OP News Autumn/Winter 2021

AUTUMN WINTER 2021

OP

IN THIS ISSUE FEATURE MEET OUR MEDICS ARCHIVIST’S ACCOUNT FOUNDER’S DAY CAREERS STARTING OUT IN RESEARCH PERSE PROFILE SIMON BALL

CONTENTS 03

From the Head

06 MEET OUR MEDICS

04

School News

06

Meet our Medics

11

Your Impact

14

Archivist’s Account

15

Perse Giving Day

16

OP News

18

Careers Workshop

20

Staff Profile

OP medics of all ages share their experiences

11 YOUR IMPACT See how your support has helped this year

14 ARCHIVIST’S ACCOUNT Founder’s Day

21 Obituaries

24

Upcoming Events

ON THE COVER Hannah Parker (2010) in action, completing her solo swim of the English Channel. Read more on page 16. Photography

by Henry Redcliffe (www.henryredcliffe.com).

18 CAREERS WORKSHOP Beginning a career in research

FROM SCHOOL THENEWS HEAD

ON SUNDAY 12 SEPTEMBER, THE FIRST OP SPORTS FESTIVAL IN TWO YEARS TOOK PLACE, WITH AN EXCITING TIMETABLE OF FIXTURES INCLUDING TOUCH RUGBY, NETBALL AND HOCKEY. IT WAS FANTASTIC TO SEE SO MANY FAMILIAR FACES BACK ON THE SCHOOL SPORTS GROUNDS.

From the Head

T

here can be few schools more medical than The

whilst positive cases have been sent home to selfisolate before they can infect others. Whilst Covid-19 has certainly made the last six terms challenging, Samba coupled with rigorous cleaning and copious ventilation have limited the pandemic’s impact on The Perse. I hope Drs Perse and Tabor would approve of our twenty-first century public health measures!

As well as thanking all those who work in healthcare, I would also like to thank those employed in education. With limited levels of vaccination in children, it is inevitable that the pandemic will linger longest in schools. There is bound to be more disruption over the winter months, and school staff will have to work hard to preserve the continuity of academic education, extra-curricular opportunities, and pastoral care to children whose lives have already been significantly disrupted. When the pandemic finally ends it must be remembered that young people, in many ways least at risk from Covid-19, have gone without education and missed out on rites of passage to protect older generations. They will also be the ones who, over the decades to come, pay much of the pandemic bill. Children do not have the vote so their voices can be underrepresented in the political process.

But we have much to thank them for, both now and in the future, as the country recuperates post-pandemic.

Perse. Our founder Dr Perse practised medicine for 30 years; he was instrumental in bringing

clean water to Cambridge via Hobson’s Brook and in so doing saved countless lives. One of the School’s first pupils, Robert Tabor, popularised the use of quinine to treat malaria. Tabor became a celebrity doctor and went on to successfully cure Charles II of England, the French Dauphin, and the Spanish Queen of their fevers.

Today, medicine is one of the most popular degree courses read by OPs, and over the last five years over 100 Perseans have gone on to study medicine at university. The School is doing its bit to staff the NHS, and the ‘meet our medics’ article features the personal stories of Perse doctors. As the pandemic continues, The Perse is very proud of all its former students employed in health and social care, and I take this opportunity to thank our nurses, doctors, physiotherapists, administrators, carers, researchers, lab technicians, and related staff for all their amazing work.

Covid-19 has made us all experts in infection control, and the School has developed impressive test and trace capabilities. Early in the pandemic we acquired a Samba II point of contact testing machine, and we have carried out nearly 400 tests on pupils and staff.

These accurate and rapid tests have allowed us to identify and isolate Covid-19 cases in School far faster than would have been possible waiting for NHS PCR tests. This means that Covid-negative pupils and staff have returned to classes quickly,

With best wishes, Ed Elliott 3

OLD PERSEANS

School News EXAM Excellence Despite unprecedented circumstances, Perse pupils celebrated a wonderful set of exam results. Of the Upper Sixth, 91% of students pursuing higher education have gained places at their first-choice universities, and 48 students will be attending Oxbridge. Our GCSE results were equally fantastic, with 94% of entries being awarded an A*-A/9-7 grade.

Head Ed Elliott said ‘students have worked incredibly hard in challenging circumstances and have shown considerable resourcefulness and resilience in successfully adapting to all the teaching, learning and assessment changes that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused. They should be immensely proud of their grades and I congratulate them and their teachers on what has been achieved.’ Congratulations to our newest OPs.

PREP Wellbeing Week The Prep rounded off the first half of their Michaelmas term with a Wellbeing Week, with a wide range of activities and talks focusing on the importance of mental health. Pupils produced ukuleles from recycled materials, tried out sitting volleyball, learned some kung fu and Indian dancing, and built their own miniature rafts from materials collected from the grounds. The week gave the pupils time for reflection, mindfulness, and showed the importance of teamwork.

EXCITING School Developments The summer break saw the completion of the refurbishment to the Sixth Form common room, as well as the renovation of the lecture theatre.

A new space, the Hersch Room, has also been recently completed. Located above the Old Gym, it will be used as a quiet study area for the Sixth Form, and as an additional serving space for lunches. The room is named after Israel Hersch, who was the first Housemaster of Hillel House, the School’s Jewish boarding house, between 1904 and 1929. During the Second World War, the House took in several Jewish refugees from Central Europe and London. The important legacy of Hersch and Hillel House will live on in this wonderful new facility.

4

SCHOOL NEWS

OUTDOOR Pursuits Summit 12 recently completed their annual summer camp. Originally intending to travel to Sweden, the team changed plans owing to Covid-19, and instead spent an exciting week in the Norfolk Broads hiking, swimming, and canoeing.

The Perse Outdoor Pursuits Ascent Group also completed a successful expedition to Duxford in July. Activities included archery and archery tag, shooting, backwoods cooking, bushcraft, orienteering (including a short hike), water sports and pioneering.

PRIZE AWARDED to Young Environmentalist

William Walker (Year 8) was recently awarded the Orwell Youth Prize for his insightful essay ‘Creating Norfolk Wetlands’, an investigation into the environmental and social importance of wetland habitats.

OUTREACH AND PARTNERSHIPS Update Outreach projects at The Perse have remained active despite the challenges of lockdowns. We created a new competition for Year 9 research,

ANTHONY BROWNE MP visit Anthony Browne (1985), current Member of Parliament for South Cambridgeshire, visited the Upper on Friday 8 October. Mr Browne enjoyed a tour of the grounds, which he had not visited since he left the School, and then spoke to pupils about his career and his journey towards becoming a politician. After working as a journalist for several years, Mr Browne joined then-Mayor of London Boris Johnson, taking charge of business and economic policy. He successfully became the Conservative candidate for the constituency in 2019. Mr Browne took a series of topical and challenging questions from pupils, ranging from the Cambridgeshire housing situation to national issues like Covid-19 and Brexit.

When asked, he said that his biggest political passion was taking action on climate change.

The Perse Cambridge Aristotelian Award for Research, which drew interest from entrants across the country. We are returning to in-person partnership activities with primary and secondary schools this academic year, involving over 3,000 pupils. For example, we assist a school in Hertford through links in maths, music and sport and support a school in Norfolk in the creation of their Economics Department. We shall also be offering

SPORTING Success Several Perse rowers competed in the National Schools’ Regatta as part of the Cambridge 99 Rowing Club in July, with Laura Burton (Lower Sixth) coming in first place in the girls’ single sculls event. She won with a sensational time of 9min 06.11sec.

some local primary schools LEGO robotics engineering sessions.

5

OLD PERSEANS

Meet our Medics It has been a hard year for healthcare workers.

Nonetheless, Old Perseans who are studying, practising and teaching medicine continue to thrive from the challenges and fulfilment that their careers bring.

6

SCHOOL FEATURE NEWS

William Hage (1993) I THINK I ALWAYS wanted to be a doctor, and when I look at my life, family, job role and career trajectory it is difficult, I think, to see a more rewarding balance. I am a Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon in the UK, and my specialty interest is soft tissue knee surgery.

What does this mean? Half of my time I am fixing broken bones and mopping up the injured; the other half is keyhole multiligament knee surgery, leg realignment and eventually knee replacement. I operate on those aged 10 to 100. In my quietest hour, and don’t let this get out, I would admit that I would happily disconnect my job from its salary! Does my wife read this?

I left The Perse in 1993 to study at Nottingham Medical School, and five years later emerged as a qualified doctor. The standard pattern then, and it’s changed quite a bit now, was 90-hour weeks, with a subsequent focus of your specialty interest according to what took your fancy, and what you were successful at applying for. Over the years the hours decreased a little. Get ready to give up your time! Learn to sleep anywhere, in any position, on any surface (which is also useful when kids arrive later).

Orthopaedic surgery quickly became my focus. I’m hands on, I make things better, I am the carpenter for geeks. The role has tough hours and involves many patients, amazing camaraderie, never-ending exams, and multiple interviews. Nobody makes you apply for surgery. There are much shorter career pathways in medicine. I worked it out later: my first exam was aged eight to apply for entry to the Prep, then exams every three to four years until age 33. I stopped exams and bought myself an expensive Swiss watch as a reward/cliché.

Then, frighteningly, aged 34 I emerged the other end as Consultant Surgeon – essentially a solo ship’s captaincy, and nobody at your side to help. Although of course, a modern hospital has lots of colleagues to ring for help. A retiring professor friend of my father sat me down on day minus five and said “Rule one: ask for help. Rule two: when things go wrong, go immediately to the patient, apologise and tell them everything.” There is no more sage advice.

Mostly I fix adults, but I treat children with busted knees. I do meniscal transplant, whereby we put in a piece of tissue from a deceased donor to salvage someone else’s knee. This is cutting-edge. We do paediatric Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) reconstruction in the pre-teens and even ten years ago when I started, this was experimental. I performed an ACL reconstruction on a patient in his twenties, who years before had needed a heart transplant.

His heart had stopped on the pitch aged seventeen, requiring transplant. He really wanted to get back to football. I recently treated a young man, a farmer, with

a full knee dislocation, three out of four ligaments torn and nerve injured, floppy foot. This is a life-changing injury. He told me his parents were looking to sell the family farm (his inheritance) if he didn’t recover. He and I have had a lot of success and hard work, and he is back farming now. There are failures, and I have failures just like any other surgeon. There is death. You have to learn to accept it, learn and move on. There is nothing with more gravitas than looking a patient or relative in the eyes and admitting that it has gone wrong, and I am solely responsible.

I am part of the steering group for the National Ligament Registry; we collect patient and operative data on surgery. Prospective research on knee surgery is aimed at refining outcomes and working out what surgical techniques work best. I fund this through soft grants from industry and we are working on getting the government to fund it. The UK is part of the leading group of world surgical registries, and I want to give back, whilst using data accurately.

There are infinite challenges and new directions in the NHS. Pioneers invent new treatments and then steer the research and development to deliver proven clinical practice. Anyone can be that pioneer.

Covid-19 has ricocheted through orthopaedic surgery massively. We obviously stopped all nonemergency surgery initially, but resumed slowly from about September 2020. The fracture surgery continued throughout. In the worst times, I went back to a junior doctor role on the wards to cover doctor absences, back to what I did in 1999 as a 23-year-old.

Nobody was specialist, everyone was just a doctor.

I am very happy with my success in the NHS, which started with the amazing springboard The Perse gave me into a scientific pathway. Doctoring is challenging and rewarding. Other people make more money, but it’s a people job and the ability to make people better is compelling.

7

OLD PERSEANS

IT WAS AT THE PERSE THAT I FIRST THOUGHT OF BECOMING A DOCTOR. AFTER DECIDING THIS WAS THE CAREER FOR ME, I WAS GIVEN A LOT OF SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE FROM THE SCHOOL. THIS INCLUDED WORK EXPERIENCE, VOLUNTEERING AND IN MY APPLICATION TO UNIVERSITY. I AM VERY GRATEFUL FOR THIS AS IT HAS GOT ME TO WHERE I AM TODAY.

day, and usually we are able to address their needs and send them home that same day. The best thing about paediatrics is that children’s bodies have such amazing resilience, and usually bounce back to full health after minimal treatment.

After graduating from medical school, junior doctors spend two years rotating around six different specialties. My first job is in geriatrics, and my second job will be in paediatrics. After these two years we are then able to specialise. In paediatrics it then takes a further seven or eight years to become a consultant (although most people will take longer as they spend a year working abroad, teaching medical students, or studying for a master’s or PhD).

I cannot wait to get started, although I am nervous.

It will be lovely to feel like a useful team member within the National Health Service (NHS) and it will be great to start getting paid!

It was at The Perse that I first thought of becoming a doctor. After deciding this was the career for me, I was given a lot of support and guidance from the School. This included work experience, volunteering and in my application to university. I am very grateful for this as it has got me to where I am today. I would highly recommend studying medicine, and hope many more students from The Perse continue to go on to do so.

Maddie Baron (2016) I JOINED THE PERSE in Year 9 and I left in 2016 after finishing A Levels. I loved my time at the School, particularly biology and art. I went straight from The Perse to the University of Bristol, where I studied medicine. I studied for five years, graduating this summer.

I am now about to start my first job as a doctor at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Essex. I applied to this hospital as it offered a programme for aspiring paediatricians. Throughout school and university, I always loved working with children and since 2014 I have worked at a playgroup for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in Bishop’s Stortford. I plan on spending my free Saturdays volunteering there, as I cannot face saying goodbye just yet! During my fourth-year placement in paediatrics I learnt a lot about the role of a paediatrician, and I have wanted to do it ever since.

At the end of medical school there is an elective period where students usually travel all over the world to experience different health care systems, but sadly Covid-19 stopped me from doing this. Instead, my placement was in the Children’s Hospital in Bristol, which is one of the leading paediatric centres in the country. I worked in Accident and Emergency (A&E) and loved every minute. In A&E there is a vast range of children coming through the door every

8

SCHOOL FEATURE NEWS

Tom Oates (1998) I LEFT THE UPPER SIXTH at The Perse in 1998. My brother, Jonathan, left in 1996 and my mother, Penny, was the founding Head of the Pelican.

I went straight to UCL to study medicine. In 2001, I took an intercalated Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacology and spent the summer at Rockefeller University in New York City. The head of the lab, Paul Greengard, had won the Nobel Prize for Medicine that year and I came back a few days before 9/11.

I qualified as a doctor in 2004 and eventually specialised in nephrology (the branch of medicine dealing with the kidneys), transplantation, and general internal medicine. Along the way, I completed a PhD using whole genome sequencing technologies to try and work out why some people are affected by kidney disease. This gave me skills in data science and coding, which I now use to train and test machine learning models that might predict patients at risk of kidney failure.

I was appointed as a Consultant in nephrology and general internal medicine at the Royal London Hospital (RLH) in 2017. I look after patients with a range of kidney diseases, those whose kidneys have failed and are on haemodialysis, and many who have had kidney transplants. Kidney disease is closely linked to deprivation and East London has one of the highest rates in Europe, so we are kept busy!

Covid-19 has affected us all at RLH. East London was hit very hard. You may have seen Clive Myrie’s reports on the BBC from our hospital during the peak; these really captured what a disastrous period in UK history the winter of 2020–21 was. As a General Physician, I have seen many incredibly sick patients with Covid-19. It has also been very challenging for our vulnerable patients who are on dialysis, and immunosuppressed.

I STILL LOVE SHAKESPEARE THANKS TO MUMMERY ENGLISH LESSONS!

Medicine genuinely gives you opportunities to apply new and evolving science, treatments, and technologies to improve people’s lives. However, you are unlikely to be rich. In terms of advice for aspiring medics, I would advise that you never forget that each patient is an individual who thinks about things in their own way. Find out what is important to them about the decision you are making with them, and your job will be much more rewarding. Emails cost nothing. If you are interested in something someone has done – write to them and ask about it. You never know where it might lead...

I think I learnt two major things at The Perse which I still use to this day. Firstly, if you’re surrounded by talented people, you get more done if you work together than if you try to compete with each other.

Secondly, achievements you have in life should always act as the motivation to start looking for the next challenge. Oh, and I still love Shakespeare thanks to mummery English lessons!

I LOOK AFTER PATIENTS WITH A RANGE OF KIDNEY DISEASES, THOSE WHOSE KIDNEYS HAVE FAILED AND ARE ON HAEMODIALYSIS, AND MANY WHO HAVE HAD KIDNEY TRANSPLANTS. KIDNEY DISEASE IS CLOSELY LINKED TO DEPRIVATION AND EAST LONDON HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST RATES IN EUROPE, SO WE ARE KEPT BUSY!

9

OLD PERSEANS

I WAS THE GOALKEEPER FOR THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY WOMEN’S HOCKEY TEAM FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS, CONTINUING THE PASSION I DEVELOPED AT THE PERSE. THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR ME AS IT SHOWS THAT ALTHOUGH YOU MIGHT BE STUDYING ONE OF THE MOST INTENSE DEGREES, THERE IS STILL TIME TO DO OTHER THINGS THAT YOU LOVE. Sofia Baldelli (2018) I CHOSE TO STUDY medicine because I love human interaction and science. During my pre-clinical years (the first three years at Oxford) I was able to develop my understanding of the science underlying medicine. This furthered a passion for developmental medicine that had begun with my Rouse project whilst at school, looking at twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (of particular interest to me as I am a twin myself). I was also able to complete a research project in vascular biology in the Department of Pharmacology as part of my third year, which was an amazing experience.

One of the slightly strange things about Oxford is the limited clinical exposure you get in the first few years. However, during the Covid-19 pandemic I was thrust into the clinical world by working as a health care assistant in a neurological specific palliative care home in Peterborough. A memory I will never forget is the simple task of feeding a man with Covid-19 a yoghurt and then coming in the next morning to find that he had died overnight. This was the reality of the Covid-19 pandemic and will never leave me.

Having now returned to medical school and started my clinical years, I am struck by how much I have learnt in three years, and also how much more I have to learn. I am also very aware of how much has changed due to Covid-19. One of the key things I noticed on my recent GP placement in Reading was the huge decrease in face-to-face consultations compared to my work experience in 2017. The increase in efficiency was obvious but I personally was saddened at the decrease in human interaction. Many of my feelings were shared by the GPs and obviously many patients, but with the overwhelming numbers that GP practices are now dealing with it seems near impossible to go back to a system of only face-to-face consultations.

Extra-curricularly, I have been able to get involved with several societies, including the Paediatrics Society and Oxford University Friends of MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières). I’ve also been involved in non-medical societies, including being President of Oxford University Hockey Club and Atalanta Society (Oxford’s Society for Women in Sport). I was the goalkeeper for the Oxford University Women’s Hockey Team for the past three years, continuing the passion I developed at The Perse. This is important for me as it shows that although you might be studying one of the most intense degrees, there is still time to do other things that you love.

Studying medicine is a blessing and I’m so excited for the next three years I have at Oxford and my career ahead!

DURING MY PRE-CLINICAL YEARS... I WAS ABLE TO DEVELOP MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE SCIENCE UNDERLYING MEDICINE. THIS FURTHERED A PASSION FOR DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE THAT HAD BEGUN WITH MY ROUSE PROJECT WHILST AT SCHOOL...

10

SCHOOL THANK FEATURE NEWS YOU

YOUR IMPACT 2020–21 THANK YOU to all our generous donors, volunteers and supporters – your support this year has made a significant difference to the lives of students both at The Perse and beyond.

An excellent education changes lives. Your generosity has enabled us to support around 100 pupils this year through means-tested entrance and hardship bursaries, as well as working with over 3,000 pupils through our outreach projects.

WHAT DID YOU SUPPORT?

TOTAL

“The five years that I spent at The Perse provided a fantastic education and access to a wealth of opportunities that would have been far beyond my reach otherwise. I would like to say how incredibly grateful I am to the supporters of the bursary scheme. Your generosity of a Perse education is a gift which I will benefit from for years to come.”

£218,783

–BURSARY RECIPIENT Bursaries: 56%

We are also grateful to the many OPs who volunteer their time and expertise to The Perse. Incredibly, over 250 people have raised their hand to volunteering on Alumnet.

Volunteers contribute by giving talks to students, serving on the Development Advisory Group, and by participating in careers events, university choice sessions, and much more.

HOW YOU MADE A DIFFERENCE THIS YEAR

Buildings: 1% O utreach: 1% Unrestricted: 37% Other: 5%

WHO GAVE TO THE PERSE? Philanthropic Donors 2020–2021

20% of bursary recipients received 100%

Almost 100 pupils supported

BURSARIES

with BURSARIES

TOTAL

391 GIFTS Established a RESEARCH AWARD 22 additional HARDSHIP

FOR YEAR 9 pupils

BURSARIES as a result

across the country

of Covid-19 OPs: 62% Corporate: 1%

86 Old Perseans and

Current/former staff: 2%

£55,000 GIVEN

Friends of The Perse

Current parents: 19%

by parents of

VOLUNTEERED their

2021 Leavers

time to the School.

P ast parents and Friends of The Perse: 14% Other: 2%

THANK YOU to everyone who has supported us this year. If you would like to get involved, please contact PerseADO@perse.co.uk.

11 11

OLD PERSEANS

DONOR LIST 2020–21 The generosity of all those who have made a donation to The Perse during the past academic year is sincerely appreciated.

Donations are listed in alphabetical order by decade at the School.

Donors who have given to the School for 10+ consecutive years* Donors who are members of the 1615 Society 1615 Class of 1940s Mr P T Armistead* Major E G S Lachlan Class of 1950s Wing Commander E B Bywater* Mr J W Charles* Dr D C H Cheng Mr A S Crawford Mr S C Foster Mr R G Gee Mr C A Greenhill Mr J M Hammond* The late Dr B L Hunt*1615 Dr P G G Jackson* Mr M D C Johnson*1615 Mr J M Kidd*1615 Mr R L Kidd Mr R A Lanham*1615 Mr T C Laurie Mr I G Lyon Mr R R Mansfield*1615 Mr P E Mills Mr R C Norris*1615 The Reverend Canon D W Owen* Sir Mark Potter1615 Mr M J A Powell*1615 Mr P J D Scarlett*1615 Mr D E Sibson*1615 Mr T G W Sweeney Mr R J H Wheatley*1615 Professor J A Zetter1615 Class of 1960s Mr D J Alexander* Mr T Andrew Mr J S Andrews Mr M J Beloe*1615 Mr J A Bishopp*1615 Mr J E Bradshaw*1615 Mr C M Byrom Mr R A Camping Professor R C Cheng*1615 Mr C D Chitty Professor J Clarke*1615 Mr A E T Cook1615 Mr W O Cook1615 Mr R A Covill* Mr D G Crawford*1615 Dr H M Davies1615 Mr G R Ditcham* Mr R D Eastcott Mr D I H Field* Mr R S Gould*1615 Mr J M Green*1615 Dr N Hamson Mr M E Harper

Mr C P Harrison Mr W G Hodges Mr J R Holy*1615 Dr R W Jeffrey Mr R K Loukes Mr P J Mahaffey Dr J T B Marshall Dr M G Mason1615 Professor J L Miller1615 Dr R F Mitchell* Mr G Palmer*1615 Mr A P Peel Mr R F Perkins Mr S J Perrin Mr G A M Sims Mr P J H Smith* The Honorable R S Smith Dr M A Spencer*1615 Mr R F Squibbs Mr S J Stanley1615 Mr R D Stearn*1615 Dr S M Stearn Sir Quentin Thomas* Mr P E Thompson Mr R J Thomson Mr C V T Walne Mr H J Wiseman Class of 1970s The Reverend R J H Beard Mr C S Bell* Mr A J M Brookes1615 Dr S E Buttrey Mr R H Clarke1615 Mr A C Cook1615 Mr A Cuthbert Mr S V De Boo*1615 Mr A P Donoghue1615 Mr T R Empson Captain J P English Mr D A Farndale Dr A J France1615 Mr T C Freane Mr B C Gill Mr R P Grace Mr C P Hancock*1615 Dr W G Handley*1615 Mr P A Harlow1615 Mr D E Hart* Mr M T Hawkins Dr R C Hindmarsh Mr A R Homer Mr R W F Hutt1615 Mr P J Johnson*1615 Mr B D Lanaghan1615 Mr M H Massy1615 Mr K A A McFarlane Mr R I Morgan*1615 Mr S W Pain*1615 Mr R D Partridge1615 Mr W M Pattison Dr H J Pearson1615 Mr C F Rushton*1615 Mr R D Russell* The Reverend R C Smail Mr J P Stevens In memory of Commander and Mrs K G Sumnall OBE1615 Mr D J Thompson*1615

Mr W D L Thompson Dr G D Wattles*1615

Dr M J Whitaker1615 Mr D L Young

Class of 1980s Mr N Brownlie Mr J A Collins*1615 Dr L Drake Mr M R Echlin1615 Mr A J Finch*1615 Dr A R Gande Mr S M Groom1615 Mr I M Handley Schachler1615 Captain P J Haslam1615 Mr S G Kelly1615 Mr M J Leake*1615 Mr A J M Liddle Professor S J Martin1615 Mr T R Matthews Mr M A Melford Dr F Moscuzza* Mr J L J Newman* Mr M P Newman* Mr O O Ojehomon1615 Mr P Peglar Mr S C Riley1615 Mr R J Sennitt Mr N A J Tait Mr M A Wilkinson1615 Dr S D Wright1615

Class of 2000s Miss R A Abulafia Mr E J Aston Mr A J Bagley Mr J A Bell Miss G Brunt Mr C O Carter Mr L D Clayton Mr Q P R Croft Mr G E J Dean Mr & Mrs T F Doble Mr P J H Dunn Mr T R Eccles Mr E H Fray Mr B P T Freedman Mr J W S Hale Mr A D Harris1615 Miss C H Higson Mr J M D Holden Mr R P Jones1615 Mr T J Latimer Mr M C Loach Mr C J Lyon Mr D S C Meese Grove Mr A J Milne Mr P Morris Miss K E Muir-Jones Mr J E Nichols1615 Miss S E Nolasco Mr P J Norton1615 Miss M Patel Mr N D M Paulson Mr J Pearson Mr O Pindar Mr A Porter Dr S D Smart Mr F G Smith Mr M J C Swan Dr R Tharakan Miss M L Wadham Mrs V A Windmill

Class of 1990s Mr N K Amery Mr P J Brotton* Mr J J Butler* Mr P C Cave-Gibbs*1615 Mr R E Challis* Professor G Csanyi Dr R J H Dunn Mr G C Dymott1615 Mr T G A Edgar1615 Mr N J Elvidge Mr G A W Evans Mr A Farboud Mr A Farboud Mr D M Goodridge*1615 Mr L Green1615 Mr W K Hage* Mr M A Hawkes Mr A Herriot1615 Dr A Kumar Dr V I Lesk Mr M R F Lynn Mr V Mahindran1615 Dr H K Miller Mr A G Moir*1615 Mr T Morfett Mr R N Oakeshott Mr J R Odell* Mr N D Owers Mr M R Peachey*1615 Mr A C M Rabarts Mr W F Reeve1615 Mr S J Sharp Mr L K C Shum1615 Dr T Sivayokan* Mr J E B Stobbs Mr V Sujendran1615 Mrs A H P Sutherland Mr J A Trevelyan

12 12

Class of 2010s Mr L Blackman Mr D Chapman Mr M H Du Mr A Fanourakis Mr D B Graves Mr D J Jennings Mr & Mrs C Kingstone Miss H Knowles Mr P Miozzo Dr A J P North Mr E Racher Mr A Q Repa Miss C E Taylor Miss I S Wadham Mr D Worrall Parents and Friends of the School Professor D & Professor A Abulafia* Dr & Mrs A Agrawal Mr & Mrs A Artaman Mr J Barker & Dr C Hubbard

Mr & Mrs D Bell Mr & Mrs S Blazeby Mr & Mrs N Brent1615 Mr & Mrs D Brigstocke Mr A & Dr C Buchanan Dr K Buse & Dr S Hawkes1615 Dr W Cai & Mrs R Dong Mr & Mrs R Chandraker Mr & Mrs S Chintala Mr R Christmas & Ms S Vignes Dr A & Dr F Clark Mr A & Dr L Clarke Mr & Mrs P Clarke* Mr & Mrs I Colvin Dr C & Dr F Crawley Dr N Crockett & Dr J Greenwood Mr & Mrs T Curteis Mr T de Ris & Dr L Eschler de Ris Dr & Mrs P Denny Gouldson Mr & Mrs E Downey Mr & Mrs D Earle Mr & Mrs B Eberhardie Dr C Edmonds & Dr R Dyer Mr & Mrs H Edmundson* Mr E & Dr S Elliott1615 Mrs J Ellis* Dr & Mrs O Fawehinmi Mr & Mrs J Fisher Mr & Mrs A Fleming Mr & Mrs T Fryers1615 Mr & Mrs S Goddard Mrs S Gordon Dr & Mrs A Grace*1615 Mr & Mrs N Graham Mr & Mrs R Greensitt Mr & Mrs M Hannam Dr P & Dr D Hansen Mr A & Dr J Hartree1615 Mr & Mrs T W Hague Mr X He & Mrs Y Xue1615 Mr A Henderson & Miss C Darwin Dr & Mrs T Hesketh*1615 Mrs P Hird & Professor H Markus1615 Mr & Mrs S Hirtzel Dr N Howarth Mr & Mrs P Hughes Mr & Mrs E Humbert1615 Dr C Hunt & Dr V Stephenson1615 Mrs S Hunter Mr C Ingram Mr & Mrs D Ison1615 Mr & Mrs T Jackson Mr & Mrs D Jones Ms M Jones Mr & Mrs T Joyce Dr A Kaser & Dr N Kaneider-Kaser Professor R Kemp & Mrs R Rhodes-Kemp Mr M & Dr K Kingstone Professor D Klenerman & Mrs M Naylor

SCHOOL DONOR NEWS LIST

Mr V Kuriathu Chacko & Mrs A Zacharias Mr M Last & Ms J Kershaw Mr & Mrs N Ley Mr & Mrs D Long Mr R & Dr A Lyon1615 Dr R & Dr A Mason1615 Mr & Mrs T Mawby Mr & Mrs A Milbank Mr A Minasyan & Mrs M Valkovskaya Mrs F Mohsinbhai & Mr M Dawoodbhoy Mr & Mrs P Morris Dr B Nguyen & Dr N H Bui Xuan Mr R Nolasco & Ms L Arthur*1615 Mr A & Dr E Norrish1615

Mr M Ottolini & Mrs C Ottolini-Van Zijl Dr & Mrs C Palmer Dr K & Dr S Patel Dr N Peabody & Ms B Hare Mr & Mrs P Perkins Mr & Mrs W Ponder Professor R Prager & Dr C O’Brien Mr & Mrs A J Price Mr J Racher & Ms K Church Mrs R Rainey*1615 Mr A Robinson & Dr J Lockie Dr J Robinson & Dr A George Mr & Mrs P Robson Mr & Mrs A Rogers

Dr M & Dr C Romanos1615 Mr & Mrs J Ronco Mr & Mrs S Rosen1615 Mr & Mrs D Rosenwold Dr A & Dr N Sehgal Dr R & Dr S Sewell Dr W Shao & Dr H Yang Mr B Shkarupa & Mrs E Teslyuk Dr D & Dr M Shrimpton Mr & Mrs J Smith Mr & Mrs I Smythe Mr J Spence & Mrs M Cano Lantero Dr S Stewart1615 Dr H Sturdy Dr & Mrs D Symes Mr & Mrs J Thomas Dr & Mrs D Thomas Mrs L Tibbs*1615

Mr & Mrs R Tidy Mr & Mrs A Turner Dr & Mrs J Tysome Mr R & Dr H Tyte1615 Dr C Van Wely Dr M Villaverde & Dr A Dempster Ms E Waldron Mrs H Whiting Mr R White & Mrs F O’Brien Mr & Mrs D Wilkinson1615 Mr G Williams Mrs K Wright Dr & Mrs S Yates Mr & Mrs R Yeoman Mr & Mrs T Young Dr H Yuan & Mrs V Pang Mr & Mrs M Zeitlyn Dr S & Dr A Zia

Organisations Amazon Smile Association of Pelican Parents BP Foundation Ernst & Young Perse Parents Association TTP Group and 19 anonymous donors.

DR PERSE SOCIETY MEMBERS The Dr Perse Society recognises those who have made provision for The Perse in their will.

Society members are listed in alphabetical order.

Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr

G Addison D I Alexander D J Alexander P T Armistead P W Bogle D Bowley & Mrs T K Boyden A J M Brookes E J M Brookes I J Burton P R G Cannell P C Cave-Gibbs J P Cheffins

Dr J Cheney Mr D A W Clark Mr E A Copeland Mr T T Dingle Mr G R Ditcham Mr P N Draper Mr A J Eden Mr M A Edwards Mr E C Elliott Mr R C H Genochio Mr R W Goddin Mr & Mrs S W Graves Mr M C L Herring Dr C Hunt & Dr V Stephenson Dr P G G Jackson

Mr M D C Johnson Mr P J Johnson Mr D J Jones Mr A Kemp The Reverend C M Kemp Mr S W Kemp Dr G S Kenyon Mr R S & Dr A Lyon Mr R R Mansfield Mr L D G Marr Dr R J Marsh Mr T J Marsh Mr O P J Metherell Professor D F Nixon Mr R C Norris Mr S W Pain

Mr R D Partridge Professor D M Potts Mr W F Reeve Mr J W Roberts Professor J E Salzman Dr J A Sills Mr J L Smart Mr & Mrs A J P Smith Dr M A Spencer Mrs S H Stobbs Mr R G Thomson Dr J C Thurman Mr C V T Walne Mr D T Ward Dr A G Weeds Mr R J H Wheatley

Commander D G M Wilkie (RN) Dr P M Williamson Mrs K Wright and 1 anonymous member.

USING YOUR GIFTS RESPONSIBLY The Perse is honoured to be the beneficiary of financial support from so many members of our community, and takes its responsibility in stewarding those gifts seriously: All money raised goes to charitable endeavours.

All bursaries are means-tested. Independent

The operating costs of the Development Office

financial checks are conducted annually for

are met entirely by the School.

applicants and existing recipients of financial support, to ensure a transparent allocation system that awards bursaries to the families

If you would like to find out more about giving

most in need of support.

to The Perse, please contact the Alumni and Development Office at perseado@perse.co.uk.

13 13

OLD PERSEANS

Archivist’s Account

Founder’s Day Without the charitable impulses of individuals our older schools and colleges would not exist, and it is customary and proper to commemorate these founders. Benefactors sometimes liked to give their names to the foundation and host an annual day of commemoration – in colleges usually associated with a feast.

S

A BUST OF STEPHEN PERSE, LOCATED IN THE MAIN HALL OF THE UPPER SCHOOL. IN HIS HANDS LIES A PERSE CAKE, GIVEN TO ALL ON FOUNDER’S DAY.

David Jones joined The Perse in 1974 as a history teacher and was House Tutor at School House until 1982. He retired from teaching in 2008, but has continued at the School in his role as Archivist.

tephen Perse placed responsibility for his several benefactions upon his college, and also the carrying out of his wishes for commemoration. The accounts of his charities were to be displayed and examined in Gonville and Caius College on his mortuary day – that is, not the day he died but the day his will received probate, 14 December. There was to be a feast on that day, with a sermon preached the day before (in which Perse no doubt expected to be mentioned). The Perse Feast and Sermon continue to this day.

But what of the School? After all, it was Perse’s chief benefaction, listed first in his will. The Ordinances of 1623 required that Perse be mentioned and thanks given in prayers at the start of each term, but there is no record of a Founder’s Day. That changed when the management of the school was reformed in 1841. It was laid down that 14 December should be kept by the School as ‘Dr Perse’s Day’ and should be a holiday.

How far this was maintained is unclear but it may have lapsed, for in 1955 the words ‘Founder’s Day’ appear in the school calendar on 14 December, as if being revived. Nothing in The Pelican or the Governors’ minute book explains this. Perhaps some older readers might remember the circumstances of its reintroduction.

Founder’s Day disappears from the calendar after 1970, although Perse continued to be remembered in the Founder’s Prayer, used at the start and end of term. The occasion was revived in 2009 but with a different date – and no holiday! A new date was required because the end of the Michaelmas term was congested with events, and the choice of 25 March followed a similar decision by Caius College, which also remembered Perse on that day. The date was the beginning of the New Year until the reform of the calendar in 1751, and was the time for presenting annual accounts. The financial year still observes this timing, and so the college moved the audit of Perse’s charities to be in accord with it. The Feast and Sermon were similarly rescheduled.

The School also instituted a Founder’s Day lecture, but alas no feast – school numbers were too great. Instead, a new tradition was invented, and on Founder’s Day the School can enjoy the Perse cake, distributed to all.

Stephen Perse was one of the most significant benefactors of the town, funding buildings at Caius College; improving roads (Maid’s Causeway) and water supply (Hobson’s Brook); and relieving destitution with almshouses and gifts for the poor. Above all, the founding of the Free Grammar School, linked to his college by scholarships and fellowships, was of the utmost importance in attempting to bridge the gap between town and gown. It provided a complete avenue of social mobility for the sons of poor townspeople whereby, for example, the son of a barber, Jeremy Taylor, could become a bishop. It is thanks to Stephen Perse that generations since have been helped to become useful, even distinguished citizens. A Founder’s Day is certainly his due.

14

SCHOOL GIVINGNEWS DAY

GIVING DAY This coming Founder’s Day, 25 March 2022, we are proudly continuing the legacy of Dr Stephen Perse by holding our first ever Perse Giving Day. This will be a 36-hour fundraising event, in which we will invite the entire Perse community – pupils, alumni, staff, parents, and friends – to come together in support of bursaries and outreach.

B

y participating in activities, challenges and events, the Giving Day will be an amazing opportunity for us to raise funds for bursaries and outreach and to thank all those who make a contribution to The Perse. The Day will celebrate the act of giving and the spirit of generosity that is so important for everyone’s success and happiness. The School motto, ‘qui facit per alium facit per se’, or, ‘those who do things for others, also do them for themselves’, expresses this beautifully. We hope that, through the Giving Day, every member of the Perse community will be inspired to share and get involved with the fantastic work that goes on at the School and beyond.

On Perse Giving Day, we will be raising funds for our bursary and outreach programmes, so that we can continue to provide a Perse education to talented young people, who would not otherwise be able to benefit from the fantastic start to life that the School provides.

The bursary fund supports gifted pupils in becoming invaluable members of their communities. For instance, Tom (OP), is now studying at university. Here is what he has to say about the importance of bursaries:

The bursary fund enables young people to receive a Perse education whatever their circumstances. I encourage all OPs to support it.”

Our outreach programme complements our bursary work by extending a Perse education to the wider Cambridgeshire community. Staff and students deliver tutorial and enrichment lessons to 24 local statemaintained schools. One primary school outreach participant said: ‘I am writing to say infinite thank yous [sic] for teaching music. It is my favourite lesson.’

Read more about our outreach work on page 5.

We will also be sharing information and testimonials about the important work we do, engaging our pupils in fundraising challenges, and providing key campaign updates, including exciting match-funding opportunities and fundraising targets.

The Giving Day will allow us to show how the simple act of giving can be an enormous force for good.

Friday 25 March 2022 – Save the date! Over the next few months, we will be releasing more information about this exciting event. If you would like to become an early participant, here are some ways you can get involved:

“For me, the Perse bursary scheme is all about giving children choice. Because I received a bursary, I was given the opportunity to play rugby, hockey, cricket and basketball, to learn classical guitar to a high level, and to flourish academically in my favourite subjects. The benefit of receiving a bursary to The Perse is that it opens up all forms of opportunities. My bursary opened up numerous doors for me and allowed me to develop into the individual of my choosing.”

Shaun De Boo (1976) talks about why donating to The Perse’s bursary fund is so important to him: “My reason for supporting the bursary fund is simple – I want others to have the opportunities that I had, regardless of their background or circumstances. My own Perse education taught me much more than the syllabus or how to pass exams. I was inspired by the dedication and encouragement of the staff, the community atmosphere, the sports and the Perse Players!

Become an Ambassador We are looking for enthusiastic OPs, parents, and friends of the School who would like to have a real say in creating the most impactful Giving Day possible, and who are willing to help spread the word. If you are Proudly Perse and would like to know more, please contact us at perseado@perse.co.uk.

15 15

OLD PERSEANS

OP News Tom Roper (1973) was awarded the Cyril Cuthbert Barnard Prize by the Health Libraries Group Committee in recognition of outstanding services to medical librarianship.

John Steele (1982) was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s 2021 Birthday Honours for his services to sport. Starting his illustrious career as a professional rugby player, John moved into coaching Northampton Saints and held various leadership roles including Chief Executive at UK Sport, and Chair of the English Institute of Sport.

We are delighted to report that on 7 September Hannah Parker (2010) successfully swam across the English Channel to raise money for the Karuna Trust in memory of Rajen Mahendra (2010), Prostate Cancer UK and MS Society. Hannah raised over £18,000 for the three causes.

She spent over 14 hours in the water and became the 2,631st person to complete a solo swim of the Channel.

The journey of a lifetime, and a fantastic achievement.

Sofia Baldelli (2018) has been appointed as President of Oxford University’s Atalanta Society which promotes and supports women in sport within the university. In her role she has created accessible resources to make it easier to report incidents of sexual harassment within sport and continues to campaign for the “overhaul” of the university’s sexual harassment reporting and welfare system.

Cameron Mackenzie (2020) rowed as one half of a winning boat at the 2021 British Universities & Colleges Sport Regatta. Cameron rowed alongside Matthew Edge for Cambridge, as pair ‘A’ in the Men’s Championship Lightweight Regatta. Junior Rowing News quoted the pair as ‘the pair to beat; rumour has it that they’ve been keeping pace with the heavyweight pairs...’ which they did!

16

SCHOOL OP NEWS NEWS

James Perry (2013) has co-founded Foodstuff, the new UK food delivery service, which champions independent restaurants, pays riders the Living Wage and delivers with zero emissions. Since launching in May 2020 to help local businesses in Cambridge survive during the pandemic, Foodstuff has delivered over 50,000 orders and has 110 restaurants on the platform across 14 cities, the most recent of which are Bath and Oxford. The company is in the process of building a dedicated mobile app, and hopes to expand into London next year.

Jonathan Chan (2018) appeared on University Challenge in September, as Captain of the St John’s College, Cambridge team, where he is studying Veterinary Medicine. Although the team lost their first match, as one of the highest scoring losers, they returned and were victorious in their play-off match against UCL. They now progress to the second round. Jonathan would like to thank his former teachers Mr Roberts and Miss Freeman, who organised the Schools’ Challenge during his time at The Perse.

Book Publications A Victorian Curate: A Study of the Life and Career of the Rev. Dr John Hunt by David Yeandle (1973) is an absorbing personal account of the corruption and turmoil in the Church of England in the 19th century.

Former staff and Past Parent Maggie James has published

the thrilling novel No Way Home: A Novelised Memoir.

The book tells the story of a young mother navigating her new life in Saudi Arabia, and much of the story draws on Maggie’s own experiences living and teaching there for five years.

Chris Haslam (1983)

Holly Race (2003) has

published Orla and the Serpent’s Curse, his first book for children, in April 2020.

An adventure story, the book follows Orla and Dave the dog as they try to stop the curse of an ancient Cornish witch. Chris will return with the sequel, titled Orla and the Magpie’s Kiss, in April 2022.

You can also read Chris’ travel column in The Sunday Times.

recently published A Gathering Midnight, the sequel to her young adult fantasy novel, Midnight’s Twins, which follows Fern and Ollie as they discover the dangerous world we go to when we sleep, and fight to bring down a populist politician who is using dreams to brainwash the country. The final book in the trilogy, A Midnight Dark and Golden, will be published in June 2022.

17

OLD PERSEANS

REERS W A C O

RK SHO P

Beginning a Career in Research Hannah Kirk (2015) is a DPhil candidate at the University of Oxford and Researcher at the Alan Turing Institute. Here, we report on her recently published work, before Hannah gives advice on beginning a career as a researcher.

Detecting Online Harms Hannah recently co-authored a paper on the challenges presented by emojis for Artificial Intelligence models used to detect hateful online content. Commercial content moderation algorithms were found to be less effective at finding hateful posts that were emoji-based, rather than text-based.

People who make such posts can replace hateful words with an emoji and stand a much better chance of getting through existing filters. Context is an important factor – a banana emoji, for example, can be completely innocent, or can be used to racially abuse people. Hannah and her colleagues created their own tool to address the issue. Their approach

resulted in large improvements, increasing both the model’s ability to identify a wider range of emojibased hate and to minimise the amount of non-hateful content that it incorrectly flags. Hannah said: “Fully understanding how big tech moderates online hate is almost impossible because they do not make their models available for scrutiny. However, the amount of racist abuse following the Euro 2020 final clearly shows there are problems with emoji-based hate.

Detecting emoji-based hate is not a fundamentally difficult task, and the failure of commercial AI systems to detect such hate is deeply troubling. More can be done to keep people safe online, particularly people from already marginalised communities.”

18 18

SCHOOL CAREERS NEWS

Curiosity Killed the Cat, but Helps a Career in Research During my time at The Perse, I struggled to pin down what I liked studying and why. One day I wanted to be a particle physicist, the day after an engineer.

Come the weekend, I was sure I wanted to be a computer scientist. Indecision is all too frequently painted as a negative, but in some scenarios, indecision can be rebranded as curiosity. And curiosity hasn’t killed anyone.

After a considerable amount of indecision, I decided on studying economics at Trinity College, Cambridge. I loved my time there, but towards the end of my degree, I couldn’t help thinking how many other parallel lives could I be living? I was Chairwoman of the Economics Society, had an internship from a big bank and a Master’s offer in economics from Oxford, all the ingredients for a clear continuation on the same linear path. The future seemed to shrink inwards toward a life in a small university town with a limited diversity of interactions.

Oxbridge is a great place to study, but it’s important to remember that you’re living in a bubble. I needed to step off the ‘traditional’ academic path.

I took a bet on a path switch and decided to do a Master’s programme in Beijing. I’ve never looked back.

Studying at Peking University was a pivotal moment, both for my career and for my character. I could work on weird and wonderful research I was genuinely interested in, and upskill in areas I didn’t have the time to explore during my Cambridge years. I felt space to breathe, away from the pressures of choosing school subjects or studying for undergraduate exams.

Having this space gave way to thinking about the scary question we all repeatedly return to…what next?

I was keen on coding, but a PhD in pure computer science wasn’t for me. I was good at microeconomics, but a PhD in pure social science also wasn’t for me. I found myself needing a Goldilocks solution. I came to realise curiosity or indecision is the best preparation for interdisciplinary research.

So, I stopped trying to fit into ‘a one discipline box’ and opted into a PhD in Social Data Science at Oxford University. After a year, I was offered a job at The Alan Turing Institute. I have also written articles in economics, philosophy, ethics, sociology and computer science. Learning about different disciplines and learning from a diverse set of peers has been fundamental in getting me to where I am today, and continues to shape my work.

Even as a young researcher I’ve already had my research covered in the BBC and The Telegraph, and worked alongside some really passionate people. That’s not to say the past year hasn’t been tough at times. I love being a woman in AI research, but working in a traditionally male-dominated space ruffles feathers. When publicising some of

my research on gender bias in AI models, I found myself in the middle of a misogynistic Twitter storm.

Experiences like these really ground my belief in the need for my current work. This work needs an interdisciplinary lens: AI can help us detect a harmful post on Twitter, but not why it was posted by one user and what effect it had on another. In my continuing work, I hope to harness the processing powers of machines without ignoring the lived experience of individuals and communities. (Wo)man or machine doesn’t have to be a dichotomous distinction.

If, like me, you don’t have all the answers, a career in research might be for you because being a researcher is about asking questions. From my experiences, I can pull out three core takeaways. First, the school system of picking four A Levels, then just one university subject funnels us into a narrow space. But the choices you make at that age don’t have to define your future. Even though I’m not now an ‘economist’, I’ve still benefited greatly from learning how to think critically and analytically. Second, while university choices are an either/or dichotomy, careers aren’t.

They are additive. Accumulating a varied set of skills and experiences makes you a well-rounded person – a strength in any domain or discipline. Finally, you don’t need to make a ‘final career’ choice at any point in your life. Developing a viewpoint of ‘this is for now, not forever’ has empowered me to explore without feeling bound by the gravity of a single decision. Being open to new opportunities is personally beneficial, and critical in a world as fast-changing as ours.

So, don’t be afraid of indecision and don’t put yourself in a closed box of one discipline. Be curious, live multiple lives, seek diverse opportunities, and hold onto a love of learning. That’s the way I’ve got to where I am today and how I hope to keep growing in the future.

Hannah researches new techniques for training AI systems to detect diverse and emerging forms of online harm.

19 19

OLD PERSEANS

STAFF PROFILE

Simon Ball

I

joined The Perse in 2003 as the Head of Physical Education, after previously working at Mount Kelly College in Devon and Pangbourne College in Berkshire.

David Baker retired at the end of 2006 and I was given the role of Director of Sport. I feel so privileged to have been given this position and we worked incredibly hard to change the perception of sport across the whole school and on the school circuit. I thank all the staff and pupils who played such an important part in rebranding the perception of Perse Sport and parents for their support. We are now considered one of the schools to beat on our circuit!

As Director of Sport at The Perse I was fortunate to be able to work with many departments including PE & games staff, academic staff, grounds, catering, maintenance, caretakers, development, school nurses and the bursary. There was not a member staff of those departments where I did not know

their name and I was always able to thank them for their contributions.

Serving just over eleven years as Director of Sport, my main goal has always been for children to have the confidence to play and enjoy sport. It brings me so much happiness to see and to hear that so many OPs are still playing, coaching and/or officiating sport.

The number of OPs that attend the annual OP Sports Festival is always impressive.

I was ready for a change in focus in my work and sport needed to move on to keep up with the constant changing times.

In 2017 I changed direction and was appointed Head of Middle School. The pastoral team are amazingly talented and unified.

It has been a real pleasure to work with them all. The quality of pastoral care since I joined the School to the present day is unrecognisable but it will keep on changing and improving as the demands and pressures placed on young teenagers, sadly, increase.

NAME: Simon Ball JOINED THE PERSE: 2003 SUBJECT: Games ALSO KNOWN FOR: Inspiring his students to find their sporting passion, whatever that may have been.

A big thank you to those who have left me messages of thanks and best wishes. Eighteen years at The Perse have flown by, but I can say that every day I laughed, it was always a pupil that would make me chuckle. I always wanted to teach children – it is one of the most rewarding jobs.

Now I move on to a new career in France with my wife, Anastasia, and my children, Charlotte and Henri. We are looking to invest into several holiday sites close to Sarlat-la-Caneda, Dordogne, France. If you fancy knowing more or even wish to book with us, please contact the Development Office for our contact details.

I ALWAYS WANTED TO TEACH CHILDREN – IT IS ONE OF THE MOST REWARDING JOBS. 20 20

SCHOOL OBITUARIES NEWS

Obituaries We are saddened to report the death of the following OPs:

Michael Robin Blackham (1952) Jean and Nik Blackham write: Michael Robin Blackham (Rob) was born in Cambridge on 1 September 1935. He attended the Milton Road Primary School before becoming a pupil at The Perse, alongside his older brother, David.

Peter Francis Charter (1953) Jennifer Charter writes: Peter was born in 1937 in Bourn.

He was the youngest son and had two older sisters. After attending Bourn School, he boarded at The Perse and excelled in athletics, winning many events including the Victor Ludorum in 1951 in 2 minutes 10 seconds. He was Captain of cricket at The Perse and played once he left school for Barrington, Royston, and was Captain for Longstowe and Papworth teams. He was a good batsman and fielder and rarely dropped a catch.

After he left school he joined his father farming Chapman’s Farm, with his main interest in livestock, cattle and pigs. He was also a judge of livestock.

He bought for many abattoirs including Swifts, Dawn Meats, Maclaren and Church and Morrisons (Woodheads), where

Rob did his National Service in the RAF from 1954 to 1956 and from all accounts spent most of his time playing sports including fives, squash, rowing and not surprisingly football. It was during this time that unfortunately a broken ankle interrupted the chance of a trial with his beloved Arsenal Football Club.

After being demobilised, Rob became a sales rep until he decided to set up his own business, named after his wife’s maiden name of Jean Ashley, manufacturing school wear. He succeeded in supplying schools from all over the country.

In 1997 he had the chance to retire and enjoy more golf.

Rob was a member of the Gog Magog Golf Club, where he also represented the county, and was a founding member of the Old Persean Golfing Society. He enjoyed many golfing holidays in Scotland with his wife Jean and son Nik. Unfortunately, Rob was diagnosed with dementia in 2016 but, up until the pandemic, was still able to take his afternoon strolls.

Rob died peacefully on 17 April 2021 at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.

he told John Woodhead about the village being built at Cambourne.

This knowledge meant they opened a supermarket there.

The Charters grew top quality and high yielding crops and were never frightened of hard work.

They employed many in the village picking vegetables and taking them to market in London.

He was married in 1958 to Diana, and together they had three children – Julia, Nicholas and Stephen. Sadly, Stephen died aged 15 years of a virus, and Peter’s marriage was dissolved a few years later. He decided to sell his house and start afresh. The Charters subsequently bought land at Barton, Comberton and Gamlingay (which was purchased from Merton College, Oxford) and made the farm more economical to run. He farmed with his son Nicholas. The machinery got more complex and much larger over the years.

Peter moved to St Ives in 1993 where he met Jennifer and her three children. He still farmed, visited markets, played green and indoor bowls at Chesterton, Newnham, Huntingdon and St Ives, winning cups and trophies. They had many cruises and days away, and spent lockdown going for walks across the fields and relaxing.

When he became unwell in early

May this year, Jennifer and the family nursed him for his last few days, and he was visited by friends and both families. He obtained a special licence to marry, and died seven days later, aged 83, at at his home of thirty years in St Ives.

21

Eric Michael Curtis (1959) Tish Hopkins writes: Eric joined The Perse Preparatory in 1947 and stayed at the School until completion of his A Levels. At The Perse he won the Country Major Award and was promoted to Corporal in the CCF (Army Section).

After leaving The Perse, Eric spent a pre-University year with Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) Ltd in Manchester. He got an Exhibition to Christ’s College, Cambridge where he gained a First-Class Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering. His

OLD PERSEANS

first job was with the Central Energy Generating Board (CEGB) Research Laboratory, working with turbines. In 1991 he returned to Cambridge as a Senior Research Associate at the University Engineering Department’s Whittle Laboratory.

(He had been made redundant as the CEGB had closed its Marchwood Laboratory). He wrote several papers on turbinerelated aerodynamics and was awarded Best Paper Award by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for a coauthored paper in 2007. He was honoured by the ASME with the Gas Turbine Award in May 2011 in New York. Eric passed away on 7 May 2021.

Ian Gregory Few (1943) Roger Few (1946) writes: My brother Ian Gregory Few was born in 1925 in a small, pleasant terraced house in Willingham, where the only sound in the street was the clucking of hens and motor vehicles were hardly known. His parents paid a monthly rent of £1. In 1936 he gained a minor scholarship to The Perse, where he did well on the science side under Wootton and Hawkins.

He had two seasons in the 1st XV, in which he was admired as a wing forward, coached by K. Barry. He also joined the OTC under Storr. Behaviour in those days was sometimes rough, and it was not unknown for Ian to arrive home with a bloody nose.

In 1942 he took an engineering cadetship at Nottingham under a government scheme to augment the number of qualified engineers in the country. He gained the first part of his qualification but was then called up for service in the Royal Engineers. This included about a year in Burma (now Myanmar), helping with civil reconstruction following the Japanese occupation.

He returned to this country in 1948 and resumed his studies in Nottingham. There, he met and married his wife Peggy, a fellow student who went on to be a teacher.

He joined Rolls Royce at Derby and remained with them as a research engineer for the whole of his career. He and Peggy bought a house in Chellaston, where they remained for the rest of their lives, and where their son and daughter were born and raised. He took early retirement in 1984 and followed his favourite pastimes of supporting Notts Forest, undertaking huge jigsaw puzzles and innumerable crosswords with Peggy, and enthusiastically collecting Raphael Tuck postcards.

Peggy died three years ago, and Ian doggedly lived alone, a very brave and resourceful nonagenarian, in their Chellaston house until he was finally caught by the current pandemic. Ian died on 9 February 2021.

Brian Lindsay Hunt (1955) Julia Hunt writes: Brian was born in 1937 in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire and entered The Perse in 1943, at age six. He enjoyed a well-rounded education by participating in cricket, rugby and field hockey, performing in the Perse Players and, most importantly, developing a strong academic career that culminated in becoming deputy head boy. In 1954, he met his wife Julia Vyse who attended The Perse School 22

for Girls. In 1956, Brian left the Sixth Form before the end of the academic year to begin his National Service. He served two years in the RAF, achieving the rank of Pilot Officer. Following this, Brian attended Clare College, Cambridge to read engineering.

He and Julia were married in the Clare College chapel in 1960.

Upon completing his engineering degree, Brian started his career at Bristol Siddley Engines, Ltd in Bristol. In 1963, inspired to further his education, Brian moved his family to Brown University, Rhode Island on a Fulbright Travel Scholarship. Always a hard worker, Brian completed both a Master’s degree and a PhD in aeronautical engineering at Brown in just four years. Before returning to England per the terms of the scholarship, Brian and Julia took the opportunity to take a seven week camping road trip on a shoe-string budget around the continental United States. Brian returned his family to England in 1967 and took a post as a lecturer at the University of Bristol. By the time he left the university in 1979, he had been promoted to the position of Reader.

In 1979, Brian decided on a major career change, leaving academia for industry. He and his family returned to the United States to join Northrop Corporation (later Northrop Grumman Corporation). Loyal to his roots, Brian became a liaison to other Old Perseans in Southern California. Brian left Northrop briefly for a position as Chairman of the Aerospace Engineering

SCHOOL OBITUARIES NEWS

Department at the University of Maryland from 1990–1992.

However, the call of industry (and California) was too great and he returned to Northrop for the remainder of his career. He retired in 2000 as Vice President of ­­­Engineering and Technology, returning as a consultant for an additional ten years.

During his brief illness, Brian felt honored to be contacted by many former colleagues who saw him as a mentor and shared thoughts and anecdotes that showed their deep respect and affection for him. Brian passed away at age 83 on 31 March, 2021 surrounded by Julia, his wife of 60 years, his son Tony, daughter Andrea and his four grandchildren.

Laurie Peter Marsh (1948) Tony Porter writes: Born in 1930, Laurie Marsh attended The Perse from 1943 to 1948 as a boarder at Hillel House. As one of the few Jewish boarding houses in the UK at that time, Laurie would later express his gratitude for the educational opportunity this enabled him to have.

Laurie spent two years carrying out his National Service and rose through the ranks to become a Captain. He then went on to have a hugely successful business career, with interests in property, film, and theatre. He made his first million selling plastic mackintoshes, and said it started with his service at Catterick, where he and his fellow recruits were often cold and wet. Plastic was

easily available post-war, and the concept took hold immediately.

He then did something typically Laurie – he wrote directly to Disney to ask if he could make Mickey Mouse plastic macs for children. Disney not only agreed but insisted on supplying the official design, free of charge.

In 1979 he decided to devote himself to philanthropy. His first project was to help save the Theatre Royal in Bath, which was then threatened with closure. I first met him when he had rescued London’s Shaftesbury Theatre from falling down. He invited me to bring a school party to his first show there. When I protested that he couldn’t possibly mean to entertain 60 boys for nothing, he simply said ‘we’ll fit them in’, and he did.

Laurie’s philanthropy extended to his former school. In June 1971, the Sixth Form Centre he had funded was opened. His most tangible contribution to the School, and at a cost of £100,000, the building still stands. After a period as a library, it is now used as a café, and bears a plaque commemorating Laurie’s gift to The Perse. Laurie said that he wanted to give back to The Perse ‘for the excellent opportunities and quality education it provided for me’.

Laurie published a memoir in 2016, The Philanthropist’s Tale (Urbane Publications), which describes how he came to be a successful entrepreneur and why he chose to become a philanthropist. ‘Accumulating money for its own sake is called greed’, as Laurie says in the book. Until the end of his life, he was involved in projects, including securing the long-term future of The Cinema Museum in Elephant and Castle, London. The Museum lies just round the corner from where Laurie grew up, a premature baby not thought likely to live, whose uncle had to pay for his boarding fees at Hillel House, 23

and who offers us a template for living an unselfish life.

Laurie died, aged 90, on 10 September 2021. He is survived by his wife, Gillian, and his children and grandchildren.

We remember Michael Rivers (1955) Died 16 June 2020, aged 83 years.

Patrick McLaren (1955) Died 2021, aged 83 years.

Derek S Ashburner (1959) Died 2020, aged 79 years.

James R Bullen (1974) Died December 2020, aged 65 years.

Glenys A Childs (1953) Died 2 March 2021, aged 86 years.

Peter B Frost (1950) Died 7 May 2020, aged 88 years.

George V Griffin (1947) Died 8 March 2021, aged 91 years.

Ian K Humphrey (1961) Died October 2020, aged 78 years.

Geoffrey W Roughton (1947) Died 23 January 2021, aged 91 years.

This list was up-to-date when we went to print. Obituaries may be read in full on Alumnet.

OLD PERSEANS

Dates for your diary

Getting involved

We hope to welcome you to our upcoming events. All events are subject to relevant guidance around Covid-19.

We are always delighted to welcome OPs back to The Perse to help with our careers programme, or to deliver a lunchtime talk to pupils as part of our 42 Society lecture series.

If you would like to find out more about ways to get involved, please contact PerseADO@perse.co.uk.

Upcoming Reunion Dinners 2022/23: Class of 1990s Class of 1980s Reunion Dinner Saturday 19 March 2022 6.45 for 7.30pm, The Perse Upper.

Open to the Classes of 1980–1989.

Class of 2005–2010 Reunion Dinner Saturday 23 April 2022 6.45 for 7.30pm, The Perse Upper.

Open to the Classes of 2005–2010.

Half Century Club Lunch Saturday 21 May 2022 12.00 for 12.30pm, The Perse Upper.

Open to those who left in 1972 or earlier.

Upcoming Pint of Perse Seminar Thursday 24 March 2022: David Jones, School Archivist For more information Please visit perse.co.uk/alumni/events or contact the Alumni & Development Office by telephone on +44 (0)1223 403 808 or email PerseADO@perse.co.uk.

Staying in touch Old Perseans and Friends @OldPerseans Old Perseans

Alumnet

ALUMNI & DEVELOPMENT OFFICE WWW.PERSE.CO.UK/ALUMNI

Support Us

THE PERSE SCHOOL HILLS ROAD CAMBRIDGE, UK, CB2 8QF TEL: +44(0)1223 403 808 PERSEADO@PERSE.CO.UK

THE PERSE SCHOOL IS A REGISTERED CHARITY NO. 1120654 24