St Benedict's News - Michaelmas Term 2021

ST BENEDICT’S

NEWS

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Floodlights light up St Benedict’s sports fixtures for the first time!

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London •

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M headmaster@stbenedicts.org.uk

F St Benedicts School, Ealing •

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Dear Parents, After the immense challenges of the last year, it is wonderful to see how our pupils have bounced back so well – not only academically, but in the many activities they enjoy. This edition of St Benedict’s News shows some of the extraordinary achievements this term: a studentled production of Anna Karenina; the St Cecilia concert, with more performers than ever before; huge success on the rugby field, and in hockey and netball as well, to name but a few.

The St Benedict’s Lecture Series has covered a range of fascinating subjects, often with discussions chaired by our Sixth Form students, and we have been privileged to have two highly informative IT workshops.

I am grateful to all our speakers for sharing their experience, insight and specialist knowledge with the St Benedict’s community.

With my best wishes for a happy and peaceful Christmas.

Andrew Johnson Headmaster

Dear Parents, It has certainly been a calendar year to remember, not necessarily for all the right reasons, and in many ways 2021 seems to have passed by very quickly indeed.

The latest edition of St Benedict’s News highlights the terrific activities that have taken place during the Michaelmas term, including highly informative trips, concerts and sports fixtures. The Book Week costume parade will live long in the memory.

Thank you for being so supportive of the Advent Appeal.

Your contributions to The Grove Community, The Felix Project, and the ‘Love in a Box’ Christmas Shoebox Appeal 2021 will undoubtedly make a significant difference.

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

I wish you and your children a peaceful and safe Advent, Christmas and New Year.

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With best wishes,

Rob Simmons Junior School Headmaster

BE BOLD BORIS

In advance of COP26, many St Benedict’s students signed the Jesuit Missions ‘Be bold Boris’ petition, demanding action on climate change.

Children in the Junior School added their voice to the campaign by writing poems about the impact of climate change on the natural word. These were written on postcards and send to Downing Street with the petition.

A group of Lower Sixth students took part in the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge 2021 after their end of year examinations in June. They performed remarkably well after their busy schedule and challenging academic year.

A Gold certificate was awarded to Niall Wynne, and Copper certificates were awarded to: Jin Tao Wang, Lucas Holmes, Felix Mac-Fall and Roque de Monte Furtado.

Endorsed and sponsored by St Catharine’s College at the University of Cambridge, this competition is designed to challenge students significantly beyond the A Level syllabus and encourages them to think about science in the way they would at university.

Roque de Monte Furtado, Lucas Holmes, Niall Wynne, Felix Mac-Fall and Jin Tao Wang

Success in the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge 2021

KGPA Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

The 1.5 hour paper is designed to stretch able students by making them apply the principles they have learnt to new and often more complex situations and to think and reason ‘outside the box’ at a high level.

ElenaMorgan / iStockphoto

Jessica is Young Historian of the Year

Each year the Historical Association, in collaboration with the Spirit of Normandy Trust, offers a series of awards for outstanding history scholarship. Jessica won First Prize in the Local History category for with her History of Ealing.

Did you know....? Ealing has derived its name from Gillingas, meaning the people of Gilla who may have been Anglo-Saxon settlers. Over the centuries the area has been known as Yealing, Zelling and Eling, until Ealing became the standard in the nineteenth century.

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

Congratulations to Jessica Williams in Form 3, who has won First Prize in the Historical Association’s Young Historian competition.

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Lord Patten said he was delighted that St Benedict’s enjoys a “welldeserved reputation for academic excellence” and that, in addition to giving young people the opportunity to pursue and develop their interests and talents, it continues to provide a moral education, helping them to be good people who contribute to society. “We are going to need a generation of well-educated, morally sensitive, determined young people”, he said, to address the many difficult challenges we all face.

Lord Patten spoke about the considerable and lasting influence teachers can have on their students, and the vital role they play in an individual’s formation. He recalled his grandparents, who had been teachers in the most deprived areas of Manchester, striving to change children’s lives and prospects for the better. He also contrasted his

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

LORD PATTEN MEETS

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We welcomed Lord Patten of Barnes, alumnus and Patron of St Benedict’s, to the school on November 22nd to address the academic scholars.

Chancellor of Oxford University and a cross bench member of the House of Lords, Chris Patten was the last British Governor of Hong Kong and a Conservative politician until 2011.

that it was “important to appreciate the difference between an argument and a quarrel.”

Three of this year’s five Patten scholars also spoke, thanking Lord Patten for his generous support and interest in their academic progress. They each described how St Benedict’s had encouraged them to read widely, to be intellectually curious and open to learning about a wide range of subjects, praising St Benedict’s varied programme of talks and the many additional opportunities for debate and academic exploration.

This year’s award for the most successful scholar went to Niall Wynne, who intends to read Physics at university and has been researching Airborne Wind Energy, working alongside a consultancy that focuses on sustainable projects and environmental strategies.

The Upper Sixth Patten Scholars: James Hunter, Jin Tao Wang, Angelica Lawson, Niall Wynne and Roque de Monte Furtado

ST BENEDICT’S SCHOLARS St Benedict’s History teacher – a Christian socialist – with the Marxist atheist historian Christopher Hill, who interviewed, and later taught him at Oxford, adding that, while Christopher Hill had been an outstanding historian and teacher, “He didn’t make me a Marxist atheist.” Referring to the current debate around free speech on university campuses, Lord Patten said

Niall said: “What does it mean to be a scholar? Many people would say it is to be hard working and intelligent, but I think what is most important is curiosity; the willingness to explore something with no goal other than the pursuit of knowledge.” Niall has been researching Airborne Wind Energy, working alongside a consultancy that focuses on sustainable projects and environmental strategies.

St Benedict’s students have achieved excellent A Level and GCSE results, in a further year of uncertainty and disruption from the coronavirus pandemic.

With public examinations cancelled for a second time, St Benedict’s held a series of assessments under examination conditions, which were marked and graded by their teachers against criteria given by the examination boards.

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ST BENEDICT’S EXAMINATION RESULTS

University destinations 81% of St Benedict’s students secured places at the UK’s top 30 universities, including Oxbridge, Russell Group universities, with the majority (79%) going to their first-choice university. Three students are studying Medicine – at Bristol, Queen Mary’s and Imperial College. And four students have been awarded places at the prestigious Kingston School of Art Foundation Courses.

“These grades are a great credit to our Upper 6th and Upper 5th students, who have worked extremely hard in the difficult, uncertain and sometimes stressful circumstances of the pandemic to achieve outstanding results. They have shown impressive resilience and should feel very proud of what they have achieved.”

Andrew Johnson, Headmaster

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

At A Level, students achieved 64.5% A*-A grades and 36.1% A* grades.

At GCSE, 51.1% of all papers were graded 9-8 (formerly A*) and 73.1% graded 9-7 (formerly A*/A).

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Key Stage 1 Soloists’ Concert St Benedict’s youngest musicians, aged 5 to 7, gave wonderful performances at a morning concert on 12th October.

Introducing Ealing Abbey Choir’s new Probationers: Emmeline Love, Sabrina Kapoor, Grace Heald, Harry Campbell, Freddie Codrington, Olly Hird, Oliver Hall and Viren Mathias

Ealing Abbey Choir’s first girl choristers Ealing Abbey Choir now includes girl choristers, for the first time in its 111-year history. Three girls and five boys, selected from Upper Prep, have joined the choir as Probationers this term, which is the first step to becoming Choristers.

The choir sings each Sunday in the Abbey Church at 10:30am Mass, and is directed by St Benedict’s Director of Music, Christopher Eastwood.

“I am really enjoying being part of the Abbey Choir. I am very passionate about singing and love going to choir practice. It is exciting being involved with something so special.” Sabrina “I am extremely excited to be a member of the choir. I really enjoy going to choir practice and I think my singing has improved a great deal!” Emmeline

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

In concert with Gabrieli

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Alexander Le Bouedec and Arthur Hair (Lower 5th) joined young singers from across the UK to sing with the Gabrieli choir and orchestra on Saturday 13th November. They performed Haydn’s oratorio ‘The Creation’ in Ely Cathedral, which was the latest event in the Gabrieli Roar outreach programme.

ST CECILIA’S DAY CONCERT Jazz, strings, woodwind ensembles, percussion, vocal music and Big Band all performed in this year’s fabulous St Cecilia Concert.

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Ex RECRUITS DAWN & Ex BAYONET POINT In early October, 75 new cadets in Upper 4th from St Benedict’s and Cardinal Wiseman (our partner school) took part in Exercise Recruits Dawn. Spending a day and night at Longmoor Military Training Camp, Hampshire, the recruits learned the basics of drill, skill-at-arms, military knowledge, and familiarised themselves with the obstacle course. 10 Sixth Form NCOs also attended, and developed their leadership and instructional skills.

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

Ex RECRUITS DAWN

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Ex Recruits Dawn I speak for all recruits when I say how much I thoroughly enjoyed our trip. We are so excited for our next one!

Freddie Charnaud (Upper 4th) After getting back from my trip with the CCF, I realised how much team building, life skills and good experience it is. My favourite activities were the rifle training, because it was fun learning how to actually shoot, and the obstacle course as it required a good amount of physical skill but you couldn’t do it on your own. I also enjoyed camouflage and concealment, navigation skills, survival skills and drill.

Katia Karadimou (Upper 4th)

Over the same weekend, 55 cadets in Lower 5th and Lower 6th NCOs took part in Exercise Bayonet Point III at Longmoor. Cadets had the opportunity to develop their fieldcraft and patrolling skills, laying the foundations for Section and Troop level leadership.

Ex BAYONET POINT

Lots of dedicated NCOs were out for all three days, on both exercises!

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As a section commander, I now feel much more confident leading people in the field; and the improvement of Wilding Troop over the course of the weekend was incredible.

Sophia Sandelson (Lower 6th)

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ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

Ex Bayonet Point During Ex Bayonet Point I had a great time. There were many difficult moments, for example having to wake up in the middle of the night to do sentry duty and patrolling in darkness, but I managed to push myself through them knowing fun activities were to come. The fun and adrenaline-pumping moments outweigh these tough moments, by far!

I enjoyed the platoon ambush at night because watching the muzzle flashes go off in pitch darkness felt awesome. Overall Ex Bayonet Point was one of the best experiences I have ever had with the CCF. Callum MacGregor (Lower 5th)

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LONDON CALLING

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Children in PP2 and PP3 have been learning all about London’s history and geography this term. A trip into the heart of the city, taking in the skyline and architecture from the London Eye and a boat on the Thames, made a great start to their new ‘London Calling’ topic.

Children in Forms 1 and 2 visited the Golden Hinde and Shakespeare’s Globe this term, as part of their new topic: Tudors, travel and treason.

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

TUDORS, TRAVEL AND TREASON

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BOOK WEEK at the Junior School

Children at the Junior School celebrated Book Week just before half term, with author visits, times to ‘Drop Everything and Read’, lots of storytelling and the ever-popular costume parade.

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

Award-winning author Laurel Remington talked to Upper Prep, Form 1, Form 2 about being an author

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Ross Montgomery, author of Ten Delicious Teachers, The Midnight Guardians and Space Tortoise, talking to Pre-Prep 3, Lower and Upper Prep

Chloe Inkpen, illustrator and author of Fred, Hole in the Zoo and Mrs Blackhat, talking to children in Nursery, Reception and Pre-Prep 2

BOOK WEEK St Benedict’s Book Week – an array of activities highlighting the importance of reading for pleasure – took place in November.

Sarah Govett

There were creative writing workshops for Form 3 with the Young Adult author Sarah Govett, who focused on the theme of dystopia.

Sarah talked about her own dystopian novel series, ‘The Territory’, and most recent novel, ‘We Go On Forever’ and how she builds a world around her initial book ideas.

We were fortunate to welcome Carnegie Medal winning

author Anthony McGowan, who fascinated Form 3 and Lower 4th students with tales of his school days in Leeds, talking about the ideas and inspirations behind his novels and showing the trailer for the film based on his book ‘The Knife That Killed Me’. Anthony finished by reading an excerpt from his 2015 book ‘Pike’, which had students both gasping and laughing as the scene unfolded.

Teachers read their favourite short stories and poems in the Cloisters for students to enjoy. These included Roald Dahl’s ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’, the short poem ‘The Mower’ by Philip Anthony McGowan

Larkin and an excerpt from David Attenborough’s ‘The Living Planet’.

On Thursday, each lesson began with a couple of paragraphs from Roald Dahl’s ‘Genesis and Catastrophe: A True Story’, which intrigues and dismays, with students hearing the whole tale by the end of the day.

The week culminated with my lunchtime talk on ‘Famous Ealing Authors, Artists, Actors, Directors, Singers, Politicians & Sports people’.

Students were taken on a whistlestop tour through notable figures from the ‘Queen of the Suburbs’, including Peter Crouch and his favourite Indian restaurant on Pitshanger Lane, Freddie Mercury’s first public performance at Ealing Art College, a look at the 1960s icon, Dusty Springfield and her school days in Northfields, and Old Priorian Andy Serkis and his transformation into Gollum in the ’Lord of the Rings’ and ’The Hobbit’.

Emma Wallace, Librarian

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

at the Senior School

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The St Benedict’s Sixth Form production of Anna Karenina – adapted, directed and performed by students – brought Tolstoy’s tragic love story vividly to life in the new Studio Theatre on October 12th.

In choosing to abridge Tolstoy’s mighty 800-page novel, and craft it into an eighty-minute play, James Hunter (Upper 6th) certainly set himself an enormous challenge. Everyone who watched the performance would surely agree that he and his talented cast had succeeded in bringing the story of Anna vividly to life – her loveless marriage, her adulterous passion and her final downfall.

James said: “The play was a truly collaborative effort from the whole cast, with everyone being able to freely express their opinions and to add their own personal touches- an opportunity that can only really present itself in a studentrun production.”

Eleanor Bowden (Lower 6th) gave a powerful performance as Anna, conveying the emotional conflict between her duty as a wife and mother and her obsessive love for Vronsky. All the other characters combined brilliantly to illustrate Tolstoy’s very first paragraph: “Everything was in confusion in the Oblonsky household”.

The lighting and soundtrack were expertly devised and managed by Caitlin MacGregor, heightening the dramatic tension, helping to create a canvas of 19th century Russian life.

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

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ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

ANNA KARENINA

ST BENEDICT’S LECTURE SERIES ‘Being Resilient’ Paralympian fencer Dimitri Coutya (OP 2016) and Olympian 400 metre runner Donna Fraser OBE gave an insightful and inspiring talk on ‘Being resilient’.

The Rio Paralympics in 2016 had taught him that psychological preparation for “the enormity of what the games are” is indispensable. We heard about the incredibly hard work – psychological and physical – which led to his success in this year’s Tokyo Paralympics, where Dimitri won a team silver, team bronze, and two individual bronze medals.

For Dimitri, resilience springs from “a process of admitting mistakes and being honest”; the ability to consistently learn from each set-back in order to improve future performance.

Donna showed the audience a video of her 400m race at the Sidney Olympics in 2000; she came 4th as a result of jittery self-doubt and indecision as she waited on the track for the start of the

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

Dimitri Coutya (OP 2016)

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race, undermining many months of tough training in an instant.

Consolation and encouragement from friends enabled her to bounce back, as they gave her the bigger picture: she’d clipped almost a second off her personal best, finishing in 49.79 seconds. Positivity is her watchword.

Many students stayed to talk to Dimitri and Donna afterwards and It was clear from their enthusiasm that they had very much enjoyed this honest, engaging and inspiring talk.

“Dimitri told us that the world’s top 10 fencers almost always lose their first match in the Paralympics. The only person he knew who had won twice in a row said that he treated the second time as if he had never won and put no pressure on himself.

This really opened my eyes to the difference that being in the right mindset can have on performance.”

Elena Llinares-Perales (Upper 5th)

Dr Peter Jaye (centre), with Mr Bowles (Head of Science), Mrs O’Connor (Head of Chemistry), and prospective medical students Amy Slaughter and Lucas Holmes

‘Is Africa the World’s Future?’

Professor Carlos Lopes

Professor Carlos Lopes, executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa and former UN Assistant Secretary-General, gave a wide-ranging yet detailed presentation of Africa’s huge economic, environmental and geopolitical significance.

‘Covid-19 – Experiences from the Front Line of Healthcare’ Dr Peter Jaye

Dr Jaye took us through the sobering calendar of the pandemic’s progress, from the early beginnings in Wuhan to the rapid global spread of Covid-19, and the horrific death rates in the UK. He described how a wave of fear had spread throughout the medical profession around February, before reaching society, as lockdowns began in Italy; of the frightening uncertainty and ignorance of the virus, giving rise to sometimes hourly policy changes in hospitals. He also spoke of the pain of seeing the fear in patients’ eyes and described how compassionate communication had been hindered by masks and distancing.

What were the failures of the pandemic? The role of masks in limiting infection and the aerosol transmission of the virus had not been fully appreciated in the early, crucial months. Communication with the public should have been clearer, and dangerous disinformation continues to endanger lives. Lockdown had been delayed and care homes had been extremely vulnerable.

And the positives? At the darkest points there had been a sense of community cohesion, and the strength of society’s moral support for the NHS had been very welcome to those working in hospitals. Vaccination was a huge success; six working vaccines produced in just 10 months was little short of miraculous – distributed so efficiently by general practice. The use of telemedicine had accelerated and developed, too, with great potential for improved care and equity of access. And the Recovery Trial – aiming to identify treatments for Covid-19 – had shown what efficient, international, collaborative analysis could achieve.

There were many questions from the audience of students, parents and staff. These covered examples of medical bias in diagnosis (in gender and ethnicity); how doctors deal with their emotions in the course of their work, and the importance of self-care; the long-term effect on mental health of wearing masks, which conceal our facial expressions; the need for more doctors, and for a selection system which brings true diversity of background and personality to the medical profession.

We are very grateful indeed to Dr Jaye for giving what was a very powerful, authoritative and honest perspective of this extraordinary crisis.

Professor Lopes highlighted the importance of Africa as a source of a young workforce in our world that is ageing, and how it is likely to be a future global leader. It was interesting to learn about the continent’s vast potential, with its huge amount of arable yet unutilized land. He also spoke about the flaws in the UN’s approach to climate change, with too many countries still prioritising the economy, and the length of UN processes, sometimes spanning up to 16 years to resolve and implement decisions.

Report by Angelica Lawson (Upper 6th)

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

Dr Peter Jaye, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital Trust, gave a candid and very moving account of his experiences of the pandemic, with some key lessons learned and valuable advice for students whose ambition is to become doctors.

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Congratulations to Sam Bricknell (U5), Harry Amador (U5), James Hunter (U6), Angelica Lawson (U6), Ethan Barter (L6) and Christopher Vaughan (L6)

MODEL UNITED NATIONS

The St Benedict’s MUN team performed exceptionally well in the latest conference, held at London Oratory School. Sam Bricknell (Upper 5th) was awarded a commendation certificate for his excellent performance in the Humanitarian Rights committee.

Debating on behalf of Estonia, topics ranged from the growing crisis in Taiwan, internet censorship, human trafficking, and the militarisation of the South China Sea.

MODERN LANGUAGES WEEK

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

With pupils from around 36 different countries at St Benedict’s, Lower 4th’s colourful stalls & quiz gave a great opportunity to find out about other languages, traditions and cultures!

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Form 3 Induction Day The Form 3 Induction Day at the Surrey Outdoor Learning and Development centre was a great way for us to get to know each other better. We participated in team building activities, for example, solving puzzles and using our teammates to help each other navigate an obstacle course. We also took part in different challenges that were off the ground, such as, high ropes and a climbing wall. The whole day was very enjoyable and something that we would all love to do again soon.

What I learnt from these activities is that you need to work as one team, encourage and help each other, and to listen to others as well as asserting your ideas.

Harry Tallboy

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SPORT

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Floodlights light up St Benedict’s sports fixtures for the first time!

The St Benedict’s sports grounds at Perivale have been given a huge boost by the addition of new floodlights, provided through the generosity of all our Annual Fund supporters. The new lights will enable evening fixtures and training sessions to continue through the winter months.

The new floodlights were launched in style, with a fantastic Sports Festival on the evening of Friday, 10th September. Three exciting sports fixtures, illuminated in the fading September light, were enjoyed by students, parents, staff and Old Priorians: St Benedict’s Hockey 1st XI v Highgate School, St Benedict’s Netball 1st VII v North London Collegiate, and St Benedict’s 1st XV v London Oratory School.

In further good news, the newly launched Pavilion Café served delicious food and drinks throughout the evening!

Results St Benedict’s Hockey 1st XI v Highgate School: St Benedict’s won 6-0 St Benedict’s Netball 1st VII v North London Collegiate: St Benedict’s lost 17-34 St Benedict’s 1st XV v London Oratory School: St Benedict’s won 28-0

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

The event opened with the CCF Corps of Drums leading the teams onto the hockey pitch, and at half time of the first fixture, the Headmaster officially switched on the new lights.

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NETBALL We have been delighted to return to a full block of fixtures this term and are proud to report that all girls who opted to play Netball have had the opportunity to represent the school, in an inclusive programme from Upper Fourth through to Upper Sixth.

A few highlights include the 1st VII winning the Highgate tournament, and the U14As giving a strong performance throughout the National Schools Tournament. Currently our 1st VII and U15As are preparing for the 2nd round of the Sister and Sport Plate competition. All teams have shown great progression and resilience this term.

We have had some impressive individual achievements as Anya Rimmer, Lizzie Doherty, Connie Reilly and Francesca Newbold have been selected onto the performance academies for London Pulse and Saracens Mavericks.

London Youth Games Well done to Marti Barbieri (L4), Lizzy Doherty, Ivy Melton and Anya Rimmer (U4), who represented the Ealing U14s Netball squad at the London Youth Games finals, winning a Bronze medal after being decided through goal difference.

Congratulations to Anya who was named player of the tournament.

Congratulations to Emma Thacker (OP 21) who represented England at the U21 Europe Netball competition in Isle of Man at the start of November, ensuring England retained their Europe Netball title.

HOCKEY

Miss A Maynard, Head of Netball

The U14/15A team has had an outstanding 90% win-rate, beating Godolphin & Latymer and Latymer Upper School along the way. All the players have contributed with flair and resilience to the team’s success; special mention goes to Riya Kantamaneni and Gabby Giles for consistently impressive performances.

The girls have made it into the London Area Finals after defeating St Augustine’s 2-1. They are also in the Independent Schools Hockey League competition (ISHL) plate competition round 3 away to Wimbledon HS. If they win they will be in the quarter-final. Some exciting hockey to be played before the term is out!

The 1st team squad have a win rate of 60% with an 8-game unbeaten run, defeating NHEHS and Highgate. The most notable win was the 2-1 win against Latymer Upper, the first time we have beaten them at 1st XI level. They are England Regional runners-up after losing to NHEHS 2-0 and then beating Trinity School 3-1 in the London Area Finals. Captain Tallulah Pilgrim has had an outstanding season thus far and we hope her form continues. The 1st XI have also made it into round 3 of the ISHL where they play St Lawrence College.

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

Mr J Nijhar, Head of Hockey

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Hannah Doorman, Kara Larkam, Maria Scott (U4), Amelia Dovey & Sophie Harrison (L5) represented Team Ealing in the girls’ Hockey and achieved a Silver medal after missing out to City of Westminster.

Form 3 have started particularly strongly. Of particular note were the fixtures at Saracens Amateurs, where our U12A/B, U13A/B and 1st XV all came out victorious against strong opposition, and their recent successes at The Middlesex Festival, with the U12As winning the Cup Competition and the U12Bs coming Runners Up (on points difference) in the Bowl Competition.

The U15s have also progressed, through hard work and perseverance, with a number of players being included in the London Irish Academy Developing Player Programme.

Consequently, the U15A continue to go from strength to strength having reached the Langley National Festival Bowl Final; they are also due to play Halliford in the next round of the National Plate Competition.

Arguably the highlight of the season has been the school’s 1st XV. Led superbly by Captain Cathal Sheehan, the squad have worked unbelievably hard. With only a narrow loss to Harrow in the National Cup (13-8) the 1st XV remain unbeaten and have progressed to 3rd in the Daily Mail National Merit Table this season.

Mr J Coles, Director of Rugby

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

The St Benedict’s rugby programme has continued to drive in an upward direction, with the school now fielding teams in over 140 fixtures since September. It has been particularly pleasing to see players enjoy the challenge of competitive school fixtures alongside continuing their efforts in ongoing training sessions.

The extra mile that the Seniors players have gone already this year, not only in their own development but in supporting the progression of younger year groups, has been exemplary. With big fixtures against Northampton, RGS High Wycombe and Hampton after Christmas, followed by a busy 7s season, it is sure to be an exciting year!

RUGBY

RUGBY

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JUNIOR SCHOOL SPORT The Junior School boys have made a successful and long-awaited return to Rugby fixtures this term.

The U10 boys have had their first taste of competitive Rugby, with fixtures against St John’s Beaumont, Haberdashers’ Aske’s, Belmont and St Paul’s. There have been some excellent results for the boys, but most pleasingly, they have shown a real passion for the sport and potential for the future.

The U11 Rugby team have also had a good start to the year, playing in a Quadrangular tournament with UCS, Belmont and Haberdashers’ Aske’s. The boys acquitted themselves well on the day and were excellent ambassadors for the school. More recently the U11s had a return fixture with UCS, which was an excellent opportunity to see how well the teams have improved over the course of the first half term.

Mr S Jukes, Head of Junior School Boys’ Games

HOCKEY During Michaelmas term, the PP3 – Form 2 pupils play hockey as part of their games sessions. The PP3s have made fantastic progress in

learning a new sport, which is partly due to their excellent focus and effort in the sessions. Lower Prep are continuing to work on the basics of hockey and have advanced to a level where they are now playing internal matches.

Upper Prep had an exciting trip to Orley Farm, where all three teams focused on spreading out and passing the ball with good speed.

The girls played admirably and came away with one win and two draws from their first competitive fixture.

Form 1 continue to improve under Mr Condon’s leadership, with the GB international and Olympian instilling the importance of space, ball speed and control in the training sessions. Form 1 had an extremely competitive fixture against Mill Hill and Belmont school, where we won one match, and lost the second.

Form 2 thoroughly enjoyed our home hockey tournament and highlighted our depth throughout the year as all three teams came away with a strong set of results.

Since then they have secured an impressive win vs Highgate School and a staggering 11-0 victory over St Augustine’s.

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

TEAMBUILDING

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Forms 1 and 2 enjoyed working together on a series of teambuilding exercises in early September.

CROSS COUNTRY St Benedict’s Junior School were one of twenty co-educational schools attending the Ealing Cross Country on 7th October. Throughout an entertaining day, St Benedict’s produced a real team effort and ran with great depth throughout our ranks. During the Form 1 boys’ race, Jack Salem had a fantastic run to finish 10th, with all 6 of our entrants being placed in the top 60 places out of a possible 111 positions. The Form 1 girls’ race saw 5 runners placing in the top 60 positions out of a possible 138, with Claudia Scott placing 24th.

In the Form 2 races, Tom Hill had a strong finish to match Jack’s performance by ending in 10th, with all of our boys finishing in the top 45 places out of a possible 121.

Kanika Sandhu produced a brilliant performance, narrowly missing out on the medals, by coming in 4th place out of a possible 133 participants in the girls’ event. Once again all of our girls finished in the top 60 places.

Due to Kanika’s high placement, she went on to represent Ealing Borough at the London Youth games and placed 27th in London.

With a great team performance, St Benedict’s ended up coming in joint third place alongside Little Ealing School in what was an excellent day.

Mr B O’Hara, Head of Girls’ Games

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Over 40 Upper 5th students completed their Silver award expedition in the Cotswolds in September.

Quality Award for St Benedict’s Junior School Science

St Benedict’s School Science curriculum was praised for its vision, ambition, commitment and enthusiasm, incorporating a wide range of initiatives to provide fun and engaging Science at every level – from Early

Years to Key Stage 2 (Form 2). The reviewers were particularly impressed by the many links made with other subjects, including English, Maths and History (children explored combustibility when learning about the Great Fire of London, for example).

Mrs White, Head of Junior School Science, said: “I am absolutely thrilled and proud that we have achieved such an esteemed award that highlights the high quality of Science teaching and learning in the Junior School. The children and staff have worked very hard in the incredibly challenging circumstances of the pandemic and I would like to say a big thank you to them all.”

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

St Benedict’s Junior School has been awarded the Primary Science Quality Mark (PSQM) GILT Award, a national accolade led by the University of Hertfordshire that celebrates commitment to excellence in Science teaching and learning. PSQM is recognised by Ofsted, the Royal Society and the CBI as having a positive impact on pupils’ performance, their engagement and enjoyment of Science.

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SWORDS & SANDALS

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

Lower and Upper Prep’s curriculum theme, ‘Swords and Sandals’, has explored the Roman and Celtic armies and how the Romans changed Britain. They had great fun dressing up for the Roman workshops, made shields and enjoyed a fabulous trip to Verulamium, St Albans.

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St Benedict’s remembered those who gave their lives in the First and Second World Wars, and other conflicts, at the Remembrance Service on November 11th.

Pie Jesu, from Fauré’s Requiem, was sung by George Majcherczyk-Olczak (Upper 4th) and the Last Post was played by Lydia Ramsden (Upper 4th).

The Headmaster, Head Boy, Head Girl, and Head of the Combined Cadet Force laid wreaths before the altar.

Twenty-one alumni died in the First World War and fortyseven were killed in the Second World War.

Our Nursery children made some beautiful poppies for Remembrance Sunday, learning about the significance of the day and why we wear poppies.

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

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UNDERSTANDING THE DIGITAL WORLD IT workshops presented by International Data Corporation (IDC) are offering St Benedict’s students valuable information and insight into the world of technology: its current global reach, influence and importance, and its future. Young people working in tech talk about how they got their jobs, what it is like to work in tech, and what the prospects look like. Experts with a comprehensive knowledge of the latest developments and applications explain AI, social media, mobile phones, green tech, and augmented humanity, giving insights into emerging technologies that have the potential to fundamentally transform the lives of every living person on the planet.

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

The third workshop will take place in the Lent term.

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“An employee of the petrol company BP talked about his work. He highlighted the importance of having interesting ideas and being innovative, rather than just programming the same few lines of code on every computer. An interesting statistic he shared was that 9 out of the 10 largest companies worldwide are tech companies. This has stuck with me, as it shows just how important a job in IT may become in the future.”

Jake Bowden (U4)

‘Life as a professional tennis player’ Dom Inglot (OP 2002)

Dom Inglot (OP 2002) gave his talk two days after the UK’s Emma Raducanu won the US Open, so the audience was particularly keen to hear how to make it to the top.

His message was simple: find your goal and pursue it: “There is so much you can achieve if you put your heart and mind to it.”

But he also advocated balance, and cautioned against burning all your bridges along the way. Having studied at Virginia University alongside his tennis training, he spoke highly of US universities; keeping a network of friends and other interests is essential.

There is so much you can achieve if you put your heart and mind to it.

”

Dom has travelled widely over the last 12 years, which he counts as one of the great rewards of his career.

The Headmaster, Mika Stojsavljevic (L4), George Toynton (L5), Dom Inglot, Arun Sandhu (F3), Marco Murru (U4) and Mr Scicinski

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

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In a typical tennis year, Dom is on the road for 8 months of the year, with Wimbledon and the Queen’s Club tournament occupying the 4 months he is at home.

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120th Anniversary Tree-Planting – rooting for St Benedict’s future success To mark St Benedict’s 120th anniversary, 120 wild cherry trees have been planted on the school’s site, at the Perivale sports grounds and in parents’ gardens.

The trees were provided by the Woodland Trust and will hopefully flourish in the years to come, playing an important role in environmental stability.

On Tuesday 30th November, the Headmaster, Mr Joe Berger (OP and Chair of Governors) and guests gathered at Perivale for the official treeplanting ceremony, which began with a performance from the CCF’s Corps of Drums. Mr Berger planted the first tree; in his speech he recalled St Benedict’s as it was when he was a student and spoke of his excitement for the school’s future.

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

With thanks to the CCF for planting the many other saplings.

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The Headmaster, Chair of Governors, Junior School Headmaster, Eco Club members, students and staff gather to celebrate St Benedict’s first 120 years, looking to the future by planting woodland trees.

NEWS DEVELOPMENT & ALUMNI RELATIONS

Dear Parents,

We were delighted to open the term with our first ever Sports Festival and ‘Friday Night Lights’ with fixtures played by our Hockey, Netball and Rugby teams. I am sure you will agree the installation of floodlights at Perivale has been a wonderful addition to our sports grounds and we hope to run many more similar events over the forthcoming year.

Our second Fireworks party in October raised just over £6,000 towards this year’s Annual Fund projects: the increased provision of bursary places, a new Music Studio and an additional five cricket nets for our sports grounds.

It was wonderful to celebrate the opening of our new Studio Theatre with parents and Old Priorians earlier in the term. The Upper Sixth drama students delivered an excellent devised performance followed by a very impressive monologue from one of our Lower Sixth drama students.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the Annual Fund as your generosity has gifted us the installation of this wonderful new Drama space. The new Studio, along with new, state-of-the-art Lighting and Sound facilities, will have an enormously positive impact for all our students.

I am very grateful, as always, to our Society of Parents & Friends committee (SPF) for their tireless support behind the scenes with all the Development Office events.

Welcome Back to our Old Priorians This term we welcomed a number of our Old Priorians back as Guest of Honour for our annual Old Priorian Dinner, to offer careers advice, and as part of our Lecture Series.

Damian Hopley (OP 88) Molly George (OP 17) Dominic Inglot (OP 04) Dimitri Coutya (OP 16)

Finally, I would like to take the opportunity to wish all our families a very Happy Christmas and New Year.

Best wishes,hes,

120th Birthday Tree Planting Thank you to all our parents and Old Priorians who took part in our tree planting event in November.

Together we planted 120 trees to mark our 120th Birthday. I am also delighted to confirm we have made a donation to Restore our Planet of £650.00.

ST BENEDICT’S NEWS

Tara George Development & Alumni Relations Director

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