The Johnian 2017

the johnian Once St John’s... always St John’s

The Magazine for Association Members and Past Parents of St John’s College School

2017

Upcoming Events Association Day 10 July 2017 Golf Day 19 July 2017

Innovations: Digitally Enhanced Learning & Tai Chi

News from over 180 members Also available online at www.sjcs.co.uk

63-75 Grange Road, Cambridge CB3 9AB ~ 01223 353532 ~ shoffice@sjcs.co.uk

The Eaglet 2015

Please contact Mr Robert Grove (rgrove@sjcs.co.uk) or Senior House Reception (shoffice@sjcs.co.uk 01223 353532) to request a copy of The Eaglet 2016 or our annual summary, Highlights 2016.

Front Cover: Jack Jackson biking in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada Back Cover: Sophie Mead at the Sovereign Quarter Horses showground in Cambridgeshire winning the Novice Amateur Championship at the Fenland Championship Show in 2015 St John's College School is part of St John's College, Cambridge, registered charity no. 1137428

the johnian Once St John’s... always St John’s

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editor’s letter

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head‘s welcome

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choir cd success

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innovations

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2012-2015

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2010-2011

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2000-2009

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1990-1999

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pre 1990

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obituaries

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events

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diary dates

© St John’s College School

staying in touch To keep abreast of current school news throughout the year please visit our homepage, www.sjcs.co.uk, where you’ll see links to recent news articles and publications and follow us on Twitter @SJCS_Cambridge for up to the minute news. You can also subscribe to receive email newsletters using the link at the bottom of the Alumni page of the website.

Producing The Johnian is possible thanks to your kind submission of news and photographs. Please help us to make next year’s edition even better by staying in touch. You will find a form enclosed for this purpose.

getting involved The enrichment programme at Senior House continues to flourish by providing a varied diet of activities for the children. We have enjoyed successful visits from a handful of former pupils and would be delighted to welcome back any of you who would be interested in returning to St John’s to enlighten, amuse or excite the children with details of what life can offer. Please let Mr Grove know if you would be keen to do so (rgrove@sjcs.co.uk).

Mr Rowland White (1980-83) is a publisher and writer whose books are mostly on the subject of flight, a lifetime’s fascination for him. He visited the School in January 2017 and gave the children an illustrated lecture on the history and science of humanity’s attempts to emulate the birds from men jumping from towers with makeshift wings, through early flight in hot air balloons and finally the Wright brothers’ successful powered flight. To illustrate his talk, as well as showing pictures, he demonstrated the theory of flight by making a hovercraft from a CD and a balloon, a folding paper helicopter, a flying ruler and finally, outside, a bottle rocket (pictured below).

Past pupil, Mr Rowland White (1980-1983), during his author visit to Senior House in January 2017

It has also been wonderful in recent years to welcome several former pupils back to St John’s to perform alongside current pupils in concerts at the West Road Concert Hall. Former pupils have joined the school’s Visiting Music Teachers to form a chamber orchestra which has accompanied current pupils as soloists in performances of various concerto movements. Anyone interested in participating should contact Mr Simon Kirk, Director of Music (skirk@sjcs.co.uk).

editor’s letter Dear Association Members and Past Parents, Welcome to this year’s edition of The Johnian. This magazine is designed to share members’ news and keep you all in touch with current school developments. The success of the previous publications has been the result of all the news items which I received from you and your contribution of such wonderful photographs; please continue to send us high resolution images to illustrate your news.

The magazine starts with a welcome from the Headmaster, Mr Neil Chippington. This is then followed by a look at some of our recent innovations in teaching and learning as we continue to evolve and improve, for example Digitally Enhanced Learning and Tai Chi. You will then find members’ news, initially from those of you at secondary school and then arranged by decade.

We include a list of former pupils who died in the last year and many of you will be sad to read of the deaths of Justin Wicks and Jamie Gardiner. We then close with details of upcoming events and some dates for your diary.

Please remember to contact me with news and photographs at any time, either using the enclosed form or by email. It is good to hear what members have been doing, and though some time may have elapsed before it appears in print, I know you too very much appreciate reading this news.

We said farewell at the end of the Lent Term 2017 to Mr Ashley Smith. Mr Smith joined the staff in January 2005 and taught English, French, Philosophy and Creative Projects during his time at St John’s. I am sure that many of you will have been inspired by his wonderful teaching and would like to join me in wishing him all the best for the future as he relocates to Shropshire to pursue various creative writing, educational consultancy and digital learning projects.

I know that many of you will remember Mr Scott Carnochan from his time as Head of Rugby and Housemaster.

Scott is currently in his seventh year as Headmaster of Sedbergh Preparatory School. He and his wife, Kate, together with their children, Poppy and Rufus, will be moving to Kent later in the year as Scott has been appointed Headmaster of Holmewood House School near Tunbridge Wells from September 2017. I would like to take this opportunity to offer Scott my congratulations on his appointment and wish him and his family every success in their new venture.

Finally, I send you all my best wishes and look forward to seeing many of you at Association events or whenever you might simply be passing along Grange Road.

Yours ever,

Robert Grove rgrove@sjcs.co.uk

the johnian 2017 ~ editor’s letter

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headmaster’s welcome For several years I have enjoyed reading The Week magazine and I am delighted that my children have started enjoying the Junior Week. The editors have a knack of finding interesting stories which most of us would not normally find in a newspaper unless we had the time to read every column inch. One such story caught my eye in early September.

Under The Week’s heading of ‘Spirit of the Age’ (usually found on page 6) was a short paragraph about ambitious Chinese parents who are enrolling their toddlers in ‘chief executive courses’. A twice-weekly course at the Leederedu School in Guangzhou teaches children as young as three leadership abilities at a cost of £5,700 a year. The article goes on to tell us that the Shenyang Early Education Centre is targeting even younger pupils by offering a ‘management trainee’ programme for babies aged up to six months.

I contrast this with a lovely meeting with some prospective parents whom I met early on in my time at St John’s who live in Germany and whose son only starts formal education aged 7. Not only that, but as parents they are told in no uncertain terms not to bother the teachers with requests about how their child is doing in the first few months and not to compare him with other children. The teachers will be in touch at the appropriate moment to inform them of their child’s progress.

We are always going to be concerned about what is the right way to bring up our children and what is the right way to educate them.

Successive governments in this country continually tinker with the education system to the point where it is difficult to ascertain what works and what doesn’t because it is forever changing. The media, of course, love this and not a day goes by where there isn’t an article about education or schools. I am continually bombarded with advice about how to run a school effectively and it is easy to be taken in by the latest fad or fashion.

At St John’s I am clear that we should continue to put the children at the heart of all we do and I pay tribute to my predecessor, Kevin Jones, for the extraordinary work he did over many years to make this such a distinctive and joyful place. The children achieve so much here because they feel happy and secure; they feel supported and are given the space and opportunity to enjoy their childhood. It will continually be our aim to instil a love of learning that will remain with our pupils for life.

Our world seems increasingly driven by targets and I suppose this is what drives some parents in China to subject their children to chief executive courses when they are still toddlers, mistakenly thinking that it will help keep their children one step ahead of everyone else. Human beings develop at different rates and each of us has our own strengths and weaknesses; we certainly cannot all be chief executives and I am sure most people would not want to be. This difference in rates of progress is particularly evident in children, so to expect them to have all reached a particular standard at a particular time is artificial. As we set targets for them, we encourage a mindset of perceived failure if they are not reached. We then wonder why there are more and more mental health issues amongst young people at a younger age than ever before.

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the johnian 2017 ~ headmaster’s welcome

I hope that at St John’s we never forget the joy of education and the joy of challenge and discovery that every child seeks. I hope that we help each child discover their true self and give them the resilience to tackle the next stage of their education and life beyond with a sense of confidence and with optimism. But I also hope that we will not judge our pupils by which school they get into, by whether they got 5 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 in a test but help them achieve their potential.

For me, the words of John Abbott, Director of the 21st Century Learning Initiative have a particular resonance: I take the Latin word ‘educare’, not only as the root of the word ‘education’, but also as defining its fullest meaning. ‘Educare’ meant “to lead out”, in the sense of a Roman general leading his troops from the security of the camp onto the open field of battle. Knowing that his soldiers had been well trained such a general was confident that they could apply such learning to the complex challenges of a tough life.

They had been prepared both to stand on their own feet and to work as a team. They knew what was good about tradition, but they also knew how new traditions were made. That’s what I mean by ‘education’ .... preparing young people to become capable adults who can stand on their own feet, and can do better than their teachers.

The philosopher Eric Hoffer expressed this brilliantly when he said “In times of change learners inherit the earth while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists”.

Neil Chippington

choir cd success The St John’s College Choir disc, Deo, has been nominated for the Choral Award in the 2017 BBC Music Magazine Awards. The winner of the award is decided by public vote. The winners will be announced at a ceremony at London’s Kings Place on 19 April.

Deo was the first recording released under the College’s new record label in association with Signum Classics. The recording is a collection of sacred works by Jonathan Harvey and the nomination is especially pleasing as the British composer studied music at St John’s College and was later made an Honorary Fellow in recognition of his outstanding international contribution as a composer. Two of the works on the disc - The Annunciation and The Royal Banners - were written especially for the Choir. The recording also features organ works Toccata for organ and tape and Laus Deo, as well as the popular anthems Come, Holy Ghost and I Love the Lord.

St John’s College Choir performing during the USA Tour last summer

the johnian 2017 ~ choir cd success

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innovations

Digitally Enhanced Learning Our digitally enhanced learning programme of developments is underpinned by three key principles: an evidence-based evaluation system of trials which measure and quantify the benefits to the children’s learning; establishing one specific aspect of teaching and learning as the focus for each trial; training teachers in the implementation of digital technology to promote collaborative learning and provision of choice for pupils. Each trial has begun with a clear proposal of the expected benefits of new technologies, specifically focussing on the ways in which they will enhance learning and has concluded with a thorough analysis of each outcome and a confirmation of which benefits have been realised. In this way digital technology has been implemented only where it enhances the children’s learning.

The number and range of trials has expanded this year and they have successfully shown the variety of ways in which digital technology can enhance learning. We have run trials in every year

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the johnian 2017 ~ innovations

group, using both iPads and Chromebooks depending on the age of the children and the subject being taught. In addition to the children’s clear progress in digital skills and the more varied opportunities available to them to consolidate key learning skills, there are three main areas in which we have seen learning enhanced: collaboration; choice and variety; pupil responsibility.

By sharing documents with each other through Google Classroom, collaboration is increased as children view and comment constructively on each other’s work. Through different sharing tools, such as ‘Padlet’ or the ‘stream’ function, they can quickly post suggestions and links to the class that can be used in research, presentations and discussions.

Our trials also suggest that the amount of verbal dialogue is increased as digital technology stimulates discussion by opening up a wider range of creative and varied learning activities, promoting the exchange and debating of ideas.

Byron House Computing Curriculum The Byron House computing curriculum has been redeveloped this year from Transition 1 to Form 1 and is now more varied, incorporating many new activities such as coding, digital presentations and learning how to stay safe online. Our aim is for the children to gain a far more thorough grounding in computing which will support their logical thinking and sequencing skills. The digital learning aspects of our curriculum will enable them to develop more independent research and collaborative working skills, while allowing them the freedom to be creative in their presentation methods.

Children in Transition 1 have discovered algorithms, using the ‘Scratch Junior’ tool on the new iPads to write computer programs to control their characters and make Beebots move around the screen. They have also used the iPads to capture photographs and make videos of their digital art work.

Children in Transition 2 have been more adventurous and have used Scratch, Lightbot and other control apps to manipulate avatars on the screen. One of their highlights was using ZU3D to make animations and bring their imaginative stories to life, including monsters emerging from the deep and aliens landing from Mars.

The Form 1 children have been introduced to collaborative working using Google docs and Google classroom. They have created digital presentations and videos using iMovie and have enjoyed creating spreadsheets.

Raspberry Pi and Senior House Coding Club The aim of the Raspberry Pi Foundation is to place the Raspberry Pi, an inexpensive, pocket-sized stand-alone programming device to which a screen, keyboard and mouse can be connected, into the hands of young people to inspire the software developers of the future. As one of the first schools to make use of the Raspberry Pi as a resource for teaching the physical computing elements of our Computing curriculum, we now have considerable expertise in this area for which we have been awarded Lead School status within the Network of Excellence by Computing at School (CAS), a foundation set up to give children a better education in computing.

“I wanted to join the Raspberry Pi club so I could become more advanced at programming. I enjoy it because you can do loads of cool stuff like wirelessly control a fan or code music. I have learned about variables, strings and doing physical computing.

Physical computing is when you program something that isn’t virtual. It’s really fun and well just amazing; you can program anything you want. I would really like to use these skills in the future to be a computer programmer.”

We also actively support and contribute to the teaching of computing in local primary schools through a number of initiatives. In the process, in addition to our continued close association with the Raspberry Pi Foundation and CAS, we have built up close relationships with: the East of England Broadband Network (E2BN) which works to raise standards of teaching and learning by the use of broadband technology; The Centre for Computing History, a Cambridge-based charity which promotes education in computing through its museum, hands-on exhibitions, learning workshops and events; The Teaching Schools Network and the KITE Teaching Schools Alliance which are close associations of teaching schools that provide teacher training in and around Cambridge; gPiO, the company that builds the control interface (general purpose input/output) for the Raspberry Pi. In the new Senior House Raspberry Pi users club, we are able to give the children hands-on experience of creating and programming physical systems which interface with a wide range of input and output devices. They are able to select the projects they wish to work on and cover a wide variety of computer controlled applications including: programming music using Sonic Pi; controlling 240v mains equipment via a radio transmitter; building a line following vehicle; learning how to make a camera trap for wildlife photography. the johnian 2017 ~ innovations

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Child-led Independent Learning Following a successful trial with a small number of Forms, our child-led independent learning approach, in which the children decide the topic the class will study for the term, has been extended to be used by each class from T1 to Form 2. Instead of following a preset path, the children are free to choose whichever aspect of the topic they would like to research and how, and are able to present their findings by whatever means they choose, often resulting in far more creative output than a teacher could devise.

This approach has significant advantages in terms of engagement, making the learning meaningful and relevant. Children in all the year groups were able to take ownership of their learning, independently developing their ideas and suggesting further activities to enhance their studies. All teachers commented on how, by being given ownership and freedom, they saw children ‘playing to their strengths’ and not being limited by the structure of a pre-set path.

The range of subjects chosen by the children included: Under the ground; the Human Body; Dinosaurs; Spies; Forests; the Great Plague; Cavemen; the Titanic; Inventors and Inventions.

“The standard of our work has gone up as you have more freedom and you can develop your ideas more.”

“I learned a lot on my own.

Sometimes just having a few instructions in the beginning is good as then we can choose to go our own way.”

“I liked the Plague morning because it felt like it was actually 1665 and not 2016.”

Above Left: Form 2D using trundle wheels to measure the size of the Titanic Top Right: Form 1L at Hatfield Forest building a shelter for their ‘Forests’ theme

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the johnian 2017 ~ innovations

“We made our own cave in our classroom and grew our own salt crystals and we used microscopes to hunt for fossils which were hidden in other stones and pebbles. We did animations too!”

“I loved it when we used different kinds of counters to find out how quickly the Plague spread.”

“I love it because you’re finding out things that you want to know about. It’s your own theme.”

“The Titanic topic taught us about shipment in the early 1900s and how this story has influenced our lives today. It is important that we all get to make a decision about what to focus on with our child-led topic.”

Clockwise from top left: Form T2V studying fossils under a digital microscope for their Underground topic, Form 2S making their ‘Stig of the Dump’ inspired by the book by Clive King for their Cavemen topic and Form 1H mapping how epidemics spread in their Maths lesson as part of their Plague topic

the johnian 2017 ~ innovations

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Form 4 Philosophy lesson on ‘Nominalism’

Philosophy A key aim of our Philosophy teaching at St John’s, for children aged eight onwards, is to help them gain an understanding of themselves as learners by developing and using critical and creative thinking skills.

The children learn how to structure thinking in different ways, to ask open-ended and searching questions, to consider issues from different points of view, to explore the reasons behind their own and others’ beliefs and opinions and discover what some of the great philosophers of the past have thought.

As children progress through the school, they become more independent in their philosophical discussions and by Form 4, after an initial stimulus, they are frequently chairing discussions themselves.

The chair person’s role is not to give value judgements on the opinions of others, but rather to exercise philosophical skills such as clarifying the meaning of what others are saying and questioning the logic of their arguments.

In one Form 4 lesson the children were introduced to Descartes’ statement, ‘I think therefore I am’. The children led this into a discussion about what makes us human.

“Can we know anything for certain?”

“Is human reality what reality is, or are there other types of reality?”

“If you are on full life support, you are like a computer program, but that would be reality to you.”

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the johnian 2017 ~ innovations

In the Lent term, Form 5 helped devise philosophical enquiries to deliver to Form 3. They worked in groups of five or six and used Google Slides to produce three separate 40 minute explorations. The first of these involved investigating what constitutes Art and whether or not a blank white ‘painting’ can be called Art. The second looked into whether or where lines can be drawn between a single object, a collection of separate objects and a ‘pile’ of objects. The final enquiry explored notions of sameness, difference and whether the notions of being ‘one’ or ‘many’ are mutually exclusive. They modelled this by producing a rudimentary sculpture of a human form from pencils, a book and a ping-pong ball and analysing to what extent it can be called one thing, many things, a ‘person’ and so on.

In the Summer term, the Form 5 children delivered their enquiries on Philosophy Afternoon, each group managing to lead a full class of twenty Form 3 pupils for the full 40 minutes without any adult intervention. The older children remembered having been Form 3 participants in similar enquiries two years ago and used these memories to inform their approach to leading the younger children through the topics under discussion. The sense of achievement was palpable by the end, having experienced a true sense of what it is like to be a teacher.

“I enjoy philosophical discussion as there are no right answers. In one lesson we discussed: if an apple falls off a tree and rots, when does it change and stop becoming an apple?”

Compassion

Emotions for Learning

Following on from the Active Listening strategies developed in Form 2, children in Form 3 became ‘compassion detectives’ in a series of Compassion Teaching lessons, designed to encourage them to listen with their ears, their eyes and their hearts. Evidence suggests compassion to be a learned virtue that, when cultivated, has demonstrable effects on physiological and psychological function and well-being.

Over 70 St John’s parents attended our Emotions for Learning (E4L) Parents Morning at Byron House. Parents were invited to see aspects of our E4L curriculum and Mindfulness programme in action, experiencing it with the children, as well as listening to key presentations from the staff.

Compassion lessons encourage children to understand how another person feels, to care about and help others and show concern through kind thoughts, words and actions. The key skills developed in this programme are: emotional awareness and intelligence, emotional regulation, self-compassion, interdependence and appreciation, empathy and compassion (understood as the wish to relieve others from suffering).

The classes consist of experiential tasks, exercises, story-telling, group discussions, and partner listening and communication exercises, designed to have a direct effect on the children’s interactions and relational behaviour thus impacting upon issues such as bullying, social exclusion, stereotyping and bias, whilst also enhancing self-awareness and emotional intelligence.

“It is important to learn to be compassionate because it can encourage you to keep trying.”

“Being self-compassionate encourages you to be kind to yourself and nicer to others.”

E4L is a curriculum and an approach to learning and relating at school that has been developed uniquely at St John’s. We have created an entire social and emotional curriculum for our youngest children; based on research and evidence about how children’s minds and brains develop. It is designed to encourage the children to express their opinions and feelings and give them the knowledge, skills and understanding they will need to be able to think creatively and problem solve effectively in all areas of their lives.

“As part of E4L we learn to do action stories which is a bit like a massage. I like action stories because I learn how to be more gentle with my friends.”

“I like stilling on the ladybird cushions because you can rest and get ready to think.”

“I like following our ‘steps to solving problems’ because it works and I like making people feel happy.”

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the johnian 2017 ~ innovations

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‘My Mind’ Curriculum

.b Mindfulness

Our ‘My Mind’ curriculum, which we introduced very successfully in Forms 5 and 6, has been extended this year in Form 2. Form 2 My Mind combines elements of Philosophy, Critical Thinking, Mindfulness, Emotions for Learning and PSHEE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education), and seeks to teach children how to manage their bodies, emotions and minds. It has included a very successful trial of Tai Chi.

The ‘Paws.b’ Mindfulness programme, which stands for ‘Pause, Breathe and Be’, is designed for the younger age group and has been used for the second year at Byron House with Form 2. It supports, in a highly practical way, the children’s emotional development, teaching them to recognise and regulate their emotions. It focuses on teaching children about the different parts of their brain and the role these play in how they experience the events that happen in their lives. ‘Paws.b’ also teaches some Mindful practices which support attention and concentration and can be used as a calming tool in times of difficulty or as a way of noticing when things are going well.

Key themes underpinning My Mind teaching which are explored with the children are that: focus and attention are key to learning; thinking is dynamic and can be changed; meta cognition or ‘thinking about thinking’ supports creativity and reflection and encourages good learning habits; training your mind as you would train your body can help you to think and learn better and to steady yourself at times of difficulty; learning about how your mind works can affect your happiness; making a connection between how you think, feel and act can affect both how you understand yourself and your ability to change your thoughts, feelings and actions.

Teaching the different strands (e.g.

Philosophy, Mindfulness, etc.) as part of one cohesive curriculum, has enabled the children to make links across the different areas and embed their learning in other subjects. In the Critical Thinking strand children discussed the skills and prerequisites for learning such as resilience, which have then been developed further in Tai Chi lessons. The children pick this up themselves, using the language of the different disciplines in the planning of their ‘Child-Led Learning’ topics and for instance, talking about using the “searchlight of attention” to help them to persevere when faced with a difficult problem.

The My Mind curriculum has received a very positive response from the pupils, with a noticeable difference in their ability to manage their emotions and thinking and their ability to think about and reflect on their learning.

In Form 5 and Form 6 the children take part in a 9 week Mindfulness course called .b, so named because of the practice of ‘stopping and being’. All lessons at Senior House and all transition times in Forms 1 and 2 start with a short mindful moment. Children in Form 1 have 6 lessons on Mindfulness in the summer term and this year, Form 2 children have been introduced to the .paws Mindfulness programme.

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the johnian 2017 ~ innovations

Some of the ‘Paws.b’ sessions have included topics such as: dealing with difficulty; the storytelling mind; growing happiness; brain training; steadying a ‘wobble’. The children also learned about the parts of the brain such as the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus and insula and how these parts of the brain work together to help us concentrate, focus, stay calm and make good choices.

“ “Mindfulness techniques helped me stay focused during my exams and also taught me to calm myself down before I started revision.”

“I have learned a lot with the ‘My Mind’ sessions and it has helped me prepare for my exams. I have also learned that my mind is too busy and that I needed to calm it.”

“Mindfulness helps me to make good choices and helps me to take risks.”

Tai Chi at Byron House This year we have extended the teaching and practice of Mindfulness through a programme of Tai Chi lessons for all children in Form 2. While practising Tai Chi, the focus of one’s awareness in the present moment is on the movement of the body. The goal is for the children to be able to integrate these key Mindfulness skills into their everyday lives.

Taught by specialists from the company Cambridge Kung Fu, this martial art nurtures the connection between body and mind and provides the children with a more accessible means to develop their skills in awareness, focus and resilience, through whole body movements.

Scientific research specifically pinpoints these attributes as being important for a number of factors including academic self-efficacy, the development of effective coping skills and positive mental health. Critically, these skills can be trained through practice.

“Tai Chi helps me to build resilience and helps me to take risks.”

“The moves are really fun and I’ve learnt to be more relaxed, calm and have more self-control.”

“Learning Tai Chi has helped me to think more about my posture.”

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Senior House Art Exhibition The inaugural Senior House Art Exhibition was held in the Drama Studio and Hinsley Hall with at least one piece from every Senior House child on display for families to enjoy.

Artwork included paintings, drawings, etchings, lino prints, ceramics, sculpture, photography, digital art and sketchbooks.

Original musical compositions by Form 5 and Form 6 pupils played in the background, followed by compositions by the composer Erik Satie.

“There was a tangible feeling of excitement as children rushed around looking at their work; particularly when they spotted something by a sibling, a friend or themselves.�

(Senior House Art teacher, Mrs Downer)

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the johnian 2017 ~ innovations

Wick Court Farm Arts Trip During the Easter break, St John’s paid its first visit to Wick Court farm on the banks of the River Severn in Gloucestershire, which is owned and run by the charity Farms for City Children. The aim of the trip was to trial a five-day programme of arts activities within the context of a working farm, which might be used as a model to enable other schools to operate a similar residential week as part of their own arts curriculum.

The final project was an architectural design challenge, using gingerbread to construct a model of one of the buildings at Wick Court farm. This involved making their own dough, planning their structure in two dimensions, creating templates from which to cut the gingerbread dough before baking and after baking, assembling the structures with a ‘cement’ of royal icing and decorating them with sweets.

Each day of the trip was structured around the daily activities of the farm, with hour-long farming activities taking place before breakfast and supper. The children helped to check, herd and feed the animals, make compost for the vegetable garden and collect eggs, whilst learning in a hands-on fashion about the science and culture of farming. They also visited the neighbouring egg and dairy farms, helping to collect and sort the organic eggs ready for packing and transportation to supermarkets and learning about the workings of a hi-tech dairy farm, complete with robotic milkers.

The children benefited hugely from the opportunity to escape to the country and absorb themselves in their artistic interests, away from the distractions of modern life.

The children engaged in planned arts activities. Having observed and sketched animals around the farmyard, they created their own sculptures, using a variety of materials, including items collected on the farm and during a walk in the local countryside.

They went ‘word gathering’ around the farm, collecting material for poetry. They continued to develop their poems over the course of a full day and continued to shape them further on their return to school, tapping into their memories of their experiences.

“Wick Court was a wonderful experience because we combined learning with fun and play. The animals will stay in our minds for a long time and so will the fun memories.”

The Food Mission Grasp of mud on the high heel feet, The screeching snort from within the velcro nose, Paintbrush skin and gingerbread glow, The candlestick legs melted on the ink flicked body, Umbrella ears cover the small sly smile, The green and brown smell of the rollercoaster tail.

Pig trots round the pen on a mission for food.

Polly Fish the johnian 2017 ~ innovations

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members’ news 2012-2015

Peter Casey corn carting for Trumpington Estate last summer

St Christopher, Letchworth

Culford

Hills Road Sixth Form College

Oscar Perez has settled in happily at the school, where he is having a wonderful time.

He took his first GCSE exam, Spanish, in Year 9 and won the Gouldstone Prize for Fiction for his short story, Train Man. He has been a member of the school’s Human Rights Committee and the Be Green Club, as well as being part of the School Council. His favourite subjects are Physics and Maths and he has enjoyed playing tennis and softball and doing athletics.

Lui Murton is intending to take a gap year after completing his A Levels. Outside school, he is a Cambridgeshire County rugby referee and has been promoted to the position of Chairman of the UKIP Youth Eastern Region.

Ben Thurlow has been offered a place to read Geography at Cambridge University from this coming September. He auditioned for and has won a place to sing with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain.

Eton

King’s Canterbury

Angus Fraser still loves the rowing at Eton and is looking forward to the Sixth Form.

Francis Bushell performed in the Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in September 2016. He was the Principal Bassoonist in the BBC Proms Youth Ensemble, which performed alongside members of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sakari Oramo, in the newly commissioned work Raze by Tom Harrold.

Comberton Village College Arthur Connolly is getting on very well with his sailing and life at school.

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Haileybury Arthur Greenwood is part of the 1st pair in the Junior Colts A tennis team.

the johnian 2017 ~ members’ news 2012-2015

King’s Ely Peter Casey (opposite) is really enjoying the Sixth Form at King’s Ely. He passed his driving test at the first available opportunity in May and spent the summer holiday corn carting for Trumpington Estate.

The Leys Tait Allen played the part of ‘Peter van Dann’ in the production of Bernard Kops’ play, Dreams of Anne Frank.

Andrew Bramley represented the MCC Schools against a team from the English Schools Cricket Association at Lord’s in September 2016. He opened the batting and scored 50 runs.

Lottie Casey continues to love life at The Leys, where she played the lead in the play, Dreams of Anne Frank, and was also a member of the ensemble in the musical, Sweet Charity.

Elise Dawes played the part of ‘Mariane’ in the production of Molière’s satirical play, Tartuffe.

Jack Forbes is happily settled at The Leys. He has worked hard at his rugby, rising steadily through the ranks to end last season in the Under 15 A team. He is loving outdoor pursuits and, apart from conquering Mount Kenya early this year, he will also be taking his Duke of Edinburgh bronze award and going on CCF training camp.

Max Forbes is consolidating his position as one of the leading tennis players at The Leys.

He plays for the school’s first team and is a member of its elite Sports Academy. He has recently been nominated for the Cambridgewide Roy Burrell Award for Sporting Achievement.

Toby Gardner was one of ‘Daddy Brubeck’s Assistants’ in the production of the musical, Sweet Charity.

Top: Lottie Casey in the role of Anne Frank in Dreams of Anne Frank Bottom: Elise Dawes performing in Tartuffe (both photos courtesy of The Leys School)

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Rosie Knighton (5th from right) at a piano masterclass with classical pianist Peter Donohoe CBE (courtesy The Leys School)

The Leys cont’d.

Rosie Knighton is thoroughly enjoying life at The Leys, especially the music, where she is taking part in the Wind Band, Brass Group, Orchestra and Jazz Choir. In January 2017, she attended a piano masterclass at the school with the classical pianist, Peter Donohoe CBE. English and French are becoming her favourite subjects and she has played for the A and B teams in hockey.

Joseph Middleton is in his final year at the school, where he is Head of North A House.

Thomas Nicholls performed the part of ‘Toots’ in the production of Erich Kästner’s classic tale, Emil and The Detectives.

James Owen has settled in well at the school, making many new friends. He has learnt to manage his time effectively as he has found that the pupils are given a great deal of independence. He was responsible for the sound in the play, Emil and The Detectives.

Lucy Shrimpton (opposite) has been enjoying her time at The Leys, especially hockey and singing. She entered the Elsie Swinton singing competition and was really pleased to be selected for the final. Outside of school, she has been competing with her horse, Charley, and plans to compete in British Eventing this season.

Eddie Tansley has settled in well to life at The Leys. He has been involved in many extra-curricular activities, such as basketball, photography and theatre crew, and he is enjoying his time in the CCF. Last year he appeared in Emil and The Detectives and recently played a major role in The Christmas Truce as ‘Old Bill’.

Sofia Traversone was a member of the ensemble in the production of Emil and The Detectives. She won a silver medal when she played for the Cambridge City Under 14 Girls hockey team, which lost to Surbiton in the 2016 English Hockey National Final at the Lee Valley Stadium in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Eddie Tansley playing ‘Old Bill’ in The Christmas Truce (courtesy The Leys School)

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Mahindra, United World College, India Jessica Agar is attending this school for the 6th Form, having moved from The Perse Upper after completing her GCSEs. She had to go through a challenging selection process to gain a place, along with 80 other students from 37 countries, at this international boarding school set on a 175 acre biodiversity reserve in the Maharashtra region, which is dedicated to international and individual sustainability. In her last year at The Perse Upper, she co-founded and ran a charitable project, ‘Chickens 2 Children’, which, stemming from research into animal therapy, raised £400 to buy, construct and donate equipment to re-home two ex-battery hens to Castle School, Cambridge. This involved cake sales, busking, many hours constructing a wheelchair accessible walk-in run and presenting the project and animal welfare issues in an assembly to 800 people.

Maidwell Hall Rose Pemberton is a member of the school Choir and the swimming team, as well as being a dormitory monitor.

St Mary’s, Cambridge Gabriella Baker is very interested in pursuing a career in travel and hospitality management. She had some work experience at the Childs Farm headquarters in Hampshire last July, which she really enjoyed, and also visited Singapore and Vietnam during the same summer holidays.

Beatrice Buchanan has been busy on the stage. She played the part of ‘Cath’ in the production of David Farr’s play, Ruckus in the Garden, a thoughtful and entertaining look at the trials of being a teenager with a modern nod towards A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She then took her first role in a musical, playing ‘Mr Mushnik’ in Little Shop of Horrors.

Lucca Clark is currently in her last year of the Sixth Form at St Mary’s and is intending to take a gap year before heading off to university to read Geography.

Olivia Hyde is preparing for her GCSEs. She is captain of St Mary’s netball and the team has made it through to the ESNA regional finals.

She is still playing cricket, opening the batting and wicket keeping for Cambridgeshire Under 17s. She plans to study for her A levels at Malvern College.

Sidney Watson (photo overleaf) has decided to pick up rowing which she has been doing with the Cambridge 99s junior squad. It feels a bit like home with St John’s coaches, Edward Gardiner and her sister, Catherine. She has also decided to shift to The Perse Upper for the Sixth Form where she is excited to have been offered a general scholarship.

Top: Jessica Agar relaxing at the biodiversity reserve in Mahindra, India Middle: Lucy Shrimpton competing with her horse, Charley Bottom: Gabriella Baker during her work experience at the Childs Farm headquarters in Hampshire in July 2016

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Mill Hill Ethan Bamber has continued to flourish with his cricket. He returned bowling figures of 5 for 37 to help Middlesex 2nd XI to victory against Kent 2nd XI in August 2016.

Sidney Watson with her sister, Catherine, trekking the Mount Blanca trail last summer

Oakham William Collison is enjoying the academic life at Oakham, achieving the highest mark in his year in the Maths Challenge and being in the top ten from years 9 and 10. He is also very busy with lots of musical activities and was winner of the English song competition in his year group and awarded most promising young singer out of all the entrants. Outside of school, he is a member of the Bedfordshire County Youth Symphony Orchestra and performed Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony. He has won first prize in the Easton walled gardens photography competition in the plant portrait category with his picture of a water lily (opposite) taken at Kew Gardens.

Tor Gordon has had a great first year at Oakham. It is a wonderfully happy place where he has had a go at a myriad of new activities from rifle shooting to a chilly trip to the Battlefields of Northern France. In 2017, he is looking forward to exploring Iceland to see amongst other fantastic sights, the Skigarfoss Waterfall, and visit the Secret Lagoon.

Amelie Hill has settled in well in terms of life both in the school and in her house. She is a member of the Chapel Choir and has represented the school in hockey and athletics. She received an art prize for an Art Day in which she participated.

Dominic Hill was a member of the Chamber Choir which reached the finals of the BBC Songs of Praise Senior School Choir of the Year competition in 2016. He has been part of the senior brass quintet, playing the tuba.

Andrew Jones sang in the school’s Chamber Choir which was a finalist in the BBC Songs of Praise Senior School Choir of the Year competition in 2016. He has been a member of the senior brass quintet in which he has played the tuba.

Photo taken by Tor Gordon during a trip to Northern France

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Artwork by Amelie Hill, displayed at Oakham’s 2016 Speech Day

William Collison’s prize-winning entry in the Easton Walled Gardens Photography competition of a water lily at Kew Gardens

Oundle Freddie Collard impressed across all his subjects in his first year at the school and gained special recognition in a creative writing competition in English. He has been involved in many other areas, such as playing for the B team in cricket, the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award and various house and school extra-curricular activities, in particular quizzes.

Eleanor Macintosh has had a very good year at Oundle, doing well academically and on the sports field. She won the District Schools Cross Country which then led her to the Counties, the Regionals and, finally, the Nationals. She came first in the girls’ Inter-House Cross Country and won the High Jump and 1500 metres on Sports Day. Eleanor is also enjoying team sports including netball, hockey and rowing.

Arthur Nicolle gained an Art scholarship to Oundle, when he was at Summer Fields, Oxford.

Dora Nicolle has been the captain of the 1st XI hockey team, the vice-captain of the netball 1st team and has represented the school in tennis.

Eleanor Macintosh competing in the high jump on Sports Day 2016

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The Perse Upper Tilly Borrett was a member of the Cambridge City Under 14 Girls Hockey team, which lost to Surbiton in the 2016 English Hockey National Final, played at the Lee Valley Stadium in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Oliver Buckingham took the lead role of ‘Tom’ in the thought provoking and powerful production of Jack Thorne’s play, My Brother Luke, a story centring on Tom losing his brother Luke but also tackling issues directly relevant to teenagers. Over the last year he has continued to enjoy archery, competing at the Archery GB Youth Festival in the summer and the National Indoor Championship in December where he finished 9th in his age group. Alongside school this keeps him very busy but it is something he really enjoys and a great challenge.

Chiara Gold, Daniel Quintana and Ben Whitehead performed in the Middle School Drama Company’s production of Telling Tales, an exploration of the power of storytelling in which the Company faced the challenge of embracing a variety of performance modes, from Shakespeare speeches to Greek chorus-style work, stage fighting and dance.

Lucy Howard has been offered a place in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain as a French horn player.

Sarah Howlett is enjoying life in the Upper Sixth at The Perse Upper and is a school prefect. She continues to enjoy playing for the 1st team in hockey, alongside Plum Thatcher, with both the Indoor and Outdoor hockey team qualifying for the National Championships this year. She also plays for the 1st netball team. She is studying English, Maths and French at A Level and hopes to read English at university in September.

Alex Salmon won the Perse Geography department photography prize.

Last year he did the lighting for the Perse Players production of Lord of the Flies at the ADC Theatre, Cambridge.

Paul Seaman is in his final year and is studying Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Physics for his A Levels. He hopes to read Engineering at university next academic year.

Tom Whitehead was a member of the school’s 1st XV rugby team which reached the semi-finals of the NatWest Schools Under 18 Vase competition in 2017, where they lost to Trent College at Allianz Park, the home of Saracens Rugby Club.

Top: Oliver Buckingham competing at the Archery GB Youth Festival last summer Bottom: Matthew Owen’s trip to Ecuador last summer Opposite page: Alex Salmon’s winning photo for the Perse Geography department photography competition

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Rugby Max Boorman is enjoying his second year at Rugby and is fully embracing his role as a Music Scholar. He plays viola in the orchestra and the string ensemble, is honing his skills on the trumpet taught

by David Blackadder and has many interesting and enjoyable singing commitments. With his newly acquired baritone voice, he was selected to be taught in front of a group of fellow scholars in a master class taken by David Lowe, the St John’s College Choir voice coach. He is singing in a newly formed ‘a cappella’ group, a rock choir, Schola Cantorum and the Rugby School Choir, with whom he performed at Twickenham at the Rugby World Cup final in 2015. In February 2017, he will be going on tour with the choir to the USA, where they will be performing in Carnegie Hall, New York and other venues. He is making the most of many other opportunities at Rugby. He enjoys drama and played the role of ‘Grand Moff Tarkin’ in a production of Star Wars Shakespeare. He is an RAF cadet and has enjoyed taking the controls of and flying an aeroplane. He has been learning to sail and has also enjoyed playing in goal in hockey.

Ed Whittley is enjoying life at Rugby and continues to participate in the A teams for rugby, hockey and racquets. He is also playing cricket in Dubai with the school this year.

Georgia Fraser is in her final year at Rugby, where she is involved in writing and editing the school magazine. She is looking forward to her year off before going to university.

The Stephen Perse Foundation

Helena Russell won a silver medal as a member of the Cambridge City Under 14 Girls hockey team, which lost to Surbiton in the 2016 English Hockey National Final, played at the Lee Valley Stadium in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Sophie Whittley left St Mary’s, Cambridge in the summer of 2016 with fabulous GCSE results and is now completing 4 A levels at Rugby. She is still ballet dancing regularly and enjoying running. In her first term she succeeded in beating the school record for “the Paddocks” cross country race.

Saffron Walden High School Matthew Owen (opposite) is now at Saffron Walden County High School studying Product Design and IT, which he is really enjoying.

He travelled over the summer to Ecuador and the Galapagos islands helping a charity with a building project.

Beth Seaman is now in the Sixth Form College where she is studying Psychology, Geography, English and Classical Civilisations.

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Tråstad School, Norway Emma Solås moved back to Norway in the autumn of 2015. She loves travelling and outdoor life in the mountains. Close to her family’s cabin at Drevsjø, there are brown bears, wolves, lynx and eagles as well as lots of other wildlife. During 2016, she has travelled to Gothenburg, Paris and Avignon on book fairs with her mother and was very pleased that the organisers thought that she was the one who spoke French fluently. She is doing very well at school, in particular with Arts subjects, and she has also continued her creative writing. She has joined a small group of girls who make short story films, including doing the manuscript, filming and editing. The group calls itself Sometimes Production and has already won several prizes.

Uppingham Anna Ewbank continues to love boarding school life at Uppingham. She is doing lots of sport and is in the A team for both hockey and netball. She also works on the school magazine and, with two friends, was the first to interview Dr Maloney, the new Headmaster.

Lucy Ewbank is loving Uppingham, where she has been thoroughly enjoying all the extracurricular activities on offer and is a very busy Sports Scholar. She has played for the A team in hockey and is in a girls’ choir called Girls’ Voices. Her favourite subjects are Art, English, History and Sport. Outside school, she still plays hockey for Cambridge City and was a member of their Under 14 Girls team, which lost to Surbiton in the 2016 English Hockey National Final, played at the Lee Valley Stadium in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Jemima Pemberton is happy at Uppingham, where she is enjoying life to the full. She has represented the school in the A team for hockey, has been involved in a number of drama productions and is looking forward to cross country running.

Oliver Parkes has been appointed as a Praepostor (Prefect) for his final year.

Tom Parkes has been appointed as ViceCaptain of School for his final year.

Kate Forbes has made a happy start at the school, where she has been very busy and making the most of the activities available, such as swimming, drama and cooking. She has played in goal for the A team in hockey.

Hannah Holmes spent some of her summer holidays in 2016 in a rural town in India with her sister, Sarah. In the daytime they taught English and then, in the evenings, worked with a mobile clinic which visited the neighbouring towns of the area.

Top: Emma Solås in Norway Middle: Hannah Holmes working in India last summer Bottom: Lucy Ewbank (far right of top row) celebrating coming second at the National Hockey Finals Cambridge City with Helena Russell (second from the end on right of top row) and Sofia Traversone (third from the end on right of top row)

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members’ news 2010-2011 Hugh Anderson has finished his school life at The Leys, where he took Economics, French and Maths at A Level, and is now on his gap year. He commenced with 10 weeks in St Louis, Senegal, helping to paint and restore schools in poor areas and giving the odd English lesson to the Headmaster and staff all of which he found very rewarding. St Louis was incredibly hot and humid. He lived on rice, onions, offal and goat meat, returning with a bad stomach bug but thankfully not malaria! He then left for a seasonal job in Auckland, New Zealand, selling paintballing tickets in shopping centres. He will be travelling to Thailand and Vietnam, and hoping to get a summer job in France to improve his French as he is doing a joint degree in Business Management and French at Exeter University in September 2017.

Patrick Baldwin had an interesting gap year.

He worked in Kenya on a soap opera, then in a prep school for five months. After Christmas 2015, he worked in a hotel in France and then as a groundsman at his old school, Glenalmond College. He is now enjoying his first year at King’s College, London, where he is reading Human Geography and planning to join their Chapel Choir.

Alex Bower-Brown has been a baritone choral scholar in his gap year at Norwich Cathedral and has done conservatoire auditions, where he received a number of offers, including a scholarship from the Guildhall and a scholarship from the Royal Academy of Music. He is currently deciding which of those to accept so that is all very exciting.

Robert Baldwin finished the Upper Sixth at Glenalmond College in 2016. He played 1st XV rugby and won the top prize at a local festival for his horn playing. He is now at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow studying Performance Horn. He also gained a place at the Royal Academy of Music in London but decided to stay north of the border, mainly due to the lack of fees! He very much enjoyed his mini gap break in the summer driving from Cairns to Sydney with his brothers.

Sophie Burkitt has now left Uppingham, where she took Business Studies, Geography and Religious Studies for her A Levels. She is taking a gap year before going to Newcastle University to read Geography in Autumn 2017. She worked in Cambridge to earn some money to go travelling and has gone to South America for 5 months with Kirsten Coleman. When she comes back, she will do some travelling in Europe before going to Newcastle.

Above: Robert, Patrick and Luke Baldwin in Australia Left: Sophie Burkitt bungee jumping in South America

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Ned Campbell is reading Theology at Durham University.

Sukey Clark has finished at St Mary’s and is now doing an Art Foundation diploma at Leeds College of Art. Kirsten Coleman did very well in her A Levels at Uppingham, where she studied Economics, Human Biology and Religious Studies. She is travelling during her gap year and has been to South America with Sophie Burkitt. On her return from her travels, she will be going to Bristol University to study Philosophy Saskia Connolly loved The Leys and is hoping to do Drama at Bristol University at the end of her gap year. She ran, with a couple of friends, a five day holiday course last summer, which involved acting, dancing and singing.

Emma Davenport completed her schooling at The Leys, where she took Art, Business Studies and Geography for her A Levels. She has been travelling since November. Having started off in New Zealand, she then went to Australia and down the Gold Coast, before heading to Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore, where she has been working in an orphanage. She has also managed to get a position on a Shark Conservation Programme in Fiji this summer. When she returns from her gap year, she will be going to Durham University to read Criminology Sebastien de Menthon is reading Law and Anthropology at the London School of Economics, having spent time in his gap year working at an orphanage in India.

Zoe Durbin is in her first year at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where she is reading Chemistry. Somewhere between the piles of lecture notes and the conical flasks she is managing to find the time to love university life at Oxford - she even directed a play in her first term at the expense of any kind of reasonable sleep schedule! Given that Lady Margaret Hall was founded by none other than the infamous Mrs Beaufort herself, she is starting to accept that St John’s will continue to be in some way a part of her life for years to come.

Tom Fanshawe (opposite) has been doing very well working for his father, the racehorse trainer James Fanshawe. He is a very good work rider and every morning rides out The Tin Man, who turned out to be one of the top sprinters of 2016. Tom left school after his GCSEs but has worked for the jumps trainer Donald McCain in Cheshire and also had a spell in Florida with Christophe Clement.

Charlie Field is on his gap year after finishing his time at Oundle. He worked in London until Christmas and is now traveling in Bali and then on to India.

Ollie Fraser is now in his second year at Edinburgh University, where he is studying History and loving city life.

Above: Kirsten Coleman with Sophie Burkitt in national Ecuadorian costume Left: Zoe Durbin studying at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford

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Tom Fanshawe and his father with The Tin Man after winning the Qipco Champion Sprint at Ascot

Susannah Hill is in her second year at Trinity College, Cambridge, where she is reading French and German and singing as a Choral Scholar in the Choir. She thoroughly enjoyed her first year, especially playing the cello in the College Orchestra, helping to run the College Music Society and being on the committee for ‘Sing Inside’, a Cambridge Society which goes into prisons and leads singing workshops for the residents. As Artistic Director of the Music Society, one of the events she has arranged has been ‘Come and Sing’, a fun singing workshop with members of Trinity College Choir for children in Years 2-6. The highlight of her first year was a five week Choir tour of Hong Kong and Australia. Apart from performing a number of concerts, she also managed to fit in a lot of sightseeing, which included climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge, whale watching in the Tasman Sea and climbing Mount Wellington in Hobart, Tasmania.

Susannah Hill (middle row far left) singing with the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, on tour in Australia

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Sarah Holmes concluded her schooling at Uppingham with a very good set of A Level results, in which she studied Art and Design, Business Studies and Geography.

She is now studying Paediatric Nursing at York University, where, in January 2017, she started a placement at Scarborough General Hospital, working on the surgical ward and surgical assessment unit. She has also started to take up rowing again. Together with her sister, Hannah, she spent some time in a rural town in India during the summer holidays of 2016, where they taught English in the day and then worked with a mobile clinic which visited the neighbouring towns of the area in the evening.

Lily Howlett is currently enjoying life to the full in her second year at Bristol University, where she is reading Mathematics. She is still a busy person, making full use of the extensive social life that Bristol has to offer as well as working hard and playing lots of sport, mainly hockey. She keeps in touch with her very good friends made at St John’s and during the summer of 2016 enjoyed taking part in a ‘Tough Mudder’, a 10-12 mile mud and obstacle course, with Izzy PictonTurbervill (opposite).

Edward Hyde is having a gap year before taking up his place at Jesus College, Cambridge to read Education and International Development. During the summer he worked as a Rackets, Real Tennis and Squash Assistant at Queen’s Club in London and he returns there in March. Over the winter he has been playing cricket in Australia where he was working as a toilet cleaner in a Perth nightclub. He has also been working as the Rackets and Real Tennis Fellow at the Racquets Club of Chicago.

Jack Jackson (opposite) spent a large part of his gap year in Whistler, British Columbia in Canada. He took a job there as a ‘Liftie’ (a lift operator) for Whistler Blackcomb where he was able to combine work with time on the slopes. He met some fantastic like-minded people in Whistler and had a great time before exploring California for a few weeks.

He returned to Whistler to do the summer season after which he went back to California and then visited Utah. He is now studying Business Studies at Leeds Beckett University.

Above: Sarah Holmes teaching English in India Left: Edward Hyde playing hockey for Tonbridge 1st XI

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Paris Jaggers is in her first year studying Biological Sciences at Merton College, Oxford.

She is having a wonderful time there and is enjoying rowing, which she started at St John’s, and women’s rugby.

Marcus Jordansen spent most of his gap year in Thailand where he did the European Bartender school, graduating with 91%, and also undertook the advanced mixology course. He is now studying European Law at Maastricht University, whilst working part time as a bartender. He has the intention to become an international corporate lawyer when he is older.

Tom Last had a good first year reading History at Peterhouse, Cambridge. He is heavily involved in college societies and the Politics Society. He travelled to South East Asia in the summer of 2016, spending a month and a half relaxing.

Above right: Lily Howlett taking part in a ‘Tough Mudder’ Run with Izzy Picton-Turbervill Above left: Marcus Jordansen at the European Bartender School in Thailand (fourth from right) Below left: Jack Jackson enjoying the summer season in Whistler, British Columbia in Canada

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Mamie Nicolle working for the charity, Conscious Impact, in a rural village in India

Tom Mead is currently in his second year at Harper Adams University studying for a Masters in Agricultural Engineering. He is the Chairman of the Hockey Club and is embracing university life, including going on the ski trip to Val Thorens in the French Alps.

He spent the last two summers working for Manor Farm gaining valuable experience in the latest agricultural vehicle technology.

Mamie Nicolle has received a place at Newcastle University to study History of Art. In early January 2017 she went out to a village in rural Nepal to work for a small charity called Conscious Impact. There she was involved in making bricks for sustainable earthquake structures for 99% of the homes that were destroyed in the 2015 earthquake.

She also was part of their agriculture programme and visited the local school to learn more about the education system and was involved in the painting of a new school.

She plans to travel around India and South East Asia for the following five months.

Freddie Philbrook at Aberdeen University

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Georgina Owen took Biology, Maths and Physics at A Level. She is spending her whole gap year in South Africa as a volunteer, where she is helping with a community project supported by the charity Project Trust. Project Trust has partnered with Axium Education, a non-profit organisation based in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, which uses Maths, Science and English teaching as a means to generate opportunities for students to pursue post-secondary study. Georgina is teaching Maths to secondary school children in Zithulele, a deprived rural community. She will then be going to Swansea University to read Geography.

Right: Georgina Owen hiking in Goukamma Nature Reserve, South Africa Below: Tilly Thatcher, Lily Howlett, Izzy Picton-Turbervill and Alice Clements

Freddie Philbrook (opposite) is enjoying his first year as a medical student at Aberdeen University and playing for the water polo team.

Izzy Picton-Turbervill spent her gap year volunteering in Costa Rica (she can now count septic tank building as one of her specialities), travelling in Australia and training a young horse for eventing. She is now in her first year reading Geography at Oxford University, where she sees fellow St John’s alumni Tilly Thatcher through their involvement with the University Netball Club.

Graeme Seaman is in his first year at Oriel College, Oxford, where he is reading Computer Science.

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Matthew Supramaniam after a night march at the end of his basic military training during National Service in Singapore

Toby Spence-Jones performing in Cabaret

Toby Spence-Jones did very well in his A Levels, where he took Physics, Music and Maths at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts. He was a member of the Choir which won the BBC Songs of Praise Senior School Choir of the Year competition in 2016. He is continuing to pursue a career within musical theatre and has gained one of only 50 places at the Arts Educational School, Chiswick.

He performed as ‘Emcee’ in Cabaret, which received fabulous reviews and played to a full house for every show. He had a wonderful summer travelling through Europe with friends and has now settled into his degree course.

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Matthew Supramaniam is doing his two years of Military Service in Singapore and is now at Officer Cadet School.

John Templeton (opposite) is in his final year of high school at Millbrook School in Millbrook, New York. He is studying the broad range of subjects that the US high school curriculum allows, including English Literature, Maths, Economics, the Sciences, Honours Printmaking and the US Constitution (as part of an intensive History programme).

In addition, he represents Millbrook in its varsity football, ski and golf teams. John has also had the opportunity to dabble in lacrosse, baseball and ice hockey. In the summer of 2016, Millbrook awarded him a paid internship at the charity of his choosing and so he spent seven rewarding weeks working in the marketing and social media section of Crisis UK in London. John currently has offers from several east coast US universities for the autumn of 2017.

Tristan Tusa participating, with his brother, Sebastian, in the 2016 London Marathon

Tilly Thatcher is in her second year at Queen’s College, Oxford, where she is reading French and Italian. She is currently planning her year abroad as part of her course and is in the Development squad of the University’s Netball Club.

Tristan Tusa participated, with his brother, Sebastian, in the 2016 London Marathon.

For 17 miles they ran together, at which point, in true younger brother fashion, he went ahead to finish the course in a fantastic time of 3 hours 44 minutes. From their efforts, they were able to raise over £6,300 for the Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) Association.

John Templeton (left) in his final year of High School at Millbrook School in Millbrook, New York

Catherine Watson has been on her gap year, where she has been working as an apprentice at WSP - Parsons Brinckerhoff, an engineering consulting firm focused on proving “sustainable consulting to transform the built environment and restore the natural environment”. She has also continued to row, shifting to an eight and rowing with the Cantabs women’s crews. Once the rowing season winds up in June, she is planning to travel and volunteer on a research project in Cambodia before heading to the USA for university. She has been offered a few options and is awaiting all offers before making a final decision in April.

Henry Whittley completed his education at Rugby with an excellent set of A level results and has secured a place at Newcastle University to read Geography for 2017. In his gap year he has been travelling in South East Asia with friends from Rugby, inter-railing for a couple of months and, in between times, has been working in a pub, doing some skiing and coaching tennis.

Joe Yeoman is thoroughly enjoying himself at Durham University, where he is reading History. When he is not studying, he is spending plenty of time playing football, seeing friends and going to parties. He also bumps into other former St John’s pupils who are at the university.

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members’ news 2000-2009

Michael Burnford during a boxing match at Nottingham University

Luke Davenport (courtesy of Matt Sayle Photography)

Peter Anderson had a most exciting year’s finance internship as part of the team launching ‘Amazon Fresh’, the online grocery service started in East London, and as the Treasurer of the Amazon Charity Committee.

He will be returning to Amazon’s graduate scheme in September 2017. Meanwhile, he is in his final year at Exeter University studying Economics and being the Treasurer of a Christian charity called ‘Just Love Exeter’ which helps students know more about and action their desire for social justice.

Michael Burnford is in his third year at the University of Nottingham, studying Product Design and Manufacture Engineering. He is currently working on his Major Project (16 weeks long) where he is designing the body work for the University’s Formula Student racing car. He took part in the London Marathon 2016, completing the course in a time of 3 hours 40 minutes and, in the process, raising a total of £1600 for Spinal research. He has taken part in a couple of white collar boxing matches at the University and has a 2-0 record.

Luke Baldwin is enjoying his third year of studying Engineering at Loughborough University, although it is hard work. He went to Australia with his two brothers, Patrick and Robert, in the summer holidays of 2016 to give Robert a mini gap-year before he started at university.

Marcus Connolly is now a sailing instructor.

Theo Bamber and Magdalena Loth-Hill became engaged in December 2016.

Angus Bower-Brown is currently doing an intensive, one year course at the Oxford School of Drama. It is very competitive to get on this course, which is for people who have completed their studies, and it has an extended final term in London. He finished his Music degree at York University in 2016 and had been a member of the Drama Society there for two years. He loves the course he is on and is throwing everything into it.

Archie Cornish is continuing his DPhil at Oxford University and, when not working, he performs with the Improvised Comedy group, the Imps, and plays real tennis.

Charlie Cornish completed an Ironman event in Mallorca in September 2016 and started an engineering job in London in February 2017.

Duncan Cornish had a great time in La Réunion for part of his year abroad and is back in Oxford for the final year of his French degree.

Emily Cornish is working in a hospital in South Africa for 9 months.

She is finding this to be an amazing medical experience and is enjoying exploring KwaZulu Natal.

Luke Davenport has managed to get a drive in the British Touring Car Championship, which means that he will have to leave his job as a Commercial Surveyor at Cheffins in Cambridge in order to pursue driving full time. He says that this is going to be really exciting and the fulfilment of a childhood dream.

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Sophie de Menthon at her wedding last July

Louise de Menthon has returned to this country from Ghana and is now Director of an international development charity, engaging UK school students in social enterprises in order to raise child literacy in India.

Sophie de Menthon was married in July 2016 and her husband runs a conservation charity. Many of her closest friends are from her time at St John’s and so Lucy Crosland, Elizabeth Erian-Round and Stephanie Harris were among the bridesmaids, together with her sister. Also present at the wedding were Ben Crosland, Daniel Harris and Rory McMeikan.

Anastasia Drokova graduated from Christ Church College, Oxford with a BA (Hons) Psychology and Philosophy in June 2016 and is now studying a PGDip in Children’s Nursing at King’s College, London.

Harry Field is in his last year of reading Economics at Edinburgh University.

Jack Field is in his second year at Bristol University, where he is studying Mathematics.

Henry Holmes, while studying Mathematics and Philosophy at Wadham College, Oxford, was a member of the team which competed against Robinson College, Cambridge in University Challenge.

Niall Jackson got engaged to Charlotte Anne Ryley in May 2016 and they will be married on 15th July 2017.

Charlotte Mantle graduated from Bristol University in 2015 with a 2:1 in Music and French. She is now working at Savills in Cambridge as a negotiator in the Residential Development Sales team. She is managing to keep up her music by playing the piano and also singing at weddings and charity events, and loves sport, being a keen runner and tennis player. She is still very friendly with Kirsty Dick, Ella Ward, Emily Waterhouse and Hannah Wilson and they often meet up for dinner or drinks. She is very much enjoying having her brother, James, back from Australia and also spending time with her other brother, Tim, in London.

Sophie Mead is currently in her penultimate year of studying Veterinary Medicine at St John’s College, Cambridge, preparing to begin her final year studies and placements in June. She is also busy preparing to take her first homebred horse out to Germany later in the year to train and show at their first international event, which, she says, is quite daunting but very exciting!

Amy O’Hanlon is studying languages at Oxford University and is planning to go on to do a PGCE after her degree, in the hope of becoming a primary school teacher. As part of her course, she is currently on her year abroad and is working in a primary school in France.

Barney Palmer won the National Under 25 Middle Distance Triathlon Championship in May 2016. He also finished 13th overall and 3rd in his age group in the Ironman 70.3 (70.3 miles covered in total, half the distance of a full Ironman event) UK Triathlon event held in Exmoor National Park in June 2016.

The Cornish Family (L-R): Emily, Charlie, Archie and Duncan

the johnian 2017 ~ members’ news 2000-2009

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My Name is Nobody by Matthew Richardson

Stella Savvidou competing in gymnastics for UCLA

Harry Picton-Turbervill left London in January 2017 to work in Singapore with US law firm White & Case in their business development team.

Stella Savvidou is majoring in Biology/PreMed at UCLA in the United States, where she continues to be heavily involved in gymnastics.

Lucy Picton-Turbervill begins her training contract with law firm Ashurst in March 2017.

Ben Saxton and Nicola Groves came 9th in the Nacra 17 event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The first former St John’s pupil to become an Olympian since Richard Dunn rowed in the Men’s Coxless Pair in 2004 in Athens.

Tom Picton-Turbervill spent his gap year in South East Asia and Australia and is in his second year reading Economics and Management at Durham University, when rugby and darts commitments permit.

Matthew Richardson studied English at Durham University and Merton College, Oxford. After a brief spell as a freelance journalist, he began working as a researcher and speech-writer in Westminster and has also written speeches for senior figures in the private sector. His debut novel, a spy thriller called My Name is Nobody, is due to be published in 2017.

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Amy Seaman is in the final year of her Masters in Chemistry at the University of St Andrews. She continues to enjoy working backstage in the theatre and is involved in the set and light designs for a show which will be performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer. She has recently been offered a position at the University of Birmingham to read for a doctorate in Chemical Engineering, which she will start this September.

Georgie Spence-Jones (opposite) has been enjoying travelling, which has included a wonderful trip to South Africa where she was playing polo amongst lots of other exciting things. She is going off to Poland to play more polo in 2017, as well as visiting Berlin. Once the travel bug has slowed (or the money has run out!) she is hoping to pursue a career as a Paramedic.

the johnian 2017 ~ members’ news 2000-2009

Sebastian Tusa and Alasdair Titcomb at the St John’s Association Golf Day in 2016

Tim Supramaniam (opposite) completed his climb up Mount Kilimanjaro in August/ September 2016 to raise money for the charity Dig Deep, which seeks to provide clean water for communities in rural Kenya.

Alasdair Titcomb is currently in his final year of studying Economics and Management at Bristol University and is looking around the job market to start sometime in September 2017 or January 2018 as a graduate in finance in London. He set up his own property development company last year with a friend from his house at Oundle. It is going from strength to strength and is proving to be a mixture of a hobby and a great way to get some commercial experience.

Sebastian Tusa ran in the 2016 London Marathon, which saw the largest number of people ever to participate in the event.

He and his brother, Tristan, ran together for 17 miles, after which they split up, with Sebastian going on to complete the course in 4 hours 6 minutes, about 20 minutes behind his brother. Between them they raised over £6300 for the Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) Association and were both thrilled to have taken part in such an amazing event.

After a couple of glasses of champagne that evening, they had both decided they would have to run it again one day!

Georgie Spence-Jones playing polo at the Jurassic Park Polo Club in the Drakensburg mountains in South Africa

Tim Supramaniam climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for Dig Deep charity

the johnian 2017 ~ members’ news 2000-2009

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members’ news 1990-1999

Edward Banks, Edward Few and James Wallace

Caroline Ali (née Tunnicliffe) is living in Royston with her husband, who is an orthopaedic surgeon, and their two boys, Toby and Henry. She is working as a GP in Letchworth and her eldest son, Toby, is due to start school at St John’s in September 2017.

Edward Banks and his wife, Paula, are now St John’s parents as their son, Bertie, is a pupil at Byron House. He still keeps in touch with friends from when he was a pupil at the school himself and met up with Edward Few and James Wallace during the past year.

Jeffrey Buckley calls San Francisco home. A Certified Public Accountant, he is an Ernst and Young and Yahoo alumnus and works for Zynga in San Francisco, where he is the controller. He spent 2015 in London working with a Zynga company in Oxford.

Mara Buckley Puliz and her husband Greg live in Las Vegas and have three children aged from 6 to 3. She has now re-entered the workforce and teaches middle school religion at St Elizabeth Ann Seton grammar school in Las Vegas.

Robert Buckley has a home in San Francisco but was working in Taipei last year, where he opened and managed the Taipei location of Alexander’s Steakhouse, one of the top San Francisco steakhouses. He has also opened Alexander restaurants in Palo Alto and Pasadena, California.

Juliette Burton performed in Auckland and Wellington as part of the New Zealand International Comedy Festival in 2016, where she received wonderful reviews, and, on her return to the UK, she performed at the Hay-On-Wye Festival to great acclaim. In July 2016, she was named Woman of the Year by the fringe publication The New Current.

Once again, she went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where she was thrilled to have a totally sold out run. In between her performances, she has been busy doing voiceover work, writing articles, reporting at events and speaking about topics such as body image and comedy and young people and mental health intervention. She has taken her latest show, Decision Time, to Australia, where she has performed it at the Adelaide Fringe, followed by a performance at the Leicester Square Theatre in London on 16th March. She is then taking a new show on tour.

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the johnian 2017 ~ members’ news1990-1999

Back row from left: Matthew Bailey, Tim Hughes and Simon Michaels Middle row: Michael Lorimer, Charlie Tweddle and James Staveley Front row: Ben Gummer

Juliette Burton on tour with her show, Decision Time

Iestyn Davies married Gemma Lawley on 13th August 2016. He was awarded an MBE for services to Music in the Queen’s New Year Honours list of 2017.

Tim Hughes (opposite) organised a small get together in London with some of his year group from St John’s – Matthew Bailey, Ben Gummer, Michael Lorimer, Simon Michaels, James Staveley and Charlie Tweddle.

Rupert Jagelman and his wife, Julia, had a son, Austin James, in June 2016.

Tim Jagelman got engaged to Anna Celnik in March 2017.

Tim Jones and his wife, Julia, had their first child, a boy named Harley, on 29th June 2016.

Emily Minton married Charlie Bourlet on 28th May 2016, with the ceremony held in Portugal. Her sister, Clare, and Elizabeth de la Vega (née Wheater) were bridesmaids.

David Moffatt and his wife, Lucy, live near Richmond in Yorkshire. They now have three children, aged 8, 6 and 3.

Mary-Anne Moffatt lives with her husband, Tim, in Greenwich and they have a son, Jamie, who was born in April 2016.

Sebastian Short and his wife, Hannah, had their second child, a boy named Rio, on 18th October 2016.

Rupert Jagelman with his son Austin

Iestyn Davies and Gemma Lawley on their wedding day last August

the johnian 2017 ~ members’ news 1990-1999

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members’ news 1980-1989

Jonathan Drew currently holds the position of British High Commissioner to Mauritius, Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Union of the Comoros and Head of the British Indian Ocean Network. He counts the time he spent at St John’s as having started him on the road to where he is now. Occasionally when he gets back to see his parents, who still live in Newnham, he has the pleasure of cycling past St John’s and, each time he does, he says that he has a smile on his face as he recalls his time there.

Ben Hardy and his wife, Alexis, had a second boy, Tor, a brother to Otto, in September 2016.

Andy Holmes and his wife, Nicole, live in Great Shelford, near Cambridge, and are now St John’s parents as their son, Alexander, started in Kindergarten in September 2016.

Michael Lavey is living in South West London with his wife and their two young children, Luke and William. He has been coaching tennis for the last fourteen years and runs Absolute Tennis, a company which looks after coaching programmes at two tennis clubs in Epsom. He is still a keen tennis player himself and competes when he can. He visits Cambridge, where his mother lives, from time to time.

Fabian Redpath has moved back to Cambridge after many years in London and elsewhere. He and his growing family are renovating a house and making many new friends, as well as reuniting with old ones.

Daniel Rycroft and his wife, Nicki, together with their daughters, Juna, Lily and Bay, visited his brother, Matthew and his family, in New York in August 2016. His work at the University of East Anglia is developing well in the lead-up to India’s 70th anniversary. As the Chair of the India Dialogue, he leads numerous delegations to Delhi and Kolkata and has been working with India’s High Commission on a new programme of academic diplomacy.

David Rycroft and his wife, Vinciane, still live in France and celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary in July 2016 with their daughters, Amalée and Eva, and his parents. David’s on-site painting in Montpellier complements his Mind with Heart trainings.

Matthew Rycroft (opposite) is now nearly two years into his position as the British Ambassador to the United Nations. He takes the lead in debates on such far-flung countries as Colombia, Yemen and Somalia, sometimes all on the same day or even in one press interview! He and his wife, Ali, live in New York and their three daughters, Lucy, Hazel and Kasia, are all flourishing.

Top: Richard Staveley (right) holding his nephew, Sam, his brother James’ fourth child Bottom: Rowland White visiting St John’s as part of his author talk this year

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the johnian 2017 ~ members’ news pre 1980-1989

Richard Staveley works as a Fund Manager at Majedie Asset Management. The company which he co-founded called River & Mercantile Asset Management listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2014. He lives in West London with his wife, Susie, and their two daughters, Sophia and Florence, both of whom auditioned successfully in 2016 for the National Children’s Orchestra, with Florence following in her father’s footsteps by playing the trumpet.

Rowland White is, by some strange twist of fate, publishing for Penguin Books in 2017 a debut novel by another St John’s old boy, Matthew Richardson. The book, called My Name is Nobody, is a spy thriller and Rowland has described it as “the most exciting new British spy-writing I had read in years.”

before 1980 James Kiddy got married to Judy on 31st December 2016 with the ceremony taking place in Little Bradley Church near Haverhill.

The reception was held in a marquee which was put in one of the machinery sheds on the farm. The evening party was a celebration for several reasons as it was both his and his wife’s 50th birthdays, as well as his step daughter’s 18th. He and Judy are due to go on a mini moon to Costa Rica, although this has had to be cut short due to work commitments. They intend to go on a longer honeymoon next November when he is up to date with all the work on the farm in Balsham, which has expanded over the last three years to just over 2000 acres.

Above: Matthew Rycroft at his desk in the Security Council in New York as the British Ambassador to the United Nations Left: James Kiddy on his wedding day last December to Judy

the johnian 2017 ~ members’ news pre 1980-1989

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Jamie Gardiner

obituaries Justin Wicks

(1999-2008) Jamie joined St John’s in 1999 in KGA and left in 2008 after a wonderful prep school experience which equipped him in many special ways for life at school and beyond. Enthusiasm and making the most of all opportunities offered to him was central to his character and he revelled in many aspects of the school: academic, dramatic, pastoral and sporting and perhaps most of all in making friends. Some of his closest friends were made at St John’s. They were an inseparable part of his life and they were with him right up to and at the end.

Jamie’s favourite pursuit was the outdoors. At St John’s he would invite friends on birthday trips to the Peak District to climb hills and cook sausages for lunch in the rain! Later, while at The Perse, he became an avid member of the Perse Exploration Society, enjoying trips to Kent, the Isle of Wight, the Wye Valley, the Lake District, Sweden and Vietnam.

After finishing his career at The Perse, where he was appointed head boy for his final year, he went to St Hugh’s College, Oxford where he excelled in college life. Among many other activities, he achieved a first class degree in History, led the St Hugh’s College Boat Club and helped revitalise its fortunes, propelling the first men’s VIII to its highest ever spot on the river, and he also became involved in the Oxford University Mountaineering Club. This introduced him to rock climbing and people who were keen on adventure, particularly the Arctic.

Justin Wicks (1978-1987) Justin went all the way through St John’s from Byron House, leaving in 1987. Following his family’s relocation to Swanland in East Yorkshire, he furthered his education at Hymers College, which he left with three good A levels to go on and study History at King’s College, London, where he gained a 2:1. After university, he followed his dream in the financial markets, which took him to Paris, Rome, Miami and London, becoming very successful in doing so. He met his Japanese wife, Chiaki, in Rome, where they were married, and together they had a daughter, Juliet. He sadly passed away in April 2015 at the age of 41, which was a great shock both to his parents and to his whole family.

Through all that time and while within these shores, he carried on climbing in the Lakes, Scotland, Wales and the Peak District, as well as canoeing the Wye, Tweed and Tay rivers. He was now becoming more and more drawn to ice and the Arctic. His first Arctic trip was to Greenland, where he not only tackled some of the mountains around the capital, Nuuk, but also took part in a remarkable 120 km foot race over two days along with the locals. His account of the trip, “Bad Ice and Gangnam Style”, written in his inimitable and imaginative style, won him a coveted St Hugh’s College creative writing prize.

His boldest and most ambitious venture came in early 2016 after he was invited to join the University of Oxford 5-man “Spitsbergen Retraced” expedition, as the expedition historian. This expedition retraced the route across Spitsbergen in 1923 of an Oxford team including Neil Odell and “Sandy” Irvine. The following year both tackled Everest, Irvine losing his life in the attempt. The aim of the Spitsbergen Retraced trip was to re-perform the 1923 route across the main island in the Svalbard archipelago, in particular taking the same photographs to show the changes to the landscape as well as to re-chart some of the glaciers, climb novel routes up some outstandingly beautiful peaks and carry out botanical research. The five-week trip was a resounding success and the team returned with seventy hours of film to form the basis of a documentary.

At the time of his death in a mountaineering accident in Norway on 2nd January 2017, aged just 22, Jamie was engaged in pursuing a career in outdoors film-making and working on the planned “Spitsbergen Retraced” documentary.

His parents, Robert and Rosey, and his brothers, Edward and Rupert, are of course devastated by the loss of such a kind, engaging, bright and loved son and brother and friend to so many. However, they would like to offer their heartfelt thanks to the whole community at St John’s College School for the outstanding support it has offered them in their time of grief: for the many cards, letters, visits, embraces, practical support and numerous other expressions of kindness and love from staff past and present, pupils and parents.

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the johnian 2017 ~ obituaries

Jamie Gardiner in Spitsbergen, Norway

the johnian 2017 ~ obituaries

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events Association Day 10 July 2017 Association Day this year will be on Monday 10th July 2017. The proceedings will start with a Barbecue Lunch on the Playing Field at 1pm and there will, as usual, be the opportunity for the younger members to play Cricket or Rounders or Tennis, all of which will take place after Lunch. Although the majority of those who attend are usually recent leavers, the invitation is open to all and, as happened in 2016 to celebrate the last Association Day with Mr Jones as Headmaster, it is very pleasant to see some of the older members, often with spouses or partners, as well as past parents.

Association Golf Day 19 July 2017 The fourth St John’s College School Association Golf Day took place at the Royal Worlington and Newmarket Golf Club in July 2016. Once again, there was a wonderful turnout of former pupils, some of whom were playing in the event for the first time, including our first ever lady golfers.

Playing eighteen holes of golf was, as usual, secondary to the opportunity for members of the Association, of various ages, to chat and share memories as they made their way around the course. As well as there being a foursomes competition, there were prizes for the longest drive and the nearest to the flag on certain holes. The foursomes competition was won on this occasion by Lui Murton and Ed Whittley.

We shall be returning, once again, to the Royal Worlington and Newmarket Golf Club on Wednesday 19th July 2017 for the next Golf Day, when Mr Robert Grove and Mr Tim Clarke hope that a few more members of the Association will come to play at this wonderful course and, more importantly, to catch up with what their fellow former pupils have been doing since they left St John’s College School.

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the johnian 2017 ~ events

diary dates 20 April 2017 Summer Term begins 11 May 2017 Parents’ Association Evensong 21 May 2017 Parents’ Association Charity Fun Day 3 June 2017 Choir Association Garden Party 26 June 2017 School Concert at West Road Concert Hall 8 July 2017 Speech & Sports Day 10 July 2017 Association Day Form 6 Leavers’ Drama Production 12 July 2017 Summer Term ends 19 July 2017 Association Golf Day 7 September 2017 Michaelmas Term begins 8 November 2017 Parents’ Association Fireworks Night 25 & 26 November 2017 College Advent Carol Services 5 & 6 December 2017 Services in Preparation for Christmas 8 December 2017 Michaelmas Term ends

Top: Sixth Form Shakespeare Schools Festival Production Twelfth Night 2016 Bottom: West Road Summer Concert 2016

the johnian 2017 ~ diary dates

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Sophie Mead at the Sovereign Quarter Horses showground in Cambridgeshire winning the Novice Amateur Championship at the Fenland Championship Show in 2015 (courtesy of Figure Eight photography)