The Chronicle, Autumn 2018

1 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE CHRONICLE AUTUMN 2018 | VOLUME XXXVIII | NUMBER 677

The Value of Ambition Chris Jones unpicks Teddies’ very particular ethos

Side by Side What co-education means to our community

For the Fallen We remember and honour those who died in the Great War

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Word from the Warden

Find out more Enjoy extra snippets of news by following @TeddiesOxford @TeddiesSport

I am writing this introduction to the autumn edition of the Chronicle on Friday 9th November. On this day 100 years ago, two days before the Armistice that was to bring to an end the relentless suffering and devastation of the Great War, Henry Tarrant Eyres OSE was killed as he returned from a night bombing raid. Henry Tarrant Eyres is perhaps an ideal model for all Teddies pupils who have been killed in conflict. He was at St Edward’s from 1913 to 1915 in Set B (now Sing’s) the last of three brothers. He was bright, sporty and popular – he played cricket in the XI, was a School Prefect and was an NCO in the Corps. All at the age of sixteen… At this young age he left St Edward’s and briefly went up to Bristol University – mainly for the OTC – but transferred then to Sandhurst in 1916; he was commissioned into the Queen’s Royal West Kent Regiment and later transferred to the newly formed RAF, serving on Night Bombers. Alongside Sir Geoffrey de Havilland and Louis Strange he is one of the earliest of those great OSE flying heroes. The following lines are from his obituary by the Marquis De Ruvigny and describe the task he had been set as a pilot: … he was attached to a night bombing squadron, constantly flying backwards and forwards in the darkness across the German lines, attacking points of strategic importance, and helping to throw the German transport and supports into a hopeless condition of confusion, and was killed in action while flying at Roman Camp, St Erme, near Laon, 9th November 1918. Since 2014, I have remembered and honoured the 116 former pupils and three members of staff who died in action by talking in Chapel or Assembly on the anniversary of their deaths about their time at School. The schooldays of these young men were, of course, much like those of our pupils today – they played sport, they were prefects, they played music – they got into scrapes. Hearing of the enormous responsibility these young men faced, and the horrors they encountered, and imagining the anguish of a small school community so regularly having to bear the grief of another young life lost has been sombre but vital. We must never forget.

It would have been hard for that broken community to imagine what the School would become. In the following pages, Chris Nathan, the School Archivist, takes us back to those difficult days exacerbated by the Spanish Influenza epidemic; whilst Chris Jones, Chair of Governors, takes the pulse of the School today. What are our values? What is our vision for the future? From those dark, painful days, St Edward’s has grown to become a great school, a great community – with many ambitions and plans for the future. In this issue in particular, we celebrate the energetic, outward looking, compassionate spirit of Teddies today and dedicate it with heartfelt gratitude to those we lost.

@BeyondTeddies @TeddiesRowing @TeddiesKendall @TeddiesCorfe @TeddiesJubilee @TeddiesMacs @TeddiesCowells @TeddiesSegars @TeddiesRhubarb @TeddiesField @TeddiesOak @TeddiesTillys @TeddiesApsley Follow our new Instagram accounts

St Edward’s School is registered in England and Wales as a charitable company limited by guarantee. Registered No. 116784. Registered Office: Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 7NN. Registered Charity No. 309681.

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Stephen Jones

The front cover shows Fergus Flory and Selena Thompson in the Ballet Recital, photographed by Celia Hodgson OSE.

Henry Tarrant Eyres OSE

Rhys Merriman, Matilda Pumfrey, Jenifer Ellis, Max Maddox, Olga Muravitskaya, Ohemaa Dompreh, Daphne Inglis-Jones, Tiggy Jones and Euan English, among others, at the Remembrance Day Service.

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Roll of Honour We will remember them

1914 Robert Parker

Post 1918 Roger Cholmeley Charles Ford John Wilgress Noel Somerset Richard Ussher

Thomas Haughton Eric Hobbs James Hyde Harold Williamson Arthur Percival Green Cedric Upstone James Skene Edward Murray George Kerr Geoffrey Wilkinson Ralph Morrell Lewis Seymour Arthur Clare John Merivale Edgar Prynne George Gillett William Dore Alan Marris Oswald Blencowe Eric Ware Ernest Harris Roland Hett Basil James Harry Hopton Maurice Thornely Walter Carew Hunt 1917 John Blaxland Leon O’Meara Leone Tollemache Robert Dunn Maurice Richardson Hugh Clough William Corrie Morice Thompson Thomas Pares Noel King Lawrence Blencowe Trevor Foote Arthur Hudson Charles Ranson Bernard Penny Geoffrey Townroe Alfred Gardner Harry Thompson

Joseph Morton Francis Holton Bernard Carter Richard Bertie Wilfred Hare John Ley 1918 Claude Harding Francis Hudson William Wareing John Chalmers Eric Rose

John Higgs Godfrey Hudson Francis Dyson-Rowley Evelyn Cave Penny

Aubrey Hudson Arthur Harding Leo Tollemache Edward Kay-Mouat Stephen Ussher 1915 Arthur Capell Alexander Wallace Frank Robertson

Henry Hudson Edward Foord Basil Ramsbottom Thomas Hobbs Gilbert Strange Colin McNab Edward Wilkinson Henry Eyres Harold Brutey

Members of Staff Leonard Cass

John Partington Leonard Davies

John McMurdo Walter Richards Walter Frampton William Cawood Reginald Blyth Beverley Ussher John Bussell Frederick Hammond Walter Dew Arthur Adelbert Green Howard Jefferson Richard Conner John Bridson Harold Jeffries Philip Owen Archibald Bostock Desmond Brien Paul Simpson Edwin Collisson Thomas Hudson Douglas Lambert Edward Brien 1916 Henry Northcott Wilfred North-Cox Maurice King Leslie Standen Leslie Fairweather Charles Bridson William Chalmers Edmund Wellesley Edmund Deane Robert Ridsdale Aubrey Carew Hunt Butler Giveen John Craig

George Bickley Bernard Driver James Bush

The Calvary Memorial, designed by Harold Rogers OSE and dedicated to the fallen in 1919 by the Archdeacon of Oxford.

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The Armistice The end of the Great War 100 years ago By Chris Nathan, School Archivist The news of the end of hostilities was greeted at the School with as much enthusiasm as could be mustered. As the Chronicle of December 1918 noted: “The news came at a moment when we needed cheering, for the influenza, which had islanded us for six weeks, suddenly invaded us and in less than a week turned the School into a Hospital”.

This was the so-called Spanish Flu epidemic which had affected 500 million people globally and would eventually kill an estimated 100 million of the world’s population. Starting in China in 1917 it quickly spread throughout the world, carried by the mass movements of underfed and exhausted soldiers and sailors who had been fighting for four years. Oxford was not spared, and the School was decimated, with the fittest sent home, and the sick cared for in dormitories as the sick bay was overloaded. The Warden, the Matron (twice) and her staff, plus most of the Common Room were all affected; local parents came in to help until they too

went down. There were only 14 boys left standing who were basically stretcher bearers and had to cope with all the tasks needed. All this was on top of the war years that had meant that to date 116 OSE and three teachers had been lost out of a St Edward’s complement of an estimated 673 souls who went to war. Even after the armistice, another five OSE would die due to their War service, the last being Richard Ussher on the Isle of Wight, of tuberculosis, in 1922 – his two older OSE brothers had earlier also been lost in action.

Big School in 1916 – now the Library and Old Library.

Despite all these hardships, the armistice in November 1918 was

acknowledged at the School by the ringing of the Chapel bells, “Our bells were almost the first in Oxford to do so”. Even this peal had to wait until there were enough bell ringers available after tending the sick – with the inhabitants of Summertown “listening anxiously for them all morning”. The lights in the Quad and in Chapel were again relit, and a service of thanksgiving was led by the Chaplain, the Reverend George S Duncan, himself only recently recovered from the epidemic and still very weak; the Warden was unable to attend and was still on his sickbed. While there was huge relief that the War was over, due to the epidemic there was little chance to openly rejoice until

The 1918 production of A Christmas Carol .

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Light was recently able to stream through the stained glass windows to the right of the picture for the first time in nearly 50 years following the demolition of the New Hall.

later in the term when, at Christmas, a production of A Christmas Carol was put on in Big School (above) mainly the efforts of the senior boys, and the first play at the School since 1914. Accompanied by the School Orchestra it was well received and the ticket proceeds of £25 (£1,350 today) went towards the School’s War Memorial Fund. Compared with the bunting and the general joyous mayhem that greeted the end of WW2, the celebrations in November 1918 were understandably muted. It would take the School several years to get back to any kind of normality; it was still a relatively small community of 158 pupils coming to terms with the loss of so many very young and well- remembered classmates.

The Sixth Form of 1917 picking fruit at a farm in Dorchester-on-Thames.

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phenomena, possibly disagreeing with the first speaker, so that even supposedly simple questions like ‘how many people will there be by the end of this century?’ become enigmatic. His distress about the wealth inequality of the world, the possible effects of more extreme natural catastrophes (food and water insecurity, migration and conflict) and the changes that would have to be made in order to save our planet, was also shared. Lastly, Benoit Alvarez, Chief Technology Officer at Volume AI, a global provider of digital content, explained the developing industry of Artificial Intelligence. He also spoke about the lack of control in predicting the future when divulging that even the top experts in this field do not know when Artificial Intelligence will meet human intelligence (this is referred to as the point of singularity). I greatly enjoyed the lectures that were given. They gave me a chance to learn about a topic that I may not have looked further into myself. However, what resonated with me most strongly with regard to the words of our three wonderful speakers was not how much damage there may be in our world and even our society but how much potential we have to start making progress towards recuperation. This was the 19th annual Biology Symposium organised jointly by the Oxford Biomedical Centre and St Edward’s School. It was attended by pupils from St Edward’s and other local schools.

X-Risks and Human Destiny By Sixth Former Ella Leeson A vast array of intriguing ideas was presented by our three guest speakers at the Biology Symposium held in The North Wall in September. Whilst there were varying degrees of optimism in regard to threats to the survival of the human race, the contrasting opinions put forward gave an insight into the range of different views held on this subject. The series of lectures opened with Peter Townsend, Emeritus Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Sussex, who spoke about ‘The Dark Side of Technology’. As someone who has never really thought too deeply about this particular subject before, I found his theories on our dependency on technology and the ‘dangers created by our own inventiveness’ thought-provoking. In describing the immense and destructive growth of cyber-crime and warfare, many

Peter Townsend, Emeritus Professor of Experimental Physics in Engineering, Sussex University

of us were left shocked at our own species’ apparent vulnerability. We then listened to Professor Mark Maslin, Department of Geography at University College London, who spoke enthusiastically about ‘Changing Human Destiny’. In the first part of his lecture, Professor Maslin put forward the idea that we humans, as a species, have a huge geological force and that ultimately we control environmental and evolutionary destiny on Earth. He explored the dispute surrounding the start date of the Anthropocene era (literally ‘human period’) – some believing that it was as late as the 1950s, giving rise to strange notions such as grandparents being born in a different geological era to their grandchildren. Professor Maslin also posited the idea that people are less easy to predict than geological

A Symphony in Glass Looking into the Weston Recital Room from the Fenton Recording Studio – and onwards into the Courtyard; from a new

set of pictures of The Ogston Music School by Paul Riddle.

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The Value of Ambition Chris Jones took over as Chair of the Governing Body in January. A former pupil of St Edward’s, Chris read History and English at Cambridge before going on to a highly successful career, first in advertising and then in other industries. He talked to Tracy van der Heiden, Head of Communications, about values, ambition in many guises – and what it means to be part of the Teddies community.

reflect on when they come back or when we see them all over the world. The second value also relates to community - but in its wider sense. People often describe this school as unpretentious. This is not inaccurate, but it implies that we don’t have a choice, much as Churchill unfairly derided Attlee as a modest man who had much to be modest about. There are rows of pretentious schools with far less to boast about than we have. We have made a choice. We are not unpretentious, we are anti-pretentious, because pretension will get our pupils absolutely nowhere in today’s world. We sit on a vast estate in leafy North Oxford representing, in many ways, an oasis of academic and social privilege. Were we not anti- pretentious, this set of circumstances could easily create a fertile breeding ground for a sense of entitlement. If we are doing our job, no-one will leave this school with any sense that they have an indisputable right

Can you remind us what you said at Gaudy when you talked about Teddies’ enduring values? I talked about the three values that are absolutely at our heart, the three values that fundamentally shape the experience of our pupils and staff. First and foremost, we are a community – a healthy, flourishing micro-society in which everyone is

supporting each other. Not just staff supporting pupils, but pupils supporting pupils, staff supporting each other and even pupils supporting staff. Being part of such a powerfully sustaining network means that extraordinarily deep and lasting bonds are formed; I’ve experienced it myself and I witness it everywhere. It is one of the things our former pupils always

Josie Denvir, Elise Rance, Tilly Anson and Paddy Smith.

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to a particular status or place in society. If we are doing our job, young people will leave with an acute awareness of their obligations to the wider world. Thirdly, we are unwavering in our commitment to broad academic entry. There are plenty of schools which set out to select only the most academically promising pupils. We fervently believe that age 13 is not the exclusive window during which academic promise displays itself. Our job is to encourage every pupil to perform above their expectations, to discover at any point in their Teddies career talents and passions they didn’t know they had and to display them in the classroom, in the recital room, on the sports field, on stage and in the exam hall. This is an outcome that every pupil and every parent at Teddies has a right to expect. To ensure that we deliver on this promise, we look for two qualities in the young people we select to join us. Will they be great contributors to our community and do the very best they can? And do they actively want us to help them achieve things inside and outside the classroom that they might never have believed possible? We are looking for ambition, energy and curiosity – not achievement.

Chris Jones OSE

Do these values set us apart from other schools? We cannot claim an exclusive right to any value. But I would say that the combination of our values and the intensity with which we believe and live them, makes Teddies distinctive.

What are your ambitions for the School? I said at Gaudy that Teddies is a place of strong and growing academic ambition; we have just begun to cast that ambition in stone, brick and glass. The Quad Development, the most ambitious project we have ever undertaken, is designed in every way to support the values I’ve just been talking about and will enable our pupils to gather together, think together, perform together, learn together and to study, both together and individually, in a world-class setting. Can you define a St Edward’s education? St Edward’s is right at the forefront of modern educational thinking. Over the past few years, the leadership team has developed an engaging, challenging and effective academic framework that explicitly teaches pupils how to take an active approach to their own learning. Discussion, debate, independent research and teamwork are now a big part of all our pupils’ lives. It is our intention that every pupil, whatever their ability, can discover the learning techniques that work best for them. The new facilities in the Quad Development will enable us to embed this culture of academic choice and opportunity ever more firmly into school life.

Izzy Wates and Aniella Weinberger tagging sheep at the Wolvercote Community Farm on school grounds.

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Are you committed to offering A Level and IB into the long term? I confess that I was one of the sceptics when it was first mooted that we might offer the IB alongside A Levels. I’m happy to say that I was wrong. To offer both is exactly the right thing to do at this time. It is wholly in keeping with the academic culture we’ve just been talking about – a carefully considered and researched range of opportunities allowing individual pupils to choose their own pathway. And some 10 years on, we are a well-oiled machine, the dual approach works well.

You’ve just joined forces with Guanghau Education Group to develop a number of partner schools in China - why? We’ve been approached many times but, until now, had not met a partner organisation that seemed right for us. Many of the people who’ve approached us over the years have essentially been property developers looking for a prestigious school to bring cachet to their development. Guanghua is an educational group whose values chime with our own so it is easy for us to support their ambition to share our

academic ethos internationally. At the same time, there is much for us to learn from the new thinking emerging from Asia. It will be a truly exciting partnership with opportunities for both parties to grow and to develop. Beyond the educational advantages, the financial benefits will help us in a further ambition to offer as many assisted places in Oxford as we can. What does Oxford bring to the School? Oxford is a powerful word - it’s one of the biggest brand names in education. It

© Blink Image Limited

An artist’s impression of the new co-ed boarding house opening on Field Side in 2020. Through the wonders of modern technology, real pupils are playing football in front of our artist’s impression – from left to right: Zac Adeboye, Matisse Dubois-Pelerin and Shamil Aliyev, who will move into the new House in 2020; and Isabel Llabres Diaz, Jenifer Ellis, Inaya Ghalib and Charlotte Hanslip.

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is a wonderful environment in which to nurture academic ambition. The practical benefits are immeasurable – world class thinking is disseminated on our doorstep. Pupils can attend lectures in the city, and are lucky enough to welcome top university academics to School on a regular basis to give talks – to which we frequently invite pupils from neighbouring schools. Oxford is an excellent source of good teachers, and it’s a community in which the dominant voices are young. There are a host of cultural activities generated by the University with which our pupils can and do engage. How important is co-education? There are some excellent single sex schools and it is for them to argue the benefits of their model. It is important to us that our young people grow and develop in a setting that mirrors as far as possible the world in which they will live and work.

Watch Chris give his Gaudy Speech on Teddies TV via the website.

Alfie Bussell, Katinka Hughes and Caris Baker at a recent theatre workshop given by award-winning, internationally-acclaimed physical theatre company, Gecko – ‘A Gecko show is visual, visceral, theatre crafted to inspire, move and entertain.’

Making a House a Home

What a happy bunch – our Matrons enjoying a get together earlier this term. Left to right: Zanah Coram-Wright, Avenue; Julie Richens, Segar’s; Marcia Nash, Sing’s; Cassie Cooper, Jubilee; Bethan Hilsdon, Apsley; Jackie Ball, Field; Jacqui Motion (who moved on from Mac’s at Half Term when we welcomed Helen Barstow to the role); Claire Elliott, Corfe; Sophie Sydenham, Oakthorpe; Linda Churcher, Cooper Lodge; Yasmin Dean, Tilly’s; Amy Rutherford, Kendall; and Stephanie Carter, Cowell’s.

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No Half Measures

At the Oxford Half Marathon in October, groups from Teddies and the Eynsham Roadrunners manned adjacent water stations. We were delighted to receive this jolly note from one of the Roadrunners crew: ‘I just wanted to say what a delight it was to have [the pupils’] company. They were lively, great fun and highly energetic. In the hour or so between finishing setting up and the first runners coming through we enjoyed a high energy relationship with them, including street dancing and a conga! They then set about the official business with enormous enthusiasm and appropriately loud volume encouragement.  Finally, they actually cleared up after themselves – a characteristic I don’t see very often in the teenagers in my world! They were great ambassadors for modern youth.’ The Steeplechase Always a spirited occasion, the annual whole- school cross country run is loved and dreaded in equal measure. This year’s event took place in glorious weather and was supported by the Friends of St Edward’s who organised a very welcome Steeplechase Tea for parents and supporters. Winners were: junior and senior girls, Corfe; junior boys, Field; and senior boys, Segar’s. Individual winners were: junior girls, Isabel Llabres Diaz (13.28); senior girls, Amy Theakstone (33.32); junior boys, William Robertson-Acolet (13.00); and senior boys, Oli McCrum (28.20).

Fourth Former Joe Porter

Kunal Barman, Isaac Riviere and Arya Firake, the winning Segar’s team in the senior boys’ race.

Octavia Hamilton, Lucy Hope, Evie Faber and Ella Mival running well on Port Meadow.

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Outward Bound

Navy

Army

Clockwise from above: Annabel MacDonald- Smith and fellow Army cadets in an old ammunition and stores hangar at Bramley Training Area in Hampshire, where the Fourth Form had the pleasure of spending the night; the Navy Section in the New Forest where they went climbing, walking and mountain biking; and Felipe Herrera, Finn Cowan, Jesse Fowler, Sonya Arzhanova and

RAF

Inaya Ghalib from the RAF Section at Hillingdon Outdoor Activity Centre.

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Charles Davies What do you do at Teddies and how long have you been at the School? I joined Teddies in September, along with my wife, Ann- Laure. I am the HM in Jubilee and a teacher of English, while Ann-Laure has joined the French Department. Where were you before? We were both teaching at Eastbourne College in Sussex, where I was Head of English. Before that I was at Truro School in Cornwall. What are you most looking forward to about your new role? I’m really looking forward to getting to know the girls in Jubilee and to the challenges that running a house inevitably throws up every now and again. So far it has been great fun, so I hope it continues in that vein! What other areas of school life are you involved in? I’ll be teaching English, of course, which I love. I’ll also be coaching rugby and other sports later in the year. Being able to run around outside as part of my job is a really special privilege. What are your ambitions for Jubilee girls? For me, there are some key characteristics that I want them to show in the House – honesty, effort, courage and kindness. Attaining these four virtues will set them up for life. I’d also like them to be curious about the world and about other people. We have a really eclectic mix of people in the House, so they have this extraordinary platform already. Although it’s been brief, what have been the highlights of your Teddies career so far? Watching the Steeplechase back in September was a massive highlight. It was fantastic to be at the finish line, watching the girls come in and seeing the effort they had put into the race. It was also simply a wonderful atmosphere.

What do you see as the benefits of co-education? It kind of goes without saying that co-education reflects real life. It’s also important to be in a mixing pot of different views and perspectives, especially when personalities and beliefs are in their formative stages – in other words, when at school. There are differences, of course, between girls and boys, but we do have to look beyond that and society at large has started to realise this too. What do your girls like about being at a school in Oxford? Probably the fact that it is a city, albeit a small one, with a wide range of opportunities. The restaurants and shops of Summertown are magnified just 10 minutes down the road. It’s a lively, energetic and forward-thinking place. Did you enjoy your schooldays? I did – I loved school, which is why I guess I’m still here! I went to a school with a very similar ethos to Teddies and I boarded in the Sixth Form. I enjoyed most lessons, played lots of sport – rugby and football mainly – and was fully involved in the Drama Society. We didn’t do musicals, fortunately, as my Great question. I remember hearing somewhere that one should ‘travel widely and find a cause’, which I like. The truth is that there is good advice everywhere, you just have to be listening. Which book would you take to a desert island? This is an impossible question for an English teacher! You’re usually given the Complete Works of Shakespeare, which would keep me occupied. I’d also want something meaty like Paradise Lost by John Milton or War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. I’ve attempted to get into Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, and never got very far. Perhaps that would be the one. singing voice isn’t really up to scratch… Best advice you’ve ever been given?

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London Community Gospel Choir

The Chapel truly rocked in September when the world-famous London Community Gospel Choir entertained us with a typically upbeat performance. More often to be seen at major venues such as

the Royal Albert Hall or Hyde Park, the Choir has performed with musical legends such as Madonna, Eric Clapton, Kylie Minogue and Blur – so we were deeply honoured to welcome them to Teddies.

Choral and Orchestral Concert

James Colson Lake OSE

The St Edward’s Singers combined with the Chapel Choirs, Orchestra and a number of OSE soloists to perform Joseph Haydn’s masterful 18th-century oratorio The Creation at St Michael’s Church in Summertown in October. Pictured are Natalia Elezovic, Katinka Hughes, Ohemaa Dompreh and Lucy Hope; and soloist Ella Phillips OSE. .

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Academic Results 2018

The upward trend in academic results continued in 2018 with 81% of all A Level and International Baccalaureate grades secured at A*-B or Levels 7-5. These are our best results ever and are sharply up from 70% in 2012 when our new academic programme was introduced. At A Level, 76% of grades were A*-B. In the IB Diploma, the average point score was 34; 85% of all grades were levels 7-5. At GCSE, 85% of grades were A*-B or the numerical equivalent; all those pictured achieved 11 A*/A. The Warden said, ‘I am enormously proud of our pupils and staff. Teddies enthusiastically welcomes pupils with a broad range of academic abilities – it is a huge part of our character and ethos. For our pupils to have achieved results

of this calibre is quite simply outstanding. Even more pleasing is to look at how far we have come in the past few years. The step change in academic performance has been brought about by hard work, new approaches and dedicated staff. I am grateful to everyone, not least the pupils themselves, for their effort and industry. I have no doubt that the outstanding new academic facilities currently being constructed in the Quad will fuel even greater ambition and success’. Top university destinations this year were Exeter, Edinburgh, London (Imperial College, King’s College, University College and Queen Mary), Bristol, Leeds and Newcastle. Three pupils took up places at the University of Oxford and, overseas, pupils took up places at the University

of California, Berkeley; the University of California, Los Angeles; Boston University; the Rhode Island School of Design; the University of Southern California; Amsterdam University; and Bocconi University in Milan.

Left to right: Alex MacCrindle, Olivia Heath, Alexander Koenig, Neha Kurup, Benedict Machin, Aniella Weinberger, Ella Leeson, Natalia Elezovic, William Tozer, Gwendoline Davenport, Alessandro Corrias, Giles Wordsworth, Milly Bracey, Alicia Bouaziz, Ben Courtney-Guy, Mike Denvir, Kitty Howard, Florence von Simson, Ferdi van der Heiden, Caris Baker, Elaine Gschwandtner and, inset, Sophie Marston and Carlo Graeser.

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Paula Diaz Rogado is now in her seventh year at St Edward’s teaching Spanish. Last year, she took on a new role as the Head of Community Service. Will Griffiths, Media Manager, spoke to Paula about her time with St Edward’s to date, the opportunities pupils have to be active in the community and her vision for the future of the programme. Community Matters

worked with and witnessing the benefits that community service brought to them individually, and reciprocally, of course, to the community itself. It’s a powerful thing. When I joined King’s College, they had an expansive and well-established programme in place. Back then, English was still relatively new to me, and I remember watching on as students from King’s College put on a puppet show for children in a deprived area of South London. It was inspiring to witness their engagement and the rewards it evidently brought both parties. What was St Edward’s community service provision previously? There were various elements to our community service setup: the wonderful

What was your path to Teddies? I qualified as a teacher in Spain before coming to London to take up a position as a Languages Assistant at King’s College London for a year; whilst I was here Spain suffered a bit of an economic ‘wobble’, so I started looking for other opportunities in the UK. Luckily for me, St Edward’s was recruiting at the right moment! Has the School changed much in your time here? I think it has changed a lot actually. The academic development under the Warden and Deputy Head Academic, Matthew Albrighton, in particular. They have restructured the fundamental style of teaching in our classes, and certainly

for the better. Walking around the School you will see the pupils at the whiteboards, and collaboration and discussion are commonplace. You can see the impact this has on the pupils; they really take ownership of their learning. Managing this in just five or six years is quite an achievement. In fact, a teacher who taught here 10 years ago visited the School last term and remarked how the academic approach and classroom environment was completely unrecognisable. It was gratifying to hear. Where does your interest in Community Service stem from? I was a Scout Leader in Spain when I was growing up and always enjoyed both the interactions with the young people I

Paula Diaz Rogado

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Readers Make Leaders, for instance, and other more ad hoc engagements, often associated with DofE. Many staff were running activities, but I suppose this would be the first formal programme of community service. How has this changed? I think the main difference has been in the range of regular activities available. I have only really been active in this role since January this year, so to see the level of take up so far has been very pleasing. We have pupils involved in a local community farm project working with children who have a range of learning difficulties (see page 6), others give one-to-one support to children with Autism at the Endeavour Academy, some take arts and crafts sessions at Northern House

which is true, but they don’t immediately see that they will also be helping themselves. It also opens their eyes to opportunity: two pupils took on the subject of Autism for their Extended Essays last year and are now considering studying Psychology after working with autistic children. What are your plans for further developing the Programme? In an ideal world I would like to see a regular space on the timetable for community service, perhaps for all Lower Sixth. We already do a good job of making our facilities accessible to the wider community, but we are so fortunate with what we have here, and what we will shortly have through the Quad Development, that I would like to see us doing even more.

Primary School, whilst others coach sports at Wolvercote Primary or give musical concerts to elderly residents at the Lady Nuffield Home. We also have pupils who joined a sign language choir which performed at the Royal Albert Hall recently (see below). How does this benefit our pupils? Simply, I think it prepares them better for life, but I also think they become better academically as well. I have seen pupils who were perfectly able, but often struggled to fully engage, come to a single session on one of our projects and suddenly you see leadership, you see them taking responsibility and using their initiative. Before they have come I think there is a sense among the pupils that they will be helping others,

Paula Diaz Rogado

Teddies pupils with their chums from the Oxford-based sign language choir Handy Voices at the Royal Albert Hall where they performed a major concert in November. Pictured are Vivienne Shao, Lola Mora Balil, Yoan Mihaylov, Valerian Purik, Helena Beccle, Bunny Lytle, Ella Leeson and Aimée Joubert.

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Flying High

Fourth Former Joe Porter Nick Coram-Wright

A superb shot of Oxford suburbs Littlemore and Cowley taken by Fourth Former Joe Porter from a Grob Tutor T1 during a recent flying sortie at RAF Benson.

Nick Coram-Wright

Sixth Former Reha Soni successfully completed her RAF Air Cadet Leadership Course at RAF Cranwell over the summer.

Henry Green, Finn Cowan and Luca Tartaglia-Baker about to take to the skies at RAF Benson.

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Rev Ernest Lennon What do you do at Teddies? The outfit kind of gives it away. I’m the Chaplain. I look after the spiritual life of the School and help with pastoral support. My job is to show how God fits in at Teddies and to get to know everyone - to listen to what’s going on in their lives and help them make sense of it all. I’m here to talk over what’s on your mind, help with a problem or work through the deep and meaningful questions. I even hear confessions. What role does Chapel play in school life? Chapel points to God as the meaning of our lives. It’s a place of Christian worship but I think the tradition we celebrate has seeds of meaning for people from many different backgrounds. It’s where we wrestle with the scriptures and where we’re challenged to think really hard about the things we say and do and how we empathise with others. And whatever our faith – or lack of it – we can be blessed, inspired and enlivened. So I think Chapel is essential – it allows us to open ourselves to God and to how I studied theology in Oxford and it’s great to be back. I love biking down to Blackwell’s or over to Cowley Road which is a lot more hipster since I lived there. You’ll probably find me in my free time sitting in a coffee shop somewhere with a book. It’s a great city for books and coffee. And there’s so much music and art to explore. There are so many great restaurants too and I’m hoping they might still do ‘lates’ at the Ultimate Picture Palace. What book would you take to a desert island? That’s easy. Finnegan’s Wake . I’m a Joyce fan and I’ve always wanted to master this text. But the last page skips back to the first – so I don’t know if it can ever be finished… It should keep me going for a while. he is transforming the world. What do you most enjoy about Oxford?

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Real Life In part two of our celebration of 20 years of full co-education at St Edward’s following our Girls talk feature last year, we ask boys and staff to tell us what they value about being part of a co-ed community.

Celia Hodgson OSE

Life is co-ed!  As John Dewey said: “education is not preparation for life; education is life itself”. For Teddies pupils, life involves benefitting from collaborating in co-ed classrooms and gaining confidence in expressing their views in the presence of members of the opposite sex (or the “neighbouring sex” as Daphne Hampson, Professor Emerita of the University of St Andrews, suggested during a recent Sixth Form lecture). Rachel Bellamy, Assistant Head Pastoral

Orlando Mann, Luca Howard and Uliana Bogdasarova at a Corfe/Kendall pizza, ping-pong and table football night.

Society’s expectations are fast changing; co-education means our children mature in an environment where they are used to working collaboratively and to listening to and valuing each other’s perspectives. Reflective co- education prepares our pupils well for the wider world. Fiona Wickens, Head of Sixth Form

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Co-education exposes pupils to the benefits and indeed the challenges of working with others, at times pushing them outside their comfort zones and helping them become well-rounded individuals. Michael Bunch, Head of Middle School

According to Plato, co-education creates a feeling of comradeship.  Already this term, Teddies boys and girls have developed friendships when singing in Haydn’s The Creation , playing in a mixed badminton match, attending the Kenneth Grahame Society and enjoying the Lyne Society supper.   Rachel Bellamy, Assistant Head Pastoral

Emily Moss and Fergus Livingstone, AHM and HM in Cooper Lodge

Celia Hodgson OSE

It is important for a House to have staff working in it who are different, because this can lead to that “two heads are better than one” approach, which in turn leads to innovative and better organisation of the House. Fergus and I are different because we are male and female but also because we have very different personalities, and I think this really works in Cooper Lodge. It’s also important for the boys to spend time with and work with the opposite sex, be it in the classroom, or with Linda and me, so that they are best prepared for the real world. Emily Moss, AHM, Cooper Lodge

Guy Wheeler and Ruby Freeland in one of our new mixed boats coached by Olympic-medal-holder ( and English Teacher ) Katie Greves.

I like the feeling of comradeship, and watching boys and girls become more confident in expressing their views in the presence of members of the opposite sex. It can be quite a ‘comfort zone’ sort of thing for many initially but over time we tend to see a breaking down of any gender misconceptions and a realistic foundation for now and later life. It’s a very exciting part of watching people grow. James Cope, Deputy Head Pastoral

Mark Hanslip and Becky Drury, HM and Resident Tutor in Field

A strong reason for co-education is that separating children for a number of years means they will not be mixing and learning about each other. Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, University of Cambridge

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Boys on Co-Ed Pupils Toby MacLachlan , Wilhelm Beckers , William Parry , Euan English , Will Monks , Damola Otegbola , Matthew Lewis and Patrick Maxwell gave their views on being at a co-educational school. I would say that boys and girls are probably more conscious of their image in front of each other but it’s part of life so we may as well get used to it. Girls and boys contribute equally in class. I don’t feel one gender contributes more than the other. It’s real life. It’s important that we all get used to working alongside each other. I’d hate to turn up at university having been at an all boys’ school. It would be a shock. It can be a habit for girls and boys to sit together in groups but teachers often mix us up - which is good.

Co-educational environments can

I spend a large part of every year living in a country which sets the standard (according to the OECD) for gender equality. This is Iceland. I notice the difference. We have some way to go here in the UK. School has a fundamental role in helping to shape the attitudes of young men and women to each other in a way that is mutually beneficial, because to do so they have to learn about each other. Fergus Livingstone, HM, Cooper Lodge

facilitate more dynamic discussions. In English for example, responses to a text have the potential to be enriched with both male and female perspectives and reactions. This often results in more vigorous debate, humour (an important factor) and a greater understanding of the intellectual position of the opposite sex. In small group activities and Harkness–type discussions, girls and boys really benefit. Our collaborative teaching ethos here means that both sexes get a chance to contribute, listen to, think about and respond to the thinking of their peers. Milly Pumfrey, Head of Shells

William Parsons and Milly Pumfrey at the Shell Reading Challenge

Co-education offers genuinely collaborative working practices reflective of the world of work young people will enter. Matthew Albrighton, Deputy Head Academic

Will Monks

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GOES HABIT

The Teddies community is lucky enough to have 16 specially trained pupil Peer Listeners in its midst who are on hand to provide peer-to-peer support and a friendly ear. One of their recent initiatives was Healthy Relationships Week. Peer Listeners had spotted that pupils heading off to supper at the same time as friends in House meant they tended to sit in House and year groups in the Dining Hall.

So they took action – armed with lollipops. Their light-

you’ve walked in with, but everyone seemed to enjoy the opportunity to mix things up a bit. There was a great atmosphere in the Dining Hall as new connections were made’, said Sixth Former Ilana Cope. After the success of Healthy Relationships Week, further positive initiatives such as healthy eating, quiet time, meditation and power saving have been enthusiastically promoted in Houses by our Peer Listeners.

touch approach saw over

1,500 lollipops given out at supper time over the course of the week as a reward for those who sat with people they didn’t know so well. The Peer Listeners feel that the initiative was a huge success. ‘In truth, pupils didn’t really need much persuading. It just becomes habit to sit with the people

Peer Listeners pictured are, back row, left to right: Matthew Hartley, Louis Kodell, Fergus Flory and Will Wallis; middle row, left to right: Freddie Williams, Izzy Degroot, Ilana Cope and Mehrshad Shahabi; front row, Hattie Harries-Jones and Ella Mival. Fellow Peer Listeners Anna Millar, Lettie Neame, Henry Behrens, Oscar Inglis-Jones, Bianca Pigorini and Emily Hannis were unavailable for the photo.

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Ballet Recital

Over 30 ballet dancers took to the stage in The North Wall earlier this month for this term’s dance event. The opening and closing large ensembles were particularly impressive, and clever use was made of the space. The opening ensemble featured 15 junior dancers in an extended medley while the closing ensemble featured the senior dancers in an inventive and demanding sequence. Boys performed in a number of duets and had their own ensemble item – the first ever boys-only ensemble in a Ballet Recital. Strong solo performances were given by Maria Gorovater, Amelia Morton and Zoe Forbes. Pictured above are Beatrix Barnett-Trier, Zoe Forbes, Scarlett Gibb, Honor Tan, Milana Isakova and Amelia Morton. Neville Creed, Director of Cultural Activities .

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Celia Hodgson OSE

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County Hockey Success By Will Griffiths, Media Manager

The Hockey Club has enjoyed sensational success at county level this term with all three competing age groups progressing to the regional tournaments. St Edward’s U16 XI were the first of three sides to see county action earlier this term, encountering Cranford House, Cokethorpe, Tudor Hall, Headington and Oxford High. The girls scored an incredible 17 goals in total without conceding a single one in reply, with the indomitable Anna West top scoring with eight goals. Izzy Rees scored a hat-trick in the 6-0 opener against Cranford House; Anna West followed this up with one of her own in the 3-0 victory versus Cokethorpe; and Tudor Hall were beaten 4-0 before Headington and Oxford High were taken at 2-0 apiece. The U16s concluded with 17 goals scored, none conceded – and the County Championship. The following week, it was the turn of the 1st XI. They opened with a 0-0 draw against Tudor Hall, before Phoebe Cain swept them to a 1-0 victory over

d’Overbroeck’s, and returned the same score against Cokethorpe, courtesy of a goal from joint Vice-Captain Jess MacLeod. There followed a heart-in-mouth semi- final against Headington, with the deadlock unbroken in normal time. The game was in the balance to the last with penalty flicks eventually deciding it, Maddie Catchpole playing an important role between the sticks and Jess MacLeod holding her nerve to seal the win. As runners up, following a tightly-contested final v MCS, the 1st XI progressed to the Regional tournament. In blustery conditions, Cokethorpe played host for the U14 county tournament, where the girls faced Bloxham, Headington, Cokethorpe and Tudor Hall. Lucy Peperell provided the victory in the first game against Headington, converting from a penalty corner, before scoring again in the 2-0 win against Bloxham, Jemima Paganuzzi adding the other with an emphatic finish. A dominant second half display against Cokethorpe wasn’t enough to overturn the

0-1 first half deficit, meaning the pressure was on for the final games of the day against Oxford High and Tudor Hall. Oxford High were beaten 5-0, Alice Spencer scoring one of the goals and two apiece for Lucy Pepperell and Florence Spackman, meaning it all came down to the last game. The girls were more than matched to the task, coming away 4-0 winners and retaining the U14 County title in the process. Congratulations to all the girls, ensuring a clean sweep of Teddies sides competed at the Regional tournaments. Unfortunately the strong runs of the U14, U16 and U18 XIs in tournament play came to an end in the regionals. The U16s came closest to progressing, but were unable to find the last goal they needed, combined with the other result in the final round not going the way they needed it to. The girls should be proud of their progress and how they competed at the county and regional tournaments, with the future of the Hockey Club looking very bright indeed.

U16 County Champions – back row, left to right: Ruby Freeland, Ruby Faulkner, Sophie Tompkins, India Courage, Macy Jilla, Gini Hope, Florence Howard, Charlotte Churchman and Grace Flynn; front row, left to right: Lila Howard, Tiggy Jones, Anna West, Sasha Withers Green, Izzy Rees, Maddy Powell and Bea Nicholls. The team is coached by Kate Newson and John Taylor.

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The Grown Up Teddies Girl Florence Pugh, who left St Edward’s in 2014, launched her screen career whilst still in the Sixth Form after being cast in The Falling , a film about a mysterious fainting epidemic at a girls’ school in the 1960s. This

©BBC Pictures

early success was swiftly followed by a whirlwind year in 2016 when she was named a Breakthrough Brit by BAFTA and won the Evening Standard’s Breakthrough of the Year Award. Since then, she has starred in countless productions, including William Oldroyd’s Lady Macbeth , based on Nikolai Leskov’s Russian novella, Lady Macbeth of Mtensk – ‘a delicious performance from Pugh as a watchful, lustful, ruthless woman who refuses to submit to her fate’ – and as Cordelia in Richard Eyre’s BBC adaptation of King Lear alongside Anthony Hopkins, Emily Watson, Jim Broadbent and Emma Thompson. She can currently be seen on the small screen as Charlie Ross in Park Chan-Wook’s stylish adaptation of John le Carré’s The Little Drummer Girl – ‘there are lots of wonderful clothes and dodgy haircuts’. Regular viewers will be eagerly awaiting the final episode which airs in December.