The

W YCLIFFE
TI MES WINTER
2016
National Poetry Day
Pupils compete in poetry
3 competition 6
Battle of Hastings
Mr Arman leads the
charge once more!
OW Carol Service
Write-up and
8 pictures
10
Ward’s
See the latest on the
new build
Olympic Coaching Sessions from Hollie Webb and
Golden Opening of Newly Refurbished Astroturf
The Autumn Term
started with a visit
from Olympian, Hollie
Webb, and the golden
opening of the school’s
newly refurbished
astroturf. The gold
medal winner from
Rio ran coaching sessions for pupils in the Prep
and Senior School, before supporting the teams in
fixtures against local schools.
The experience has definitely inspired the Hockey
girls to achieve their potential as this term saw many
wonderful achievements. Notably, the U16 squad
reached the West Region Finals for the first time.
The team have played some outstanding Hockey
and were competitive throughout the qualification
rounds and during the finals. Not to be outdone,
in the Prep School the U12 Hockey team reached
the National IAPS Finals and produced some
stunning play to finish fifth overall, while the
U15 age group reached round three of the SMILE
Independent Schools Cup, eventually losing
1-3 away to a strong Millfield team after a welldeserved
win against Red Maids. In regular school
Hockey fixtures the U14 Hockey team have only
lost one out of their 13 matches this term, which
bodes well for the future.
In other team sports the Rugby 1st XV have
reached the last 16 of the NatWest Bowl, where
after beating St Brendan’s College 61-8
they now play Bridgewater College. The U14 Rugby
team have had an excellent season so far losing
just one fixture and reaching the District Cup final.
Whilst this achievement is reward for their hard
work, it is worth mentioning that 25 players have
played in the A team during this term and nine of
the squad are involved in the Gloucester Rugby
Development Player Programme.
In Netball the U14 and U16 teams both reached
the semi-finals of their County tournament, and
the U14s have also reached the District finals.
Achievements in Cross-country have also seen
three teams of runners from the Prep and Senior
schools reach the English Schools’ Athletics
Association Cross-country Cup Regional finals.
After a tough race in wet conditions the Boys
U13 and Girls U15 teams both qualified for
the National finals. In the District trials, Tom
Rowland won the Junior Boys race with Harvey
Rowland in second, while Sophie Izon finished
second in the Minor Girls and Evie Green third
in the Junior Girls. The development of this sport
at Wycliffe this year has seen 18 athletes qualify
to represent the District team at the County
Championships.
This term has also seen unprecedented success
from the school’s Squash squad who remain
unbeaten in all four age groups for National
School matches and hope to ensure that all teams
reach the finals in March.
Well done to all the pupils who have represented
the school this term.
Members of the Prep and Senior Schools’ Cross-country teams
W YCLIFFE
Pictures and write-up on pg 9

02
Senior & Sixth
Development Year Cultural
Enrichment and Theatre Trip
On Wednesday, 5th October, DY visited Bristol for a
cultural enrichment and theatre trip. Here are a few of
their combined impressions:
Wycliffe Politicos
Head West
ycliffe Politicos headed
across the Severn to the
National Assembly of
Wales in Cardiff recently.
There, they had a quick
tour of the rather lovely
building before watching a fascinating session of
First Minister’s questions. Conducted in both
English and Welsh it was really interesting to see
Welsh democracy in action with the leader of the
governing Labour Party – Carwyn Jones – fielding
questions on a whole range of issues from his
reaction to the Trump victory in the US to the
way Wales might adapt to life post Brexit. It was
good to see one of our own – Andrew RT Davies
(leader of the Welsh Tories and OW) – ask a series
of questions probing him on GP funding in Wales.
Afterwards, Andrew was kind enough to meet
up with the Year 12 pupils for tea and biscuits
and a lengthy discussion mainly focussing on his
leadership of the ‘Leave’ campaign in Wales.
The start of the trip
A
h, the feeling that Wednesday
morning when I realised this
would not be the usual seven
periods of school, but an
adventure!
We were going out to Bristol to explore the
different kinds of things England has to offer. A
double-decker bus was already awaiting us, which
was a great surprise as I’ve never been in one
before. I even got a seat in the front row on the
top deck! So the start to Bristol was really great.
Clifton Suspension Bridge
Our first destination was Clifton Suspension
Bridge. Designed by the famous British architect
Brunel in 1864 as a result of a competition, it
is 101 metres high and 214.05 metres long.
Beneath it flows the River Avon, which was an
important thoroughfare for the slave and spice
trade in the past. I was stunned by how much
engineering work had been done to build it;
with no structures built into the River Avon to
support the bridge, it depends on cables which
are connected to the towers on either side. A
magnificent suspension bridge!
Walking alongside it, there were no cars to be
heard, only the heart- warming laughter of my
fellow classmates and the ice cold wind biting
our necks. To my right the gorgeous sapphire sky
was split to the horizon by a never-ending gorge.
Wow, this gave me the chills! I am not very fond
of heights. Our teachers explained to us that
Brunel died before seeing his work complete.
Poor Brunel! We also found out the stunning fact
that on 1st April 1979 a member of the Oxford
University ’Dangerous sports Club’ bungee
jumped from the bridge and a new sport was born
around the world.
Clifton Observatory
After that we went to the Clifton Observatory.
The view from it was spectacular: the whole
Clifton Suspension Bridge, the river slowly flowing
towards the city, and the little houses; a picturepostcard
composition!
SS Great Britain
Brunel also built a majestic iron ship called the SS
Great Britain. Launched in 1843, she was called
‘the greatest experiment since Creation.’ Brunel’s
vision for the ship made her the great-greatgrandmother
for all modern ships and was the
largest passenger liner in the world from 1845 to
1854. We saw her resting in a dry dock at a pier
and we managed to get a good view of the outside.
Ferry trip
Our teachers had a boat ride planned for us,
however until it came there was still time to spare.
I had my eyes set on the nearest café. The slice
of cake and hot chocolate I chose were splendid.
Not long after, a small ferry came and we had a
short river journey downtown. I didn’t really have
an idea of what Bristol would look like and didn’t
expect it to be so pretty. It seemed a mini version
of Venice with its small canals winding through
the streets, and the old fashioned houses gave it a
homely feel.
City walk and lunch
We had two hours to walk through the city,
first with our teachers through Queen’s Square
and then across the foot bridge to Millennium
Square. Given permission to discover Bristol by
ourselves, we ate lunch and found out some extra
information about the town. I noticed that Bristol
can get really crowded in the middle of the day.
Theatre Visit
An hour later we regrouped. Our teachers had
bought us tickets to see ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ at
the Bristol Hippodrome. A theatre almost 100
years old, I stepped inside feeling like a noble
enjoying the best kind of entertainment from
those days. I had researched the plot beforehand;
it was great, so my expectations were high!
Luckily, it didn’t upset me; I thought the musical
was brilliant. The story is about a Jewish milkman
and his three daughters who wish to marry the
men they love, even if the village’s traditions
would not allow them. I could truly feel the
enthusiasm of the actors. It is not easy to act, sing
and dance at the same time!
Overall
This was really a great learning experience for all of
us: historical British architecture, a famous British
engineer and of course the great Anglo-American
tradition, a musical; that’s why I’m studying in
Britain! I thought this trip was great and I am
looking forward to seeing what else England holds
in store for us.
By Julius Leonhard, Brian Ng,
Hannah Postleb, Victoriia Zabolotna
and Sam Gauntlett
Japanese
Haiku
Workshop
n Saturday 8th October, Year
9 pupils who are currently
studying Japanese attended a
Haiku workshop led by Mr Paul
Conneally, whose Haiku name
is “Little Onion”! He taught us the differences
between Western Haiku and Japanese Haiku.
We also learnt about the different interpretations of
“Old pond” by Basho, a Haiku master.
We read some of Little Onion’s Haikus, and we
came up with a season for each Haiku. He then
took us on a Ginko (a walk to get inspiration for
creating Haiku) and we wrote our own Haiku,
inspired by the nature around the school campus.
He showed us that Haiku was about freedom,
nature and creative expression, instead of just the
5/7/5 syllable count. We were free to create our
own Haiku with any amount of syllables.
The workshop was inspiring, and we learnt a
lot about Haiku poems and the Haiku poets. It
helped develop our understanding of Japanese
culture, and was really insightful for all of us who
learn Japanese!

National Poetry Day
03
Senior & Sixth
Fifth Royal Academy Summer
Exhibition in a Row for Art Teacher,
Steven Hubbard
For the fifth year in succession, Steven Hubbard of the Art Department has had a print
accepted into the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (the prestigious London open entry
exhibition which has taken place without interruption for 248 years).
culptor Richard Wilson RA led this
year’s selection committee. The
Committee selected down from the
original 12000 public submissions
to hang about 950 pieces, along
with work by academicians and
many invited international artists, to create a
varied and challenging exhibition. The show is
in the Royal Academy’s Burlington House on
Piccadilly and runs from 13th June until
August 21st.
The Library invited pupils, staff and parents to enter the
Wycliffe competition to celebrate National Poetry Day 2016.
The entries were to be
‘messages’ in the style of
poems. The message could
be about anything that the
poet wanted.
The pupils posted their ‘messages’ into the
post boxes made up by Library staff and these
were sent to other Gloucestershire schools
to receive. Wycliffe received messages from
others schools in the area too. We tweeted
our poems with the #NPD2016messages
Three winning poems
were chosen
They won a poetry anthology and a bar of
chocolate.
All the runners-up won a bar of chocolate:
Ben Simmonds
Lewis Livingstone
Toby Collingridge
Charlie Jones
Jack Broomfield
Freya Telford
Jad Hallal
Teacher runners-up:
Mrs Tavner and Mrs Browne
Mr Hubbard attended the opening for artists,
(Varnishing Day) in London during Half Term.
This is held before the week of private views and
press days leading up to 13th June. He was not
only able to see his own print, but also happy
to see his ex-student Oliver Marsden’s large
painting, which had also been selected. This was
Oliver’s first attempt at getting work into the
exhibition (in fact he had been initially entered
without his knowledge by his younger brother,
Jack Marsden, also an ex-Wycliffian). Oliver
Operation
Christmas
Child
was not able to be at the Varnishing Day as he
was in New York, but was pleased to receive a
photograph from Mr Hubbard of his work in
situ. Those who attended the fascinating and
stimulating exhibition of ex-students’ and staff
art work in the Atrium during May, (‘Out of the
Art Room’), will remember Oliver’s powerful and
mesmeric paintings, and will not be surprised
about his continued success.
1st Prize – Estella Gwinnett
2nd Prize – Brendan Ind
3rd Prize – Millie Porter
Brother
If I knew my brother,
I know he’d be the best.
He’d talk to me,
Ahuge thanks to everyone who
filled a shoebox for Operation
Christmas Child! On Friday
18th November, Katie and I
were lucky enough to visit the
warehouse where the shoeboxes
were stored and sorted and managed to help
out ourselves. We both processed and built the
boxes and then put them into storage ready for
transportation. The boxes will be taken to children
in countries who wouldn’t otherwise get any
Christmas presents. Even if it only makes a small
difference to a handful of children this Christmas,
this process will have been worthwhile.
He’d understand.
He’d also make me feel much better.
But I won’t sugar coat it,
Siblings always fight.
But maybe things would be different,
Maybe I wouldn’t have my Raph,
Maybe I wouldn’t have my Keira.
Maybe no Jack.
Maybe we would laugh and play,
Maybe we would fight and shout.
But maybe I know my brother,
Maybe he is here,
Maybe he’s in the trees,
Maybe he’s in the grass.
But I think he is in the wind
Following us around,
Flying,
Dancing,
Playing,
Happy in the clouds.
Librarians Comments
This made one of the Librarians cry. She loved it!! Very perceptive
about the possible gains from tragedy too. 1st Prize Estella Gwinnett
Wycliffe’s First Futures Fair
ur very first Futures Event
at Wycliffe took place on
Wednesday 28th September.
The day was devoted to giving
all our pupils a chance to
consider a range of options for
when they leave compulsory education at the age
of 18, with direct access to providers of further
and higher education and apprenticeships. We
have gathered representatives of top UK, US,
European, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian
universities, as well as significant employers.
Visiting in year groups, each pupil had the chance
to peruse the exhibits and also hear from them
in short introductory talks throughout the day.
A special session ran exclusively for Wycliffe
parents and guardians, starting with five minute
presentations covering each of UK universities,
US universities and apprenticeships.
Attendees included:
UK universities
Oxford Brookes
SOAS
Swansea University
University of Birmingham
University of Bournemouth
University of Plymouth
University of St. Andrews
University of Surrey
University of Westminster
International universities
Burnett Global Education (business management
and hospitality courses in Switzerland, Spain,
China, Australia, USA and London)
Emily Carr University of Art and Design (Canada)
Maastricht University (Netherlands)
Nova Scotia College of Art & Design (Canada)
OCAD University (Canada)
Queen’s University (Canada)
Ryerson University (Canada)
Savannah College of Art and Design (USA)
Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology
(Canada)
Sewanee (USA)
Study Options (New Zealand and Australia)
University of British Columbia (Canada)
University of Georgia (USA)
University of Guelph (Canada)
University of Toronto (Canada)
College of William and Mary (USA)
Apprenticeship providers
Army
BPE Solicitors
Lloyds Bank
Navy
RAF
Renishaw
Rolls Royce
South West Apprenticeship Company
Other opportunities
Ian Birbeck – Projects Abroad (gap year options),
Rob Thomas – Sporting Elite USA (sporting
scholarships in the US)

04
Senior & Sixth
Youth Prom at
Royal Albert Hall
The
Wycliffe
Annual
History
Lecture
2016
E
meritus Professor Alan Forrest
of York University was the
invited guest to Wycliffe
College chapel at the Senior
School on Wednesday evening
9th November 2016 to deliver
the Annual History Lecture. The subject of
the lecture was Napoleon Bonaparte and his
influence on the development of modern Europe.
The date was chosen as it was the anniversary
of the Coup of 18th Brumaire, when Napoleon
seized power in 1799.
We currently have eight students who represent Wycliffe in countylevel
music. This year, the Gloucestershire Youth Wind Orchestra
and the Gloucestershire Youth Choir reached the final round of the
Music for Youth Festival, which gained them a performance slot in
the Music for Youth Proms.
Professor Forrest, a Napoleonic specialist, spoke
for about 55 minutes and took questions from
the mixed audience of sixth formers, parents
and teachers, visitors from the local community
and from local schools. The event was warmly
received and thanks go to the Parents’
Association Senior School for their continued
funding of this now established feature of
Wycliffe life.
On Monday 14th November,
seven Wycliffe musicians
(Seva Bilous, Jeremy Burne,
Beth Hiatt, Fenella Purkess,
Tillie Graham, Eloise Davies
and Milly Wagstaff) travelled
to London to perform in one of the Music for
Youth Prom Concerts at the Royal Albert Hall.
The students had a busy day of rehearsals
culminating in a spectacular evening concert
featuring some of the best musicians in the
country. Our musicians collaborated with 600
other students from Gloucestershire, Somerset
and South Gloucestershire to perform a newly
commissioned piece honouring the 400th
anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. The concert
concluded with a massed ensemble performance
of ‘Land of Hope and Glory’. Performing at the
Royal Albert Hall was a very special experience
for our students and one they will remember for
many years to come.
Frances Friend successfully auditioned for the
role of Co-principal of the Gloucestershire Youth
Orchestra for their 2016-2017 season. This is a
remarkable achievement – well done Frances!
English Is Not Enough
Stem Day at Wycliffe
The highlight of the Autumn Term for the Modern Languages
Department was English is Not Enough, an event that brought
Hundreds of primary school children discovered the wonders of
everything from slime to ice cream.
together the whole of Year 9 to focus on the importance of studying
a foreign language.
The morning started with
a presentation and quiz
about languages worldwide,
featuring famous national and
international stars who speak
languages other than English.
The emphasis was on using languages as a tool in
a whole range of career areas, some less obvious
that others.
There were talks from Wycliffe staff and videos
by former Wycliffe students who today use
languages in their jobs that they first studied at
school. The second half of the programme saw the
students in small groups, attending presentations
by representatives from GCHQ on signals
intelligence, Airbus on aviation engineering,
Inside Japan tour operator and Bath University
Languages Department.
For sixth form linguists GCHQ provided a taster
lesson in Arabic, encouraging interest in a wider
range of languages. The event raised awareness
that languages are not only for teachers or
interpreters, and the students all agreed that
English is most definitely not enough!
S
even primary schools took part in
Wycliffe’s annual STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics) day.
Almost 500 children enjoyed
a range of workshops and lectures. Nearly 100
Wycliffe Sixth Formers acted as tutors and teachers
showing the youngsters how to make slime, ice
cream, explosions and bendy pens.
Nine-year-old Grace Purnell from St Mary’s
Tetbury, tried her hand at making balloon kebabs
without bursting the balloon. “My favourite part
of the day was making slime but I also loved the
chemistry explosion too,” she said.
The primary schools taking part were: St Mary’s,
Tetbury, Croft Primary, Painswick, Harewood
Juniors, Gloucester, King’s Stanley Primary,
Sharpness Primary, St Joseph’s Nympsfield and
Wycliffe Preparatory School.
“Its popularity shows that there is a real appetite
for STEM subjects. If you can get children
enthused about Science at an earlier age, then
they are likely to pursue it longer in school and
hopefully as a career. The chemical engineering
industry provides more income to the UK than
banking, it is imperative that the next generation
of scientists and engineers are inspired at a
younger age and it is critical that the number of
female engineers grows.” Mr Archer concluded.
Companies and organisations supporting the day
included Crocodile World, University of Bristol,
University of Sheffield, Renishaw, Avantis, James
Dyson Foundation, Mantra Learning, INDS and
Severn Wye Energy.
The STEM day is the brainchild of Matthew
Archer, Head of Sixth Form at Wycliffe.
“When we first started three years ago we had
about 150 children with fewer activities. This year
we had 500 children engaged in all aspects of
STEM,” said Mr Archer.

Christmas Shoebox
05
Nursery & Prep
Nativity
This year Wycliffe Prep School supported
the shoebox campaign run by Link to
Hope. This charity focuses on supporting
underprivileged families and elderly people
in Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine
by sending a shoebox filled with practical
gifts. Due to the generosity of our parents and
pupils we were able to collect 65 shoeboxes
that will go to families in real need.
O
n Wednesday 8th December,
friends and family of Wycliffe’s
Lower Prep were invited to a
delightful production of the
Christmas Nativity.
Wycliffe Nursery pupils joined Lower Prep
on stage to sing a variety of Christmas songs
and carols. A delightful time was had by all.

06
Nursery & Prep
Battle of
Hastings
950 years on – King Harold
makes a comeback!
On Friday 4th November, Year 7 History pupils
re-enacted the Battle of Hastings, an event which
took place just over 950 years ago. The pupils
had a wonderful time ‘fighting’ each other which
their homemade shields and cardboard swords.
Led by King Harold (Mr Pender) and William
of Normandy (Mr Arman), the pupils really got
into the tactics of battle. The whole day’s events
were supported by re-enactor Kevin Hicks of the
History Squad who was able to brief the pupils
and direct affairs.
As a result, the pupils were able to consider
through this role play how Harold may have won
especially if he had employed different tactics on
the day, but as usual William’s clever method
of breaking the shield wall proved decisive. But
more importantly, the pupils will long remember
what happened on this important day in history
because of the fun and excitement of playing a
part in this mock battle.
The Battle of Hastings was
fought on 14th October 1066
between the Norman-French
army of William, the Duke of
Normandy, and an English
army under the Anglo-Saxon
King Harold Godwinson,
beginning the Norman
conquest of England.
Westonbirt
Arboretum
Year 1 pupils spent a fantastic
day at the world famous
Arboretum at Westonbirt on
Tuesday 24th May. The trip
was linked to our Science
topic of growing. The children
spent time collecting different leaves, making
bark rubbings, constructing a den out of
natural materials for a teddy and designing
natural art as well as learning about trees
and plants along the way. We had a relaxed
and enjoyable picnic under a huge oak and
then set off to experience the new treetop
walkway. Although tired by the end of the
trip, everyone thought it had been a brilliant
day out.

07
Nursery & Prep
Battle Field Wycliffe
Soldier To Mark
Remembrance Day
Brendan Ind has won a national competition to create a
series of history videos.
The winning video, called ‘Two
School Boys and the Great
War’, will be released to mark
Remembrance Day. Whilst at
the Preparatory School, he was
named the overall winner in
the national history-based competition, called
MY EPIC ERA, run by Squaducation.
Over the summer, Brendan, now in the Senior
College, and his classmate Ben Matthews
worked with the 60 Second Histories team to
write, direct and star in their own series of 60
second history films based on their entry.
“He was in the same house as I was at Wycliffe
Prep and I found it amazing to write about his
life. He died on September 25, 1915, the first
time he went over the top,” said Brendan.
Steve Arman, Head of History at Wycliffe Prep,
said: “As a teacher, I wanted the pupils to
research, interpret and write ‘the lost story’ of
Old Wycliffians from our school, who fought
in the World War One.
“Winning the competition has, without
doubt, brought their stories completely to life.
Making these ‘60 Second History’ films, will
be a memory they will never forget and as a
Fun Science For Year 1 @ Bristol
Year 1 had a great trip to
@Bristol on Tuesday 8th
November. First we had a
workshop called ‘Build It’
where we explored the best
materials to use for both
the walls and roof of a house. We tested a
paper wall which was windproof but it was
still not strong enough as Will was able to
punch straight through it! We also tested
wood which burnt very easily so wouldn’t be
very safe so we decided the bricks would be
the best material as they are strong and didn’t
catch fire. We then tested materials for the
roof, we had to make sure it was waterproof
so we poured water on the different materials.
The shingle tiles were the best waterproof
materials.
Then we were able to explore the different
exhibits where we learnt lots about science.
There were lots of different things which we
really enjoyed but we especially loved the big
bubble maker and the construction area where
we tested our overlapping brick-laying skills
that we were taught in our workshop – this
made sure the walls were really strong and
wouldn’t fall down. We had a great day and
really enjoyed ourselves!
Music for
the Queen
Copsegrove
Farm
The films are now available as a free-toview
resource that can be used by schools
throughout the country to inspire more young
people to dig deeper into history. Brendan,
said he was surprised but delighted to win.
“I really enjoyed working on the script.
My friend Ben and I acted it out for the videos.”
He wrote about former Wycliffe pupil
Len Gammidge.
result will hopefully enthuse them to see the
personal stories of people from the past, who
have lived through a diverse set of historical
events and social settings.
“Following on from the pupils’ research into
these soldiers’ lives and the writing of their
stories, which was an undertaking in itself,
the making of ‘60 Second History’ films has
to be the best way to truly understand what
these men went through.”
L
ast term Austin won our
competition to compose a piece of
music for the 90th birthday of HM
Queen Elizabeth. We sent a copy
of his piece to Buckingham Palace
and today we received a reply!
The Queen seems to have liked the piece: ‘The
Queen was interested to hear of the activities you
have taken part in to commemorate her special
day and Her Majesty was very touched by your
kind thought in sending her your CD which has
given her much pleasure’.
Year 2 had a brilliant time at
Copsegrove Farm – going
on a treasure hunt looking
for objects in the wood;
enjoying a mini hunt; making
clay mini beasts; toasting
marshmallows over the fire; making chocolate
and marshmallow wraps grilled over the fire;
and building small houses for either fairies
or elves out of materials found in the woods.
Wow what a busy day!
Prep School enjoyed another
fun-packed poetry week, with
pupils enjoying a range of poetic
activities across all subjects.
Upper Prep pupils were
shocked to find themselves
even studying poetry in
their Maths lessons, as they
estimated the approximate age
of a poem’s target audience by
calculating the average word lengths in a poem
– well done, Mr Gaunt!
Year 8 studied War Poetry, as part of their
cross-curricular work on WWI in English
and History, and Charlie Hosking and
Jasmine Smith were honored to read their
own remembrance poems at the Prep School
Remembrance Service on 10th November.
The highlight of the week was a visit from
the highly acclaimed performance poet, Paul
Lyalls, who gave energetic performances
to Reception to Year 2, and Years 3 to 5
respectively, before leading an ambitious and
hugely successful poetry workshop with Years
6 to 8.
A record-breaking number of entries was also
received by the library for their poetry week
competition; to write a 20-word poem as a
‘message to the world’. The runners-up for the
competition were Bella Williams and Livvie
Rathbone, for their joint poem, and Alyssa
Powell, who each received a certificate, and
the winner was Clara Skelston, who won a
beautiful book of poems. The winning poems
are on display in the library.

08
The Wycliffian Society
Welcome to the New Wycliffian
Society and Foundation Manager
Sarah Indranie (née Bonnar) OW 1988 – 1995
I’ve recently moved back to The
Cotswolds after 20 years away to
enjoy the countryside, be closer to my
family and offer my children a similar
upbringing to my own. Watching two
season changes here has been magical
and cements our big move.
Having been back to the OW carol service twice
in 21 years, reconnecting with OW friends has
been interesting and my perception of the school
– how I remember it and what it has become
has in fact been refreshing. It’s true, Wycliffe
offers something unique; a diversity and warmth
that is often forgotten or misinterpreted. The
strap line ‘nurturing potential’ is clear and with
an even broader range of subjects and extracurricular
activities than I was privy to, Wycliffe
still delivers that ‘family feel’ whilst encouraging
academic and cultural diversity.
Many of us will remember the somewhat
draconian styles and some of us will remember
(thankfully) watching them fade! My mission
and that of the society’s is to provide a service to
pupils once they have left, that still encompasses
the ethos but that seeks to deliver tangible
benefits and our aim is to be supportive in
whatever capacity that may be.
We are cleaning the database, adding OWs
occupations, a mentoring system is in the
pipeline and the events (drinks and OW day)
will change for the better. We need your input
for this to work well; for example are you willing
to hold a discussion/workshop or do a ‘talk’ to
pupils? Do you own your own business, work at
a university, in TV, the gaming industry, are you a
scientist or famous sports person, in property or
fashion maybe? Perhaps you need apprentices or
offer internships?
Whatever your profession or need, we’d like to
hear from you so that we can start connecting
people, we see it as a mini LinkedIn that’s a
little more personal. I love change and I love
challenges and hopefully you will join me
and play a small part in the growth of The
Wycliffian Society. Contact us via Facebook,
email, phone, post.
Reconnecting
TOW Facebook Alumni
he OWs can now check
events and news at the new
Facebook page and although
in its infancy, it’s already
gathering likes. Please share
this page amongst your peers.
You can send a message via FB or the usual
email or phone, TWS@wycliffe.co.uk
01453 820439
Harris Cup Golf
OW drinks at The Lansdowne Club Oct 16
The biannual drinks were held at The
Lansdowne Club this Autumn and had a good
turnout with a varying age range. To name just
a few; Jakob Hancock (91-93), Chris Dicken
(90-92), Will Tovey (85-92), Ash Bodey (87-93),
James Cowling (90–93), Ben Hughes (89-94)
Greg Mason, (06-11) Kristina Zienko (99-03).
New Website
www.wycliffe.co.uk/the wycliffian-society
Wycliffe has a new ‘all singing all dancing’
website and you can find the link to The
Wycliffian Society via the top of the page.
If you are using a mobile look for this icon:
Please note, the OW pages are work in progress
and are currently being populated so do bear
with us whilst we design, gather and type!
Next London Drinks Reception
The Wycliffian Society plan to hold drinks
receptions in other areas as well as London,
perhaps Manchester/Bristol. Please contact
the office if you would like to make an area
suggestion or host. And, we would love to
see more ladies attending to socialise and
network.
Data Cleanse
We are currently performing a huge data
cleanse. We have found multiple names at one
old address or names with multiple postal and
e-mail addresses. The new website now has a
personal information form (PIF) built into the
page and we would be very grateful if you could
complete it. We’d rather not post if you prefer
e-mail and we’d be grateful if you could tell us
how you want to be contacted. Don’t forget that
the OW Facebook page will advertise events and
news and is a handy way to receive updates. The
form can be found here: www.wycliffe.co.uk/
the-wycliffian-society/about-you/
6th April 2017 18:30 – 20:00
The Queen’s Club, Palliser Rd,
London W14 9EQ Nearest Underground Station: Barons Court.
(West Kensington District).
THE WYCLIFFIAN
YEAR 2017
JANUARY
Thur 5
FEBRUARY
Sat 4
Fri 12
Sun 21
MARCH
Sat 25
Sat 25
Fri 31
APRIL
Thur 6
Sat 25
Spring Term Begins
Wycliffe Big Head
Phil Clements 01453 732033
events@wycliffehead.co.uk
Half Term Begins
Half Term Ends
OW Football Match
2.30pm The Berryfield
Contact TWS Office
on 01453 820439
Email TWS@wycliffe.co.uk
OW Netball Match TBC
4.00pm The Sports Hall
Contact TWS office
on 01453 820439
Email TWS@wycliffe.co.uk
Spring Term Ends
TWS Drinks Reception
6.30pm The Queen’s Club, London
Contact TWS Office
on 01453 820439
Email TWS@wycliffe.co.uk
1st XI v OW XI Cricket
11.30am Wycliffe Senior School
Contact TWS Office
on 01453 820439
Email TWS@wycliffe.co.uk
This not strictly OW day – this
is OW cricket and has been
changed so as not to overlap
with league season.
OW Carol
Service
On 3rd December we
welcomed guest reader Dame
Janet Trotter (DBE) and as
always it was a lovely start
to the festive season with
an astounding choir, led by
Gemma Russell (Director of Music). The singing
‘raised the roof’ and the chapel was almost at
capacity. The usual social gathering was held in
the Sports Hall afterwards and was enjoyed by
many regulars as well as some new faces. It’s
always a pleasure to welcome OWs back and
often the former and current staff attend. This
year to name a few, we enjoyed the company
of Mr Michael Squance, Pete Woolley, Debbie
and Chris Tetley, Trevor Jones, Phil Hale,
David Frith.
Next year we’d love to see the chapel bursting
at its seams and more of you enjoying the social
scene afterwards!
Pictured right is the winning team
from the Harris Cup which was
played in October last year. Other
exciting news is that a Facebook
group now exists for the golfers
and hopefully it will make
communications and fixtures easier to organise.
Search Wycliffe College Golfers. Please join the
group if you are interested – you’ll be able to
see a member list too and if you know of any
younger players who might be interested, please
direct them to FB.
TWS@wycliffe.co.uk

09
The Wycliffian Society
he Masked Ball which was held
on the 19th November this year
proved to be a huge success.
We welcomed members of the
public, OWs and Parents. The
band stole the evening and
the dance floor was alive! A raffle was held and
all funds raised were in aid of the Prep School
Sports Pavilion Fund. Please follow the link to
view the fantastic photos taken by photographer
Will Pascall:
www.willpascall.co.uk/wyc_MB_print

10
Extra
NEW
BUILD
UPDATE
S
ince summer we have
been building a brand new
boarding house on campus.
Opening in September 2017,
Ward’s-Ivy Grove, our brand
new multi-million pound
boarding house, will cater for
approximately 80 pupils with state-of-the art
boarding facilities and the latest in security
and safety systems.
The photos on this page show various stages
of construction, ranging from the very
beginning to some beautiful drone shots
captured from above.

11
Wycliffe is now one of four host centres
for Gloucester Rugby U14 and U15
Development Player Programme
Autumn Term saw Wycliffe
becoming one of four host
centres for the Gloucester
Rugby U14 and U15
Development Player
Programme (DPP). Wycliffe
Prep School Head of Boys’ Games, Sam
Wainwright, leads the coaching for young
rugby players in the Stroud area, which includes
16 Year 9 and 10 pupils from Wycliffe.
Hosting the DPP at the school has really
helped focus the young players with the U14
age group in particular having a wonderful
season, recording 13 wins in their 15 matches,
including reaching the District Cup final.
Nine players in this age group attend the DPP,
but there is also an enthusiastic B team and
throughout the term over 25 players have
represented the A team.
The 1st XV have also been rewarded for
their efforts this term. A well-motivated
and determined group of players has now
reached the quarter finals of the NatWest Bowl
competition after stringing together some fine
performances. This included victories over
Marling (18-17), Beaufort (43-12), St Brendan’s
(61-8) and most recently Bridgewater (28-21).
The 1st team have been well led by Captain,
George Hartson who has been rewarded with
selection to the South West Independent
School Lambs.
Next term sees the players turn to Rugby 7s,
with U13, U14, U16 and U18 age groups
playing in tournaments. The senior squad also
has an exciting tour to Portugal at February Half
Term to look forward to.
The Squash Term
It is always an interesting term for the squash squad, with
lots of influential players leaving and plenty of new faces
coming into the team.
Small Boats Head
As ever, it has proved to be a
successful transition and we
have a squad that is really
looking to progress and take
their games to the next level.
We have remained unbeaten
in the National Schools competition, beating
rivals Millfield without dropping a match
at Junior and Senior Girls’ and Junior Boys.
This has meant all three teams progressing
to the knockout stages of the competition
next term. At the Welsh Junior Open, on the
first weekend back we had two winners with
Celine Walser winning the Girls U19 event
and Jared Carter winning his age category.
Sam Osborne-Wylde became the British U13
Champion and Jared Carter finished runnerup
in the U17 Boys. Ex Wycliffian Kyle Finch
became the U19 National Champion and he
thanked Wycliffe for all their help and support.
We have just returned from our European trip
to Switzerland. It was the girls who stole the
show here with Celine finishing second in the
U19 Girls and the Taylor-French sisters both
finishing fourth in the Girls’ U17 and U15.
On Saturday 3rd December
Wycliffe College Boat Club
hosted the annual Small
Boats Head race. 350 crews
consisting of over 1000
rowers made the trip to Saul
Junction. The results were as follows:
Tiernan Purkess winning the Junior 16 and
novice single events.
Fenella Purkess and Saoirse Purkess winning
the Women’s Junior 16 double event.
Katy Porter, Iona Wasdell, Mary Evans and
Saffron Weaver coming second in the Women’s
Junior 16 quad event
Brilliant effort by all who raced and represented
the school, a huge thank you to all parents
and volunteers for all of the help throughout
the day and a fantastic cake sale!
Ones to Watch
First XI Captain, Sasha Green, represented the
England team at the UK School games
for Hockey.
Zoe Davison represented GB at ‘Olympic
Hopes’ Modern Pentathlon event in Hungary.
Will Naish has been invited to join Gloucester
Cricket Academy.
Celine Walser won her first ever professional
squash event.

12
Sport
Always believe in yourself because I’m just a normal
person and I have achieved an Olympic gold medal
Olympic champion Hollie Webb,
whose penalty goal won gold for Great
Britain, had a special message for
Wycliffe’s aspiring female hockey stars.
The 26-year-old Olympic
champion was at the Stonehouse
school to officially open its new
Astro hockey pitch.
She held a masterclass with
girls, met parents and watched some matches.
Pupils got the opportunity to look at the gold
medal from Rio and Hollie signed countless
hockey sticks.
For 13-year-old Ruby Rose, who plays for
Wycliffe’s U14 team, meeting Hollie has
inspired her to up her game.
“She’s just a normal person and she’s got to
win a gold medal in hockey. If she can do it
then anyone can.”
Fellow Wycliffe player Ella Clements, aged
12, agrees. “Meeting Hollie has been inspiring.
It makes you want to play better.”
“The girls here at Wycliffe are really
enthusiastic and really keen to learn.
I’ve enjoyed it,” said Hollie.
The question all the girls wanted to know from
Hollie was whether she was nervous when
she took the penalty shot in the final which
secured Great Britain gold.
“It sounds odd but I wasn’t nervous. I didn’t
let myself think about it. I stripped it back to
what it was. It was just a penalty shot, just
another game of hockey,” she said.
“We had done our homework on their keeper,
so we knew what she would do and responded
accordingly. I knew what I was going to do.”
Head of Wycliffe, Nick Gregory, said:
“Girls’ sport at Wycliffe is about to enter an
exceptional era, with some outstanding groups
of talented sportswomen across several sports
in a number of age groups.“Having Hollie with
us today will have inspired many of our girls to
believe that they too might emulate the amazing
achievements of Hollie and her GB team-mates
this Summer.”
Cross-country
Three Wycliffe Cross-country teams qualified for the regional finals
of the English Schools Athletics Association schools cup.
J
unior Boys (Year 7&8), Inter Boys
(Year 9&10) and Inter Girls (Year
9&10) teams had a wet and muddy
trip to Warrington. Each team
consists of six runners with the first
four home scoring for the team.
All runners can be proud of their determined
performances in poor conditions, especially the
Junior Boys who exceeded all expectations with
a great all-round performance. Charlie Hosking
(7th) recovered from a face-first fall to be the first
Wycliffe runner home. Freddie Searle (9th) and
Sam Davenport (22nd) were the other scoring
runners along with Edward Thompson (27th)
who managed a great sprint finish to climb a
number of places. Kiran Carter (49th) was
Wycliffe’s fifth runner home.
In the Girls’ race Millie Porter (3rd) and Evie
Green (8th) were the first two to finish for the
Wycliffe team, with Amy Cook (14th) and Holly
Lovell (15th) in close pursuit as the other scoring
runners. Maddie Palmer (26th) also ran a brilliant
race, as did Rachel Hatherell (34th).
In the Boys’ race, Tom Rowland (8th) and
Harvey Rowland (17th) set the pace with
Jacques Taylor (19th) and Seb Clarke (26th)
finishing in third and fourth places respectively
for the team. Flynn Walton (29th) glided over the
wet and mud to push on the Wycliffe runners,
with Will Naish (30th) only one place behind.
These results meant the Inter Boys team finished
in a creditable fifth place overall, while the Inter
Girls team finished in an amazing second place to
qualify for the National Finals. They will also be
joined in the finals by the Junior Boys team who
finished in third place, ahead of fourth place by
just one point. A fantastic achievement!
Well done to them and all runners who
represented the school so well.
U16
Hockey
Wycliffe U16 Hockey girls
were runners-up in the
Gloucestershire county
round of the Investec
Schools Championships.
This qualifies them for
the Regional rounds, something Wycliffe have
never achieved before. The team beat Cheltenham
Ladies’ College 1-0 with Izzy Naish scoring, Pates
3-0 with Tillie Graham, Amy Cook and Victoria
Bogchenkova scoring and Cheltenham College
2-1 with Tillie Graham and Katie Cruickshank
scoring. They then drew 0-0 against Dean Close
and Balcarras to finish as runners-up. Player of the
tournament was Emma Livingstone.
The team then played in the Regional Preliminary
tournament at Clifton College. They played St
John’s College, Marlborough, The Ladies’ College
Gurnsey, Hereford Cathedral and Clifton College.
The team were creative in attack and showed
confidence in all matches winning 2-0 against St
John’s, 1-0 against The Ladies’ College and 1-0
U14 Netball
U14’s Play in County Championship.
They were faced with a strong
group, but the girls made
qualifying look easy with great
defence and making tips and
interceptions throughout the
court. The turnovers turned
into goals and brilliant wins were secured
against Pates (5-0), 7- 2 against Balcarras and
KLB and finally 11-5 against Ribston.
In the quarter finals the girls started slowly
against a strong Tewkesbury team. At half time
the team were trailing and had to come from
behind with some excellent attacking play
and plenty of accurate shooting by Francesca
Lundie and Evie Green, to record an 11-8 win
which took them through to the semi-finals
where they faced Cheltenham Ladies’ College.
against Hereford. Goals were scored by Emma
Livingstone, Iona Lundie and two from Izzy
Naish. Clifton was their last game and despite a
Unfortunately this was one game too many for
the U14s and slowly the game slipped away from
them in the second half, eventually losing 4-8.
On this occasion they didn’t make the final.
But this young promising team will definitely
be a force to be reckoned with in the future.
Excellent effort and performance by all.
few lapses in concentration, which saw Clifton
score two quick goals to beat them 2-0, the
overall result was one of celebration. Wycliffe
finished as one of the top two teams to qualify for
the Regional Tournament. This is a fantastic result
from a hugely dedicated team.
Wycliffe College, Bath Road,
Stonehouse, Gloucestershire
GL10 2JQ Tel: 01453 822432
For comments or news on
this publication, please email:
jessica.gray@wycliffe.co.uk
For the very latest news
visit wycliffe.co.uk