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ISSUE 1
Three Arches
Save the Date! OW Day: Saturday 18th May 2024
Headmaster’s Welcome Welcome to the very first issue of the Witham Hall digital newsletter, The Three Arches. It is our sincere hope that it will reach our entire community, including current and past parents, alumni, former staff and other members of our extended Witham family who we have not been in touch with for some time. I hope it will give you a flavour of some of the brilliant things that have occurred at Witham this year. If you have not visited the School for a long time, do come and see us and please be sure we have your up-todate contact details – there are a number of events in the offing to which everyone is invited. Witham remains a
happy, purposeful school that seeks to give every pupil the best possible start in their educational journey. Our site is as stunningly beautiful as ever, and we continue to make the most of our fabulous facilities. We are a school that embraces modern technology but seeks to balance that with a proper childhood – muddy knees and den building are nearly as important as lessons! Our academic ambitions remain high, and we send pupils to some of the finest schools in the country, often with Scholarships. I much look forward to seeing you all at some point in the coming year. William Austen Headmaster
Old Withamians, former staff and past Witham families are warmly invited to join us on Saturday 18th May for OW Day. There will be tours of the School for those who have not visited for a long while followed by lunch and a chance to watch the 1st XI v Spratton Hall. Families welcome! We will publish more information in the New Year, but please share this publication with your Witham friends, past and present. For questions, please email alumni@withamhall.com or ring 01778 590222.
A pucker year 2023 Scholarship Awards Academic Scholarships Oakham Oundle Rugby Uppingham All-Rounder Scholarships Oundle Art Scholarships Rugby Stamford Uppingham Music Scholarships Rugby Sports Scholarships Oakham Rugby Stamford Uppingham x 4 Sports Award for Rugby Gresham’s x 2 Sports Exhibition Oundle
Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation Accredited in 2021, Witham Hall is proud to be a Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation (RNCSF) School. Our partnership was born from Witham’s affinity to the Royal SpringBoard mission ‘to widen access to the opportunities available in state boarding and independent schools for young people facing the greatest barriers to their development.’ Witham Hall and the RNCSF understands the role that independent schools can play as part of the solution to widening access to the transformative nature of education. The RNCSF is the UK’s largest bursary charity, following the merger in 2017 of Royal National Children’s Foundation and The SpringBoard Bursary Foundation. To learn more about its inspiring work, please visit their website at royalspringboard.org.uk.
The 2023 leavers secured an impressive 19 Scholarships to senior schools at the end of the 2022/23 academic year including five Academic awards, three Art Scholarships, one Music Scholarship and 10 Sport awards to schools including Gresham’s, Oakham, Oundle, Rugby, Stamford and Uppingham. Witham Hall remains independent from any specific senior school and will always seek to find the right school to suit each pupil as an individual. Over the last five years, leavers have moved onto a breadth of schools including Cheltenham Ladies College, Downe House, Eton, Gresham’s, Millfield, Milton Abbey, Oakham, Oundle, Repton, Rugby, Shrewsbury, Stamford, Uppingham and Wycombe Abbey.
IAPS National Finals
Our U11A and U13A Girls hockey teams qualified earlier in the term for the National IAPS Finals following brilliant performances in their respective Regional Competitions. They excelled in their National Final Competitions hosted by Millfield School and Haileybury. The U11 Girls were placed 4th in their pool of six, qualifying them for the Plate competition, in which they were knocked out in the Quarter Final play-offs. The U13 Girls reached new heights, placing 2nd in their pool and qualifying for the Cup competition. They faced Cheam, who went on to be crowned National Champions, in the Quarter Finals and were knocked out in a nail-biting loss. Well done ladies!
On the Walled Garden 2023
OW News Major General Adrian Freer (OW 1966)
Witham Hall Summer Ball 2024 OWs, former staff and past parents welcome! Saturday 15th June 2024 Former parents, staff and Old Withamians are warmly invited to join us for the biennial Witham Hall Summer Ball on Saturday 15th June on the Headmaster’s Lawn ably organised by the Friends of Witham. Families are welcome to buy individual tickets or to organise a table of 10 or 12 guests. For more information, please email SummerBall@withamhall.com.
Tommy’s Arc
This year’s silent and live auctions will be held in aid of Tommy’s Arc, a charity very close to Witham’s heart. In the summer of 2021, Witham pupil, Tommy, was diagnosed at the age of five with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer more common in children. Currently only 2-3% of all cancer research goes towards childhood cancers, and under the umbrella charity Alice’s Arc, Tommy’s Arc is dedicated to finding a cure and kinder, more targeted treatments for those affected by Rhabdomyosarcoma. All profits from this year’s Summer Ball will be donated to Tommy’s Arc. Read more about Tommy’s story here: www.alicesarc.org/arc/tommy-jones/
Could you sponsor a table or donate an auction prize? The Friends of Witham are seeking table sponsors and auction prizes in aid of Tommy’s Arc. Sponsors will have their company name and logo on their sponsored table, included in the auction catalogue, visibility in promotional material, a bottle of champagne for the table and a complementary raffle ticket for table guests. Please contact the organisers at SummerBall@withamhall.com for more information.
Witham welcomed Major General Adrian Freer OBE, one of Witham’s first Head Boys, back as guest of honor for Speech Day 2023. Having retired from the Army in 2005, Major Freer saw operational service in Northern Ireland, the Falklands and also in Kosovo, when he led the UK Spearhead forces into the province in June 1999. He commanded the International Military Advisory Training Team in Sierra Leone and was military advisor to the President of Sierra Leone. He completed his service, seconded to the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, with responsibility for the Kosovo Protection Corps. During his visit, Major Freer enjoyed a tour of the School, reminiscing of his days at Witham Hall in the early 1960s and seeing all that is changed and unchanged. We found his name on the wall in the dining room and Mr Clarke from our Estates team, a fellow Falklands veteran, presented him with a scarf from the Scarves for Falkland Veterans initiative, made in the colours of the South Atlantic Medal ribbon. In Major Freer’s address to parents, pupils and leavers at Speech Day, he spoke wisely of the importance of the content of one’s character and how this, more than any achievement, degree or success, carries us through life.
Olly Rymer (OW 2017) Old Withamian, Olly Rymer (OW 2017), returned to Witham Hall at the end of the Michaelmas Term to run a series of musical theatre workshops with Witham pupils. Olly has performed for two years with the National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT). For 46 years, NYMT has been at the forefront of the British musical theatre scene auditioning thousands of young people across the UK and enabling selected talent to develop both their creative and personal potential. Jude Law, Sheridan Smith, Idris Elba, Lily James and Matt Lucas all launched their careers through NYMT. Having finished his Foundation in Musical Theatre at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, London in April, Olly performed in the NYMT production Kiss Me, Kate at the Leicester Curve Theatre this summer. He started his threeyear Musical Theatre degree at The Arts Educational Schools in Chiswick, London in September and Witham much looks forward to seeing where Olly’s budding talent takes him next.
OWs Return Witham had the privilege of welcoming Old Withamians Bunny, Oscar, Jack, Henry and Rose (OW 2020) for work experience in the Summer Term, as well as Finn Cummins and Alice Farmer (OW 2017) as Gap Year Assistants during the 2022-2023 academic year.
From the Archive
Today pupils can play pool, air hockey, basketball and table football in the new Games Rooms which is equipped with an iPad, Apple Music account and speakers.
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HI T N I W
Keep in touch: Have we got it right?
This first issue of The Three Arches is designed for the greater school community. There is a large majority of Old Withamians, former staff and Witham families for whom we have not been in touch for too long. We hope this edition will trial the accuracy of our records, but are we contacting you at the right email address? Would you like to be added to the Old Withamian database? Would you like to update your contact preferences?
Witham Trivia In what year did Witham Hall become fully co-educational? 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 Sophie Allport Witham mug.
Please visit withamhall.com/keepintouch to update your details via the website or email alumni@withamhall.com with news or questions. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook.
Preparatory School WithamHall.com