Stamford: Alumni and Parents (Winter 2018) by Stamford Endowed Schools

Stamford ALUMNI AND PARENTS

LUCY COHU

(OS 87)

Emmy Award Winning Actress

WINTER 2018 EDITION

DAVID STARKEY: Henry VIII and the First Brexit VOX: Keeping Boys Singing

CHARLOTTE LAMBKIN (OS 90): Life in Financial PR

Stamford - Alumni and Parents Published by Nimble Media, on behalf of the Stamford Endowed Schools and distributed to members of the SES alumni associations and parents. Publisher: Vicky Binley T: 01780 432930 E: vicky@nimblemedia.co.uk Editorial Commitee: Sarah Mahoney Alumni Relations Manager Stamford Endowed Schools T: 01780 750359 E: SLMahoney@ses.lincs.sch.uk

Stamford ALUMNI AND PARENTS

CONTENTS Fostering Independent Minds from a Young Age

Hannah Hamilton Director of Development and External Relations Stamford Endowed Schools T: 01780 750032 Charlotte Watters Head of Marketing Communications Stamford Endowed Schools T: 01780 750309 E: CUWatters@ses.lincs.sch.uk

Lucy Cohu (OS 87)

Advertising Sales: Michelle Toner T: 01572 432930 E: michelle@nimblemedia.co.uk

Charlotte Lambkin

Humanities by Mark Zacharius

Production Secretary: Tracy Hurst T: 01780 432930 E: tracy@nimblemedia.co.uk Administration Assistant: Chloe Jackson T: 01780 432930 E: chloe@nimblemedia.co.uk

David Starkey: Henry VIII and the First Brexit

Designer: James Counsell T: 01780 432930

Editorial Contributors: Philip Chew Elise Chowdhury Anneke Davies Hannah Hamilton Alexander Kroese Sarah Mahoney Rachael Petrie Will Phelan Megan Topaz David Tuck Giles Turner Charlotte Watters Samantha Weeks Mark Zacharius

Invictus Games: Rachel Williamson

Covered in Marmalade

38 OS Legal Sector Group: Interviews with two OS members

VOX: An insight from Director of Music, Giles Turner

The Stamford Endowed Schools Strategy

Image Contributors: SES Foundation Archives Adrian Salisbury David Starkey Lucy Cohu Simon Stanley Stamford Endowed Schools

Innovative TED-Ed Club at SJS

Duncan Toplis with SES Trustee, Tom Hindmarch

Enquiries regarding editorial within this magazine should be addressed to the Foundation Team at: Brazenose House, St Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Street, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 2BE T: 01780 750359 E: alumni@ses.lincs.sch.uk Printed in Great Britain by Bishops Bishops Printers Walton Road Portsmouth Hampshire PO6 1TR T: 02392 334900

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Stamford Endowed Schools Registered Charity Number 527618

Disclaimer This magazine has been produced by Nimble Media Ltd, in association with Stamford Endowed Schools. Businesses within this guide are not all endorsed by Nimble Media Ltd or Stamford Endowed Schools and neither shall be liable for any content or subsequent services provided by any business. Any facts stated, or opinions expressed, in this publication are the sole responsibility of the contributors. Nimble Media Limited/Stamford Endowed Schools cannot be held responsible for any loss or injury sustained in reliance thereon.

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Principal’s Welcome “Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” – Theodore Roosevelt We have talked for some years that Stamford creates ‘rounded and grounded’ students: that our students exude ‘Stamfordian spirit’, that we ‘light fires’ of intellectual curiosity, and build a team around our pupils. Our goal is to develop far more than students who are intellectually curious and 21st century boardroom ready. It is equally important to nurture students with passion for their post-Stamford aspirations, preparing them for more than just job roles, but for life roles and a life with meaning. In my INSET speech at the beginning of this academic year, I invited our staff to look beyond our narrative as educators, in the most obvious of senses, and to continue to develop the work we do creating empathy, humanity and enthusiasm for life in our pupils. This edition of ‘Stamford’ features Old Stamfordians and members of our community with real passion for the work they do – from two OS lawyers, now sharing their knowledge with other Old Stamfordians in their sector, to current staff with passion for the subjects they live and breathe, to Trustees and donors of the Stamford Endowed Schools, continuing the work that is so vital to our future development. We hold one of the most privileged and important responsibilities as educators, and our reward is to see the Stamfordian spirit that burns bright in our former pupils as well as in our current Stamfordians. I hope you enjoy reading about and celebrating this too. Christ Me Spede. Will Phelan Principal

Keep in touch with news from Stamford Endowed Schools facebook.com/stamfordendowedschools Twitter - @spedenews Website – www.ses.lincs.sch.uk SES Sport - www.sessport.co.uk SES Box Office – www.ticketsource.co.uk/ses

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Old Stamfordian Interview: Lucy Cohu (OS 87)

‘…if you have a desire and love for something, then nothing will stop you.’ 8

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Emmy Award winner and BAFTA nominee, Old Stamfordian Lucy Cohu (OS 87) explores the theatre industry with drama teacher at the Stamford Endowed Schools, and former classmate, Anneke Davies (OS 87).

Humble beginnings In September 2008, Lucy Cohu walked on stage in Los Angeles to collect an Emmy. The award was for ‘Best Performance by an Actress’ for her role in TV movie, ‘Forgiven’ (2007), and her speech, on receipt, was dedicated simply to the producers, director, cast and crew, and the family behind the story. It’s an unassuming attitude to an internationally recognised award in the industry. And yet Lucy remembers flying back home the day after and, by the evening, “de-nitting the kids’ hair, cooking fish fingers and not working for two years.” In a self-confessed “tough industry”, Lucy refers to herself as a “jobbing actor.” Having worked in film, theatre and TV, her resumé includes, notwithstanding the above, ‘The Queen's Sister’ (2005), for which she was BAFTA and Emmy nominated, and roles alongside actors Anne Hathaway, Emma Watson, Matthew Macfadyen, Stephen Fry, and Ben Miller. Currently she is performing in the West End in ‘The Height of the Storm’, a new play by Florian Zeller, with Eileen Atkins and Jonathan Pryce. The play, a compelling drama, explores love, family, and the fragility of life: it is ‘A play that takes us to the edge of what it is to love.’ (The Times)

Breaking in The industry is challenging to break into - an enduring theme in acting – and the statistics are terrifying. According to ‘The Guardian’ back in 2009, close to 92% of the profession can be out of work at any one time. Woody Allen once wrote, “Showbusiness is not so much dog eats dog, as dog doesn't return other dog's phone calls” … Lucy, undeterred by the prospect, was keen on pursuing a career in the sector. “After leaving drama school it was tough; it's incredibly competitive. However, as with anything, if you have a desire and love for something then nothing will stop you.”

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Early start After boarding at Stamford High School from the age of nine, Lucy left the school following the upper sixth to pursue a place at the Central School of Speech and Drama, the London-based institution, with notable alumni including Laurence Olivier, Judi Dench and Hugh Bonneville. She thought moving to the capital at 18 “didn’t feel a big deal”, and her time boarding was partially responsible for her approach. “I wasn't mad about boarding. I missed home terribly but when I look back on it now, I see some of the things that it gave me - independence, resilience…”.

“Just keep taking little steps in the direction you want to go toward. Just keep going.”

Early influences It was a combination of factors in her early life in particular that led Lucy to her decision to pursue acting. She had a love for drama at school which was only an extra-curricular subject at the time. Mrs Williams, Lucy’s Speech and Drama teacher, was, “the most influential teacher during my time at Stamford. She encouraged me and gave me confidence.” Productions, with Stamford School, were home-grown and equally important. “There was a surprising amount of good drama at Stamford, even then. I remember productions of ‘The School for Scandal’, ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle’ and ‘The Pirates of Penzance’.”

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qualities that are essential in a fulfilled human being: selfexpression, self-confidence and empathy for others.”

Advice for the future The work does not come without its trials and tribulations. The industry is not just challenging to break into but challenging to continue to work in. “I'm lucky to have been able to make a living from it”, said Lucy. “There have been long, long periods of unemployment. Many, many times when I've questioned my choices and some pretty dark times along the way, but also wonderful creative opportunities and much joy.” Her advice is clear: “When someone asks me about going into acting, I tell them don't do it unless there's absolutely no other way you could imagine yourself being happy.”

Anneke Davies, drama teacher at the Stamford Endowed Schools, was at school with Lucy in the late 80s: “Lucy and I shared a love of drama and theatre at school at a time when drama was not really recognised as a discrete subject; it was only ever regarded as an extra, something to do for enjoyment, and certainly not seen as an important part of a well-rounded education. It was more by luck than judgement, and, of course, the nurture of a few brilliant teachers who had a passion for directing plays, that we were able to develop a love of the arts. We had such happy days together performing the likes of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, and Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ at the Stamford Arts Centre and the old Stamford School hall (transformed in recent years to become the fabulous Oswald Elliot Hall).”

When not acting, Lucy lives in Kensal Rise, London with her son, Alexander, who is due to read Chemistry at Oxford, and she calls motherhood “probably the most creative thing I’ve ever done.” “As I tell the kids, don't be afraid of the dark times; things will change, you will come through it, and you will be stronger and have learnt from it. Nothing is wasted. It's all experience. Just keep taking little steps in the direction you want to go toward. Just keep going.”

“when I look back on it now, I see some of the things that it gave me - independence, resilience…”

“What has been wonderful, over the nearly 35 years (!) since we left school, is that the humanising and transformative nature of the arts has grown and blossomed in education. Lucy has been able to pursue a fabulous career as an actor in an era when, thankfully, and not before time, we have seen far greater recognition of the roles of women in film, television and theatre. I have been fortunate to have worked at the Stamford Endowed Schools as Head of Drama in the last ten years, and have overseen significant development in the role and place of drama within the curricular and extra-curricular life of the Schools. Drama and theatre are recognised by students, parents and staff alike as being an invaluable part of education and, indeed, a means of developing

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Old Stamfordian Interview: Charlotte Lambkin (OS 90)

“Do a job, do it well.” Charlotte Lambkin (OS 90) has accrued over 30 years of experience as a leader in

corporate affairs and communications. Her mantra for success has been simple and

effective: do a job, do it well.

In a vibrant yet relaxed haven in the heart of Mayfair, the Royal Academy of Arts members’ room, we meet Charlotte Lambkin, who arrives early to our appointment, setting an immediate tone of efficiency and professionalism. A farmer’s daughter, with ‘a tough skin’ as she describes herself, at 33 Charlotte was one of the youngest communications leaders of a FTSE 100 company. It wouldn’t, therefore, have seemed proportional that, when asked of a ‘notable career highlight’ for the ‘Holmes Report: Influence 100’ in 2016 (an annual report of the 100 most notable influencers in PR), she would say: “Being asked to present the annual prizes at my high school.”

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It quickly transpires that this is Charlotte all over - a powerhouse in communications but also immensely down to earth, thoughtful and conscientious. And, above all, Charlotte loves to communicate.

Not all roses Prior to her most recent executive position at Diageo, Charlotte spent 10 years at BAE Systems, a UK-headquartered FTSE 30listed defence, aerospace and security solutions company, after nine years at communications consultancy Bell Pottinger, working from an Associate position to Director. She now works as a Non-Executive Director at Intertrust Group, a corporate

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management company based in Amsterdam, along with roles as advisory board member and corporate affairs consultant at Edelman UK, a leading global marketing communications consultancy, and as a trustee of Royal Voluntary Services, the UK’s largest volunteering organisation supporting the NHS and ageing population. She also mentors current corporate affairs directors, and is a partner to Philip, and a very active mummy to her son, Jack (7), in London, where they live. Following a rejection from Cambridge University in 1990, after what Charlotte describes as ‘a terrible interview’, she attended Bristol, where she admits to having too much fun rather than concentrating on her studies. The distance to a top 100 influencer in the PR world is a fantastic achievement. Delve a little deeper and you find that it’s due to a grounding network of family and friends and a prodigious work ethic. “My mum and my dad were also instrumental in building my confidence, saying I could be anything I wanted to be. If you hear that from a parent, it’s a very positive attitude.” She cites her father for some of her life lessons: “I remember him being very clear with me, saying, ‘Charlotte, you could get married, but your husband could die, or leave you, and then you would have nothing,’ and it really stayed with me and I just thought I don’t ever want to be dependent on someone else.”

Handbags and holidays This does not, of course, mean to say that with all the benefits of a high-flying salary Charlotte did not indulge… Her time in London was a period of what Charlotte describes as ‘18 years of handbags and holidays.’ A labour of love, her work afforded her the trappings of an alluring London lifestyle, parking her Porsche 911 at age 31 on The Mall each morning being one of her proud perks.

Hard work pays off Porsche 911s and daily parking permits in central London do not pay for themselves. Charlotte is keen to dispel any myths that her career path did not involve a serious amount of toil especially in her early years, likening her career to, ‘being in the army - you were doing your time. You need to put the effort and the hours in.’ Having spent her early years at ‘Farmer’s Weekly’ in Surrey, and in London with temporary jobs and sharing a tiny flat in Earl’s Court, her break at Bell Pottinger came before the travel, the lifestyle, and her current plural career. A true testament to her integrity and ‘stickability’.

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“I was a farmer’s

daughter with a tough

skin; I could deal with it.”

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and it changed everything.” Her son, Jack, was ultimately the Creature of habit catalyst for her decision to leave Diageo and the industry fullIt was her parents’ influence which would help to shape time and to explore new avenues. Charlotte’s indomitable work ethic and ‘stickability’. “Their whole thing was that they would never let me give things up.” “I was a farmer’s daughter with a tough skin; I could deal with Years of learning to play piano were never a highlight. However, the industry and all that it encompasses. Charlotte recognises that the But what’s interesting is that by the end I perseverance she learnt from not being was asking, ‘Do I want to continue on this allowed to give up, even in the face of “My mum and my path?’”, she says. It was a battle of frustration, resulted in three successful traditional expectations of head-hunters and long-standing positions throughout dad were instrumental filling non-executive roles with older her career. “I don’t like moving on every in building my applicants, versus Charlotte’s determination two years; I really like establishing to find something to fit a change of lifestyle. myself and getting stuck in.” confidence as well “Head-hunters, who are very old fashioned, were saying, ‘Oh no, you can’t do it, you’re Charlotte’s work ethic has also helped saying I could be too young.’” In the end, having been put shape her everyday decisions: “It’s anything I wanted forward by a head-hunter for a role at about recognising your traits and Intertrust in Amsterdam, she was able to weaknesses and working with them.” to be.” continue consulting without missing the For Charlotte these were simple. “I sports days, the evenings at home with her always under-promised and overfamily, and school drop offs that Charlotte delivered. But I constantly challenged feels it is so important to be a part of. myself by asking, ‘Did I miss things, did I think creatively enough, did I engage everyone I needed to?’” “Right now, I have to keep pinching myself - that I’m actually doing things the way I wanted to and the way I was told I Onwards and upwards couldn’t,” she says. “So, if I listened to the advice, I wouldn’t have After meeting her soulmate, Philip, at 37, whilst in her role at been doing what I do now.” And her ultimate advice in those Diageo, Charlotte found herself in a position to consider the situations? “Be a bit hopeful. Glass half full, and lots of positivity.” possibilities of having a family. “And then in the end I had Jack,

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Fostering Independent Minds from a Young Age Stamford Junior School is a place where we aim to support children in becoming the ‘best version of themselves’. We are focused on the individual learner and ultimately wish our children to understand that they are unique and to feel valued for their independence of mind. Without doubt, there are many schools who would make claim to place children at the centre of everything; after all, that is what we do as educators, isn’t it? However, what does this actually mean and how does it work in practice? Mrs Samantha Weeks, Director of Early Years, Stamford Junior School and Nursery School explores these ideas. In the Early Years at Stamford Junior School, we are passionate about a ‘child-centred’ education philosophy, an approach originally inspired by Reggio Emilia in Italy. We are always keen to explain that ‘child-centred’ does not mean that we follow the children around and allow them to do whatever they choose. The adult role for us is crucial. In order for our provision to be truly focused around the child, adults need to be attentive, flexible, knowledgeable and tuned in. The Reggio Emilia philosophy has taught us to regard children as capable and competent and, therefore, we are directly involved in developing an enquiry-based approach, where a child’s fascinations guide our work together.

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This approach has taken time and expertise to refine. We have spent the last five years working on developing a specific ‘child centred’, play-based ethos, and now find ourselves at a very exciting juncture. Three members of our staff, as part of our whole-school sabbatical initiative, travelled to Reggio Emilia in Italy in April this year to take part in an international conference and study tour.

How have we adapted and what does the future hold? Over the last five years, in our Reception environment, we have created a studio where ‘anything is possible’ and where children are independent in their use of tools to express their ideas. This

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is an absolutely vital part in our child-centred approach. Initiatives, ideas, creativity and the ‘thinking outside the box’ are nurtured here. With adult encouragement to further their individual thinking, children are given the space to expand their thoughts. Following on from its success in Reception, we are now developing a similar approach in Nursery and we will shortly be introducing a shared space for Year 1, too.

Benefits to children Developing enquiry-led projects allows us to trust the children and their capabilities. Reception and Nursery teachers at Stamford Junior School are well practised at planning based on children’s interests, and we have reaped the benefits of responding to a child’s fascination. Children will always have surprising and wonderful ideas and reflections; they just need the time and space to be heard and we allow for this in our school day. As a teacher, it is more challenging, creative and interesting to develop projects that children are inspired by. In doing so, children understand that we are valuing their individual ideas, rather than repeating the same topics we have taught to many children year after year. We take inspiration from Reggio Emilia’s focus on democracy, embracing the image that children are global citizens of here and now, not mini adults who are yet to grow up. When we demonstrate to them that their interests and questions are listened to, acknowledged and directly engaged with, children believe in themselves. They learn to know that their thinking and contributions are valued. This must form a firm foundation for building positive mental health as well as preparation for the 21st century.

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These children will, without doubt, require the confidence to voice independent thought, and embrace intellectual curiosity and critical thought, in order to successfully navigate what lies ahead of them. Here at Stamford we aspire to give our pupils all the tools, experience and encouragement they need to do just that.

What is Reggio Emilia? Reggio Emilia sits in Northern Italy. Its world renowned early childhood provision is a shining example of what happens when an entire community is committed to placing the child at the centre of all that they do. The philosophy was founded by Loris Malaguzzi and a group of mothers determined to protect democracy in the wake of fascist rule during the Second World War. Malaguzzi’s poem ‘The Hundred Languages of Children’ is an analogy which urges adults to find 100 ways to listen and tune into the 100 (at least) ways that children will express themselves, when they are provided with a rich environment that enables them to do so. Words alone are not enough. The environment is seen as the third teacher and each school has an Atelier (workshop/studio) with an Atelierista (Artist) who works in partnership with the teachers and the children.

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David Starkey: Henry VIII and the First Brexit On Friday 9 November 2018, David Starkey gave a Foundation Lecture entitled, ‘Henry VIII and the First Brexit’. SES history pupils Alex Kroese (Year 13) and Elise Chowdhury (Year 13) interviewed our lecturer to explore in more detail the parallels between the ‘first Brexit’ and our own transition in the UK today. ALEX KROESE (AK): What can we learn from Henry VIII’s ‘Brexit’ that would help us make a success of post-Brexit UK? DAVID STARKEY (DS): What Henry’s experience offers as insight is that he begins in very similar ways to Theresa May. Henry initially goes through a period of negotiating with Rome on Rome’s terms, and of course it’s a complete disaster. The parallels are there – it takes two years for negotiation [directly parallel with the current situation in the UK] until the summer of 1529. It’s extraordinarily similar. 1 8

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On one hand, Henry’s Brexit is profoundly destructive. On the other, and as Brexiteers like Douglas Murray, Greg Hands and Jacob Rees-Mogg would like us to do now, Henry redefines ‘Englishness’. As such, England becomes a pariah. It has broken with the established body. It’s clear Henry’s Brexit is a decisive turning point in English history. England shifts in a most dramatic way.

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"The parallels are there – it takes two years for negotiation [directly parallel with the current situation in the UK] until the summer of 1529. It’s extraordinarily similar."

AK: Do you think Henry’s personal thinking had an influence on his management of his government? DS: Henry VIII has a lot in common with Tony Blair. He can get away with this extraordinary level of self-belief. Henry is charismatic - he’s impressive, strapping, intelligent, a fluent public speaker.

ELISE CHOWDHURY (EC): Do you think Henry was ever concerned about the corrupt direction Catholicism was taking, or did he simply wish to reduce the Pope’s power for his own benefit? DS: Two things lead Henry to decry the papacy, not just his divorce. In 1529 he embarks on a radical course after the failure, between Wolsey and Campeggio, to reach an agreement over the annulment of Henry’s marriage. Henry believes, from that point onwards, that the Bible has told him he should be Head of the Church of England. Henry is also led to believe that the Church is too rich, too sexually corrupt. The propaganda that is created to destroy the reputation of the monasteries is similar to the rhetoric used by ‘The Daily Mail’; it’s hugely dramatised. If you want to destroy something, then you must damage the character irreparably. And thanks to printing you have the means to do it. The propaganda is hugely successful. Printing has a lot of things to do with 16th century opinion in the same way that the internet has today. It’s destabilising. Luther is the first to exploit this effectively, much like Trump with his ‘tweets’. It’s populism, and Henry does the same thing.

We can make this parallel: look at how Henry carries himself throughout the break from Rome. He survives it with a strong internal cabinet and rides through his unpopularity. He enlists the services of Wolsey and Cromwell, and the support of a second division including the Duke of Norfolk, Gardiner (Stephen Gardiner, Bishop), Paget (William Paget, 1st Baron Paget) and Russell (John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford) - they’d out-perform any member of the current cabinet! This is unlike Theresa May: she cannot manage or talk in confidence with her cabinet. There’s this assumption that she’s constantly spreading deceit, but she is just springing new legislation on her cabinet. Henry, on the other hand, would get people with different views to debate in front of him: “You believe in it, you don’t; debate for me,” so it’s all in the open. Henry does more than just ‘manipulation of the management’. Not for one second is he an original mind, he is in no way a creative figure, but Henry has this intellectual confidence to remain steadfast against different opinions. In the same way, Churchill had people with radically different views to his own around him. Henry was prepared for others to challenge his mindset. Every good senior executive must be prepared to do that. That is how you respond to all circumstances.

EC: What were the similarities of the papacy to the European Union? DS: There are very strong similarities between the two. The EU is even founded on the Treaty of Rome. The papacy had its own structure of law in Rome to govern Catholicism in Europe, the same jurisdiction as the EU has over the UK. The main dispute we have now is over the jurisdiction of the European courts, and whether our own system is sufficient to override its power or not. Henry, in his Brexit, can play the dirty card. He doesn’t believe the papacy has control over him and that’s how he presents his break from Rome. He has his first minister Wolsey, both Papal Legate and Viceroy of England, exploit this. When he cannot make any further use of him, Wolsey is accused of treason and Henry pulls the rug from under his feet.

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The SES Blog The blog was launched in September 2017 as a safe online space for students to share

their views on whatever topics they found interesting. Its overarching purpose is to

provide a window into the academic and cultural life of the Schools and it has three

overlapping functions:

It is a place where academic excellence can be celebrated and utilised. At its most cerebral, the blog is a forum for unashamedly academic and creative endeavour. Sarah Hector’s blog on the Venezuelan crisis was written entirely in Spanish and, similarly, James Everitt’s blog on Quantum Physics and Alice Wibberley’s extended essay on American Presidents were all boldly and scholastically original. Moreover, the art scholars’ digitised copies of their A level portfolios have provided the most breathtaking examples of creativity yet. Students blogging at this level are essentially building a personalised digital portfolio. UCAS applications for competitive courses demand that students articulate their academic and creative interests. We are increasingly seeing older students utilising the blog to produce a bespoke body of work, which can be easily tagged as a digital link and then included in a personal statement for a university admissions tutor or in a letter of application for a job.

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It is a place for students to find their voice. Blogging confidently and for public consumption is not always easy and the blog is a place where younger students can build self-confidence and find their voice. Students decide what topic they blog on – and the three hundred blogs posted thus far have been focused on over seventy different topics. These highlights illustrate the diversity: n n n n n n

Milly Hall blogged on her eclectic cooking skills (complete with mouth-watering photographs of her recipes). Pip Franks’ blog on rotational falls in show jumping was adapted from her Extended Project Qualification. Peter Blissett exclusively shared the song “Day Dreams” from his debut No Alarms EP. Lara Monahan has become the blog’s unofficial Poet Laureate, posting numerous poems. Elliot Long blogged on the global consequences of plastic pollution. Esme Kroese blogged a series of entertaining film reviews (making the staff feel ancient by describing The Breakfast Club as a ‘golden oldie’). WI NTE R

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Hector Bowering has blogged repeatedly on International Relations. Howard Tam blogged on extreme weather, using sophisticated satellite data. Breanna Tye blogged on the debate on the use of medicinal cannabis.

‘At its most cerebral, the blog

is a forum for unashamedly

academic and creative

endeavour…a place where

Giving the students a blank canvas has meant that we are regularly surprised by the content of the blogs. We have had blogs on feminism, SXS Champion racing, art reviews, music reviews, dinosaurs, engineering, chemistry experiments, football reports, modern art and grasshoppers! We never know what is coming next, and, yes, there is a blog on the joys of the video game Fortnite!

It is a place to remember So many amazing things happen during a school year and perhaps the blog’s most important job is to record as much as it can and not just the high-profile events, but the lesser known occasions that could easily be forgotten. The blog is already a historical archive. Highlights so far have been: n

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The U13D rugby team playing one of the greatest games that Mr Pike (his words) has seen at that level when they beat Warwick School. We have a report on the game and a photo of the teams. The House Singing – we have the winning songs. The Dance Showcase – we have the photos. Gold D of E field trips – we have the photos but not the blisters! The CCF Field Exercise – a great report and record of the manoeuvres.

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younger students can build self-

confidence and find their voice.’

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Oxbridge matriculation pictures – students blogging proudly in their gowns. Biology International Olympiad – Alice Kirby modestly blogged her outstanding success.

Whatever format the blog takes, be it written, drawn, sung, painted, videoed or recorded, it has one common denominator: it is produced solely by our students. This also includes former students and we have already had some blogs from alumni such as Gabriel Smithson (OS 17), Anna Little (OS 15); Angus Norris (OS 92) and Edward Baker (OS 90) sharing their experiences of post-Stamford life. The blog welcomes any contribution from any Old Stamfordians who would like to share either life experiences or memories of their time at the Schools. With over ten thousand hits and a thriving twitter account, the blog has quickly found its place at the heart of the Endowed Schools.

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Future-proofed:

Championing the Humanities in an Age of STEM To paraphrase Jane Austen’s well-worn adage, ‘it is a truth universally acknowledged that a

student in possession of a humanities A level qualification must have been in want of either

good advice or a good brain’. It has become almost axiomatic that, if you want a successful career, you should be studying STEM subjects — science, technology, engineering and

maths — at school; in the words of one of my tutees, people assume you’re not very clever if you didn’t opt for these courses in the Sixth Form. Mr Mark Zacharias, Head of English

and Head of Sixth Form Scholars and Oxbridge applications at Stamford High School, explores the development of humanities subjects for post-Stamford careers.

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“What makes humans so

very different from machines

is our ability to perform

intuitive leaps, to collaborate and to create.”

The conventional wisdom about 21st century skills holds that students need to master the STEM subjects, and learn to code as well, because that’s where the jobs are. Certainly, there is evidence to suggest that students have taken this message on board: the most popular A levels in 2018 were maths, biology, psychology and chemistry, whilst the attractiveness of traditional heavyweights such as English literature, history and modern foreign languages continues to wane. Students appear to be selecting qualifications they believe will offer them the best chance of a defined career, material prosperity and an immediate return on university fees. So, all of this rather begs the question: are the humanities still relevant and worthwhile today? Though it saddens me to have to take this concern seriously, I want to argue that the humanities are actually more important now than they have ever been. In 2013, Google undertook a major project (dubbed ‘Oxygen’) in which deep analysis was done of all recruitment and promotion data accumulated since the company’s emergence in 1998. Project Oxygen shocked everyone by concluding that, among the eight most important qualities of Google’s top employees, STEM expertise comes in dead last. The seven top characteristics of success at Google are all soft skills which, to

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quote The Washington Post, “sound more like what one gains as an English or theatre major than as a programmer.” In 2017, Forbes reported that the billionaire software developer and entrepreneur Mark Cuban had shared a bold prediction about the future of jobs: that within the next decade, as automation becomes commonplace, independent thinkers who excel in humanities disciplines will be in high demand. Cuban believes that, as artificial intelligence and machine learning become more and more prominent, there will be a greater need for expertise in subjects such as English, philosophy and foreign languages – and he is by no means alone in expressing such a sentiment. The Harvard Business Review recently drew attention to the increasing trend for top corporate companies targeting English graduates in their recruitment strategies, and the financial industries have also stepped up their targeted recruitment of humanities graduates. The multinational investment bank Goldman Sachs recently revealed that English students were among its second largest cohort of recruits, and that the company has begun holding special recruitment events aimed at English-related subjects at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

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Closer to home, Dr Paul McCombie of Bath University’s civil engineering department states that he has found that civil engineering students with A levels in arts and humanities “…do significantly better than those with just maths and sciences. As well as having broader insight, they know that there is much more to analysis than mere maths, they can deal better with uncertainty, and they better understand people and their motivations.” What makes humans so very different from machines is our ability to perform intuitive leaps, to collaborate and to create. Art, music, drama and ‘soft’ subjects such as English teach this. Britain is the global leader in the arts world after the United States, and the creative industries are worth £92 billion to this country, more than the oil, gas, life sciences, automotive and aeronautics industries combined. In the future, if you want an interesting job you will need to become as unlike a machine as possible, proving you can be inventive, emotionally perceptive and flexible, and I believe the humanities will equip you for this reality better than anything else.

“…, as artificial intelligence

and machine learning become more and more prominent,

there will be a greater need

for expertise in subjects such as English, philosophy and foreign languages…”

It was once said of the great poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge that ‘…his mind kept an open house and welcomed all-comers’. In this spirit, we declare ourselves at SES to be ‘independent schools for independent minds’, and we aim to offer all our students an exciting and enriching academic programme, to nurture and nourish (the root meanings of the verb ‘to educate’) the young minds that sit at our desks every day. However, with the narrowing of the curriculum in recent years, the return to linear A levels and the push towards STEM subjects, students up and down the land are increasingly leaving school having had a limited and restricted scholarly experience, which is surely to both their and our collective detriment. But more worrying than this is the concern that to ignore the humanities is to turn one’s back on the pool of collective wisdom that the great writers, philosophers, historians and theologians have accumulated over the centuries. The humanities help us to make moral, spiritual and intellectual sense of the world we live in, and they equip us to navigate the choppy waters of this life. We learn empathy as we engage with the thoughts and experiences of others and we are taught to think critically and ask questions. Life itself is not formulaic and monochromatic; it is messy and colourful, and to fully understand this, we should be equipped to deal with difficult ideas and uncertainties. Indeed, one only needs to turn on the news to see that we need the skills and knowledge that the humanities imparts: understanding other cultures, being able to communicate effectively, realising the ramifications of history, and analysing human behaviour. In short, the humanities are more important to both the individual and to global society than ever. In light of all this, SES students must not buy into the false narrative that is being perpetuated throughout the country today; your future is not solely dependent on your mastering STEM subjects, and broad learning skills are the key to longterm, satisfying, productive careers. What helps you thrive in a changing world may well be the humanities subjects you currently avoid, which collectively can make you, not just ‘workforce ready’, but ‘world ready’.

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Innovative TED-Ed Club Showcases Pupils’

Impressive Presentations After becoming part of the worldwide education community of TED-Ed Clubs this year, Stamford Junior School hosted a showcase event involving pupils from Years 5 and 6. The evening was filled with thought-provoking talks all conceived and delivered by pupils alongside a variety of pupil-led activities explored by the well-established Stamford Junior School’s St Martin’s Society philosophy club. The TED-Ed programme supports students in developing presentation and public speaking skills in over 120 countries around the world. Students discover, explore and present their own big ideas in the form of short, TED-style talks. Since January, Year 5 and 6 pupils have been part of their own co-curricular TED-Ed club exploring and developing a range of their own ideas as one element of the School’s embedded Independent Learning philosophy. The range of subjects was extremely varied ranging from the perils of overfishing, superheroes and the benefits of dance to why the Titanic sunk so quickly.

Emma Smith, Head of Stamford Junior School,

said: “This initiative is an important part of

Stamford Junior School’s Independent Learning

and Intellectual Curiosity (ILIC) philosophy. ILIC

is embedded in our commitment to provide a

rich learning environment that fosters

independence, creativity, resilience and

confidence for all our pupils. It is so very

heartening to witness the independent thought

and creativity of our bright young minds and to

have the opportunity to nurture this further is a

great privilege. As one of just a handful of

accredited TED-Ed clubs in the UK, we are able

to equip our pupils with a variety of skills

needed in creating and delivering

presentations. Congratulations to all involved.”

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The Malcolm Sargent Concert 2019

TAMFORD HORAL

JS Bach

St John Passion The New Novello Choral Edition (English)

The Choirs of Stamford Endowed Schools Stamford Choral Musical & Amicable Society Conducted by Jeremy Jepson

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Saturday 23rd March 2019 7.00pm De Montfort Hall, Leicester Tickets available from De Montfort Hall Box Office www.demontforthall.co.uk Tel: 0116 233 3111 WI NTE R

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Covered with

Marmalade

Anyone with children or grandchildren who are learning to drive may have heard of Marmalade â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the young driversâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; insurance company that has challenged many

preconceptions about young adults behind the wheel. The CEO is Old Stamfordian and

current SES parent, Crispin Moger (OS 93), who met with us to talk about his passion for

helping young people and his various connections with the Stamford Endowed Schools.

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Teenage mental health is a well-recognised issue today. What would be your advice to anyone struggling with mental health issues at school? “When depression hit me at 17 I did not feel able to talk about it. Today I am so pleased to see that there is more support and the pastoral care available is vastly improved. It’s important for young people to know that if exams do not go well there are other options available to them. You can get through and you can go on to achieve great things. Exams should not define who you are, they just make life easier. My rounded education at Stamford got me to where I am. I have confidence, a wide perspective and I never feel intimidated.”

Tell us about your time at Stamford School “I have very fond memories of school and my proudest moment happened on my last day when I received school colours for tennis. I am so proud that my daughter is now at Stamford High School, following in my Stamford footsteps. She too loves tennis but I hope her grades will be better than mine! I struggled during A levels, mainly due to depression, but sport was always a tremendous help. My grades were disappointing but I know now that it was not the end of the world. I have still been able to achieve a great deal in my career - I have recently completed an MBA from Imperial College – I just took a less conventional route to get here.”

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Describe your unconventional road to success “After A levels I was faced with an uncertain future. I worked in the car industry, learning about financing, leasing and mechanics, and spent a year as a gap student at Witham Hall School, where I focused on teaching sport and English. A degree in History from North London University followed, after which I returned to the car industry, where financing and insurance was becoming more internet-based and opportunities for new types of insurance offerings presented themselves. We recognised that clients were having problems getting insurance for young drivers and the seeds of a new business were sown. And after a brief (and painful) stint working in a call centre environment I also saw the chance to change the image of insurance and to deliver a new customer experience. The Marmalade vision was developed to create an organisation that would be there for young people, understand their challenges, be their voice to the industry and create a better way to treat customers and employees in the call centres.”

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Giving back Crispin and Marmalade provide ongoing support to the Stamford Endowed Schools in a number of ways, from mock interviews and work experience for sixth formers to sponsorship of the SJS Formula One Challenge. Crispin also volunteers as a tennis coach. Most recently, Marmalade ran focus groups with SES students to further explore the habits and attitudes of Generation Z. Not only did this serve to provide Marmalade with useful intelligence, it also gave our business studies students an insight into the rationale for and processes behind market research. In September 2018 two Sixth Form ‘Marmalade Bursaries’ were launched, one for a girl and one for a boy.

Understanding the customer base is vital to any business. What surprises you the most about today’s young people? “I was stunned by the amount of data they consume. Research suggests that they are online between 5-6 hours per day consuming online content. This could be anything from news and social media feeds to movies and TV. They are on multiple devices and moving between sources very quickly, gathering information. I do, however, believe that they are adept at filtering and they can spot fake news and unreliable sources better than we think they can.

Crispin explains, “It’s lovely to give something back. We genuinely love to help others who want to be helped and at SES the students are always willing to engage and learn. We want to make a difference, to help students sell themselves and develop their careers.” The Schools are most grateful for the generosity of Crispin and the Marmalade team in providing such opportunities and support to our pupils.

Generation Z (17-22 year olds) are idealistic. They think the world system is broken and they want to help to change it. They are very socially aware and are happier to work and achieve than Millennials (aged 22 and above) are.”

At Stamford we talk about preparing our students ‘for the 21st Century boardroom’. What skills do you think future board members will need? “Adaptability and agility. The business and digital landscapes are moving so quickly and organisations and individuals that can adapt will succeed. A mindset to ‘get stuff done’ will be required as well as an open mind and the ability to learn how to learn. Artificial intelligence will become more prevalent but must be balanced by human interpretation. Leaders of tomorrow will need an appreciation of as many fields as possible in order to challenge, validate and ensure that the right decisions are made.” What is your advice for Generation Z? “Have a five year plan, even if it is high level and subject to change. Have a goal and a plan to get there. What steps will you take, what skills will you need? How can you include doing things that you love? Develop a growth mindset and don’t be afraid to have a go.”

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Invictus Games Star Returns to the Stamford Endowed Schools Sports Centre The former RAF medic from Rutland and Invictus Games Gold medallist Rachel Williamson returned in triumph to her training centre at the Stamford Endowed Schools’ Sports Centre. This was the venue for her interview with BBC East Midlands after returning from Sydney only twenty-four hours before. Rachel has been training at the Schools’ Sports Centre since being selected for the Invictus Games earlier this year. She went on to win six medals during the event, which ran from 2027 October, including two Golds in indoor rowing, and three Silvers and a Bronze medal in swimming. Rachel spoke in depth about her journey since losing the use of her right arm from a rugby injury to her thumb, and being medically discharged from the RAF in February, to receiving the support from her SSAFA mentor to encourage her to represent the UK at the Invictus Games. The Invictus Games harnesses the power of sport to inspire recovery, and for Rachel this has been extremely poignant. As a teenager, she narrowly missed out on a place to swim in the

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Commonwealth Games and decided to give up the sport for good. With the encouragement of her mentor, Rachel pushed herself to the limit and learnt to swim with one arm; she started attending training camps, which eventually led to her selection for the Invictus Games. With this achievement under her belt, this is only the start of Rachel’s sporting journey, and she has further aspirations for the future. Currently Rachel is developing her career at the new Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre at Stanford Hall, where she has just started a new role enabling her to work with some of the doctors who helped her rehabilitation. However, we will still be lucky enough to see Rachel at the SES Sports Centre as she continues to train with Stamford friend and Warrior Games competitor, Ali Waddie. Rachel said: “Training at the SES Sports Centre has given me the perfect environment, enabling me to train using high class facilities and access the support from all staff. The Centre has provided routine to my training and ensured I can continue to improve my physical and mental health during my recovery journey.”

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The Stamford Endowed Schoolsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Strategy The world is changing rapidly. The ways that we live and work are evolving, and our pupils, as they move onto their future lives and careers, will enter a workplace that is very different from anything that has gone before. Over the past two years, we have been developing a new strategy for the Stamford Endowed Schools, articulating how our Schools will deliver the education and experiences that our pupils need to take ownership of this new world. Here, we lay out this strategy for the first time.

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well-being and happiness, across everything that our pupils experience at Stamford. As Schools, we will: n

n n n

The jobs of the future can't be predicted. Automation will increasingly take over many of the roles and processes that have always required human input. Even the professions are not immune: analysis of medical symptoms, comparing a patient against hundreds of thousands of similar cases, can be done more thoroughly and efficiently by a computer. But humans will be far from redundant in this brave new world. Symptoms may be analysed by a computer, but it needs a human to communicate what may be difficult news to a worried patient and their family, and to judge how best to balance diagnosis and treatment with the patient’s own views and opinions.

Prepare children educationally for the next stage of their lives, building upon the broad curriculum and introducing new ways to analyse, think and interpret information and actions. Prepare them for a fulfilling workplace, where automation complements and supports humanity. Prepare them for life and family, perhaps the most important job that they will undertake. Give them the skills to find meaning and happiness.

Achieving the vision The stated vision for the Stamford Endowed Schools is to become: “the best pound for pound schools in the UK”. We will achieve this by making innovative and optimal use of all our resources to offer an outstanding, unique, nationally-recognised and contemporary all-round educational model, which benefits pupils of a wide range of abilities and ambition, and provides them with the best possible preparation for the 21st century boardroom – wherever and whatever that may be. We will inspire our pupils to become intellectually curious and independent of mind whilst nurturing the characteristics of the Stamfordian spirit. We have established six key strategic objectives to achieve that vision.

A 21st century school To develop schools for the future and equip pupils to be a part of the 21st century in skills: personal, academic and pastoral. IT leader To be a leader in the application of information technology, in the classroom and outside it, and to embed in our students the ability to excel in the application of IT in their future lives.

This change is not just limited to the workplace. The way we lead our lives and relate to each other, and the way we share and access news about the world we live in, are changing too. The skills that our pupils need, therefore, are changing fast. We will need those who can develop those technologies that complement human skills, and those who can design ever better ways for them to be utilised by humans. Creativity, and the exploration of ourselves, is becoming ever more important. The ability to sift through thousands or millions of pieces of information, and to work out what is right and truthful, and what is designed to manipulate, is becoming vital in an age where anyone, with any agenda, can publish freely to the world without checks or restrictions. These skills can be defined as the four Cs: creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and complex problem solving. We will embed these skills, together with an emphasis on ST A MF OR D

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Becoming Stamford To recognise the individuality of our three Schools and the strength in them, but also to seek to work more closely together and to enable consistent and fruitful interaction. To continue that theme of collaboration with our town, and reinforce at every opportunity our symbiotic relationship. Great place to be To be an outstanding place to live and work, thereby keeping the best teachers and recruiting the best talent, and ensuring that our students are emotionally cared for, educated and equipped to deal with the modern world. Communications and brand To ensure that everyone in the Stamford Endowed Schools understands who we are, what we are working to achieve, and how we are going to achieve it. Agile and smart To optimise the financial, human and capital resources available to us through flexible, innovative and realistic financial management and planning. Together, these six strands will enable us to create schools for the future which continue to serve our pupils, and our whole Stamfordian community. A key component in achieving the strategy is the Premises Development Plan. Drawing on our vision, the Premises Development Plan will deliver an enhanced estate, which is fit for purpose, sufficiently resourced, and above all provides the facilities that will be vital in developing the skills of our pupils for the future. Designed to accommodate our continuing and future growth across all three Schools, to give us the ability to adapt to changing needs and circumstances, and to support our priorities for development, the Premises Development Plan is intended to be delivered over the next ten or fifteen years. It will represent a significant investment in our Schools, and in the future of our pupils, and will require the support of the whole Stamford community to make it a reality. The first stage of the Premises Development Plan will be announced in 2019.

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'...we are proud of the values

that we embrace every day: to

build teams around our pupils,

to light fires in them and inspire

them, and to develop the

Stamfordian Spirit within every

one of our students.'

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Our Schools' Strategy Will Phelan In August, we said goodbye to our Year 13 leavers. Twenty of these students started their education in our nursery. At a recent Discovery Morning, we met parents with very young children, who will graduate from the Stamford Endowed Schools in 2032 – the year that the Schools will celebrate their five hundred year anniversary. There is no doubt that we must plan for a School, and prepare our students, for life after 2032. This future generation of Stamfordians will be stepping out into the world long after the vast majority of us have disappeared. We need to think very carefully about the challenges of this century, and ensure that our students have the best possible preparation for the 21st century boardroom – to be ready to take their places as leaders in any and every sphere, in a new world where success is not measured by winning seats at polished mahogany tables, but by their ability to influence their world for the better. And there are significant challenges in this. The rapid advances of technology suggest that we are entering the Fourth Education Revolution. We need to ensure that we remain in control; that we are not infantilised by it. This is our role here as professionals: to prepare our children for the future, and to give them the tools that they will need to make a difference in this new society. And that’s hard, when we can’t predict with any certainty what will happen next week, never mind in fifteen or fifty years ahead. But that mustn’t divert us. What we will need are students who are focused and able in the higher order thinking skills – “the thinking about thinking, the knowing about knowing, the awareness of one’s awareness”. To achieve this, we need to embed our four Cs - creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and complex problem solving - in students of all ages. We have already begun this journey with our introduction of Ideal Classrooms, in which the very facilities and layout of the room are designed to encourage collaboration and creativity, and this will continue as we seek to draw departments and faculties closer together. These skills are not new: as teachers, we have spent our careers developing them in our charges. Nor do these skills replace the importance of learning about the world. But the emphasis – on learning to work with technology and to maximise it as a tool, and on maximising, too, those most human of attributes which cannot be replaced by a machine – represents a shift in approach that we must make to serve our pupils.

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We are proud to be independent schools for independent minds. And we are proud of the values that we embrace every day: to build teams around our pupils, to light fires in them and inspire them, and to develop the Stamfordian Spirit within every one of our students. This new strategy builds on that vision, and on our values. We have identified key priorities that will illustrate our progress. We want to establish the Stamford Junior School as the school of choice for young pupils, restructuring and expanding as we move towards becoming a world-leading educational centre. We want to embed the four Cs across all areas of school life. We want to ensure that we are delivering a sixth form provision that is clearly branded, diverse, academically and vocationally excellent, and will be able to call on outstanding facilities and resources as we prepare students for their future. And above all, we will focus on the well-being and happiness of our pupils and staff, developing pastoral spaces and resources, and a thriving boarding community, to ensure that, by the end of their time with us, our students are happy and engaged, with the ability to think and act thoughtfully and autonomously, and who are secure in their own well-being. In 2019, we will be announcing details of our Premises Development Plan, and how we will create the facilities that will underpin our strategy. These are exciting times for our Schools. We are thriving, and growing. I look forward to sharing our journey with you.

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Keeping Boys Singing Mr Giles Turner, Director of Music at SES, believes we should all be singing. But how do he

and his staff approach teaching boys through adolescent voice change? Their work with

VOX, a choir featuring Stamford School pupils in Years 7 – 9, provides some answers. Everyone should be singing. Yes, everyone. Especially those who are reading this saying, ‘I can’t sing’. Something happens when we sing. Some of it is chemical, some physical and some social. There is so much evidence now for the benefits of music for all that a recent summary of current research in this area ran to several hundred pages. But we already know this. We all use singing quite naturally in our everyday lives; whether singing along to the radio or singing along to the often-imaginary radio in the shower, singing is a part of our daily lives. Some of our greatest memories from school will include music: the ‘School Song’ sung lustily on Leavers’ Day, the house music competitions, the singing on the back of the bus after a successful away fixture.

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Our aim is to get everyone singing at the Stamford Endowed Schools. The students already sing every week in assemblies, chapels and hymn practices across the three Schools. Each School has its own house music competition. We also have a suite of eight choirs which offer different opportunities for all of our students to focus on expressing themselves through singing, and around 300 students attend these rehearsals each week. We are aware that nationally there is an issue about boys’ singing and crucially all the benefits that they are missing out on. One of the important steps was to make sure that singing was prevalent in our junior schools in general and then continued at the senior schools. At Stamford High School we already had in place junior and senior choirs for the girls. We had no such bespoke provision at Stamford School, so we started a boys' choir to inspire them and allow boys to continue singing after junior school.

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‘Something happens when we sing.

Some of it is chemical, some physical

and some social.’

VOX is a choir for boys in years 7 - 9. We have been running this choir now for four years and it has been an undoubted success. Meeting weekly under the excellent and expert tutelage of Mrs Sue Bond and Mr Duncan McIlrae, the choir continues to be very popular. It is oversubscribed, with 70 boys regularly attending rehearsals last year. The boys work hard on having fun in the choir as well as developing a sense of team spirit, teamwork, individual responsibility, professionalism and eating the odd chocolate biscuit! They take part in many of the major events in the School, including the carol services and choral concerts, and lead the occasional chapel service. This year they will also have the opportunity to take part in the triennial Malcolm Sargent Concert, established in honour of the famous Old Stamfordian (1910), this year to be held at De Montfort Hall in Leicester.

Why do they keep coming? It is surely for the pure, unfettered joy of singing, standing shoulder to shoulder with your best friend, committed and delivering your heart on your sleeve to anyone who will listen. The research will tell us that they will grow in self-confidence, motivation, personal expression, empathy and a whole host of other things. But for each boy it will be different. As one boy said to me: ‘I don’t know what it is, but when we all sing together the hair on the back of my neck stands up!’ Seems like a good enough reason to me.

Puberty is a real issue for boys’ singing as their voices change. This needs very careful handling, both physically and emotionally, so in all our choirs with boys we take very great care to provide them with music appropriate for their ranges and listen to them regularly. As they go through the voice change, their voices can work in different ranges on a weekly basis and so they are heard regularly to make sure that they are always singing in the most appropriate part for their voice that week. We try to be as flexible as possible. In fact, with VOX we often run two choirs, one to suit unbroken voices and another to suit changing or cambiata voices.

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Supporting Stamford Tom Hindmarch is a man who knows about community. As a Director at Duncan & Toplis and

head of the Stamford office, he has been supporting businesses in Stamford and across the

area for the past twenty-five years. With links through his wife, Jane (OS 84), and daughters

Anna (OS 17), Charlotte and Jessica, still pupils at Stamford High School, and in his second term as a Trustee of the Stamford Endowed Schools' Foundation, he has been firmly adopted as a member of our Schools’ community.

It is in his role as a Trustee that Tom’s love for the Stamford community as a whole becomes apparent. Overseeing the Foundation that supports capital developments at the Schools and, crucially, bursary provision, he has a keen insight into the difference that fundraising is making in helping the young people of Stamford. “There is a real bond between the Schools and the town, which I think makes it really quite a special place,” says Tom. “I was educated at Uppingham, and if you go there, or to Oundle or

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Oakham, there isn’t that same connection – there is far more integration in Stamford, and, as a result of the cross section of individuals that can attend the Schools here, it’s a much more balanced community. I really like that, and I think it’s really good for all our pupils to grow up with that balance.” Tom admits that he didn’t appreciate the value of his own education until long after he had left school: “I had a great time at School, despite the below par food, and the hours of homework. When you're a child you don’t really understand where you are and what

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that environment is doing for you. It wasn’t until I was in my mid-twenties that I realised how lucky I had been. But the children I see at Stamford who have the opportunity to attend because of a bursary – they do get it. The facilities and the opportunities are amazing, and it is up to the children to make the most of them - and they do. You get them into a settled environment and they thrive.” Duncan & Toplis has much in common with the Schools. Based in the heart of the town, in a building which has served Stamford as a pub and later a chip shop in its 300 year history, the local office is part of a network that employs more than 400 people across the East Midlands. It’s a business with localism at the heart of its principles: “We want our clients to feel we’re part of their community, to pop into their local offices, to get to know us” – yet it is ranked among the top 30 accountancy firms in the UK.

“Our town gives a great historical foundation to build on. This is a place where you can do things – we have great schools, we have good medical facilities for our size, a lot of our community groups are very focused on the well-being of the citizens of Stamford and I think they do a great job. Walking down the High Street can take some time because this is a place where people care about each other, and take the time to get to know each other.

“There’s a tendency to have a disconnect in our communities due to living in today’s modern world,” says Tom. “People are funnelled into doing

“My girls sometime laugh about the fact that I know so many people, but it’s lovely - it makes the world a better place.”

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everything online. That option is attractive – but you can build much stronger and more fruitful relationships by sitting down face to face with people.” Like the Stamford Endowed Schools, the Duncan & Toplis team feel part of their community, and they’re active in supporting it, through charity and business initiatives.

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“The facilities and the

opportunities are

amazing, and it is up to

the children to make

the most of them - and

they do.”

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Obituary

Mike Chew

(1932 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2018)

Former member of staff, Stamford School Mike was born in Cowley, Oxford. He attended City of Oxford High School, where he played a lot of sport, especially cricket, being a member of the 1st XI cricket team for four years. He was awarded a place at St Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s College, Oxford to study modern languages, but first it was national service in the RAF, where he started playing tennis seriously. He always claimed to have played at Wimbledon; he did, in the RAF championships. After Oxford, he took up schoolmastering at Bablake School, Coventry and married his long-time girlfriend, Ena. He moved to Stamford School in 1958, teaching modern languages, and was appointed Head of Department in 1961. Mike and Ena had four sons, Edmund, Philip, James and John, all of whom attended Stamford School. In 1960, he set up the German exchange with Ernst-KalkuhlGymnasium in Bonn, which continues to this day, and subsequently he organised multiple trips abroad over the years Outside of teaching, Mike was responsible for several building projects at Stamford School: the first school tennis courts on the Dell, then Northfields and Willowponds, levelling Willowponds playing fields, and the building of the School squash courts. Following retirement from Stamford in 1985, he worked in training and eventually he took on the editorship of the OS Updates until his death. He was made an Honorary Vice Chairman of the OS Club in 2018. His love of all things involving Stamford stayed with him to the end and he was truly grateful to the town and the School, which had welcomed him 60 years ago. The ethos of the School and the opportunities it gave to all pupils reflected his philosophy of education, and he was proud to have been able to contribute.

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OS Legal Sector Group The Old Stamfordian Legal Sector group, now in its second year of running, is set up for Old

Stamfordians, and budding legal eagles, to network, connect, and gain knowledge of and insight

into the industry. From the established to trainees, the group has been an immense success thanks

to its establishment by Old Stamfordian, Simon Stanley (OS 85). We spoke with two members of

the group to find out a little more.

Katie Park (née Burgess) (OS 10) A third generation Old Stamfordian, Katie attended the Stamford Endowed Schools from 4 – 18. Having studied history, politics and Spanish at A level, Katie read history and politics at University of Manchester, before moving to London to study on a law conversion course. Whilst studying, Katie secured a training contract at Clifford Chance (CC) including a year to defer her training to travel. Having spent her training contract in different departments, including a secondment to a human rights charity, ‘Reprieve’, she qualified as a solicitor in March 2018. She now works as Associate in the Real Estate Finance Team at CC.

“It is a challenging role, often involving working long hours, but very rewarding and it is a fulfilling

atmosphere in which to work.”

Simon Stanley (OS 85) A day-boy at Stamford School having read history, English and French at A level, Simon attended Durham University to read history, followed by a one-year post-graduate course in Law at City University, London and then Bar School, Lincoln’s Inn. Having trained and practised as a barrister, Simon currently works for the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman’s office, an independent offshoot of the Ministry of Justice. He is currently Assistant Ombudsman for England & Wales and responsible for investigating all the deaths in prisons. He resides in London.

‘In hindsight, I am struck by the quality of education we received at

Stamford, not just in the narrow, academic, subject-orientated sense, but more widely, providing us with a great deal of knowledge and

experience and teaching us how to think and get the most out of life.

I made lots of very close friends there, many of whom are still among

my closest friends over thirty years later. I think that says a great deal

about the ‘quality’ of the place.’

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Join the Old Stamfordian Legal Sector Group The Old Stamfordian Legal Group is open to former pupils of Stamford High School and Stamford School. We also welcome interest from current pupils in Years 12 and 13 eager to find out more about the legal sector. The group, meeting roughly bi-annually, was set up and is run by Simon Stanley and to date has held breakfast events, quiz nights and informal drinks to connect people within the sector based in London and beyond. The group also warmly welcomes those not already working in the legal sector but interested in an insider perspective. The next OS Legal Sector event dates have not yet been set for 2019, but we will be holding informal Christmas drinks in London at The Old Bank of England on Fleet Street, a stoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s throw from Lincolnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Inn, on Wednesday 5 December 2018. All OS, whether working or interested in law, or not, are very welcome to join us!

For more information about the OS Legal Sector Group, please contact: alumni@ses.lincs.sch.uk

SAVE THE DATE Join us and meet with fellow Old Stamfordians for an informal drink this Christmas in London. This event is open to former pupils of both Stamford School and Stamford High School. We hope to see you there!

Old Stamfordian Christmas Drinks Wednesday 5 December 2018 6.30pm onwards The Old Bank of England Pub Fleet Street, London

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Alumni Events

Old Stamfordian Club Reunion and Old Girls' Guild Reunion 2018 A record number of attendees joined us back in Stamford during our annual summer reunion at the end of June 2018. The weekend began with touch rugby at Stamford School on Friday 29 June, followed by our two separate reunion lunches at Stamford High School and Stamford School, on Saturday 30 June. On the evening of Saturday 30 June, former pupils from both Schools came together on Mainfields for a hog roast and drinks. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always a pleasure to welcome back so many former pupils to the Stamford Endowed Schools at the annual reunions. The date for 2019 has been set, with the annual lunches to be held on Saturday 15 June 2019. We hope to see many of you there!

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Alumni Events

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Staircases | Balconies Sculpture | Beds

www. overwrought.co.uk

07976 927017

www.overwrought.co.uk Tel: 07976 927017 info@overwrought.co.uk

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Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll find an inspired collection of shops and experiences to enhance your visit to the castle. For the best in country living, explore the Engine yard â&#x20AC;&#x201C; OPEN NOW