prefects,

which led to some imaginative and engaging short stories that were shared with students in a whole school assembly. Congratulations to all our winners.

In March, students in Year 8 and 9 took part in a regional Literature Quiz. Competing against schools in the southeast, students answered questions on a wide range of young adult fiction. It was lots of fun and students enjoyed being part of the competition. Year 9 enjoyed our cross curricular poetry and illustration day. In English lessons students looked at the relationship between art and literature. Head of Art, Mr Clark, and his year 9 Art students then led a series of workshops in which students learned different illustration techniques before creating their own illustrations based on the poem ‘Jabberwocky’. Students in Year 7 had a trip to The Globe to see ‘The Tempest’. They had been studying the play so this was a great opportunity to see it as a live production in the wonderful Globe Theatre. We also had our whole school production. Students performed in Friedrich Durrenmatt’s ‘The Visit’, a dark tale of an heiress who returns to her impoverished hometown and offers them a billion pounds, if they kill the man who betrayed her many years ago. Fantastic performances from all the students involved, including our house band, ensured an exciting evening for all. Particular mention goes to Tony Ndukwu and Pelumi Onibuje for their superb performances in the lead roles.

In April the whole of Year 8 performed in our Drama Festival. Students performed in a range of plays including some Blackadder sketches, ‘The King’s New Clothes’ and ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’. Parents were invited in to join the Year 7 audience and were able to enjoy the talent and humour created by their sons. A selection of these plays were then taken to a local care home to be performed to the residence there. The students did a fantastic job and the audience enjoyed their matinee performance. In May’s Activity Week 1 we took Year 9 to The Tate Britain and they had talks on Chris Ofilli, Francis Bacon and a variety of other artists. We then took them to see ‘Hamilton’. We had a lovely day and the students particularly enjoyed seeing the award-winning musical. For many of our students this was the first time they had been to an art gallery, or to a London Theatre. We certainly hope it won’t be the last time!

In June, Year 9 enjoyed debating training organised by Ms Smith and run by students in the Senior Debating Society. Some of these students had taken part in the Lower School Debating Society earlier in the year, but

most had no experience of formal debating. They learned the skills of formulating an argument and how to debate effectively working out how to present information and which information would be most useful to their argument. In the afternoon, each house was represented by a team who took part in a series of high-quality debates. The students were very enthusiastic about the day and we hope many will try debating again next year. Year 7 and 8 also competed in inter-house speaking competitions, with Year 7 doing the Balloon debate. Students selected an important person from history and had to deliver a speech arguing why that person should be allowed to stay on the balloon and survive. In Year 8 students delivered speeches on their pet peeves, creating amusing and engaging arguments on topics from camping to British weather. Congratulations to all who took part.

On the 6 July we celebrated students in Year 7 to Year 10 with the Lower School Showcase. Students performed a selection of duologues, speeches, extracts from musicals and the play, ‘The Government Inspector’. After days of rain we were lucky with an evening of sunshine as the students performed in the Business Centre Garden. It was really lovely to see our younger students having the confidence and ability to perform plays and musical theatre in front of an audience. Hopefully they will continue to be involved in extra curricular drama and we will enjoy seeing them flourish further in the coming years. We then finished the year with a trip for students in Year 7 and Year 8 to The Churchill Theatre to see ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’, an entertaining and enjoyable evening for all.

At Easter we also bid a fond farewell to Ms Wilcox who has been teaching English at St Olave’s for over twenty years and has now moved on to work for King’s College. We wish her all the best in her new role and thank her for the contribution she made to St Olave’s.

Alexandra Wilkie S___Head of Faculty

Writing Skills

Year 11 students spent a day devoted to improving their writing skills. The first of three sessions focussed on developing structure and language skills in non-fiction writing, the second session explored character and plot, and the final session was dedicated to setting and plot in fiction writing. We hope students had the opportunity to build their confidence, hone their skills and think carefully about shaping their writing for effect. The writing section of the Language exams are worth 50% of the English Language GCSE so it is important that students continue to work on developing these skills.

Student Publications

Year 9, Kamsi, published his first book, entitled ‘The Psychic Ones’, which can be purchased on Amazon. The book is an exciting supernatural thriller, which explores the battle between good and evil, as the young protagonists battle to save the chosen ones from the grasps of a terrible villain.

Year 7 student, Samiksh, published his debut novel ‘The Mystery Mansion – Forbidden Archives’.

BBC Young Reporter Competition

Year 10 student, Robin, featured as a BBC Young Reporter. Robin is of Indian heritage and says he thinks South Asian culture should be more celebrated. He says he thinks people use the term Asian to mean East Asian people rather than those from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He thinks these people are not represented and recognised enough and he wants to change that. “We should learn about South Asian history too,” he said. He would also like to see more South Asian people in all areas of life, including on TV and in adverts.

World Book Day

In celebration of World Book Day 2023 the students had fun in the Main Library. There were chess boards, Rubik cubes, competitions and quizzes. The library was decorated, and staff reads were displayed on the shelving and walls. Congratulations to the following students: Robin Saldanha 10N for coming 1st in the ‘Guess How Many Books are in the Main Library’ competition and Kobe New-Mella 9L who came 1st in the ‘Guess How Many Pieces of Paper in the Bowl’ competition. Runners up were Mikael Kyriakos 11H, Jesse John 10L, Aaryan Sood 7L and Shaurya Kaolar 10N.

National Theatre Archives

Year 13 English Literature students studying ‘Everyman’ visited the National Theatre Archives at Waterloo to see a recorded production. They are working on comparative coursework essays, and this brought Carol Ann Duffy’s update of the medieval morality play to life. Directed by Rufus Norris and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, students were able to appreciate the song, dance and rapping. Everyman falls to his death from the roof of a high-rise office building after partying hard - and as he faces his ‘reckoning’ many ethical issues arise. We were shown a warm welcome having enjoyed a fast-food lunch beforehand as the photo illustrates. Students will now set to work on crafting their essays, comparing this play with the brilliant Arimah collection of short stories; ‘What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky’.

Poetry

To commemorate the installation of the new Master of the Loriners Livery Company in the City of London this year, students were asked to write a poem inspired by the prompt ‘horse’. Poems were ambitious and wide ranging in their focus and style. Thank you to Mrs Kemal for her time and generosity in judging the poems and sponsoring the Amazon vouchers for these worthy winners:

• Year 7: Gavin Dimarucut ‘War Heroes’

• Year 8: Vion Puvaneswaren ‘The Prince of Freedom’

• Year 9: Aditya Potteti ‘Nimble as a Horse’ and Christopher Mann ‘Horse - Celebrating JLomu’

• Year 10: Remy Tanna ‘The Sea Horses’, Kyle Firth ‘Lift Off’, Pavlo Kotenko ‘Trojan Horse’

Thank you to Habibah Choudhury for being our Poet Laureate, and for her powerful performances during her time in the role. This year we have two exciting poets who will share the role, so congratulations to Micah Sedghi and Usri Iyer.

The Globe Theatre

Year 7 saw Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ at the Globe Theatre on the South Bank in London. It is a magical play with a strong moral about the perils of greed, deception and unkindness. Our boys rose to the challenge and persevered with difficult acoustics to enjoy the performance, learn about the universality of Shakespeare and the history of the Globe Theatre. It was a visual spectacle that will provide cultural capital and very useful background for further literature study.

Drama

It was a pleasure to see our students performing in the Lower School English Faculty Showcase. The evening featured a selection of highly entertaining performances in the sunshine of the Business Centre garden.

Year 7 Globe Theatre Trip

Balloon Debate Final

Year 7 students had to choose an important figure from history and argue why they should be allowed to stay on the air balloon and survive. Two from each class were chosen to be finalists and they delivered their speeches to their year group. Students chose a wide range of important people from Richard Appiah Akoto to Cai Lun to Dr Edward Jenner. All of the students were fantastic and should feel very proud of themselves for excelling in the extremely important skills of research and public speaking.

Year 7 Balloon Debate Finalists

Special Achievements

Year 11 student, Rishi Nandakumar, appeared in the film ‘Tara Vs Bilal’. The film is an Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Samar Iqbal starring Harshvardhan Rane and Sonia Rathee.

LAMDA

Congratulations to all our students for their fantastic results in the LAMDA exams. Over 200 students have achieved a range of grades and qualifications this year. The LAMDA team at St Olave’s offers the opportunity for all years to take part in an after-school Elocution Club or lunchtime classes, with skills taught in a fun and exciting curriculum through a number of creative disciplines.

Norman Trotman Cup

Year 12 student, Anusha Selva-Radov, won the Norman Trotman Cup, a competition open to players of Orchestral and Wind Band Instruments and Pianists who are 18 and under. Anusha won the competition with a magnificent performance on the piano.

Study Workshop

We welcomed Steve Coppin and Meg Hutchinson to school for a student and parent workshop on Maximising Success. The workshop is designed to help promote good learning habits as students begin their GCSEs. Students explored three principles of effective learning/ revision, twelve different learning/revision techniques and a system of proactive learning/revision. Students left the session feeling better motivated and empowered, having chosen three or four preferred learning/ revision techniques which they can use proactively throughout their school career and beyond.

Year 12 Students Anusha and Natalia

Black History Month

With the aim of celebrating black artists, we enjoyed a range of poetry, music, dance and acting. We have some extremely talented performers and excellent tech support, and it was great to see students from every year group getting involved, many performing on stage for the first time. Highlights included a scene written by Tony Ndukwu, inspired by the play he performed in last year, a lively and joyful afrobeats performance, a rendition of ‘Black’ by Michael Ikediashi and some extremely highquality musical and singing performances. It was also a pleasure to see so many students enjoying poetry and delivering their poems effectively.

All performers and volunteers, Black History Month Show

Music and Drama Performances

Two Junior Violinists, Black History Month Show

‘The Barber Shop Quartet’ performing, Black History Month Show

Musical performance, Cabaret

School Drama Productions

Year 12 Student, Pelumi, starring in ‘The Visit’

Classics Drama Day

Lower School English Faculty Showcase

Chapel

As the school returns in September each year, so weekly Communion begins on a Wednesday morning and each new Year 7 class is invited to come and be part of the service so they can decide if they wish to attend weekly. This service runs every Wednesday during school time. The Chapel choir starts again under new leadership and the Chapel music copy of the school hymnbook goes missing and needs to be found once again. A copy of the school hymn book is given to every new student in Year 7 and 12 and new staff and the Chaplain and library have several copies for those who lose them and need to purchase another.

Early on in September in this first term we mourned the loss of Queen Elizabeth II, offering prayers, lighting candles, creating space to remember her and mourn her passing. For a couple of weeks anything not vital to the Spiritual life of the school was suspended in the Chapel while we mourned this loss. A loss such as this allows others to mourn their own losses of recent times and it was good to see the Chapel used in this way.

Each week the Chapel is home to year group assemblies, careers talks, RSHE lessons, choir practices and training for our Chapel of the Savoy Choristers. Before school and during breaks you will frequently hear piano music as students practice. Often meeting with parents about trips and events will happen in the Chapel in the evening.

There is a monthly prayer meeting for parents and carers who pray for the school, the students and staff, specific needs, and one another. We are privileged to be supported in this way every month.

October offers us the opportunity to share and reflect as part of Black History Month. The gospel choir rehearsing and performing with special assemblies and visits. We also welcome Good News for Everyone who bring a pocket size New Testament for every new Year 7 student which contains helps for them in life.

The Chapel and Chaplain are the base for the Le Chavetois Community Service programme where Year 12 students offer themselves to serve the community through placements in care homes, hospitals, charities, primary schools, hospice shops and many more. They initially meet with me in the Chapel before they go out into their placements.

The Chapel is always home to the quiet reflection of both staff and students. A place of peace and tranquillity

in a busy school. Doors are open, people come and just sit for a while.

The area outside the Chapel becomes a collection point for Harvest and we support the local foodbank with our gifts. As those boxes empty, we then fill them with coats and blankets for those homeless on the streets during the winter months.

As Autumn comes the Chapel is used to remember those we love but see no longer, with the names of those we have lost being read out by the Chaplain. The whole school remembers the fallen in the Great Hall, laying wreathes, lighting the Peace Candle and standing together in silence.

Very quickly the rehearsals for Christmas begin, the sound of Carols and Christmas music floats through the wellbeing area. The Nativity scene appears on the altar with the Wise Men slowly making their way to find Jesus. Special services are held, the Advent candles are lit each week, performances and services happen and we too journey nearer and nearer to Christmas and the welcome break all the more blessed by liturgy, music and joy.

A new year brings the opportunity of new starts, new beginnings, promises made and mock exams. The Wise Men reach their destination and we celebrate Epiphany. We move toward Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday and the Chapel witnesses many with a symbolic cross of ash on their forehead. This brings us into Lent, a more solemn time and preparations for special services begin for Easter. This past year Palm Sunday happened after we broke up, but palm crosses were still available in the Chapel for those who wanted them. The Chaplain was one of a few who addressed the interfaith Iftar on Mental Health and Wellbeing, just before Easter; once again celebrating our similarities and our wisdom.

After Easter things change quite quickly,Commemoration at Southwark Cathedral becomes the focus, the music for this huge and special event floods through the Chapel. This past year we prayed especially for the new King and the Coronation. We also had our Choristers preparing for Services of Thanksgiving for the Coronation of King Charles III, at the Savoy Chapel. We took part in the Big Help Out to celebrate the Coronation. People then began to disappear on exam leave, exams happen and the Chapel becomes a place of hope, a place of reflection and a place of prayer. The summer sun shines through the

coloured glass turning the Chapel through red, yellow, blue and green. The odd play or rehearsal will use the space. Occasionally even the odd exam happens in the Chapel when space in the school is at a premium.

The pattern of Chapel life is reassuring, affirming and consistent. It offers a place of focus, faith, spirituality and to just be. It needs cleaning, maintenance and care. It sees everyone at some point in the year, it experiences times of joy and sadness throughout the year. It stands clear and strong at the front of the school a presence in our community where love, joy and peace are reflected outward.

Commemoration

Our Annual Service of Commemoration and Thanksgiving took place on 4 May in the splendid setting of Southwark Cathedral. The Ven Dr Rosemarie Mallet, Bishop of Croydon, gave an inspiring address to a packed cathedral of guests, including the Mayor of Southwark, the Mayor of Bromley, governors, students, staff, parents and Old Olavians. The outgoing Senior Prefect Team and members of staff read the traditional verses before the whole cathedral resounded to the final hymn, ‘Jerusalem’. I hope that, particularly for our Year 13s, this will have been a memorable and emotional occasion to look back on in years to come. Thank you to our chaplain, Revd Dr Julie Bowen for overseeing the organisation of this wonderful occasion.

Rememberance

to see members of the Old Olavians joining us for the service.

Vice-Captain, Jess (right), who is a Cadet Sergeant for the Irish Guards 104 Cadet Regiment, took part in the Memorial Parade and Service in Petts Wood and had the honour of being the first female cadet to “call/lead” during the event.

Bromley Rotary Awards

Congratulations to students Ethan Chan, Ayush Ghosh, Dev Mehta and Tanvi Peddamallu who won the Bromley Rotary Youth Award for their voluntary activities and community spirit. They were presented with their award by The Mayor of Bromley at Langley Park School for Boys. Congratulations also to Ahash Thavaseelan, Leon Isaac, Eashan Rautaray and Abdul Rehman who received commendations.

Community

A number of our pupils are taking part in the Pen-Pal Scheme and Festival of cards project co-ordinated by Mrs Boyden, Head of Year 10, within school and Bromley’s Principal Loneliness Champion.

13 of our Year 8 students visited Weald Heights Care Home to perform some drama productions for the residents. After the performances the students spoke with the residents and shared stories across generations.

Wings of Hope Award

Year 9 students Eliyas, Abhinav, Alex, Mithuunan, Kyal, and hashvin visited the Houses of Parliament to partake in the semi-finals of the Wings of Hope award and have now qualified for the Finals. They were there to present all the wonderful work they have done within the wider community and the money they have raised for the education of children in India and Malawi.

Mr Graham Milne, laid the wreath together with Captain of School, Rohan Selva-Radov. Thank you to the Chaplain, Reverend Dr Julie Bowen, for leading the Service and to Mr Price for overseeing the music, which included a performance of ‘The Last Post’ movingly played by Year 12 student, Mikel Emele. It was also good

Photos from Southwark Cathedral

Reverend Dr Julie Bowen School Chaplain

Pastoral

Pastoral Update Years 7-11

It has been a remarkable academic year for Years 7 to 11 and it is a great privilege to work with such amazing young people. They constantly strive to achieve their very best whether that be on the rugby pitch, the cricket field, in a debating competition or a F1 in Schools competition, or in the classroom. This year has though been notable for the way some of them have embraced their commitment to serving their community. It was wonderful to hear how some of them help at the local Community Fridge and equally impressive to see several Year 9s succeed in achieving an award for the community project as part of the Wings of Hope award. Year 10s embarked on launching a Political Awareness Week, seeing notable guest speakers join us and leading them to being invited to visit Parliament. It was wonderful to be able to congratulate so many Year 11s on their successful GCSE outcomes. With much written in the press about how there would be a return to pre-pandemic levels of difficulty, our students stood up to the challenge and performed superbly.

Wellbeing Week

Mental health and wellbeing are terms we use frequently in school and whilst students and staff may at times face challenges, we are signposting support and good practise constantly. Nevertheless, Wellbeing Week presents further opportunities to reach out to our community as a reminder about the importance of good mental health. We had several external speakers and this year, Year 10 also had a workshop on racial inclusion. We strive to ensure our school community is a tolerant, inclusive, and respectful one however the life experiences some people face in relation to race and religion is one Year 10 had time to reflect on further and consider responses and actions. The multi faith Iftar with a theme of wellbeing also enabled parents to hear from different faith leaders about their faith’s views on mental health. The support of parents and engagement of students in multiple year groups made this event very special.

As ever Shelby our wellbeing dog can support individuals and change the atmosphere of school.

It has been an incredible year and I look forward to seeing how the next one unfolds.

Rochelle Maxwell Deputy Headteacher (Pastoral)

the School Wellbeing Dog

Lower School Celebration Day

This event at the end of the school year is key to celebrating the achievements of those in Years 7 - 8. Year 7 settled in quickly to Olavian ways. The year has seen them grow as individuals and as a year group with the highest number of merits being awarded to an individual student certainly in recent history. It was wonderful to welcome back to school Old Olavian and former Captain of School Skanda Rajasundaram. His speech was inspiring. He noted how his planner and ways of working established in Year 7 had set him up for studying medicine at Oxford and highlighted how the cultural diversity of school had given him quite a unique and valuable experience in comparison to many of his university and work colleagues. His enthusiasm about his Olavian experience was wonderful to reflect on.

The Wellbeing Journal

Our thanks go out to the Sixth Formers whose interest in this topic has enabled the journal to be produced. When the journal began several years ago the hope was it was another way of reaching out to people whether through contributing an article or by reading it. We have made it freely available on the school website to capture a wider audience. We are very grateful to all of those who contributed, including staff, external speakers or students.

Islamic Society

As part of the Wellbeing Week activities, the Islamic Society ran a Krispy Kreme Doughnut sale to fundraise and raise awareness for children’s mental health charity, Young Minds. They raised £227 in total, which will be amalgamated with proceeds from the Inter-faith Iftar. This event acted as a precursor to the main Iftar event which was based on the theme of mental health, raising money, and most importantly, awareness for such an important cause.

Shelby,

A Year of Music

From one-to-one instrumental and vocal tuition to whole-school events, curriculum lessons to band and orchestra practices, music is integral to life at St Olave’s.

Mr Matthew Price, Head of Faculty, Creative Arts - Director of Music, comments: “With the power it possesses to unite everyone, it would not be possible to imagine such a happy and successful community without music. Everyone also has their own personal experiences of music, through what they choose to listen to and, for many, in what they play and even create for themselves. Those individual preferences and abilities contribute to each person’s identity and sharing them with others is a celebration of the valuable diversity of our environment.”

A much-cherished aspect of the musical life of the school is of course our unique choral partnership with the King’s Chapel of the Savoy. We proudly provide this royal chapel’s treble choristers, of whom most will have been coming to St Olave’s regularly since age 10 to fulfil their duties. Consequently, they embody all that it is to be Olavian, through their dedication to music at such a high standard and are exemplary ambassadors for the school, out in the wider world.

There are the weekly rehearsals of choral and instrumental ensembles which fill the air with the sounds of collaborative music-making. Opportunities exist for both the most experienced and the newest musicians, including Wind Band, Symphony Orchestra, Improvising Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, Guitar Group and Chamber Choir. Music is a specialism in which many students aspire to leadership. There have never been more music groups led by students than currently. Gospel Choir and Chapel Choir have been student-run for a number of years now, but additionally there are new rock bands and classical chamber groups, which we are keen to see continue to develop and thrive.

More than 50% of our students play a musical instrument and we welcome everyone with a musical talent into our ensembles. There is a sense of achievement from giving a successful performance at a concert or showcase. Furthermore, both regularly making a valuable contribution towards a common goal and the camaraderie of working alongside other students from various age-groups are significant rewards for the commitment and investment of time in participating. These and others like them will be the memories that remain with all Olavians well after leaving the school and which will hopefully inspire everyone to pursue music in their futures. Talking of the future, we are delighted to

be able to introduce iPads for music lessons – they are an opportunity to explore different forms of music software and aimed at capturing the imagination of our bedroom music artists!

It is impossible to talk about the music department without mentioning the fact that at St Olave’s we are very fortunate to have an organ in our Great Hall. The console built by Peter Collins in 1988 incorporates pipework from the school’s former site in Tooley Street. It is a relatively rare thing now that a state school can boast such an asset, which is still such an integral part of our school’s daily life, as well as of its rich heritage. It is exciting to be able to offer organ lessons to Olavians, some of whom lead the musical contributions to our weekly programme of collective worship with organ repertoire and accompaniments to hymn-singing.

Matthew Price Director of Music

Autumn Mid-Term Concert

It was a pleasure to see students from different year groups taking part. There was a diverse programme on show, including individual performances, groups, ensembles and bands. Among the many highlights, included Year 12 student, Elo Esalomi’s performance of ‘Rhapsody in C Major Op. 11 No 3’ by Ernő Dohnányi. Thank you to all the performers and also Mr Price, Mrs Watkins and Mr Blew for organising the evening and accompanying many of the musicians.

Christmas Concert

The Great Hall was alive with music and singing with another outstanding Concert. The Chamber Choir, Symphony Orchestra, student

groups, individual singers and instrumentalists each gave high quality performances, with the excellent Jazz Band rounding off the evening in style. The hard work of all student and staff participants was richly rewarded in what was a first-rate evening, enjoyed by all. With a blend of choral and orchestral favourites, as well as festivethemed items on the programme, the event was a superb send-off at the end of term, starting the countdown to a well-earned rest over the approaching holiday period.

Congratulations to the musicians involved and sincere thanks to everyone, especially our Director of Music, Mr Price, supported by Mrs Watkins, Mr Blew and Mr Beston who helped put together such a memorable event.

Two String Instrument Performances

Spring Mid-Term Concert

This event featured a diverse range of solo and ensemble performances, with the standard once again set very high. Many congratulations to everyone involved in performing, directing and organising the evening’s entertainment.

Summer Concert

Thank you to the Music Department for organising an excellent Summer Mid-Term Concert, which was enjoyed by an audience full of parents and students.

Savoy Choristers

In the presence of His Majesty King Charles III, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal and other members of the Royal Family, the Choristers of the King’s Chapel of the Savoy joined forces with those of St George’s Chapel to sing for a Service of Praise, Remembrance and Dedication. The choristers deserve much admiration for their part in such an important occasion: singing beautiful choral music at the highest standard. Our ten-strong group of mighty voices blended brilliantly with the other singers in music by Howells and Brahms. The choir also led impressive congregational singing of four rousing hymns which reverberated through the vast building.

Special Achievements

Eythan, Year 10, was awarded The Giles Cup and The John Brightwell Cup in the Beckenham Music Festival.

Music Examinations

Congratulations to the following on their examination results:

Aaditya Nandwani, Distinction - Trinity Piano Grade 7

Akshay Lakshmanan, Distinction - Grade 8 Acoustic Guitar

Aarav Gupta, Merit - Grade 7 Piano

Keshav Sheshadri, Distinction - Grade 8 Piano

Ankit Gaekwad, Distinction - Piano Grade 5 Theory

Thomas Sears, Distinction - Grade 8 Cello ABRSM

Alexey Maltsev, Distinction - Grade 4 Piano

Aayush Kampani, Distinction - Grade 4 Classical Guitar

Samuel Marshall, Merit - Grade 6 Bass Guitar and Distinction for Grade 3 electric guitar

Kayden Garnham-Jong, Distinction - ABRSM Music

Theory Grade 5

Aditya Singh, Distinction - Trinity College London

Piano Grade 2

Arjun Singh, Merit - Grade 6 Classical Guitar

Tarunesh Sivabalan, Merit - Grade 6 Piano

Farhaan Jabbar, Distinction - Grade 3 Flute

Luke Whitnall - Grade 4 trumpet

William Brace, Distinction - Grade 5 Drums

Debaditya Chatterjee, Distinction - Grade 3 Drums and Merit in Grade 4 Singing

Ashvik Dubey, Merit - Grade 6 Classical Guitar

Ashvik Dubey - Grade 5 Music Theory and Grade 6

Violin

Tarunesh Sivabalan, Distinction - Grade 7 Piano

Samuel Lee, Distinction - Grade 5 Trombone

Alexander McKenzie-McIntyre, Merit - ABRSM Cello

Grade 4

Aarav Gupta, Merit - Grade 4 Drums

James Collins, Merit - Grade 2 Piano

Sebastian Malaj, Merit - Grade 7 Viola

Gabriel Tweneboa-Koduah, Distinction - Grade 1

Classical Guitar

School Concert Photos

Mid-Term

Concert, 2023 Chamber Orchestra Rehearsal

The Department of French

The academic year started with a hugely busy month of September, as no sooner had the school been closed for a day on 19 September for HM the Queen’s Funeral than the Sixth Formers studying French took the opportunity to go to South Kensington on the 20 September to watch an iconic film ‘La Noire de…’ at the Cinema Lumiere. This French/Senegalese collaboration from 1966 marked the beginning of French-speaking African countries’ cinema. Only one day later, the postponed Year 7 trip to Boulogne took place: this enriching trip across the Channel enabled the whole Year 8 cohort finally to enjoy a day on the Continent. This was immediately followed by the whole MFL Faculty celebrating with great success the European Day of Languages with the support of the two Languages prefects: Franklin Baron and Joeseph Davis.

At the end of January, four brave Year 12 students embraced the opportunity offered to them of participating in the Regional Qualifying Rounds of the French Debating National Competition held at St Paul’s Girls’ School. They won some rounds but did not qualify for the next round in the face of fierce opposition from their peers from prestigious Private Schools.

February was our next busiest month with the UK Linguistics Olympiads offered to all linguists in Year 12 and 13, including Latinists, where Bronze and Silver awards were awarded to several students, two of whom were selected for the second round of this extremely challenging competition. Nathan Choy in Year 13 was our school winner and one of the few national overall winners. The traditional Paris trip took place during Half-Term and included French and Classics students and Mr Carroll kindly accompanied me for 5 days this year, exploring the capital city and a couple of Roman sites.

Mid-March, the Onatti Theatre Company performed a French play ‘la Maison Hantée’ to KS4 students and in no time at all we found ourselves in exams season with the exception of Activities Week 1 when all Year 7 boys spent their annual day in Boulogne. They all enjoyed crossing by ferry and the market, where many used their recently learnt French to buy as many preserves, bread and pastries as they could, followed by a visit to the marine biology centre and Aquarium: Nausicaa. We also celebrated the French language during the week of 21 March by offering very different learning activities to all French classes, such as films, escape rooms, quizzes, anime etc…

At the very beginning of June, Mr Carroll again accompanied the Year 9 French exchange to Bondues for a whole week, when our students took part in very different activities and spent two days in lessons with their partners. The participants then hosted in turn their French partners back home during the last week in June. It was a great success both socially and academically.

Finally in July, Year 10 students spent Activity Week 2 in Normandy, but this time based in Saint Lô, in an Ibis hotel with Mrs Berry, Mr Price, Mr Brown and myself accompanying the 41 students. They learnt a lot about historical events on the landing beaches and about the local crafts such as copper pan making and bell founding in Villedieu-Les-Poêles.

We were delighted with the excellent sets of exams results at KS4 and KS5 but sadly, we had to say “Goodbye” to Mr Bowden who retired after so many years of teaching at St Olave’s.

Isabelle Saunders

Head of French

Cinema trip

A group of Year 12 and 13 students studying French took the opportunity to discover the first francophone African film ever made: ‘La Noire de…’, directed by Ousmane Sembène and based on his own novel, in South Kensington, the French district of London. It was a French/Senegalese collaboration released in 1966 set between Dakar and Antibes in which the heroine Diouana, a young Senegalese woman, moves to France to work for a wealthy white couple. What looked like a bright and exciting opportunity turns out to be a figurative and literal prison. The film was followed by a conversation between Christine Checinska and Elisabeth Murray, Curator and Project Curator both of the Africa Fashion exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum and of a selection of films as part of the series Fashion and Cinema. Viewing

this film was an opportunity to engage with the wideranging and rich culture of French-speaking countries outside metropolitan France. The evolution of French cinema is a topic studied for AS and A level and this film is seen as the starting point of African cinema, so the experience will be useful for those who attended.

Onatti Theatre

The show: ‘La maison hantée’ created an opportunity for students in Years 8, 9 and 10 to hear French for 45 minutes in a very different way from what can be done in the classroom. The plot revolves around two young hikers who find shelter from the rain in an old house in the woods. The house is sinister and when a policeman arrives, he tells them to stay in the house and lock the doors because there is an escaped prisoner on the run in the area. The two friends try to stay calm but become increasingly uneasy when strange things start to happen. The students were presented with an extract, prior to attending this play as well as Quizlet exercises to familiarise themselves with unusual vocabulary. The actors made it very interactive and asked students to come on stage and respond to their cues. Year 9 student, Om, deserves a special mention for his performance.

UK Linguistics Olympiad

36 students from Years 12 and 13 took part in Round 1 of the UK Linguistics Olympiads in February. The organisers had a record entry this year of 1686 and St Olave’s achieved 2 Gold, 7 Silver and 1 Bronze Award. Gold Award winners in the Advanced competition, Nathan Choy and Emily Davies, were invited to enter the Round 2 competition. Many congratulations to all who took part and fought their way through the paper with exemplary determination.

Nathan Choy was subsequently awarded a Distinction in the last round of this advanced level competition. This means that his score was one of the top 25% scores out of 89 competitors across the UK, who qualified and sat it. Among the languages he had to translate and decode were Abawiri, and Pular, which is spoken by approximately 13.8 million Fula people mostly in the Fouta Djallon region of Guinea Mongo. He also needed to decipher numerals in Roon.

National French Debating Competition

For the third consecutive year, the opportunity to take part in the first round of the ‘Joutes Oratoires’ at St Paul’s Girls School was seized by four of the Year 12 students. Year 12 students, Elo Esalomi and Thomas Farmer won both their debates and Usri Iyer and Sophia Appleford won one of their debates. This experience gave our students great reassurance about their level of spoken French and they can be hugely proud of themselves to have taken this challenge in their stride.

Year 12 trip to Paris

During half-term, 14 Year 12 pupils accompanied by Mr Carroll and Mrs Saunders spent five days packed with visits and treats in iconic places. The group stayed in a very comfortable Youth Hostel, where the quality of breakfasts and dinners lived up to expectations. Upon arrival, pupils set off to walk to the Panthéon, having gone past the Marie Curie Museum, aiming for one of the oldest coffee houses in the world: Le Procope though the goal was to have a drink in the footsteps of JeanPaul Sartre, Albert Camus and Simone de Beauvoir at the Café de Flore. During the stay, pupils visited Sainte-Chapelle and walked past the Conciergerie, where Marie-Antoinette was imprisoned before her execution. One group went to the Musée Cluny and Les Arènes de Lutèce for a focus on classics with Mr Carroll while another group headed for the famous Père Lachaise Cemetery in search of the graves of illustrious musicians, architects and playwrights, not necessarily all French. Every visit came with background reading and all enjoyed the presentations delivered by pupils for each monument in French and English. Day three included a visit to the Sacré-Cœur in Montmartre and Place du Tertre after walking up the Arc de Triomphe to the top, with free time on the Champs-Élysées afterwards. They all enjoyed the evening cruise on the Seine where they saw the Eiffel Tower sparkle three times. Day four was devoted to the Palace of Versailles and the gardens, preceded by an artistic treasure hunt among the Impressionist masterpieces and statues of the Musée d’Orsay. On the last day, an Arsène Lupin trail was organised to visit the grandiose Opéra Garnier as seen in the ‘Phantom of the Opera’ which they watched the previous night. They had lunch in the typical Paris brasserie Chartier and made it back full of enthusiasm to St Pancras.

Year

12 Students outside the Arc de Triomphe

French Exchange

Nine of the students who opted to study French at GCSE took part in our yearly exchange to Bondues near Lille. They set off with Mr Carroll and Mrs Saunders, on a train strike day, but fortunately all arrived on time for the Eurostar to Lille from St Pancras. This meant that our students had the whole of Sunday and Saturday afternoon to get to know better their partner and host families.

On Monday they spent a day at school after a guided tour of the buildings and enjoying a breakfast reception in their honour, where they were greeted by the Head Teacher. On Tuesday they travelled to the National Coal Mining Museum in Lewarde and discovered beforehand the historical and literary background to this visit. After a picnic lunch, they headed to a bakery where they took part in a very interactive workshop and left with a few crates of products made prior to their arrival. Wednesday was spent at home and on Thursday, the group experienced the speed of sandyachting in magnificent weather conditions. This was a great hit and was followed by a visit to La Coupole where they learnt about flying bombs and consolidated their knowledge of the Occupation of Northern France during World War 2.

The return visit of the Year 9 French exchange took place. The French students discovered London sights such as Buckingham Palace, Horse Guards Parade, Piccadilly Circus, Camden Market and saw London from the London Eye. They also took a river boat from Greenwich to the Tower of London and navigated their way through the London tube: a new experience, even if they are used to the driverless tube in Lille. It is always extremely pleasing to see new friendships being created across countries and the ease with which teenagers settle in different surroundings, develop resilience, adapt to and understand better different habits and cultures. The French teachers and students are very grateful to have been allowed to attend lessons in school to see how their English counterparts’ education is delivered.

Normandy Trip

Year 10 students of French departed for Normandy in the early hours and managed to visit the Memorial de Caen after a smooth ferry crossing between Portsmouth and Ouistreham. This museum is dedicated to Peace and was an introduction to further visits of D-Day landing

beaches in Arromanches and the American Cemetery in Colleville. The whole Norman experience included dinner on the terrace of a crêperie overlooking a stunning valley as well as a guided visit of the famous Tapestry in Bayeux. Students visited a typically French market in Villedieu les Poêles, attended a workshop in the Copper pans manufacture, and visited the bell foundry where they learnt the skills of making bells, both of these crafts having made the national reputation of this town. They then spent two hours attending a hands-on breadmaking workshop and discovered the way in which the renowned creamy Normandy cheeses are made at the top-ranking Graindorge creamery in Livarot.

La Semaine de la Francophonie

For a week between 20 - 24 March, the French Department celebrated the French. Elo Esalomi, the new French Prefect prepared a voiced-over assembly and there were KS3 and KS4 quizzes for House Points; Dr Sidhu kindly made mini clips about aspects of francophone culture available on screens around the school, The Pantry prepared a French-flavoured menu of Hachis-Parmentier and Chaussons aux pommes. Year 7 students eagerly solved an Asterix and Obelix escape room, Year 9 students wrote a research project on a French-speaking country of their choice and Year 10 students watched a very popular French film ‘Les Intouchables’ on which they wrote their own mostly very positive critique in French. A big thank you to all who supported this event.

Boulogne

Year 7 had a fantastic time in Boulogne during Activity Week 2, with an early start to make the most of the day. Students visited a bustling market where they could practise their knowledge of French and enhance their cultural awareness. The Nausicaa aquarium was a further highlight enjoyed by all and the sealions and marine life were amazing. Special thanks to the excellent team of staff and to the boys for their boundless energy and enthusiasm.

Special achievements

Congratulations to Year 13 students, Franklin Baron and Alisa Rybalkina, who each endeavoured to translate a passage in French and Russian respectively. They are one of ten winners nationwide in their chosen language. They each received a certificate and a £25 Amazon voucher from the Sheffield University MFL Department. They have also been invited to attend a Translation Workshop online, organised for all winners across various languages.

The Department of German

2022/23 saw a return to full normality in terms of class presence and activities after the pandemic. The German Department could offer a great range of activities throughout the year, including international travel and exchanges to increase students’ knowledge of the German language, culture, history and way of life.

We continued our collaboration with our partner school, the Integrierte Gesamtschule Wilhemshafen. After our visit to the school in North Germany last year, the German students came to St Olave’s in Spring 2023. They spent a full day with our Year 9 and Year 10 students, attending classes, sports and extra- curricular activities. Each German student was allocated to one of our boys who had the opportunity for a full day to exercise their German, develop their cultural understanding and take responsibility for their German exchange partners in school.

We were able to organize a trip to Cologne during the Summer Term. Year 10 students visited the city on the Rhine with Frau Thieser-Craneburgh, Frau Prestipino and Herr Birtchnell, experiencing a broad range of visits to museums and the famous cathedral whilst also having the opportunity to develop their language skills through the various tours they took part in.

There were also visits within the UK, such as to the Goethe Institute in London, the Francis Holland School or the British Film Institute. We also welcomed people to school, be it the above-mentioned German exchange students or a theatre group which performed a short play entirely in German.

Sixth Form Germanists, together with Latinist and students studying French took part again in the UK Linguistics Olympiads. In the Advanced Level paper this year, they were asked to translate from and into Albanian; Lardil: spoken on Mornington Island in Queensland, Australia; Meroitic: spoken in northern Sudan and southern Egypt as well as a language spoken by over a million people in Guatemala.

Our MFL Prefects continued to do excellent work to promote languages in the school. They ran a Language Club with a range of MFL topics and they helped the Departments with events, like the European Day of Languages or the school’s Open Day.

For the new school year with a fully staffed German Department we plan to further develop extra-curricular

activities and to instil a love of the German language and culture in our students.

Lidia Prestipino Head of German

European Day of Languages

St. Olaves joined schools across Europe in celebrating the European Day of Languages. Thanks to flag face painting, multilingual karaoke, a teacher vs student quiz and a hugely popular bake sale, we were able to raise over £100 for the charity Doctors Without Borders. DWB provides medical aid in countries around the world and is currently in action in Ukraine. A house quiz was produced by the MFL prefects for the occasion and a poetry competition launched across all year groups. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to help run the day, those who brought cakes, sang or painted flags on faces, and to all the members of staff who contributed to the success of the day in one way or another.

European Day of Languages Poetry Competition

Congratulations to Habibah Choudhry in Year 13 who won our European Day of Languages Poetry Competition with her Urdu poem, ‘Zindagi ka naam’! We would also like to congratulate Sachin Prakash in Year 8 for his German poem, ‘Der Haus der Ewigkeit’, which merited him the title of Runner-Up. Well done to everyone who took part.

German Study Day

A small group of Year 11 students spent the day at Francis Holland School, Regent’s Park with Frau Prestipino, Frau Cranenburgh and Herr Birtchnell for a GCSE German study day. Along with students from other schools, they heard a talk from Professor Stephanie Bird from UCL on a film by the German director Rainer

MFL Bake Sale (right)

Werner Fassbinder. They then had to prepare three sketches on a number of different themes, ranging from a job interview to planning a school sports day. Each group then had to deliver one of their sketches in front of the other students. This was an excellent opportunity to develop their German speaking skills and work with students from other schools.

Goethe Institut

Year 8 fast-track group were marvelled by their German experience at the Goethe Institut in London. Our pupils listened attentively to a young ambassador who will be studying German and Music at Durham University next year. It was great to see our pupils so engaged and enthused; finding out how German can not only enrich them culturally but how the language can really favour them in the world of work. It was so inspiring to hear how German can be used across the globe in an array of sectors and industries. Pupils also enjoyed listening to a native speaker recount her experiences of Christmas at home in Germany and were able to participate in a workshop in which they produced posters of their understanding of Christmas traditions in Germany.

A group of Year 11 German students visited the Goethe Institut in Kensington for a showing of the film ‘Soul Kitchen’ by director Fatih Akin. The film is about a man called Zanos who struggles to balance his personal and professional life and is set in the German city of Hamburg. After the film, the students visited the Science Museum where they completed a German language quiz. The day was a fantastic chance for students to explore the German language in a different context and develop their skills in advance of their exams this year.

Onatti Theatre

In March Onatti, a company specialised in performing to students using only the languages studied, presented the show ‘Im Alten Saloon’ in the Great Hall for our

Year 9 and Year 10 students. The plot of the story was about an old saloon in 1856 in some dusty town in the Midwest of America. The old Saloon ran into financial difficulties and needed to find some money, and fast. The owner decided then to offer a cash prize for a city talent show. Unfortunately, it was not very easy to find anyone in this ‘backyard’ town with even an ounce of talent, although everyone sure thought they had talent! The show created an opportunity for students to hear German in a very lively and amusing way, including core vocabulary known to them from the GCSE syllabus. The students were presented with an extract, prior to attending the play as well as exercises to familiarise themselves with unknown vocabulary. The actors made it very interactive and asked students to come on stage and respond to their cues. Year 10 student Eashan Rautaray deserves a special mention for his performance.

British Film Institute

In November, Sixth Form students attended a study day at the BFI in London which focused on the legacy of East Germany in German cinema. They watched clips of various films and completed tasks related to these. In the afternoon, there was a screening of the film ‘Goodbye Lenin’ which is the film studied by students as part of the A level course. The day provided valuable historical context as well as being a good opportunity to be immersed in the German language.

Cologne Trip

Year 10 students travelled to Cologne during our Activity Week in July. They had a rich and varied itinerary, featuring visits to museums and historical sites, including the Cologne Cathedral, Marksburg Castle, the Olympic Museum and the Lindt Museum. Alongside these historical sites, the group attended a guided tour of the Bayer Leverkusen Stadium where they took part in some gaming activitites.

The week was also packed with opportunties to walk through the city, go shopping, try some traditional German food and have fun at ‘Movie Park”’, an amusement park close to the German/Dutch border.

Overall, the trip was a thouroughly enjoyable and enriching experience and the boys had the chance to experience German culture first-hand, use and develop their language skills and get to know their classmates better.

German Exchange Event

German Exchange

29 students and three teachers from the Integrierte Gesamtschule Wilhelmshaven joined us for the day. The school is our partner school and is located in the north German city of Wilhelmshaven. The students started their visit with a session on the history of the school and then a quiz about the UK. They then joined students of German in Years 9 and 10 for lessons. The visitors were excited to be able to use their English in a school context. Students then had lunch in the school canteen before leaving to spend the afternoon in London. Many thanks to the Year 9 and 10 students for looking after our visitors and for the teachers who hosted them in their lessons.

Student Work

Year 9 German students learnt about German literature and film making by watching ‘Das fliegende Klassenzimmer’, a film adaptation of the very well known novel by Erich Kästner. After watching the film they prepared a beautiful poster with their comments which were displayed in class. They also had the oppportunity to learn more about German Christmas customs, as the film is mainly referring to this period of festivity.

The Department of Spanish

The academic year 2022-23 saw some fantastic new enrichment opportunities from the Spanish Department and featured a broad extra-curricular programme. Although Head of Department Mrs Probodziak was on maternity leave, acting head of department Mrs Saunders, along with Dr Pickett had a very successful year. We welcomed the Onatti Theatre Company back to school, adding a Spanish play for KS4 – ‘Mi personalidad’ – to their repertoire of French and German. These performances are always engaging and interactive and thoroughly enjoyed by students. Our rich pen-pal programme for students of Spanish culminated in a meeting “in real life” between Olavians and students from the IES Piramide school, which took place on the trip to Valencia in February half-term. On the same trip, students visited the world-class Oceanographic Centre in the striking ‘city of arts and sciences’ in the city centre, along with the football stadium - Mestalla – and of course they tasted the local paella and other dishes. Similarly, in Activity Week Two, there was another exciting trip to Spain – to Madrid and Salamanca. Students took part in a language immersion course and also tried out their cooking skills on a range of Spanish delicacies. Finally, it must be noted that we welcomed our new Language Assistant, Mrs Carmen Tobitt, to St Olave’s who will be working with students on their spoken language.

Dr. M. Pickett

Head of Spanish Valencia

Onatti Theatre Group

Year 9 and 10 students of Spanish enjoyed a fun Spanish comedy about settling in at university and making friends in the Onatti play ‘Mi Personalidad’. There was no need for dictionaries or Google translate as they followed and laughed at the Spanish situation comedy about a boy trying to impress girls at university. It was all in Spanish and the interactive nature of the play allowed students to participate, joke and give their opinions on how things were going for the young undergraduate. Year 10 student, Rishabh Murali, even joined in the performance and took measurements for the clothing episode. All in all, it was good preparation for speaking and listening as most of these students prepare for their residential language trip abroad to Spain next year. ¡Viva España!

Well done to Year 9 for going on their first residential language trip to Valencia, Spain’s third largest city. The group, led by Dr Pickett, took an early two-andhalf-hour flight to the southeast of Spain, checked in at the hotel - ready, willing, and able to start their intensive Spanish fluency course that afternoon. The boys’ dedication, work ethic and concentration to learn the language was evident throughout the next five days. From the first evening, Olavians had the unique opportunity to meet up with and talk to Spanish pupils from our partner school in Huesca. What followed that evening was truly an Anglo-Spanish extravaganza of Kahoot quizzes and

Year 9 Students, Valencia Trip

Karaoke singing, which involved everyone getting to know St Olave’s and Piramide Huesca. Seamlessly, singing and dancing the ‘Macarena’, to ending up

with arms waving to ‘Hey Jude’, everyone revelled in the international conversations. In only a couple of hours new friendships were established, while Ms Smith and Mr Davis were discovering that Year 9 had hidden multilingual talents!

The guided tour of Valencia allowed Spanish and English pupils to reunite and discover the city’s Roman, Christian, Arab and Jewish heritage altogether. The whole immersive experience showed that learning Spanish can be truly enjoyable, interactive, and educational. Be it later visiting the Oceanographic Museum - where you learn about the world’s marine environment, or the stadium of Mestalla - to find out more about Valencia Football Club, the group pursued authentic scientific and sporting themes in the target language. Furthermore, they got to taste new foods, play football and acquire a much better understanding of Spanish culture whether it be the friendliness of the people or the importance of food in daily routines. iViva Valencia y viva la aventura!

Royal Society of Chemistry

Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. They also enjoying typical tapas in Plaza Santa Ana followed by speaking to a robot in Spanish in the Plaza Mayor.

Student Work

On 28 September, the Year 10 Spanish class visited the Royal Society of Chemistry for their Epistemic Insight project.

Hispanists in Year 10 enjoyed a unique opportunity to discuss their ideas on designing driverless cars with UK and US academics at the Royal Society of Chemistry. Scientists and other students listed why there is a need for students to discuss real-life linguistic problems. The students showed how machines will interact with humans leading to language and cultural problems. They prepared a presentation on the subject to show how non-English speakers will have problems. Thank you to Dr Pickett for organising this trip.

‘The Visit’

It was a great pleasure to watch the cast of students in our school production of Fredrick Durenmatt’s play, ‘The Visit’. Claire Zachanassian, played brilliantly by Year 12 student, Pelumi, is a woman who is on her eighth husband and now owns half the world but has returned to her backwater hometown, Gullen, in Central Europe, to avenge her cruel, impoverished childhood. Claire offers her desperate, starving former neighbours a billion dollars in exchange for the life of the grocer Anton Schill, played outstandingly by Year 12 student, Chinedu, who seduced and abandoned her 38 years earlier. Well done to the brilliant cast and also to Ms Wilkie for bringing the production together.

Madrid

Year 10 students of Spanish travelled to Madrid. Highlights of the trip included visiting the Temple of Debod, Plaza España and Real Madrid’s stadium

The purpose of our visit was to learn about epidemic insight and share our ideas to professional scientists about linguistics in driverless cars. Some would not realise the importance of languages in the world of technology but on further thought it became more evident to us. Picture a self-driving car, no need for a steering wheel, almost self-aware. Although a peculiar idea, it could become prevalent across the world in a number of years.

Five out of the nine students who attended learnt about the Epidemic Insight project, which showed us the fact that there is no subject/topic or problem where only one discipline is required to understand or solve it. Let us say you need to solve the problem of an asteroid hitting Earth. You would not just need astronomy - you would need Chemistry to find the composition of the asteroid and the elements present in it, as well maths to calculate how much area the landing affected and geography to see how the land will be affected by the landing. Four Olavians delivered a presentation in front of numerous cameras (for later viewing) and a room of university students. It was evident from the numerous questions asked that we had successfully delivered our message, that linguistics were a key feature where moving into the future is concerned.

Although we were out of our comfort zone in such a prestigious building, we both shared a useful insight into the world of linguistics, and gained knowledge about epidemic insight that can forever be utilised into everyday life. This meant that the trip was an overall fascinating and unique experience.

Written by Monty Ward and Aabhas Gupta

The Faculty of Humanities

2022-23 proved to be a successful one for all the departments within the Humanities Faculty. Andrew Lay and Sandra Potter joined the Faculty in the Economics Department and Charlotte Benham became Head of Geography in January 2023 having previously served as a Head of Year in the Sixth From. Alongside its stalwarts the new arrivals only helped further develop the quality of teaching within the faculty and pupils generally achieved excellent results in public examinations.

The faculty continues to work actively to challenge and enrich; the societies run by its pupils have produced a range of thought-provoking publications and have hosted a variety of thought provoking speakers! The faculty remains active in organising cross curricular ventures.

Daniel Espejo S___Head of History

History Journal

Congratulations to the editors Suzanna Wade and Aryaman Singh and all those who contributed articles to the 2023 History Journal. This year’s edition focuses on the ‘underdog’ stories from history and includes work from all sections of the school. Thanks to Aryaman and Suzanna for editing and putting the journal together and building upon the focus of the previous journal of ‘Untold Stories’.

Battlefields Trip

The Department of History

Year 8 set out for an informative and thought-provoking exploration of the WW1 Battlefields at Ypres and the Somme in Belgium and Northern France during Activity Week 2. The time spent in the cemeteries and trenches was an eye opener as it brought the history they had learnt from textbooks into the brutal reality that was the ‘Great War’, enabling them to see things from a soldier’s point of view rather than that of an historian. Most enlightening was seeing and feeling the trenches of the German front line and how the grey solidarity of the gravestones brought ‘alive’ the terrible cost of the war. The boys visited Newfoundland Park, stood on top of Hawthorn Ridge in the Somme and paid their respects to School Captain, JT Jones, and Old Olavian ‘Jimmie’ Ruggles who is buried at Pozières.

National Competitions The Department of Geography

Students in Geography this year have continued to explore a variety of places, processes and people from across the globe, helping them to further expand their knowledge and understanding of the world we live in. Current affairs have, as always, featured prominently in Geography lessons, from the Russia-Ukraine conflict to COP-27 and have exemplified the ever-changing nature of the subject. Indeed, Geography is not just about what is written in the textbooks, but what is going on all around us every day.

The department has continued to encourage scholarship amongst its students with Geography Society meeting regularly to give talks on all manner of things, from the impact of fishing on the world’s oceans to the evolution of life on the planet. Environmental Society has continued to grow, working hard to requalify for the Green Flag award, again awarded to the School with Distinction. Building on the success of previous years, students worked in collaboration with TfL Stars to raise awareness of more sustainable travel to get to school, as well as working with Bromley Council’s Bikeability training programme to help Year 7 and 8 students feel more confident cycling on the roads.

The Geography Library has continued to expand, with titles including ‘Sea Change’ by Richard Girling, ‘Africa is not a Country’ by Dipo Faloyin and ‘Disaster by Choice’ by Ilan Kelman being added. We have also expanded the library to offer some books for younger students, with the Horrible Geography books by Anita Ganeri joining the collection this year, as well as several fiction books for all age groups, such as ‘Into the Volcano’ by Jess Butterworth and ‘Last Man’ by Mary Shelley which imagines a dystopian world where humanity has nearly been completely wiped out by a bubonic plague pandemic. We look forward to sharing the books with all students in the forthcoming academic year.

It has also been a bumper year for fieldtrips, with our students travelling both locally and internationally. Students have relished the opportunity to visit Seaford, the Ashdown Forest, Eynsford, the Olympic Park in Stratford, Croydon and Orpington to investigate a variety of issues and processes in the real world. Year 12 students were able to travel to the Bay of Naples on a joint trip with the Classics department, to visit the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum, as well as walking up to view the crater of Mt Vesuvius. Geography really is the study of the world, and it is always brilliant when students get to experience new places for themselves.

We look forward to another year of trips, with both Iceland on offer for 2024, and Japan for 2025 for certain year groups.

The department has also focused on helping students gain a greater understanding of future careers available to them with the study of Geography, with Year 12 students taking part in the ‘I’m a Scientist, Get Me Out Of Here’ Human Geography Zone, where they spoke to three individuals pursuing a career linked to their studies. Year 7 and Year 9 students took part in the Royal Geographical Societies ‘What do Geographers Actually Do?’, which is still available to watch as a recording on the RGS website.

As always, the hard work and dedication of GCSE and A-level students paid off, with another fabulous set of results. GCSE was a particular highlight, with an astonishing 56% of geographers achieving a Grade 9, and 88% of students achieving a Grade 9-8! The students tried their absolute best yet again and the department is very proud of all their achievements, well done! We are also incredibly proud of our A Level students, having worked incredibly hard over the duration of their course, and coming up with brilliant independent fieldwork investigations on a huge range of topics. From inequality in Kensington and Chelsea to variations in the hydrological cycle, the skills and knowledge independently displayed was impressive.

Finally, we will welcome Mrs Rawe to the department in the new academic year, and bid a ‘see you soon and good luck’ to Mrs Smith, who will be on maternity leave, as well as saying a massive thank you for her time as Head of Department. The department and students are grateful for your leadership, enthusiasm and drive during this time, and I hope to continue the momentum that has seen the department go from strength to strength, with 82% of Year 8 students opting to continue Geography in the next academic year. Geography really is a subject that prepares students for the world they live in today, and the one they might inhabit tomorrow.

Charlotte Benham S___Head of Geography

Environmental Society

Electric Vehicle(EV) Charging Infrastructure Specialist

Zest has introduced four charge points by the All Weather Pitch. We are one of the first schools in the Southeast to make charging available to staff, parents and visitors. The investment comes at a time when the need to switch to electric cars continues to grow. CEO at Zest, Robin Heap, said: “It’s great to see a school that’s so important to this area choose to benefit from the introduction of EV charge points. Our investment in this school continues to build on our fast-growing reputation for quality, hassle-free, charging infrastructure.” Thank you to Miss Benham for her ongoing work securing the funding for this initiative.

We are also delighted to let you know that our application to the Tesco Community Grants Scheme has been successful and our project to purchase a food composter to reduce food waste and create compost was put forward to a customer vote in Tesco stores.

Members of Environmental Society around the new Electric Charging Point

Geography Fieldtrip

Year 12 Geographers successfully completed their fieldtrip to investigate the success of a rebranding scheme in Croydon Town Centre. They visited a range of sites including Reeves Corner, which was devastated in the 2011 Riots, Queens Gardens and BoxPark. Students completed a range of human fieldwork methods, including an Index of Decay and an Environmental Quality Assessment of their six sites, and piloted a questionnaire for members of the public which they refined and completed on the second day with a larger

sample size. As this trip has run now since 2017, the Geography department has been witnesses to the slow and steady change of Croydon, and students enjoyed the opportunity to explore a new place and see how local authorities can try to make changes for the better

Ashdown Forest

Year 9 Geographers visited the Ashdown Forest to study how rivers had changed the landscape of the area. They travelled through forests, marshes, and open landscapes to explore how the river flows. They measured depth, width, gradient, and velocity of different parts of the River Warren comparing how the river flows through its different courses. Overall, the trip was a success, and they had a fun time learning about different aspects of the river.

Year 10 Fieldtrip

Year 10 Geographers took a long walk around the local area to study ways of life and how they vary in our suburban area. Students saw a real variety of different housing styles, completed an environmental quality assessment survey which looked for evidence of crime and noise pollution amongst other things, and managed to complete a questionnaire to find out more about how locals use Orpington. They will use the data they collected to complete their fieldwork write ups, which will be invaluable when it comes to revising for their GCSE exams.

Environment

We celebrated World Environment Day with the theme #BeatPlasticPollution. Discussions were held during tutor time and students are able to support the efforts of the Environmental Society in using less plastic by

purchasing a new reusable water bottle in their House colours. Bottles can be ordered via sQuid for £3.50. The Environmental Society will put all profits towards a new food composter so we can start reducing our landfill waste and eventually grow our own food.

Year 7 fieldtrips

Year 7 took part in a joint Geography and RS fieldtrip to Eynsford, Farningham and Lullingstone. The fieldtrip involved an examination of settlement patterns and functions for Geography and students gathered fieldwork evidence. Along the route there were visits to the C of E Parish Churches in Farningham and Lullingstone looking at the role of design and symbolism in Christianity. Students also visited the ancient Roman Villa at Lullingstone to see its mosaics which will link with their Latin lessons.

Students’ Work

Book Reviews

There is No Planet B, Mike Berners-Lee: Introduction

‘There is No Planet B: A Handbook for the Make or Break Years’ by Mike Berners-Lee is a book focused on climate change and what we can do to stop it. Focusing on the practical aspect of things, Berners-Lee believes anyone can do something to reduce their carbon footprint, no matter their background. This is especially refreshing when most books about climate change usually make for grim reading, while this book has a very realistic form of hope.

The author of this book is the founder of Small World Consulting, a company that works with small and large businesses to cut their carbon footprint and emissions. Additionally, Berners-Lee has also written two other books, both about climate change, showing how passionately he cares for the earth.

The Frame of the Book

This book felt like a sort of guide. Berners-Lee based this book on the main topics of stopping climate change, including food, money, jobs, transport, and critically, human values. However, he did not ramble on about how much food waste there is every year or how much carbon emissions are released by planes, but instead answered questions around these topics. The effect this has is incredibly useful for the reader and the author. BernersLee could easily write a solution to the question he was answering straightforwardly and insightfully in a way that did not feel like it was an overload of information. For the reader, it makes the book focused and informative,

especially for professional research. If you want to know something specific, you can simply check the contents and dip into the topic you want to know more about.

‘There is No Planet B’ focuses on the fact that anyone of any background can make a difference to the world in an effort to save the globe from the climate emergency. By focusing on the impacts of everything he mentions, Berners-Lee creates an eye-opening piece of text that makes us see everything in the bigger picture: for example, he talks about how we should not just think about what a product will do for us when shopping, but instead think about the impacts of it that were created on others when it was made and shipped to supermarket shelves.

My Opinion

I liked the fact that this book felt optimistic about the future in a realistic way. While most claim that to solve climate change, technological advancements are needed, Berners-Lee shows that it is instead a question of values and whether they can adapt to our changing world. He writes, “We simply can’t get away from the question of values. Like it or not,” and “so much of how humans do life is in need of rethinking.”

Additionally, the book tells you what you and those around you can do. This is effective when he further enforces the severity of the climate emergency with not just statistics, but graphs, useful everyday comparisons and analogies. E.g. “If all the discarded plastic in the world was cling film it would be more

Year 7 Students taking a break in the fields

than enough to wrap the world.”

Finally, Berners-Lee ensures you finish the book satisfactorily. He leaves nothing unexplained. I particularly liked the way he did this by including a glossary of sorts (which he calls the ‘Alphabetical Quick Tour’) near the end where he defines keywords in the book in a way that relates to the bigger picture of climate change.

Occasionally in the book, I felt that Berners-Lee went too far down the rabbit hole when analysing the impacts of our actions, to a point where some of his arguments no longer related to climate change. For instance, he veers off-topic by talking about gambling in the UK or the average time someone spends in prison.

Furthermore, I do not agree with the phrasing BernersLee uses when expressing his opinions. At the end of the day, the entire book is mostly based on his opinion of what is right to do in cutting our emissions, but he makes it seem that his thoughts on the problem are facts. This affects his point about money. I do not agree with his point of only making enough money for your family’s current and future needs, as aiming high can lead to more enthusiasm to work in a smarter way (promoting education) and building a better economy that can help fund the UK net-zero targets while keeping the living standard stable. Also, it is ironic that he makes that argument as he also says we should invest in climate-friendly things, but an excess of money is needed for this. He makes more points that further contradict this first statement later in the book. This begs the question of how thoroughly he thought his arguments through.

Lastly, I did not like that the book was not readerfriendly. If you are looking for a sit-down-and-read kind of book, ‘There is No Planet B’ will bore you within a few pages. It is full of statistics rather than facts. Before reading this you need to know exactly what information you need. As Berners-Lee himself says, his book is a handbook for those who desperately feel they need to take action on the climate crisis and is more of something to base your life on rather than to read for pleasure.

While this book did feel more like a guide rather than a book, cards on the table, I believe everyone should read this book. It works like magic in shifting the climate crisis perspective from the individual to the globe. Proving to be extremely eye-opening, it is all about questions and answers and includes a glossary, unit notes, a list of sources for research and an index to further consolidate your understanding of Berners-Lee’s points. It was wonderful that everything in this book was extremely well explained, but I feel like the way he

did this did not always make the reader’s experience that enjoyable. Nonetheless, I feel that this book is clarifying and that Mike Berners-Lee was genuine when he meant his book was for all.

Written by Venoj Suthan, Year 8

Prisoners of Geography, Tim Marshall

A pioneering geopolitics book by a world-renowned news presenter, Prisoners of Geography is a book sure to provoke thoughts of shock, interest and wonder.

Written by former BBC and Sky News foreign correspondent Tim Marshall in 2015 and updated in 2019, the book focuses on the world’s main powers (including USA, China and Russia) and some up and coming regions to see how their yield of power has been affected by the Earth’s seas, mountains, deserts and plains. For instance, the Great European Plain has exposed Russia to forces including Napoleon’s invasion of the country. Or in another case, how the USA’s population expanded rapidly across the west of the country.

Furthermore, Marshall provides us with an insight into global politics for all readers alike, showing us the challenges these countries face when it comes to standing out on the world stage, in some instances, or attempting to display their global dominance.

To summarise, Tim Marshall’s Prisoners of Geography is an exciting roller-coaster of a book and displays how countries can benefit or struggle from the terrain surrounding them and how they have adapted to their environments. The book is a great read for readers aged 11 and above and there is a less ‘dramatic’ children’s version. In conclusion, I would give this book 9/10, as it is a page-turner, a read you will not take your eyes off, but would miss out on the 10/10 because of a slightly biased opinion.

Written by Leo Hoang, Year 7

Year 12 Trip to the Bay of Naples, July 2023

In July 2023, Year 12 Geography and Classics students went on a four-day trip to the Bay of Naples in southern Italy. We had the opportunity to visit some of the most important and well-preserved Roman sites in the world, along with the volcano of Mount Vesuvius, which has played a major role in shaping the human and physical geography of the surrounding area.

Vesuvius is an example of a somma-stratovolcano, a volcanic caldera that has been partially filled by a new central cone which is built up of many layers of strata (hardened lava) and tephra. It is one of several volcanoes which make up the Campanian volcanic arc, which also includes the sulphurous Phlegraean fields to the west of Naples. It formed as a result of the collision between the African and Eurasian tectonic plates, with the denser oceanic African plate being subducted beneath the continental Eurasian plate. As the watersaturated sediments of the African plate were pushed to hotter depths inside the planet, the water boiled off and lowered the melting point of the upper mantle enough to partially melt the rocks. Because magma is less dense than the solid rock around it, it was pushed upward. Finding a weak spot at the Earth’s surface, it broke through, thus forming the volcano. The caldera in which the volcano is located was formed as a result of the collapse of an earlier, much higher structure, forming when large volumes of magma were erupted over a short time, meaning structural support for the rock above the magma chamber disappeared, and so the ground surface then collapsed into the emptied magma chamber, leaving a large depression at the surface.

The volcano has erupted many times since its most famous eruption in 79AD, with the most recent eruption taking place in March 1944. It is the only volcano on Europe’s mainland to have erupted in the last hundred years and is regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, due to the fact that 3,000,000 people live near enough to be affected by an eruption, with at least 600,000 in the danger zone, making it the most densely populated volcanic region in the world. Eruptions tend to be violent and explosive.

Vesuvius is best-known for its violent eruption in 79AD which destroyed the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum at the base of the volcano, although the nature of the eruption meant that these cities were impacted in extremely different ways. The north-westerly wind at the time of the eruption meant that the ash from the volcano rained down on the southern side during the first stage of the eruption, completely destroying Pompeii, while Herculaneum was much less impacted by ashfall deposits, with many buildings remaining intact to this day.

Herculaneum was originally a strategic port on the Bay of Naples, and evidence of this remains today, with its ‘beach’ having recently been restored. Archaeologists believe that the pyroclastic flow, a dense, destructive mass of very hot ash, lava fragments, and gases ejected explosively from Mount Vesuvius during the eruption, was hot enough to cause the brains and blood of Herculaneum’s victims to instantly boil, with a temperature of 400-500 degrees. We also learned how those who attempted to

escape by sea would have died as well as a result of a mild tsunami in the Bay of Naples at the time of the eruption. Following the pyroclastic flows, the city was then hit by six waves of volcanic mud which buried the city under 20 metres of material. However, when this mud cooled and solidified, it acted as the perfect preservative, meaning that, upon the site’s excavation in the mid-20th Century, archaeologists discovered a wide variety of organic relics, including items of food which have not been found in Pompeii. The vast pile up of volcanic mud has also contributed to substantial isostatic sea level rise in the area, meaning the seafront is now located over 1km to the southwest of the site.

When visiting Pompeii, our tour guide Vito explained how this Roman city was impacted in a very different way to Herculaneum. This was due to the northwesterly wind at the time of the eruption, meaning the ash emitted from Vesuvius during the eruption almost exclusively affected the land to the south and east of the volcano. During the first phase of the eruption, which showered this volcanic debris over the city, some residents were able to escape from Pompeii, although later the pyroclastic flows encroached the city, suffocating and incinerating the remaining population within about 15 minutes. The vast deposits of ash have acted as a preservative, meaning that some of the dead bodies remained intact; during our tour we were able to see these on display. The ashfall also made the area around Pompeii extremely fertile, meaning it is now an important region for the cultivation of tomatoes and a wide range of other fruits and vegetables.

In addition to its fascinating past, the volcano of Mount Vesuvius will continue to be an important feature of the Bay of Naples for years to come. Improvements in technology mean that it is now much easier for geologists to predict when an eruption is imminent, although due to the densely populated regions around the base of the volcano, it is likely that the impacts would be devastating, with around 600,000 people living within the so-called ‘red zone’. Attention is now also being directed towards the Phlegraean fields to the west of Naples, a large region of super volcanic calderas and fumaroles which have recently experienced an increase in activity and could potentially present a danger to the city in the future, with low-magnitude earthquakes and volcanic unrest having been reported in the area.

The trip to the Bay of Naples was an amazing experience; it was very interesting and useful to be able to link the theories we have learned in the Hazardous Earth topic of the A-level geography course to some real-world examples.

Written by George Clements, Year 12

Maestitia

The Department of Classics

pervades this report as I realise that I have led the last set of Olavians to see Sycamore Gap before its brutal death. I suggest that readers look up the myth of Erysichthon to learn the ancients’ views on unwarranted tree-felling. The Sycamore was, among other things, an image of how nature ultimately overcomes human vanity. Hadrian’s Wall was certainly an example of such vanity. Our main Latin comment on the Wall from The Historia Augusta. This was composed during the 3rd to 5th Centuries A.D, so more than a century after the Wall’s completion. It states (Hadrian XI.2):-

(Hadrianus) murumque per octoginta milia passuum primus duxit, qui barbaros Romanosque divideret.

And (Hadrian) first built (Lit. led out) a wall, eighty miles long which might divide the Romans from the barbarians.

It drew a line at the edge of the Empire; there is nothing Roman beyond this. Similar lines were drawn quite literally in the sand in modern Tunisia with the Fossatum Africae and the limes along the Rhine. Another modern idea is that the Wall was a customs barrier allowing the Romans to exact tax from trade with the northern unoccupied area of northern Britannia. Both theories have some truth to which I would like to add some nuance (based upon many visits and podcasts). These boundaries certainly did not mean that beyond them ‘there be dragons’. Nor were these like the Great Wall of China designed to keep at bay the Mongols or the fantastic Wall of Westeros. There were two or three occasions when we think that the Wall may have been breached during its manned existence. Were there many smaller attacks which remain unrecorded or was its existence enough to discourage assaults? It is also interesting to see the Wall as a statement of power and vanity. Hadrian was a ‘builder emperor’ and the ability to command those under him to construct a stone wall from coast-to-coast at the edge of the Empire just demonstrated the confidence he had in his rule. It also kept detachments of the three legions in Britannia busy for almost a decade. We know little to nothing about those who built the Wall. It was likely to be Roman soldiers rather than purely slave labour (and not just Italians, but men from across the Roman world from Syria to Tunisia, Britain to Spain). These people remain voiceless, except in the bricks. Each brick of the wall had to be carved individually by someone and, as Louis Jossa pointed out on the trip in 2022, we can see the shapes of

their hands, like a signature, within each block. Indeed, if you look at the stained glass in our Chapel you can also see how the artist, Susan Ashworth, has placed her own fingerprints in the moulding, becoming part of the Chapel herself. You can discover more about the trip, our time in Durham, at Tynemouth and in the North Pennines in Daniel Halton’s summary below.

I conclude with thank yous. gratias maximas ago for Mrs. Boyden, Ms Foster and Ms Wilkie for accompanying Year 10 and me on the trip.

Once again, deepest thanks go to Dr Abbattista, Mr Budds and Mr Nicholls for their superlative teaching as well as to Olivia Saunders, Emily Davies, Henry Cattermole and William Blackwood for helping with Latin Boosters. Greek continues to thrive extra murally at Dr Abbattista’s Greek Club. Finally, to Miss Benham and Miss Bishop for leading the joint GeographyClassics Trip to the Bay of Naples. Please read Olivia Saunders’ summary.

Alexander Carroll S___Head of Classics

ARLT Latin Reading Competition

We must celebrate individual student work: Kethav Sudhakar and Vian Shukla were Highly Commended in the ARLT Latin Reading Competition (Y8/9). Also do read Olivia Saunders’ work on Greek Theatre, commended by Fitzwilliam College a grand example of Olavian originality, clarity and academic flair.

Cambridge Classics Association

Year 10 student, Shehryar Raza, won 1st prize in the Cambridge Classical Association Intermediate Latin Prose Reading Competition (online category) for his rendition of a piece of Eutropius describing the Emperor Trajan (AD 53–117).

Classics Lecture

Students who study Latin and Classical Civilisation from Years 9 - 13 were treated to a lecture by Mr David Craig. He discussed wide-ranging topics concerning the position of father figures within Virgil’s Aeneid and how he feels they represent the deadweight of the past –Aeneas and Augustus and we ourselves must break free of the shackles of the past.

Drama Workshop

Over three days, Emily Kerr, Sophie Kerr and Franklin

Baron took part in an Ancient Greek drama workshop organized by UCL. Discussions centred about how to translate the Classical satirical comedies of Aristophanes and culminated in a performance.

Hadrian’s Wall

For five days we delved into both the history of the Romans in our homeland and the impact the Empire had, personified by the town of Vindolanda (the oldest Roman castra - fort) and various fortifications around the wall.

Hiking along Hadrian’s Wall Bay of Naples

Firstly, we visited Durham Cathedral and the cathedral’s museum. The museum gave huge detail about the area’s history, explaining the religious customs of the time, as well as the daily life for monks. The museum had various important items, including weapons from the area and roadside shrines to ‘remind pilgrims of their faith’ when travelling. We also saw the golden cross which the cathedral is best known for, which had a very intricate, beautiful design. We then visited Durham University, where we were given a fascinating workshop by the University’s Classics Department, which handed out a wide range of real archaeological finds from a nearby fort. We carefully attempted to work out what the items were and how they were used. This was very entertaining with the lecturer giving very descriptive and amusing explanations of his favourite items, the best of which being a Roman floor tile with the imprint of a paw print, where a dog had walked through wet cement. He also explained the various current disputed theories for certain items.

On the third day of the trip, we took part in a hike along the most well-preserved part of Hadrian’s wall, which took a few hours. Along this path, we did map reading to find our way along the exhaustingly steep hills, as well as counting our steps between the ruins of forts along the wall, with each of them designed to be 1700 paces apart, to ensure that the wall was well defended. As we walked along the wall, we noticed the very even shape and size of the stone blocks used to make it, with Mr Carroll noting that they would all have been individually cut. This walk was very interesting, as it helped us to understand the sheer scale of the wall, as well as also understanding the impressive organisation of the Roman army to complete such a huge project.

On the fourth day of the trip, we relaxed on a beach at Tynemouth playing football and paddling.

Written by Daniel Halton, Year 10

The Naples Trip was wonderful for classicists, offering opportunities to learn about many aspects of the Roman world. On the day we arrived, we learnt about the founding of South Italian cities by Greeks in the colonisation of Magna Graecia and visited the amphitheatre at Pozzuoli, which is a Neronian amphitheatre designed for beast fights with gaps in the arena for cages containing animals to be lifted up. We saw the arena itself as well as the area beneath where prisoners, animals and gladiators were kept.

On the second day, we visited Herculaneum, a wealthy Roman town on the slopes of Vesuvius which was covered by lava during the eruption. This site was excavated using tunnels, but the area accessible now is largely open to the air. The carbonised remains of a boat, rope, and wood showed aspects of how the Romans actually lived, and some areas seem incredibly well-preserved.

The next day, we visited Pompeii. This site was covered by ash rather than lava, and so was excavated in a more conventional way. The survival of ordinary places, like the forum, baths and shops, showed how ordinary people would have lived – this is especially exciting as most written sources are by the wealthy, and many surviving sites in other areas are villas owned by these same type of people. The graffiti, too, shows the concerns of Pompeiians from politics to prostitutes.

On the final day, we visited the villa at Oplontis, thought to be the villa of Nero’s wife Poppaea. This example of a wealthy villa contained detailed frescoes and wall-art from various periods; it showed how rich Romans lived, in contrast to the varied city of Pompeii.

Overall, the trip taught everyone about the everyday lives of ancient Pompeiians, as well as the history of art and architecture in the Roman Empire. The beautiful ancient sites were fascinating, and we learned a lot about the ancient world. With thanks to Miss Benham and Miss Bishop for leading us.

Written by Olivia Saunders, Year 12

Inone version of the creation story of ancient Egypt, the universe is nothing but a watery chaos. Then a bird lays an enormous egg. When it eventually hatches, the Sun God Ra emerges, who goes on to create a son and daughter, and together they set to work to bring about order in the universe.

In the founding myth of the ancient Incans, the Sun God brought two deities, one male and one female, from the waters of Lake Titicaca. These deities wandered the Earth with golden rods. As they walked, they tried to drive their golden rods into the soil. If the rods were accepted into the ground, a city was to be founded there and the gods imparted their knowledge of how to survive and thrive in the world. Thus, all the cities of the Incans were blessed by the gods.

Since the dawn of time, every culture has had a creation myth of some sort. Even if they don’t tell us how the world was made, they do tell us something about how ancient people saw the world. For the Incans, the world was a benevolent place, but in order to flourish it was important for people to pass on the wisdom of their ancestors.

World creation myths tend to be the subject of a brief investigation for St Olave’s students in Religious Studies at the start of Year 7, but like many of the themes we explore, creation myths reappear later in their school careers. In Year 9, the Genesis story of creation raises all sorts of questions: ought Adam and Eve to be considered normative for Christian views on relationships? If they were monogamous heterosexuals, ought any deviation from that pattern to be considered sinful? Of course, they didn’t seem to wear trousers either, so perhaps the St Olave’s uniform needs to be replaced with a leafbased alternative! In the summer term of Year 9 there was time for some classes to debate the age-old religion and science questions, which are normally guaranteed to elicit strongly-held opinions. The Genesis story also introduces the concept of Original Sin, which rears its head in Year 9 and again for A Level students in Year 12.

You may know that Augustine, the 4th Century Bishop of Hippo, held the view that ‘in Adam, all have sinned’ and that the whole of humanity was evermore corrupted when he ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Have you every wondered why Adam’s sin is significant, and not Eve’s? For Augustine, Eve’s sin causes her own nature to be corrupted, as in the surrender of the rational mind to irrational desire, she surrenders

The Department of Religious Studies

thereafter the ability of her rational mind to exercise control over her body. Yet her sin affects only her; the sin of Adam is passed down through the generations.

Augustine argued that all of humanity was ‘seminally present in the loins of Adam’. You read that correctly: every single future human being existed in Adam’s reproductive organs. When Adam and Eve reproduced, thought Augustine, the process worked by Adam effectively planting his ‘seed’ in the womb of Eve, in whom the seed would grow. The ‘loins of Adam’ contained tiny homunculi – miniature men – inside which there were more homunculi, and so on and so on. The entire future human race was therefore present inside Adam when he sinned.

Augustine was not alone in thinking this. The word ‘semen’ itself is the Latin for ‘seed’, because until very recently the belief in homunculi was the dominant theory on human reproduction. It wasn’t until the 17th Century that the theory, also known as Preformationism first came under sceptical scrutiny. We see the influence of the theory in the obsession with male heirs for kings. Henry VIII was desperate for a male heir not just because he clearly had a misogynistic streak, but also because he wanted HIS lineage to be continued. If Elizabeth I had born a child, the child would have been considered the child of another man and not the descendent of Henry VIII.

In the area of sexual ethics, some of the prohibitions against what Aquinas termed the ‘inordinate emission of semen’ seem also to have roots in the idea. After all, if each man contains a limited stock of fully-formed human beings, then practices such as the use of contraception are preventing these future people from ever having life. Hence Aquinas deemed such things as sins ‘second only to murder’. We live with the echoes of these ideas even today in various sexual taboos and angsts.

This theory of Preformationism rears its head again in the Gender and Theology unit in Year 13: what does it mean for the status of women? If every homunculus is male, how are women produced and if male is the default then is female somehow a second-rate form of humanity? It is fair to say that in the debates of the Early Church on this issue, the weight of opinion did not always side with the equality of the sexes. Augustine himself was among those who seemed to hold the belief that the image of God in a woman was incomplete without the companionship of a man (albeit that it was corrupted

equally in both of them). She was a misbegotten version of him. Thomas Aquinas, in his great work Summa Theologica, objected to this and argued that the fact that all homunculi were male did not mean that there was something defective about females. Rather, he argued, this was simply nature’s process for achieving an outcome that was good overall. And since nature was established by God, this Natural Law meant that females were as much bearers of the divine image as males. As for the puzzle of exactly what might trigger a male homunculus to be born female, Aquinas helpfully suggests that something like a ‘moist wind from the west’ might lead to a change during pregnancy.

For his time, Aquinas was reasonably fair-minded and egalitarian, but in the Catholic Church today there is plenty of work still to be done on resolving the tangle left by Augustine. Another element of the Year 13 course involves 20th Century feminist critiques of Christian teaching. Among them is the question of whether a male-only priesthood might ultimately exclude women from more than just a career option. In Catholicism, the priest must be male because he represents Christ in the Eucharist. And yet, as Catholic theologian Rosemary Ruether points out, Christ was also a carpenter and a Jew and yet the race and occupation of the priest appear not to matter: only his maleness. Therefore Ruether asks the question: if only a male can represent Christ then can Christ only represent men? In Catholic theology, salvation is achieved by Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross, in which he takes upon himself the sins of others by dying in their place – as their representative.

So every culture has its creation myth and every myth tells us something about how a culture sees the world. And hence they appear as often as they do in our Religious Studies course, right from the start of Year 7.

Perhaps more importantly though, a creation myth tells us how we see ourselves. In the Genesis story, there is a fundamental goodness to humanity, which is cursed then evermore to wrestle with its inability to overcome temptation. As St Paul later wrote, “I do not understand what I do, for what I want to do I do not do, but I hate what I do”. And yet in this despairing statement there is also a deep underlying optimism about what it means to be human, because ‘I’ am the part that wants to do good and the parts of my nature I wrestle with are not the last word about me. If I sin, writes Paul, it is “no longer I who does it, but it is sin living in me that does it…For in my inner being I delight in God’s law”.

Andrew Lake S__Head of Religious Studies

Iftar

Based on the theme of Mental Health, the evening hosted by Hasan Meer and Ayman Chowdhury, saw talks from Jewish, Christian, Hindu and Muslim speakers, all explaining their perspective on the matter, as well as a star-studded spoken-word performance from the renowned actor, Ashley Chin. The highlight of the night was surely the delicious food, with starters, mains, desserts and drinks which were thoroughly enjoyed, and the auction, selling various pieces of Islamic art, Nike sneakers and much more!

Throughout the event were various student performances, including both Arabic and English Quran recitations from Abdul Rehman, Rayhaan Smith, Taha Cheema and Bilal Moten, as well as poetry from Habibah Choudhry with her poem ‘Give me your light’.

Thank you to all the student volunteers who helped make this event possible, working tirelessly throughout the evening. The event raised £3,000 in aid of the TurkeySyria Earthquake victims through the charity, Oxfam, as well as in support of children’s mental health through the charity, ‘Young Minds’.

Diwali

Hindu Society organised a free Sixth Form Diwali event in school, led by Year 13 students Abhishek Sundararaman, Rahul Raghavan and Guneeka Chitkara. There were lots of cultural performances, games, prayers and Indian sweets at the end. It was a very successful event, with over 100 students attending and spreading the spirit of Diwali. Thank you to Ms Senaratne, Ms Wilkie, Mr Brown, and Dr Corlett for their support.

Performers and Volunteers at the Diwali Event 2023

Activity Week

Year 9 visited the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden.

StThe Department of Economics

Olave’s economists continued to perform at a high level and 2023’s Year 13 Economics cohort gained great and deserved success, with a host of top grades and many students going on to study the subject or a related field, several at Oxbridge. Whilst we bade farewell to some excellent students, the turmoil in the economy over the past few years has kept demand for the subject high! The Economics Department remains at full capacity: 2022 saw five full classes at Year 12 and four at Year 13, and the subject remains one of the most popular A Levels at St Olave’s.

Also arriving in 2022 were some new members of staff. Joining Mr Brown were two experienced teachers; myself as Head of Department and part time teacher Sandra Potter. Sandra, though, made St Olave’s a last hurrah before heading into her retirement: although only having a short spell at the school, she made a real impact with students and other staff members. Her knowledge of the academic subject, and her experience as a practitioner in her previous career in the city were both enormously valuable, and we thank her and send her our best wishes for retirement.

The department remains committed to the celebration of the subject as a topical and contemporary one, and as such continues to push both the highest levels of scholarship and reading among students, as well as supporting the cohort in entering the great many essay competitions in the field. Following on from William Lawson’s (class of 2023) success in last year’s Royal Economics Society Young Economist competition, we were delighted that Arjun Javagal (2024) was announced as the outright winner of this year’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Next Generation Economist competition with an essay on the balancing of development and environmental goals. A huge well done to Arjun, and we hope that current students will keep this tradition alive by researching and writing entries to the next round of these and other prestigious essay contests.

Political Economy Society continued to put on a great variety of student-led talks over the year, on topics ranging from the Chinese economy to drug legalisation, through to Scottish independence and the waves of strikes the UK experienced over the last year. The leadership baton was passed to the current Year 13s who are putting together the next edition of The Olavian Economist which will have an emphasis on international economics issues, the publication of which we look forward to with excitement.

Andrew Lay

S___Head of Economics

Political Awareness Week

We held our first ever Political Awareness Week that engaged students in debates, discussions, quizzes and talks from external speakers centred around politics, highlighting the importance of political awareness in our democracy organised by three Year 10 students, Aayush, Eythan and Hugo. After an introductory debate, Mr David Evans, an Old Olavian and General Secretary of the Labour Party, gave a talk regarding his career and how he went from St Olaves to Politics. He also shared fond memories of his time and discussed how his personal experience of misjustice led him to have a rewarding career in politics. We also welcomed Mr David Tuck, an academic who gave an online talk on the political spectrum and the misconceptions that lie within politics. This talk inspired students across all years to debate about their views in politics during lunchtime, how our country should be governed and the place that morality has in politics. As well as this, Professor Catterall gave a talk on diversity and inclusivity in politics. The week ended with MP Mr Gareth Bacon giving an inspiring talk on the flaws and strengths of different leadership styles and how Orpington will develop in the future. After a talk which over 100 students and staff attended, students conducted an interview with Mr Bacon where he discussed how he started supporting the conservative party and how he has been influenced by his predecessors to develop Orpington. Well done to everyone involved.

Houses of Parliament

Year 10 students, Aayush, Eythan and Hugo, were invited to attend Prime Minister’s Questions by Gareth Bacon, Conservative MP for Orpington and David Evans, General Secretary of the Labour Party and Old Olavian, in recognition of their immense work organising Political Awareness Week. In the afternoon Aayush, Eythan and Hugo visited the Labour Party HQ and learnt about the inner workings of their policy making and strategies followed by a meeting with Sir Keir Starmer.

Student Work

FCDO Next Generation Economics competition 2023

Dear Adnan Khan,

For years, our pursuit of economic growth has led to exploitation of our natural resources, resulting in the degradation of our environment and the destruction of our ecosystems. Carbon emissions are at the highest it has ever been and by 2050 global waste generation is expected to rise by 70%, impacting the biodiversity that encompasses our planet. A majority of countries globally follow a free market system, where scarce resources are allocated based off signals generated from prices, but this fails to account for the negative externalities in production (such as through pollution and deforestation), often resulting in an overconsumption of goods/services greater than the social optimum. Whilst governments around the world have resorted to regulation (such as the UK enforcing blanket bans under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981), this often results in increased costs for producers, severely impacting their business operations. Hence, I would like to share 2 innovative policies which incentivise producers to protect the environment, fuelling the transition into a sustainable economy.

The first suggestion that will facilitate this change is a Payments for Ecosystem Services scheme, or a PES scheme. This approach will compensate producers to invest in capital to enable a change into a more sustainable and environmentally friendly form of production, usually coming in a form of a subsidy from the government to producers such as farmers or manufacturers. Subsidies aim to encourage the production of merit goods (which are typically under produced in the free market) as they are usually associated with providing a positive externality. The graph shows the marginal social cost shifting outwards when a subsidy is added to the marginal

private costs, as marginal private cost is greater than the marginal social benefit. This will not only shift the price from P1 to P2, reducing cost of production for firms, but will shift production from Q1 to Q*, reaching the socially optimum level of production. An increase in production accompanied by a reduction in costs will reduce the price of merit goods in the market, thus increasing the consumption of such goods, ensuring allocative efficiency. This increase in demand will create a new market for sustainably produced goods, incentivising not just businesses to use such goods as raw materials (reducing their dependency on unethically sourced materials) but also other producers (as signals which’ll show an increase in price for these goods will cause producers to enter into the market, via the price mechanism). For example, in 1997 Costa Rica implemented the Payment for Environmental Services Program, incentivising forest owners to maintain their forests. Since then, over half of the country’s land area is covered with forest, and around 26% of its territory is devoted to protected areas for wildlife, with Costa Rica being home to 4% of the world’s total biodiversity. Through such efforts, Costa Rica not only won the United Nations Champions of the Earth Awards in 2019, but also has inspired other nations, such as Morocco in 2015, who’ve provided subsidies to farmers to pursue sustainable farming practices to converse water. However, subsidies provide huge administrative costs towards governments, and environmental change in one country will not have a strong global impact. Moreover, around 83% of countries around the world are classified as being ‘developing’ and will prioritise spending on macroeconomic objectives such as economic growth far higher than on the environment. Therefore, I propose that a UN council should form, consisting of ‘developed’ nations, to create a fund to invest in PED schemes in the highest-risk areas in the world for biodiversity, such as the Amazon Rainforest, to create a global effort towards a sustainable transformation.

Another policy which would drive this transition is a Cap-and-Trade System, which is a market-based approach to ensure biodiversity. This method will ensure that only a certain limit of resources are used up annually,

allowing for governments to meet targets to reduce pollution, for example. In this system, firms are allowed to purchase a permit to exploit a specific resource for a set limit in a market. Firms which have bought a permit are allowed to sell the permit back onto the market, creating a market for permits. However, to reduce the negative externality in production, governments will reduce the limit that can be exploited. The graph shows that at the current cap Q1, the price demanded for a permit is at P1. However, when the permit limit is reduced from Q1 to Q2, prices will increase to P2. As the price of permits will increase over time, producers are incentivised to sell their permits. Dynamically efficient firms will reinvest the profits received from the sale of these permits into greener capital that will allow them to produce goods sustainably. As firms are profit-seeking entities, over time demand for permits may reduce due to higher costs of production, causing firms to change their production methods. For example, in Chesapeake Bay in America, agricultural runoff is resulting in nutrient pollution, where nitrogen levels decreased by 57% since 1985. Therefore, the local government has provided a set limit of permits to firms to restrict the volume of nutrients that can be fed to the soil, aiming to reduce issues such as algal blooms which kill local wildlife. Since its implementation in 2016, there has been a 63% reduction in phosphorous levels, increasing wildlife figures by 22%, protecting local habitats. This model can easily be implemented against deforestation. By forming a coalition of countries with predominantly woodland or tropical terrain, countries can limit the amount of deforestation by distributing permits which restrict the number of trees which can be felled. This will aim to reduce the rate of deforestation as well as encourage firms to a more sustainable form of production.

Overall, whilst these policies have provided significant change in local communities, without global cooperation, our change to an environmentally thriving economy will not succeed. I believe the UK should use its influence as a pioneer in innovation to inspire this change to protect our planet.

Your sincerely,

Arjun Javagal

This year has seen Olavians commit themselves to a variety of sporting endeavours both inside and outside of school. It is always rewarding to spend time with the pupils when they are taking part in physical activity whether it is in lessons or as part of the extensive extra-curricular programme on offer.

Success in sport can be measured by many means other than simply a score-line win. Olavians have gained many successes over the year, some of them score-line victories, many of them invaluable experiences and growth in terms of their understanding and social development. The wide range of activities offered and undertaken is immensely satisfying and our thanks go to the tremendous staff and prefects whose commitment makes this possible.

Several students represented at county level or higher over the course of the year, and you will hopefully have heard of many of these accomplishments through the Headteacher’s weekly newsletter and the school’s Twitter page. Some of these accomplishments are as part of a team and some are individual, but all are to be applauded. However, whether you have won representative honours or have simply worked hard and enjoyed your activity, it was all worthwhile.

Andrew Kenward Director of Sport

Athletics

Junior and intermediate teams enjoyed a day of athletics at Norman Park in Bromley. With summer finally making an appearance several competitors set personal bests in a range of events. Well done to everyone who took part in this enjoyable event.

The Sports Faculty

Badminton

Ayan Mahajan attended several prestigious badminton competitions over the summer, including the Kent U17 tournaments where he won Gold in both the singles and the men’s Doubles! Ayan won Silver in the Badminton U16 Kent restricted Singles, as well as Gold in the Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles. He also manged Bronze in the U18 age group, Silver in the Men’s Doubles and Bronze in the Mixed Doubles

Year 12 student, Paul, won Bronze in the doubles of the Suffolk U17 Silver badminton tournament.

Year 10 student, Aryan, won a Gold medal in Boys U16 Doubles and a Bronze medal in Boys U16 Singles at the Kent Futures Badminton Tournament.

Year 8 students, Farhaan and Debaditya participated in the Kent Junior Futures 2023 Competition in U14 Doubles Badminton and won a Silver medal.

Year 10 student, Shrish Devaramani, won a Bronze medal in the U18 Boys Singles and a Silver medal in the U18 Boys Doubles at the Kent Junior Badminton Tournament.

Biathlon

Year 12 student, Raphael Huille, represented Great Britain at the UIPM U17 World Championships finishing 23rd.

Modern Pentathlon European Championship

Raphael also competed at the Modern Pentathlon European Championship in Athens. Raphael was placed 4th individually, 1st in team in the Biathle, 5th individually in Triathle, 1st in team in the Triathle, and 1st in the mixed relay Biathle. This is an outstanding achievement and he came back with an overall haul of three Gold medals.

Pentathlon

Over 1500 competitors aged from Year 3 to Year 13, as well as their teachers, were invited to enter Pentathlon GB’s flagship event on at the Abbey Stadium, Redditch. Year 12 student, Raphael, performed brilliantly representing St Olave’s and secured a Silver medal in the Year 12/13 category.

Cricket

Year 7 student, Arnav Gupta, captained his club team at Sidcup CC and has represented Bexley U11 District. His club team won the North Kent Junior Championship and were undefeated throughout the season, which earned him best batsman of the season.

Arnav completed a double hat-trick - taking four consecutive wickets (all bowled) in the third round of the Thomas Cup against Skinners. In the low scoring match Arnav was also the highest run scorer with 38, helping his team progress to the next round.

Arnav has been selected for the U13 Kent cricket squad. He averaged 76 for the school last season so this selection rewards him for his success at school and with his local club.

Cricket Champions

Well done to Year 7 who have had great success in the Kent and Bromley Plates, winning both competitions.

Bath Cricket Tour

The U13s Cricket Tour to Bath this year was a great experience with fantastic cricket played as well as fun and sightseeing for the Year 8 squad! Thank you to Kingswood School for letting the squad use their nets in preparation for our first match of the tour against Thornbury Cricket Club, which saw the U13’s win by 98 runs! Well done to Arjun and Aarav who hit 50s, and to the team for a fine bowling performance. The next match was at Hinton Charterhouse Cricket Club which led to another win for the team, which included Arnav scoring 43 runs and Vihann scoring 50 runs, helping us to score 182-4. A strong bowling performance led to another win with Aryan claiming 5 wickets. The final match was against Beckington Cricket Club in a beautiful setting where the team scored 158-8, which was a good total, but a strong response by the home side led to them winning by 4 wickets. When not playing cricket, the team enjoyed the sights and sounds of Bath – including a trip to the University of Bath to inspire the team. Thank you to all the hosts and to the staff who accompanied the pupils.

Doce Pares

Congratulations to the following students on gaining 1st class passes in their recent Doce Pares grading. Jaydn Jiawei Li and Aarit Maheshwari were awarded Yellow belt 1stclass and James Stoner was awarded Orange belt 1st class.

Squash

Year 13 student, Caleb, has been ranked number one in England at Under 19 Squash. This is a fantastic achievement especially alongside everything that Caleb does within school. Caleb also came 3rd in the recent U19 English Junior Squash Championships.

Swimming

Year 8 student, Aaryan has had an exceptional year in swimming. He broke the 200m school backstroke record. He also qualified for the Kent County Championship in the 50m and 100m backstroke and had the opportunity to swim in the 2012 Olympic pool. He also qualified for South East Regionals in the 50m backstroke and Aaryan is now ranked 12th in Kent for 13 year olds.

Year 7 Champions

Year 12 student, Raphael, competed in the European U19 Championships. Impressively Raphael won the Team event, and came 2nd in the relay in Triathle, and 5th in the individual Biathle.

Tennis

Year 11 student, Nam, broke the Senior St Olave’s Swimming record in the 50m breaststroke. He was ranked 4th at the Kent County Swimming Championships and 4th again at the London Regional Swimming Championships. This summer, he has been invited to compete in the England National Championships where he has qualified to race in the 50m and 100m breaststroke.

Year 9 student, Advaith, played in the Under 18 LTA County Tour for Tennis and won. Advaith also won his U14 regional tour and came runner up twice in the U16 County Tour.

Table Tennis

Year 12 student, Nilay (right), participated in the Junior British League (JBL) Table Tennis Tournament held in Derby. Nilay represented Cleeve Park Table Tennis Club in the JBL, which is the highest junior team event in the country. Year 9 student, Aneeq Weerasinghe, was runnerup in the Kent County 2023 Under 19 Table Tennis Plate.

Fives

Year 8 student, Luke Whitnall, won the Fives Plate competition in September.

The improvement in our Year 9 players has been most impressive this season. Chendoor Pushpanathan and George Costin reached the final of a round-robin tournament, which included players from QE Barnet, Eton College and other schools. Year 12 students, Thomas Farmer, Aaditya Anoop, Connor McMichael and Year 11 student, Alexander Sapozhenko competed at Eton College, and were paired with Old Olavians’s Tony Barker, Prajeeth Sathiyamoorthy and Dominic Robson, where they lost by one point in the final of the Richard Barber Cup against Shrewsbury School/Alumni team. Congratulations also to Old Olavians Jessye Tu and Tom Xu who are the ladies and men’s Eton Fives Captains at Cambridge.

Year 13 Genesis Nsenga and Old Olavian, Tony Barker, won the Eton Fives Nationals pair’s championship for alumni (or coaches) and present pupils. The pair beat another Old Olavian, Seb Cooley, in the final.

We have enjoyed the most successful year ever at the Eton Fives National Schools’ Championships, winning at U18 and U16. We also reached the semi-final of the U14 competition, as well as having further pairs in the semi-final of both the Open and U16 competitions. Two Year 13 students, Genesis and Caleb competed in the Rugby Fives Schools’ National, winning the Open Doubles competition. Congratulations to Genesis who becomes the only Fives player in history to win the Schools’ Nationals at Senior level in both Eton and Rugby Fives!

Our Fives players have had a very successful season, dominating the school’s Fives at senior level, winning the Williams Cup, and being victorious in both the U16 and Open Categories at the National Schools’ Championships, with a second pair in the semi-finals of both. As a result, St Olave’s was only shortlisted for the Eton Fives Association Team of the Year and individual Olavians were also nominated in every category of the National EFA Awards, which includes: Team/Coach/ Player/Young Player of the Year.

Cambridge University Fives Club

and at the same venue.

Our Fives team enjoyed a wonderful collaboration with Cambridge University Fives Club’s “Olavian Day at Cambridge”, set up by Old Olavians, Jessye Tu and Tom Xu. A combined force of school and Old Olavian players, joined by Olavians at Cambridge, enjoyed a tour to central Cambridge, lunch and a whole afternoon of matches together. The beautiful Cambridge courts were built recently on the first floor of an award-winning sports centre building. The School beat the University 2-1, as did the Old Olavians. We were joined by numerous Olavians who came to support and say hello! We shall aim to repeat this day in Cambridge each year, and introduce a similar one before Christmas at Oxford University. Old Olavian and former School Captain, Kosi Nwuba, also trained with the School’s squad this week. Kosi drove down straight from football training in Cambridge for an evening practice in preparation for the Fives Varsity Match.

Fives – ‘Olavian Double’

EFA Annual Dinner

Congratulations to our Fives players who were celebrated at the EFA Annual Dinner. Well done to Year 13 student, Genesis, who won the Young Player of the Year award and to Howard Wiseman who won Coach of the Year. The team also came 3rd in the Team of the Year category. Well done to everyone involved for their efforts during training and matches throughout the year.

Football

After 17 matches, our First XI were crowned champions of the North Kent Division 1 League following 13 wins and 4 draws. The School last won the league 6 years ago. Well done to the captain, Eduardo and all the players. Thank you to Mr Davis and Dr Sidhu for coaching and supporting the team during the season.

Football First XI congratulated in Assembly

Cycling

Year 12 student, Max Capamagian, won the Brixton Dernyfest, a prestigious cycling event held at Herne Hill Velodrome.

Our teams won the ‘Double’, by winning the National Three Pair Team Championships at both School level, and Alumni level. The School Team were outstanding; defeating Eton College, Ipswich School, Shrewsbury School and our own Second Team, with only the loss of one set across the day. The winning first team consisted of Genesis, Aaditya, Aadi, Tanish, Ethan and Franklin. Having triumphed, the teams witnessed their older colleagues and teammates from the Old Olavians win their 22nd Barber Cup Final in the past 24 years, by defeating the Old Salopians from Shrewsbury. A very rare double on the same day

Hockey

It was a great pleasure to see a competitive fixture taking place on the All Weather Pitch for the first time. Well done to Year 9 for their dedication and commitment during a challenging fixture against Langley Park School. Both teams were closely matched, and Langley Park eventually came out victors 3 – 1. We hope this is the start of many more fixtures and the growth of hockey as a major sport. Thank you to Mr Lane for his outstanding coaching.

St. Olave’s vs. Langley, Year 9 Hockey

Skiing

There have been some notable successes in the Kent Schools’ Ski Championships. Year 11 student Oliver Tovarlaza was placed 3rd, Year 10 student, Daanish Ashiq was placed 7th and Year 10 student, Daniel Chantry came 8th in the individual secondary senior male category.

Sports’ Day

Year 10 student, Ankit Gaekwad, completed his RYA Sailing Level.

Year 10 student Haris is a member of the Under 16 Boys team from Bromley and Beckenham Hockey Club that won the Tier 2 National Hockey final. After many difficult matches on the way, including a nailbiting semi-final shoot-out, Haris’s team travelled to the National Hockey Centre in Nottingham and emerged 7-1 winners against Ashby Hockey Club from Leicestershire. Haris was also selected as most improved player for the year.

London Marathon 2023

On Sports’ Day the school’s best athletes traditionally showcase their talents but many others also represent their House. Competition within the year groups, as well as for an overall winner, was fierce and it was great to see sporting rivalry between the pupils upheld in good spirit. Special mention goes to Year 9 students, Yusuf Abdul-Rahman and Tristan McKeogh, for winning jointly the Junior Victor Ludorum as the most successful Year 9 athlete on the day. Bingham won in Years 8 and 10, with Harvard winning Year 7 and Cure Year 9. Well done to Bingham who were overall winners of the Sports’ Day trophy and thank you to Mr Kenward, the PE staff, the Premises Team and helpers for organising the day.

Special Achievements

Year 7 student, Aarav, has been selected for the U12 Kent rugby squad.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to our appeal to help the earthquake survivors in Turkey and Syria, and also for your contributions to Oxfam during Festival and Cabaret. We raised the sum of £5401, with a further donation to be made after the Iftar event. You will be aware that Mr Rees and Mr Kenward ran the London Marathon this year on behalf of Oxfam, and also taking part was our School Counsellor, Naomi Ashley-Thorne, who ran for Guy’s Cancer Charity. They all finished and were very grateful for the words of encouragement running up to the day and following the event.

Snowdon

Year 7 student, Aarav Gupta, climbed Snowdon, Yr Wyddfa, despite snow, blizzards, rain and high winds. It took five hours to complete the Llanberis path and Aarav can be seen wearing his St Olave’s hat on the top.

Art, Design & Technology

The Department of Art

The 2022-23 academic year has been a hugely positive one for the Art department, and we are definitely feeling a renewed sense of purpose and direction. We welcomed two new members of staff this year; our new Art teacher Mrs Willmott, who brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience after working within the creative industries for a number of years before turning that skillset to teaching, and our technician, Mrs Kapitanska-Miekus, who brings a great understanding of technical arts practice and a very welcome focus on printmaking. For the first time since I arrived as Head of Art we have started and ended the year with the same staff and that stability has been a big factor in our optimism.

At Key Stage 3 we have continued focus on re-working and redeveloping our schemes of work and aligning our projects to create an ‘Art pathway’ for students at Olave’s that supports an exploration of the full range of Art based experiences. From core drawing and painting techniques to contextual analysis, digital editing and drawing, to using sculptures based on Art from the Russian revolution to inspire a printmaking project. This has been coupled with the implementation of a new assessment system that integrates the students more fully into the process and gives more clarity so that they can be more independent in their development. Our aim is for our students to see and understand the ways in which Art can support their educational progress, especially as it focuses more on the development of skills rather than the recall of knowledge, but also as a way of understanding the world around them. As such we have ensured that each of our projects deals with a wider social and/or historical context as well as a clear link to careers and skills for the future. We want every student who completes the Key Stage 3 course to understand that the subject is so much more than ‘just’ making ‘Art’, to understand the wider value of a subject that so richly incorporates elements of other subjects and provides real and tangible developmental benefits as a subject to study at GCSE and A Level. This new sense of purpose and collective direction has helped us to ensure we have a double intake in Year 9 for the first time in a number of years, which is huge and very exciting for us as a department.

The department continues to look for further ways to get our students out and engaged with the world around them alongside the now established Harry Potter WB studios trip. We took our Sixth Form students out to ‘Art in Action’ to see and hear from some inspirational

Art practitioners, from famous photographers who photographed the Queen, to multi-disciplinary ceramicists combining sound, touch and porcelain. Year 7 had a fantastic experience drawing from the ‘Casts Court’ at the V&A museum alongside a session at the science museum with the Design and Technology department. Building on this we have a number of new trips planned for 2023-24 including a Sixth Form gallery visit to London, a visit to the FORMA creatives futures seminars held in the Royal Institute of British Architects building and a visit to the newly re-opened National Portrait Gallery with our Year 10 students to support the development of their first NEA project.

Our Key Stage 4 and 5 delivery has now returned to its usual pre-pandemic structure with two NEA components for our Artists to navigate, which they did with the sort of tenacity and attention to detail that you would expect from St Olave’s students. There was an impressive range of exciting and innovative work from our GCSE and A Level students showing a commendable level of ambition and confidence in their ideas. As a department, we have an ethos that celebrates each student as an individual and we do not have a ‘house style’ which means that each of our learners are encouraged to explore their themes and topics in their own way. We believe that the resilience, independence and discipline developed by working in this way provides priceless skills and working methods that can be applied in any context. Amongst the highlights of this year’s cohort we have seen students painting directly from a still-life of rotting fruit, create digital videos inspired by light and sound and explore mixed media printmaking inspired by the built environment, another confronted the uncomfortable nature of the male gaze by creating a latex and hair corset. Alongside which we had GCSE students create a painting inspired by the Lady of Shalott, explore the combination of Chinoiserie and today’s disposable culture via the medium of sculpture and use digital illustration to explore the history of technology. With each student creating a unique and distinct project, there are just too many to mention each individually, but we are immensely proud of them all and the effort that goes into making their work. The feedback from the exam boards this year was also hugely encouraging, praising our approach and the range of scope of the work produced by the students. Our biggest regret is that due to the changes in the JCQ we are unable to hold our exhibition while the work is still ‘live’. However, we have a plan for next year because we believe that the students work is just too good to not show it to everyone so keep your eyes peeled.

In terms of progressions, again, we have an excellent range of outcomes for our A Level Art students, with Beth gaining a place to read History of Art at Cambridge, Michael gaining a place to study Architecture and Anora and Lauryn gaining places at University of the Arts London on foundation courses. This has been supported by a doubling of the number of internal students moving from GCSE Art to A Level Art this year which is very welcome. As we continue to monitor the impact of our course and the potential for our students to have Art as an integral part of their education, it is always great to hear back from previous students. Alex has recently completed a degree in Computer Technical Arts which has enabled him to combine Maths, Physics and Art to create environments for games and films and he regularly comes in to talk to the lower year groups. Whilst Scarlet took the time to get back to us with this statement:

“I am so glad I took art for an A level. I always loved Art alongside STEM subjects. Having the opportunity to do Art stimulates creativity that can be brought into many other subject areas as well as improving my problemsolving skills. Art A level was the only A level where I was given the independence to guide the study to suit my interest whether that be linking to my scientific interests or using the mediums I wanted to explore. I found that this freedom gave me an advantage against my peers because I was able to intuitively make decisions when going forward with the self-study that is crucial at university. In the year between leaving St Olave’s and starting my BSc in Human Neuroscience I did an Art foundation and even though I am now in a STEM field the skills developed in art give me a different and valued perspective.”

Alex Clark Head of Art

Special Achievement

The Landscape Photographer of the Year is a prestigious national competition, with millions of entries every year. The competition has numerous categories, such as ‘Intimate View’, ‘Urban Cityscapes’ and ‘Coastal’. Year 8 student Sachin Prakash’s photo is one of a small group of shortlisted photos that have been selected to go to the final round, where the prize is professional photography materials and £10,000.

The Department of Design & Technology

The Design and Technology Department has had another very successful year both in and out of the classroom. Students continued to enjoy having access to workshops and practical lessons, building on skills and experiences missed during lockdowns and bubbles. In the classroom new projects saw students getting more involved in 3D modelling and utilising the department 3D printing facilities and testing and developing ideas for real live problems. Outside of the curriculum F1 in Schools continued to grow culminating in a fantastic, first of its kind achievement with St Olave’s winning 1st place in both the Development and Professional Class of the F1 in Schools National Final, with both teams earning themselves places at the World Final. VEX also started to make a comeback with students in the lower school being invited to start preparing for the upcoming season. Students continued to show great interest in the Arkwright Scholarship with record numbers completing the application process for the prestigious Scholarship.

Rosie Hawley

Head of Design & Technology

UK Space Design

This year’s UK Space Design Competition Team won the UK Space Design National Final (again!). The team worked incredibly hard both in preparation as well as all weekend – starting early Saturday morning, working on their proposal throughout the day (and night) to submit their presentation on Sunday morning. The team presented to the judges and other teams and answered a series of tough questions. Well done to Guneeka Chitkara, Frank Gubars, Esther O’Neill, Ilinca Albota, Naman Malhotra, Isabella Fisher, Aashman Kumar, Avdesh Dagar, Max Dawkins, Maia Guo and Pelumi Onibuje.

Arkwright Scholarship Award

Every year the Design and Technology Department offer students in Year 11 the opportunity to apply for the Arkwright Engineering Scholarship. The Scholarships are the most respected awards of their type in the UK and are sponsored by a range of industrial and commercial companies, charitable trusts, professional engineering organisations, universities, trade associations, the Armed Services, schools, and personal donors. This year six Year 12 students, Frank Gubars, Jake Leedham, Amitan Joseph, Ayman Chowdhury, Max Acton and Connor McMichael, completed an application, aptitude exam and rigorous interview when they were in Year 11. All students were successful in receiving this prestigious scholarship which we hope will inspire them to pursue their dreams and change the world as a future leader in engineering.

Cookery

Year 7 students had fun making culturally inspired dishes in a food practical lesson. Dishes included Jollof rice, chicken katsu curry, banoffee pie, spicy beef noodles and burgers!

F1 in Schools

This season, St. Olave’s achieved an unprecedented level of success, becoming the most awarded school in both regional and national competitions.

Brand new season… Brand new teams… Brand new cars…

The return of the highly popular STEM competition, F1 in Schools, saw six of our very own St Olaves teams compete in both the regional and national event this last year, battling it out for a place on the national podium. Overseen by Mr Twose and Mr Robertson, this year we entered a record six teams in the London North regional, with two teams in every class; Alpha Motors and Warp entered the Entry class, Tori Veloci and Inferno in Development class and Golden Motorsports and Protonic in the Professional class.

the trophy cabinet with a total of 15 trophies! The teams competed across two days and therefore two individual regional events, meaning that no Olave’s teams were in direct competition for now.

Entry Class: Warp took home the ‘Best Engineered Car’, ‘Fastest Car’, as well as the 1st place trophy.

Development Class: Inferno won the ‘Best Engineered Car’ and the ‘Fastest car’ awards, with the 1st place trophy being the cherry on top. (Qualified for Nationals).

Development Class: Tori Veloci won the ‘Best Engineered Car’ award and the 1st place trophy. (Qualified for Nationals)

Professional Class: Golden Motorsports won a stunning four awards – ‘Fastest car’, ‘Best Engineered Car’, ‘Sponsorship and Marketing Award’ and the 1st place trophy. (Qualified for Nationals)

Professional Class: Protonic were able to bring back the ‘Fastest car’, ‘Best Engineered Car’ and the 1st place trophy. (Qualified for Nationals)

Credit must be given to all the students who competed, as the months and years of dedication and discipline they have put into this competition has led to an unbelievable amount of success.

One of the most challenging and well renowned national STEM competitions, teams are tasked with designing and manufacturing a miniature Formula One (F1) car, which is then raced against cars of other teams. In addition, teams have to write and present a design and engineering portfolio, as well as an enterprise portfolio that includes project management, sponsorship, marketing and graphic design. Another challenge is to deliver a verbal presentation to a panel of judges, who have vast experience within the engineering/STEM sector. Finally, teams need to make pit displays to showcase their work, promote sponsors and display their journey.

With students in school years ranging from 9 to 12 competing, this season was the most hectic yet, but the hard work put in by all students leading up to the regional event shone through, as St Olaves had the most successful regional results ever! Despite this being our first time in the London North regionals at Harlow College, we were able to bring back the silverware, filling

The season did not stop here though! Due to four teams winning their respective class, they were able to compete in the UK National Finals and were joined by two other St Olaves Teams: Tachyon and Techtonic, who qualified the previous year but had to defer competing until this season due to their exams.

Held at the University of Leeds, the National final was one of the biggest STEM events in the country, with experts from McLaren, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Lenovo and Ginetta all making an appearance. A notable step-up in level of competition from the regional event, winning the national final is no mean feat, with places at the prestigious world finals up for grabs.

After a long journey to Leeds University and a restless night of nerves and anticipation, all 30 students were eager to get going. Comedian Tom Deacon welcomed everyone and opened the national finals event.

On day one, the teams proved their commitment to excellence through their impressive race times and pit lane interviews. In the development class, Tachyon, Inferno, and Tori Veloci secured top 10 positions for track times, while in the professional class, Protonic

and Techtonic achieved top 15 rankings. Undoubtedly the highlight of the day was the astonishing 1.080s track time achieved by Golden Motorsports, making it the fastest time recorded. After a stressful day of racing, judging and interviewing, the teams made their way back to the hotel, with another day of intense competition still to come.

Day two saw all teams improving their race times, with Inferno and Tachyon even achieving the exact same track time, and Golden Motorsports getting even faster with a rapid 1.079s. The teams completed their different judging categories and received feedback on how they could improve for future competitions and seasons. As the teams dismantled their pit displays and packed them into the minibus, it was finally time for the awards ceremony…

Tachyon and Techtonic were nominated for the verbal presentation and R&D awards, respectively. Narrowly missing out on the trophies but getting the recognition for their efforts.

Then things became serious, as the top three were announced.

First the development class…

Tori Veloci made it on the development class podium, taking home the Bronze medal, 3rd Place. Congratulations.

Only to be joined shortly after by Team Inferno, who won the ‘Best Engineered Car’ award, Research and Development’ award and the 1st place title, giving them a place in the prestigious world finals. An amazing achievement!

Now for the professional class…

“The UK National Final champions are (drumroll please) …. Golden Motorsports!” Who also won the ‘Best Engineered Car’ award.

Consisting of six Year 12 students, Golden Motorsports took the title, giving them a place at the world finals as well. Their car hurtled down the 25m track at a speed of over 50 mph, the fastest in the country this year, an

incredible achievement. A five-year journey that started for most of the team in Year 8 had finally come to fruition in the Sixth Form as national champions.

Credit must also be given to the three Year 11 teams, who performed exceptionally in the national finals, especially considering their preparation for the competition was balanced alongside completing their GCSE examinations.

With two teams qualifying for the word finals and representing England, the hard work does not stop. We wish them all the best.

A record was also broken in that St Olave’s is the first school ever to have double national champions across two classes, in Inferno and Golden Motorsports, both these teams will represent the United Kingdom at the 2024 World Finals, competing against 60+ teams from around the globe.

A massive thank you to Mr Twose and Mr Robertson, who helped in manufacturing over 18 cars, organised the events and provided lots of help and expert advice to all teams throughout their different journeys.

With the 2024 season on the horizon, motivation is at its peak with new students getting involved in the competition and hopefully following in the footsteps of these phenomenal teams.

Next stop: The 2024 Season and the World Finals…

Written by Amogh Bhat (Year 12) and Abdul Rehman (Year 11) on hehalf of all the teams.

Old Olavian

Editor’s Notes

2023! Can it really be seventy-five years since I first passed through the main doors at the front of St Olave’s Grammar School in London dockland’s Tooley Street? My brain tells me “No”, but the facts tell a different story. When I was eleven years old I never imagined that I should live so long and have so many experiences, good and less good, to look back upon.

This has been a mixed year for me: as I suspected in last year’s Editor’s Notes, I lost my much-loved role as first eleven scorer for Derbyshire County Cricket Club. There was some compensation in that I was able to officiate in some of the county’s second eleven fixtures, but this involved me in much less work than with the first team. I found the need to be as active as possible and to fill the many empty days which are a seemingly inevitable part of retirement. My readers may well think that sitting for several hours to score a cricket match can hardly be described as an activity, but the required concentration does at least keep the mind hard at work.

Last year I was able to report that the result of two CT scans had proved negative, and this year I am pleased to tell any reader who is interested that I had an operation on my left forearm after which the test showed that the open sore which they removed had been cancerous, but that all the bad stuff had been removed. I feel so fortunate to have avoided any of the physical problems which affect so many people who have lived into their eighties and beyond. I am, of course, very grateful for the wonderful care and treatment I have received from the NHS staff.

In addition to my continuing good health I have been able to enjoy regular walks with local groups which meet on four different days each week. We walk between two and three miles in groups which used to operate under the title Walking for Health, but which have been renamed Walking for Well-being since they aim to benefit members’ mental health as well as their general fitness.

Anyone who is kind enough to read these notes during the years when I have been editor of our section will know what a large part the game of cricket has played in my life. I was a very proud captain of the OOs cricket club during the sixties and early seventies. Now I would urge any Olavian cricketers to heed the plea from Lance Giles in his South Devon tour report to join the 2024 touring team when they continue their long-running (116 years) series of tours. It would be such a shame if this prestigious tradition

should lapse due to a lack of support.

As always I thank those Olavians who have sent their contributions for publication this year. I am sure that their efforts are appreciated by their fellow-readers, and I look forward to the deluge of essays which will come pouring in for next year’s edition. I would especially recommend the long, but inspiring, piece by Keith Rotchell in which he recalls the good and the not-so-good days from his time at our school, and how they have influenced his life since then.

My thanks go to Tereska Taylor for her help in producing the OO section of this magazine: we are so lucky to have someone who so clearly fulfils her role with such dedicated expertise.

John Brown Editor, Old Olavian

Chairman’s Report 2023

THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE OLD OLAVIANS’ SOCIETY

Wednesday 2 March 2023 – 19:00

Opened at:19.05

Closed at: 20.43

Attending: Committee Members: Chris Harris (1977), Chairman (“CH”), Paul Ouseley (1977) (“PO”), Rajiv Purwar (1977), Graham Milne (1963) (“GM”)

Others attending: Andrew Rees (Headteacher) (“AR”), John Brown (1955), Ian Giles (1966) (“IG”), Lance Giles (1995),Laurence Harris (1970), George Jelliss (1951), Keith Richards (1949) (“KR”), Mike Roberts (1965) (“MR”), Andrew Sawczenko (1981), George Snelgrove (1964) (“GS”), Bob Ward (1977), Howard Wiseman (1987) (“HW”), David Woodward (1972)

1. Welcome: The Chairman welcomed the members present online and explained that our President, the Headteacher, Andrew Rees, could not be with us tonight due to a clash with another engagement. However, he sent a video which was played later in the meeting and will be made available on the OOs website.

2. Apologies: Peter Leonard (1977), Frank (Paul) Askham (1977), Paul Dimond (1962) Richard Norman (1962), Rajiv Purwar (1977), Paul Ouseley (1977).

3. Minutes of Last AGM held on 9 March 2022 were agreed to be a true record of the meeting and were unanimously approved.

4.Matters Arising • Two of the stained-glass windows, which were being replaced using the bequest from OO Bertie Robinson are now in situ, and anyone who was at the Reunion in September would have been able to see them. The first represents the Cathedral and the second represents Tower Bridge. The two windows either side of the organ are due to be completed this Easter.

• Lucy Crawford, Head of Finance at the School, put our remaining donations to very good use last year, upgrading the audio/visual system in the Great Hall.

• Following the discussion about whether the person checking our accounts should really be called an Auditor, you will see from the accounts that he is now referred to as ‘The Honorary Inspector’.

• Last year CH announced that Peter Leonard (1977) had volunteered to be the School Archivist. Since then, he has almost finished setting up the Archive Room, which

occupies what used to be the balcony overlooking the Small Hall. This room will hold all the class photos, copies of the Olavian, old School reports and memorabilia, and it will be available for research. Peter is currently in discussion with Southwark Library for the return of loaned Archive material.

• Lastly, the website’s new page, ‘Alumni Stories’, has not been developed any further.

5.Membership: 3,304 names on database. Since 2020 we have added all leavers’ names to the website, however we only correspond with those that actually register as members and ‘opt in’ to receiving correspondence. In the last twelve months new website users were logging on at an average rate of about seventeen per month. 2,766 of those registered have an email address. We continue to try to reconnect with lost members and add new email addresses. As at year end 30th September 2021, 337 members paid £20 or more entitling them to the magazine, and a further 165 paid something, giving a total of 502 paying £9,299. The above includes twelve paying sponsorship members, paying £1,025. This is a decrease in subscriptions of £583 on the previous year, but £400 last year was non-recurring.

Society Admin: The School have not found a replacement for Veronica, our previous administrator at the School. For the last year we have benefited from having the support of Clare Cockshott, for which CH is very grateful. CC confirmed that we will now have the support of Karen Barnard, although CH has yet to be introduced to her.

The inspection of the accounts was undertaken by Frank Askham (1977) and he was thanked in his absence.

Magazine: Thanks again to John Brown, our editor. Most of you will be aware that the Olavian has been delayed again this year. Our section was edited and delivered on time. The School hope to have their part edited, and the whole copy printed and distributed very soon. Contributions for next year can be emailed to John or CH. JB added that he was always very grateful for contributions.

Website: As in the previous year photos continue to be submitted occasionally, but we would still like to see many more. Thanks to Mike Roberts for his support on these albums. Members can also submit obituaries, archive material and their own news items.

Credit card payments for events (reunions) booked through the website and for ties, cufflinks, badges and books have made purchasing and some of the administration a little easier.

The Announcements page has been reduced just to Obituaries as no contributions were received in Births and

Marriages (and none were expected).

Newsletters: Currently, these are produced by CH and are sent every other month.

LinkedIn Group: This is managed by CH, until we get some support. This now has 719 (659) members and continues to grow. The page is visible to everyone, but you still have to request to be a member. However, for it to be a useful group to belong to, members still need to start to post items of interest to the Old Olavian community, including job opportunities and relevant news items.

Facebook: Also managed by CH. All feedback is welcome. CH wants to make this more useful, and attractive to our members. It is possible that younger OOs are not Facebook users, so we have recently expanded our media to include Instagram but these are early days. HW asked if Fives news and updates could be posted on the Facebook page. See also Fives report below.

6. Headteacher’s report: As Andrew Rees was unable to attend, he had sent a video message which will be available on the OO website. He outlined the academic success of the school in the last year, and work on social mobility including outreach to schools in more deprived areas of the borough. He also mentioned other developments such as the Fives courts and the Archive project.

7. OOs Funds donated to the School.

OOs Account: The current balance is £0 because all remaining funds were used to improve the AV system in the Great Hall, which CH understands cost over £80,000.

Headteacher’s Hardship Fund (funded from the defunct Marshalls Fund and our Benevolent Fund): these monies are used to make sure that no student misses out on opportunities simply through financial hardship. The Headteacher has control of them, and in the past our Benevolent fund has made donations. There have been no requests for further money from the Benevolent Fund. However, CH understands from Lucy Crawford that there is a plan to improve accessibility. Currently any student reliant on a wheelchair does not have access to the first floor including the school library and chapel. Therefore, CH expects the Benevolent Fund will be asked to contribute toward the cost of installing a lift and ramp.

8. Finance Report - Society Accounts: As reported earlier total subscriptions are down £583 on last year which included a non-recurring £400. However, investment income and deposit interest are both up but actual values of the investments had reduced again by 11%, which is in line with markets at the year end.

The 2021 Reunion Lunch was held after the last year end, so the expenses were all paid out of this year’s funds. That, and a one-off cost of restocking the OO ties, increased the cash flow deficit for the year. The Reunion in September was only subsidised to the tune of just over £400, and the PA Bar made over £700, which all went to the School.

Although not shown in the accounts, we still have some cufflinks and now have a good stock of ties. As the accounts show, our cash balances at year ends are pretty high (£12,000+), and this is before the annual subscriptions start to flow in.

CH recommended making as much as possible available to the School. So, having regard for our expenses, which will be the website costs, the donation to the cricket club and cheques issued, and also to the subscription income, CH’s view is that the Society can now afford to make most of the cash balances as at 30th September (£13,133) available to the school. This includes the sponsorship money and the sales income from Two Schools. This is not in accordance with the current policy to maintain a minimum Accumulated Fund of £25,000 after the donation to the School, but the funds will be put to much better use by the School than leaving them in our current and deposit accounts. The total amount proposed is £12,000 made up by Sponsorship money £1,025, book sale income £484 and a general donation of £10,491. CH also proposed that the aim to keep a minimum accumulated fund is scrapped. CH proposed transferring the funds to the School, and any requests for use of the money to be dealt with by the committee.

IG questioned whether we should specify what the school should do with the funds, e.g. work on the archive room. CH mentioned there are several things the school wants to do (see list below) and the archive room is more or less finished. He confirmed the current balance in the OO account is about £18,000. (Post-meeting correction – the balance was actually about £17,000, but this does not make a material difference to the proposals.) MR seconded the proposal to transfer £12,000 to the School, and the proposal to scrap the £25,000 minimum accumulated fund policy. Both proposals were passed nem con.

The usual £1,000 donation to the OOs Cricket Club to assist with tour expenses was proposed as the summer tour will be going ahead again this year and agreed nem con.

Benevolent Fund: The fund has been receiving a GAYE (Give As You Earn) donation in the last two years which is small, but with the investment income, the fund continues to grow. The trustees have not donated any funds to the School in the last three years for the headmaster to use in cases of hardship and we have received no requests from

Old Olavians since we agreed a request for funds - £250 the year before last.

As mentioned above, the trustees may receive a request this year to assist with accessibility in School, which would benefit all necessitous Olavians. The motion to approve both sets of accounts was proposed by GS and seconded by BP and passed nem con. HW commented that donations to the school by parents had plummeted and it would be a good idea to try to increase subscription income by getting a higher proportion of the 3,000 or so members to pay £20 (or more). This was supported strongly by GS. Suggestions included giving members reasons to pay something, giving them evidence of what money has already been spent on, asking someone who has run a business to prepare a business plan, with flyers on seats at the next reunion. CH agreed to discuss this with the committee and Lucy Crawford at the School. CH will let all attendees know the outcome in due course.

9. Functions Reports

Reunion: The 2022 Reunion at the School with guest speaker, Stephen Hickey (1997), a British Diplomat, was successful It was the best attended Reunion for some time. Subsidised by the Society with £411, covering the costs of our guests. This year’s reunion will again be at the School – 9th September. The guest speaker is Ed Warner (1981): Ed has pursued a career in the City alongside leadership roles in the world of sport. He was chair of UK Athletics for a decade until 2017, led the World Championships in the Olympic Stadium that year, and now chairs both GB Wheelchair Rugby and the charity at Crystal Palace Football Club. In addition, CH hopes that the outgoing School Captain will also speak this year, which is something that used to happen.

The Savoy Choristers reunion last year did take place. You will be able to read about that in The Olavian. This year it has been moved to October and will include a Hog Roast. GM explained that this would allow more networking time and avoid having to find a place to eat afterwards, to encourage more people to attend. He asked those interested to confirm before the start of October. Details are on the Kings Chapel of the Savoy website.

10. Affiliated Club Reports: Rugby – still dormant

Fives – HW reported the courts were working well, apart from the need to find another £250k to rebuild the last two of the courts (See the 2022 AGM minutes); legal advice is being taken on whether anyone can be sued to recover any of this money. The school squad is the strongest in the country, and the Old Olavian section has won the Barber Cup 22 times in 24 years. There are now 350 Facebook

members forming a community and good links are being made between the OOs and the school club.

Cricket – Ian and Lance Giles reported that there had been a successful tour to Devon last summer, played 5, won 2 and lost 3, but a core of only six or so OOs – more players are needed. IG commented that cricket stops in the 5th year at School. HW suggested that parents be invited to come on tour with their children, which helps with safeguarding issues and offered to publicise the cricket amongst the Fives Facebook community. Andy Kenward (Head of Sport) could share the invitation to the tour with sixth formers too.

Lodge and Chapter – GM provided a report on both, encouraging OOs to attend and join. A precis of the reports will be published in the next newsletter.

11. Election of Officers: Chairman Chris Harris, Secretary Bill Prouse, Treasurer Paul Ouseley, Committee members Raj Purwar and Graham Milne

All were willing to stand again so HW proposed and MR seconded the motion to re-elect the entire committee which was passed nem con.

12. Other Business:

•Commemoration is on Thursday 4th May this year. Hopefully some members can meet up for a spot of lunch before the service. Jane Wells has already said that she hopes to be there.

• Look out for the next newsletter which will have a short questionnaire devised by the School to identify how school subjects are used in the workplace.

• Lucy Crawford has told CH in the last week what projects are planned for the coming months. They are:

• New electric gates at all entrances to school – this is going ahead at Easter; New cricket nets (4 lanes) on the top field. There will be a fundraising campaign for this specific project (pending planning permission from Bromley) so support for this from the Old Olavians would be great. It will be possible to sponsor a whole lane/track.

Other projects: Landscaping outside the small hall and creation of outdoor seating; improved access to the wellbeing garden; replace Astro wicket strip next to the cricket square; refurbishment of classrooms; refurbish the staff toilets.

There will be many other smaller funding needs from the various departments in the School. On our website we

have a list of ‘Distinguished Old Olavians’. There is also a list on the School website, and more on Wikipedia. CH asked if anyone might be willing to try to bring the three together, and possibly add some new ones, but there were no volunteers. CH will mention this in the next newsletter.

HW asked if a donation of, say £1,000, to the Fives tour planned for Switzerland would be considered by the OOs next year and there was no objection to this.

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 20.43.

Old Olavian Reunion Lunch – 2023

Our chairman, Chris Harris, has persuaded a record number of Olavians to write about their various experiences at this year’s reunion lunch. The guest speaker for the day, Ed Warner, leads the way, and the others follow:

Old Olavian Reunion Lunch 2023

L-R Richard Betchley (‘71), Robin Wicks (‘71), Graham Bunce (‘67), Howard Wilkie (‘66), Ian Clifford (‘67), Martin Gosling (‘67), Noël Tredinnick (‘67), Roy Moore (‘66), Keith Hodgett (‘70)

Ed Warner (1981) and our guest speaker for the day: This was my first OOs’ reunion, in fact only my second visit to the school since leaving in 1981. I had previously given the speech at a prize-giving back in 2007. I was struck then by how much had changed, but also so little. The pupils were scarily bright, the fabric of the school largely intact, just augmented and polished. This year’s reunion prompted similar thoughts. An effortlessly impressive speech from last year’s head girl juxtaposed with Fives courts whose air of chilly concrete brought back instant memories.

Lunch itself fled by, helped by a table of friends and contemporaries, all of whom seemed to be ageing better than me. I only hope they thought the reverse. It was a pleasure to find teachers who had taught

me in attendance, and especially good to be able to chat to the headmaster of my vintage, Mr Coulsoneven if he will still insist on pronouncing St Olave’s differently to everyone else forty plus years on.

Ed Warner (1981) 2nd from Left. Also on this Table were Contributors Andrew Owen (1981) and Stephen Spencer (1982)

As to my speech, I riffed on forks in the road, in careers and life generally, and the role that STOGS played in sending me down the paths I’ve followed. It was great in that moment to be back in the Hall where much of it began. My thanks to those who organised the event, and everyone who came to luxuriate in their own memories.

Ben Ward (1998): It was great to come back to the school for my first reunion in September. As it turned out, I was also there as a chaperon for my father, an ex-teacher and Old Olavian, as he was recovering from eye surgery, but neither that nor the sweltering 30-degree heat was going to keep him away. Now I know why! The reunion was a fantastic opportunity to come back to the school and re-connect with both Old Olavians and former teachers. Being in the Great Hall for lunch brought back many happy memories and it was wonderful to reminisce with former head boy, Peter English (1998). The speeches illustrated how St Olave’s has shaped the lives of both current and former students. Listening to Ed Warner (1981) give his excellent keynote speech, it was clear how his time at St Olave’s had stood him in good stead for

Chris Harris (1970-77)

Ben Ward (1998) 2nd from Left and Karen Barnard in the Centre

his successful career in the city and then as Chair of UK Athletics, and the affection he still holds for the school all these years later was evident. It was also great to hear from Rohini Kumar (2023), last year’s school captain. It was reassuring to hear her talk so enthusiastically about the school and the way it has prepared her, and the current crop of students, for the next stage of their life. No doubt many of them will be back for the reunions in the years to come, as will I.

Dr Chris Lilly (1964): The 2023 OO reunion was another success (aren’t they always?) due to the meticulous planning by our chairman and his exceptional team. It is always a delight to be welcomed at the door and to meet old friends as well as some new ones. It was great to see so many younger members which suggests that the society will be going strong for many years to come.

The food (and drink for those who were not driving!) was, as usual, up to the high standard that we have come to expect. I love the idea of the table name cards having your food requests on the reverse. They say it is to help the servers, but I wonder whether it is not really because some of us forget the day of the week - let alone what we ordered months ago.

At lunch, we enjoyed the traditional toasts and addresses which were, as always, of a high standard and that from last year’s school captain, Rohini Kumar, was absolutely excellent. I don’t know how much of her speaking skill set is natural or how much it was developed by the school, but either way she is an excellent example of what the school produces and she will, I am sure, go far in life. Doubtless many of the Old Olavians present will be keen to see how her career develops in the years to come.

This year’s honoured guest was Ed Warner (1981) and he gave a riveting talk which even non-sporty people appreciated. Ed pursued a career in the City alongside leadership roles in the world of sport. He was chair of UK Athletics for a decade until 2017, and he led the World Championships in the Olympic Stadium that year, and he now chairs both GB Wheelchair Rugby and the charity at Crystal Palace Football Club. An example to us all that there is no excuse for being bored!

Of course, the event was rounded off by the singing of the old school song, “Olaf to right the wrong”. It is always impressive and maybe brings an emotional tear to the eye of some of us! Digressing a little, the debate about how to pronounce ‘St Olave’s’ surely disappears if you think of St Olaf?

Dr. Chris Lilly and John Williams’ Table Richard Norman (1962): Well, I made it to the OO reunion lunch on 9th September. With ASLEF and the RMT threatening to withdraw their services I drove up and stayed overnight – a long and tiring journey from Devon – I am told that Fridays are the new Saturdays – the holiday change-overs now occur on Fridays as there is less ‘traffic’ than on the ‘Saturdays of the holiday season’! [I guess that changeovers in 2024 will be on Thursday, so if Mr Lynch is still striking and I have to drive …!]

Nevertheless, the journey and sleep in a local hotel enabled me to get to the new school early and to watch the 1st XV beat Cranbrook School; to check in with Howard Wiseman, see the newer roof on the new Fives court. It is good to hear that both school and OO fives are at the top of the game still.

We were also taken on ‘the tour’, led by two young female OOs just out of the Upper Sixth, on which we were shown the new all-weather pitch – so I guess ‘all season’ hockey is back?

As usual the company and the lunch were excellent and it was good to see so many young OOs there. These meetings provoke several memories, many of which are best forgotten. I was told on one visit that ‘the Old Man’s canes were still in store somewhere’. It was not possible to track them down so my guess is a previous visitor consigned them to a waste bin. Here’s to next year! Let’s hope that the trains will be running.

Richard Norman and Graham Milne’s Table

Ananjan Ganguli (2023): Despite being a very recent Old Olavian, I thoroughly enjoyed the reunion on the 9th September. After a busy summer holiday of travelling and activity, seeing familiar faces and recognisable corridors felt oddly relaxing. Refreshments, food and atmosphere was all very welcoming, making me feel back at home. Touring with the more senior leavers made me realise how I was not the only one feeling this sense of comfort in St Olave’s. Their anecdotes had an almost infectious nature about them, to the extent that I could not help but share in their nostalgia, reminiscing with them about the seven long years I spent at this school.

Admittedly there have been ups and downs, but simply witnessing the number of different individuals with their variety of career paths and walks of life congregating together just goes to show the impact St Olave’s has had on us. Of course the speeches, highlighting our Olavian achievements, put the excellence of our school into perspective, but more than that I appreciate the community most, with the student body organising so many events while also contributing to the credentials of the school. I feel the friends I have made through those struggles are what will stick with me the most, and being able to see them again during the reunion was what made it worthwhile and a truly enjoyable experience. I would love to do it again sometime in the near future.

2023 Leavers Including Ananjan

Graham Milne (1957-63): The food and company were very good again for the 2023 School Reunion, although attendance was down slightly. It is always great to see both current and former staff attending, and we were not disappointed this year with their attendance. Speeches seemed shorter, but still informative and interesting.

My thanks go to the team who provided and served the food, and to those Old Olavians’ parents who looked after the bar. The sound of talking, throughout

the period before, and during, the meal showed how many of us had a lot of catching-up to do. The sound of the school song was as robust as always. It will be good to hear the whole school singing it at the Remembrance Service or, better still, in Southwark Cathedral where the acoustics would be far better.

Some members were attending for the first time and were impressed by the size and layout of the site as they were shown round by the sixth formers who gave up their time to attend.

I had a group of thirty attending for a reunion at Tooley Street. As it is sixty years since most of the 1957 intake left, can those who left in 1963 and 1964 keep an eye out for the date for the 2024 reunion, and try and make it a great reunion for us? I know most must be retired by now. There are budget hotels within easy reach of the school, and the OO committee members will be very pleased to help find them accommodation.

John Williams (1964): After an enjoyable meal the headmaster, Andrew Rees, updated us on the past year’s academic and extra-curricular activities, and the departing school captain, Rohini Kumar, offered a fascinating insight into her experience as a presentday student at St Olave’s. Ed Warner (1981), the guest of honour, shared stories of his career at the school and his subsequent role as Chair of UK Athletics. The lunch ended with Olaf to Right the Wrong and Gather Us In, which were sung in the customary enthusiastic fashion accompanied by former music teacher Stephen Davies on organ.

I travelled to the reunion in the company of my two school friends, Keith Lucas and Chris Lilly. It was good to meet up with other classmates and Tooley Street boys and learn more about the school today from Kay Brooker. A thoroughly enjoyable day.

Graham Shaw (1983): writes that there were eightytwo Old Olavians present. Between them they had attended the school in eight different decades from the 1950s to the 2020s and they included a number of former and current staff. There was a particularly good turnout from my own peer year, 1983, celebrating forty years since leaving. Once the more formal proceedings had finished, the class of 1983 adjourned to the Maxwell, where we were delighted to be joined by our former headmaster, Des Coulson.

Thanks are due to the many people involved in organising and running the event, not least the 2023 leavers who hosted tours of the school before the

lunch and the parents and others who volunteered their time at the welcome desk and behind the bar. I very much look forward to attending next year’s event!

Graham’s Table

Andrew Owen (1981): As the speaker at this year’s Old Olavian dinner was Ed Warner, I along with a few other friends from our year group decided we should break our duck and finally attend the dinner. The day started with a tour of the school. Much was very familiar, but there has been plenty of change since I was last at the school many years previously.

It was a very hot September day, so it was with some relief that we were allowed to remove ties before starting to eat. Conversation flowed easily at our table and throughout the day, with many other OOs too, despite the many years which had passed. It was good to spend time catching up and reminiscing.

Ed’s speech was excellent along with a fine contribution from the school captain and an update from the current Headmaster. Proceedings finished with a rousing rendition of Olaf to right the wrong to round off a most enjoyable occasion.

Karen Barnard (Old Olavians administrator at the School): As the recently appointed OO administrator, I was pleased to attend my first Old Olavian lunch on the hottest day of the year! Despite the heat, the day was a great success, the Great Hall looked splendid and the food was delicious. Thank you to all those who helped on the day. Before the meal, the senior prefect team invited past Olavians for a tour of the school, including a visit to our new archive room which has been recently revamped with the help of Peter Leonard (1977).

During the meal, old school friends reunited and reminisced, some after many years. Yet not everyone at the dinner was a ‘senior’ Olavian - it was fascinating to listen to the contrasting memories from different eras of school life. Some of the more recent leavers found it hard to believe many of the stories told!

It was a pleasure to hear from Rohini Kumar, last year’s school captain, as she delivered an assured and interesting speech about her time at STOGS. This was followed by the present headteacher, Mr Rees, who brought us up to date with the tremendous successes enjoyed by St Olave’s during the past year - in all aspects of school life. Mr Ed Warner (1981) was our guest speaker, a former chair of UK Athletics and he gave an enthusiastic account of his school days and reignited the debate over whether the school’s name is pronounced St Olive’s or St Olave’s!

It was clear St Olave’s has had a big impact on the lives of all those calling themselves Old Olavians - pupils and staff alike. It was great to see two ex-headmasters along with several other current and ex-staff members in attendance.

The afternoon closed with Mr Stephen Davies (ex-director of music) giving a rousing rendition of the school song and an impromptu rendering of Jerusalem which was enthusiastically supported by all!

The next OO dinner will be held on Saturday 7 September 2024 and we look forward to welcoming even more Old Olavians again next year.

Some of the ex-staff in attendance

Tony Pollen (1988): For the past few years it has been my pleasure to attend the Old Olavians’ annual reunion lunch held at the school. Every year we try to get as many of the class of 1988 to turn up and take a walk down Memory Lane to recall old stories and catch up on what we are all up to in our present lives.

The day started with a tour around the school given by one of the recent leavers enabling everyone to see what changes have occurred since their time at St Olave’s. We then sat down to have lunch and a few glasses of wine in the Great Hall. This year the school captain, Rohini Kumar, gave an excellent speech telling us about her time at school. Then guest speaker Ed Warner relived tales of his schooldays and

what exciting roles he has held both in business and the world of sport since leaving St Olave’s.

The headmaster then reviewed the previous year’s achievements. It never ceases to amaze me how well the school is doing both inside and outside the classroom. As the lunch progressed more and more old stories emerged from my schoolmates, many of us somewhat heavier and more follicly challenged than the day we walked out of those gates in Park Avenue for the last time thirty-five years ago. The reunion was then wound up with Mr Davies, my old music teacher, playing the school song with the Old Olavians singing along enthusiastically if somewhat out of tune. After a great afternoon meeting up with old friends and teachers many of us did not want the day to end quite so soon, so it was off to the Maxwell pub for a few more drinks and a few more stories.

Tony’s Table

Bob Perrin (1975): It was simply roasting on 9th September, the day of the Reunion Lunch. Thankfully, the dress code of jackets and ties was quickly made optional – this prompted recall of hot days waiting to see if blazers could be removed in class. Before the lunch, I took a tour of the school facilities, led by two very impressive recent leavers. Not having been back to the school for more than thirty-five years, the scale of expansion/enhancement took me by surprise.

At lunch I sat between the chairman, Chris Harris, and Raj Purwar (both 1977 leavers) and was quickly made to feel at home in the absence of OOs from my year (1975). Hopefully in two years’ time there will be greater representation to mark our fiftieth anniversary.

After an excellent lunch, the chairman reported on OOs’ continuing contributions to the school, the guest speaker Ed Warner (1981) was both inspiring and humorous, and the headmaster’s report of achievements by school members reported was most impressive.

Having joined the OOs on leaving school, I recently ‘updated’ my membership profile to book my place at the lunch. I am glad that I did. Not only did I enjoy the occasion but the on-line process identified a number of ways in which one can give back to the School. As a result, in January I will be talking to pupils who are considering a career in the law and sharing my own experiences with them.

Stephen Spencer (1982): Reunions, as we all know (if we are honest enough to admit it), are a bit like the forthcoming Frasier reboot: they sound like a good idea in principle, but will they be as good as you want them to be? As an OOs reunions’ stalwart of some forty years, along with my partner in crime, Simon West, I still ask myself this question as I contemplate each forthcoming reunion. This year, however, the pressure was off: in 2022 my academic year celebrated its fortieth anniversary, and as such, and through the power of LinkedIn, I earned a few brownie points from the Chairman by attracting a notably large turnout of my contemporaries. In 2023, I was excited to hear Ed Warner OBE speak, as I had followed his stellar career in sports administration for many years.

On arrival at the school, having negotiated a brace of former headmasters (what do you say when one says to the other, “Ah, here is the most prolific poster on LinkedIn” and the other asks “What is LinkedIn?”?). An excellent lunch was enjoyed before the speeches, and it has to be said that Rohini Kumar was, whether consciously or unconsciously, the living embodiment of the modern St Olave‘s: intelligent, charismatic, curious, quick-witted, and confident. Ed Warner’s speech did not disappoint either, although some of his unofficial insights shared at the table were even more memorable (and not for print). You can read his very insightful take on global sport in his Sport Inc newsletter.

In summary, for anyone who has not attended, or not for a long time, do take the plunge and attend next year’s reunion: unlike many similar events, I can honestly say that it is always better in practice than in principle; and, as the still magnificent Stephen Davies played us out on the school organ, with a medley of hits including Gather Us In and Jerusalem, perhaps the same could be said of the school, as of the esteemed, former director of music: they don’t make ‘em like that anymore!

Post Event at the Maxwell

A Joyeuse Musical Feast: full of Christmas Spirit. Chairman Chris Harris invited Dr Tredinnick to write a review of the Christmas Concert, and he produced the following appreciative words:

One of the impressive things about the Christmas Concert held in the Great Hall on Wednesday 14 December 2022 was the involvement of two fatherand-son teams, reincarnations themselves. Mr Nick Beston, who for two decades has headed-up the notable Jazz Band, was nobly supported on many occasions by his son, Alfie, demonstrating his own versatility on a number of different saxophones and piano as well. And not to be outdone, the programme included an impressive viola solo, Vaughan Williams’ Viola Suite, played by Thomas, accompanied by his dad, Mr Douglas Blew who, earlier had played both organ and violin with the orchestra, and who later went on to conduct the Chamber Orchestra in Purcell’s ‘Abdelazer’ Suite. Like father like son! Thomas Blew showed his own musical prowess, already well-honed and developed. The saxophone and viola will never go out of fashion, and both these young players can guarantee gainful employment for the rest of their lives, thanks to the experience and teaching they are gaining at St Olave’s. How encouraging to see a second generation, not only following in fathers’ footsteps, but excelling to such musical standard heights themselves.

Director of Music, Mr Matthew Price, was himself a tour de force: not only had he crafted a most enjoyable and creative programme, but ensured slick progression from item to item by efficient scenechanging himself, and he was a jovial compére with witty asides that ensured informed and intelligent listening by the audience. Mr Price showed himself a fearless orchestral conductor when he opened

the concert programme with the first movement of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, with its iconic four-note opening motif, and two movements from Warlock’s Capriol Suite. Under his energetic direction, the school’s Full Orchestra gave assured and spirited performances like no other: when did you last hear Beethoven with impressive saxophones standing in for French horns?!

Mrs Michelle Watkins, who has been covering maternity leave, was clearly another popular conductor, this night bowing out with her direction of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble. You could sense the camaraderie and the fun of playing the Michael Jackson Hit Mix, and this Ensemble, just as with the Chamber Orchestra later, exuded pleasure and professionalism and, between them, treated us to such a range of musical styles.

Elo Esalomi and Alanah Clark, Natalia Pilu, Anusha Selva-Radov, Ben Dakshy, Tony Ndukwu, as well as Alfie Beston mentioned earlier, all impressed and entertained us by interposing their exhilarating solo pieces on piano, clarinet and saxophone. Everyone showed remarkable dexterity and musicianship. It is so encouraging for us to see how

St Olave’s is still attracting and nurturing such expert performers as these.

What would a Christmas concert be without singing?!

And those readers with Savoy Chapel connections would rightly have been deeply impressed by the vocal renditions of the Chamber Choir. Mr Price directed, focused and polished performances of some tricky Christmas choral music. A note here about the impressive versatility of these St Olave’s musicians: the Choir ranks saw all the aforementioned instrumentalists exercise their vocal chords too, displaying, this time with their voices, the same elan and commitment as hitherto they had shown with their instrumental offerings. What team efforts and solidarity!

The evening closed with joie de vivre by the Jazz Ensemble bringing us fun and exhilarating playing of seasonal favourites which lit up the dark, snowy night, as did the flashing jacket of Director, Nick Beston! And of course, we all rose to our feet, yes, to applaud these accomplished performers, but also to lend our voices to a favourite Carol ourselves.

This very happy and exuberant evening was made remarkable and encouraging by such an array of accomplished musicians, and by the sheer versatility

of so many participants who would pop up, over and over, sporting different hats. Additionally, that night, the hearts of the large, loyal, and lauding audience were all infused and uplifted with all these servings of the finest of Christmas Spirit. Yes, we were all “in the mood” for the season by the end!

Dr. Noel Tredennick (1960-67)

Jazz Band at the Christmas Concert

St Olave’s and St Saviour’s Grammar School

Commemoration Service: 4th May 2023

One doesn’t need an excuse to travel into London, particularly when it is to old stamping grounds remembered from one’s youth. The excuse this time, and good reason, was to attend the Commemoration Service for our alma mater – St Olave’s Grammar School – held annually at Southwark Cathedral. Several old boys met at The Barrow Boy and Banker public house, just south of London Bridge and within staggering distance of Southwark Cathedral, for lunch – liquid and otherwise – and for pleasant reminiscence of our time at the School. Having completed lunch, we repaired to the Cathedral where we were guided to our reserved seats at the front of the nave. As expected, the service was one of wonderful music, directed and arranged by Mr Matthew Price, accompanied by Mr Doug Blew on the organ, with a farewell introduction from The Very Reverend Andrew Nunn, Dean of Southwark whose final Commemoration Service this was to be. There were some well-delivered spoken words from monitors and staff alike. Reverend Doctor Julie Bowen, School Chaplain, led the proceedings and a stimulating and inspiring address was given by the Bishop of Croydon, The Reverend Doctor Rosemarie Mallett. The singing of the hymns from the old boys was lusty and full, bringing back fond memories of music from the past. The Old Boys and members of their families who attended lunch were Dr Noël Tredinnick, Ian Clifford, Graham Bunce and Martin Gosling (all from 1960 intake in Mr Newmarch’s Class 1B), Richard Betchley, Keith Hodgett, Roy Moore, Robin Wicks, Howard Wilkie, Graham Milne (and his wife Mavis), Derek Burgess, Mike Weller, Jane Wells, James Double (Graham and Mavis’s grandson) and Richard Norman.

After the service we were treated to delicious cakes, washed down with either tea or coffee. Cold drinks were also available, served with good grace by parents and boys. All was wonderfully well-organised, and it

is to be hoped that we will survive to meet again next year.

Martin Gosling (1960-67)

What fun, what satisfaction, to all meet up - after 63 Years

We were there together, four of us, proudly sporting our Old Olavian ties, maybe our hair was thinning and greying and, speaking personally, some of us are a little more podgy these days than in earlier times. All four of us had started at St Olave’s Grammar School (in Tooley Street) on the same day: 3 September 1960. That was the significant day, when we started our St Olave’s experience together in the same class: 1B, in Room 3, on the ground floor of the old building, overlooking Tower Bridge. Seated alphabetically by surname, the A to Ds, I remember, were there over by the window. I am a T so I was next to the door. Now, the four of us, fellow pupils, were scheduled anyway to meet up again, sixty years later, at the annual St Olave’s Commemoration Service in Southwark Cathedral on 4 May 2023. We were Graham Bunce, Ian Clifford, Martin Gosling and me, Noël Tredinnick. And it was a great thrill to see us all back together again, after six decades: and to clock the truth of it. Thanks to the regularly arranged OO events, we had maintained some seasoned contact over those years.

On this memorable occasion, well ahead of the time of the service, Chris Harris (OO Chair) had kindly booked a table for us all to gather around to enjoy a good lunch, a good beer, and a good natter: we settled right next to the Cathedral on London Bridge, at the Barrowboy and Banker pub. It is a good location and an impressive facility. Not only we four:, but other Old Olavian choristers and musicians from the sixties, together with other seasoned old boys with different interests, amalgamated together. Joining us to swell the numbers were Roy Moore, Howard Wilkie, Richard Betchley, Keith Hodgett, and Robin Wicks, all of whom were at my table.

The Barrowboy had a pleasant and conducive ambience to swap stories, each one prompting another. We laughed and sighed a lot. Lunch was tasty and fulsome, and facilitated a very convenient time, that Thursday, for us all to meet up. We had three advantages: we all knew and remembered St Olave’s from the same era; we were free to congregate in a central London location for a nice catch-up in the middle of the day, and finally we could link this lunch to an already existing event that was attracting us all, anyway. As nostalgic gluttons, we had agreed to attend the Commemoration Service, following on, around the corner at the Cathedral.

These old friendships and connections never die. The people and the memories all get seasoned with ageand it is really worth uncorking a mutually convenient time and place for peers and former comrades to make a date, to all meet up. Ours was such a happy reunion. And, in our case, we all remembered, even savoured, the old familiar haunts, with their clear memories, all around the London Bridge area, so the location was an obviously attractive one for us.

My urging is to all of you, to make that contact with your old mates, your former sporting-partners, your sparring-partners, and, I suggest, head for the Barrowboy and Banker, close by the river at London Bridge, book a table (there are plenty going); and unlock, unleash, a great shared experience, all together, once again. The years will fall away; and the sheer pleasures will mount up. Our experience, of old form-mates getting together over a jar, was so totally enjoyable and revealing in every way! You try it with your mates: make the contact, and enjoy having the same warm experience that we had.

Dr. Noel Tredennick (1960-67)

Richard Norman writes: Chairman Chris asked me to write a short piece for The Olavian about the Commemoration Service, and it follows here: Please do not get me wrong - this piece is philosophical rather than pessimistic, one of my faults being that I am an optimist and this has often got me into hot water.

I would say that the service this year was one of, if not, the best that I have attended; of course I have no memory of those when I was at the school and have only been attending since I retired, now ten years ago – and the pandemic prevented a couple of those.

The Music Department excelled and on a recent visit I saw the fantastic facilities at the new school. Would that we had had them in Tooley Street!

Upper school has expanded since my day, but the Prefects (we called them Monitors) also did a great job recounting the history – dressed in their flowing gowns. Do they wear them in school, I wonder?

I guess that the ‘weeds’ do not yet recognise the importance of their trip up into the city nor the relevance of this history, but it may come to them. I have only recently read RCC’s ‘Two Schools’ myself, but I recommend it to all generations of both current and Old Olavians.

I have been used to carrying out reviews both in business and of my life outside. Reviews of work and projects and of my family, church, cricket, ringing, scouting and, just now I realise, cars and driving.

The major life reviews were carried out at the traditional times over Christmas and New Year, looking back and then forward and trying to plan –God laughs when man plans – and to think he is MY God? Trying to look forward one, two, three and five years during my working careers has been interesting. “Do I see myself here, doing this in five years’ time?” has had some fundamental answers and great results - as has my review this year! Do I see myself even ‘being here’ in five years and, with my memory going, the thought that I could be physically, but only infrequently, mentally able threatens.

Entering the world at the end of the last World War I find myself at the beginning of another, the next, started by yet another madman! Let us hope that the Cossack blood prevails.

So I plan to enjoy it all as long as I can breathe, move and think, and so I may see you all in September and then again next May. “Have a good one” as they say these days.

Richard Norman visited Sidmouth in August to watch part of the tour match being played by the Old Olavians’. He was reminded of an email which he sent to Jane Wells six years ago, and he has been kind enough to allow us to reproduce this here: “Whilst I could have drawn you a plan of the school with the masters’ names and rooms marked; some of the other memories came back whilst I was there - like wearing the cap on the back of my head (we all did - so that it could not be seen from the front) and also the pride in the age and dilapidated state of them - I only ever had ONE cap!”

“The memory of running up Tower Bridge Roadseveral times - when the bridge was up - came back when I think George mentioned it and that prompted the memory of the ONLY time I was reported for ‘NO cap’ - never caught again (it was off as soon as we were out of sight.)”

“The memory of Tower Bridge Road also reminded me of the smell that emanated from the brewery on certain days – when I guess they emptied the mash tuns? Also I remember waiting at the bus stop for

Richard Norman (1955-62)

the 42 when the bridge was up in the afternoon after school. The buses were always FULL then as people were able to walk to board them north of the river so we had to wait and wait until one came along that we could get on.”

“It also reminded me that I only ever cycled to school a few times – once to a detention on a Saturday morning and a couple of other times when the buses were on strike.”

“George also mentioned the 78 bus which reminded me of, though I did not mention, journeys to Dulwich, the sports field - cross country runs, cricket, rugby, tennis and athletics; I was playing rugby for the school - a prop at the time - when a guy in the opposing scrum, for no reason, punched me in the face - that prompted the decision to get out of the front row so that summer I focused on the sprint 100 yards - got my time down to 10.6 and initially moved to the flank.”

“And my visit to the loo, which is now in what was the sixth form room (very suitably!), of course reminded me of the Old Man, Modern Questions (study of Russian and US history) and the Des Cartes incident.”

“Perhaps in retrospect, I enjoyed my days at STOGS!”

Former Choristers’ Reunion – 2023 I could describe this event in half a dozen words –lovely welcome, excellent music, warm sunshine!

This is only half the story as the King’s Chapel of the Savoy was resplendent, the service was well attended and it was wonderful to see young children in the congregation. Only once a year does the Chapel shake with the noise of the organ, the choir and those assembled in the nave. It is fifty years since I left the Savoy and it was a joy to meet OOs from so many vintages as well as staff past and present.

Thanks are due to the Chaplain and staff for organising such a wonderful event, I will not leave it another fifty years.

Paul (Frank) Askham (1970-77)

Thirteen former choristers, two former staff members and several present members of staff attended the “Former Choristers” service at the Savoy Chapel on 8th October 2023 followed by a hog roast lunch. This was the best turn-out for this service since I started attending.

The service went very well, with The Venerable Dr (Air Vice-Marshal) Giles Legood, Chaplain-in-Chief and Archdeacon for the Royal Air Force, delivering an interesting and informative sermon. He stayed after the service and had a talk with most who stayed

Former Chorister’s Reunion 2023 for lunch. The readers were two former choristers, Graham Milne and Stephen Hickey. With so many choristers attending, the Chapel sounded very good for the hymn singing, and we hope to see still more next year!

Graham Milne (1957-63)

Can anyone help? Message from family of Arthur Adams

Arthur Adams (1934-39): The School received the following query from Alan Adams about his late father, Arthur John Adams who was born over a hundred years ago. Besides being of interest to our readers, it also gives some idea of what the school is capable of doing on our behalves:

Alan writes: My late father was a pupil at St Olave’s in the 1930s at Tooley Street (it is now a boutique hotel which I recently visited) and it is part of family history/folklore that he was a scholarship boy who also had to have a bursary to pay for his books/uniform as his mother could not afford any of these.

Up to this point the family could best be described as Bermondsey unskilled manual dock workers, but he was to change all of that. After leaving St Olave’s he joined the RAF and became a radar technician working on the south coast radar defence stations before going overseas to service radar units in Wellington and Liberator bombers.

After the war he joined United Dominions Trust rising through the ranks to become Head of Finance, and he ultimately stayed on beyond retirement to oversee the takeover of the company by Lloyds Bank.

We moved to Cheshunt in Hertfordshire in 1960 when he became the first member of the family to buy his own home but he did not forget his roots. From Cheshunt he would travel to The Angel public house in Rotherhithe every Monday evening where he ran the London Sunday Football league (I spent many Monday evenings sitting in our car outside The Angel with my younger brother) and he was prominent in local charitable works trying to give back for the opportunity he was given at St Olave’s. He never forgot the debt he owed for that opportunity and was always looking to give people a helping hand.

Early this year (2023) I had to sell his house after his wife made a permanent move into a nursing home when a document (a school certificate) came to light – it had slipped down the back of a fixed cupboard unit.

The point to all if this is that this now puts some clear timing as to when Dad attended St Olave’s which then allows me to ask a question with a little more clarity. For many years a photograph of the school boxing team with Dad in it was kept in the hall but it disappeared and I was not able to find it in amongst a small mountain of documents/photos, etc that I went through following his death.

Is it possible that the school archives might have a copy or indeed any photos that would include Dad that I may be able to have a copy of? I am hoping that the certificate puts a clear time stamp on his attendance to make it possible if you still have any of these. This is a long shot, I know, but if you do not ask the question you will always be left wondering.

St. Olave’s Grammar School Boxing Team 1936-37

Arthur Adams is farthest left in the back row

Memories of St Olave’s in 1957-64

Keith Rotchell has sent the following memories of

his time at the School from 1957 to 1964 and how those early memories and experiences influenced his life and resulting career and contributed to the person that he became - some sixty-five plus years later.

Between the ages of eleven and eighteen I am convinced that you are at a very impressionable age and often seemingly random memories can stay with you from that time and influence the type of person you might become in later life. Prior to attending secondary school most of our memories take place within family or in a “protected” place, if you are fortunate that is of course, but going to secondary school and in my case travelling by train into London to do so was perhaps one of my first steps on the road to adulthood, without the full protection of home and family!

One is suddenly out on your own at a tender age and your “big” school world becomes your first real glimpse of the wider world outside your home community. As such it can be a powerful influencer on your young mind!

I remember quite clearly a few elements of my very first day at St Olave’s – for some reason I never took to using the somewhat ugly term STOGS and so I have never used it! All the new boys stood in lines in the quadrangle, outside the main front entrance but still just within the school gates, as we were sorted into 1A,1B and 1C with Basil Taylor, Mr. Newmarch and George Collins assigned to be our protective and guiding form teachers in Year 1 - as it was then. There was no Year 7 in those days! Remember I was still in short trousers and my greatest wish during that first term was to acquire long trousers at Christmas to “fit in” as a proper secondary school pupil! Mercifully, despite being the smallest boy in 1A and almost the smallest boy in my year until I reached about the age of 14+, my dear parents granted me this wish (with some difficulty due to my short legs!) and I remember being so happy to return to school with proper trousers in January 1958! BUT - until then I did have to survive one whole term as a small “tadpole” as I remember we were called - and funnily enough our greatest enemies were the Year 2s just above us who were determined to make our lives as unpleasant as theirs had been!! Fortunately they were not all like that and a few even managed to befriend us! However – fear was a daily part of life in Year 1! I suppose it was Character Building!

We “first years” had our own little detached building and occupied the lower floor at the back of the school, in which Basil, “Boggy” and George attempted to

support us as we weathered the storm of being “new”. Life at the bottom of the school was a mixture of fear, wonder, pride at being at such a historic site in London, coupled with wondering what lay next for us around every corner. If we survived to travel home unscathed and intact each day, then we would have had a small victory and have lived to fight another day. We were survivors and helped each other as best we could! It all seemed part of our “Independence”, training, learning to stand on our own two feet and we gained great support from each other and our newfound peers.

Despite my small stature, my time in Year 1 was not all that bad! I got into a couple of school plays that helped me along the pathway that would lead me, when an adult, to a lifetime interest in drama and acting. I probably need to thank Mrs Robinson the Speech and Voice Coach for that and also David Sapwell and Dave Putnam who “made my life”, when as Head Boy and a senior prefect respectively, they asked me to play ‘David Copperfield’ in a short sketch they were performing at an OO dinner in 1957/58 just before I think they graduated from St Olave’s in the summer of 1958. Overnight this gave me some kudos that I had not had before in school and also gave me some street credibility among my immediate peers! I had made a ‘mark’ and that was only just after the school had celebrated being 400 years old just before I arrived as a pupil. David Sapwell became a kind of “Steerforth”-like character and I consequently hero-worshipped him for many years after that for choosing me – and, more importantly, after the event, always saying “hello” every time he passed me in the corridor! That meant so much to an eleven year-old boy and this example stayed with me when later I stood where he had stood in the prefects’ line in morning and evening assembly when I too eventually got to the Sixth Form in the 1960s. How strange it is that seemingly small happenings can have such a lasting effect! I will never forget that lesson in kindness and support from a much senior pupil and his friend.

I also got on stage in Year 1, briefly, in ‘A New Way to pay Old Debts’, the annual School Play that year and had a brief scene with Roy Mould – later Roy Marsden of some TV and stage-acting fame. I was briefly involved on stage in an opening village mob fight scene where I was subsequently remembered for getting an elbow in the face on the first night and a resultant nosebleed all over the stage! The producer then kindly suggested that I did it every night as it gave the scene realism!

My biggest disappointment, but an equally important

influence perhaps, was in the fields of Sports and PE! It was a huge disadvantage to arrive from a small primary school that in reality did almost no sport! I tried everything to get noticed but I was small and at a big disadvantage compared with my peers. St Olave’s was a Rugby and Cricket school as well as Fives and Athletics and a bit of Hockey, I think, although I never got to play that. I tried everything and even went on the weekly Cross-Country team running route on my own when at Games in Dulwich, following after the Athletics team. However, in all my PE/Sports reports I was always very much seen as just an also ran! I tried so hard to be a scrum-half or fly-half but, although small and quite fast, I did not have the skill or the knowledge of the game to progress beyond a Game 2 “reserve” scrum-half. I did make the 3rd XI in Cricket as a wicketkeeper and an opening batsman, and I once played for the 2nd XI only not even to touch the ball, nor to bat! These experiences set up a lifelong frustration in me and more importantly, a desire - as a teacher in adult life - to give primary-age schoolboys the start I missed out on! I later became a Sports Master coaching, doing Football, (which we all played at St Olave’s, but that was frowned upon by the Sports Department there), Cricket, Swimming and Athletics as a Games Coach throughout my forty years of teaching. I seemed to pass through the PE staff rather sadly at St Olave’s without ever being noticed – yet I tried so hard to get a good report and sadly I do not think I ever did get my effort rewarded. I was unwell for a short while in the Lower School early years too and that did not help – but my time doing PE and Games at the school was a huge influence in my later life as a teacher.

At the end of Year 1 we took school exams to determine our future! This was to be the next big influence in my later adult life. At the time I was attending the school after these exams we were split into three forms labelled P, Q and R – the last strangely also referred to as the “Remove” but in fact that was the top-stream group. In Year 3 there was no 3R you jumped straight from 2R to 4R and then to 5R to take GCE ‘O’ Level (as it was then) a year early. All this so as to enter a first ‘A’ Level preparation year called Transitus, before then going on to do two further years in the Sixth Form, initially to do ‘A’ levels, and then in your final year possibly ‘S’ (Scholarship) Level exams for entry to Oxford or Cambridge or similar – if anything similar existed then! Everything at St Olave’s was really geared to University level and to us pupils going to University was for all of us the expected goal. Dr Carrington led a very traditional Grammar School with Oxford and Cambridge top of the pile then!

The criteria for entering 2R was roughly to finish in the top eight or so in your class and somehow, I came eighth! There was no discussion or argument so 2R it was! Regrettably I had already suffered from a double promotion at my Primary School to attempt taking the 11+ a year early and, as a result, my Maths became much weaker than my English because I had missed all the grounding in that jumped year and so lost a lot of confidence in that subject. Now, again, history was in danger of repeating itself! I had some good subjects - English and History and Geography and Biology, but a number of much weaker subjects as well, many of which were totally new to me - Latin and foreign languages generally (*see below), as well as Physics and Chemistry - which I never grasped due to the fast pace it was taught to us - and above all Maths – especially Algebra! I was not really ever a candidate for the Remove (fast) stream and therefore struggled throughout 2R, 4R and finally 5R but did still just scrape the required 3/4 ‘O’ level subjects to get into Transitus where I then spent some time trying to catch up on the seven ‘O’ levels I needed as a foundation in those days for academic progress, whilst also starting my 3‘A’ level courses. This involved retaking Spanish and Maths primarily and a few other make-up subjects that counted as ‘O’ Levels. At St Olave’s it was ‘A’ and ‘S’ levels that mattered –GCE ‘O’ levels were a ‘necessary’ to be obtained ‘asap’ to move on to better and more prestigious exams in preparation for University.

*Reference Languages. My relationship with foreign languages was indeed also influenced by the somewhat unusual experimental system that existed in St Olave’s at that time. We all took Latin in Year 1 which, as I had not been taught basic English Grammar at Primary School, I really struggled with, especially once we got past the rudimentary Latin that my dear dad had learnt himself at school. I quickly learnt after that always to do my own homework and to sink or swim on my own efforts, not the efforts of others! With regard to which of three modern languages we were taught – well it all depended on the letter of your surname! A to roughly G learnt French, H to, say, N learnt German and therefore, as I was R for Rotchell, I learnt Spanish! A very novel system (!) and in a way perhaps a very interesting experiment for educationalists to see how the three parallel groups worked! We pupils all saw that the German group made the fastest progress and used their talking skills in the playground quite soon. Because of all the grammar involved again as far as speaking French was concerned that group lagged a long way behind. We Spanish-learning students were in the middle, and I did quite enjoy my Spanish as it was a good language to speak and fairly easy to read. I think we started

them in earnest in Year 2 as modern languages and the pace of learning in 2R left me at a disadvantage again. Somehow I did pass Spanish at my second attempt despite an oral where I had carefully learnt, “Hace calor and el sol brillaba in el Cielo azule” (approximately!) - only for it to be pouring with rain and cold despite the exam being in June! The look on the examiner’s face said it all!! Still I smiled nicely and just passed! In adult life all my holidays abroad were diminished by my inability to speak any of the local languages, and I bitterly regretted that failure as I saw as an adult what a difference it makes to be in a country where you can at least try to speak their own language. Again, as an adult teacher, I was always in favour of children learning to speak a language to enjoy their holidays more!

Consequently my path through the middle years of St Olave’s was not always exactly easy and I rather staggered, slightly exhausted and with some damaged confidence, into Transitus where I was able to do the subjects I was good at, and I enjoyed that, although I never made up the time that I lost in those subjects I never got to grips with! I did ‘survive’ but at some cost! Geography was my saving grace in these rather troubled middle years at the School and in 4R I was allotted to Mr Geoffrey Chapman’s form. He and Basil Taylor introduced me to Fieldwork – which involved the freedom of working on my own and outside the school building and even going away to Field Centres in Wales or Juniper Hall near Dorking and in The Darenth Valley in Kent - near to where I now live - and I loved it. Geoffrey Chapman and I formed a very old-fashioned and almost Dickensian “pupil and master” relationship and despite his gruffness and I believe considerable physical discomfort, which he bore stoically, he saw in me a future Geography scholar and gave me a new academic confidence that I could succeed. I gave him a reciprocated interest in his beloved subject. We indeed stayed friends for the rest of his life, and he gave me all his Geography notes from his teaching days when he eventually retired. I was in contact with him until his death and in hindsight I now wish I had been blessed with the confidence to go into Secondary teaching and perhaps become the Geography teacher he would have been proud to have taught and inspired. His influence on my teenage mind was great. He and Aubrey Buck were good friends. Basil Taylor also arranged for me in my final year to try out my early teaching interest in the lower school with a couple of lessons before I left for college and that was really quite unheard of and at the time was so important. I always really enjoyed teaching 11–14-year-olds as an age group.

Otherwise much of my time in those GCE ‘O’ Level years was spent in frequent fear of endless weekly testing and the impending likely failure, and the happier days were often eclipsed by my feeling that everything was going at a pace I could not keep up with! This struggle had, with hindsight, a lot to do with building my character and perhaps stood me in good stead in years to come and perhaps helped to make me the sympathetic type of teacher I hoped that I would, and I believe did, become. I was not a subscriber to that odd philosophy that “your school days are the happiest of your life” then! Once in the Transitus, or Lower Sixth type of form I managed to get through my Spanish ‘O’ Level - and scrape together six ‘O’ levels, but that Maths was still eluding me – especially Algebra which I just did not have the brain for at say sixteen or so. Then, a young Maths teacher, Mr Firth, appeared at the school. In my A level year he was assigned to teach me on a one-to-one basis, in the school hall, how to pass ‘O’ Level Maths, and he was patience itself. This young teacher was everything I hoped to be when I would eventually start teaching and with his steady help I did successfully pass my Maths GCE, even if I did just about leave out all the algebra questions! However he inspired something much greater in me and that was the strong desire to teach Maths to those pupils that found it hard. I discovered that when I was first at primary school I had actually been awarded a school prize for my “Mathematical Ability”. Where had it all gone wrong? I have since spent most of my adult teaching life not teaching Geography, my subject, but helping those in the lower Maths sets struggling, like me, to gain an ‘O’ level, or something similar, and so to be able to add Maths to their achievements at school! Mr Firth, like Geoff Chapman, was such an influence – yet I was never able to thank him, and I do not know how long he stayed at St Olave’s or where he went in later life! I only know him as Mr Firth, but I owe him so much! Another young teacher who taught me then as well was a Mr Wiseman who was my English ‘A’ Level teacher, and he was another inspiration to me as a young aspiring teacher nearing the end of his schooldays. These sympathetic and listening teachers were a huge influence on my growing desire to follow their path. They were a new breed and I know Mr Wiseman stayed for a number of years after I left!

Music and singing have been a large part of my adult life, but that was not until after my voice broke and I became a bass baritone. I was not a member of the School Choir or any choir as a boy but, having joined our local Gilbert and Sullivan Society with my sister and my parents, following singing around the piano at home, I discovered a new interest – singing - at a

very important time in my teenage life. I can still see Desmond Swinburne’s face when I went to see him, aged sixteen, to ask if I could join the school choir as a bass when everyone else was queuing up to leave it as their voices broke and they wanted out!

Through the school choir at that age I was slowly introduced to choral music and Oratorio and then I joined my church choir and went on later to have private singing lessons with Frederick Sharpe at ‘The Royal College Of Music’ in London, and to combine my acting and singing skills into a lifetime of amateur and even semi-professional singing and acting engagements that I still pursue now, today, largely for the good of my health, but I can still sing as a soloist if required. St Olave’s helped me broaden my singing interest at a particularly crucial time in my teenage life.

My peer friendships at school were important, although I was often quite happy working in my own company and especially when out on fieldwork exercises. I really liked walking and studying alone out in the open air. It is strange the peer names you remember years later when either thinking back or perhaps looking at an OO peer group list. Whilst at school most friends knew me as Arthur as that was my first name rather than Keith my third, and the name I was known by at home. My surname too at school was also suddenly pronounced like the French town La Rochelle rather than as it is spelt; i.e. Rotchell to rhyme with Mitchell - much to my family’s annoyance. One sixth-form friend insisted on calling me Owen, (my second Christian name) and confused my dear mum every time he phoned me up as that had been her maiden name. [That was Robert Middleton!] Lower down the school, in those ‘R’ stream years, my closest friend was Stephen Pritchard whom I think I idolised again as he was, at that time, sporty and everything that I was not, but strove to be! John Williams was also a regular quiet supporting presence during those difficult ‘O’ Level years too and we saw each other quite a lot out of school too. At Sixth form level David Cox and I developed a quite unlikely friendship as he was comparatively very worldly and globe-trotted, with a family based out in Bahrain. He became Head boy in our last year, and I was so sad when he suddenly left, and I was unable to keep in contact with him. We shared acting together in ‘Julius Caesar’ (with Reggie Renshaw as Director) with Dave as ‘Mark Anthony’ and myself as ‘Cassius’ and a certain Mick Balaam as ‘Brutus’. That play was an influence on me too because I was not that prominent a member of the sixth form overall and usually kept quite a low profile. Cassius is

not a pleasant character to play! Some staff who did not know me assumed I must be like that in real life and I had a problem with them once the play was over and so spent time convincing some of them that I was (I hope) quite a nice chap really! Another lesson to carry into adult life, perhaps?

I was proud to be made a prefect in my last year and did take English, History and Geography at ‘A’ level and then the famous ‘Scholarship’ levels in both Geography and English. However my heart was set on going to Teacher Training College in London to teach London primary age children. As mentioned I really wanted to teach say the Middle School age-group, especially eleven to thirteen, but that option did not materialize until much later in my career. After becoming largely disillusioned as a large state school primary headteacher in north London (1982) I decided to give it all up and to seek a complete change of career - but instead ended up going to a large Independent Prep school in Sevenoaks and so suddenly entered the hallowed world of private education where I indeed almost overnight, “rediscovered” my love of teaching in a school, that was indeed so like the St Olave’s I had attended as a pupil myself all those years earlier!

It was quite a battle to be allowed to go to a Teacher Training College – St Mark and St John in Chelsea then -and I know the school saw it as a disappointment – Dr Carrington especially – but I knew what I wanted at that time! However my time at St Olave’s did prepare me well for my adult life – including its many disappointments and downturns and gave me the ability to bounce back from adversity. I know that I learnt a lot at school that prepared me for life: the regular morning and evening school assemblies that I can still see and even hear now, and those small blue Songs of Praise hymn books that we carried in our top pockets that then doubled up as table tennis bats, etc. As well as the wonderful moving sound of all those boys and young men singing hymns – such as Gather Us In, or even that moving School Song, Olaf to Right the Wrong, take me back to those gatherings! Those Hymns we sang at evening assembly I still know now and remember vividly when the assembly was much smaller due to forms being absent at Games or elsewhere at the end of the day – but I loved the evening assembly – although perhaps with the benefit of hindsight again!

The way we all lined up in the hall in the morning and exited from assembly in formation. That “brotherhood” of young men with lives ahead of them singing those hymns together stays with me to these current days. More so now as, increasingly, many of

them are no longer perhaps still with us. What sort of lives did they each have, I wonder? The pride in being a small part of such a long tradition and of all that history. That is partly why I am still an OO at the age of 77, by the time you read this, and why I am writing this paper for you to read today. My journey was certainly not all wonderful and parts of it were indeed quite hard, but then so is life. St Olave’s was not perfect, but it did prepare me for life and much of what I am now was influenced by my seven years in that red-brick building with its striking façade and indeed right on the side of the mighty River Thames and Tower Bridge. It was an impressive place to have been a part of for those formative years and probably gave me more than I gave it in return, It was a major influencer as I have tried to show in part here. I wonder what it did for others like me in those days and perhaps for you too that might currently be reading this article?

My best wishes to all that read this! Do grasp on to the happy memories and perhaps value the not-sohappy ones – it is often the failures that indeed might just bring out the best in us over our lifetime!

Arthur Owen Keith Rotchell. [By the way, the “O. K”. did get me in quite a bit of trouble when heading up a few school essays!] March 25th, 2023

A.O. Keith Rotchell. - F.Coll.P. L.C.P. (S.M.S). ACP. Cert Ed (Dist.).

Political Awareness Week – a contribution by Old Olavian, David Evans

Old Olavian, David Evans (1972-79) visited the School to address some students in March 2023 as part of their Political Awareness Week. The week had been organised by three Year 10 students, Aayush Kampani, Eythan Soysa and Hugo Maxwell. Aayush has written the article which follows about this occasion. It is hoped that there will continue be other Olavians who, like David, will provide students with the benefit of their experience in their careers since leaving the School.

On the 21 March 2023, St Olave’s welcomed Old Olavian, Mr David Evans, to give a talk to students. We welcomed eighty students across all years as part of Political Awareness Week, a student-found initiative designed to enhance students’ interest in politics and understand their role in politics. Mr Evans attended St Olave’s between 1972 and 1979 and, through bringing his wisdom to the forefront of Olavian minds, students were inspired by a truly

synoptic talk on the importance of politics in society. Mr Evans’ career, has led to his recent appointment as the General Secretary of the Labour Party in May 2020. Working as the General Secretary of the Labour Party, Mr Evans is responsible for the four hundred staff who ensure Labour’s finances are secured and that the party is fully compliant with the law. Following his talk, the students organising the event, Aayush, Hugo and Eythan, interviewed Mr Evans.

To commence the talk, Mr Evans discerningly argued how our two-party democracy is something students of St Olave’s should value and cherish. He described his experience working in Egypt before the Spring Revolutions and in Zagreb, where NGO firms such as the ones Mr Evans worked in were not able to contact the police who were closely aligned with very right-wing governments. Mr Evans then reinforced the need of our two-party state to represent a fair democracy that would continue to thrive and better itself. Moreover, though politics may be the only job in which you may ever be able to overtly attack your opponents, having led a cross-party consultancy firm looking at behavioural change, Mr Evans stressed the importance of the passion and perseverance which all politicians must demonstrate to achieve their vision of the Earth.

David Evans (1979)

For students, it was ultimately Mr Evans’ passion

for politics from a young age that seemed to stand out after the talk, and how his career evolved. This, combined with the idea that Mr Evans was once also a student at St Olave’s, inspired students further to think about where they could be soon. It may be memorable to many who attended the talk that Mr Evans’ interest in politics started in Orpington High Street outside Barclay’s Bank, rallying against apartheid in South Africa. Mr Evans also saw the consequences of such inequality on a personal level, when his brother was bullied because of a learning disability. Ever since then, Mr Evans has advocated the importance of giving everyone a voice and he is passionate that people are not hamstrung by social mobility or other inbuilt barriers that prevent certain types of people from having a voice. Through this

drive and passion for tackling prejudice, Mr Evans first cut his teeth in politics in the 1980s, shortly after Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister. His career started as a Trade Union Liaison Officer for the Croydon Trades Council and, by 1994, Mr Evans had progressed to become the Regional Director of Labour Northwest, and then from 1999, Assistant General Director. In 2001, Mr Evans was the founder and director of the Campaign Company, a cross-party consultancy company, before becoming the Labour Party General Secretary.

Closer to St Olave’s, during his interview, Mr Evans recollected his fond times at St Olave’s, not least to mention

Mr Dennis Wiseman being his favourite teacher in school and practising with his band in the school Chapel. The pranks and jokes which Mr Evans recollected during school visits highlighted the enjoyable experience he had with St Olave’s and drawing key life skills and friends from the school, ultimately forming the foundation of his successful career.

Aayush Kampani

Old Olavians’ Masonic Lodge No 5758

I am delighted to report a pleasing uprising in members joining our lodge during the last year. With five new members, headed by a former pupil of the school, we look hopefully to the future.

Our current master is Philip Clare - himself an Old Olavian. We are, of course, also delighted that our members include five who attended the school when it was based in Tooley Street. One toast at our formal dinners is always, “The school, the lodge- the root and the branch, may they flourish and live forever!”

Freemasonry’s main objective remains, as ever, to raise funds for charitable causes. Maybe the National Lottery and those TV telethons raise more than us but we are up there with them as a leading light in this field.

I mentioned last year our huge contribution following that dreadful Grenfell Tower block fire in London which enabled the London Fire Brigade to purchase their important high rise rescue ladders. Now, as the two rescue helicopters flying over London reach the end of their active lives this year, we intend to provide most of the funding to replace one of them.

Are you interested in finding more about us? If so, contact me, Peter Hudson on 01689 858583 and we can meet for a chat about what we do at our four meetings a year.

Peter Hudson OBE

Honorary Secretary - Old Olavians’

Lodge.

Telephone: 01689 858583

E-mail: hudsons91@btinternet.com

Old Olavians South Devon Cricket Tour 2023

After a July when almost every league game was cancelled due to rain we had faultless weather for all four days of tour, fielded eleven men each day and finished honours even, with Won two - Lost two. None of these things looked like happening a couple of weeks beforehand, so it was good to see the usual tour luck had not deserted us.

We met up for lunch at the Church House Inn at Marldon as we had last year, and then took the short journey through the heart of Paignton beach front to the ground. Fearing the home team would have a similarly strong line-up to last time, and, seeing a slightly moist pitch tinged with green after the recent rain, skipper Lance Giles “won” the negotiated toss and invited Paignton to bat first. Sam Flower had filled out well since his last tour as a fourteen-year old two years ago and looked a serious bowler as he bowled the first over and banged it down on a good length, getting decent bounce and beating the bat several times. In the absence of any other mediumpacer in the lineup, Giles attempted to crank out a few overs of seam not seen on a cricket pitch in a few years and did unexpectedly well, bowling one of the openers in his first over. Sam took a wicket at the other end, caught by keeper Joe Parsons, and after nine overs the home team were 23 for two (better than the 103 for one they were at the same stage last year). Laurence Sanders rolled up first change, the memory of his leg-spin ripping out the tail three years ago on this ground still vivid in the minds of those who had been there. He was not able to repeat the performance, but twelve-year old Jared Bristow at the other end calmly put in an excellent spell of off-spin, landing it on a length and getting good turn and troubling the batsmen. In his third over the batter had a big heave at one and sent it soaring up into the air towards the clubhouse some distance away at square leg. Only one lone figure was anywhere nearby - John Bristow, father of Jared. No pressure! John did not have to move a foot, but he had plenty of time to think about all the family ribbing that would come his way if he did not pouch this one, as the ball became a small dot in the sky before hanging for a minute or two at its apogee and beginning its descent straight into

the large capable hands of dad. Well done to both of them, particularly Jared who had not even been down to play until he heard at lunchtime that we had had a cry-off the night before and only had ten men, and so he volunteered his services.

OOs on Tour at Paignton

Tom Parsons sent down a barrage of his fizzing leggies and got their main batsman, G Woodcock, out for a confident 61, caught by Paul Flower. Following him was Neil Knox, a Paignton man who had volunteered to play for us when we had mentioned we were a man short, mostly because he wanted to bowl at his son, he said. He put in a creditable spell of slow-medium too. During one of his tight overs the batter hit the ball firmly to Lance at extra cover and set off for a cheeky single. The OO skipper was not having any of that, and shimmied to the right, and, in one motion, picked up the ball cleanly and poised himself to buzz it in to the bowler’s end with the batsman not even in the frame for the run out. He just managed to check his throw, however, as all he could see was the top of Neil’s head - the bowler had bent down and was doing his shoelace up, and happened to be kneeling directly between Lance and the stumps, completely hiding them from attack. Still, safety first and all that, I suppose; a loose lace is a dangerous thing!

Dillon Bristow put in a tidy spell to keep the pressure on, before Giles and Flower (junior) came back to finish things off, Sam hitting the stumps once to bag his second wicket. This left the home team on 182 for five off their forty overs, a total that we thought was maybe a bit under par.

Paignton’s match manager had assured the OO tour manager “not to worry about the teas”. It transpired that this meant that there were in fact none, rather than the hoped-for tables laden with so many delectable goodies that our whites would be in danger of splitting. Luckily most of us still had a decent pub lunch knocking about inside us, so we were not too put out, and father and son John and Dillon Bristow

strode out to open the batting in good spirits. Dillon was caught out before he had had a chance to settle in, but John got into his stride nicely, mixing sound defence with some hard-struck boundaries especially square of the wicket. It was a surprise when he was caught and bowled for 39, after which Joe Parsons came out to partner his brother Tom, who had been playing in his usual sublime way, batting like a steel bar in a silk glove. Joe hit a couple of straight fours before getting bowled eyeing up another one, and thus allowing Cameron Sanders to become Tom’s next partner. They put on forty together, taking the total to 148 for three, just 34 short of the target. Cameron obviously decided at this point that victory was close enough for him to be a bit more audacious, and he whirled round and reverse-chipped the next ball straight to square leg. Paul Flower hit a couple of fours before he was caught out, and Tom Parsons was also caught for a classy 76 from 63 balls, including two large sixes. Worryingly, by this stage the tourists’ batting reserves were quickly dwindling and the target score was hardly coming any closer. Laurence Sanders was bowled for a duck, Sam Flower took a big swing and was caught and Giles perished to a good slip catch; we were suddenly left with our last pair at the crease and three runs required. One of the batsmen was our guest from Paignton, Neil, whose strength was definitely more as a bowler than batter, and the other one was Jared Bristow, who, while he had demonstrated the heart and confidence of a lion, was only just taller than the stumps. The crowd were tense as each ball was sent down. One ball squirted past everything and the batsmen ran a bye. Jared got a thick edge on the next, and they scampered a single, bringing Jared on strike for the next over. One run required for victory, one wicket for a tie. Paignton’s eighth bowler of the day bowled his first ball - a dot. He bowled his second ball, which was taken by the keeper away to the off-side. Umpire Steve Parsons considered the angle for a moment before turning to the clubhouse and calmly raising his arms to signal a wide. The OOs had won! After a brief discussion out on the pitch, play resumed anyway, presumably more out of curiosity than anything else. The very next ball, Jared swung hard and chipped the ball up in the air where it was caught at point. Never mind! Look in the scorebook - the OOs had won what had turned into the closest of games and the tour was off to a memorable start.

Sidmouth almost always put out a strong team against us, and their skipper of the day seemed keen for us to bat so they could gauge their reply accordingly, so that is what we did. I am not sure they had anticipated an in-form Tom Parsons with a first-baller the previous year to avenge. He smoked his way to fifty at a

run-a-ball, with Laurence Sanders providing staunch support at the other end. Off the next twenty-four balls Tom hammered another 47 runs until he got to within a shot of his ton, whereupon he came down the wicket, unexpectedly missed the ball and was stumped, thus denying himself a deserved century. Steve Parsons was heard, later on in the bar, to wryly observe: “There was symmetry in the scoring todaywhen we got to hundred, one batter was on 71 and the other on 17”, to which Laurence good-naturedly offered an indignant, “Thanks, Steve”.

With the score on 135 for one after twenty overs we had a great platform to work with. Pete White strode to the crease, but sadly became another of the growing company of batters to hit a couple of pleasing fours before getting caught. Laurence was also out caught for a solid 42, just as he had begun motoring. Our guest friend from Ashburton, Dan Coles, hit a swift 24, and our old pal Jimmy Gosling from Kenn, also guesting for us, biffed 58 off forty-six balls, including a big six into the bowls green at the bottom of the ground, before he was run out by a good throw. Dillon chipped in with an unbeaten fifteen at the end to bring the total to 279 for 5 from our forty overs.

OOs on Tour at Sidmouth

Sam Flower, as the leader of the attack for the week,

took the first over again and was right on the money. The batter Powell showed him the wide face of his bat for the first three balls, however, and if anyone could be said to look threatening after three forwarddefensives, then Powell did seem to have an air of menace and balance about him. The fourth ball was shorter, verging on a long-hop, and Powell latched onto it and sent it pinging to midwicket. However, it pinged at a catchable height, and he was heard to give a grimace of “Oh no!” as there happened to be a fielder right there. Lance Giles managed not to drop it and the first wicket was down. Sam continued his excellent spell of five overs for eight runs. At the other end, Evan Conway (a new guest from our friends at Kenn) bowled some good balls but had a little trouble finding his length going up the hill, and Sidmouth were 52 for one off ten overs and right in the hunt. Cameron Sanders came on, however, and, with his tall left-arm-over seamers, shut down one end with a spell of five overs for fourteen runs. Giles took a turn from the bottom end. He got one

to drift away in his first over, inducing an edge from batter Cuconitis as he tried to whip him through the leg-side. Joe Parsons was at slip and had been swaying to the left, following the ball, but managed to reverse his momentum and dive forwards, taking a startling catch with one hand an inch above the ground to dismiss the big-hitting batter for 33 in the champagne moment of the day. This no doubt saved us quite a few runs, and from here Sidmouth got steadily behind the clock. The next wicket went down at 87, bowled Giles, and’ with twenty overs already gone, the required rate was almost into double figures. Jimmy Gosling thought he would have a go at spin too, rather than his usual seam, and bowled the other opener, Goodall, for 44 before having the next batter caught out by keeper Laurence in the same over. Dillon Bristow chipped in by clean bowling another victim; Pete White floated a few tempters up and Evan returned for a tighter spell, before Tom Parsons finally came on to bowl the very last over and got the opposition skipper, Cameron Grainger, caught for a defiant 48. Sidmouth had amassed 170 for eight and the OOs had romped home to a comfortable victory played in good spirits in Sidmouth’s bicentennial year.

During the winter Sidmouth had invited their two oldest touring clubs to pen short articles about their experience of visiting their club for so long - those clubs were the Nondescripts (first tour in 1887) and the Old Olavians (first tour 1923, exactly 100 years ago). Our long-time Old Olavian editor and lifelong cricketer, John Brown, had performed the honour for us, reflecting on both the pleasure of playing at such a quintessential English ground and also his own reminiscences of games gone by, including one where the OOs won a close game due to the Sidmouth number eleven having confidently, but rather prematurely, strolled off for a dip in the sea and missed a flurry of late wickets. The articles were printed across a double-page spread in the celebratory booklet Sidmouth had published, along with other features and opinion pieces about their landmark year and the lifetime of their proud club. Brian Cantle would have given a snort of approval (followed probably by some withering comment about not being awarded a photo in the book too) to know that Sidmouth did actually value the Old Olavians highly enough to put us in their important book!

After a bit of pitch and putt on Tuesday morning (won by the canny Paul Flower) we headed up to Sandford in buoyant spirits after our two wins. Sandford won the toss and elected to bat first. Their batters made a confident start and, on a great batting pitch, decided to have a go at anything that was not on a good line

and length. Maybe a bit of fatigue was setting in after their exertions on tour already, and the OO opening bowlers, Flower and Sanders, found it hard to settle. After six overs the score had rattled up to 55 and captain Paul felt the need to ring early changes. Spin duo Chris Evans and Lance Giles were brought on, and, despite being hit for three fours in his first over, Giles made a breakthrough, bowling Gidney for 36. They managed to keep the brakes mildly applied for the next six overs, which yielded a comparatively sedate 29 runs. Another double bowling change to keep things fresh saw Dillon Bristow and new tour guest, AJ West, put in good spells of spin, particularly AJ who beat the bat on several occasions and kept the batsmen guessing and slowing the rate down to only five an over. AJ eventually took a deserved wicket, removing the other opener, Gray, for 82 with a catch off his own bowling. AJ’s dad, Marcus, replaced Dillon and kept his end up with some good gentle swingers, but the batters were not looking in too much danger on the lovely pitch and carried on their fairly serene progress. As the final overs drew in, both batters (A. Small and J. Ford) retired in their sixties, and the bowlers were shuffled a bit more to not much avail apart from a wicket for Westy (senior), and Sandford’s innings coasted in to port at a sizable 275 for four in their forty overs.

OOs on Tour at Sandford

It would need a fairly remarkable innings or two to get us close to the target. Weighed down by a sumptuous Sandford tea (made all the more welcome by the rarity these days of any tea supplied at all at a cricket game), Dan Coles and Sam Flower buckled on their pads and led the tourists’ reply. The home bowling attack started briskly and were right on the spot, giving away nothing, and they managed to put the OOs both behind the clock and rip out our top three batsmen, Pete White joining the openers back in the hutch with the score on 37 for three after twelve overs. With the required rate now over eight an over, the Sanders brothers found themselves at the crease together. Cameron became the fourth catch of the innings before too long, but Westy (senior) combined with Laurence and they chipped away at the mountain face in front of them as best they could. They put on 122 before Westy, seeing his team were in an impossible position, sportingly retired on 41 to

allow captain Paul and the rest of the batters to have a go. By this stage the OOs needed another 116 runs from nine overs, but Paul and then Lance tried to hit a few big crowd-pleasers without much success, and Laurence carried on his good knock to finish on an unbeaten 94 as the tourists just managed to creep past two hundred, finishing on 207 for five (plus one retiree), a fairly distant second in the contest. Still, it had been a bright sunny day, in great company and at one of the most welcome and attractive places an OO tourist could find himself, so we could not grumble too much. Over a pint we had a good chat with our jolly hosts, and congratulated them on being about to win the Devon Premier League, then we nipped off to the Three Pigs for dinner.

Wednesday’s game had an air of excitement about it, as it was a rare occurrence that the OOs had a new location on their tour itinerary. Ivybridge proved to be an exceptionally friendly bunch, and their pleasant and rustic ground turned out to be an ideal addition to our venue list. The OOs chose to bat first in excellent conditions, but found themselves three wickets down after six oversboth Dillon and John Bristow were bowled and a brief cameo by tour legend, Dave Colloff, was cut off prematurely when he was caught out, with only eight runs scored between them. Skipper Lance Giles joined Dan Coles at the crease and they set about patching things up with a bit of vigour. Despite a few airy wafts they cantered along hitting plenty of fours, and by the time drinks were taken the tourists were in the much healthier state at 130 for three off twenty overs. As so often happens, however, the drinks break brought about a change of atmosphere. First Dan Coles was caught out for a solid and important 54, then Pete White perished two balls later from an over-ambitious swing and another caught behind. Giles should probably have reined things back a bit at that point, but he kept hitting out and went for one big shot too many - caught at long-off for 65 - with the score on 166 for six off twenty-seven overs. The tourists had been hoping for something over the two hundred mark, but the mini-collapse had exposed our fairly lengthy tail. Sam Flower hit a few decent shots, and local hero Conrad Sutcliffe (who had insisted on guesting for us after we had sadly been unable to fulfil our usual South Devon fixture this year due to a lack of available players), along with Jared Bristow, tried their best to little avail as the OOs petered out on 185 all out after thirty-six overs.

Knowing they were a few runs short of par, the OOs were going to need a good bowling performance to take this one to the wire. Giaco Bridget, back for a second tour Wednesday appearance after last year, began well, swinging the ball nicely and taking an early wicket caught by Bob (Dillon). Dave Colloff took a few balls to ease back into his customary immaculate length, given his two-year lay off, but then cranked out four respectable overs before his body decided that was enough of that for a bit. Sadly, around this point one of the batters struck the ball into the leafy ditch along the top of the ground, and could we find it? No. As a replacement we were given something red I would not have been happy with on a rainy Thursday at nets. Having tweaked his elbow the day before, our star bowler Sam was restricted to spin, and the batsmen were starting to look ominously settled. The score chuntered along in a fairly happy state, despite four excellent overs from the find of tour, young Jared Bristow, who also got one of the batsmen caught behind by Pete White. Dillon Bristow put in a good tight spell to try to keep us in the hunt, but with the ball not swinging or seaming, all we could do was watch the target steadily draw nearer. There were certainly some stiff legs out there in the field, and it was difficult for the captain to plug the gaps in the field when most of the plugs were really holes themselves. Chris Evans and Lance were not able to conjure anything with the ball, nor were gallant returning spells from Giaco and Sam, and Ivybridge hit the winning runs with a couple of overs still to go, three wickets down (plus H Solomon retired on fifty). Still, the contest had been fought in exemplary spirits with plenty of light-hearted quips, and the tourists were even surprised by the home team appearing in their changing rooms with a couple of commiseratory jugs of beer. This was followed by an impromptu barbecue, an all-round lovely end to tour as the sun went down behind the trees. We hope we shall be able to play them again next year.

All the usual hearty thanks to our loyal umpire and master of the whimsical turn of phrase Steve Parsons, particularly since he had a bad foot this year and could not take part in any playing capacity. More thanks to Ian Giles and Ray Michael and anyone else who kept the scorebook and board going during the week, usually without prompting from the tour manager as he had forgotten about it. Finally a big hug to all the travelling supporters for their constant good humour, energy and company during the week - Pennie Giles, Linda Michael, Jackie Childe, Becky White, Kathy Staff,

the Bayliss-Giles crew of Craig, Andy, Mason and Freddie, Louise Flower and the Colloffs, Rachel, Menna and Cara.

Getting a decent number of people interested in spending a few days playing cricket in the sun in Devon with their mates proved harder than ever before this year, to the extent we had sadly to give up on getting a team out for the Thursday game at South Devon. This was particularly regrettable since they are our oldest continuous opponents, whom we have played every year since 1913. We hope that, if we can find some way of increasing tourist numbers, we can resurrect the fixture.

I will finish with another appeal to all cricketers and people who know cricketers - why not spend just a few days with us on tour next year and you too can find your exploits described in next year’s report, thus entertaining numerous readers? You will even get a discounted hotel rate! It would be such a shame if our small piece of cricketing history came to an end due to lack of numbers, denying future generations the chance of experiencing the joys of a fifty at Sidmouth or a comical run out on Torquay beach.

We also play a friendly midweek match against ODCUACO early in the season in memory of Brian Cantle, and if at all possible we would like to play the School in a T20 match one evening in June.

Lance Giles (1988-95)

Results (all 40 over games):

Sunday 13th August v Paignton: Old Olavians won by 1 wicket

Paignton 182 for 5 (S Flower 2-31)

OOs 183 for 9 (T Parsons 76, J Bristow 39) in 34.1 overs

Monday 14th August v Sidmouth: Old Olavians won by 108 runs

OOs 279 for 5 (T Parsons 97, J Gosling 58, L Sanders 42)

Sidmouth 170 for 8 (J Gosling 2-13, S Flower 2-18, L Giles 2-24)

Tuesday 15th August v Sandford: Sandford won by 68 runs

Sandford 275 for 6 (M West 2-25)

OOs 207 for 6 (L Sanders 94*, M West 41 retired)

Wednesday 16th August v Ivybridge: Ivybridge won by 6 wickets

OOs 185 all out in 36.3 overs (L Giles 65, D Coles 54)

Ivybridge 186 for 3 in 38 overs (J Bristow 1-14)

Lance Giles (1988-95)

lancegiles@hotmail.com

Please see our Facebook page for photos and video clips from this and previous tours:

https://www.facebook.com/oldolavianscricketclub

Old Olavians Eton Fives Club

The Old Olavian Fives club enjoyed another fantastic season! The extra courts have made a major impact on our club mornings, enabling a couple of League matches to be hosted at the same time. The larger allows both a match and club session to run alongside each other. Large numbers of players represented the club across three adult league divisions, and the close collaboration with the outstandingly talented school players is stronger than ever.

The major tournaments around the country were well attended by Olavians, with Seb and Charlotta now well into double figures for their consecutive National Championship wins in the Men’s and Ladies’ respectively. The highlight of the season for the club is still the three-pair Men’s Team Nationals for the Barber Cup. The line-up of Morgan Pugh, Seb Cooley, James Toop, Howard Wiseman, Tony Barker and Prajeeth Sathiyamoorthy did the trick again, defeating the Old Salopians convincingly at first and second pairs to take the title for the twenty-second time in the past twenty-four years. This is our twenty-third win in the club’s long history.

Old Olavians EFC Barber Cup Winners 2023

One of the highlights of the season was the introduction of an “Olavian” Fives day at Cambridge University. A large group of Olavians from the school and recent leavers enjoyed lunch with Olavians studying at Cambridge, then played The University Team, and then a team of Old Olavians currently at Cambridge. Great fun! We will repeat this during the coming season, and introduce a similar visit to Oxford too!

Old Olavians at Cambridge

Trevor Henry DUNCOMBE died on 1 June 2023. His wife, Ania, sent this sad news.

Malcolm (Bob) GILLINGHAM (1961) died on 8 July 2023. His wife, Val, sent the sad news.

Michael HAMILTON (1981-88): died in December 2022, and his brother, Roger (197986), has sent a tribute. Michael’s funeral was wellattended by friends, family and many carers who had looked after him for so many years. Many Old Olavians attended, and I would particularly like to thank the Old Olavians, Jeff Lawrence, Sean Tyler and Roger Stanton for all their support and also Dave Ravel for organising for many of Michael’s former classmates to attend. After the funeral, a large contingent of attendees celebrated Michael’s life in a more positive atmosphere at the Tiger’s Head in Chislehurst, one of Michael’s favourite haunts, where we all raised a glass to my late brother. He will be sorely missed.

If anyone would like to contact Roger, his contact details follow the obituary. Michael was born in Portland, Oregon state, USA, on 1 September 1969. The family returned to Orpington at the end of 1970, but moved to Chislehurst in 1974. Both brothers went to Crofton Primary School and then St. Olave’s in Orpington.

Michael did well at school and obtained nine O levels and three A levels, before gaining a degree in Geography at Leeds University (1988-1992). He was an excellent chess player, playing for Crofton and St Olave’s chess teams. He played basketball and cricket at St Olave’s and enjoyed caving.

After graduating, he travelled extensively throughout Europe with one his good school friends, Jeff Lawrence. He maintained close links with other OOs throughout his life, most notably Jeff Lawrence and Roger Stanton, with whom he travelled to numerous countries. Michael loved travelling and had the opportunity to travel to many countries all over the world before his medical condition prevented this. After college Michael worked initially for a local administration company in Petts Wood before being hired by the Bank of Montreal in London, where he worked as a computer specialist from 1996 until 2003. He obtained numerous IT-related qualifications while at the bank. He travelled extensively during this period, with prolonged work placements in Munich,

Germany. He then became an external IT consultant for Gerrard, a Kent-based computer solutions company. In 2006 he began his final employment adventure at Dow Jones in London, working as an IT consultant, before health problems sadly interrupted his career in late 2007.

His deteriorating health condition prevented him from being able to pursue extended employment opportunities, until he was finally unable to work at all. Michael’s final years were very difficult indeed, and he required care at home with live-in carers. It was very frustrating and sad for everyone to see as he very slowly began to slip away.

Michael’s hobbies included travel, film, music – he attended many concerts – visiting museums and galleries. Before his health problems began, Michael maintained a small but close group of friends who stayed close to him until the end of his life. Roger hopes he will be remembered for his fortitude in times of great adversity at different moments in his life.”

Roger Bartus Hamilton, Ctra. Campo de Golf, 3, Guadalmar, Málaga 29004, Spain

Tel.: +34 649496980

Email: bartushamilton@telefonica.net

Harold Francis HUMPHREYS (Hal) (1948): We have been informed by good friends and neighbours, John and Lavender Buckland, that Hal died on 21 January 2022, one day short of his 92nd birthday, and less than a month after his beloved wife, Stella. After leaving school, Hal took an Open University degree in Philosophy and was a successful, well-liked Trade Union leader. Hal relished his education and held onto his Olavian hymnal all his life, which has now been added to the school archives.

Graham Henry JONES. OBE (1960-62): died late in 2022 at the age of 78. His friend David Roberts sent us this sad news: “I’m deeply saddened to have to inform you that our St. Olave’s classmate, Graham Jones, OBE, aka “Cliff” and “the Champ”, suffered a heart attack at home in Blackheath on Sunday morning, 30 October and passed away that afternoon at King’s College Hospital, Camberwell. He had not been well for a couple of weeks, suffering from a bad cough and chest pains, but did nothing about it. He always appeared to be very fit, working out with weights and running a lot, but never went to a GP for a check-up, like the rest of us do, or should do. On both the Friday and Saturday he went to his local David Lloyd’s fitness centre and he had also arranged to meet his good friend, Gregg, there on Sunday afternoon. But, that was not to be!”

Chris Harris remembers speaking with Graham last year when Graham told him that he was still working as a patent attorney as well as doing free work for The Princes Trust.

Harry McALEER died on 24 July 2023. He was a very popular student, who became school captain. He also played rugby for the School and, whilst studying for his 1st in Mechanical Engineering at Clare College Cambridge, he turned out against Oxford in the under21 varsity match. He joined BCG on graduating and later sat as a governor of the School. Harry actively promoted mental health awareness and he was also a first-aider with Mental Health England.

Carol VENTON (Piano Teacher): Stephen Davies, former Director of Music, informed us in December 2022 of the sudden sad death of this popular teacher. There was a service celebrating her life in Southwark Cathedral in January 2023

Stephen wrote, “Carol Venton began teaching the piano in September 1977 and retired just a few years ago having provided a service to the School’s music of just under forty years!! Carol was a graduate of the Royal College of Music and formed half of a brilliant professional two-piano ensemble, playing concerts at the Wigmore Hall and many other concert halls.

”At St Olave’s, she was much-loved and appreciated by her students and members of staff alike, inspiring the boys to achieve much more than they thought they were capable of, and several of them went on to pursue professional careers in music themselves.

”Carol’s musical ability, combined with her vivacity and bubbling sense of fun, made her an immensely successful teacher and she will be greatly missed by all those who knew her.”

HONORARY OFFICERS 2023

PRESIDENT

Andrew Rees, Headteacher

St Olave’s Grammar School, Goddington Lane, Orpington, Kent BR6 9SH

Tel: 01689 820101

CHAIRMAN

Chris Harris, chairoldolavians@gmail.com

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Graham Milne

Paul Ouseley

Bill Prouse

Rajiv Purwar

EDITOR OF THE OLD OLAVIAN

John M Brown, 60 The Lawns, Rolleston-on-Dove, Staffordshire, DE13 9DB

Tel: 01283 813976 e-mail: johnmbrown60@gmail.com

SECRETARIES OF AFFILIATED CLUBS AND SOCIETIES

CRICKET CLUB

Lance Giles, c/o 44 Harwood Avenue, Bromley, Kent, BR1 3DU

Tel: 07891 725488 e-mail: lancegiles@hotmail.com

FIVES CLUB

Howard Wiseman, 7 Genoa Road, Anerley, SE20 8ES

Tel: 020 8778 0752

OLD OLAVIANS’ LODGE (No. 5758)

Peter G Hudson OBE

9 Downs View Close, Pratts Bottom

Orpington, Kent, BR6 7SU

Tel: 01689 858583 e-mail: hudsons91@btinternet.com

RUGBY CLUB

Phil Grayson

57 Byrne Road, Balham, London SW12 7JB

Tel: 07971 878750

HOLYOAK ROOM

St Olave’s School, Goddington Lane, Orpington, Kent, BR6 9SH

OLD OLAVIANS ADMINISTRATOR

Clare Cockshott

ccockshott@saintolaves.net