Pages 61-88 - Oswestry School

Sport & Games 

A Review of the Sporting Year 

Sorting fixtures would not have been possible 

without the surfaces on which to play. groundsman 

David Jones has ensured that all pitches have been 

immaculately presented and thoroughly playable. through 

his hard work, we have been proud to show off our grounds 

to visiting schools and at times have made them envy what 

we have. on behalf of all the sportsmen and sportswomen 

of the school, sincere thanks go out to Mr Jones for all of his 

hard work this past year. 

We try to cater for all pupils of all ability and we fully 

aware that not everyone takes an interest in traditional 

games such as football and netball. the alternative 

curriculum provides opportunities for those pupils to 

become fully engaged in other sporting arenas. the new 

activities have proved incredibly popular amongst the 

student body and the staff in charge of them. 

Mr Arnott’s badminton club is enjoyed by all who attend 

with all boys progressing well. Aziz ibrahim’s basketball 

club goes from strength to strength with numbers increasing 

on a weekly basis! Miss Jones and her cheerleaders have had 

a thoroughly enjoyable start to the new activity and now 

pom-poms are a key feature! the addition of two 

trampolines has proved highly popular with pupils of all 

ages queuing to have a bounce. 

new swimming coach Ms tudhope is following on from 

the good work of terry roberts by keeping up the fitness 

levels of our keen swimmers. We look forward to seeing her 

and her team gain more victories next year. 

With our new golf driving range mats provided by the 

old oswestrians, Mr Mclean-inglis has been instructing 

some keen players in the finer art of striking a ball on the 

top fields during Wednesday games sessions. this activity 

will no doubt grow in popularity. 

the sports leaders programme has ensured Bellan sports 

clubs have run consistently every week. Activities delivered 

by the leaders have included football, netball, hockey, multiskills, 

athletics, cross-country, rounders and cricket. Alex 

Mowbray, rebecca McMurray, frankie rowles, sophie Jones, 

rebecca Adcock, Lucy Williams, georgina Mercer, isobel 

Makin, scott Vallely and ryan Morris have all been 

instrumental as part of the sports leaders team. A big thank 

you goes to Mr Maxfield for supervising the Bellan football 

club with scott and ryan. 

D Hollingsworth 

Senior BoyS 

100m D radford 10·8s 1985 

200m D radford 21·9s 1985 

400m A Crichton 52·7s 1998 

800m r Miller 2:36s 1984 

1500m P Davies 4:18·2s 1979 

High Jump D radford 1·87m 1984 

Long Jump r Wilcock 6·43m 1995 

triple Jump g evans 12·61m 1989 

Dicus D gough 40·05m 1970 

Javelin C Dennis 45·58m 1967 

shot D gough 12·97m 1967 

Senior GirlS 

100m n Ananaba 12·6s 1978 

200m s furlonger 27·6s 1998 

800m J evans 2:30·0s 1980 

1500m J evans 5:31·0s 1980 

High Jump s furlonger 1·58m 1998 

Long Jump s furlonger 5·39m 1998 

triple Jump A Martin 9·33m 2002 

Dicus J evans 34·72m 1987 

Javelin s Baker 30·06m 1988 

shot J evans 10·29m 1987 

S P o r T S D A y r e C o r D S 

inTermeDiATe BoyS 

100m D radford 11·3s 1982 

200m D radford 23·2s 1982 

g evans 23·2s 1987 

400m A Crichton 53·4s 1996 

800m t rowlands 2:0·07s 1984 

1500m C Price 4:26·13s 1982 

High Jump D radford 1·77m 1982 

Long Jump B Lo 6·35m 2003 

triple Jump g evans 12·88m 1987 

Discus C Whitticase 38·0m 1968 

Javelin W foster 42·44 1991 

shot i roberts 12·5m 1984 

inTermeDiATe GirlS 

100m A Martin 12·85s 2000 

200m e stockdale 30·58s 2002 

800m D tickner 2:43·9s 2010 

Long Jump A Martin 4·35m 2000 

triple Jump K Dyke 8·15m 2002 

Discus s Kelly 22·8m 2001 

Javelin A edwards 17·91m 2001 

shot W Chau 8·23m 2003 

Junior BoyS 

100m i roberts 11·9s 1982 

200m i roberts 25·2s 1982 

400m J o’Brien 57·9s 1982 

800m C Price 2:17·1s 1980 

1500m o osbourne 4:56·5s 1994 

High Jump P Malpass 1·53m 1980 

Long Jump g evans 5·47m 1985 

triple jump B Cessford 11·16m 1981 

Discus P raw 31·32m 1985 

Javelin W foster 38·0m 1989 

shot C Core 11·73m 1983 

Junior GirlS 

100m s Bellby 13·6s 1980 

200m K edwards 28·0s 1987 

800m A gerstenberg 2:23s 1983 

1500m W gerstenberg 5:33s 1983 

High Jump s furlonger 1·54m 1996 

Long Jump n Ananaba 4·97m 1977 

s Mather 4·97m 1978 

Discus n Williams 28·0m 1993 

Javelin J Brown 25·35m 1980 

shot f Bowen 8·34m 1981 

The oswestrian 61

SPORTS DAY 

Sports Day 

3 May 2010 on the Maes-y-llan 

u11 mixed 

80m M Cooper (D) 12·81s, M fisher (o), H Bowen (B) 

100m Boys s Chesworth (o) 15·39s, D gray (s), J Munford (D) 

100m Girls f Bebb (s) 17·27s, J newman (D), e Christie (o) 

200m D gray (s) 36·09s, M edmondson (B), g Dove (D) 

800m D fisher (B) 2:481·43s, J Munford (D), H Champion (o) 

Relay sPooner 76s, Donne, BurnABy, osWALD disq 

Long Jump D gray (s) 3·16m, M Cooper (D), A Kynastonevans 

(D) 

Rounders Ball C xiang (s) and t Kim (o) 22·8m, H Jones (o) 

u13 Girls 

100m J tickner (o) 14·15s, i Adegbovega (s), g Booker (D) 

200m J tickner (o) 32·2s, C Jones (B), B Walford (s) 

800m L Phillips (D) 3:10s, A Adcock (B), A Laundy (D) 

Relay sPooner 70·26s, osWALD, Donne, BurnABy 

Long Jump M Williams (B) 2·92m, M robinson (s), e Jones (o) 

Shot J Pugh (s) 7·45m, C Jones (B), J tickner (o) 

Discus C Bates (D) 15·95m, J Pugh (s), L Kendall (D) 

Javelin A gray (s) 12·2m, M robinson (s), K Welsby (o) 

u13 Boys 

100m g Blount-Powell (o) 13·22s, M thornton (D), s fung (B) 

200m C Hughes (D) 32·84s, L Chesworth (o), M Care (s) 

400m J taylor (o) 80·00s, t nicholas (B), H Malim (D) 

800m e ellis-Cooper (o) 2:46·14s, C Hughes (D), r Christie (o) 

Relay osWALD 76·04s, BurnABy, sPooner, Donne disq 

Long Jump e ellis-Cooper (o) 3·89m, g tomley (B), H regnart- 

Butler (s) 

Triple Jump e ellis-Cooper (o) 9·00m, H regnart-Butler (s), 

M gale (s) 

Shot r Christie (o) 7·64m, J Morris (B), A yevstratov (B) 

Discus C Hughes (D) 16·38m, r Christie (o), J Morris (B) 

Javelin g tomley (B) 23·8m, M gale (s), J Morris (B) 

u15 Girls 

100m e fisher (B) 13·41s, n Makin (D), f Dyke (o) 

200m e Duncombe (o) 34·56s, C Hewes (s), J tomley (B) 

800m D tickner (o) 2:43·89s*, C Watson (s), r Adcock (B) 

Relay sPooner 77·09s, osWALD, BurnABy, Donne 

Long Jump C Watson (s) 3·68m, L Whitthread (s), i Makin (D) and 

r Adcock (B) 

Triple Jump L Whitthread (s) 8·05m, P Baker (D), e Bromage (o) 

Shot s rowley (D) 6·15m, L Williams (B), g Mercer (s) 

Discus i Makin (D) 15·12m, D tickner (o), s rowley (D) 

Javelin L Williams (B) 14·00m, n Makin (D), f Dyke (o) 

u15 Boys 

100m r Morris (D) 12·30s, C Lloyd-Jones (s), H gould (o) 

200m r Morris (D) 26·59s, K sesay (s), r edwards (o) 

400m s Vallely (s) 59·09s, r Drummond (D), s edmondson (B) 

800m H gould (o) 2:38·65s, J Whittingham (s), L Parkes (B) 

1500m s Vallely (s) 5:35·95s, r Drummond (D), s edmondson (B) 

Relay sPooner 56·06s, Donne, BurnABy, osWALD 

Long Jump s Vallely (s) 4·86m, C Lakin (o), o Morris (B) 

Triple Jump L Parkes (B) 8·80m, H gould (o), J McMurray (s) and 

D renwick (s) 

Shot J Hunt (o) 8·43m, o Morris (B), r gaynor-Johnson (B) 

Discus r Morris (D) 24·00m, J nyhan (B), e green (o) 

Javelin r Banks (B) 32·8m, H Clutton (s), C Blount-Powell (o) 

Senior Girls 

100m L Doyle (B) 15·28s, n renwick (s), r Long (o) 

200m s yates (o) 33·68s, V Kuzmuk (D), r reynolds (B) 

800m i tomley (B) 3:26·08s, A Mowbray (o), H foggin (B) 

Relay osWALD 69·44s, BurnABy, Donne, sPooner disq 

Long Jump C Wetherall (D) 3·93m, A Mowbray (o), L Doyle (B) 

Triple Jump A Mowbray (o) 7·75m, n renwick (s), C Wetherall 

(D) 

Shot L Hankey (o) 6·75m, s Baker (D), s Heyward-Jones (D) 

Discus s yates (o) 16·1m, L Aust (B), r Long (o) 

Javelin L Doyle (B) 18·2m, M Khoo (D), y shim (o) 

Senior Boys 

100m u Lawal (s) 12·35s, M Paletta (D), r Lakucs (B) 

200m C Morris (D) 25·69s, A Johnston (B), H Potter (o) 

400m t niblock (B) 63·37s, t sam-odusina (s), s Bas (D) 

800m r Jones (s) 2:23·25s, J Hunt (o), H Bacaks (B) 

1500m r Jones (s) 5:43·03, L Dickinson (D), M evans (B) 

Relay Donne 53·29s, BurnABy, osWALD, sPooner disq 

Long Jump n Maslenkov (D) 5·04m, D spilka (o), u Lawal (s) 

Triple Jump t niblock (B) 10·40m, o newman (D), s Bell (s) 

Shot J young (s) 9·7m, r Lakucs (B), J Butler (B) 

Discus J Molesworth (o) 25·23m, J Hunt (o), C Morris (D) 

Javelin J Hunt (o) 34·9m, M Abboud (D), A Lloyd (o) 

* New school record by Daisy Tickner 

Senior 

Intermediate 

Junior 

overAll reSulTS 

osWALD 

sPooner 

Donne 

BurnABy 

BoyS 

osWALD 

BurnABy 

Donne 

sPooner 

GirlS 

osWALD 

sPooner 

Donne 

BurnABy 

viCToreS luDorum 

Joshua Hunt 

scott Vallely 

edward ellis-Cooper 

viCTriCeS luDorum 

Senior Alexandra Mowbray 

Intermediate Daisy tickner 

Lucy Whitthread 

Lucy Williams 

Junior 

Jasmine tickner 

62 The oswestrian

OUR PROPOSED SPORTS HALL 

The New Sports Hall Appeal 

During tHe next feW yeArs our national life 

will be coloured by the major sporting events that 

this country is hosting. 2012 will see the London 

olympics, followed by the rugby League World Cup in 

2013, the Commonwealth games in 2014, and the rugby 

union World Cup in 2015. in May, David Beckham presented 

england’s bid to fifA to host the 2018 World Cup. 

Despite the fact that many schools have been compelled 

to sell their playing fields and sports grounds for financial 

reasons, at oswestry sport is as much an essential part of 

school life as academic study. 

the school has improved and extended many of its 

facilities and buildings in recent years, but it now needs to 

improve its sporting facilities, and it has been decided 

therefore to build a new sports hall on the Maes-y-llan. other 

sites were considered within the school campus but the 

will be minimal. it will have convenient pedestrian and 

vehicular routes from the main school campus and direct 

access on to the playing fields. 

it is intended that the building will incorporate facilities 

for indoor hockey, cricket, netball, football, tennis, 

badminton, basket ball, and a climbing wall, together with 

a 25-metre swimming pool. two floors will permit a high 

level internal viewing area towards the sports area, and a 

fitness suite with an external viewing terrace facing towards 

the playing fields on the Maes-y-llan. 

Additional facilities will include a beverage area, 

changing rooms and probably the school shop will be 

relocated within the building. the building will conform to 

sport england standards for such establishments. 

Depending upon the success of the appeal the building 

could be constructed in two modules, the swimming pool 

An impression of what the proposed sports hall will look like on the Maes-y-llan 

Maes-y-llan was considered the most suited for all purposes, 

not least of all to ensure that the modern sweeping design 

does not conflict with the school’s traditional buildings, some 

of which are listed. 

the building will be on the site of the present cricket 

pavilion and thus will continue to allow uninterrupted views 

of the Maes-y-llan from the school. the sweeping and arched 

design of the building with trees to the rear and against the 

perimeter hedgerow should minimize any adverse visual 

impact when viewed from the Maes-y-llan. Additional 

landscaping will also be incorporated and the impact of the 

sports hall on existing listed school buildings and neighbours 

being the second module to be constructed. the existing 

gym would then become available for other uses such as 

drama and performing arts. 

Like many other independent schools, oswestry has no 

endowments to finance capital projects and consequently 

the pace of growth can be constrained. so like many other 

independent schools we rely in part upon fund raising to 

achieve the fruition of these projects. 

i hope that the parents, old oswestrians, and friends of 

the school who have been so supportive in the past will also 

support this exciting project. 

Roger Morgan 

The oswestrian 63

A SWIM, A CYCLE AND A RUN 

The 2010 Triathlon 

it sPeAKs VoLuMes for the calibre and commitment 

of the school when parents and pupils force themselves 

out of bed early on a saturday morning to put 

themselves through the physical torment that is a triathlon. 

this year saw the inaugural oswestry school triathlon and 

it proved to be a highlight of the sporting year. 

the gruelling morning consisted of a swim, a cycle and 

a run, proving exceptionally hard work for many of the 

participants. All staff who helped out on the day were 

impressed by the determination and dedication of all who 

took part. 

elliot Blount-Powell (who raised money for the Juvenile 

Diabetes research foundation) emerged victorious in the 

u13 age group. At u15 level, Leon Parkes took first place. 

the open age men’s category was won by Mr Andy Bell 

whilst the open age women’s was won by Mrs susie 

Hancock. the team event goes to Amelia Mercer, isobel 

Adegboyega and Jessica Pugh at u13 level and the u15 

award goes to edward green, Conor Lakin and oliver 

Morris. A special trophy for effort was awarded to our 

youngest entrant, master James Bell. 

A special thank you goes to Mrs susie Hancock for 

donating the trophies to the school. 

it was a fantastic day which was thoroughly enjoyed by 

all who took part. Many more have already signed up for 

next year’s event! 

Edward Green, Oliver Morris, Hari Gould, Paige Baker, Scott Vallely, Georgina Mercer, Rebecca Adcock, Isobelle Makin, Emma Bell, Conor Lakin 

64 The oswestrian

THE TRIATHLON 

r e S u l T S 

Set Off Finsh Total Posi- 

Time Time Time tion 

under 13 individual 

elliot Blount-Powell 0 19·07 19·07 1 

James Bell 20 41·21 21·21 2 

Lewis Bebb 16 38·03 22·03 3 

under 16 individual 

Leon Parkes 0 21·09 21·09 1 

scott Vallely 20 43·55 23·55 2 

Hari gould 16 44·21 28·21 3 

Louis fisher 8 40·27 32·27 4 

under 13 Teams 

Amelia Mercer, 32 48·2 18·02 1 

isobel Adegboyega, 

Jessica Pugh 

Jasmine tickner, 28 46·11 18·11 2 

Megan Perkins, 

grace Hindley 

Abigail Adcock, 32 50·58 18·58 3 

tilly Hancock, 

Antonia Laundy 

Madeline s, 32 51 19 4 

Charlotte L, 

Henry J 

Jamie Jones, 16 35·54 19·54 5 

oliver renwick 

Charlotte, 24 47·49 23·49 6 

sophie Hewes 

under 16 Teams 

edward green, 12 33·3 21·3 1 

Conor Lakin, 

oliver Morris 

Matteo o’Mahoney, 8 31·44 23·44 2 

robin edwards, 

Daniel renwick 

emma Bell, 0 25·31 25·31 3 

Lucy Whitthread, 

rebecca Adcock 

elise fisher, 4 32·28 28·23 4 

Dominic f, 

Mark fisher 

Paige Baker, 20 49·47 29·47 5 

georgina Mercer, 

isobelle Makin 

open Age men individual 

Andy Bell 0 27·22 27·22 1 

sean Vallely 8 38·32 30·32 2 

Mark Arridge 32 64·54 32·54 3 

open Age Women individual 

susie Hancock 12 40·58 28·58 1 

Arabella Ainsley 16 54·16 38·16 2 

The oswestrian 65

ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL 

Football 

THe 1st xi enDureD a difficult season playing 

schools with more physical presence and greater 

numbers to choose from. With what is largely a 

young side, the team worked hard all season and proved 

we could hold our own against strong sides such as the 

grange, north Cestrian and Llanfyllin. After the half-term 

break, we lost our strike force of niklas ernestus and Javier 

de oleza to their native countries of germany and spain 

respectively. their departure left us wanting in the vital role 

up front. young scott Vallely was promoted to the team and 

immediately made his mark by scoring on his debut. some 

outstanding goalkeeping from Ben Parker-Marshall kept 

our hopes alive in numerous games with the help of our 

hard-working back four of oliver newman, James young, 

Henry Potter and isaac Bebb. our midfield of sam Bell, sean 

Crompton, Alistair Johnston, Adam Lloyd and Callum 

Morris at times lost their shape but worked hard 

continuously. next season will see us achieve more success 

with many of the players in this year’s squad staying on. 

Players’ player is awarded to Henry Potter. 

the 2nd Xi also experienced a difficult season coming 

up against some very strong sides. All boys enjoyed their 

games and Mr Adams ensured many had the chance to 

represent the school. ultimately, a lack of fitness proved our 

undoing. 

the u15 Xi enjoyed a strong start to the season with a 

crushing victory over Kingsmead. scott Vallely, Jake 

Chesworth, James Whittingham, olly Morris and Hari 

gould all showed signs of huge promise when up against 

the bigger schools. With many of the squad looking for 

promotion to first team level next year, all boys put 

maximum effort into each game. scott Vallely was awarded 

player of the season. 

Mr Leonard’s u14 side struggled on the passing front 

this year. the commitment was always apparent but holding 

the ball up and composure on the ball proved to be a 

weakness. Players such as sebastian Potter, Christian Blount- 

Powell, Callum Lloyd-Jones and Jamie McMurray worked 

hard to move the ball around the pitch but often found it 

difficult to make any real ground. Player of the season goes 

to sebastian Potter. 

Although a difficult season for our youngest side, the 

determination and commitment from each player was an 

inspiration to the school. At time the boys showed just how 

well they can pass the ball and when fully focused, the side 

played well. With strong defensive play from the likes of 

richard Christie, Jamie Jones, george tomley and ryan Cox, 

we battled hard to keep the opposition out of our penalty 

area. the midfield had a combination of pace and strength 

with Dominic Kular and edward ellis-Cooper doing their 

best to dominate the middle of the pitch. the strikers elliot 

Blount-Powell and James Bell worked well together and they 

will no doubt prove a good partnership next year. the team 

enjoyed playing together and i am very pleased with their 

sportsmanship and attitudes throughout. Player of the 

season was awarded to edward ellis-Cooper. 

66 The oswestrian 

Back—Callum Morris, Adam Lloyd, Jamie Graham, James Young, Alex Kamouna, Henry Potter, Alistair Johnston, Isaac Bebb 

Front—Oliver Newman, Sam Bell, Sean Crompton, Ben Parker-Marshall, Niklas Ernestus

RUGBY FOOTBALL 

Rugby 

First row—David Ward, Marcus Evans, Glyn Miller-Jones; Second Row—James Dawson, Ben Parker-Marshall, Alistair Graham,Sean Crompton, 

Oliver Newman; Third Row—Alistair Johnston, Henry Potter, Callum Morris, James Young, Adam Lloyd, Richard Lakucs, Rhys McCarthy, Hugh 

Clutton, Mr Adams; Fourth Row—Jonathan Molesworth, Semen Bas, Robert Henderson, Joshua Hunt 

WitH iMPressiVe new team kits for the 1st xV 

and u15 xV (courtesy of Mr C Lloyd of otf 

solutions and Mrs J McMurray of Church street 

Pharmacy), our rugby season looked promising. Hindered 

by the copious amounts of snowfall during the first half 

term, the majority of the fixtures were cancelled. the few 

matches that were played saw impressive performances 

from the 1st xV with notable victories over Wolverhampton 

grammar school and royal Wolverhampton. Player of the 

season was awarded to back-row player Josh Hunt for his 

outstanding work rate and commitment in both attack and 

defence. 

the u15 and u14 teams worked hard in training and 

laid solid foundations on which to build. some strong 

performances by u14 players Jake Hunt, sebastian Potter 

and Callum Lloyd-Jones showed the way with ferocious 

tackling. Jake was awarded u14 player of the season with 

Callum as most improved player. u15 captain Conor Lakin 

shares u15 player of the season with full back edward green 

and Matthew Henderson receives most improved player. 

the u13 xV had a difficult season with many 

experiencing the game for the first time. All boys showed 

plenty of spirit and determination and were fully committed 

in every game. not even the pace of edward ellis-Cooper 

or the strength of richard Christie could break through some 

solid defences. special mention should go to the year 7 boys 

in the squad who played against older boys in each match. 

they all punched above their weight with gutsy 

performances from elliot Blount-Powell and sasha Arridge 

in particular. some very strong opposition provide the steep 

learning curve for our youngest side but we are proud of 

the entire squad. Player of the season went to ivan yatsenko 

and the most improved player award was given to Andriy 

yevstratov. 

Elliot Blount-Powell, who won the opportunity to train with English 

rugby legend Lawrence Dallaglio OBE at Twickenham 

The oswestrian 67

CRICKET AND A TOUR 

Cricket 

losing soMe MAtCHes because of the rain is 

always going to happen during the cricket season but 

the boys’ spirits did not drop and each match was 

eagerly anticipated. the 1st xi proved our strongest side 

with some convincing victories and several impressive 

individual performances. Captain Ben Parker-Marshall 

Oliver Newman of year 11 was selected for the Shropshire county U17 

cricket squad from 40 other hopefuls who participated in the county 

trials. Oliver received coaching for his new role. 

showed that raw pace can intimidate batsmen of any age. 

His consistency with line and length was a key factor in 

securing a lot of opposition wickets. young bowlers Henry 

Potter, Alistair Johnston, rory Jones and ryan Morris 

demonstrated their talents and are now expected to perform 

great things next season. Congratulations to wicket keeper 

oliver newman on being selected to represent shropshire 

at u17 level. special mention should go to tommy scott, 

Mikey Paletta and James ellis for consistently improving 

their performances. 

the u15/u14 Xi battled well in each game but must now 

work on developing fielding skills to secure more victories. 

the bowling attack of ryan Morris, robbie Banks, sam 

edmondson, robin edwards, sebastian Potter and u14 

captain Daniel renwick provided the bowling attack with 

a wide variety of pace and spin. strong performances from 

scott Vallely, ryan Morris, robin edwards and sebastian 

Potter saw them promoted to first team level. 

the u13 Xi enjoyed their cricket more than any other 

side this year. under the leadership of Dominic Kular, our 

youngest side quickly learned to adapt to a wide variety of 

bowling attack. Quality batting from Dominic Kular, elliot 

Blount-Powell and Jamie Jones helped us to build up some 

decent scores through out the season. the bowlers showed 

that enthusiasm and commitment can result in wickets with 

Kular, Blount-Powell, edward ellis-Cooper and Matthew 

gale being responsible for the majority. the boys have 

learned a lot this year as all players have improved 

immensely since the start of the season and i have high hopes 

for next year. 

Player of the season was awarded to Dominic Kular. 

Sports Tour of the North East 

in MArCH 2010, Mr Hollingsworth, Miss Jones and Mr 

Martin Leonard gathered the u16 football and netball 

teams and ventured to the northeast of england on a 

most enjoyable mini sports tour. 

Based in the beautiful, historic city of Durham, the teams 

played against schools in sunderland, gateshead and 

newcastle. 

the girls emerged victorious in their games with the boys 

narrowly missing out on three wins. the three-day tour was 

packed with all kinds of action and the pupils enjoyed every 

minute. 

from ice skating to shopping and from watching a 

professional basketball game to relaxing in the pool and the 

gym, we still found time to play our matches. 

As with any sports tour, mishaps and hilarious 

comments are highly likely. However, with some of our 

pupils, they are inevitable. 

“Do we need to bring a passport to get into the north 

east?” asks aspiring travel agent seren Hayward Jones. 

“Wow! it looks exactly like it does on google!” Paige 

Baker was more than impressed with our hotel, and the 

internet. 

“What are you having for tea, Dan?” asks sam. 

“spaghetti, sam. i think i’ll have spaghetti tonight.” 

replies Miss Jones’ partner Dan. 

“oh, i thought you were having pasta!”Welcome to the 

world of master chef sam Bell. 

if there was a prize for tour comedian, it would have to 

go to Mikey Paletta for reducing Mr Hollingsworth to tears 

of laughter on more than one occasion. 

finally, we would like to thank all of the pupils for 

behaving in their usual impeccable manner. 

We look forward to the next one! 

68 The oswestrian

CYCLING AND NETBALL 

Cycling 

CHArLes fryer-steVens of year 9 was awarded 

a sponsored place on the DHL cycling sprint school 

scheme. What makes it even more remarkable is that 

he has overcome serious spinal problems to become a highly 

successful young cyclist who has been spotted by both the 

British Cycling talent team and the Paralympian Association 

talent team. He competes regularly in the Manchester 

regional track League and is highly placed, despite being 

the youngest rider and the only paracyclist in the league. 

A keen sportsman, Charles was forced to give up all 

sporting activity except swimming and cycling because of 

his spinal condition. However, his determination enabled 

him to excel in both areas. He trains every day, either at 

Manchester or on a special rolling track that his parents have 

installed at home, or cycling around the school playing fields 

during games sessions. 

the DHL sprint schools give the chance to gain access 

to the olympic development programme. 

Netball, Hockey and Rounders 

A round up of the year 

THe 1sts, u16s and u15s – these teams put in some 

tireless performances and worked hard for each 

other, with some close encounters and excellent wins 

during the hockey, netball and rounders seasons. the girls 

demonstrated great team ethics and their commitment was 

held together very well by the first team captain Alex 

Mowbray, who continually displayed great enthusiasm for 

the role and in general her love for sport. 

year 11 finished the netball season with a tremendous 

victory over the Marches, beating them 27-5. A fantastic 

result following on from their excellent performance in the 

north shropshire u16 tournament in Ludlow in December, 

beating Moreton Hall in the final to win the plate 

competition. 

the u15’s had a great hockey season with help from the 

spanish magician Patricia Diego Val and the prolific force 

that is Lucy Williams (captain at centre half) backed up by 

the three musketeers in defence: emily Bromage, isabelle 

Makin and georgina Mercer. 

Many u15 team members have displayed great promise 

for next year’s promotion to u16 level and there are even 

some potential first team players in hockey, netball and 

rounders. 

the u14s and u13s had a steady season, demonstrating 

improved ability and giving themselves firm foundations 

to take into next year in the hockey, netball and rounders 

seasons. 

our u12s were nothing less than sheer brilliance all 

season in netball, winning every game. they rounded it off 

by winning the north shropshire County tournament 

trophy, beating the Marches school in the final. Additionally, 

the u12s had a tremendous rounders season, finishing with 

a fantastic victory over ellesmere College. 

thank you, girls, for all your time, effort and 

commitment this year. 

County success in hockey and netball 

Congratulations to isobel Adegboyega who successfully 

made it through the county hockey trials back in 

november and is now training and playing with the county 

squad. 

Congratulations also from the Pe department to rebecca 

Adcock of year 10, who attended the second round of the 

u16 shropshire county netball trials in July. 

rebecca received the fantastic news at the end of the 

trials that she would be training and playing in the County 

netball Academy next year. it is very well deserved – her 

commitment and effort to school and club netball has 

certainly paid off. 

further good news – Laura Kendall and Bethan Walford 

of year 8 have also been told that they will be part of the u14 

satellite Academy next season. 

Well done to all the girls. We wish them every success 

for the coming season. 

L Jones 

The oswestrian 69

Music & Drama 

Oh! What a Lovely War 

oswestry school’s music and drama society presented the musical play Oh! What a Lovely War in the Peter Humphreys 

Centre on 25 to 27 March 2010. 

CAST 

mirCeA BAlAn 

QuiAnA Booker 

veriTy BoWen 

elWy ClArke 

Joe CollinGe 

luke DiCkinSon 

nATAShA holmeS 

JonAThAn hoSkinG 

oyin JohnSon 

evie lACey 

DouGlAS lAunDy 

BeCky lonG 

iSABelle mAkin 

nATAlie mAkin 

kATe mCFADDen 

JACk morriS 

JeSSiCA PuGh 

kyle reAl 

kATie Tomley 

BeThAn WAlForD 

AnDreW WArner 

JAmeS younG 

muSiC 

Keyboard/Continuo: mrs Sue morris 

Flute & Clarinet: mrs Sarah Bromley 

Saxophones & Clarinet: mr ray Johnson 

Clarinet: mr Tony Watson 

Saxophones: Tom niblock 

Percussion: Jonathan molesworth 

70 The oswestrian

THE SCHOOL MUSICAL 

ProDuCTion TeAm 

Director: mrs Sue nancini 

Musical Director: mrs Sue morris 

Lighting: Dr martin Phillips 

Sound: matthew masters 

Slideshow: melvin lim, mohammed Sabri 

Backstage: lena Ang, nor Akmaliah roslan, 

Shim yi lyn, norzawani ishak 

The oswestrian 71

THE RECITAL SERIES 

The School Recital Series 

it seeMs sCArCeLy CreDiBLe that the school’s 

prestigious recital series is now twenty years old! thanks 

to the purchase of a reconditioned Bechstein grand piano 

in 1989, we were able to invite professional musicians to 

come to perform in the Peter Humphreys Centre – to begin 

with just three times annually. As the years have passed by, 

the number of formal annual concerts has grown to six, all 

featuring professional musicians of national and 

international renown, whilst an increasing number of less 

formal concerts are presented under the aegis of the series. 

With over 200 full ticket holders – the invaluable subscribers 

– audiences regularly exceed 300 or 350 and come from a 

very wide area, helping to make the series one of the most 

respected and admired in the region. Most concerts are held 

in oswestry’s Holy trinity Church, a venue much enjoyed 

by all who perform there. 

to open the 20th season, in september, it seemed fitting 

to invite one of the most acclaimed names in British music 

– the fabulous tallis scholars, under their director Peter 

Phillips. A packed audience was treated to choral singing of 

unrivalled beauty in a programme of renaissance choral 

music, the highlight of which – the haunting setting of the 

Miserere by Allegri – will long stay in the memory. Peter 

Phillips recounted the well-known anecdote about this work, 

the monopoly over which had been jealously guarded by 

the musical authorities in the sistine Chapel. However, they 

had not reckoned with the prodigious memory of young 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who heard it sung in the chapel 

and then, after leaving, immediately wrote it out from 

memory! 

next, in october, one of the most respected young string 

quartets on the world stage, the Pavel Haas Quartet from 

Prague, presented a programme of music by Janáček, Haydn 

and Dvořák. We have heard several famous quartets in this 

series – the Coull, the Lindsays, the Škampa, Allegri, Mistry, 

royal etc, etc – but none has played more wonderfully than 

the Pavel Haas (pictured above). And how thrilling to hear 

music played by musicians from their country – in this case, 

Martin Roscoe and Christopher Symons 

The Pavel Haas String Quartet 

the Janáček and Dvořák. nationals bring a special 

understanding and empathy to music written by 

compatriots. 

in february, a two-piano concert was given by one of the 

series’ most popular returnees – the pianist Martin roscoe 

– partnered once again by Christopher symons. As in their 

previous recital, the packed audience was treated to some 

of the greatest music written for this combination, including 

two sets of variations (by schumann and Brahms, his St 

Anthony Chorale set). But the two talking points after the 

concert’s end were the setting of Mars from Holst’s Planets 

Suite, and the technically difficult setting of ravel’s manic 

La Valse. three grainger settings of folk songs and some 

Benjamin Britten completed what was an exciting evening’s 

music-making. 

Another pianist featured in April’s recital. freddy Kempf 

(winner of the BBC young Musician prize in 1992 and third 

in the tchaikovsky international Piano competition in 

Moscow in 1998) gave a most stunning performance of the 

mighty set of variations by Bach – the Goldberg Variations – 

a work lasting 75 minutes, and played entirely from memory. 

Without doubt, his extraordinary technical mastery and 

musicality completely won over the audience, whose 

cheering and applause was heartfelt and longlasting. His 

two Liszt transcriptions of operatic works (by Wagner and 

Verdi) were equally excitingly played. Perhaps for some, his 

Chopin was marred by an over-idiomatic style of 

interpretation. An evening of breathtaking talent. 

the final formal concert was given by orchestra and 

pianist as part of the happy collaboration we have 

established with the shropshire Music trust (shrewsbury) 

and the London-based orchestras Live scheme. our nearest 

famous chamber orchestra – the Manchester Camerata – 

played symphonies by Mozart and Haydn and, joined by 

the pianist Kathryn stott, gave a brilliant performance of 

Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D Minor, K466. Chatting to 

members of the orchestra afterwards, it was obvious that 

they had greatly enjoyed playing in the excellent acoustic 

72 The oswestrian

THE RECITAL SERIES 

of Holy trinity, and to an audience which they regarded as 

large, enthusiastic and knowledgeable: the orchestra’s 

management expressed an interest in returning in the nearer 

future. Happily, their views seem to echo those of all the 

performers who come here. 

the final concert was a very informal “end-of-20thseason-birthday-party-variety-evening” 

held at the PHC in 

June on a hot and beautiful summer’s evening. the 

programme was truly varied and lightly entertaining, as 

intended, and went down well with the large audience. 

those taking part were (in no particular order) the series 

founder Mike Bernamont, who joined Chris symons in piano 

duets by Debussy and schubert, as did the current head of 

music, sue Morris, in schubert’s glorious Fantasy in F Minor. 

two current pupils, ruth reynolds and tom niblock, both 

played superbly, respectively some Lalo (violin) and a jazz 

ballad (saxophone). the local tenor roger Payne thrilled 

everyone with some operatic arias, and the french cellist 

sylvie reverdy likewise, with music by Dvořák and fauré. 

those two stalwarts of the music-hall stage – old colleagues 

and friends and anyone’s for a small beer and packet of 

crisps – John Croft (geographer and gentleman) and Chris 

symons (neither) very loosely performed some silly songs, 

accompanied by piano and banjolele. tony sadler’s 

characterful operatic performances rightly met with a great 

reception. 

During the evening, Christopher symons, the series 

director, paid warm tribute to Mrs sue Morris, who was 

leaving the school after nearly 20 years of very loyal and 

hardworking service. As the writer of this article, i would 

like to reiterate that tribute here, with particular reference 

to all the marvellous support which sue Morris has given, 

unfailingly, to the recital series. sue has worked hard, usually 

outside the limelight, but always with enthusiasm and 

energy, and i shall miss her cheerful help and encouragement 

enormously. i would also, in like fashion, like to thank Paul 

stockdale for all his support and enthusiastic following of 

the series, and wish him and sue all happiness in their 

respective futures. not mentioned in those despatches, but 

rightfully acknowledged here in our 20th celebratory year, 

i would like formally to thank three other invaluable helpers 

of the series: ruth reynolds, door-lady and page-turner par 

excellence, Mrs fran Davis for all her box office expertise and 

patient handling of me, and finally Mr tony Watson, who 

does an incredible amount of computer work behind the 

scenes, in many different ways. thank you warmly, all three: 

without your efforts the series would never have developed 

as it has, and the school is much in your debt. 

Another six concerts are booked for next year, with top 

names once again gracing the stage. the pianist Paul Lewis, 

fresh from his outstanding BBC Proms feat (all five 

Beethoven concertos); a return by the Škampa Quartet; the 

piano trio comprising Peter Cropper, Moray Welsh and 

Martin roscoe; the renowned British tenor James gilchrist; 

the european union Chamber orchestra with cellist guy 

Johnstone; and, incredibly, one of the world’s greatest vocal 

ensembles, the sixteen, under their director Harry 

Christophers. 

it would be fantastic to see a greater number of musicloving 

pupils in the audience – and parents or friends! these 

concerts allow you the opportunity to hear some of the most 

respected classical musicians performing in our time, here, 

in oswestry. Contact Mrs Davis (01691 681135) for details. 

Christopher Symons, director 

Tony Sadler, Sue Morris, Roger Payne, Christopher Symons, Ruth Reynolds, Tom Niblock, Sylvie Reverdy, Mike Bernamont and John Croft 

The oswestrian 73

HOUSE DRAMA 

House Drama Competition 

2009 competition 

THe House DrAMA competition for the 2009-2010 

academic year was held on thursday 3 December 

2009 in the PHC. the adjudicators were Mrs 

Christine Hughes and Mrs fiona Ashby. the winners were 

spooner, followed by Donne, oswald and Burnaby. 

Donne 

Dracula: a Field Trip to Transylvania 

A young and beautiful but naive American schoolteacher takes 

her class on a school trip. Unfortunately, in Transylvania they 

run into Dracula. 

lady Gilbert Jennifer CLinton 

lord Gilbert roBert HenDerson 

mary KAtie toMLey 

mrs Carrington Verity BoWen 

hopkins seAn CroMPton 

Dr Wilson MAttHeW BunBy 

miss reid toyin oni 

Patterson riCHArD LAKuCs 

ivy ViCtoriA HeAD 

Billy LAurA DoyLe 

Directors: isabel tomley, sean Crompton; 

lighting: Hannah foggin, Alister talbot 

Kyle Real as one of the children who go to Transylvania 

Dracula CALLuM Morris 

nadia naive isABeL MAKin 

Dr nick Joe CoLLinge 

Sister mary eVie LACey 

hans DougLAs LAunDy 

Gretel seren HeyWArD-Jones 

Ghengis ryAn Morris 

Pilot LuKe DiCKenson 

voice BiBA gonZALeZ 

Children nAtALie MAKin, 

QuiAnA BooKer, 

KyLe reAL 

Director: Biba gonzalez; lighting: Charlie underhill 

BurnABy 

Is There Anybody There? 

A group of socialites in Miss Carrington’s parlour endeavour to 

solve one of the most controversial serial murder cases in 

English history. 

Robert Henderson and Matthew Bunby 

SPooner 

The Compleat Wks of Willm Shkspr (abridged) 

The greatest love story ever told in under 20 minutes. 

narrator gAretH sAtCHeLL 

romeo CiAn roCHe 

Juliet CAtHerine BAteMAn 

Benvolio rHiAnnon eVAns 

Sampson gregory BAteMAn 

Princess MoLLie roBinson 

Tybalt KArLA ALLMAn 

nurse KAte MCfADDen 

Friar LeWis BeBB 

herald ffion BeLL 

74 The oswestrian

HOUSE DRAMA 

Directors: gareth satchell, Catherine Bateman; 

lighting: David Ward; curtains: Leo Banks; 

prompt: rebecca McMurray 

oSWAlD 

How the Grinch Stole Christmas 

A short, adapted play based on the children’s book showing that 

Christmas is not just about presents, food and decoration but so 

much more. 

mother BeCKy Long 

Who 1 roBert DunCAn 

Who 2 eLWy CLArKe 

Who 3 BetHAny HitCHen 

Who 4 ALex DeWing 

Who 5 HAnnAH Jones 

Who 6 eMiLy Jones 

Who 7 LuCy LoWry 

Who 8 eLeAnor CHristie 

Grinch ALex MoWBrAy 

lou JoHnny MoLesWortH 

mayor fergus BroWn 

Child 1 KyLA WeLsBy 

Child 2 JAsMine tiCKner 

Child 3 KeeVA WeLsBy 

Cindy KenDAL WeLsBy 

mummy Who LornA HAnKey 

Lewis Bebb and Catherine Bateman 

Directors: Mircea Balan, Kinzi Welsby; props: Mircea Balan, 

James rogers, Alexander Kamouna, Johannes schillen, 

Victor spett; lighting: shiqi Liu, edward yeung, edward 

ellis-Cooper, Luke Chesworth, Jamie Jones 

Alex Mowbray as the Grinch 

Music Department Notes 

AsPeCts of tHe MusiCAL yeAr can occasionally 

be reminiscent of groundhog Day, especially after 

19 years’ tenure here, and this time of year 

invariably has me scrabbling to retrieve programmes in 

order to be able to give a detailed account of all that has been 

achieved under the aegis of the music department. 

As ever, the Michaelmas term got off to a flying start 

with lively, well-sung hymns and an anthem from the junior 

choir as part of their Lower and Middle school harvest 

festival. the headmaster’s Armistice Day assembly was a 

more poignant occasion, with a fine rendition of the Last 

Post and reveille from Cameron Biles-Liddell. 

in time-honoured fashion, the senior band opened the 

proceedings on founder’s Day with musical items, including 

the now traditional Gaudeamus Igitur, managing to 

concentrate on their playing to good effect despite the 

vociferous conversations taking place in the nearby pews! 

My predecessor had, in his time, established his own minitradition 

of using Vaughan Williams’ Let Us Now Praise 

Famous Men as the introit for founder’s Day services and i 

chose to follow suit as its unison format was a relatively 

straightforward way in which to employ the combined forces 

of the junior and senior choirs. the latter gave a polished 

performance of Mozart’s Jubilate Deo and Bellan choir, under 

the directorship of Mr greatorex, delighted the congregation 

with their rendition of Beautiful World. 

The oswestrian 75

HOUSE MUSIC COMPETITION 

houSe muSiC ComPeTiTion—Adjudicators: mrs m hart and mr k hawkins 

oSWAlD 

Captains Kinzi Welsby and Mickey Balan 

Choir Under My Umbrella 

Donne 

Captain 

Choir 

Biba gonzalez 

Is This the Way to Amarillo? (sedaka and 

greenfield) 

BurnABy 

Captains sean Crompton and isabel tomley 

Choir Summer Holiday 

SPooner 

Captains Catherine Bateman and gareth satchell 

Choir Dancing in the Moonlight * 

Junior SoloiSTS 

oswald eleanor Christie, piano—Top Cat 

Donne Quiana Booker, harp—Garden of Dreams 

Burnaby niamh roberts-Jones, voice—Where is Love? * 

spooner Kyle Phillips, clarinet—Summer (Paul reade) 

inTermeDiATe SoloiSTS 

oswald richard Christie, drums—Very Metal (Andy 

gleadhill) * 

Donne isabelle Makin, voice—Hero (Mariah Carey 

and Walter Afanasieff) 

Burnaby Matthew Bunby, cello—Air (Henry Purcell) 

spooner Alice gray, voice—Believe (Lin Marsh) 

Senior SoloiSTS 

oswald Jonathan Molesworth, piano—Raindrop 

Prelude op 28 no 15 (Chopin) * 

Donne Biba gonzalez, voice—O Del Mio Dolce Adore 

(gluck) 

Burnaby Alister talbot, euphonium—Lento (Joseph 

Horowitz) 

spooner Catherine Bateman, clarinet—Andante 

Sostenuto (Donizetti) 

enSemBleS 

oswald richard Christie, lead guitar; James Dewing, 

bass guitar; edward ellis-Cooper, drums and 

vocals; Keeva Welsby and Alex Dewing, 

vocals—American Idiot (greenday) 

Donne Joe Collinge, guitar; natalie Makin, bass; 

Henry regnart-Butler, drums; isabelle Makin 

and evie Lacey, voice—Chasing Cars (snow 

Patrol) 

Burnaby Melvin Lim, piano; toyin oni, voice; Balazs 

Homoki, drums; tom niblock, saxophone; 

Jack Morris, bass guitar; Cameron Biles- 

Liddell, cornet—Underneath Your Clothes 

(shakira) * 

spooner James Dawson, drums; James young, sophie 

Jones, Kate Mcfadden, emma Bell, Lucy 

Whitthread and georgina Mercer, voice—You 

Got The Love (florence and the Machine) 

* section winner 

from then on, the focus was inevitably on things 

Christmassy, as preparations for the Lower school’s nativity 

musical and carol service began in earnest. Stable Story by 

Peter Canwell was popular with the pupils as the songs were 

both contemporary and memorable and both performances 

went well. i was particularly pleased with the part singing 

from the Lower school choir in Holy Child during the carol 

service section of these evenings and in the later, end-ofterm 

carol service. there are some particularly strong trebles 

amongst the boys in the Lower school and i hope they will 

continue to use their talents to good effect in the immediate 

future. 

The ChriSTmAS ConCerT 

the nominally entitled Christmas concert which took 

place on 11 December was an eclectic mix of solos and 

ensemble items, and i give credit to those performers whose 

repertoire actually had a connection with the yuletide season! 

Paige Baker’s vocal solo All I want for Christmas was well 

received, as was Douglas Laundy’s performance of Carol 

by finzi. the flute group enchanted us with frosty the 

snowman, arranged and accompanied by Mrs Val Baty, the 

clarinet ensemble contributed a russian folk song 

arrangement, Christmas Morning, and senior band ended the 

evening with Festive Christmas Overture and, in collaboration 

with the training concert band, Jingle Bell Rock. 

in between, there were splendid contributions from a 

reinvigorated senior string group under Mr Huw Lloyd 

(although nil points for Summer Time on the Christmas 

front!), an opportunity to hear one of the school’ s in-house 

bands playing Twist and Shout and Smells like Teen Spirit (a 

very tenuous link?) and a number of special performances 

from up-and-coming Lower and Middle school pupils and 

those who have contributed readily to concerts over the 

years – tom rose on trombone (Bone Idyll), Melvin Lim 

(piano solo), the demanding Rhapsody for Euphonium, played 

by Alister talbot and a fine performance of Chopin’s 

Nocturne No 2 by ruth reynolds. 

the final musical event of the calendar year is always 

the end of term carol service. the senior choir as a body 

works very hard in the limited time available to prepare all 

the items for this (in addition to founder’s Day) and it is a 

source of regret that the early departure of some students 

means that we cannot always reproduce the fine, balanced 

sound achieved in most rehearsals when performing in the 

church on the day. However, despite the absence of key 

singers (either gone home or on the french exchange trip) 

but boosted by the addition of substitutes from the junior 

choir and one or two adult conscripts at relatively short 

notice, they acquitted themselves very well, both in Chilcott’s 

delicate Behold that Star and the more strident Gloria Festiva 

(Crocker), and in leading and embellishing the carols with 

sAtB harmony and the traditional descants. 

The houSe muSiC ComPeTiTion 

i was delighted that Mrs Margaret Hart (who left last 

76 The oswestrian

INSTRUMENTAL EXAMS 

year) agreed to travel down from scotland and Mr Keith 

Hawkins (who has departed this year) agreed to walk up 

the hill in order to officiate as the adjudicators for this year’s 

house music competition. Both have a wealth of music 

experience and have contributed much to the musical life 

of the school in various ways but these mitigating 

circumstances were to no avail in the face of my legendary 

powers of persuasion (referred to as ‘bullying’ by PC types). 

More so than ever, it was a close-run thing in regard to (a) 

that items would be ready for the day, and (b) the overall 

result, which wasn’t Donne. 

this year’s ensemble and choir items were all popular 

music. Donne’s attempt at an sAtB arrangement of Is This 

the Way to Amarillo? although relatively well handled was, 

i felt (with understandable bias), under-appreciated by the 

adjudicators. i was as impressed on hearing a complete 

performance of Donne’s ensemble item (Chasing Cars) for 

the first time as they were relieved in managing to achieve 

it after scarce practice time. However, this highlighted the 

problems that can often attend trying to recreate something 

heard on a CD – adequate rehearsal is paramount and often 

more time consuming than recreating more traditional types 

of music. 

oswald’s entrants, greenday, probably had the edge in 

this respect, as most of the band members play together 

regularly. this aside, Mrs Hart and Mr Hawkins had the 

unenviable task of ranking some outstanding, incredibly 

moving individual performances. there were even a few 

adult tears in the audience at times, such was the emotional 

intensity. Jonathan Molesworth was a very worthy senior 

soloist (piano – Raindrop prelude), richard Christie showed 

good technical control and panache in his drum solo, Very 

Metal, to clinch the intermediate award and niamh roberts- 

Jones sang Where is Love? confidently to win the junior solo 

category. 

the success of the morning was due in no small part to 

the positive comments and advice given by our two excellent 

adjudicators, who seemed to have something of a ‘good copgood 

cop’ thing going in their deliberations, and to the school 

pupils themselves who listened attentively and applauded 

warmly the achievements of all those who took part, 

regardless of any rivalry between the houses. needless to 

say, i extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to Mrs Hart 

and Mr Hawkins for officiating, and to all the house staff, 

in particular Mrs and Mrs eve, Mrs Lentink and Mr Watson, 

Mr Croft, Miss Jones and Mr Hollingsworth, who supported 

and encouraged the endeavours of the pupils in their 

respective houses, sometimes almost at the expense of their 

personal sanity, to ensure the success of the competition for 

another year. 

ThiS yeAr’S ProDuCTion 

i can state quite categorically that if i ever have the 

chance to direct another musical, from a musical director’s 

point of view, it won’t be Oh! What a Lovely War. 

Handwritten band scores for strange combinations of 

instruments , a vocal score that doesn’t include several of 

inSTrumenTAl eXAminATionS 

ruth reynolds 8 Violin Merit 

Catherine Bateman 7 Clarinet good Pass 

Alister talbot 7 euphonium Distinction 

richard Christie 6 Drums Merit 

oliver newman 6 Drums High Pass 

Lucy Williams 6 trombone Merit 

richard Christie 5 Piano Distinction 

evie Lacey 5 Piano Merit 

Kyle Phillips 5 Clarinet Merit 

Ben Chan 4 flute Merit 

emma Duncombe 4 Cello Pass 

sam edmondson 4 Drums High Pass 

edward ellis-Cooper 4 Drums Merit 

Alice gray 4 singing Merit 

natasha Holmes 4 Clarinet Merit 

natasha Holmes 4 singing Merit 

thomas rose 4 Piano Merit 

Catherine Bates 3 singing Pass 

Verity Bowen 3 flute Pass 

Hannah Chappell 3 trumpet good Pass 

Caitlin Jones 3 Clarinet Merit 

Douglas Laundy 3 Clarinet Merit 

Melvin Lim 3 Violin Merit 

yi lyn shim 3 Violin Pass 

rufus Malim 3 Piano Pass 

Jack Morris 3 trumpet good Pass 

emily Bromage 2 Piano Merit 

elwy Clarke 2 Piano Merit 

gracie Hindley 2 flute Distinction 

Caitlin Jones 2 Piano Merit 

Jessica Pugh 2 Drums High Pass 

Jasmine tickner 2 Violin Merit 

Laura Anderson 1 Piano Merit 

eleanor Chadwick 1 Violin Merit 

eleanor Christie 1 flute Distinction 

Max Clarke 1 Piano good Pass 

robert Duncan 1 Piano Merit 

Jessica simmons 1 Violin Merit 

Megan Williams 1 Piano Merit 

the songs in the libretto and which doesn’t match the 

orchestral score (which itself is a nightmare to co-ordinate 

with the stage action and intermittent slides) are not fun. 

Music theatre club volunteers seemed to come and go, and 

groundhog syndrome seemed to be in full force for both Mrs 

nancini and myself as we rehearsed the opening numbers 

for the fourth week running but with an almost entirely 

different cast. 

However, all this aside, all the students who took part 

grew into the piece as the weeks went by, particularly those 

english students whose set work this was – the main reason 

for such a demanding choice – and each of the evening 

performances are still absurdly fresh in my mind for all of 

the cast, in their various multi-roles, had notable cameo 

moments which contributed to the success and effectiveness 

The oswestrian 77

MUSIC FESTIVALS AND WORKSHOPS 

of each performance. 

the largely in-house orchestra (including Mr Watson, 

tom niblock and Jonathan Molesworth) overcame the 

intricacies of the score to bring a musical cohesion to the 

whole; lighting and technical support were of paramount 

importance in this venture and Dr Phillips (lighting and 

sound) Matthew Masters (sfx), Melvin Lim and sabri Mohd 

Ali (slideshow co-ordinators) were unflappable and 

inventive in this respect. 

Mrs Price’s input, with dance numbers and extra 

rehearsals, was also invaluable in ensuring the success of 

the production. 

Many, many thanks to all those involved. 

muSiC FeSTivAl 

the school fielded 93 entrants in the oswestry 

Competitive youth Music festival in March. All who took 

part were graded at merit or above. twenty pupils achieved 

top-three placings, some in classes significantly above their 

age group. niamh roberts-Jones (y5) achieved second place 

in the u12 vocal solo. A special mention must be made of 

the Christies, eleanor and richard, who between them 

represented the school in piano, drums, woodwind and 

ensemble classes, winning the Lim trophy for their piano 

duet playing for the second year running. 

tom niblock, ruth reynolds and Alister talbot all did 

particularly well, with wins and placings in u21 classes. for 

the third successive year, the school was well represented 

by Alister and ruth in the final of the oswestry town 

Council cup for overall winner of the festival, with the latter 

one mark away from the interesting position of competing 

against herself on piano and violin. 

eXAm AnD ComPeTiTion SuCCeSS 

in addition to passing grade 8 violin with merit, ruth 

has continued to enjoy studying at the rnCM, enhancing 

her performance and composition skills. tom has likewise 

made the most of performance platforms at the Birmingham 

Conservatoire and is hoping for success in his saxophone 

diploma exam during the summer break. Alister talbot, tom 

rose and Cameron Biles-Liddell continue to represent the 

school in county and local brass bands. Alister, who is 

principal baritone for Porthywaen Band recently competed 

with them at the national Brass Band championships. 

following an invitation from oswestry Choral society, 

a chamber choir drawn from the Lower and Middle school 

took part (as ragazzi chorus and additional trebles and altos) 

in a performance of Carmina Burana in early May. Kyle 

Phillips attended a national Children’s orchestra open day 

in the same month. 

Congratulations to all those who have prepared for and 

achieved success in external music exams this year. notable 

for their consistent achievements through to the higher 

grades were Alister talbot – grade 7 baritone, distinction; 

Catherine Bateman – grade 7 clarinet, merit; Lucy Williams 

– grade 6 trombone, merit; richard Christie, grade 6 drums, 

merit and grade 5 piano, distinction; Cameron Biles-Liddell, 

grade 5 cornet, merit; Douglas Laundy – grade 5 singing; 

Kyle Phillips – grade 5 clarinet. 

WorkShoPS 

the annual joint Bellan-Lower school workshop took 

place in the PHC. the theme was “Moving on” and featured 

a reworked libretto and numbers from the mini-musical of 

the same name, presented both separately and jointly by the 

two sections of the school. Preparation time for this was at 

a premium so there was much to be done on the day but the 

pupils worked enthusiastically and co-operatively, 

successfully co-ordinating the script with the songs and 

adding instrumental parts on the day in time for the 

afternoon performance. As always, it was a delight to work 

with the Bellan pupils, for whom this is a useful induction 

opportunity as well as a day to be enjoyed. thank you, too, 

to Mr greatorex. 

Both Bellan and senior pupils participated with obvious 

relish in their separate Drum Crazy workshops. i can’t speak 

for Bellan, but upper Brook street (not to mention my ears) 

reverberated to the sound of African polyrhythms and Latin 

cross-rhythms, in addition to rhythm ensembles created and 

directed by the pupils themselves. 

earlier in the year gCse students attended a Music Live 

education day at the neC in Birmingham. 

Summer ConCerT 

this was squeezed into the busy end of term. initially, i 

was rather concerned about the paucity of items offered for 

the programme but contributions eventually came so thick 

and fast that in the end they vied for space with “insurance” 

items. the end result was one rather long concert, as i didn’t 

want to leave anyone out. Audiences are used to overruns 

by now but i hope the inconvenience was outweighed by 

the quality of the music and the talent on show. 

from my perspective, the opportunity to perform a 

movement from a schumann trio with Mrs susi Maas (cello) 

and ruth reynolds (violin) was a personal pleasure but one 

which took its place among the many highlights of the 

evening, from young Charlie xiang and Keeva Welsby who 

performed with such aplomb, through to the more 

sophisticated achievements of the older pupils’ contributions 

– tom niblock’s jazz medley on piano, Alister talbot’s 

Gabriel’s Oboe and ruth reynolds’ piano prelude by 

rachmaninov to name but a few and omit many. 

My sincere thanks to all involved, to Dr Phillips and Mr 

Watson for their assistance with the band items and 

especially to the hard-working and dedicated team of 

peripatetic staff, represented on the evening by Mrs Baty, 

Mrs susi Maas and Mr Huw Lloyd who, together with Mrs 

Jaffray, Mr Johnson, Mrs Larley, Mr Parry, Mrs symons and 

Mr Jones, both enable and support the high quality of the 

music making at the school. 

A final thank you should also go to all the parents for 

their continued support, through your sons and daughters 

of music events throughout the year, over the years. 

SJ Morris 

78 The oswestrian

The End of the Year 

Examination Results 2010 

GCSE 

Number of grades from A* to G, followed by (in brackets) the number of grades from A* to C 

louise Aust 9 (9) 

leo Banks 9 (9) 

isaac Bebb 9 (9) 

Samuel Bell 9 (8) 

James Butler 8 (7) 

James Dawson 8 (8) 

luke Dickinson 9 (8) 

laura Doyle 9 (7) 

James ellis 10 (10) 

rhiannon evans 10 (10) 

Sam Foggin 9 (9) 

lorna hankey 9 (8) 

Seren heyward-Jones 12 (9) 

Joshua hunt 8 (8) 

Alistair Johnston 9 (8) 

rory Jones 9 (9) 

Douglas laundy 10 (9) 

umar lawal 8 (3) 

lawrence lee 8 (3) 

Steven leung 8 (3) 

melody lun 9 (9) 

mykola maslenkov 10 (10) 

Brian mok 7 (5) 

oliver newman 10 (10) 

Thomas niblock 10 (10) 

michael Paletta 5 (0) 

Joseph Perrins 3 (3) 

henry Potter 9 (9) 

natalie renwick 9 (9) 

ruth reynolds 12 (12) 

Thomas rose 9 (9) 

Thomas Scott 9 (9) 

Dmytro Spilka 8 (5) 

Anastasiya Tkachuk 9 (4) 

yelyzaveta vernygorova 11 (11) 

Chloe Wetherall 9 (8) 

victoria Whittingham 11 (11) 

Thomas Willis 9 (7) 

Sophie yates 9 (11) 

A-level 

The following subjects were passed 

lena Ang – Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Psychology 

mircea Balan – English, History, Business Studies 

Catherine Bateman – English, Mathematics, Biology 

Benjamin Chan – Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology 

Amelia Clewett – French, German, Art 

Jennifer Clinton – Art 

Sean Crompton – English, History, Business Studies 

valentina engler – German, Art, Business Studies 

Beatriz Gonzalez – French, Art 

Alasdair Graham – English, History 

nadhirah haji Zolkiflee – Mathematics, Further 

Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry 

Archie hicklin – English, History, Art 

norzawani ishak – Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology 

Sophie Jones – English, Art 

venus lau – Mathematics, Business Studies, ICT 

melvin lim – Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Psychology 

Shiqi liu – Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics 

Pavlo medenets – Business Studies, ICT, Russian 

Alexander mittag – History, Business Studies, German 

Sabri mohd Ali – Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology 

Sarah morgan – Art 

Alexandra mowbray – English, PE 

oluwatoyin oni – Mathematics, Further Mathematics, 

Physics 

Benjamin Parker-marshall – History, PE 

nazirah Pengiran Abbas – English, Geography, History 

Cian roche – Biology 

James rogers – English, Mathematics, Business Studies 

Akmaliah roslan – Mathematics, Further Mathematics, 

Physics, Chemistry 

Gareth Satchell – Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology 

Chantelle Serrell-Cooke – English, History, Business 

Studies 

lyn Shim yi – Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics, 

Chemistry 

isabel Tomley – English, History, Art 

Cherry Wang – Mathematics, Art, Business Studies 

kinzi Welsby – French, Art, Psychology 

lucy Williams – English, Art 

Sam Wong – Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Business 

Studies 

edward yeung – Mathematics, Business Studies 

James young – English, PE 

The oswestrian 79

PRIZES 

Prizes Awarded on Speech Day—3 July 2010 

PriZeS For ACADemiC AChievemenT AnD eFForT 

loWer SChool 

Achievement effort 

5ArP Max Clarke eleanor Christie 

5KLe ffion Bell sian grice 

6Je Alexandra Dewing Dominic fisher 

miDDle SChool 


7KLo Jasmine tickner William evans 

7JnM Mathilda Hancock Megan Williams 

8JeC natasha Holmes Victoria Head 

8iJC richard Christie Jenny Hu 

uPPer SChool 


year 9 Matthew Masters elise fisher 

evie Lacey 

emma Duncombe 

year 10 emily Bromage 

Lucy Whitthread 

georgina Mercer 

year 11 Louise Aust 

ruth reynolds 

Victoria Whittingham 

Daisy tickner 

eddie yip 

scott Vallely 

thomas niblock 

isaac Bebb 

James ellis 

SuBJeCT, CulTurAl AnD SoCiAl PriZeS 

SoCiAl, CulTurAl AnD 

heADmASTer’S PriZeS 

heAD Boy 

Cian roche 

heAD Girl 

isabel tomley 

PoWell CuP 

(uPPer SChool CiTiZenShiP) 

Jessica tomley 

GiBBS CuP 

(SiXTh Form CiTiZenShiP) 

Catherine Bateman 

enTerPriSe CuP 

Charles fryer-stevens 

BAyly CuP (iniTiATive) 

Jessica tomley 

houSe ChAllenGe TroPhy 

sPooner House 

SuBJeCT PriZeS 

ArT 

Kinzi Welsby 

Biba gonzalez 

BioloGy 

Lena Ang 

Mohammad sabri Mohd Ali 

BuSineSS STuDieS 

Alexander Mittag 

ChemiSTry 

Lyn shim 

DeSiGn & TeChnoloGy 

glyn Miller-Jones 

eAl 

Venus Lau 

enGliSh 

Catherine Bateman 


FrenCh 

Biba gonzalez 

FurTher mAThemATiCS 

nor Akmaliah roslan 

Lyn shim 

GermAn 

Amelia Clewett 

hiSTory 

Archie Hicklin 

home eConomiCS 

sophie yates 

inFormATion TeChnoloGy 

Venus Lau 

mAThemATiCS 

Mohammad sabri Mohd Ali 

oluwatoyin oni 

muSiC 

Jonathan Molesworth 

PhySiCS 

Lyn shim 

ruSSiAn 

Amelia Clewett 

loWer SChool 

muSiC CuP 

eleanor Christie 

PuBliC SPeAkinG CuP 

Matthew Cooper 

Tomley CuP (DrAmA) 

Andrew Warner 

meDDinS CuP (CiTiZenShiP) 

Dominic fisher 

GirlS’ SPorTS PriZe 

fiona newman 

BoyS’ SPorTS PriZe 

Dominic fisher 

miDDle SChool 

elliS CuP (muSiC) 

richard Christie 

DrAmA CuP 

Kyle real 

Kathryn tomley 

PuBliC SPeAkinG CuP 

Kyle Phillips 

WArD ShielD (CiTiZenShiP) 

Kyle real 


Bethan Walford 


edward ellis-Cooper 

uPPer SChool AnD 

SiXTh Form 

uPPer SChool ServiCeS CuP 

sam foggin 

Choir PriZe 

thomas niblock 

lovell CuP (DrAmA) 

oyindamola Johnson 

lim TroPhy (muSiC) 

ruth reynolds 

Tomley CuP (SoCiAl ServiCe) 

Conor Lakin 

edward green 

SPooner CuP For AChievemenT 

Lorna Hankey 

oSWeSTry ToWn CounCil AWArD 

Kate Mcfadden 


natalie renwick 


Alistair Johnston

MISCELLANEOUS 

Prizes Awarded at the Final Assembly—2 July 2010 

loWer SChool 

Boys (Jonathon Davies Cup) . . . . . . . . . .tomas Perkins 

Girls (Nicoll Cup) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Arianna Herbert 

Best Blists Hill Worksheet . . . . . . . .Megan edmondson 

miDDle SChool 

English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .emily Jones 

English Essay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Victoria Head 

History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .richard Christie 

Geography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Laura Kendall 

French . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .natasha Holmes 

Spanish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andriy yevstratov 

Biology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dominic Kular 

Physical Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jenny Hu 

Mathematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .emily Jones 

Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jenny Hu 

Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .natasha Holmes 

Deportment (Fryer-Stevens Cup) . . . . . . .Victoria Head 

ComBineD CADeT ForCe rSm’S CuP 

edward green 

CommenDATionS AnD CreDiTS 

Lower School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .sian grice 

Middle School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jenny Hu 

Year 9 . . . . . . . . .emma Duncombe, Matthew Masters 

Year 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .emily Bromage 

Music Colours . . . . . . . . .ruth reynolds, tom niblock 

Alister talbot, Jonathan Molesworth 

liBrAry PriZeS 

Lower School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Joshua Munford 

Middle School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .grace Hindley 

Upper School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Leon Parkes 

Sixth Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .isabel tomley 

SPorTS CuPS AnD ColourS 

Hyde Cricket Cup U15 . . . .ryan Morris, scott Vallely 

Halstead Cup Senior Cricket . . . . .Ben Parker-Marshall 

Cricket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Callum Morris, Adam Lloyd 

The 600 Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dominic Kular 

Athletics . . . . . . .Daisy tickner, Josh Hunt, Jake Hunt 

Rounders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lucy Williams 

Miscellaneous 

Athletics 

on friday 25 June oswestry school’s athletes headed to 

Queensway Athletics stadium, Wrexham, to compete against 

other schools in the north shropshire area. the day was filled 

with fantastic individual success and great team efforts in 

the relay against a very strong field. 

Senior Boys 

ryan Morris finished third in the discus, scott Vallely 

finished a fantastic first in the 400m final, Jake Hunt finished 

second in the shot put and oliver Morris made it through 

to the final of the 100m and finished third. Congratulations 

to brothers Josh and Jake Hunt on their selection to represent 

shropshire in the discus and shot put respectively. 

Senior Girls 

in the 800m event, Daisy tickner led from the start and 

finished with a more than comfortable win in first place with 

a new north shropshire record of 2:33·92 minutes, shaving 

an unbelievable 22 seconds off the previous record. 

Absolutely phenomenal, Daisy – well done! 

Junior Boys 

edward ellis-Cooper was unbelievable in every event 

he entered and finished first in the high jump and third in 

the 200m final. 

year 7 girls Jasmine tickner and Jessica Pugh enjoyed 

success at the inter-counties track and field meeting 

shropshire v staffordshire at the telford stadium on Monday 

19 July. Jasmine competed in the 100m and as part of the 

relay team in the 100m she finished fifth in 14·2 seconds and 

in the 4×100m relay she was second in 57·8 seconds. Jasmine 

has enjoyed success in county athletics all year round and 

we wish her every success for the coming year in both crosscountry 

and track events. Jessica finished an impressive 

second in the shot put, throwing a distance of 7·66m. 

RSM Robbie Henderson defers to CSgt Hana Foggin as senior cadet 

The oswestrian 81

THE HEADMASTER’S SPEECH 

my LorD, WorsHiPfuL 

MAyor, honoured 

guests, chairman, 

governors, old oswestrians, ladies 

and gentlemen, members of the 

school, it gives me great pleasure to 

welcome you to our speech Day and 

prize giving. May i thank you all for 

joining with us on this very special 

occasion when we meet to celebrate 

the achievements of the pupils and 

staff this past academic year. 

sadly, the last twelve months 

have been blemished by the untimely 

death of two of our students: 

Charlotte Hartey and frankie Mcfall, 

both of whom died in tragic 

circumstances. We have mourned for 

them and, in their memory, raised 

money for the eponymous charity set 

up in Charlotte’s memory and, in 

frankie’s case, a nepalese medical 

charity, a project she hoped to work 

with in her gap year. for many of our 

students this has been a very 

traumatic time but i must say that 

the dignified manner in which they 

have conducted themselves has 

served to highlight for me their real 

strengths and that of our school 

community. everyone has pulled 

together magnificently and the 

mutual support given has been 

wonderful to behold. 

such events serve to bring one up 

short and reappraise the truly 

important things in life, not 

something you would expect 

teenagers would have to do, but are 

reminders that we are all mortal 

creatures. 

i, too, should like to give a very 

special welcome to our guest speaker 

and presenter of prizes, george 

robinson. george first visited the 

school last september when he 

undertook some in-service training 

with the teachers. 

eXAminATion SuCCeSS 

it’s appropriate towards the 

beginning of my address to highlight 

last year’s examination results, not 

least because they were some of the 

finest we have ever achieved. our 

pass rate at gCse was 86·4%, and 

just over nine out of ten pupils 


gained five or more passes (C and 

above); nearly half the pupils 

secured nine or more gCse passes 

and over three quarters of the pupils 

gained at least one A* or A grade. At 

A-level the pass rate was 100% – the 

first time ever but of more 

significance, in my opinion, of the 

passes obtained 72% were at grades 

A or B. for the record we also had 

our first russian and Portuguese 

gCse passes taken by non-native 

speakers. 

there has been much discussion 

recently about standards and 

whether exams and the way they’re 

sat make them much easier. in a 

sense it’s irrelevant, as the 

youngsters sitting them simply find 

themselves working in a system 

which is not of their making. A 

young woman called emma groom, 

writing to the Independent last 

August, put it well. 

“Most graduates over 30 will 

have had university education 

for free. Those same adults 

promised their children 

education, education, education 

and then gave us top-up fees. 

They sold us the dream that 

university would lead to a good 

job, then left us with crippling 

debt in a financial crisis. 

Whoever’s fault it is, it wasn’t 

ours. We were at school.” 

i’m not suggesting we’ve got 

cleverer, or that exams haven’t 

changed – clearly they have – but 

students weren’t the ones to do it. We 

didn’t choose the current system, but 

it seems we’re blamed for succeeding 

within it. sometimes it’s hard to 

distinguish between someone 

attacking the system and attacking 

the pupils, whose only crime has 

been to do everything that was asked 

of them, only to be told their 

achievements are worthless’. 

Well, join with me in affirming 

our students (and their hard-working 

teachers) whose achievements are far 

from worthless. 

Continuing on the theme of 

success gained in public 

examinations, it is pleasing to report 

the excellent results obtained by 

pupils in the english speaking Board 

examinations. 112 pupils sat and 

passed the exam and 80% gained the 

highest possible grades – truly 

impressive results. Congratulations 

to the pupils and thanks to Mrs Price 

for preparing the pupils so well. 

Also, in the shropshire festival of 

Verse and Prose, we gained three 

first places and a second. 

in music, we had pleasing 

success in both practical and theory 

examinations, accumulating four 

distinctions and eight merits; the rest 

were all good passes. 

the school fielded 93 competitors 

in the oswestry Music festival this 

year, including a Lower school choir. 

All our entries were graded at merit 

or above and 20 individual pupils 

achieved top-three placings, some in 

classes significantly above their age 

group. Particular mention must be 

made of the Christie children 

(richard and eleanor) who between 

them represented the school in 

piano, drums, woodwind and 

ensemble classes and, not for the first 

time, won the Lim trophy for their 

piano duet playing. tom niblock, 

Alister talbot and ruth reynolds all 

did particularly well, with wins and 

placings in the u21 classes. for the 

third year running, the school was 

well represented in the final of the 

oswestry town Council cup for the 

overall winner of the festival – 

providing two out of the five 

competitors. 

ruth has continued to enjoy 

studying at the royal northern 

College of Music, enhancing her 

performance and composition skills; 

tom has also made the most of 

performance platforms at the 

Birmingham Conservatoire where he 

studies at the weekends – we wish 

him luck in his diploma exam during 

the summer break. thomas rose, 

Alister and Cameron Biles-Liddell 

continue to represent the school in 

county and local bands and the latter 

two will be playing in the 

Birmingham symphony Hall on 8 

July with the shropshire youth Brass 

Band in the Music for youth

THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR 

competition. Alister is part of the 

Porthywaen Band that has reached 

the national Brass Band 

Championship finals which take 

place in september. 

the changes to the examination 

system are just some of the many 

changes i have seen throughout my 

career. Certainly in the 30-odd years i 

have been in schools as a teacher, 

there have been many alterations to 

the way the things have been done 

(or have had to be done), often 

driven by the whims of whichever 

political party is in power. you may 

recall in previous years i have read 

poems by Peter Dixon where he 

highlights some of these so-called 

innovations and initiatives and 

gently, and not so gently, pokes fun 

at them. Here’s one. it’s called Ode to 

Autumn; if you have some idea how 

yeats’ poem of the same name goes it 

will be all the more amusing. And if 

you can think Joyce grenfell, so 

much the better. 

[Ode to Autumn (taken from 

Weepers – A Small Outburst by Peter 

Dixon) was read at this point.] 

SChool ACTiviTieS 

in one sense the examination and 

academic side of the school, though 

absolutely vital, is but one part of the 

education offered to the pupils here 

(and, arguably, perhaps not even the 

most important element). the 

Mrs Morris accompanying on Speech Day 

opportunities to take part in a wealth 

of different activities, to accept 

responsibilities, to develop their 

initiatives, and so on, are surely just 

as important in shaping the young 

men or women who eventually leave 

this school to take their place in the 

world beyond. Looking back over 

the past academic year i am, once 

again, amazed by the number and 

breadth of activities which have 

taken place in the school. 

World Maths Day seems to be 

growing in popularity as each year 

goes by. this year’s event here 

involved 240 pupils who, again, 

broke the school’s record for correct 

answers online – supplying over 

199,000 answers and contributing to 

the world record of 479 million 

answers. 71 students received either 

gold, silver or bronze awards. our 

congratulations to the pupils and 

maths teachers, led so ably by Miss 

scott. one pupil failed to score when 

he answered, in response to the 

question, if a single rail ticket costs 

£26·48, how much does a return 

ticket cost? – twice as much as that. 

of course he could have gone on to 

say it depends on whether it’s a day 

return, whether you’re travelling at 

peak times, booking in advance – it 

might actually be cheaper to buy two 

single tickets! Mathematicians, 

you’ve got to think more laterally! 

A very successful initiative in 

March organized by Mr Biles-Liddell 

and the english department was that 

of the BBC schools report Day. 

Louise Aust merits particular praise 

as she is getting her article published 

in your shout youth magazine. 

in January 2010 year 13 students 

participated in the fifteenth British 

Biology olympiad competition and 

four of our students were highly 

successful being awarded certificates 

and medals: they were norzawani 

ishak, gareth satchell, sabri Mohd 

Ali Mohammad and Lena Ang. 

gareth, sabri and Lena have recently 

attended the presentation ceremony 

in London to receive their medals. i 

congratulate Miss Bennett on this 

well-deserved success in her 

department. 

SChool SPorTS 

the Maes-y-llan and pool 

continue to play a major part in the 

life of the school. in girls sport the 

year 7 netballers finished undefeated 

all season and won the north 

shropshire competition. our year 11s 

won the u16 north shropshire 

County tournament in Ludlow. 

those who went on the sports tour to 

the northeast of england won all the 

games they played. 

on the boys’ side, we have had 

the normal wide range of fixtures 

and they accompanied the girls on 

the successful sports tour. notable 

successes included the u11 six-a-side 

team which won the Primary schools 

football cup in March and the u11 

kwik cricket team which won all its 

fixtures. 

speaking of cricket i was 

fascinated to read last month that 

france has, 70 years after the Vichy 

regime banned it as alien, given its 

official blessing to the game being 

introduced into its primary schools. 

to assist in this new venture, 

equivalent french terms are being 

adopted: you won’t be LBW en 

france you will be JDG – jambe devant 

guichet. Howzat will be et alors. 

However, someone, no doubt in a 

spirit of entente cordiale, has 

suggested the following new cricket 

meanings for existing french words. 

The oswestrian 83


Peter Wilcox-Jones, George Robinson (guest speaker) and Paul Stockdale on Speech Day 

they include: negligée which will 

signify first slip; contretemps – bad 

weather stops play; mardi gras – a 

poorly maintained wicket; and 

crudités – language used to sledge 

opponents. you’ll have to help me 

the last one as i don’t know the usual 

meaning of the french word – 

décolletage – a couple of terrifying 

bouncers! 

there have been many individual 

sporting performances of note. 

sisters Daisy and Jasmine tickner 

and brothers Josh and Jake Hunt 

have gained county athletics honours 

as have oliver newman and isabel 

Adegboyega in cricket and hockey 

respectively. We congratulate Charles 

fryer-stevens who has been 

nominated by his lead coach to be 

sponsored by DHL and invited to the 

DHL sprint schools which take place 

regularly throughout the year at the 

Manchester and newport 

velodromes. Alastair Johnston 

played in goal for the north of 

england isfA side. i’m sure he could 

have done a better job than robert 

green in the first match against the 

usA – but at least that was one 

spillage the Americans liked! 

in matters equestrian Caitlin 

Jones qualified to take part in the 

British eventing 90 grassroots 

championships, held at Badminton 

House alongside the prestigious 

Badminton horse trials four-star 

event and James Dawson has 

enjoyed another busy and successful 

year representing Wales as part of 

the u17 mounted games team. 

there have been many new 

initiatives within the sports 

department including the school’s 

first triathlon, World Cup nights, the 

introduction of basketball, 

trampolining and fencing and active 

lunchtimes, during which pupils can 

participate in a range of sports. 

so many staff are involved in 

helping with school sport and we 

thank them all for their assistance: 

Miss Jones and Mrs Willis and 

Messrs Hollingsworth, Leonard (x2), 

othen, ibrahim, eve and Adams. 

May i also take this opportunity of 

thanking parents Mrs McMurray, Mr 

Lloyd and Mr rowles for their 

generous sponsorship of school team 

strips. 

As well as the numerous sporting 

fixtures many educational visits, 

excursions and field trips have been 

organized. 

ouT AnD ABouT 

Mrs Chidlow led another 

successful skiing trip to italy. Callum 

Morris and Jonathan Molesworth 

have been selected for the prestigious 

interski scholarship award and 

yesterday took part in the last stage 

of the selection process. 

Mrs Chidlow also organized a 

very successful french exchange to 

Besançon and we have recently 

hosted the oswestry leg. the year 7s 

had a great residential week at 

Blencathra, in the Lake District, a 

visit arranged by Mrs Lentink. 

other trips have included visits 

to London, Manchester, Liverpool, 

staffordshire, north Wales, scotland, 

to theatres, art galleries, shows, 

matches; the list goes on. on one trip, 

to stratford to watch King Lear, 

organized by Ms nancini, which 

sarah and i enjoyed accompanying, i 

overheard a conversation between 

two girls looking at the notice listing 

the productions soon to be 

performed. “i don’t fancy that, do 

you?’ “What’s that then?” “going to 

see richard the one hundred and 

eleventh!” 

Much activity has taken place 

through the Duke of edinburgh’s 

award scheme which goes from 

strength to strength and i thank Mr 

othen and Mrs Lentink for their 

work in this area. 

the interact group, which works 

under the umbrella of the rotary 

Club of oswestry (for whose 

assistance we continue to be most 

grateful), continues to flourish and is, 

i am very proud to announce, to be 

awarded with a presidential citation 

in recognition of its work this year. 

Well done to the group and 

especially to fergus Brown, Kate 

Mcfadden and Viktor yushyn. 

our Combined Cadet force 

remains strong and this year received 

its biennial inspection, conducted by 

Lieutenant Colonel Chambers. May i 

read from his report? 

A well run, well supported, 

enthusiastic and efficient CCF 

that is providing the leadership 

and development opportunities 

for which the CCF is mandated. 

Major Evanson and his staff are 

to be congratulated on the 

organization of the day, but more 

particularly for their dedication 

throughout the year and on the 

visits to establishments and 

adventurous training. The 

enthusiasm and professionalism 

84 The oswestrian


of the cadets was a reflection on 

the excellence of the staff. 

Major evanson has been 

associated with the CCf for 34 years 

here at the school, so it is particularly 

fitting that he should be singled out 

for praise in what will be his last 

such inspection. 

muSiC AnD DrAmA 

As ever music has featured 

heavily amongst the many activities 

arranged this year – at founder’s 

Day, the carol service, the nativity 

musical, Bellan workshop, Christmas 

and summer concerts and a joint 

concert with the oswestry Choral 

society – all under Mrs Morris’s 

creative hand. 

in March we were treated to an 

ambitious performance of Joan 

Littlewood’s Oh! What a Lovely War, 

directed by Ms nancini, with Mrs 

Morris as musical producer, both 

ably assisted by Mrs Price. it was 

very well received by packed houses 

in March. 

the recital series, under the 

enthusiastic and unflagging 

leadership of Chris symons, 

continues to offer to the school and 

our wider community the 

opportunity to listen to nationally 

and internationally admired 

musicians and helps put oswestry 

school on the cultural map locally 

and further afield. 

following on from the previous 

three successful annual book 

festivals our new librarian, Mrs sian 

Munford, organized another hugely 

successful event in May with many 

authors and writers entertaining the 

children, many from local schools. 

All year groups experienced the 

benefits these writers brought. the 

focus was to show children how 

varied writing could be: whomever 

they saw the children came away 

excited and enthused, which is 

surely an excellent measure of 

success. 

SChool SuPPorTerS 

May i thank Peter edwards for 

allowing his name to be associated 

with our new art award and Mrs 

Anne-Marie stonehill for all the hard 

work she has undertaken in its 

organization. the prize winner will 

be revealed when the proceedings 

have been completed. May i urge 

you to view not only the art work 

relating to the award but also the 

high-quality examination pieces 

exhibited elsewhere in the school. 

May i take this opportunity to 

extend my thanks to our Parents 

Association, under the chairmanship 

of Mrs Margot Bick, who have 

organized a number of really 

enjoyable events throughout the 

year, including our legendary variety 

night. i am enormously grateful to 

the committee for all their efforts and 

hard work in raising funds for the 

school and i’m sure those who are 

attending are all very much looking 

forward to the ball this evening. 

We wish all our pupils leaving at 

the end of this year future success in 

whatever they are doing and thank 

each of them for their personal 

contribution. in particular i should 

like to thank the head boy, Cian 

roche and head girl, isabel tomley, 

who, along with their team of 

prefects and other helpers, have done 

so much to help in the efficient 

running of the school. 

DePArTinG STAFF 

there are several teachers leaving 

us at the end of this academic year 

and i should like to pay my tribute to 

them, considering first those who 

have been with us for a relatively 

short time. 

During the course of the year our 

librarian Mrs Arabella gonzalez left 

the school. in her time here she made 

a significant impact in the school 

library and established the successful 

annual literature festival. 

Katrin getschmann joined us 

from germany on a programme 

where teachers visit a school in the 

uK for a year to observe our 

educational system. she has certainly 

done this but she has also brought 

her warmth and friendship to our 

community and she will be missed. 

Hugh Adams has also been with 

us a relatively short time, working in 

school House and contributing to 

school sport, notably rugby. We 

thank him for all he has achieved 

and wish him well in his new career. 

Murrel Morris joined our staff 

when he and sue took over in 

Holbache, though Murrel has also 

been very helpful in the context of 

school sport and, indeed, as one of 

our minibus drivers. Murrel and sue 

are the yin and yang, the chalk and 

cheese, the Jekyll and… of the 

boarding world, proving that a blend 

of complementary skills and talents 

enriches any school and, in particular 

in their case, their running of the 

senior boys’ house. those who have 

had older teenage sons know all 

about the challenges involved! And 

they’ve had upwards of 30 to cope 

with! thank you, Murrel. 

Kim Aymes has worked in 

guinevere House for some seven 

years as an assistant houseparent 

and during that time has come to be 

very highly regarded and held in 

much affection by the girls and the 

parents there; they will all miss her 

greatly. 

Keith Hawkins is leaving to 

become deputy principal at the 

Hammond school, Chester. Last year 

i mentioned Keith’s significant 

contribution as head of the upper 

school but he has also throughout his 

time here with us been head of 

physics and, more latterly, in charge 

of assessment throughout the school. 

in both these roles he has worked 

diligently, enthusiastically and with 

an eye to detail for which i am 

enormously grateful. During his 

tenure he has been involved in a 

range of activities: variety night 

singer; teacher-band leader – 

remember Captain teach?; he’s 

helped with the Duke of edinburgh’s 

award scheme; he has taught 

Portuguese and taken part in various 

sixth-form events, coming in fancy 

dress! He is also a gifted artist – a 

man of many talents, which he will, 

no doubt, use for the benefit of his 

new school. 

gerry richards started teaching 

here in september 1990. she began 

The oswestrian 85


teaching economics but soon saw her 

role change, introducing business 

studies, iCt and the Pitman’s 

qualifications. over the years she has 

contributed to the school in many 

ways, not just as a teacher and head 

of department but as a tutor, member 

of the school choir, with costume 

production for school dramas, 

organizing Christmas parties for 

senior citizens and, more recently, the 

organization and staging of our 

successful charity Christmas fairs, 

raising money for charities. gerry, 

we wish you well on your retirement 

and trust you will enjoy the travels i 

believe you and Dick have been 

planning for some time. 

Having mentioned Murrel i now 

turn to his wife, our director of 

music, sue Morris. sue started 

teaching here in 1991. she was 

initially employed as head of music 

in what was then the Junior school 

(where she also taught english). she 

later became director of music for the 

whole school. she has one of the 

most incredible work ethics i think i 

have ever seen – she always seems to 

be busy. i sometimes note the time 

she sends emails and wonder how 

she can still be working at that time. 

As well as being an incredibly 

diligent head of department, she has 

organized the annual house music 

competitions, been the musical 

director of umpteen productions, 

worked as joint head of Donne 

House, played in chapel – and not 

just on weekdays – she plays at every 

sunday chapel for the boarders. she 

has coached cricket, been on many 

ski trips, organized exams for the 

various music exam boards and then, 

if that is not enough, for the last few 

years has been, with Murrel her 

husband, houseparent of Holbache. 

i hadn’t realized until recently 

that in her earlier years here she 

taught english but that doesn’t 

surprise me at all. i think her reports 

are some of the best written (in style, 

if not handwriting!) of all those i 

have ever read. she has a wonderful 

command of our language and 

regularly catches me out by using 

words i’ve never heard of but when i 

look them up are perfect for the 

context: eg apotropaic (preventing 

evil) was the best – and that to some 

russian-speaking parents! she is a 

woman of boundless energy, total 

commitment and unstinting 

dedication. she is going to be a very 

hard act to follow. 

We wish all those who are 

retiring a long, fulfilling, enjoyable, 

healthy and happy period in their 

lives – and for those leaving to take 

up other posts, success in their future 

careers. i’m pleased to say we have 

been able to appoint some good staff 

to replace those leaving. However 

one chap ruled himself out of being 

appointed when, having asked him 

to give me two reasons why he 

became a teacher replied, “July and 

August”. 

An inTerluDe 

i am now going to invite sue to 

accompany Alister talbot, from our 

lower sixth, as he plays a piece on his 

euphonium. i have to say this is 

really a piece of indulgence on my 

part as i love to hear brass 

instruments played well. 

[At this point Alister played 

george Doughty’s Variations on My 

Grandfather’s Clock.] 

though we have rightly 

celebrated the achievements of 

individuals i should also like to 

emphasize how much oswestry 

school can only function properly 

Alister Talbot performing on the euphonium 

with the various teams of staff within 

the school: the teachers and their 

support staff, the finance and admin 

teams, those involved in 

maintenance, our drivers, the ground 

staff, our cleaners and caterers. our 

thanks go to them. 

CloSinG remArkS 

you know i really shouldn’t be 

here. if things had gone better – and 

probably, if i’m honest, i’d worked a 

bit harder, and enjoyed the sort of 

education available here – i would, 

had i followed the career i had 

mapped out as a teenager, have 

become a medical doctor. Bizarrely, 

perhaps, i was interested in 

becoming an obstetrician and 

gynaecologist. Clearly i’m not – and 

i’ve actually no regrets – anyway i’d 

have been no good. i’d have been too 

emotional every time a baby was 

born. But life took a different turn. i 

worked much harder at university 

and have thoroughly enjoyed my 

career as a teacher. i don’t believe in 

fate. i believe in a god who guides 

and directs. Maybe the pathway is 

sometimes more obvious in 

hindsight but i take comfort from 

that as i seek his guidance for my 

future. 

shortly after i resigned Bridget, 

my stepmother, sent me the 

following quotation, which 

resonated perfectly with me: 

“it is exciting to walk the very 

86 The oswestrian


edge of things, whether it is a cliff 

top or an idea. there is something 

invigorating about treading on the 

edge of the familiar, pressing beyond 

the border of the known, and 

reaching out to new horizons. if we 

do not adventure there is something 

in us that will remain unsatisfied and 

perhaps die.” 

it is entirely appropriate that at 

the end of my address i express some 

sincere words of thanks. to the staff 

of the school who have been 

wonderful to me: long-suffering, 

hard-working, committed and fun. 

to the school’s governors who give 

up so much of their time in the 

interests of the school, and especially 

our chairman, Peter Wilcox-Jones, 

who works tirelessly on behalf of 

you all. i’m sure he must sometimes 

think he should give up the day job 

and become a solicitor again. 

it’s perhaps invidious to single 

out people on such occasions but i 

intend to do so because without so 

doing you will not be aware of the 

massive help, support and 

encouragement they have been to me 

these past nine years. if i have done 

anything well in my time here it’s 

because of the two excellent PAs i 

have had working for me at different 

times: Cathy Hopkins and sarah 

Hicklin. they have kept me sane 

(well actually you had all best be the 

Cian Roche, Isabel Tomley and Mr Stockdale 

judges of that!) and worked 

unstintingly in support of me in my 

role: ladies, thank you. two excellent 

heads of section – Mrs Leonard and 

Mr Pottinger and the senior 

management team: Jackie greatorex, 

simon Malkin and my two 

lieutenants, niall Lambkin and ray 

evanson whose complementary 

skills i have valued so much. We 

have worked well together as a team 

and the harmony in our group has, 

i’m sure, helped in the smooth 

running of this place. 

ray stands down next year, so i 

will obviously not be here to say 

anything about him: so i’m going to 

do so now. He is a remarkable man: 

quiet, calm, self-effacing, committed, 

dedicated, gifted, loyal, a man with 

an unbelievable capacity for hard 

work, a giver of sound advice, 

possessor of good judgment, having 

great attention to detail, a minutetaker 

extraordinaire, supportive (to 

many staff, not just me), someone 

who will always go the extra mile, 

unflappable, and a meticulous 

administrator. And the hallmark of 

his leadership? in a word, 

servanthood. His leaving next year 

will leave a massive hole. thank you, 

ray. 

And finally, my family. i said 

something last year when only 

Katherine was present, and at that 

time i hadn’t expected i might be 

repeating myself twelve months 

later, on my last speech Day. i am 

enormously proud of every one of 

them and thank them from the 

bottom of my heart for their love and 

support. 

i think the wives of vicars and 

those of headmasters share the 

common misfortune of being lumped 

together with their husbands. “Who 

is she?” “oh, she’s the headmaster’s 

wife”, as if she were some sort of 

inconsequential appendage or 

afterthought. But vicars and 

headmasters with wives know better. 

sarah may well be the headmaster’s 

wife but inconsequential appendage 

or afterthought she is not, and if i 

have been successful at all in 

anything i have done here, or 

anywhere else, it is down to her 

unswerving support. Professionally 

she is a midwife. And in my life she 

is my wife. And i count myself 

greatly blessed. 

some people have asked us how 

we have had such a successful 

marriage (it will be 30 years next 

April, 13 of those whilst i have been 

a head). Well here’s the secret and i 

offer this advice to you all. We take 

time to go to a nice restaurant or a 

cosy pub twice a week. A warm 

corner by the log fire, tasty meal, 

glass of wine, subdued lights, soft 

music and dancing. sarah goes on a 

tuesday – i go on fridays. 

thank you all for your good 

wishes. your kindness, 

thoughtfulness and generosity has 

overwhelmed me and your presence 

here is further evidence of your 

continued support for me and the 

school. Do enjoy the rest of the day. 

it only remains for me to wish my 

successor, Douglas robb, every 

success; he is joining a wonderful 

family. safe travels and activities to 

those going on CCf camp and on 

expedition to Morocco. And finally, 

may i wish you and your families 

well. i trust that over the next few 

weeks, if you are going away on 

holiday, you will have a very happy, 

relaxing, safe and enjoyable time. 

PD Stockdale 

The oswestrian 87

Index 

Adventure education ................................................22 

Art ................................................................................51 

Athletics ......................................................................81 

Bellan House...............................................................34 

Biology.........................................................................50 

Blencathra ...................................................................28 

CCf ..............................................................................19 

Chapel .........................................................................17 

Chemistry....................................................................47 

Christmas fair.............................................................21 

Colonel Burnaby remembered...................................9 

Cricket .........................................................................68 

Cycling ........................................................................69 

Drama competition....................................................74 

examination results...................................................79 

fashion show..............................................................12 

football........................................................................66 

form photographs.......................................................8 

girls’ sport ..................................................................69 

Headmaster’s speech ................................................82 

Home economics........................................................60 

House competitions...................................................13 

italian club ..................................................................21 

Latin club ....................................................................50 

Library.........................................................................59 

London trip.................................................................38 

Mathematics ...............................................................48 

Modern foreign languages .......................................54 

Morocco trip ...............................................................42 

Music department review ........................................75 

netball .........................................................................69 

oh! What a Lovely War.............................................70 

Prizes ...........................................................................81 

Purple pinkies ............................................................16 

Pyjama parties............................................................16 

recital series ...............................................................72 

rugby ..........................................................................67 

school House..............................................................14 

skiing...........................................................................40 

speech day ..................................................................80 

sports hall appeal ......................................................63 

sports review..............................................................61 

sports tour ..................................................................68 

teaching in Latvia........................................................7 

triathlon......................................................................64 

White water trip.........................................................30 

Wintry weather ..........................................................17 

year 11 prom...............................................................18 

everyone knows that the three Musketeers were so 

called because there were four of them and they did 

not use muskets. so apologies if anyone has been missed 

out from the three girls referred to in that way in the 

hockey report. i wonder what they used for hockey sticks. 

But facing someone with a musket would be 

preferable to encountering a giant ice cream that had 

somehow grown arms and legs and which was abducting 

people. At least that is what i thought was happening 

when i read this sentence in the Alps expedition report: 

“We finished in six hours to be met by an ice cream 

bearing Craig and Miss Jones”. 

now there must be a simpler way of describing a 

relative than as your great aunt’s brother, but as there is 

more than one possibility i have decided to leave Alan 

trittor’s relationship to Colonel Burnaby at that. Did one 

of our most illustrious old oswestrians ever think that his 

sister’s brother’s daughter’s son would one day write 

about him in The Oswestrian? 

there was one detail i had to change in that article 

regarding the well-known story about Burnaby being 

expelled from Harrow for having a humorous article 

Editorial 

about the headmaster published in Punch magazine. 

Although he submitted such a piece in 1854 it turns out it 

was never published and we should not be surprised that 

the editor declined to print a potentially libelous article 

written by a 12 year old. i did, however, come across some 

verses about the battle of Abu Klea by the scottish poet 

William Mcgonagall, whom The Oxford Companion to 

English Literature describes as the world’s worst poet. 

Burnaby’s demise is immortalized in this extract: 

The noble hero hard blows did strike, 

As he swung round his head the handspike; 

He seemed like a destroying angel in the midst of the fight 

The way he scattered the Arabs left and right. 

Oh! it was an exciting and terrible sight, 

To see Colonel Burnaby engaged in the fight: 

With sword in hand, fighting with might and main, 

Until killed by a spear-thrust in the jugular vein. 

Perhaps he would have fared better with a musket. 

The editor 

Front cover: Year 7 pupils in a science lesson. Back cover: kayaking in France and Edward Ellis-Cooper and Verity Bowen with the Midlands Air Ambulance. 

oswestry School, upper Brook St, oswestry, Shropshire, Sy11 2Tl; Telephone 01691 655711; Fax 01691 671194; 

email enquiries@oswestryschool.org.uk; Website www.oswestryschool.org.uk 

88 The oswestrian

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