Family Fun at Forest - Old Foresters Reconnected
Family Fun at Forest - Old Foresters Reconnected
Family Fun at Forest - Old Foresters Reconnected
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OF News<br />
Trinity Term 2012 Issue 12<br />
Twitter Alert<br />
The summer bumper edition is now<br />
available to download from<br />
http://webserver.forest.org.uk/podcast<br />
1<br />
The Alumni and Development<br />
Office is now on Twitter.<br />
Follow us @inpectorerobur1<br />
LinkedIn<br />
From 145 members in November, there<br />
are now 578 in the OF group. Join today<br />
to extend your professional network.<br />
FS Podcast 6<br />
Dancing in the Streets<br />
FS Big Band<br />
The Staff Charity<br />
Record 2012 is now<br />
available. To see the<br />
official video go to<br />
http://webserver.forest.<br />
org.uk/charity/charityrecord-2012<br />
The <strong>Forest</strong> School Big Band is appearing<br />
alongside Pete Long <strong>at</strong> the famous Herts<br />
Jazz Festival on Sunday 16 September. For<br />
more inform<strong>at</strong>ion, go to<br />
www.hertsjazzfestival.co.uk<br />
1834 Society<br />
Many OFs have<br />
informed us th<strong>at</strong> they<br />
have remembered<br />
<strong>Forest</strong> School in their<br />
will and have become<br />
members of the 1834<br />
Society. We hope th<strong>at</strong><br />
they will join us for an<br />
evening <strong>at</strong> the School early in 2013.<br />
<strong>Family</strong> <strong>Fun</strong> <strong>at</strong> <strong>Forest</strong><br />
Following on from the success of last year’s event, the second <strong>Old</strong><br />
<strong>Forest</strong>ers’ Day on Sunday, 1 July <strong>at</strong>tracted guests from far and wide.<br />
Cyrus Kumana (Johnians 1948-1958) from Hong Kong and Alex Howard (Doctor’s 1988-1993)<br />
from San Francisco and their families joined over two hundred OFs who enjoyed a BBQ, drinks,<br />
live music and children’s entertainment on the field. The OF Club Committee worked incredibly<br />
hard to organise the day which was also a gre<strong>at</strong> send-off for long-serving members of staff , John<br />
Waller, Tonny van den Broek and Gill Hopkins who all retired this summer.<br />
More events, news, congr<strong>at</strong>ul<strong>at</strong>ions, record breakers and sport inside
Annual Reunion, 13 May 2012...<br />
Or Tempus Fugit Derek Inkpin (Johnians 1961-1968)<br />
Why do we go to school reunions?<br />
Memory Lane trip, or is it as<br />
simple as th<strong>at</strong>? The answer is<br />
either obvious or perhaps ever<br />
so subtly not so. Some OFs who<br />
have moved away from London<br />
travel quite a distance to be there<br />
on the day, so why the effort?<br />
Whenever these reunions take place, whether<br />
you greet old friends or those you can’t<br />
remember, there is always an obvious and<br />
immedi<strong>at</strong>e camaraderie. You simply pick up<br />
and carry on as before even though you may<br />
not have seen each other for over forty years.<br />
<strong>Fun</strong>ny th<strong>at</strong>. OFs just seem to have an obvious<br />
friendliness and symp<strong>at</strong>ico. It must have been<br />
something in the w<strong>at</strong>er.<br />
The one sound th<strong>at</strong> you hear above the<br />
ch<strong>at</strong>ting is laughter. The Annual Reunion<br />
was all of these things. Chapel, drinks in the<br />
Quad afterwards and, of course, lunch in the<br />
Dining Hall produced, as you would expect<br />
and wh<strong>at</strong> the Warden mentioned afterwards,<br />
a lovely <strong>at</strong>mosphere.<br />
High Five!<br />
Last June, a reunion for OFs who<br />
left school five years ago, was<br />
successfully added to the calendar<br />
of events.<br />
It proved a gre<strong>at</strong> success as both a social<br />
occasion and an opportunity to meet with<br />
current Year 12 pupils to discuss university<br />
life and the many options on offer. This year<br />
it was the turn of the Class of 2007 leavers.<br />
Again four volunteers, Nikki Wolstenholme,<br />
Fayyaz Muneer, Jack Sandford and Ben Lloyd,<br />
gave short present<strong>at</strong>ions on their university<br />
experiences <strong>at</strong> East Anglia, Oxford, Manchester<br />
and Loughborough respectively.<br />
There were then discussions with the other OFs<br />
present, first in the Dining Hall and l<strong>at</strong>er over<br />
drinks and a barbecue in Chapel Quad. Ample<br />
2<br />
The introduction of a new element <strong>at</strong> this<br />
reunion of several OFs speaking for about a<br />
minute on “<strong>Forest</strong> and Me” was a bit of fun and<br />
I take my h<strong>at</strong> off to Martin Oliver, Lee Clarke,<br />
Jayne Alexander, Tony Armon-Jones, Roger<br />
Stebbing and Michael Head for stepping up<br />
to the mark and regaling us with some 1960s<br />
memories. 1960s <strong>Forest</strong> seemed to be the end<br />
of the post-war era and the start of a totally<br />
different world of The Be<strong>at</strong>les, Bob Dylan,<br />
Mary Quant, Carnaby Street and Flower Power.<br />
Wh<strong>at</strong> Dennis Foxall faced then was the end of<br />
Dotheboys Hall and a growing liberalis<strong>at</strong>ion of<br />
educ<strong>at</strong>ion and discipline, the l<strong>at</strong>ter by Monitors<br />
who in our day regularly administered be<strong>at</strong>ings.<br />
Society was obviously changing but in our<br />
cloistered world <strong>at</strong> the School much of it I<br />
suspect passed us by, until we were let out into<br />
the wide world <strong>at</strong> the end of the Sixth Form.<br />
If a school does the right job in educ<strong>at</strong>ing<br />
its pupils in every sense of the word then<br />
the buildings, the teaching staff and all your<br />
contemporaries provide an obvious safe and<br />
friendly environment. Perhaps returning to<br />
the ambience of our school days for just a few<br />
reunion hours simply provides a snap-shot of<br />
the good memories th<strong>at</strong> we have of <strong>Forest</strong>.<br />
Wh<strong>at</strong>ever we have done since we left <strong>Forest</strong><br />
and however complex our lives have become<br />
we retain parts of wh<strong>at</strong> we learned <strong>at</strong> School<br />
about how to tre<strong>at</strong> and socialise with people<br />
and how to achieve rel<strong>at</strong>ionships with others<br />
in the workplace and in our social lives. The<br />
experience <strong>at</strong> <strong>Forest</strong> was inherently decent<br />
and gave us a good educ<strong>at</strong>ion as well as all the<br />
activities of sport, music and drama and simply<br />
provides us with an acknowledgement th<strong>at</strong> we<br />
owe in small or large measure a debt to the<br />
School. Even though we didn’t know <strong>at</strong> the<br />
time too for OFs to c<strong>at</strong>ch up on five years of<br />
news, five years of changes and developments<br />
around the School, or simply to sit in the sun<br />
and chill out w<strong>at</strong>ching cricket!<br />
Feedback has again been positive and the form<strong>at</strong><br />
will be repe<strong>at</strong>ed next year for the Class of 2008;<br />
add 22 June 2013 to your diary as a not-to-bemissed<br />
opportunity to return to <strong>Forest</strong> School.<br />
time, it would perhaps become so instrumental<br />
in influencing us in our lives after leaving it.<br />
If I am lucky enough to survive into my 80s,<br />
let alone my 90s, and they offer us oldies a<br />
reunion, I for one will return even if I sing the<br />
hymns in the Chapel on my own or raise a glass<br />
to myself in the Dining Hall to acknowledge<br />
the old place for wh<strong>at</strong> it is, a singularly<br />
impressive establishment.<br />
P.S. Just a Minute on film can be found on OF<br />
<strong>Reconnected</strong>.
Identity Week, 25 June to 1 July<br />
Those who <strong>at</strong>tended the OF<br />
Day will know all about the<br />
strange appearance of the<br />
word ‘IDENTITY’ in the<br />
Chapel Quad. A variety of<br />
different events and activities<br />
took place and OFs led the<br />
way with collected comments<br />
and pictures pinned to the<br />
giant letter ‘I’. All week,<br />
contributions were added by<br />
pupils on topics ranging from<br />
exams and Chapel to games<br />
and lunch.<br />
‘Every time you walk up the<br />
stairs to the pavilion, a smile<br />
of joy appears on your face’<br />
‘In the Dining Hall I feel<br />
tremendously small’<br />
Gagan Mohindra (School 1985-1996)<br />
Conserv<strong>at</strong>ive Councillor, Epping <strong>Forest</strong> District Council, was invited to judge the Year 12 Politics<br />
Essay competition and he visited the School on 2 July to meet the six finalists. Roisin Perry (Baylis)<br />
was judged the winner!<br />
‘When I first came I was<br />
very bad but somehow you<br />
managed to tame me.’<br />
Some comments will reson<strong>at</strong>e<br />
with wh<strong>at</strong> <strong>Forest</strong> meant to you<br />
so a selection will be posted on<br />
old <strong>Forest</strong>ers <strong>Reconnected</strong> in<br />
September and all can be seen<br />
in the Archive.<br />
Calendar of Events<br />
26 August<br />
OF 5-a-side football tournament, 10am<br />
22 September<br />
School Open Day, 9.30am<br />
5 October<br />
OF Annual Dinner, Dining Hall, 7.45pm<br />
10 October<br />
Opening of the Dr Colin Barker Labor<strong>at</strong>ory<br />
2 November<br />
Cambridge Dinner, Emmanuel College<br />
11 November<br />
Act of Remembrance, Chapel, 10.30am<br />
4 December<br />
OF Club AGM, Girls’ School Hall, 8pm<br />
5 -7 December<br />
Anything Goes by Cole Porter, De<strong>at</strong>on The<strong>at</strong>re<br />
9 December<br />
BS Carol Service, 5pm, GS Carol Service, 7pm<br />
11 December<br />
Winter Concert, Sports Hall, 7pm<br />
3
4<br />
Where are they now?<br />
As London prepares to welcome the world’s Olympians and Paralympians<br />
from all corners of the globe this summer, the OF News team has been<br />
c<strong>at</strong>ching up with OFs who have travelled away from the UK to seek<br />
fame, fortune and happiness!<br />
John Barclay Jon<strong>at</strong>han Ellis (Johnians 1963-1968)<br />
(formerly Potter, Doctor’s<br />
1966–1972) Lola, my partner and I, have been in Belize<br />
since January 2007. Retired would not be an<br />
accur<strong>at</strong>e word to describe our st<strong>at</strong>us (although<br />
officially I am understood as such), more a<br />
desire to live in a simpler way, in a n<strong>at</strong>ural<br />
environment we both love. Our home, Ixchel<br />
Ha, is wonderful but quite a challenge.<br />
Interspersed with the usual gap years spent<br />
working in hospitals and hitch-hiking around<br />
Europe and the US, I gradu<strong>at</strong>ed in law from<br />
King’s, London, and qualified as a lawyer and<br />
then (with Deloitte) as an accountant. Three<br />
years travelling around the world with CBS<br />
and BP (where I took part in probably the first<br />
western audit in China) gave me the “Asia bug”<br />
and I moved to Hong Kong in 1993 with a<br />
suitcase and a carry-on to (to quote the Sunday<br />
Times) “ride out the last gre<strong>at</strong> money wave”.<br />
After working for the world’s (formerly) largest<br />
priv<strong>at</strong>ely owned shipping company (where I met<br />
my wife, Nancy, whom I married in 2000), in<br />
1995 I moved to Shanghai to study Mandarin <strong>at</strong><br />
Fudan University. I stayed in Shanghai for three<br />
years, working as VP Finance in the first mail<br />
order company in China, when Shanghai was<br />
modernising with a vengeance. For two years, I<br />
commuted between Hong Kong and Shanghai,<br />
keeping apartments in both cities and taking over<br />
one hundred flights per year. I returned to Hong<br />
Kong in 1997 and in 2002 set up corpor<strong>at</strong>e<br />
services and incorpor<strong>at</strong>ions companies, taking the<br />
l<strong>at</strong>ter to second-largest in Hong Kong, and selling<br />
it in 2011. After many happy years kayaking<br />
around Hong Kong, I hung up my paddles for<br />
health reasons. I still keep fit although it is a long<br />
time since I played the hockey and squash I so<br />
enjoyed <strong>at</strong> <strong>Forest</strong>.<br />
The residency stamps in our passports denote<br />
us as consultant farmers. Neither of us was<br />
extremely experienced on the land and we<br />
had to learn the hard way, by doing it and<br />
failing miserably. I am happy to say th<strong>at</strong><br />
we are finally succeeding <strong>at</strong> surviving with<br />
little money. We are now living on our own<br />
produce as well as the support we get via a<br />
small solar system, local w<strong>at</strong>er and the limited<br />
machines we have to ease the burden. We<br />
follow a permaculture food forest model on a<br />
potential of six acres of rich, flood prone river<br />
Deborah McManus<br />
(née Lane, Manor 1985-1992)<br />
In 1992, after seven fantastic years <strong>at</strong> <strong>Forest</strong>, I<br />
began a Teacher Training and History degree<br />
<strong>at</strong> Roehampton. I spent four memorable years<br />
there (I can remember most of it!) and it was<br />
the place where I met my future husband<br />
M<strong>at</strong>t. My first job was <strong>at</strong> C<strong>at</strong>hedral School in<br />
Southwark where I spent three years teaching<br />
in Reception. In 1999 M<strong>at</strong>t and I moved up<br />
to Manchester and I worked <strong>at</strong> a school a<br />
stone’s throw away from <strong>Old</strong> Trafford. We had<br />
a brilliant time “up north” but moved back to<br />
London in 2002 where I taught in a school<br />
near Wimbledon. I had been with M<strong>at</strong>t for<br />
eight years before he finally plucked up the<br />
courage to propose in 2003! After looking <strong>at</strong><br />
various venues for the wedding, it was <strong>Forest</strong><br />
th<strong>at</strong> outshone everywhere else. My sister<br />
Amanda had a winter wedding there in 2002<br />
and I felt it would be the perfect place for us<br />
too. We were married on a scorching August<br />
day in 2004 in the Chapel, with drinks outside<br />
in the Quad and a reception in the Dining<br />
Hall. This was something I never would have<br />
believed when I was a pupil there! After having<br />
two children, Scarlett and Finlay, M<strong>at</strong>t was<br />
suddenly given the opportunity to work in<br />
Singapore. My initial reaction was NO! but I<br />
soon realized wh<strong>at</strong> a gre<strong>at</strong> opportunity it would<br />
be for all of us. We have now been here three<br />
years and love the exp<strong>at</strong> life.<br />
bank just outside a village called Boom Creek<br />
on the Moho River, as well as conserving a<br />
further twenty eight acres of pristine tropical<br />
rain forest. We have a family trust which we<br />
head and are working as best we can with our<br />
neighbours and friends to move up a gear,<br />
now we know wh<strong>at</strong> we are doing!<br />
We have been able to take our children to<br />
some amazing places and have had some<br />
wonderful holidays in Thailand, Cambodia,<br />
Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia. <strong>Family</strong><br />
and friends have also made the most of us<br />
living in the heart of South East Asia and we<br />
have had plenty of visitors. I am expecting<br />
our third child in September and life is good.<br />
So from <strong>Forest</strong> to Singapore….it’s been a<br />
fantastic journey
Ben Gibson, aka Ben Santiago<br />
(Miller’s 1987-1992)<br />
I left <strong>Forest</strong> School in 1992 and six years l<strong>at</strong>er<br />
I found myself heading for He<strong>at</strong>hrow airport,<br />
firmly clutching my passport and a one way<br />
ticket. I was twenty two years old and about<br />
to embark for South East Asia, followed by a<br />
twelve month working holiday in Australia. I<br />
had initially planned to travel for a while to<br />
'get it out of my system' before returning home<br />
and settling down for good. However, upon<br />
returning to the UK, I soon found th<strong>at</strong> settling<br />
down there would be almost impossible now<br />
th<strong>at</strong> I had tasted life abroad and so it wasn't<br />
long before I was setting off again.<br />
In 2000 I set sail from the Canary Islands and<br />
headed across the Atlantic to the Caribbean.<br />
The crossing was an amazing experience; I spent<br />
Colin Williams<br />
(Johnians 1969-1976)<br />
twenty-one days <strong>at</strong> sea before arriving in St.<br />
Lucia and spent the next three months cruising<br />
from one Caribbean island to the next. Sadly,<br />
this didn't last forever and I returned to the<br />
Canary Islands, where I stayed until 2005 when<br />
I changed loc<strong>at</strong>ion to a different set of Spanish<br />
Islands, this time the Balearics. My new place of<br />
residence was to be (and still is) Ibiza.<br />
Fast forward to the present day and I have got<br />
engaged, bought a house and better l<strong>at</strong>e then<br />
never, I have finally settled down! To put it<br />
plainly, I love Ibiza and the life I have here. To<br />
many people, Ibiza is a non-stop party island,<br />
but to me, it is a beautiful, quaint little island<br />
in the Mediterranean and my life here is very<br />
peaceful and content. It has also granted me a<br />
Why Australia? Well, I have just walked home having surfed <strong>at</strong> Bungan Beach,<br />
sharing my waves with two pods of dolphins. It’s winter here, the time of year<br />
when you can see migr<strong>at</strong>ing whales, just off the beach where we live, heading<br />
north. I count myself very fortun<strong>at</strong>e to have such a happy life here and also to<br />
have been a pupil <strong>at</strong> <strong>Forest</strong> School for my form<strong>at</strong>ive years.<br />
I often reflect back to those days and every memory is a fond one. The school<br />
afforded me so many opportunities; a quality educ<strong>at</strong>ion taught by very individual<br />
teachers, playing field sports to a high level and even driving rescue bo<strong>at</strong>s for the<br />
sailing club in the Lea Valley with the Venture Scouts. The school has a proud<br />
history and proud buildings. I always felt a part of it.<br />
I made many close friends whilst there and many of us shared a passion: the <strong>Forest</strong><br />
School Bo<strong>at</strong> Club. I rowed as bow in a four with James Deacon, Andy Armstrong<br />
and Steve Collinson. We achieved success in most of our events and spent all our<br />
time travelling to reg<strong>at</strong>tas. There are so many funny stories about the Bo<strong>at</strong> Club,<br />
for instance, the converted fire- engine th<strong>at</strong> ferried us to the river, being in the<br />
minibus th<strong>at</strong> crashed twice on the way home on the Lea Bridge Road and pushing<br />
our master's broken Zephyr 6 along the hard shoulder <strong>at</strong> the Dartford Tunnel on<br />
the way home from a reg<strong>at</strong>ta! Our crew trained with David Applin, Paul Dafurn,<br />
David Tudor and Colin Barker. The Bo<strong>at</strong> Club was an awesome way of life!<br />
After <strong>Forest</strong>, I gradu<strong>at</strong>ed with a joint honours degree in marine biology and<br />
physical oceanography from the University College of North Wales, Bangor and<br />
then returned to London to start a career in wholesale money broking in the city.<br />
After short spells in New York, Toronto and five years in Bahrain, I transferred to<br />
Sydney and Australia became home. Having run my own brokerage for several<br />
years I decided to join Macquarie Bank Ltd as a deriv<strong>at</strong>ives trader and this is<br />
where I am today.<br />
Outside of work hours, Australia offers me the finest beaches and surf in the<br />
world and life is totally geared to the outdoors and a vast country to indulge in<br />
any activity you desire. I am married to a wonderful Australian lady and we are<br />
both very proud of our two sons, aged 24 and 26. We do everything as a family<br />
together. I am equally proud to have been a pupil <strong>at</strong> <strong>Forest</strong> School. Wh<strong>at</strong> will I be<br />
doing tomorrow? C<strong>at</strong>ching another wave before work!<br />
Ah, yes, as for the Olympics, I will be supporting Australia!<br />
moder<strong>at</strong>e<br />
level of<br />
success as<br />
a DJ for<br />
brands such<br />
as Cream,<br />
Hed<br />
Kandi and<br />
Ministry<br />
of Sound.<br />
My life<br />
abroad has<br />
worked out<br />
better than my wildest dreams.<br />
www.djbensantaigo.com<br />
Michael Head MBE<br />
(Guy’s 1954-1961)<br />
I left <strong>Forest</strong> in 1961 and entered The Royal Military<br />
Academy Sandhurst as an Officer Cadet the following<br />
January. I was the eighth regular officer to be<br />
commissioned into the Intelligence Corps, together<br />
with the future General Sir Michael Jackson, who was to<br />
become the Chief of the General Staff.<br />
After a young officers’ course, I was posted to the 1st<br />
B<strong>at</strong>talion, The Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry,<br />
the idea being to study one’s own army, before studying<br />
foreign armies. After winter warfare training in Canada<br />
and Norway, I found myself as the point pl<strong>at</strong>oon<br />
commander of N<strong>at</strong>o’s Allied Mobile Land Force (North)<br />
<strong>at</strong> Kolsas, facing a potential Soviet thre<strong>at</strong>, as this was<br />
<strong>at</strong> the height of the Cold War. I also studied Modern<br />
History <strong>at</strong> New College, Oxford, where I met my l<strong>at</strong>e<br />
wife, Maureen.<br />
After further postings to Hong Kong, the Army’s Str<strong>at</strong>egic<br />
Reserve (which took me to Cyprus during the Turkish<br />
invasion), the Ministry of Defence, the Army Staff College<br />
<strong>at</strong> Camberley, and Germany (where I was heavily involved<br />
in countering the IRA thre<strong>at</strong>), I was sent, in June 1982, to<br />
Belize, where a Gu<strong>at</strong>emalan thre<strong>at</strong> was developing. I ended<br />
up in Cyprus as the Chief Intelligence Officer, where I was<br />
responsible for reacting to any event th<strong>at</strong> affected British<br />
interests in the Middle East. I left the Army in 1986.<br />
I had several jobs before retiring in 2006 after fortyfive<br />
fulfilling years and after visiting over fifty different<br />
countries, all <strong>at</strong> Her Majesty’s expense!<br />
I now live in south west France and have a new partner,<br />
three children, fourteen grandchildren which results in a<br />
very expensive Christmas!<br />
5
Congr<strong>at</strong>ul<strong>at</strong>ions and Celebr<strong>at</strong>ions<br />
In January 2012, Ashlee Godwin (Eliot 1992-<br />
2003), Assistant Editor of the Royal United<br />
Services Institute Journal, was awarded a<br />
Fulbright Scholarship to <strong>at</strong>tend the Study of the<br />
United St<strong>at</strong>es Institute on US N<strong>at</strong>ional Security<br />
Policymaking <strong>at</strong> the Institute for Training and<br />
Development in Amherst, Massachusetts.<br />
6<br />
M<strong>at</strong>t Collins (Copeland’s 1994-2005) was<br />
called to the Bar by the Law Society of Upper<br />
Canada on 19 June and is now Assistant<br />
Crown Attorney in Ottawa, Ontario .<br />
Paralympian Liz Stone (Manor 1984-1989)<br />
was the Guest of Honour <strong>at</strong> GS Prize Giving<br />
on Commemor<strong>at</strong>ion Day this year. Liz won<br />
gold in the Equestrian team event in Atlanta<br />
in 1996 and a silver medal in the individual<br />
event. She retired from intern<strong>at</strong>ional<br />
competition following the Atlanta Games<br />
and now enjoys rowing in her spare time -<br />
stressing th<strong>at</strong> it's just for fun! Liz is employed<br />
full time by UK Athletics as a Performance<br />
Medical Coordin<strong>at</strong>or.<br />
Congr<strong>at</strong>ul<strong>at</strong>ions to N<strong>at</strong>alie Nugent (née<br />
Sayer, Eliot 1991-2002) and husband Shaun<br />
whose son Connor was born on 9 May 2011.<br />
Simeon Hayes (School 1997-2002) was<br />
granted a commission in the Royal Anglian<br />
Regiment <strong>at</strong> the Royal Military Academy<br />
Sandhurst on 13 April.<br />
Josie Hunt (Field 1989-1994) and Adam<br />
Cohen became proud parents to Teddy on<br />
10 May.<br />
Jacob Fowler (Bishop’s 1995-2002) married<br />
Wenyun Liu in Shanghai on 24 September<br />
2011. The couple met <strong>at</strong> Cambridge when<br />
Jake decided th<strong>at</strong> he would like to learn<br />
Mandarin in his free time! Little did he know<br />
th<strong>at</strong> his teacher was destined to become his<br />
future bride. Those <strong>at</strong>tending the wedding<br />
included James Duncan (Bishops 1995-2002),<br />
Aaron Deb (Guys 1991-2002) and teacher Sue<br />
Harris, who was on sabb<strong>at</strong>ical.<br />
Captain Neil Sierens (School 1991-2000),<br />
Army Air Corps, has been awarded the<br />
Distinguished Flying Cross in recognition<br />
of exemplary gallantry during active<br />
oper<strong>at</strong>ions against the enemy in the air.<br />
Alex Swift<br />
(Poole’s 1989-<br />
1996) and his<br />
wife Akiko<br />
became parents<br />
for the second<br />
time when baby<br />
Mia was born<br />
on 15 April.<br />
Big sister Juliet<br />
is thrilled!<br />
Jon<strong>at</strong>han Kay (Copeland’s 1990-2001),<br />
<strong>Forest</strong> School English teacher and Becky<br />
Lang, History teacher have announced their<br />
engagement and they hope to be married in<br />
Chapel in October.<br />
Paul Schneider (School 1989-2000) married<br />
Amy on 29 May 2011 and their daughter,<br />
Emilia Rose, was born on 24 April this year
Celebr<strong>at</strong>ing Success in Science,<br />
Sport and Scholarships<br />
Thanks to the amazing generosity of many parents and a selection of <strong>Old</strong><br />
<strong>Forest</strong>ers, the Development Office raised £78,000 towards the Dr Colin<br />
Barker Labor<strong>at</strong>ory and work will start over the summer. All donors will be<br />
invited to see Dr Barker officially open his lab on 10 October. <strong>Fun</strong>draising<br />
efforts continue as we look to refurbish the last two labs and a prep room<br />
in the Science Block in 2013. The School would be delighted to be able to<br />
open an <strong>Old</strong> <strong>Forest</strong>ers’ Lab next summer with your financial support.<br />
This has been a fantastic year for the <strong>Forest</strong> community and the School has so much to celebr<strong>at</strong>e<br />
th<strong>at</strong> not all news and events can be covered here. Many of our Olympic achievements have yet to be<br />
revealed and the post-Olympic ‘e’ newsletter will tell you more.<br />
Our Olympic newsletter will be distributed by email after the Games have<br />
closed. PLEASE ENSURE WE HAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS NOW.<br />
Send it to alumni@forest.org.uk<br />
The School is very keen to deliver its own Olympic legacy in two ways. Having gained planning permission for an Astroturf pitch on the Park, we need<br />
to raise £450,000 to build it, a Herculean task for which your help would be hugely appreci<strong>at</strong>ed. The Development Office looks forward to telling you<br />
more next term.<br />
The <strong>Forest</strong> School Olympic Committee has promoted a strong Olympic message <strong>at</strong> various events over the last two years. <strong>Forest</strong> has been a Get Set<br />
participant and has its own Olympic logo, designed by pupil Lucia Corry. Pupils have even tried out the <strong>at</strong>hletics track in the Olympic Stadium and<br />
there are three teams of pupils who will act as Paralympics Gamesmakers. Over £30,000 has been raised towards an Olympic Scholarship which will<br />
mean th<strong>at</strong> deserving pupils from one of the Olympic Boroughs will receive financial assistance to enable them to <strong>at</strong>tend the School. Such support is<br />
always welcome as it delivers the life changing experience enjoyed by so many through the LEA/Assisted places schemes, which are sadly no more.<br />
Congr<strong>at</strong>ul<strong>at</strong>ions to the <strong>Forest</strong><br />
School team who ran 437.7 km on<br />
a treadmill in 24 hours to smash the<br />
Guinness World Record, held by a<br />
team from Germany.<br />
Joined by five times Paralympic gold medal<br />
winning <strong>at</strong>hlete Noel Th<strong>at</strong>cher, the twelve<br />
runners ran through the night without sleep<br />
and kept up a minimum speed of 17.7 km per<br />
hour to be<strong>at</strong> the previous record by 15km. Noel<br />
said, “Breaking this world record is right up<br />
there with winning my gold medals”.<br />
As well as breaking the record the team has<br />
raised nearly £9,000 for the Essex Disabled<br />
Sports Found<strong>at</strong>ion and the <strong>Forest</strong> School<br />
Oympic Scholarship. Pupils and staff felt<br />
an Olympic-sized challenge was needed to<br />
celebr<strong>at</strong>e London 2012 and so the idea of<br />
breaking a world record was proposed by<br />
Sylvestrian Leisure Centre Manager, Wayne<br />
Bishop. The event was the climax of extensive<br />
work over the past few years, to ensure the<br />
School is left with a lasting Olympic Legacy.<br />
The twelve runners were: pupils Ian Baldwin<br />
and Jack Skerritt, teachers Ben Adams, Tom<br />
Arnold, Claire Risk, Ed W<strong>at</strong>son and Emma<br />
Ramsay, parents Mark Clark and John<br />
MacNamara (team leader), Sylvestrian Leisure<br />
Centre staff Wayne Bishop and Eric Palmer<br />
and Paralympic <strong>at</strong>hlete Noel Th<strong>at</strong>cher.<br />
Well done everyone!<br />
7
Sports Round Up<br />
OFGS<br />
OF particip<strong>at</strong>ion in the Halford<br />
Hewitt <strong>at</strong> Royal Cinque Ports GC<br />
was shortlived as a depleted side<br />
was be<strong>at</strong>en 0-5 by a very strong<br />
Fettes team in the first round.<br />
A stronger team fared better in the<br />
Grafton Morrish Qualifier <strong>at</strong> Denham<br />
and now play St George’s Weybridge <strong>at</strong><br />
Hunstanton in October. The OF Spring<br />
meeting <strong>at</strong> Thetford on 3 May was well<br />
<strong>at</strong>tended. Neegum Seth won the Blumson<br />
Salver, Mike Woolf the Garnham Tray<br />
whilst the afternoon foursome, for the<br />
Ludlow Bowl, was won by Steve Balme<br />
and Howard Edwards.<br />
In other m<strong>at</strong>ches OFs be<strong>at</strong> Bancroft’s<br />
and drew with the School and in<br />
the highlight fixture of the year they<br />
registered a creditable draw with <strong>Old</strong><br />
Chigwellians followed by a gre<strong>at</strong> evening<br />
with friends, who just happened to<br />
<strong>at</strong>tend the wrong school!<br />
8<br />
Sohrab Captain<br />
(Poole’s 1982-<br />
1989) was<br />
pleased to be<br />
back <strong>at</strong> <strong>Forest</strong><br />
for the OF Day<br />
and was even<br />
more delighted<br />
to discover th<strong>at</strong><br />
he still holds the<br />
record for the<br />
U14 discus.<br />
Tim Hewitt (Poole’s 1976-1986), long-serving<br />
English teacher, pictured and Richard Oakman<br />
(Johnians 1966-1968) will be busy over the<br />
summer as London 2012 Gamesmakers.<br />
An OF cricket XI took on the School 1st XI<br />
in their annual fixture on 16 May. After all the<br />
rain, it was, incredibly, the first game of the<br />
season for wh<strong>at</strong> is a very strong school side.<br />
OFs b<strong>at</strong>ted first and lost regular wickets as Alex<br />
Gilbert (4-41), Greg Summers (3-49) and Peter<br />
McDermott kept the pressure on. Significant<br />
contributions for the OF X1 came from OJ<br />
Harbord with 35 and current member of staff<br />
Ben Adams with 34. The OFs finished their<br />
innings on 181 all out, off 56.3 overs. The 1st<br />
XI set about the run chase in a very calm and<br />
assured manner, with Peter Kilp<strong>at</strong>rick, N<strong>at</strong>han<br />
Knight, captain Jon<strong>at</strong>han Das, South African<br />
exchange student Marques Ackerman (49 not<br />
Thanks to the Campbell family, the School<br />
now has two new, large honours boards which<br />
are on display in the pavilion. They recognise<br />
those players who, since 1947, have achieved six<br />
wickets and centuries in a School m<strong>at</strong>ch.<br />
• The School has a growing collection of<br />
Wisden Cricketers’ Almanacks and would<br />
welcome don<strong>at</strong>ions of spare copies when you<br />
have no further use for them. They will be on<br />
permanent display in the pavilion.<br />
• The Development Director has been<br />
renov<strong>at</strong>ing many of the cricket team boards<br />
listing teams between 1865 and 1969 so<br />
th<strong>at</strong> they can be displayed once more in<br />
the pavilion.<br />
out) and McDermott all scoring runs. The boys<br />
reached their target very comfortably for the<br />
loss of only 3 wickets with 3 overs remaining.<br />
Tom W<strong>at</strong>kins, Amrit Ry<strong>at</strong>t, Keith Oram and<br />
Nick Rotsey all bowled well <strong>at</strong> times, but<br />
ultim<strong>at</strong>ely the total was not enough to defend.<br />
It was an excellent day's cricket all round.<br />
Suffice to say, the game was analysed in true<br />
OF fashion on the pavilion balcony and in the<br />
Eagle afterwards.<br />
OF XI: Keith Oram (c), Chris Swainland (wk),<br />
Nick Rotsey, Edward Buxton, Tom W<strong>at</strong>kins,<br />
Jon<strong>at</strong>han Kay, Mark De Claiterosse,<br />
OJ Harbord, Chris Westwood, Amrit Ry<strong>at</strong>t,<br />
Ben Adams.<br />
Jon<strong>at</strong>han Das, current Captain of Cricket, Mrs<br />
Campbell, Sarah Campbell (Hepworth 1997-2006,<br />
Prep School teacher), Sarah Kerr-Dineen, Chris<br />
Campbell (Bishop’s 2000-2011, former Captain<br />
of Cricket), Mr Campbell, Saul Foulds, Master i/c<br />
Cricket and Marcus Cliff Hodges, Head BS.<br />
Callum <strong>at</strong> Carrington!<br />
Year 10 pupil Callum Maltese (Guy’s) represented the ISFA U15 team in a tournament against the<br />
Manchester United Academy team and youth teams from Bradford City and Exeter City. Playing<br />
<strong>at</strong> United’s famous Carrington Training Ground, where many young MUFC players have come up<br />
through the ranks of the club, was a special thrill for Callum. He rose to the occasion by scoring in<br />
a 2-2 draw with Exeter, helping ISFA be<strong>at</strong> Bradford 3-0 and holding an unsurprisingly strong Man<br />
Utd to only a 1-0 loss, all of which resulted in ISFA coming second to Man Utd in the tournament.<br />
It was a gre<strong>at</strong> accomplishment for Callum who this year also becomes the inaugural winner of the<br />
Ahilan Gopalakrishnan (Poole’s1996-2006) Junior Football Cup here <strong>at</strong> <strong>Forest</strong>.<br />
Callum, front row, second from left.