School news

the Perse welCOmes high profile speakers to the Josef Behrmann lecture The 2018 Josef Behrmann Lecture, given annually in honour of OP Josef Behrmann (1939), took place on 1 March. Five prominent speakers from different beliefs came together in an illuminating debate on ‘The Power of Words’ at the well-attended event, which was the first to be held in The Perse’s brand new Peter Hall Performing Arts Centre.

Among the panellists were Jonathan Wittenberg, President of the Council of Christians & Jews; Dilwar Hussain, Chairman of New Horizons in British Islam; Canon Hugh Shilson-Thomas, Dean of Chapel at Selwyn College; Julia Siddiqi, co-founder of Nisa-Nashim Jewish & Muslim Women’s Network; and children’s author Annemarie Young.

Wittenberg opened the event with a lecture about how words could be used as a force for both good and bad. He recounted his grandparents’ experiences of living in Nazi Germany and spoke about the current phenomena of ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’ as ways in which words could have a negative power. He felt “truth, accuracy and fairness in language” were especially important in today’s world to counter the effects of hate speech. However, Wittenberg added that just a few positive words had the power to lift people.

The panellists discussed the issues in more depth before taking questions, exploring further issues relating to politics, religion, discrimination and prejudice as well as how words could prove inspirational. Perse rugby CAPtAin thrilled at clinching northampton Saints deal Perse 1st XV rugby team captain Alex Coles (Upper Sixth) has earned a full-time contract with top English club Northampton Saints for the 2018/19 season.

Alex was part of the Northampton U18 side’s unbeaten pre-season campaign and featured in two matches for Wanderers – the club’s second team – in the Aviva A League before injury cut short his season. The young lock, who has played for England at U18 and U16 level, is delighted to have an opportunity to prove himself at Franklin’s Gardens.

He said: “I’m thrilled to have a one-year contract to play for Northampton next season. It’s something I’ve been working towards for a long time, but there’s a lot of hard work still to come. I’ve been with the club for four or five years after one of the Saints coaches saw me playing for The Perse. It all went from there and it’s great to commit myself to the club full-time.”

Alex isn’t the only Persean to have rugby success this season – in February Patrick Noroozi Rad (Year 11) was called up by the Lambs – the England Independent Schools rugby team – for their 2018 round of matches.

the PeRSe PLAyeRS PRODuCtiOn OF BiLLy eLLiOt the muSiCAL

the first production in the Peter hall Performing Arts Centre was the biggest production ever staged by the Perse Players, featuring 38 cast members and nine band members, backed up by a 16-strong technical crew. the production, based on the 2000 film and set in County durham, revolves around the title character who swaps boxing gloves for ballet shoes against a backdrop of family and community problems caused by the miners’ strike of 1984/85.

Perse lgbt+ histOry mOnth This February, the Perse marked its first LGBT+ History Month with a week of activities designed to promote discussion of LGBT+ issues in the UK and beyond. These issues are covered as part of the School’s pastoral programme, but the week aimed to create a space in which further and deeper discussion could take place. An introductory assembly was delivered to the whole school by Mr Matthew Hawksworth, Mr Ben Wingfield and Mrs Anna Wingfield (neé West) on how far the fight for equal rights has come in the UK as of 2018 and what still needs to happen in order to turn tolerance into full acceptance. We were delighted to welcome the human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell to deliver a hard-hitting but ultimately optimistic 42 Society lecture on his 50 years of experience fighting for equal rights in a talk entitled The Long Road to LGBT Freedom: how did we get from there to here? Other events during the week included play readings, a film screening and discussion of LGBT+ theatre and composers by the English and music departments, and interactive lesson activities exploring LGBT+ rights in the rest of the world in geography and history. After the positive response demonstrated by staff and pupils, we hope to repeat the week next year! AwArd-winning Perse musiCiAn creates new work for Symphonic Showcase concert The annual Perse Symphonic Showcase concert took place on 16 March at Saffron Hall. Alongside pieces by Britten and Shostakovich, the Perse Symphony Orchestra gave the debut performance of a new piano concerto by award-winning composer Will Harmer (Upper Sixth).

Last year Will won the upper junior category of the BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers competition with his piece The Whole Heaven on Fire, as well as the Royal Opera House Fanfare competition. He began writing his new concerto last term after improvising different melodies at the piano as well as taking cues from the likes of Rachmaninov and Ravel in putting together his latest work.

PreP mentAl heAlth AwAreness week The Prep School marked Mental Health Awareness Week in February by two special days during which children took part in a carousel of exciting, entertaining and thought-provoking activities. African drumming, Kung Fu, dance aerobics and raft building all promoted teamwork and resilience. Sessions about critical thinking, happiness and a range of art and craft activities encouraged children to think about their emotions and the importance of achieving a healthy balance of work and play in their everyday lives. A highlight of the week was welcoming back Miss McDonnell who led mindfulness sessions.

The week concluded with a whole school aerobics session. Children enjoyed learning the routine in their form groups before performing it together as a school. The sense of unity and community shone on the faces of pupils and teachers alike, as they took part in the dance routine.

Perse enterPrise students pave the way to rebuilding the perse hostel In 1996, The Perse donated money to build the Perse Hostel at Him Ganga School in Rawa Dolu, Nepal, to allow access to education in this isolated region. Unfortunately, the hostel was badly damaged by the devastating Gorkha earthquake in April 2015, which meant many students could no longer attend the school.

A group of Perse Year 11 and Lower Sixth pupils set themselves the challenge of raising the money to rebuild the girls’ hostel, which will be located next to the school. They have raised over £9000 to date, through crowdfunding as well as activities such as nonuniform days, quiz nights and dinner parties.