St Edward's Rhubarb - 2018

48 ST EDWARD’S r h u b a r b

Events

OSE Military Dinner The 3rd Annual OSE Military Dinner coincided with CCF Inspection Day on 27th April this year and formed part of an entire day celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the RAF and the 75th Anniversary of the Dambusters Raid. Inspection of the St Edward’s RAF Section in the Quad by Air Marshal Sir Christopher Harper began proceedings. OSE who served in the Forces joined parents, staff and pupils for the formalities and then enjoyed a buffet lunch in the Martyrs Pavilion Unfortunately the weather was against us which meant that the cricket matches against the Men’s and Ladies’ RAF XI were called off. The wet weather back up plan of The Dambusters screening in The North Wall proved popular. Dinner in the evening where the Air Marshal was the guest speaker was a wonderful event enjoyed by all. Chris Nathan (G, 1954-1957), the School archivist, curated a super exhibition which was on display in the Pavilion of OSE who had served in the Royal Flying Corps and the RAF during the two World Wars.

E V E N T S

talks about their experiences of drama at Teddies over the years before the assembled OSE and guests enjoyed the performance. There was much reminiscing about both productions including the story of the 1963 cast learning of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in the changing rooms just before they were due to go on stage. The audience only learnt of the tragedy at the interval as they had already taken their seats. St Edward’s Society Annual Dinner – March 2017 The Society hosted over 120 OSE at the 2017 Annual Dinner which was almost double the turn-out of the previous year. Special mentions went to Theodor Abrahamsen (D, 1933-1939), the oldest OSE in attendance, and Michael Cox (D, 1959-1964), who has not missed a single Annual Dinner in the last 52 years. The evening also doubled as a reunion for those who left the school in 2007, with around 30 OSE joining us to reminisce about their time here, and share what they have been up to since leaving. These were not however the youngest OSE in attendance, as the departure of Lewis Faulkner (Housemaster of Tilly’s House), Richard Howitt (Geography), Mark Sellen (Assistant Director of Music) and Kendall Williams (Head of Science), attracted a handful of 2014 leavers, the majority of whom were in Tilly’s House. A warm welcome was given by the new Society President Michael Palau (B, 1959-1964), and the Warden individually thanked the leaving members of Common Room for their service to the school, which was met by several large rounds of applause. From the drinks reception in the Old Library at the beginning of the night to the hearty rendition of the School Song at the end of the night, a wonderful time was had by all who were present. Nick Quartley, Damian Suchet (G, 1984-1989), Mark Wakeling (H, 1985-1990) and Malcolm Oxley

St Edward’s Girls' Reunion We celebrated 20 years of full co- education at Teddies in September 2018 when we invited female OSE back to School for lunch, tours of the School, afternoon tea and then panel discussion in The North Wall where a female OSE Art Exhibition was on display. We had 44 OSE and their families join us as well as a number of current and former members of staff. Lots of memories were shared. The panel discussion included the current Head Girl, Sassy Hammersley and former Oakthorpe Housemistress, Judy Young, alongside Lâle Güralp (D, 2000-2005), Emma Maxted (B, 1992- 1994), Katie Ross (A, 1988-1990) and Melissa Jolly (C, 1992-1994) who between them gave an insight into how co-education has evolved at the School over the past 20 years and discussed both the benefits and the drawbacks of being a girl at the School in the early days and through to 2018.

Military Dinner

Brecht Drama Gathering In November 2017, St Edward’s School staged Bertolt Brecht’s, The Caucasian Chalk Circle in The North Wall. The play was directed by OSE David Aldred (G, 1981-1986) who is now Head of Drama. We invited back the cast and crew of the School’s previous Brecht productions: Life of Galileo in 1963 and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui in 1987 for a pre-theatre dinner and drinks in the Old Library. The directors of these plays, Malcolm Oxley and Nick Quartley, respectively, gave wonderful