KGS March Newsletter 2016

1KGS Newsletter ∙ March 2016

staff and KGS Friends who meet weekly in the Spring term each year to rehearse a choral work culminating in a public concert. In recent years, more and more students have taken part; this year the School Chamber Choir has been rehearsing separately during the school

MARCH 2016 ∙ www.kgs.org.uk

NEWSLETTER

March 12th marked a welcome return to St Andrew’s Church, Surbiton where the wonderful

acoustics make for a very special experience for the performers and audience alike. Performing works from Brahms, Reger, Parry and Rheinberger, the concert brought

RAISING THE ROOFThis year’s KGS Choral Concert featured the KGS Chamber Choir, the KGS Choral Society Choir and the Kingston Sinfonietta

House Dance ∙ page 9 Alumni ∙ page 19

Review of this year's hotly anticipated House Dance Competition

Profiles of five of our entrepreneurial alumni

continued on page 4

together young and more senior voices with professionals Michael Davis (baritone) and Bimbi Shaw-Cotterill (mezzo soprano).

The KGS Choral Society Choir consists of singers from the local community, the Tiffin Oratorio Choir, current and former KGS parents, KGS

PHOTO BY RAJIV SACHDEV

2 March 2016 ∙ KGS Newsletter

Welcome

WELCOME

SENIOR PREFECTS AND MR LEHEC WITH OUR OK SPEAKERS AT THE ENTREPRENURIAL EVENING

"We now look forward to a summer of cricket and more besides for all students, including a run of house competitions in a year that is truly

upsetting the odds"


Welcome

As we reach the Easter holidays it is worth reflecting on what a very busy term this has been, as evidenced in all

the recent bumper Newsletters. In the last few weeks I have experienced many occasions that help us to remember just what a special place Kingston Grammar School is. I very much enjoyed helping to judge a memorial debate that was held to celebrate the life and career of Tony Prichard, who served the School for forty years. The proposition was that “This house believes that the School has improved since the introduction of girls in 1978” - a potentially controversial topic for what was a controversial change at the time. Tony was a member of staff who was initially reticent about the introduction of girls but learned that having them in his classroom enhanced the dynamic tremendously. KGS had been an all boys’ school since before 1561 but it was undoubtedly proved that the School has improved immensely over the last 38 years, not least because of its co-educational status and philosophy. Having said that, in the presence of Tony’s two sisters, the GibSoc of the past narrowly squeaked the victory over the GibSoc of the present mainly owing to their outrageous yet humorous depictions of school life including some from one of the School’s first ever girls!

Someone who joined the School in those early transitional years was Sophie Cornish who went on to found notonthehighstreet.com having left KGS to go straight into a career in media (see page 18-19). Similarly, Peter Harris who founded Hotel Chocolat left KGS not to go on to university but into business for himself whilst qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in his spare time. They shared the platform and the evening as a whole with a number of OKs who had a range of positive entrepreneurial experiences that occurred before, during and after KGS and university. They amply proved that there is no ‘one size fits all’ model for success and that the most important lesson they have ever learned was dealing with and learning from failure in a way that would positively fuel their next success. As you will all know, this is something that we believe in strongly at KGS as we try our utmost not to suffer from fear of failure and to focus on the future successes that are borne of this positive attitude.

In this vein it is worth reflecting on the fact that having done so well to reach the National Finals, our U18 girls fell at the final hurdle of matches, which included a narrow 1-0 defeat

to the eventual winners, Repton. Likewise, the boys’ U18 side suffered a narrow defeat, 3-2, in the quarter finals of the National Cup. Both teams did not stop trying once they had fallen behind and will no doubt work hard to come back stronger next year, albeit without their talented Upper Sixth teammates. The Upper Sixth girls bounced back straight away with stunning performances in the Latymer Upper 7s tournament where the KGS A team met the KGS B team in the final with the A team coming out on top 2-1. Smiles all round! Similarly, we have enjoyed some successes and some learning points in rowing, especially with the recent Schools’ Head of the River, where our Boys’ Senior 1st VII came sixth nationally, recording the third best time of the last decade. Also to mention are some excellent victories for the Senior boys’ football and girls’ netball teams who ended the season with stylish and impressive victories. We now look forward to a summer of cricket and more besides for all students, including a run of house competitions in a year that is truly upsetting the odds.

Helping to lead all of these events are our exceptionally able Prefects. It has been a pleasure, albeit coupled with many tremendously difficult decisions, to appoint the School Prefects and Senior Prefects as well as the first group of Senior Ambassadors from Middle School. We shall publish the full list of appointees at the start of the Summer term when we thank our outgoing team and prepare to appoint the first ever Junior Ambassadors and our all-important School Captains for the academic year 2016-17.

There is, as ever, much more besides in this month’s Newsletter but I shall let you discover all of this for yourselves. In the meantime, I wish you a happy Easter break and urge you to enjoy what the Easter Bunny brings in moderation, especially if you are working hard at CCF Camp, Rowing Camp or revising… well, perhaps you can enjoy a little more chocolate if you’re revising really hard. It didn’t seem to do OK Peter Harris any harm! ●

Stephen LehecHead Master

Follow Mr Lehec on Twitter @KGSHEADMASTER


SCHOOL LIFE

CHORAL CONCERTcontinued from page 1day and joined the adult choir for the final rehearsals leading up to the concert.

This year’s concert brought together a group of highly enthusiastic and talented young musicians who have been involved in a number of excellent performances in and out of KGS. Congratulations must go to the School Chamber Choir who performed complicated and technically difficult works so beautifully:

Soprano - Anya Aziz, Noor Bajwa, Olivia Merrington, Aoifa ParrAlto - Camila Carbajal, Anna Gray, Madeleine Hayes, Nonny Jones, Emilia Kinzler, Grace Lloyd, Emily Sprackling

Tenor - Lucy RobertsBass - Vivek Haria, Freddie Kar, Alexander Smolenski, Thomas Sweeney, Joe Underwood

The main aim of the Choir is to share a love of choral music and to perform great choral works with the support of a professional orchestra and soloists. Through the shared experience of rehearsals and our annual concerts, a community of many generations is created and it was particularly pleasing that the KGS Chamber Choir was involved in this year’s project. There are no auditions for the Choral Society Choir; all we expect is regular attendance and enthusiasm. If you would like to sing with the Choir in the future, please contact Tanya Watkins, KGS Music

Administrator at [email protected]

“The beauty of the piece, with its glorious climax

depicting heavenly harmony, was

conveyed”

Pam Pocock, audience member

PHOTO BY RAJIV SACHDEV

SCHOOLS' HEAD 2016KGS entered seven crews at the Schools’

Head of the River, one of the most important events in the UK rowing

calendar. This year crews from Ireland, USA, Italy and Hungary also competed, making this a truly international event. Due to illness, the Girls’ J15 coxed four had to withdraw but this still meant 41 students tackled the 4¼-mile course from Mortlake to Putney.

The best KGS performance of the day went to the Boys’ 1st VIII who finished in 6th place in the School 1st VIIIs event. Credit must go to the boys for delivering a solid row after the promise shown in training. Their coach, John McArthur, said before the race: “I’m the most confident I’ve been in my time here they will deliver the performance they are capable of” - and his prediction came true! Other notable performances were the Boys’ J15 VIII who finished in 9th place in J15 1st VIIIs and the Senior Boys’ coxed four who raced for “time only” after a last minute substitution due to illness, finishing with a time that would have placed them 6th in the 1st Fours category.

The Schools’ Head is a highly competitive event and this proved to be the case for the girls’ crews with the Senior Girls’ quad finishing in 20th place in the Championship Quads event after a good row. The crew contained two J16 girls racing two years above their age group it’s perhaps not surprising the competition proved so challenging. The J15 girls also had a demanding day, finishing 13th in the Girls’ J15 VIIIs.

All in all, the day can be seen as a success with some crews and individuals producing good performances and others learning valuable racing lessons. On a final note, Lachie Ives must be credited for his role in the Boys’ 1st VIII in his last race for KGS. Lachie is now too old to compete in forthcoming school events and the KGS Boat Club would like to thank him for what he has brought to rowing since he joined in the Third Year. He has become a very dependable and highly competitive athlete and has contributed greatly to his crews over the years. ● Mr A Beard


school life

HITTING THE TARGET AT CCF RANGE CAMPFebruary half term saw the CCF taking

part in a two-day range camp. It was open to anyone in the CCF, cadet to

senior, and was fully enjoyed by all.

After we had thoroughly checked our kit we set off for Long Moor Military Training Camp. Our first day was packed full of exercises and other activities including perfecting the marksmanship principles for the next day’s shoot and gaining some practice on the DCCT electronic trainer. At the end of this busy first day everyone was sent to their accommodation for the night, to ensure we were ready for the next morning.

After an early start, final preparations were made for the long-range shoot. Setting out

for the ranges, we were all very excited for what was to come. On arrival, and after unpacking the vans, the two sections were put on different duties, one starting the shoot and the other doing navigation activities. The first shoot included zeroing in the rifles by adjusting the sights and ensuring that the rounds would hit on target. Then the marked shoot began with a marked grouping at 200 metres followed by targets that would fall down when hit. After lunch there was a final mystery shoot. We didn’t know what this would include but for me, this was the highlight of the camp. It was shooting from a fire hole with 20 rounds; targets would fall when hit and go straight back up so you could continue shooting. This was very entertaining and a great way to finish. Afterwards the

minivans were packed and we headed back for school.

I was delighted with how this camp went and would recommend it to anyone in the CCF. It was just the right balance of fun, work and free time and gave a sense of achievement after the shoot and inspired us all to improve on what we did. ●

Cadet Thomas Ewart-Ellison, 3KEC

TRIPS


school life

Unfortunately, our robot had a major software malfunction during the first match that rendered the robot dead

and inactive. We could not compete and faced the prospect of returning to school not long after arriving in Worcestershire. Basically, it was a disaster. Luckily for us, a software guru from another team came to our rescue and helped us to reprogram the software code.

After such a kind and helpful intervention, we were back in the competition and improved as the day progressed. We went on to win our quarter finals, then our semi-finals. We were in the final! Structured as a ‘best of three’ matches, it was a tough round and, despite a heroic battle, we eventually finished as runner up. After the serious technical problems, we were amazed, surprised and extremely happy. Very well done to the KGS team whose professional and hard-working attitude played such an important part of our phoenix-like rise from the ashes.

The aim of the challenge is for robots to collect and fire foam balls into a high or low goal to score points in a two-minute time limit. There is also an autonomous (no driver control) section and an extremely challenging lifting challenge to earn extra points. Vex Robotics originates from the USA and interest in the UK has grown massively over the last three years. This was our second year of competition

VEX ROBOTICS REGIONAL HEATSCongratulations to the KGS VEX Robotics team for pulling off what can only be described as the most amazing comeback in Technology Club history.

and again we have qualified for the National Championships which are held in March. Well done to Cameron MacPherson, Harry Fletcher, Thomas Skeates and Chris Wilding. ●

Mr D Farr

GERMAN DEBATING COMPETITIONOn Tuesday 15th March Ibstock

Place School hosted the first ever German Debating competition,

open to students of Fourth Year, L6 and U6. KGS sent a team from each year group and our students impressed not only with their debating skills, but also with their knowledge of language and grammar. Even though none of our teams won the overall title, each won at least one of their debates and all three came in the top three schools, only separated by 1-2 points. Josh Askew and Ryan Mahnke in

Fourth Year debated motions such as ‘Should school uniforms be compulsory?’, ‘The advantages of spending a holiday with friends over family’ and ‘New media vs old media’. Justine Foreman and Matthew Pugh, and Paula Roth and Lois Freedman debated for the L6 and U6 respectively, issues such as ‘Is family less important nowadays?’, ‘Children and mobile phones', ‘New technology’ and the ‘Current refugees crisis in Europe’.

All the students impressed the judges with

their debating skills and it was a hugely beneficial experience to meet and debate with students from Tiffin, Surbiton High, Highgate and Ibstock Place, and for L6 and U6 an especially useful trial run before their speaking exams at the end of April. We are very much hoping that this will be a fixture on the MFL calendar in the coming years and have already made plans to expand this event and invite more schools. ●

Mrs T M Russell

COMPETITIONS


school life

VIELEN DANK, DEUTSCHE SCHULE!

On Tuesday 23rd February a group of Third and Fourth Year German students visited the German

School in Ham.

We all had a fantastic morning, first split-ting into different classes with our German partners. First we had Physics which was very interesting as we could understand a lot more than we imagined.

We helped with practical experiments and learnt many new words. At break we had the chance to talk to our partners about ourselves, using the German we already know. Next we had Geography where we tried to follow the discussion on human rights, and then we got to participate in a talk our partners were having from Google. It was a very interesting morning and we all learnt a lot, putting into prac-tice all our skills, especially our speaking. Thank you to the German School and our teachers for organising the trip. ●

Freya King, 4LJS

L6 PHILOSOPHY TRIPOn Friday 4th March, Lower Sixth philosophers went to Bloomsbury Baptist Church to listen

to a series of lectures on the theme of religion vs. science. Philosophers Julie Arliss and Professor John Frye discussed and debated a variety of topics ranging from the Design

and Origin of the Universe to Transhumanism. The day was a huge success and broadened our knowledge above and beyond the specification. ●

Greta Weston, L6JAD

TRIPS


school life

ALAN GIBBONS

On Friday 11th March KGS welcomed author Alan Gibbons, who was giving a creative writing workshop to all

Second Years. Alan writes children’s books and has won a Blue Peter Book Award for Shadow of the Monitor. He lives in Liverpool, where he used to be a primary school teacher. He enjoyed writing short stories for his pupils and went on to publish books.

He began by giving us a short biography of his life. We were quite taken aback by how he vividly and expressively merged his thoughts. We then learnt we were going to be writing stories based on the novel Dracula. Alan Gibbons set the scene, a forbidding castle in Transylvania, and he demonstrated how to write a convincing opening for the trek our hero or heroine would have made to reach Dracula’s castle. The workshop focused on Alan writing parts of his version of Dracula and we mirrored his work on the same topic but tried to use better vocabulary and clearer descriptions. This was very helpful as sometimes to improve your own work, you

AUTHOR VISITSCELEBRATING WORLD BOOK DAY WITH ALAN GIBBONS AND PAUL DOWSWELL

need to take other people’s ideas that may be better than yours and edit and redraft your writing.

At the end of the workshop there was an opportunity to purchase one of Alan’s books with the added bonus of Alan signing it. I bought Raining Fire which looks like an

explosive read. We all thoroughly enjoyed Alan Gibbons’ visit and we are looking forward to meeting more authors in the future.●

James Dick, 2RSS

2ND YEAR PUPILS WITH ALAN GIBBONS

PAUL DOWSWELL WITH SOME 1ST YEARS


school life

PAUL DOWSWELL

On the 3rd March, Paul Dowswell, a prolific historical fiction writer, visited KGS for World Book Day. His

best known books are Auslander, Bomber, and Powder Monkey. His talk, titled ‘Blood, sweat and tears’ was about where he got his inspiration for his books from. We were shown the pictures where he developed his story

lines, including one with a solemn looking group of girls having a picnic, and told us that these were the sort of photos that gave him ideas for his novels.

When he was telling us about Powder Monkey, he showed us a painting of the Battle of Trafalgar and told us how people would have lived on the ship. The hundreds of sailors and crew on board would have slept in a long but cramped room below deck and the captain would have had a huge room all to himself including two toilets!

He read us some short extracts from his books. My favourite was from Auslander because it was really interesting. Overall, I really enjoyed the experience of meeting Paul Dowswell and am very glad that Miss Cleaves organised it. ● Fran Chorley, 2NHR

LET'S DANCE!A hearty congratulations to Taverner,

this year’s winners of the House Dance Competition which took place

on Friday 4th March. Laura Marcus (U6JSS) and School Captain Stephanie Semple (U6LRR) were the gracious hosts of the event, presenting with wit and enthusiasm.

Alice Tobin (1LSK), Lily Coyne-Lown and Anna Duggan (1SAB), Victoria Purnell and Laura Kimber (1ROP), Heerthana Peterarulthas and Carmen Gesell (1LMJ), Marina Kornilova (2CLB), Bethany Williams (L6ALH) and Joanne Sivanathan (U6LLR) performed their winning musical theatre number to Let It Go. Their piece of Original Choreography starred Mohamed Hussan (2RSS), Jack Bowman

(L6ALH), Teddy Coward and Sophie Gallagher (L6PSG), Bethany Williams and Joanne Silvanathan and was choreographed by Jack Bowman, Sophie Gallagher, Teddy Coward, Bethany Williams and Joanne Silvanathan.

Finally, Matti Musk (4LHW) and Mohamed Hassan performed a duet to Drehz’s Heart Cry. Thanks should go to all of the 50 talented dancers who took part with enthusiasm and determination.

We would also like to thank the judges, Abby Bulfin and Lisa Mathieson, for their excellent comments and advice. ●

Miss S Boulton

Having just finished Alan’s thriller The Edge as a class, 2A created

their own covers complete with a blurb and critics’ comments. Congratulations to Erin Shrimsley whose design Alan chose as the winner and who received a set of gothic bookmarks.

THE WINNERS!

This year’s Carnegie prize shortlist has just been announced featuring the best new writing for teenagers including KGS favourites Sarah Crossan and Patrick Ness and the Costa winner Frances Hardinge. Carnegie Club will meet regularly after the Easter holidays for activities, debate and chocolate fingers.

Speak to Mrs Cleaves if you’d like to join in.

PAUL DOWSWELL WITH SOME 1ST YEARS


school life

In the weeks leading up to the Lit Quiz, the six Juniors and five Seniors met once a week to prepare for the general knowledge

and picture rounds using online quizzes about various authors and genres. In addition, each team had five books to read before the quiz (The Disappearance of Tom Pile, Silence is Goldfish, The Wolf Wilder, The Marvels and Big Game for the Junior Team and One, The Door that Led to Where, The Lie Tree, The Novice and Jessica’s Ghost for the Seniors). One round

INTER-BOROUGH LITERARY QUIZ FINALTwo contestants give us their account of the recent Literary Quiz

of the quiz would be based on these books so it was important to read them and remember the key details. In some of our lunchtime practice sessions, we thought of questions about the books and tested each other. Although this helped to prepare us for the sorts of questions we might be asked it also made us realise that we didn’t quite know the books well enough to answer our own questions. Whoops! Of course, the final stage of the preparations was to panic a little and decide to frantically re-read parts of the set books minutes before the Lit Quiz… just in case. ●

Izzy Hepburn, 3HMN

On Thursday 10th March the KGS Junior Literary Quiz Team (First and Second Years) made the short walk over to Tiffin for the Inter-Borough Literary Quiz Final. We had eased through the preliminary round, coming joint first, and we were joined for the final by Surbiton High, Tiffin Boys, LEH, Hampton and Claremont Fan. The first round, the set texts, consisted of comprehension questions

OUR JUNIOR TEAM

"The final stage of the preparations was to panic a little and decide to frantically re-read parts of the set books minutes

before the Lit Quiz… just in case"

on three books: Big Game, The Marvels and Silence is Goldfish. The picture round included some very interesting questions such as literary maths (e.g. Number of dalmatians + Katniss’ district) and ‘Guess the Shakespeare character’ – where they were all depicted as cats! I felt we performed strongest in this round. Finally, it was the chaotic the buzzer round. Some teams randomly hit their buzzers and hoped for the best but I’m glad to say KGS did not engage in this. After this was done and dusted we snacked on biscuits and entered the various giveaway competitions whilst we awaited the results. In third place was Hampton, second, KGS and first, Surbiton High. Overall we felt it was a very good result as it was by no means easy to achieve success among the six competing schools. It was the Juniors’ best-ever result in the four years they have sent a team. We hope we can return even stronger next year to claim victory. ●

Freddie Pflanz, 1LSK


school life

CREATIVE CHAMPIONS AT TSBAS

On Wednesday 9th March, I was awarded first place in the ‘Senior Creative Response’ at this year’s

Trinity School Book Awards. I created a board game based on The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Many people questioned how I came up with the idea and how I managed to make it look so good. From a young age I have been a player of a wide variety of board games at home; some of these games are traditional, some are rather obscure. I have got into the habit of mashing parts of all of those games together to create my own rules. I spent around two hours designing the game components and the rules on the computer. After printing everything out I handed it in to the library. I loved the challenge and would encourage others to try the TSBAs next year. ●

Jacob Walker, 3KAB

Jacob’s tutor group have been testing out his game during tutor period. It’s been going down very well indeed and has become a popular part of the week. One of his classmates commented that it looked like a professional game and that Jacob should contemplate selling it for real! ●

Miss K Brackley

TRINITY SCHOOL BOOK AWARDSThe Trinity School Book Awards (TSBA)

is an awards scheme for the Trinity Group of schools in which six books are

short-listed in the junior category and six in the senior category on a specific theme – this year’s being voyages and journeys. I really enjoyed doing the TSBA as it introduced me to authors that I either hadn’t heard of, or hadn’t thought of reading before. I have now found authors that I love (especially Philip Reeve and Philip Pullman) and have found new series of books that I am looking forward to reading. The award ceremony itself at Trinity College was thoroughly entertaining. There was a Q&A session with Philip Reeve, Paul Dowswell and Matt Dickinson, all authors in the junior category. As well as asking them lots of different and interesting questions we also got to learn what inspired them to become

authors. After the Q&A session the winners for the junior and senior books were announced. The winner in the junior category was The Hobbit and in the senior category it was The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy. Overall I found the ceremony and most of the books very enjoyable and inspiring! ●

James Don-Wauchope, 1SAB

THE ROSCLARE CARE HOME TEA PARTYAfter school on 11th March, nine

pupils from 2HL hosted a tea party for some of the residents of Rosclare

Residential Care Home in Surbiton. It was a lovely afternoon, combining delicious cakes, some highly competitive bingo and rather a lot of music and laughter. The students, accompanied by Miss Knight and Mrs Pinnock, enjoyed hearing some of the residents’ stories of their youth, and even learned a new song. Our thanks go to all the members of 2HL who contributed with their baking and musical talents, and for the hospitality they showed towards the residents. We look forward to welcoming guests from Rosclare again during the Summer term.

Miss L Knight ●


school life

The netball season for 2015/16 has been busy and wet! We have had a fantastic tour to Gibraltar, a trip to watch Surrey

Storm play in their Super League game and over a hundred fixtures, with a mixture of wins and losses for all teams.

From the statistics produced, it would seem that the U12s have had the most success throughout the season, which is fantastic for the players and the school; it also shows great promise for next year. The girls are ranked 2nd in the Borough and hope to improve this ranking and compete at County level next year. Whilst other age groups have had mixed results, this is not reflected in their commitment and passion for netball. With 31 girls taking part in the Gibraltar Tour, teams have remained united and motivated despite their busy co-curricular school life.

The U13A team are ranked 4th in the borough, but both the A & B teams should be commended on their enthusiasm at both training and matches. They are a pleasure to

A SEASON TO BE PROUD OFThe netball season for 2015/16 has been busy and wet!

INDOOR CRICKET UPDATEOur U15 boys made the short

walk across to Tiffin to play the Kingston Borough Indoor

Tournament with high hopes of reaching the final. The first game saw a comfortable victory over Coombe Boys, dominating the match with bat, ball and in the field. Our second match against Southborough saw our boys post a Surrey Indoor cricket record score of 91 (in 6 overs) which proved far too much for the opposition as KGS also bowled well to defend the score. This led to a final versus Tiffin where the quality of the cricket increased significantly and our top order was blown away by some excellent bowling from Tiffin despite a sterling effort by Ben Mallison in the U14s who carried his bat. A score of 43 was never enough to trouble Tiffin as they knocked off the runs within 4 overs. Well done to all the boys for getting to the final in spectacular fashion. ●

Mr D Reed, Cricket Professional

coach and we look forward to them developing as players next season.

The U14A team are ranked 3rd in the Borough, which is an improvement on last season. They are more than capable of winning the tournament and their focus next season is to compete at County level. They have two County netballers already playing and both Lydia Underwood and Sara Gotham Pardo should be commended for their achievement. The U14B team are also very talented and should be proud of their results. Their focus is to compete at Borough level next season.

The U15 team have stuck together through the highs and lows of the season. Their success must be measured by their enthusiasm and motivation and for their most recent performances against both Claremont and Tiffin, where the score is not reflective of how much they have improved as a team and adapted to various positional changes. The girls have been a pleasure to coach and a credit to netball.

CAPTION XXXX XXXX XXXX XXX

U12A U13A

U14A U15A

SPORT


school life

The U16s have had a mixed season. Again, a team of highly motivated girls who play with their hearts, which is not always reflected in the results table. They have worked hard to adapt their gameplay and thoroughly deserve their Silver medals at the Borough Netball Tournament. Their team spirit was evident as they beat Tiffin 14 – 8 in their final match of the season.

The U18s are ranked 3rd in the Borough and have had a great, but somewhat ‘unlucky’, season. Their matches have been ‘nail-bitingly close’, with a high level of skill and always close in score. Once again, the scores often do not reflect the passion and competitiveness that the girls play with. They should be incredibly proud, as we are as their coaches, of

their achievements this year. They have learnt a great deal tactically and will only get better. As coaches we are very proud of all the girls and their achievements this season. We look forward to organising our next tour and to the up-and-coming season of 2016/17!

A huge thank you to Miss Butler, Miss Carlstedt-Duke and Mrs Arnold for their support and work this term. ●

Mrs J Stapleton, Head of Netball

TRIUMPH IN THE POOL!Lucy Hicks and Tom Hill, both in 1LMJ,

are dedicated swimmers, and they have won between them six Gold medals,

five Silver medals and two Bronze medals in the recent Surrey Age Group Swimming Championships and other competitions, including the Staines Open Meet.

This astonishing track record is down to their dedication to the sport. On a weekly basis Tom trains nine times and Lucy trains seven times. Incredibly, the two of them still manage to get their homework done on time!

At the Surrey Age Group Swimming Championships, Tom swam his personal best in the six events he qualified for, making the finals in five of them. His best stroke is

HOCKEY - THE U16 SOUTH HEATSWe went into the competition with

a strong team and had high hopes of progressing to the finals. Our

first game was against Langley Park who we had beaten 6-1 earlier in the season. We began the game far too confidently and started very slowly with some poor hockey being played. This didn't change for most of the game and came back to bite us as we conceded and went 1-0 down. During the last five minutes of the game we switched up several gears and began playing well. Although we then completely dominated the game, we had left it too late and the game finished with an extremely disappointing loss.

Next up, we had Seaford. We were playing a lot better and with a stunning solo goal from Michael Moran we went 1-0 up.

However, the opposition were strong and they came back to make it 2-1. With 15 minutes remaining we scored to make it 2-2, the goal coming from James Hall. We were then incredibly unlucky; following a series of incorrect umpiring decisions they scored to make it 3-2. With a lovely drag flick from Michael Moran in the dying moments we left the game with yet another disappointing result. Our final game was against West London Free. This was to be our easiest game and we ended the game with a 9-0 victory: 4 goals from James Hall, 3 from Nick Browning, 1 from Michael Moran and 1 from Ed Nicholas. Despite playing very well in the last game, we had left the good play far too late. We were knocked out and left with a feeling of huge disappointment. ●

James Hall, 5PWS

"From the statistics, it would seem that the U12s have had the most success throughout the

season"

Butterfly, for which he won a Bronze medal in the 50 metres.

Lucy has been equally successful, swimming in an amazing nine events at her last meet, including the Individual Medley and 50 Fly, Back, Breast and Freestyle.

We’re looking forward to seeing what Tom and Lucy will achieve in their forthcoming meets, especially the Regional London Championships in May. It is this devotion to their sport, and recent accolades, that prove that practice really does make perfect. ●

Philip Pisarro-Jenson, 3KAB, Alexander Smolenski, 3KAB & Miss K Brackley

U16A

U18A

SPORT


school life

Our first game was against Repton. We started the game off strongly with good defensive work and a few

chances on the forward line. Unfortunately Repton were able to put away their chance from a short corner. The half time whistle blew and we were 1-0 down. After a few motivational words, we took on the second half. Unfortunately we were unable to score a goal, leaving it at 1-0.

Our next game was against Stockport College. With a break between the games, we had to warm up well. We began the first half well with some great linking up and strong team work. However, they caught us on the counter-attack twice and went 2-0 up. We came out determined for the second half and created

1ST XI NATIONAL FINALISTSWednesday 9th March saw the Girls' 1XI competing in the National Hockey Finals

some great opportunities and scored a goal. The final score was 2-1.

On Thursday we came out fighting again, needing a win to get to 3rd/4th play-off. This game was against Clifton College. We started well but Clifton were soon to go up 1-0, despite us having many chances. We started the second half very determined but eventually went 2-0 down. This made us want the win even more and eventually we were able to find the back of the net but were unable to change the score from 2-1.

Despite not winning the title everyone put in 100% and played brilliantly as a team. We look forward to returning next year! ●

Katie Headley, L6TMR

PHOTOS BY MIKE MUNRO

PHOTO BY ADAM SCOTT

SPORT


school life

RISING RUNNING STARXander Chevallier, a member of the

Lower Sixth, has recently completed two half marathons in aid of both

the diabetes charity JDRF, who aided him in the early stages of his diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes, and his school trip to Vietnam. The trip will be taking place during the summer holidays, and students will be exploring the country whilst helping local people through various projects funded by the students themselves.

In late November, Xander ran the Wimbledon Park Half, completing the course in 1:56:16, followed by the Hampton Court Half on February 21st, which he completed in 1:57:40. He ruefully says that he was “frustrated with himself” for not finishing faster in his second race, but acknowledged that the adrenaline rush he felt taking part in his first half marathon caused him to run faster at the start of the race.

It was Xander’s father, a keen runner who is in training for this year’s London Marathon, who inspired him to complete his challenge. Unfortunately, due to UK Athletics regulations, Xander can’t run a full marathon until he is 18, so the two half marathons were “the next best thing”. However, there are big plans in the pipeline for after his birthday next September; Xander intends to enter the ballot for the 2017 London Marathon, but as there is “only a 1 in 7 chance of getting in” he will “consider a charity place” to enable him to run.

Xander has been running 5k “for a number of years” and so in order to train for his races he slowly increased his distance by 10% week by week to prevent injury. He has tackled fitting his training around school work well, using the Cross Country sessions in his mid-week Games lessons as part of his training, along with a Saturday

BOYS’ 1ST XI HOCKEY

Having cruised to the last 16 of England Hockey’s National Cup, spirits were high leading into a

grudge match with local rivals Reeds. A slightly shaky start meant that the game was closer than expected but three quick goals before half time meant that we had a solid 3-0 lead. Although we did not play to our full potential, as our passing game was not at the level that it had been for the rest of the season, we did enough to secure passage into the Quarter Finals with a 5-1 final score.

Our Quarter Final, on 17th March, saw us play Dean Close, who we knew would be a strong team. Having been knocked out in this round last year, with largely the same team, our nervousness was plain for all to see and, despite a classy finish from Zach Wallace, we trailed 2-1 at half time, having had the majority of possession and territory. A dubious short corner early in the second half extended Dean Close’s lead further; before, with fifteen minutes to play, Wallace scored once more to close the deficit to 3-2. A string of chances, short corners and vociferous supporters could easily have seen us emerge victorious but as the final whistle blew, with the score still 3-2, the team was hugely disappointed. Having beaten the main forerunner in the competition, Whitgift, comfortably this season, it was a shame to end what had been a highly successful and enjoyable season in this manner. We bow out of the tournament thinking about what might have been…. ●

Ben Park, L6JMD

AT THE HAMPTON COURT HALF MARATHON

morning run, but “never running more than 16k at a time”.

When asked about preparations for the half marathons, Xander explained that a big part of that was eating sensibly, choosing food with “slow release energy, mainly porridge and pasta to build up the stores in your body”, combined with “quick release sugar before starting”. The combination of this and his careful training meant that he didn’t have to face any injury issues before his races, everything coming together to enable him to run well. However, because of his diabetes, he does have to take extra precautions when running as “when you exercise your blood sugar will drop”. He therefore runs with a bottle of Lucozade to prevent this from happening. There is also “a risk of a sudden drop” after a race, which Xander counters with “a banana and some fast-acting sugar to keep blood sugar up” 5-10 minutes after completing the course.

Xander’s family and friends are understandably very proud of him. He says that many people have reacted with a “mixture of being shocked and being impressed” with some questioning how he could manage the races with his Type 1 diabetes. It has clearly not held Xander back. He says that “it can affect you if you choose to let it” and he certainly hasn’t allowed that.

If you would like to support Xander in his quest to raise money for both the diabetes charity, JDRF, and the great work he’ll be doing in Vietnam, you can visit his Virgin Money Giving Page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/XanderChevallier

Ellie de Heer, L6JMD and Miss K Brackley

SPORT


school life

Following my recent Grade 7 cello exam, I was invited to take part in the ABRSM High Scorers' Concert, held in Sunbury

on Thames on Sunday 14th February. Children from all over Surrey who had taken Associated Board exams during the Autumn term were invited to take part. I was struck by the range of instruments and variety of pieces that people played on the day and there were some really inspiring performances from children of all ages. I chose to play Allemande from Suite No. 1 in G by J S Bach, which is one of my favourite exam pieces. ●

Emily Sprackling, 3KAB

After Christmas I successfully applied for a place in the BBC Symphony Orchestra Total Immersion Andriessen project.

The project was an exciting project for young musicians, working with the composer Fraser Trainer, and musicians from the BBCSO, to create a new piece of music inspired by composer Louis Andriessen’s 1970s masterpiece ‘Workers Union’. I attended three workshops at the Barbican Centre and on Sunday 7th

HITTING ALL THE RIGHT NOTESMusic news & updates from our Music Department

February we performed in the open space before the BBCSO concert. It was a very different experience as we were not given any music but instead focused just on the rhythm, playing whatever notes we felt like! Somehow it all came together for the concert and from the reaction of the audience they thought so too. I really enjoyed playing in something so

totally innovative and I think it has made me appreciate even more how important the role of rhythm is in music. ●

Aoife Parr, 4ELH

AOIFE AT THE BARBICAN

EMILY TOOK PART IN THE ABRSM HIGH SCORERS' CONCERT

NONNY WON HER CATEGORY AT THE RICHMOND PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL

SCHOOL LIFE


school life

During half term, I was privileged enough to lead the cello section at the Royal Festival Hall with the London

Schools Symphony Orchestra in a children's classical music festival, playing music to an adaptation of Roald Dahl's play 'The Minpins'. After weeks of Sunday tutti and sectional rehearsals, our repertoire was on the verge of being ready. We were playing a series of excerpts from several of Sibelius' symphonies and operas, plus the infamous Tapiola, famed for its difficulty, and the highly virtuosic Humoresque. The day before the concert, everything finally came together; we spent a day rehearsing with our narrator, the comedian Richard Ayoude, and our 9-year-old violin soloist Leia Zhu (who brought out a fear of child prodigies in every aspiring musician in the orchestra) and tweaking final danger areas before the concert next day.

The actual performance was amazing. Having never played in the Southbank Centre before, I was stunned by the scale of the hall and the huge audience (we sold out all 2,500 seats). The music all went really well, we had a very appreciative audience, and even my four-bar solo was adequate. Luckily, Richard was narrating over my playing! I can't wait to do the repertoire again on tour this summer, when we're taking it to Scandinavia, where both Sibelius and Roald Dahl came from. I have been so privileged to play in such great venues recently; sometimes, being a musician takes you to the best places! ●

Lucy Roberts, L6ALH

We were delighted to hear of recent musical success by the following students:

Nonny Jones, 3AEB: Nonny took part in the Richmond upon Thames Performing Arts Festival 2016. She entered the 'Songs from the Shows' 13-14 years category and sang Once Upon a Dream from the musical Jekyll and Hyde. She sang beautifully, impressed the judges and won her category. Many congratulations to Nonny, who also plays the oboe and is a KGS Music Scholar.

Luke Hillier, U6PJR: passed his ATCL Diploma in Singing so he leaves School with letters after his name, which has been his ambition since he was a treble.

Edward Jones, 3VMW: passed ABRSM Grade 2 Jazz Piano with a high Distinction.

William Everitt, 1MJD: passed Trinity Guildhall Grade 5 Singing with a high Distinction.

Alice Tobin, 1LSK: passed ABRSM Grade 5 Violin with Distinction.

Penny Cairney-Leeming, 2NHR: achieved a high Distinction in her Grade 8 Trinity Guildhall Flute exam. ●

Mrs T Watkins

STOP PRESS!KGS BBC School News Report

Every year in March, the BBC holds its annual School News Day. This year, Mrs Garside and Miss Brackley wrangled a

group of budding Third Year journalists who were joined by editing star Ben Harrison-Hyde (4PJJ) to produce a report to submit to the BBC. Special thanks must go to Mr Edwards who gave up his time to help Izzy Pleasance and Ben Harrison-Hyde edit all the fantastic footage shot by the team. ●

Miss K Brackley

Everyday Sexism

Having entered the BBC School News Report, we set about creating our report on our chosen topic: Everyday Sexism, an essential issue to tackle. If unchecked, it teaches people in their formative years that sexism is permissible, and this is very applicable to school life. We also sought to dispel the misconception that sexism is only experienced by women, and to reaffirm the notion that the term ‘feminism’ refers to gaining greater equality for all genders, not just women.

With this in mind, everybody was assigned jobs: script-writers, presenters, interviewers, editors… and subsequently, we began our work. Over a period of many weeks, we interviewed teachers (including the Head Master) and pupils and also collected many phrases that we heard on a day-to-day basis. Phrases that, upon closer inspection, were indeed sexist (such as “man up” or “that’s not very ladylike”).

This hard work all culminated in an excellent piece, presented in the format of a video. We submitted our report to the BBC website, and in celebration we enjoyed watching our competition whilst dining on flapjacks. Overall, it was a great experience.

If you’d like to see our report, it can be viewed on the school web page http://www.kgs.org.uk/info/BBCschoolreport or the YouTube channel. ●

Alexander Smolenski, 3KAB

THIS YEAR'S TEAM OF REPORTERS

SCHOOL LIFE


school life

On Thursday 10th March, parents, staff, pupils and alumni enjoyed an inspirational celebration of the spirit of enterprise that flourishes at KGS with a special

Entrepreneurial Evening.

The event, organised by KGS Friends, the School’s alumni organisation, featured several former pupils who have made their mark on the world, or are beginning to, in a variety of entrepreneurial pursuits, ranging from household names in the world of retail to young inventors setting out with new products to sell, via charities, property development, IT, health and wellbeing, pop-up restaurants and street food, bar ownership, petroleum products, PR and the music business.

The evening began with a panel discussion featuring Peter Harris, co-founder of Hotel Chocolat, Sophie Cornish, co-founder of notonthehighstreet.com, Richard Dawes, whose PR company DawBell represents the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Gary Barlow and the BRIT Awards, and Alexander McLean, founder of the African Prisons Project. The discussion was chaired by writer and business consultant Jez Cartwright.

After the formal part of the evening, the guests, many of them in business themselves, enjoyed an opportunity to meet all the entrepreneurs and learn from their expertise and experience at a networking reception in Hawkes.

The occasion was a huge success and proved very popular with all those who were fortunate enough to be present. Mr Lehec commented afterwards: ‘The School is very grateful to the remarkable entrepreneurial alumni who gave up their time to be with us this evening. The determination, drive and conviction that characterised the contributors made a tremendous impression on the audience, and the vital message to plan for success and to learn from and be stronger for mistakes was one all aspiring entrepreneurs at the evening could take away with them.’

SPIRIT OF ENTERPRISECELEBRATED

One parent present said: “The evening was really informative, moving and inspiring. I run my own business but it's always good to challenge yourself and learn new things. I have already set up a meeting with one of the speakers, who may be able to provide some advice for my business.”

One alumni commented, “I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and had some interesting conversations. The main speakers were inspirational and the whole event was a resounding success.” ●

Mr N Bond

EVENTS


school life

Alexander McLean, African Prisons ProjectThrough the African Prisons Project, Alexander works to develop the next generation of leaders amongst prisoners and prison staff in Africa. He was named one of “30 Under 30s Changing the World” by TIME Magazine and is a TED and Ashoka Fellow. Alexander began working in prisons in East Africa when he was 18 during his gap year and established the African Prisons Project in 2006 whilst at university. He works with a team of 35 colleagues supported by a strong group of patrons, trustees, advisers and partners including Lords (Rowan) Williams, (Paul) Boateng, (Rumi) Verjee and (David) Ramsbotham.

Sophie Cornish MBE, notonthehighstreet.comSophie Cornish is co-founder and director of online marketplace notonthehighstreet.com. Previously both a journalist and marketer, Sophie has co-authored two bestselling books: Build a Business from Your Kitchen Table (2012), and Shape Up Your Business (2014). She is a shareholder and director of a number of fast-growth UK businesses, as well as being a business consultant and is currently a Times Vodaphone Ready Business Mentor.

Sophie was awarded an MBE in the Queen's 2013 Birthday Honours and has won a number of industry awards.

Peter Harris, Hotel ChocolatPeter was an early member of the Cambridge high-tech community, co-founding Torch Computers in 1981. Co-founder of Hotel Chocolat, he was Finance Director for the first 24 years. He now focuses on the development of the business in both the UK and overseas and has enabled it to be listed on the Sunday Times/Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100 on three occasions, including the No 1 position.

Peter has worked as a business mentor for The Prince’s Trust and has helped three businesses to establish themselves. He lectures the MBA groups at Cambridge University and is a judge for Cambridge University Entrepreneurs. He won the Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year in 2008.

Richard Dawes, DawBellRich has worked in the music industry for 20 years. In 2009 he set up his own entertainment and lifestyle PR company, DawBell, with long-time friend Stuart Bell. Their clients currently include Rihanna, Sir Paul McCartney, James Corden, Harry Styles, Pharrell, Gary Barlow, Take That, Google Play Music, Vevo, Burberry, the LTA and Casio amongst others (see www.dawbell.com). They have also looked after all the PR for the BRIT Awards since 2011 and have an exceptionally talented team of 26 people working for them. As well as handling PR for their clients, Rich, Stu and his team also advise on crisis management and business strategy.

Jez CartwrightAfter leaving KGS, Jez studied at LSE and the University of Sheffield before setting up his first business in the world of professional sport. His clients included the England cricket team and the Great Britain rowing and diving teams as well as Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesborough FC. He returned to London in 1998 to set up a number of small businesses - a private gym business and branding and events businesses - before setting up a coaching and leadership development consultancy, where he works with boards of companies to help them become ever more successful. Jez has also written a best-selling book, The Handbook for Exceptional People, that went to No 1 on iTunes in 2009.

KGS ALUMNI: AN ENTERPRISING LOT

ALUMNI


school life

Under the RadarKingstonPreview Evening 6 – 8.30pm Tuesday 12 April 2016

Open Day 12noon – 6pm Thursday 14 April 2016

18 April – 31 May 2016 Gallery is open by appointment only contact [email protected] for access

featuring works from

Dickson Kaloki

Lindsay Terhorst North

Susana Bravo

learn more at patsyb.co/utrk2016

Baxter Gallery Kingston Grammar School London Road, Kingston upon Thames KT2 6PY

Love art? Think differently!

Dickson Kaloki

Lindsay Terhorst North

Susana Bravo

Adapted for stage by Tim Kelly

COMMEMORATION DAYOn Monday 29th February, the School held its annual

Commemoration Day at the Rose Theatre in Kingston. Students and staff packed the theatre to mark 455 years since

Queen Elizabeth I granted KGS its Royal Charter in 1561.

The Commemoration Day acknowledges the role played by Queen Elizabeth and also the contribution made by Edward Lovekyn who established the Lovekyn Chapel in the 14th century; William Walworth, Mayor of London, who made generous grants of land and property to the Lovekyn Chapel later in the 14th century; and Richard Taverner who is thought to have been instrumental in using his influence at the Royal Court to convince Elizabeth I to grant the Royal Charter establishing a grammar school in Kingston.

During the Commemoration Day, students were entertained by poetry in Spanish, French, German and Italian, listened to music performed by some of the talented KGS musicians and saw an excerpt of drama. For many, however, the highlight was the GibSoc debate on whether the future is better than the past. After returning to school, students then enjoyed a half-day holiday to reflect on what they had heard. ●

Mr A Beard

KGS March Newsletter 2016

Documents

Transcript of KGS March Newsletter 2016