The Three Arches - Issue 2 by WithamHallCommunity

Three Arches the

Headmaster’s Welcome

It has been a joyous, if slightly wet Trinity term at Witham. One of the highlights of the term was our first ever OW Day (pictured above), and I hope those of you who were able to come enjoyed it as much as I did. It was fascinating to hear anecdotes of Witham times past. The one theme that came across strongly from the alumni is that this school has always been a very happy, nurturing environment for children to grow up in. This ethos remains at the very heart of Witham life. I do hope to see lots of you at our next OW Event: Christmas Drinks on 16th December at The George, Stamford.

We have also had our biennial Summer Ball this term – this was great fun and raised significant funds

for a wonderful cancer charity that has been so supportive of a chap in Pre-Prep who has fought valiantly to overcome cancer.

Our Year 8 have worked their socks off and received 16 scholarships from their Senior Schools; five of these are Academic Awards, and I believe this is the most in the history of the School. Our Common Entrance results have once again been excellent, and all children comfortably passed into their first-choice schools. While the Independent School sector is under huge pressure at the moment, Witham is thriving and well placed to weather the coming storm.

William Austen Headmaster

OW Christmas Drinks at The George, Stamford. Monday 16th December 2024 Save the Date

Old Withamians, former and current parents and staff are warmly invited to join us on Monday 16th December for OW Christmas Drinks at The George, Stamford. Invitations will be sent digitally in the Michaelmas Term, and tickets should be booked in advance. Please invite friends and encourage them to sign up to the digital mailing list via withamhall.com/ keepintouch.

For questions, please email community@withamhall.com or ring 01778 590222.

OW Day May 2024

The inaugural Old Withamian Day took place on Saturday 18th May with more than 130 OWs, former staff and parents returning to Witham for a stroll down memory lane. Pupils eagerly volunteered to lead tours of the school for alumni and their families, and everyone enjoyed hearing stories of Witham gone by. Mr Austen offered words of welcome and there was a photo on the Headmaster’s lawn to mark the occasion before Steph the Chef and her team served a delicious lunch for guests.

Material from the school Archive was on display in the library and many wandered down the Main Hall corridor to find themselves in the old school photos from their time at Witham. Guests stayed to watch matches and sample Witham’s famous match tea once again. It was the perfect prep school summer’s afternoon and a joy to welcome everyone back.

We much look forward to holding reunions in the future, potentially for certain eras of alumni, former staff and former parents. Please contact community@withamhall.com if you would be interested in helping to galvanise your peers for a gathering.

Thank you, Mr Boswall!

As we say farewell to Paul Boswall after 33 years of committed service to Witham Hall, he answers a few questions about his career and how Witham has changed over the years. Mr Boswall’s humility and generous nature always deter the limelight, but Witham Hall pupils, parents and colleagues, past and present, wish him well for a wellearned retirement, all of us better off for having learned from him over the past three decades.

How long have you taught at Witham Hall?

I started at Witham in January 1991. I remember we had a lot of snow that term, and the village was effectively cut off for a couple of days just before Half Term. For two days, I remember driving as near as I could to Witham, and walking the rest of the way through deep-laying snow.

What was the School like in your early days here?

We had Sunday boarders, and I remember having to do at least one Sunday duty per term. The Sunday duty was a long day, starting with shoe cleaning led by Mr Tate, church, letter writing, lunch and then free time in the grounds, including making dens in the woods. In the summer term, the senior pupils were allowed to cycle in pairs down to Little Bytham to visit a sweet shop. There was no Pre-Prep, Prep Building, Stimson Hall or Sports Centre. The Pre-Prep stands where there was once a wooded copse and Mr Tate’s wooden garage. The Prep Building stands on what was once an outdoor swimming pool. The Stimson Hall stands on pupils’ garden plots and woodland, and the Sports Centre stands where there was the Lyons Hall and more woodland.

Around the perimeter of the Lyons Hall was a miniature railway which the pupils could ride on during Sunday afternoons. There was no Pre-Prep car park, this land was used for cricket nets. There were only two houses, Maitland and Banks, and the school was divided into ‘family groups’ called Divisions. There was a complicated rewards and sanctions system called ‘Blacks and Golds’ handwritten into a ledger, with Division balances read out at Assembly. There were not many school teams, and on Wednesday afternoons pupils not involved watched the matches together. Pupils not involved in the Cricket took rugs out and sat watching the whole match from the boundary.

“Enjoy every moment of it and be appreciative every day of the stunning beauty of the surroundings and house. More importantly, appreciate the wonderful family spirit at the school which has never changed, and is as palpable today as it has always been.”

What roles have you held, teams have you coached and clubs have you taken in your time at Witham?

I started off teaching various subjects to Year 5 and 6 pupils, then went on to teaching Year 4 and later I taught within Learning Support and took on a Senior Master role. In the early years I had a classroom in various rooms in the main building, including what is now the Surgery, the Matron’s Living Quarters and the House Tutor’s Flat. I was Head of Maitland House for two years. I took on coaching squash, although I had never played it seriously before. I improved by playing, and losing to, senior pupils! I coached Under 9 and 11 Football and Cricket and was tasked to introduce Under 9 Rugby, which was only just beginning at that age level. I ran Table Tennis and Chess clubs and took on coaching Golf, and supervising pupils using the course during the evenings. Golf was in its infancy at Witham at that stage, the course having only recently opened.

If you could plan a trip for a group of Withamians, where would you take them?

I would probably take pupils to Fotheringhay and Peterborough Cathedral as part of a living-literacy project based around Mary Queen of Scots and the wonderful children’s story, A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley. I remember with great fondness taking two trips to The House at Green Knowe in Hemingford Grey, the setting for the amazing Green Knowe stories.

What is your favourite Witham meal?

All of them, but if I had to choose I would say macaroni cheese with bread and salad, followed by fruit. This sounds a bit healthy, but it is honestly my favourite, despite stiff competition from other meals.

What advice would you give to a teacher starting out at Witham?

I would say enjoy every moment of it and be appreciative every day of the stunning beauty of the surroundings and house. More importantly, appreciate the wonderful family spirit at the School which has never changed, and is as palpable today as it has always been. Enjoy all of the delicious lunches, but also the scrumptious afternoon cakes marked ‘Staff Only’!

What have you enjoyed most about your many years at Witham?

There are so many things I have enjoyed, but I think having interesting and unexpected conversations with pupils at various times of the day, such as at lunch, on the walled garden after tea and on the way to an away match. Running after-school clubs has always been enjoyable, offering a different forum within which to interact with pupils. I should also say having daily contact with a wonderful bunch of colleagues, both teaching and non-teaching.

Do you have any plans for your retirement?

I want to spend more time with my long-suffering wife who has been a very patient ‘Witham Wife’ over many years, putting up with my long days and me usually arriving back later than I said I would! We have recently bought a small motorboat which is moored at Ely, and so to spend time exploring the Great Ouse and its connected rivers.

On the Walled Garden 2024

Summer Ball

The Friends of Witham Committee organised a fantastic Summer Ball on Saturday 15th June in aid of the 2023-2024 school Charity, Tommy’s Arc. With more than 160 parents and guests attending, the sponsors, raffle, silent and live auctions raised more than £20,000 for Tommy’s Arc to support children and families in the fight against Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of soft tissue cancer. In particular, Witham rallied with Year 3 pupil, Tommy, who was diagnosed in Summer 2021.

In keeping with 2024, guests arrived in a down pour, but the weather could not dampen spirits for what was a fantastic evening of dinner, dancing and fun. Guest auctioneer and Witham parent, Kit Longstaff, worked up the crowd for live auction items including a salmon fishing holiday on the River Tweed, Dinner at the White Hart in Ufford, a ‘Headmaster for the Day’ experience, a dinner party for 12 with Steph the Chef, among others. The event would not have been possible without the generosity of all of our donors, volunteers and especially to our sponsors – thank you for your support!

Host your event at Witham

From 2025, Witham will offer commercial venue hire for weddings and parties on the Headmaster’s lawn. If you are interested in holding an event at Witham Hall, please contact events@withamhall.com for more information.

Withamian Achievements

As we finish another academic year, there are a number of standout performances from Withamians in 2024 which deserve a special mention.

Year 7 pupil, Charlotte, took the U12 individual gold in the IAPS National Clay Shooting Competition, once again hosted at the West London Shooting School. Five pupils represented the School across three age groups, but Charlotte shot with impressive precision throughout the morning, dropping just four shots. It was also a pleasure to meet Old Withamian, Paul Whitton (OW ‘76), one of the WLSS coaches on the day - he reminisced about his time at the School, recounting fond memories.

Year 5 pupil, Ophelia, finished in first place in the U10 Girls category of the IAPS National Triathlon Finals held at Monkton Prep School in May. In a field of 50+ competitors, Ophelia completed a 150m swim, followed by a 2km bike ride and a 1.2 km run, finishing with an outstanding time of 15:44. This left her over a minute ahead of second placeshe not only won the National Girls U10 race, but also would have won the Boys U10 race!

Withamians have reached new heights in music this year as well, with Year 7 pupil, Henry, setting a new Witham Hall record in achieving his ARSM piano diploma, the next step after Grade 8. This is a significant achievement at any age but simply stunning at the age of 11. Henry is not resting on his laurels; he is already hard at work preparing to take Grade 8 in both violin and theory later this year, and has just started singing and clarinet lessons too.

Felix Starkey OW 2018

Old Withamian Felix Starkey (OW ’18) has donated to Witham Hall his Oakham School match shirt from the 2023 U18 National Schools Cup win he co-captained at Twickenham in March 2023. Felix presented his framed shirt, as well as photos of his rugby days playing for both Witham Hall and Oakham School, to Witham Hall Cricket Captain, Oscar. Oscar accepted the framed shirt on Witham’s behalf after matches v Oakham this Trinity Term. There were four OWs in the triumphant Oakham squad last year and Witham is honoured to exhibit Felix’s match shirt to inspire pupils to work hard both on and off the pitch.

From the Archive

There is now a bespoke IT and Design Centre where the pupils changing rooms once stood. Teaching focuses on robotics, coding and algorithms as well as computing basics.

See the School’s two 3D printers in action pictured to the left.

And now

We would love to publish OW news in each issue of The Three Arches. Please send us news of births, marriages, moves, new jobs, ventures or reunions. Updates can be sent via email to community@withamhall.com

Please share!

Please forward The Three Arches to your friends and former colleagues to help us reach a larger proportion of the OW community. That are still a large majority of Old Withamians, former staff and Witham families with whom we are no longer in touch.

Encourage peers to visit withamhall.com/keepintouch to update contact details via the website or email community@ withamhall.com with news or questions.

Please email alumni@withamhall.com if you think you know the answer. The first Old Withamian to reply with the correct answer will win a Witham Hall travel mug. Send us your news

What breed were Miss Riley’s two dogs who lived with her in what is now the cricket pavilion?

Preparatory School