N E W S L E T T E R - Radley College

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THE RADLEY General Each term this year has started with external difficulties to overcome: first ‘Flu, then snow, then volcanic ash. Radley surmounted the challenges… Radley had an excellent Ofsted Welfare inspection in September 2009, achieving the highest standard ‘outstanding’. Old Radleians made their mark in various ways across the course of the year: Andrew Strauss captained the England team to victory in the Ashes series in late Summer 2009; Owen Paterson, MP, became Secretary for Northern Ireland in the Coalition Cabinet in May 2010; Lt. Rowley Gregg won the MC for his ‘courage, forthright leadership and determination’ in Helmand Province; tragically Lt. Col. Rupert Thorneloe, the most senior serving British Officer to be killed on active service since the Falklands, and Lt. Dougie Dalzell, both died in Afghanistan; Charlie Langton sculpted the beautiful silver trophy for the Epsom Derby; Simon Wolfson (Next) became Lord Wolfson in the Birthday Honours. Academic The A level results, from an historically weaker year group, were exceptional: 90.0% A*,A,B, close to last year’s record. 66 boys got 3A*/A or more; 66% of all A levels were A*/A. Will Handy (Cheltenham, d) got 6A*, Rory Robinson (Twyford, f), Jack Jervoise (Cothill, b) and Nick Pattinson (Aldro, c) 5A*s each, outstanding achievements. At GCSE we had a good year with 81.93% of papers marked A*/A. 10 boys achieved a full house of 10A*s. There were extraordinary results in English Language where 131/138 candidates achieved A*/A. Radley competed in the finals of the Royal Society of Chemistry ‘Top of the Bench’ competition at Loughborough and were placed 6th out of 24. The team was made up of Freddie Scheckter (Farleigh, a), Freddy Rendall (Hall Grove, c), Simon Stalder (Caldicott, e) and Alexander Budd (Bedford Prep, b). Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy Five boys entered the Chemistry Olympiad Round 1 – a challenging written test of chemical knowledge. Silver certificates were awarded to Will Handy (Cheltenham, d), Nick Pattinson (Aldro, c), Jack Jervoise (Cothill, b) and Rory Robinson (Twyford, f) and a bronze certificate to Petar Dimov (Romain Rolland, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, c). September 2009 saw the launch of ‘Standing on the Shoulders of Giants’; 28 lectures by dons ranging from Black Music and Feminist Art to Marxism and Ideas of Death led to over 70 boys choosing to research and write a 6,000 word project of their own devising for an Edexcel Extended Project AS. Such an exercise is valuable, both in its own right and as evidence for universities of a boy’s willingness to work independently. ‘Declamations’ was again an outstanding event; 570 boys learnt prose or poetry culminating in the finals in February superbly and sensitively judged by Cynthia Hall, Headmistress of Wycombe Abbey. The winners were: 6.2 Ali Maxwell (Cothill, a); 6.1 Ed Dillon-Robinson (Cumnor House, e); 5th Tommy Siman (Abingdon Prep, h); Remove Charlie Huntingford (Colet Court, a); Shell Luke Olver (Dragon, h). Once again the school has been host to a talented array of visiting speakers: Frankie Dettori, John Whittingdale, Sir John Rose, Professor Richard Holmes, Tom Bower, Charles Crawford, Dr Angela Gallop, Paul Watson, Lawrence James all came and spoke just in the Michaelmas Term alone. Daniel Hannay MEP spoke brilliantly on the eve of the General Election and announced the results of Radley’s own, hotly contested, School Election in which the 4 candidates (Johnnie Bicket (Maidwell Hall, k), Lib Dem; Henry Whittingdale (Orwell Park, j), Conservative; Angus Gubbins (Cheam, g), UKIP; Ed Dillon-Robinson (Cumnor House, e), Labour) spoke really well, especially in Question Time. The annual Radley/St Helen’s Conference was a great success on the subject of the Media, and once again it honed boys’ (and girls’) debating skills. Philip Howard (Summer Fields, h) and Archie Manners (Ludgrove, c) acquitted themselves very well in the Conference debate. One of the unexpected – and delightful – developments of the year was the growth of the Philosophy Society. David Vaccaro took on its leadership and has generated extraordinary enthusiasm for philosophical debate amongst the boys; lively virtual exchanges, weekly visiting philosophers from Oxford, and attendance at Oxford University open debates with speakers like Christopher Hitchens have stimulated great interest among 6th Formers, and comprise both a valuable training in itself and excellent practice for demanding university interviews. A particular success was the visit of veteran campaigner Peter Tatchell. It has been a quiet year for the ‘Chronicle’, but creative writing has flourished under Christopher Ellott’s aegis. A succession of visiting poets and writers including Greg Leadbetter and the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, have conducted classes and reading to help boys, and other enthusiastic writers in the Radley community, write better. Debating has flourished. In the ESU regional competition Radley were runnersup; Hamish Miller (King’s Hall, a) was ‘Best Overall Questioner’ and Will Patterson (Cothill, b) was ‘Best Overall Chairman’. In the ESU Mace Debating Regional Final Philip Howard (Summer Fields, h) and Archie Manners (Ludgrove, c) took Radley into the top 6 of 72 entered schools in the West Region. 6 THE RADLEY NEWSLETTER
YEAR 2009/10 Activities CCF has had a busy year, with our very successful Biennial Inspection (conducted by Maj. Gen. Adrian Bradshaw, father of Freddie, a) and the usual programme of Field Weekends and camps. In February the Army section was hosted by our new sponsor unit, 21 Sqn. Royal Logistics Corps, at Dalton barracks – KAM’s old base. November saw the arrival of our new RSM, WO1 Leo Healy, fresh from a deployment to Afghanistan with 2 Rifles. Richard Jackson (husband of TSJ) has joined the RN section as an officer, and James Pitts (Head of IT at King Alfred’s, Wantage) the Army section. Hugh Handy (Cheltenham, d) and Charlie Palmer (Cottesmore, b) were awarded Army Scholarships. Radley dons, staff and boys have given a tremendous amount of their time and effort in support of many charities this year, through sponsored runs, cycle-rides, golf marathons, a ‘Krispy Kreme Donut Day’ and other initiatives. Perhaps the most challenging last year was the 24-hour ergo in support of Multiple Sclerosis. This year, with the memory of two fallen Old Radleians and a number of injured OR soldiers very close to our hearts, the fund-raising efforts for ‘Help for Heroes’ and the ‘Rifles Regimental Trust’ have been outstanding, raising £1,000s. Adam and Frederic Bolton (both Summer Fields, g) cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats and raised £8,000 for the Ear Foundation. Four 6.1 boys, Jamie Chaplin-Rogers (King Edward VI School, a), Humphrey Kelly (Farleigh, j), Barney Muir (Twyford, j), Archie Nelson (Summer Fields, j) and Tom White (Twyford, j), rode from England down through France and raised £28,000 for Jack’s Place Hospice. Radleians continue to be involved in Community Action Projects. Concert parties visit residential homes across Oxfordshire, and 5th Form boys, as part of the Wednesday Afternoon Activities, teach in primary schools. New this year has been the link with the fledgling Oxford Academy (formerly Peers School); 5th Form Radleians have taught able Y8 and 9 children from the Academy the rudiments of Latin, and several dons have taught – Maths and Physics – on Radley’s games afternoons. In July a group of eleven 6.1s accompanied by 3 dons (MRJ, EEND and SPA) went to Moreni for 2 weeks where they taught English to 120 Romanian children. Despite the challenge, the boys rose to it and discovered that teaching was more demanding than they would have thought. A lot was achieved in the space of those two weeks: the children improved their English language skills and got an opportunity to find out more about English traditions, history, culture and daily life whereas the Radleians got a deeper insight into a country about which they knew so little. For both parties, it was a very enriching experience which enabled teenagers coming from different backgrounds to work closely together. The Radley boys were Gardie James Duff (Ardvreck, a), Hugh Handy (Cheltenham, d), Will Richardson (Edgeborough, h), Andrew Sweerts de Landas Wyborgh (Cothill, a), George Hesselgren (Trevor Roberts School, e), Alex McCourt (Oratory Prep, e), Rob Crawford (British School, Warsaw, h), Ed Leeming (Summer Fields, a), John Drummond (Belhaven Hill, h), George Popescu-Craiova (Colegiul National GH Munteanu Murgoci, Romania, k), and Thomas Binnie (Moulsford, c). Nine 6.2 Radleians, together with GJAH and Rachel Batley, travelled to Kerala, India in July for the annual Community Partnerships project. The task that lay ahead was to build a house from foundations upwards, together with adding a verandah to a house built by one of the original Radley projects to the area. The main project benefitted a local farming family on Mankotta Island who were forced to live in basic shacks, often in feet of water, during the summer monsoon months. With the recent problems of flooding in nearby Pakistan, the importance of assisting vulnerable communities such as this was evident. The boys, assisted by local builders and carpenters, set about the job with enthusiasm and humour. Following days of cement mixing, brick throwing, snake and spider dodging, and taking a little time out for Indian dancing and river swimming, the buildings were completed successfully. The teamwork between individuals from different walks of life was rewarding for all concerned. The completion of the project takes the total number of houses built by Radleians to thirteen, and the contribution to quality of life of the local people of Mankotta has been significant. The following boys took part: Sebastian Agace (Ludgrove, b), Nicholas Downs (Malsis School, b), Henry Church (Sussex House, e), Henry Dunn (Caldicott, e), George Henderson (Summer Fields, e), Jack Jervoise (Caldicott, b), Tom Over (Horris Hill, e), Tom Parker (Horris Hill, e) and Alexander Wright (Northcote Lodge, e). There are approx 150 boys involved in the DofE at Bronze or Gold level at present. Forty two Remove and Vth form boys have completed or are about to complete their Bronze Award. Thirty five 6.1 boys will shortly be completing their Gold Award – an ‘all-time’ record! The following 6.2 boys will be going to The Palace to receive their Gold Awards this Summer: Charlie Burton (Summer Fields, c), Nick Downs (Malsis School, b), Jack Emmett (Moulsford, h), Fergus Franks (Dargon, j), Freddie Hunter (Cheam, h), James Kane (Caldicott, g), Nick Pattinson (Aldro, c) and Guy Scott (Summer Fields, d). THE RADLEY NEWSLETTER 7 THE RADLEIAN NEWSLETTER 7
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