The Wizard Of Oz

BRADFIELD

NewsChristmas 2013

Another action packed term has flown by and the College continues to go from strength to strength. Bradfield is growing (up to 770 pupils from 730 last year) and is fortunate to be increasingly over-subscribed at both 13+ and 16+. We had record GCSE results in the summer and again excelled

at A-Level, showing all that our pupils can achieve in a climate of high expectations. But we’re not resting on our laurels and we’re looking to develop all the time. 2014 will be an exciting year for Bradfield with our first set of IB Diploma Programme results, our first cohort completing the Bradfield Diploma and a continued growth in pupil-led opportunities in and out of the classroom. We’ll also see the long-awaited opening of the restored Greek Theatre (with Antigone being performed in Ancient Greek in June), as well as an extended Sports Centre and new Social Centre. Our sponsorship of our local Academy, Theale Green School, has started extremely well and in 2014 we are excited

about building on the mutually beneficial opportunities that this partnership will bring to the young people at both schools. Above all, Bradfield continues to flourish because we have happy, talented and ambitious pupils who consistently amaze me with all they can achieve, supported by a fantastically committed, enthusiastic and forward-thinking staff. This copy of the Bradfield News gives you just a taste of what they have all been up to this term. Everyone has certainly earned their mince pies and a visit from Santa.

From the Headmaster

Faulkner's

Stevens Academic Scholarship

Emily Anichebe (IL)Edward Capps (GL) Georgina Cockburn (JL)Edward Thody (FL)Mia Warren-Smith (KL)

Dr Gray ExhibitionGeorgina Cockburn (JL) William Kerr (EL)Olivia Lee-Smith (ML)Amber Miles (ML)Jessica Raja-Brown (ML)

Art AwardConstance Burrell (ML)Jessica Raja-Brown (ML)

Performing Arts Award

Sam Hardy (CL)Lucy Kidson (ML)Kate Parkin (ML)

Music ScholarshipKatie Mazur (KL) Charlie Reed (ML)Nathan Gu (Exhibition) (GL)

Sports AwardWai Tsun Dai (HL)Elizabeth Lenon (IL)Rahul Patel (GL)Benedict Russell (CL)Jack Whishaw (DL)Mateo Teniente (GL)

Sixth Form

Academic Scholarship

Alastair Borthwick (C)Eloise Clark-Morris (I)Keith Domnick (E)Haply May Eyres (K)Lucy Greville (I)James Howarth (E)Adam Knowles (H)Henry Lea (H)Emily Lunt (M)Jamie Ostrer (A)Harry Tanner (F)

Dr Gray Exhibition

Alastair Higginson (D)Beth Higginson (M)

Art AwardHaply May Eyres (K)Grace Elder (K)

Performing Arts AwardRita Bernard-Shaw (I)Freddie Parsons (H)

Music ScholarshipChristopher Bailey (C)

Sports AwardRebekah Woolcot (J)

Admission of Scholars

Film Studies Manchester TripAs we embarked on the coach trip we were in high spirits and raring to go. When we arrived in Manchester we had many things to do. We started by having a famous ‘Mr. Keeley’ tour on foot, seeing all of the sights where we could potentially film. This took us to many different spots in Manchester, from the main shopping Centre, to the rundown back streets and even some roman ruins. After this quick tour we were treated to a delightful supper in the ‘Bakerie’. We then enjoyed some top level debating and successfully secured our chosen sites. Finally we headed to bed for an early night to prepare us for the task awaiting us the next morning.

We arose in the early hours of the morning for a tasty breakfast at the youth hostel. There was an overriding sense of competitiveness looming over the fried eggs and bacon; all the groups were excited to go out and make their two-minute films. It was a beautiful morning and the filming conditions were perfect: the sun was shining over the rustic environment of Manchester and the mist in the air was slowly evaporating. Each group went their separate way, camera and tripods in hand. The filming and editing process lasted for six hours and by 4.00pm our two-minute films were uploaded onto Mrs. Stable’s hard drive. The films would soon be projected onto the big screen at Salford University, excitingly sandwiched between ITV and BT studios. The films were of a very high standard and the categories ranged from revolution to reflection. After a tour of the University and an hour of screening, a winner had been chosen. Twenty of us sat in the room waiting for the judge’s verdict, nervous yet exhilarated to take home the big prize of going to a TV awards ceremony. The overall winners were Sam Iglesias (D), Oliver Smithson (H), Jamie Chapman (H) and Tom Bohling (E) for their portrayal of the 1996 Manchester Bombing. It was a thoroughly enjoyable trip and a true insight into Manchurian culture and the tough industry of film!

Henry Chancellor (C)

The programme for the scholars and more academically able pupils is undergoing review. It is currently under the leadership of the new Director of Scholarship, Adrian Frost. His brief is primarily to establish an environment which fosters a scholarship spirit and a passion for intellectual inquiry. He aims to create a culture wherein those who are more academically able feel comfortable and secure to show creativity, initiative, independent thought and academic ambition. Adrian Frost will be working closely with departments and faculties to assist them in the delivery of this provision, and in doing so, we firmly believe that this will help enhance the educational experience of pupils of all abilities.

Although early days, there has already been a range of events and activities and a rise in the pursuit of academic initiatives, not only driven by the staff, but by the pupils themselves who are showing a renewed academic enthusiasm. The Upper Sixth scientists submitted entries for the first senior school science scholarship prize this term. Anosha Meyers’ (K) work was recently sent for publishing as a co-authored project in the Resonance magazine for the Institute of Science in India. Members of the Lower Sixth have begun visiting universities and have set up their own academic societies, debates and lectures, arranging external specialists to speak at these events.

The academic co-curriculum and curriculum at the College continues to add breadth and depth to the education of our academically most able. A particular highlight this term was the attendance by 35 of our most able sixth form pupils at the TEDxAlbertopolis conference at the Royal Albert Hall. With the help of the Director of Scholarship, departments provide opportunities for extension through national and internal competitions, additional courses, publications, residential weekends, lectures and debates. For example, the Lower School submitted entries for the School Science Prize run by the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories and in English, year group poetry prizes were awarded for this year’s theme of ‘water, water everywhere.’

College Scholars

Classics Trip to RomeMembers of the Classics Lower Sixth and Shell appreciated the truth of the saying that “Fortune favours the prepared” on our Long Leave trip to Rome. Arriving to find our pre-booked visit to the Coliseum that afternoon had been cancelled due to strikes and demonstrations, we simply shifted the blocks of the programme around. We managed to see everything and still squeezed an extra museum and ice-cream or two into a packed five day itinerary in brilliant sunshine and Indian summer temperatures.

We enjoyed a day at ancient Ostia, visiting its necropolis near the gates, theatre, baths, and offices of the guilds and unions that kept Rome fed with imported grain. We saw the Ara Pacis which depicts the family of Augustus and celebrates a Virgilian-looking “world peace”. On an away-day to Napoli we visited the House of the Golden Cupids at Pompeii and mosaics at Herculaneum, the Vatican museums, Circus Maximus, Museo Nazionale Romano, the Pantheon, the Piazza Navona, and the Coliseum. We walked up and down every one of the seven hills by day and night until Mrs Caffrey finally gave in and bought some bus tickets. Exploring gave us a sense of where and how the Romans lived. Next time, perhaps Sicily… we are planning already!

Bradfield Horizons is the new face of career education and provision

at Bradfield College. While the focus will remain on higher education

support and advice, the department’s broader objective is to provide

a programme of pupil centric career guidance, information and advice

relevant to all pupils and appropriate to each year group. This should

ensure that every child is empowered to take responsibility for his

or her future beyond Bradfield and is equipped to make aspirational,

realistic and appropriate decisions about the next step on their

educational and personal journey.

The College is introducing a series of initiatives to support this

programme across all year groups, with the intention of bringing

together theory learned within the school environment and the

realities of the outside world. Aspects of careers education covered

will include self-awareness (where pupils are encouraged to match

their interests and skill sets with potential careers) and transition

learning which provides pupils with the necessary tools to make

the right decisions about their educational career progression; for

example choosing GCSEs, AS Levels, A Levels or IBDP and how to

prepare for university and its alternatives.

This will be supported with the introduction of specific topics such

as CV writing, job applications and interview techniques for work

experience or university. The programme will teach pupils how to

evaluate available information to understand career opportunities,

job market conditions, salaries and prospects. Professionals will run

workshops alongside College staff to share their experiences of the

world of work.

Insights FeedbackThe Head Boy and I agree that the prefect training given

by Insights was beneficial and enlightening. It allowed us to

gain a greater awareness of the prefect team we will be

leading this year. Following the prefect training, we have been

delegating roles of responsibility to these prefects by using

the information we found out about each individual and so

far everything has gone smoothly. The whole prefect team

use the analogies of ‘fiery red’, ‘earth green’, ‘cool blue’ and

‘sunshine yellow’. I am pleased to say that everyone took away

vital information about themselves and their fellow prefects

that will guide them through this academic year. The lady

from Insights was extremely informative and her enthusiasm

made the day more enjoyable. I would highly recommend

this prefect training for next year’s set of prefects as they

would benefit greatly from it.

Florence Gray (I) Head Girl

John AmaechiJohn Amaechi is of British origin and became famous as an elite

basketball player in the NBA. He now works as an educator and

broadcaster in Europe and the United States. John delivered

a fascinating and thought provoking workshop on Power and

Prejudice to the new Lower Sixth in September as part of their

Induction Programme.

Bradfield Horizons

History Trip to Paris Over the weekend of 18 – 20 October, the History Department took 20 Sixth Form pupils to Paris for three days of French Revolutionary and Napoleonic history, as well as the opportunity to soak up a vast amount of culture to boot. After an early start on the Friday morning, the group boarded the Eurostar to the Gare du Nord and, after a couple of strong coffees, the sightseeing began in earnest. There was a visit to Notre Dame Cathedral as well as to the Place de Bastille and the Palais de Justice. Although everyone was tired, there was still enough energy for an evening walk around the Latin Quarter, exploring the closed streets of central Paris – a very lively place indeed.

Saturday morning was another early start, which began with a coach journey to the Palace of Versailles. All were highly impressed with the flamboyance of the palace as well as the size of the gardens . We strolled in the autumnal sunshine, with classical music in our ears and a crêpe or two in our hands. We had a successful morning with a tour of Les Invalides, the military museum of Paris, and then a walk down the Champs Elysees from the gruesome Place de Guillotine. A fantastic day was topped off by an evening trip up the Eiffel Tower. The whole of Paris was lit up below us and it was a sight to behold.

The final day began with an enthralling trip to the Louvre gallery. The most interesting paintings were those of David, Delacroix and Gros, but there was still time left to see a few classic paintings. The final excursion was a boat trip down the Seine to see the city from an entirely different angle. It was the perfect way to finish a great trip. As we relaxed on the Eurostar heading for England, we all looked back on what had been a highly motivational tour of one of Europe’s most historically significant cities.

Shell Spanish TripRather than head down South this year, we took our 27 Shell

Spanish pupils to the stunning Gredos mountains, west of Madrid.

The idea was to immerse them in the language whilst taking part

in a wide variety of activities such as: orienteering, cookery, making

a TV programme and a tour of Salamanca. Here are a couple of

extracts from the pupils’ Spanish trip diaries (translated of course):

When we arrived in Salamanca our first stop was the Plaza de

Toros. As we went into the bullring you could see the scratches on

the wall were the bulls had attacked. A professional bullfighter then

talked to us for 30 minutes in Spanish and showed us the different

techniques and stages of the bullfight. Cressida Bass (K)

Before starting the zip wire course, we had a safety talk in Spanish

and we were taught the language needed to climb around; for

example ‘un arnés’ is a harness and rope is ‘cuerda’. The course

started with a really long zip wire. Mr Whalley went down first,

however when he got to the other end he bounced off and then

got stuck in the middle. With some help, he was pushed back again.

Oliver Bayliss (H)

Personality Profiling DayI was slightly sceptical as to whether I would gain anything from the

experience at the start of the day. The idea that a quick and simple

test could generate a highly accurate report of my personality was

something I had never even considered possible before. However, after

reading the first few lines of my report, all of my reservations had gone.

The descriptions were virtually entirely accurate, in fact, at times they

were a little too accurate for comfort. I think it could be seen from the

reactions of every single person receiving a report that the reports

paint a remarkably honest picture of you.

The speaker presented the whole day extremely professionally and

must be credited for her ability to maintain a controlled yet relaxed

atmosphere for the entire duration of the session. She presented herself

in an extremely polite manner and I am personally grateful for having

taken part. Furthermore, the interactive style of the session enabled

everyone involved to enjoy the experience whilst gaining a deeper

understanding of both their own personality and the personalities

of others.

The profiling exercises not only enabled a better understanding of your

own character, but also deepened your understanding of those around

you and how to interact with them. Despite early reservations about

the experience, I greatly enjoyed the day and shared the experience

with my family and friends. I would certainly recommend others to

take the test as I personally found it enlightening and rewarding.

This was a unique day in which I was put face to face with all of my

strengths and flaws. Whilst this may be slightly unnerving at first, upon

reflection I believe it will greatly benefit me as I enter the world of

work and throughout my last few years in education. Joe Tyler (G)

Cyberbullying At the beginning of term a group of Bradfield College pupils embarked on the Beat-Bullying mentoring training scheme. It was an interesting and insightful two day process. Our first day began with many fun-filled events teaching us what bullying is, what forms it comes in, and other aspects in dealing with bullying including: what to do and not do in a mentoring session with peers, and how to deal with certain issues. We did some role plays and interactive challenges to aid us in our discovery. We also got to understand the importance of us as Beat-Bullying mentors to stop consequences of bullying.

Our two enthusiastic instructors kept us entertained for the duration of the course by chipping in with very funny jokes and puns, while also giving us a thorough introduction into understanding bullying. Our second and final day was as fun and energetic as the previous day, and we learned lots about internet safety through interactive activities on the computers as well as becoming certified BB mentors!

We would definitely recommend this programme because it enables pupils to engage with their peers and aid them if they have been bullied. It has given us many ideas about internet safety and an understanding of how to deal with bullying. More information concerning the Beat-Bullying initiative will be available in due course when we officially launch the programme both inside College and to parents. Klara Fine (M) and Oliver Trapnell (G)

Alex Jones Science PrizeAlex Jones (F) won the Shell Science Prize and joined winning pupils from fifty other schools at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory on Tuesday 17 November for the STFC School Science Prize Ceremony.

Alex was nominated due to his outstanding achievements in Science in Faulkner’s and his presentation on Space earlier this term.

He received a certificate, book tokens and a book list of exciting

science books to encourage him to continue his studies in

STEM subjects, in order to become a scientist or engineer of

the future.

Before receiving his prizes, Alex was able to interact with equipment

from the Explore Your Universe project – Steve Crothers, Luke

Fry, Dr Jon Taylor and James Watson kindly helped to demonstrate

key concepts of STFC science using an infra-red camera, a particle

accelerator in a salad bowl (powered by a van der Graaff generator),

a plasma ball, diffraction gratings, a discharge tube and spectroscopes.

Alex and his father were then treated to a fascinating talk by Dr Ceri

Brenner of the Central Laser Facility, who asked the question “What

would you do with the most powerful laser in the world?”

Ceri said “It was a real honour to be involved in the award

presentation and have the chance to meet all of the students who

have shown interest and achievement in science; they were a really

friendly bunch. It was also very uplifting to see an equal gender split

in the group which highlighted that the key challenge for diversity in

STEM is retaining interest in science post-GCSE.”

The Extended Project (EPQ)Forty Upper Sixth pupils are working hard to complete their Extended Projects this term. As was the case last year with our first cohort, there is a huge variety of topics being researched. Here are some abstracts from their EPQs which will give a flavour of the projects that are now coming to fruition. Next term there will be an opportunity to see the projects and meet the pupils in our EPQ Exhibition. Meanwhile the Lower Sixth are starting to think about their topics and beginning their research.

Bradfield History Magazine

For my EPQ I want to produce a History Magazine for Bradfield College that will include a range of articles about many different areas of History. I want it to open people’s eyes to History that is not the conventional topics in the GCSE and A-level syllabi - most notably Hitler and International Relation in the early 20th century. I believe that everyone should have a greater awareness of History; the objects that we take for granted on a daily basis and the elements of our society that we are a part of have a deep history that ultimately is the reason for their existence.

Augustine Dodson (C)

Of Mice and Men Performance

This book has

i n t e r e s t e d

me since I

read it for my

GCSE English

L i t e r a t u r e

course. I have

also seen two

productions

of the play

and each time

I have thought of a variety of different

methods and techniques that could be

used to stage and perform the play. I think

that the back ground and influences of the

play are extremely interesting and complex

issues. Not only does the play deal with the

depression America faced in the early 20th

century, but it also deals with the racism

that still existed in this period.

What has made me interested about doing

this book as a play is the way I want the

actors to perform each character. Another

aspect of the book which I find really

interesting is the character of Lenny. This is

the character along with crooks that I am

most interested in directing as these are

the characters that seem the most difficult

to cast and direct.

Jake Crossley (E)

Women’s Football

Women’s football is listed as the fastest growing sport in the UK and I would like to investigate the reasons for this. Women footballers have had a rough history, fighting over the years in order to gain rights as professional footballers. So why is it they are still treated so unfairly when compared to men? This is the question my EPQ is based on. Why is it that young girls playing football have to fund their own sporting facilities when boys get everything funded by the FA? Although women’s football has come a long way, I believe there is still more that needs to be done for women to eventually gain complete equality alongside men in football.

Sarah Thompson (M)

O

utward Bound | Community Service | Resp

onsibili

ty |

Publ

ic S

peak

ing

| Res

earc

h | C

urre

nt A

ffairs

| Reading | Cultural | Academic | Physical

APP

LICATION

Achievement

noun - an action or result

accomplished

through effort,

skill, or courage

Creativeadj. - the use of imagination or original ideas to create something

Resilience

noun - robustness and

adaptability

Open-Minded

adj. - willing to consider new

ideas; unprejudiced

Curiousadj. - eager to learn, inquisitive

Confident

adj. - full of ass

urance,

self-reliant; having

no fear of failu

re

Outward-

Looking

adj. - looking beyond

oneself

Supportive

adj. - providing

encouragement

or emotional

help

Ambitious

adj. - having or showing

a strong desire

to succeed

Com

mitm

ent

noun

- th

e ac

t of b

inding

your

self

(inte

llect

ually

or e

mot

iona

lly)

to a

cour

se o

f act

ion

Public Speaking Public speaking is one of the ten components of the Bradfield Diploma and is a skill that all pupils are encouraged to develop before entering the Sixth Form. The assessment of this component focuses on both the quality of the presentation itself and the quality of speaking. Pupils are encouraged to gain experience of public speaking in different contexts with audiences of different sizes – in a tutorial group, a debate, a house ‘call’, in Chapel or a school assembly. This term the Shell year group were lucky enough to have a talk from Robin Kermode, a communication coach and Bradfield parent, entitled ‘Public speaking can be fun!’. The pupils certainly had a fun hour in his company. There was a large amount of interaction with the audience and some on the spot coaching of individual pupils about how to deliver a variety of types of presentation, from carol service Bible readings to recounting a personal story (with and without PowerPoint). Robin peppered his talk with a series of top tips for public speaking such as: take a good look at your audience and wait two seconds before you say ‘Hello’, speak slowly, speak with passion, clench your buttocks or thighs if you feel yourself shaking! I know that the pupils thoroughly enjoyed this entertaining and informative talk and I am sure that their confidence will rise as they put Robin’s advice into action over the coming months.

Athena LecturesThere has been another fascinating range of talks in this term’s Athena lecture programme. Martin Parr is one of Britain’s leading photographers, recently referred to in The Times newspaper as ‘a global star of documentary photography’. His lecture to the Fifth Form was entitled ‘Photobiography’ and consisted of a beautifully illustrated summary of his whole career, highlighting some of his mainstream work as well as his more esoteric publications such as ‘Luxury’, ‘Boring Postcards’ and ‘Saddam Hussein’s Watches’. Tom Avery is a pioneering climber, ski mountaineer and one of only 41 people in history to have reached both the North and South Poles on foot. He is also the youngest Briton to have reached both poles.

His gripping Lower Sixth lecture included a vivid description of his expedition which retraced Robert Peary and Matthew Henson’s footsteps to the Top of the World. Abby Barton (J 92-94) delivered a very personal and informative talk outlining her career since leaving Bradfield. After a degree in Geography and Anthropology at Durham, she worked as a Chartered Accountant with PWC and has since held senior positions with Sainsbury’s and O2. The title of Abby’s talk – ‘Live to work or work to live?’ – highlighted to the Upper Sixth pupils some of the prioritising that they will undoubtedly have to do in their own future careers.

Following the Sixth Form Induction the Lower Sixth pupils, who were

about to embark on the IBDP, had their first taste of what the next

two years will bring. We began with an introduction to the core

elements of the IBDP which run alongside the six subjects that each

pupil takes. These include the Extended Essay (a four thousand-word

essay on any topic that the pupil chooses) and a brief introduction

into Theory of Knowledge – one of the key features of the IBDP

which has already made us question many of our everyday activities.

Having met some of the staff members who would undertake the

challenge of trying to teach us, we built up a good picture in our own

minds about what each of these core elements would entail.

We then ventured outside into what seemed to be one of the

hottest days of the year so far and participated in a series of ‘team

building’ and ‘getting to know each other’ exercises. I’m sure that

no-one has ever seen two single benches used as a basis for so

many games, courtesy of Mr. Daniels. At one point, when we were

all out of breath from the high energy and competition involved,

we spoke about another element of the IBDP, CAS – standing for

Creativity, Action and Service. This involves each pupil participating in

around 150 hours of activities, including anything from horse riding to

LAMDA lessons, and fencing to helping Faulkner’s to recycle in house.

It was a very useful induction as we met all of our new classmates

at once and it particularly helped the new pupils to settle in. It was

overall an exhausting and productive day!

Beth Higginson (M)

IB Induction

Resultus PartnersFollowing Long Leave, the Upper Sixth IBDP pupils completed an Inner Leader programme with Resultus Partners, run by OB John Joint (A 60-65) and Françoise Emery. Last year John and Françoise led two workshops which explored the resources and the support networks we have to encourage success in any walk of life. In this third and final session the focus was on relaxation techniques and interview skills. Through leading by example, John and Françoise are highly skilled at making pupils feel confident when they are outside their comfort zone. Pupils quickly find themselves undertaking new challenges, such as being interviewed in front of their peers, followed by peer feedback. A great deal of the programme involves role playing scenarios, reflecting on how it felt and consequently reviewing the best way to approach it. In this particular session the pupils gained a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses in an interview situation and found the advice extremely helpful. We have very much enjoyed working with Resultus Partners and look forward to more thought-provoking workshops for other year groups in the future.

Christmas ShoeboxesFor my CAS project I chose to participate in a project initiated by Link to Hope. This is a charity that helps rebuild lives and communities in Eastern Europe by supporting Education and Social Care projects in Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Albania. As a Christmas charity they encourage people to pack shoeboxes for families and elderly people with small gifts, sweets, toothbrushes, small toys, gloves and many other items. The boxes are sent to families that have to decide whether to buy food or fuel at Christmas time. I worked together with another IB student, Laura King (K), to encourage Faulkner’s pupils to fill a shoebox over Long Leave. We organised an assembly to outline why and how they should pack their shoebox. Everything went very well and together with the Armstrong House shoeboxes we collected over 50 boxes after Long Leave. Thanks to everybody who participated; the shoeboxes will bring joy to families in Eastern Europe, who are not as fortunate as we are.

Amelie von Halem (J)

Climbing Mount SnowdonTo obtain your IB diploma you must complete a certain amount of CAS (Creativity, Action and Service) hours, as well as completing a CAS project. For my CAS project I chose to climb Mount Snowdon together with Merle Gibson (M) to raise money for the Bradfield Club in Peckham. We will start raising funds very soon in College so keep your eyes open for us.

On 9 November we left Bradfield and drove to North Wales to commence our journey. The trip to the youth hostel took eight hours but we happily arrived to a warm bed. The next morning we all woke up at 7:00am and ate some revolting breakfast before beginning our tiresome trek up Mount Snowdon.

On our way up we had to climb through some waterfalls and rocky terrain that was tricky, but at the same time worthwhile because of the amazing views we had the opportunity of seeing. We were also happy to have climbed to the top of the tallest mountain in Wales in a faster time than we expected, despite our numerous breaks.

When we got back down to the bottom we all had a well-deserved hamburger and a hot drink and then headed back to Bradfield College where we could soothe our painful feet.

Anosha Meyers (K)

The Bradfield tradition of Michaelmas Goose returned to the College once again on the weekend of 21 and 22 September. The annual inter-House competition provides an opportunity for pupils to get to know each other in a relaxed House atmosphere at the beginning of the academic year. The festivities ranged from inter-House sports competitions, discos, tug of war, singing competition, book reviews, staff and pupil debate, inflatable assault course, photography competition, as well as regular fixtures with Highgate and Bloxham in football and hockey respectively. To add to this eclectic mix, some pupils chose to attend the evening events in fancy dress costume. The Faulkner’s pupils had an interactive workshop on film production and also enjoyed being part of the House Song celebrations which was followed by an awards ceremony on Sunday evening. The Michaelmas Goose was awarded to Stanley House whilst the House Song Competition was won by Stevens House with their rendition of I’m So Excited by The Pointer Sisters. An excellent weekend was enjoyed by the whole College with stories, friendships and new experiences for all.

Michaelmas Goose

Bradfield Pupils’ DofE Gold Award PresentationRecent leavers - William Hartz (F), Matthew Hicks (F), Harry Quartermaine (H), Patrick Wall (D) and Rory Kinnear (H) were presented with their Gold Award by the DofE’s Patron and Founder – HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in the prestigious setting of St. James’s Palace on Tuesday 12 November.

The Gold Award Presentation (GAP) is a celebration and recognition of the boys’ achievements in completing their Gold DofE programme. The GAP is a unique event and a fitting culmination to mark the hard work, determination and perseverance required.

In 2014 Bradfield College celebrates the Fiftieth Anniversary of its establishment as a DofE Centre in 1964 - one of the first schools in the country to be awarded this honour. The College is planning a number of events to mark this important milestone.

Co-Curricular FayreThe ever popular Co-Curricular Fayre was held at the start of term. The Fayre showcased an array of Sports, Activities and Societies on offer at Bradfield, ranging from Badminton to Barbershop Boys, Drama to Duke of Edinburgh, Jazz Jam to Open Book Society and Wildlife to Wing Chun Kung Fu. There really is something for everyone at Bradfield. The Music, Drama, Sport, Duke of Edinburgh, Activities, Services, Societies and the Combined Cadet Force form the bedrock of the Co-Curricular experience of Bradfield. The programme aims to develop skills, experiences and self-reliance within the pupils at the College, allowing them to pursue their passions, be challenged and have the opportunity to try out new things.

All the pupils attended the Fayre and many of the pupils are involved themselves in organising and manning their own stalls, which encourages pupil leadership as well as taking responsibility of their own pursuits. The Fayre gives the pupils an opportunity to talk to the activity providers and to gain an understanding of what each pursuit has to offer, the commitment they must give and what they will hopefully gain from the experience. The Co-Curricular handbooks were also distributed at the Fayre and gave an overview of all that is available within the College and can be viewed on the website.

Ethiopia TripA group of nine Upper Sixth pupils and three members of staff spent the whole of Long Leave in what must be the most maligned, misunderstood and misrepresented country on our planet. Stopping in Addis Ababa only to get visas, local currency and drinking water, we immediately headed north, crossing the spectacular Blue Nile gorge on our way to Bahir Dar and then Gondar, the old imperial capital. Before visiting Lalibela, whose complexes of 11 rock-hewn churches are now a world heritage site, we embarked on the first of our Community Treks.

The remote and isolated rural communities that we visit provide us with overnight accommodation, food, donkeys for our luggage and a guide for the trekking. They can only cope with a maximum of six guests and so we split our group for each of these two treks. The ‘camps’ at which we stayed, both in Wollo province near Lalibela and in the northern highlands of Tigray, are spectacularly situated. They provide truly magnificent views of the dramatic mountainous landscape which characterises almost the whole of northern Ethiopia.

We received warm and generous hospitality from everyone we met. We sampled very unfamiliar local food and drink, lived for days without any modern gadgets, taught lessons in remote primary schools, visited churches and monasteries in absurdly inaccessible and vertiginous locations and ended our trip with a frenzy of souvenir-hunting in Addis Ababa. Due to the latter, Ethiopian football team shirts and cups of Wush Wush tea have made their indelible mark in the College. We all felt extremely privileged to be able to visit this majestic and compelling country and are especially grateful to Mr Keeley for all his hard work in planning and setting up this uniquely enterprising venture.

Measure For Measure“Theatre Oikos’ take on one of the densest

of Shakespeare’s works is vibrant and zippy.

It’s a bold decision to turn Shakespeare into

a gangster tale but with a few tunes from

Arctic Monkeys, a pinch of street slang and

sovereign rings, the Bard’s been updated!”

The List

Every year Bradfield College takes at least

one show to the Edinburgh Festival under

the name Theatre Oikos. In 2011 we took

our first Old Bradfieldian production,

Woyzeck, to Edinburgh. We gained our best

reviews to date, gaining four star reviews

from Three Weeks and The British Theatre

Guide. Oikos was created in 2009 for the

devised play, Home. The name Oikos was

chosen in honour of Bradfield’s link with

ancient Greece; Oikos means home in

ancient Greek!

During the first week of August 2013

we performed our first Shakespearian

production, a contemporary interpretation

of Shakespeare’s ‘problem’ play Measure For

Measure, at ZOO Southside on Nicolson

Street. The company consisted of 21 pupils,

18 cast, two Student Technicians and a

Publicity and Marketing Assistant. For the

first time we also had a London preview at

The Chelsea Theatre, where we played to a

very appreciative, sold-out audience.

We got some great audiences and reviews

in Edinburgh, so well done to the whole cast

and to Hannah Dalton (J), Harry Gaff (G)

and Harry Stopps (F) in particular – who

played Isabella, Duke Vincentio and Angelo.

Details of next year’s productions, including

another OB play will be on the website in

the new year www.theatreoikos.co.uk

On Tuesday 22 October 36 very excited pupils and staff met at Heathrow for the flight to New York. We stayed in the Westside YMCA, which has a distinctive atmosphere as you get to mix with local New Yorkers who use the facilities. They have a thriving social action programme with classes and events for local people.

There were lots of opportunities for sightseeing including the NBC Studios where we visited the set of TV shows like Saturday Night Live. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to an area called Dumbo, where we visited Gleason’s Boxing Gym and ate pizza at Grimaldi’s (meant to serve the best pizza in New York). We also did a tour of the Yankee Stadium, went up the Statue of Liberty, travelled on the Staten Island Ferry, as well as visiting the 9/11 Memorial Gardens and several art galleries.

Our theatre visits were the highlight of the trip. We saw a fantastic production of The Glass Menagerie and everyone enjoyed the musical Once. The worst show we saw was Macbeth at the Lincoln Center, with a close runner-up being Romeo and Juliet, starring Orlando Bloom! Some seniors were lucky enough to see Punchdrunk’s immersive, site-specific piece based on Macbeth called Sleep No More which they described as “An inspirational experience”

We also had two workshops with Elizabeth Kemp, the head of acting at PACE university. Elizabeth studied under Lee Strasbourg, founder of The Actor’s Studio, and she is one of the world’s foremost authorities on ‘method acting’. The workshops were about building a character and they were intense but rewarding experiences.

After a packed five days we flew back with some great memories of New York 2013.

Drama Trip to New York

After the success of the all-female Julius

Caesar last year, 15 members of the Shell

and Fifth Form made up an ensemble cast

for The Winter’s Tale at this year’s festival.

This is a challenging play which contains

some adult themes and some extremely

emotional moments. The young cast

delivered an imaginative and committed

performance. Harry Tentori (A) played a

mature Leontes, engagingly communicating

the frustration, jealousy and guilt of the

paranoid king. Amelia Foster (I) had a

successful debut as the beguiling and

wronged Hermione. She proved herself

to be an intelligent and considered actress,

and definitely one to watch in the future. It

was fantastic to see the young cast come

alive on a professional stage and a delight

to see the young performers, especially the

Shell year group, stepping up and showing

that the future of Bradfield Drama is

looking bright.

Shakespeare Schools Festival 2013

Performed at The Wilde Theatre

(South Hill Park Arts Centre)

The Winter’s Tale

Punk RockPunk Rock, written in 2009 by Simon Stephens, is considered by many

to be one of the most important British plays of the last decade.

Stephens, an award-winning playwright, is probably best known for his

adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time which

is currently playing to packed houses in the West End. Members

of the Upper Sixth, directed by Julia Crossley, staged a site-specific

production of the play in the Beaumont Library earlier this term and

created a highly atmospheric and at times, disturbing performance.

Harry Stopps (F) was particularly impressive in the role of William,

whose obsession with new girl Lily, played by Ella Higham (I), and his

inability to cope with his brother’s death when they were children,

lead to disastrous consequences for their classmates. The classmates,

played by Harry Gaff (G), Hugo Salter (H), Alexandra Harvey (I),

Tilly Lambert (M) and Piers Darby (C), are a group of scholarship

students at a Grammar school. They meet daily in the ‘upper school

reading room’, which is why we experimented with performing it

in a different space, and one that used to be a library. The ‘students’

were ably supported by Michael Fane (D) as the therapist who tries

to help William sort himself out. Unfortunately we were unable to

get the performing rights to take the show to New York, which is

what we had originally intended, due to a professional premier of

it happening there soon. Those who saw the production agreed

New York’s loss was our gain!

Afghan ConnectionLectureFaulkner’s pupils were lucky enough to receive a presentation from Dr Sarah Fane, founder of Afghan Connection. Dr Fane founded the charity after experiencing the poor living conditions and poor education in Afghanistan. The Charity aims to educate and enhance children’s life skills across the whole of Afghanistan. Since 2002 Dr Fane and her company have built 39 schools and have blessed over 500,000 determined young children with an education.

The Charity is also the core behind one of the best success stories in years: the Afghanistan Cricket team. Through helpful and generous donations from the Charity, the team has better facilities and excellent surfaces to play on. The national team has risen from 216th ranking in the world to 15th, winning against Kenya to qualify for the Cricket World Cup in 2012. Afghan Connection has created a distraction from the war that Afghanistan is currently facing. Dr Fane and her group travelled out to Afghanistan and donated bats and balls to boys and men that had previously been playing with lumps of wood and water bottles. Cricket now functions as a vital tool for peace. Since 2008, Afghan Connection has built cricket pitches in 38 schools, used by thousands of children every day.

Faulkner’s pupils aim to raise £35 each, the cost of educating a child for a year, which they will then donate to Afghan Connection. This will hopefully raise a total of £5,250 by January 2014 and will help to give unfortunate children a chance of a better future.

Faulkner’s Faulkner’s pupils start the Christmas holidays having enjoyed a very busy and successful first term. The term began with a great weekend in the New Forest, where the boys and girls worked in tutor groups to overcome various challenges designed to break the ice and make new friends. Our second closed weekend saw a new initiative with the Film Production Day. This was great fun and ended with our own mini Oscar Ceremony as all 12 films were watched and previewed on the big screen.

The Athena Lecture Programme kicked off with OB Bertie Gregory (G 06-11) who gave a great talk and slide show on his wildlife photography which has seen him spend time with bears in Canada and the various species found in the Amazon region of South America. Our second lecture came from Dr Sarah Fane, OBE who is the founder and president of the charity Afghan Connection.

The English Department ran a very successful Chaucer evening and the MFL Department ran the French Poetry evening. The Inter-Social Debating competition was eventually won by Antigone, and Agamemnon won the first Conduct Card prize. The eagerly awaited Social Song competition takes place on the last night of term at the Christmas Dinner.

The U14 football teams have been fantastically successful with the A team undefeated, and the girls’ hockey has been very good as well with success in the county championship and regional finals. Elsewhere girls and boys have enjoyed playing a wide range of sports including sailing, climbing, shooting, tennis, fives, fencing and so on and this is very encouraging.

The highlight of the term was the Faulkner’s play The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe which was an outstanding success and all the boys and girls deserve much praise for their tremendous performances which were sold out every night.

Happy Christmas and New Year to all Faulkner’s families.

Harry Faulkner Squash CupThe Senior Boys Squash team travelled to Berkhamsted to play in the inaugural Harry Faulkner Cup. This was in memory of Harry (E 08-11) who went to Berkhamsted School for the Sixth Form, but very sadly died last February from a sudden heart attack. At the time of his death, Harry was ranked in the top 10 in the UK and 34 in the world for his age group (U19). The cup was kindly donated by Harry’s father who watched the matches and later presented the trophy.

Bradfield lost 6-2 in a very keenly fought contest. Captain Alex Larkins (H) played a superb match at second string to win 3-1 and other notable performances came from Ed Rowton-Lee (G), a good victory, Adam Robinson (G) and James Palmer (F), with the latter two both losing (9-11) in very tight fifth sets. The standard of play was excellent from both teams, with individual players raising their games for the occasion, but Berkhamsted narrowly deserved their win. The match served as a fitting tribute for an exceptional young man.

HockeyGirls’ hockey has enjoyed a rather successful season running 10 teams and playing in more than 140 matches. The 1st XI and U14A teams qualified for the South Regional outdoor competitions representing Berkshire and the 1st V also qualified in the indoor competition. The season started with the 1st team squad travelling to Brussels for some pre-season training before returning to Bradfield ready to tackle some difficult opposition early in the season. All girls in both Year 9 (Faulkner’s) and Year 10 (Shell) have played hockey all term and represented the College in a number of competitive matches; for some this involved learning the game completely from scratch. Competition for places in the senior teams has been incredibly tight as we have had over 70 girls competing for places in our 4 senior sides. Girls hockey at Bradfield has continued to go from strength to strength and we have maintained our reputation as a strong hockey school in the area.

FootballFootball at Bradfield has had another improving and successful year. The 1st XI narrowly missed out at the ISFA sixes in September after being knocked out on penalties in the semi-finals. However since then they have produced some outstanding performances and have recently been crowned Elgin Capital Southern Independent schools Northern League Champions with a game to spare. They progress to the league final in January. The 1st XI are also going strong in the ISFA Cup; they are playing their semi final match in the New Year. A senior squad entered the ESFA cup this year for the first time and performed well, gaining valuable cup experience as they reached the 3rd round.

The U15 A team have also had a successful season; they also are competing in the quarter finals of the U15 ISFA cup at the beginning of December.

Football as a whole has continued to improve at Bradfield, from the quality of delivery at all age groups, to the number of pupils who

are able to participate regularly in the sport. This season the College has played 197 fixtures against other schools, 78 internal house matches and delivered 585 training sessions in the 13 weeks of the Michaelmas term.

ESSKIA National Championships Qualifying RoundOn Saturday 14 September the College’s Ski team made their way over to Southampton Ski Centre for the qualifying round of the English Schools Ski Association National Championships. This was the College’s debut at this event and there was anticipation and a little trepidation amongst the racers as only one had raced before. So on the back of one very intensive training session at Aldershot on Wednesday, with a very steep learning curve, we found ourselves at the top of the run with 10 gates to get through on the 110m run.

Not surprisingly Patrick Taylor (A) our only experienced racer came away with the best run of 12.62 seconds out of his two runs. This placed him 52 out of the 150 plus participants. Of the two boys teams

entered, the team of Charlie Ruddle (C), Josh Burrowes (G), Dan Harvey (E) and Tristan Jones (A) all managed to complete both runs and came 6th out of 10 teams. Unfortunately James Rowan and Freddie Parson only managed to complete one run each of the demanding course and

could not support Patrick’s excellent effort. In the girls’ event it was good to see Hannah Davis (K) racing and it would be good to see other girls wanting to get involved in this sport so that we can enter more teams in more age groups next time.

Bradfield Equestrian in Pony Club ChampionshipsEllie Thornton-Allan (Shell - I) competed in the Pony Club Championships in August at Cholmondeley Castle, Cheshire. Ellie was part of the Old Berkshire Hunt Pony Club team that qualified and went on to come 6th overall - the best team placing in the whole of UK!! With the final round set at 1.15m this is an amazing achievement for someone so young. Ellie is an up and coming equestrian star and we are lucky to have her as part of the Bradfield Equestrian team.

Berkshire County LacrosseTessa Aird (I) has been selected for

the Berkshire U15 B team and Annie

Walsh (I) has been selected for the

U18 B squad.

This is a very impressive achievement

as the girls really have to play with

confidence with a new set of team

mates, so many congratulations to

them on these selection successes.

Bella Moore (IL) and her pony Bluebell won their class at the Sunshine Tour Championship Show Jumping on Sunday 22 September at Great Bookham Equestrian Centre. They were competing against winners of previous qualifying competitions so this was an excellent result in the face of stiff competition.

Sunshine Tour Championship Show Jumping

G House EntertainmentTrialling a new Cabaret styled format, the evening was slightly unfamiliar to most. However that did not prevent a familiarly fond G House atmosphere, and the audience took their seats in eager anticipation of what was to come. There was an electrifying start with Harrison Charles, Jack Ainsworth and Josh Burrowes performing an enjoyable rendition of Jolene by Dolly Parton. After this we were treated to a diverse selection of Comedy Sketches, including a Mastermind Sketch by Jack Petheram and Edward McLean-Bibby, as well as Poetry Corner featuring Harry Gaff. Both sketches kept the parents laughing throughout. Other musical pieces showed the huge depth of G House’s musical talent, exemplified in particular by the performance of the Justin Bieber hit single Boyfriend which was performed by the whole House. Harrison Charles (Compere), Edward McLean-Bibby and Sebastian Waddington (Lighting & Sound) must be praised in particular for their excellent efforts and contributions to the evening. Wine glasses were kept topped-up, and moods remained high throughout; next year’s evening will be eagerly awaited.

Adam Robinson (G)

Stone House Play

The Stone House play, Bouncers, opened on a cold winter’s week in November. The play, featuring five members of the House, is a surreal piece about a group of nightclub bouncers, as well as a group of giggling girls, which recounts the events of their normal, cold, evening routine at ‘Embargo’, a club in the East End. Jacob Crossley led the group as ‘Lucky Eric’ and ‘Maureen,’ with several meaningful speeches amongst the furore of the evening. This provided perspective to the work of the bouncers and perfectly portrayed the ‘wise old head’, which perfectly complemented the testosterone-fuelled bravado of his counterparts. Herbert Dare (‘Ralph’ and ‘Suzy’) and Tom Davis-Coleman (‘Les and Rosie’) ably supported Jacob, along with Patrick Rynne-Coleman’s cameo as the cheesy DJ, who all entertained three full houses with well-executed humour as well as seamless transitions from brawny bouncers to giggling girls. Ed Spash (‘Judd’ and ‘Elaine’) also impressed on his Bradfield drama debut with his impressive hairdressing skills (despite the fact that he set fire to Suzie’s hair during a blow-dry) and physical presence as a bouncer. The play was rounded off with an ‘intensively’ rehearsed interpretation of Michael Jackson’s Thriller music video, as the zombie bouncers attempted to clear up broken beer bottles and takeaway food. The play was a great success and each audience was treated to a feast of comedy and drama.

Stanley House ShowOn Sunday 13 October, Stanley House held their annual House Show, an evening full of music and dance. It was a great opportunity for the parents to see the girls in a variety of different performances. The evening was hosted by Klara Fine and Sophie Spooner who provided some fun interludes between the acts. There were some beautiful solos from several girls and one noticeable newcomer to the talented House group was Becca Wheddon. Becca performed an unaccompanied original song, having written both the lyrics and the music herself.

There were some entertaining group events such as the Shell Dance and the Stanley ‘punk’ which was a great compilation of several pianists and a drummer. You had to be there! Julia Cox, Amy Knowles and Cecily Crawford performed a lovely dance to ‘Counting stars’ and Julia later performed a solo piece as well. The audience gave a standing ovation to two new Lower Sixth girls, Lucrezia Hu and Spencer Gao, who gave us a humorous Chinese tongue twister rolling into some amazing dancing.

The finale was the performance of the House Song, ably conducted by Tilly Lambert and produced by Emma Noakes – who celebrated her 18th birthday on the same night. A great evening was had by all.

The CloseThe Close Evening of Entertainment on Sunday 17 November provided an opportunity for the boys to organise an informal occasion to entertain their friends and parents. Items included witty sketches depicting ironic takes on life in The Close (an important opportunity for the boys to rib their Housemaster gently!) with some particularly creative film-making. Likewise, however, the quality of the more serious items was high and it was particularly pleasing to see members

of different year groups working together so effectively. The Head of House, Harry James, and Hugo Salter were outstanding in their leadership of this successful evening, which was well rehearsed while still remaining fun and enjoyable for all.

PygmalionOn the 3, 4 and 5 October Stevens and Loyd Houses performed an entertaining and daring rendition of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. Director Georgina Trott (K) commented “it was a very ambitious production that we took in our stride and tried to make our own through the non-naturalistic elements that we added. It was a very enjoyable experience with many outstanding performances, particularly from the three lead roles, Victoria Leitjen (K), Nicholas Astor (A) and Freddie Mark (A).” Funny moments were highlighted by the light hearted atmosphere created by the cast, and audiences thoroughly enjoyed the fresh and original comedic production.

Faulkner’s Play - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Bald Prima DonnaThe boys of Hillside House performed their own take on a play that had its audience running out of superlatives. Eugene Ionesco’s The Bald Prima Donna takes the audience on a rollercoaster ride through the surreal, weird and often hilarious world of Ionesco’s mind. Like many plays in the theatre of the absurd genre, the underlying theme of The Bald Prima Donna is not immediately apparent. The script is charged with non sequiturs that give the impression that the characters are not even listening to each other in their frantic efforts to make their own voices heard. The play was expertly directed with a fervent enthusiasm by Bertie Mackenzie, whose boundless spirit and inspiring work ethic motivated the cast. Multi-role playing ensured that a number of boys had the pleasure of wearing women’s attire, which some pulled off with great aplomb. Dare we say that some seemed too comfortable wearing dresses…? This shouldn’t take away anything from actors who wore male clothing, they gave the performance an air of manliness with their bowler hats and suits. Individual roles were also performed to the utmost of the actors’ ability, and certain cameos had the audience in raptures. Notable thanks must go to Max Mosely for his tireless rigging of the Old Gym, striving to ensure Hillside had the best lighting of any House play this year. Likewise, as a House the boys would like to express their deepest gratitude to Mr. Carlier and Sandie Ankers. Their support throughout the whole process of rehearsals and the performances themselves was selfless and deeply appreciated.

Pringle TrophyOn Friday 11 October a team of nine Royal Marines Cadets accompanied by Major Daniels and Capt Bates, set off for the Commando Training Centre in Devon to take part in the annual Pringle Trophy Competition. This national military skills event sees all 19 CCF Royal Marines CCF Sections compete in two days of challenging military activities. The team led by Nick Goodwin (UVI -G) was in good shape having trained hard for the previous four weeks. Saturday saw the teams take part in ten military stances in which they could put all their training into practice. The team gave 100% and performed at the top of their game throughout the day. On Sunday the teams took part in a Drill Competition and experienced the famous Commando Assault Course. Once again our lads gave their all with a really courageous effort over this gruelling course. The team was delighted to retain the map reading trophy won last year ; we have now won this trophy more times than any other section. In the overall competition our team earned 11th place, an excellent achievement for such a young and relatively inexperienced team. Eight of our cadets will be eligible to compete again next year and the team returned to Bradfield on a high, already thinking how best to train for 2014!

Bisley Schools’ MeetOn Sunday 7 July the Shooting VIII left

Bradfield to participate in the prestigious

Schools Meet at Bisley. This year there

were 50 schools in attendance and this

amounted to nearly 700 cadets and staff

- a fantastic turnout. The VIII, lead by Rufus

Horne (A) had practiced hard all summer

and were relishing the challenge that this

week of shooting would bring. Days 1 -3

would see the VIII shoot at 300, 500 and

600 yards and try to hone their skills ready

for the big one, “The Ashburton Shield” on

Thursday. The College had not entered an

VIII for a number of years and this fledgling

team, which included five Faulkner’s boys,

improved steadily as the week progressed.

Thursday arrived and the VIII were in good

spirits and optimistic for the day’s events.

The Ashburton was shot over all 3 ranges

and was totally self-coached from within

the team. Rufus Horne and James Kelly

(G) not only shot well but did a fantastic

job of coaching the remainder of the team.

Bradfield finished 15th in a field of 31, a

great result. Along the way Rufus Horne

finished 10th in the Spencer Mellish cup,

a self-coaching competition, and Will Hall

(E) won the OB’s medal for the best score

in the Ashburton and all the College Cups

for best scores at all ranges over the week.

We now look forward to the Small bore

season and hope we can continue our

improvement and success.

CCF Bramley Field Day This term’s CCF Field Day took place at Bramley Training Area on Sunday 6 October. During the course of the day the Shell cadets completed an Outdoor First Aid Course and tackled some leadership challenges on the Army’s demanding High Ropes Course. These were great fun and included a test to get cadets as high as possible on a stack of crates. The senior cadets from all three sections spent the morning conducting training in patrolling and field skills. In the afternoon they moved onto blank firing section attacks, a favourite practice for many of the cadets!

On Friday 29 November Royal Marines Cadet Sgt Adam Knowles (LVI - H) was called upon to perform his first role as Lord Lieutenant’s cadet. The occasion was the unveiling of two new stained glass windows at Windsor Guildhall that were commissioned for HM the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Adam, as one of four Lord Lieutenant’s Cadets, can be called upon during his tenure to support the Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire in her role as representative of the Queen. HM the Queen and Prince Phillip visited the Guildhall to view the windows and Adam’s role on the day was to open the door of the

royal limousine for them upon their arrival and departure from the Guildhall. Adam said it was a fantastic experience and he felt very honoured to have been selected to carry out this important role. Adam looked extremely smart, carried out his task perfectly and was a fine ambassador for the RMCCF and Bradfield College.

Adam has already enjoyed a very successful year achieving 10 A*grades at GCSE and was a hard working member of the 2013 Pringle Trophy Team. He represents the College at football and is a very keen all-round sportsman who will try his hand at any sport he gets the chance to. Adam is very much looking forward to his year as Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet and all the experiences that it will bring and is delighted to have been awarded a Headmaster’s Commendation in recognition of his achievement and contribution to the College.

Adam Knowles, Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet

Bradfield Choir receives warm welcome in CanadaThe sun was shining in Toronto when the Tour Choir landed at Lester B. Pearson airport. After an early start and an eight hour flight the group was glad to be in the land of the maple leaf, baseball, Niagara Falls and friendly people with funny accents. Our first concert was at the historic house, Casa Loma, where crowds of visitors wandered through and stopped to hear our programme.

The next day found us visiting Niagara Falls and taking the Maid of the Mist as close as you can get to the Canadian side of the Falls. A somewhat wet group then walked through the sunshine grabbing photo opportunities before getting wet again as we walked behind and under the Falls. Drying off once more, we went to Lundy’s Lane United Church to rehearse for our next concert. We were surprised and delighted to receive a gift and certificate of welcome from the mayor of Niagara Falls and we had a very appreciative audience who thoroughly enjoyed our performance.

After such a wonderful time in Niagara Falls we then had the opportunity to visit the CN Tower in Toronto taking a 58 second journey on a lift to reach a height of 346 meters and walk on the glass floor. There followed a private tour of the Rogers Centre, Toronto’s baseball stadium, which can seat over 68,000 people. The Toronto Blue Jays were not having a good season but our attendance at their game against the Minnesota Twins brought them good luck and an excellent win.

Our last concert took place at the beautiful Cathedral of St James in downtown Toronto. This is one of the oldest churches in the country and very near the glittering spires of the financial district; we were very fortunate to sing in such a wonderful building. Choir members all agreed that Canada is a terrific place and they certainly charmed and wowed all the Canadians they met.

Jacob Billings in National Youth ChoirJacob Billings (Shell - A) is a member of the National Youth Choir (Cambiata Voices) and performed in a concert with the NYC at The Sage, Gateshead, on Saturday 31 August. In the five days prior to the concert, Jacob had taken part in a residential music course at Ampleforth. The week’s activities included making a recording at The Sage featuring works by Benjamin Britten.

VOCES8The College welcomed a cappella group VOCES8 for a day of workshops with our singers and a terrific concert in the evening. As newly signed Decca artists, VOCES8 is one of Britain’s foremost a cappella groups and our audience was treated to a varied concert of choral classics and modern arrangements. The group’s visit to the College also marked the beginning of our Young Leaders programme with VOCES8 and a cappella quintet Apollo5 helping 24 College pupils learn to lead workshops for primary school children.

Advent, Michaelmas Concert and CarolsDecember got off to a lovely start with the Advent Service. With the Chamber Choir and congregation holding candles in the darkness we began to prepare for the coming Christmas season. The choir carols, including Elizabeth Poston’s Jesus Christ the Apple Tree and John Tavener’s The Lamb, were beautifully sung.

The Music Department then quickly moved from Advent to the Michaelmas Concert and a varied programme of exciting music. Jamie Dellimore-Slater wowed the audience with his performance of Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C sharp minor while the Orchestra and Woodwind Group played works by Handel and Haydn with beautiful aplomb. Short People sung from memory by the Barbershop Boys amused the audience while the String Group began the Christmas themed pieces with Dance of the Snowman from The Snowman Concert Suite. Singing took centre stage for some of the concert with solos by Imogen Taylor with the Jazz Band in Santa Baby and Thomas Hynard with the Swing Band in It’ll Be Lonely this Christmas, as well as an a cappella arrangement of Santa Claus is Coming to Town sung by the Chamber Choir. The larger ensembles also featured with Rutter’s beautiful Star Carol performed by the choir and orchestra, and a very large grand finale featuring the Concert Band, String players and full choir performing Christmas on Broadway. The audience had the opportunity to sing and joined in together with the Concert Band, Orchestra and Choir for Jingle Bells and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. Everyone left the concert feeling a little more prepared for Christmas.

No sooner had the Michaelmas concert finished than the choirs began their annual carol services. The congregation was treated to exquisite singing in wonderful pieces such as Peter Warlock’s Bethlehem Down, The Sussex Carol and Away in a Manger arranged by Bob Chilcott, and The Linden Tree Carol arranged by John Rutter. Each service began with Once in Royal David’s City and three of our newest choristers took the solo first verse: Katie Mazur, Charlie Reed and Harry Hilary. Congregational singing was of course an important part of the services and it was lovely to hear everyone enjoying the chance to sing carols together. A fitting way to celebrate the season and end a busy term.

A 5-a-side charity football tournament was held in aid of the charity Teenage Cancer Trust. The turnout was great and we had more than 170 pupils competing in 10-minute matches and many more came to support. The competitions were won by Stevens House and Loyd House respectively. Along with refreshments, we managed to raise over £200 for the Charity.

Anna von Griesheim (K) and Jamie Cox (A)

Charity Football Tournament

NeskaThis term Neska Society has held four meetings on a variety of subjects. Our first topic was ‘The Over-Sexualisation of Women in the Media’, which followed on from a talk given to the Lower Sixth by Lucy Ann Holmes at the beginning of term. We looked at the way advertising portrays women and how the media pressures women to look and act in a certain way. The next subject for discussion was the ‘Portrayal of Gender in Film’. We looked at clips from Beauty and the Beast, Pretty Woman, Jerry Maguire and various other films, and discussed whether they showed an accurate representation of both men and women. In the second half of term, our first meeting was on the topic of ‘Women in Religion and Culture’. This involved some interesting discussion about the burqa, women’s inability to drive in Saudi Arabia, forced marriages and the rather sobering subject of female genital mutilation. It was shocking to see how gender inequality still rules parts of the world and many of us were surprised that some of these things frequently occur in the UK. Our final meeting of the term was on ‘Women in Music – from Madonna to Miley’. This rather controversial subject saw us watching some of the more shocking music videos that include women. We debated whether the artist willingly chooses to produce these videos, or whether they feel that taking their clothes off is the only way to sell their records. Next term we hope to hold regular meetings again, and will continue to discuss the current issues that affect women in our society. Maia Patrick-Smith (M)

Primary School Mixed Netball The annual Primary Schools’ Mixed Netball took place in the

College’s Sports Hall on Tuesday 8 October. This follows a round

robin tournament with two pools of four schools leading to a

knockout phase for the Plate and Cup competitions.

With Cold Ash St Mark’s and Churchend emerging unbeaten

in the group stages, they were kept apart in the Cup semi-

finals. St Mark’s beat Basildon in a well contested encounter

and Churchend only managed to get past Whitchurch with the

game going into extra time and Churchend eventually running

out winners with a ‘Golden Goal’. The Plate semi-finals also saw

well contested games where Bradfield beat Bucklebury 3-1 and

Spurcroft beat Speenhamland 5-3.

The Plate final between Bradfield and Spurcroft was a very tight

affair and went into extra time tied at one all. With chances

appearing at both ends, Spurcroft managed to get the important

‘Golden Goal’ to run out winners.

The Cup final saw a very competitive game with St Mark’s

quickly opening up a 3-0 lead at half-time. In the second half

Churchend came back strongly, but St Mark’s held on to win 5-2.

Thanks go to Mrs Treacy, our Director of Netball, and her team

of umpires from the Fifth and Sixth Form, who ran a very

efficient and enjoyable tournament.

On Monday 19 August 13 pupils and four staff from the Bradfield

Club in Peckham arrived for their annual visit to the College. They

were here for four days to take part in various activities, designed

to challenge them and to develop the children’s self-reliance

and confidence.

Monday was spent settling into Stanley House and familiarizing

themselves with the College, which included a river crossing exercise

over the Pang and a swim in the pool. A welcome BBQ outside

Stanley House rounded off the busy first day.

The second day was equally busy, with riding at Cullinghood Equestrian

Centre in the morning and a trip over to the Snow Centre in Hemel

Hempstead for a snowboarding lesson in the evening. These were

quite different activities, but both enjoyable challenges for the

young people.

Wednesday was an extra day compared to last year and this allowed

for two new activities, Karting and Paintballing. The Karting was very

competitive amongst all the children and staff, and led to fast, furious

racing, with a little contact at times! This was then followed by the

adrenaline fuelled contest of five paintball games over in Bucklebury

at Bedlam paintball. With two evenly matched teams it all ended in a

hotly contested draw. With a few bruises, but no injuries, every one

showered and dressed up for the formal dinner held in Faulkner’s

dining hall in the evening.

For the final morning we went to the climbing centre in Reading

for an introduction to Indoor Climbing, which culminated in a very

fierce team speed climbing contest. After returning to College, we

had lunch and then took a train trip back to London with a tired

but cheerful group.

Bradfield Club Peckham Annual Visit to Bradfield

Bradfield’s Head, Simon Henderson, joined Headteacher, David Bromfield, and the pupils and staff at Theale Green School in celebrating the school’s 50th anniversary and in marking its new chapter as an academy with Bradfield College as its sponsor.

Simon Henderson said “As Theale Green School celebrates its past and opens an exciting new chapter in its history, Bradfield College is delighted to be able to support it on the journey ahead and is totally committed to the success of a long-lasting and sustainable community partnership that will work to the mutual benefit of the young people at both schools.”

David Bromfield, Headteacher at Theale Green School, said “For 50 years there has been a secondary school in Theale with an emblem of an eagle. It symbolises high expectations. We are now, more than ever, aiming high and expect to achieve this excellence through partnership with Bradfield College.”

Guest of honour, Lady Elizabeth Benyon, was joined by the staff and pupils as she unveiled three plaques to commemorate the various changes in name over the school’s 50 years and wished the school well.

Harvest FestivalOn Friday 4 October the College celebrated Harvest with a wonderful array of food items that will be forwarded to West Berkshire Foodbank, a charity that helps poor families who are quite literally on the breadline. A huge thanks to the College community that contributed so generously to this local appeal. The College Kitchen baked a Harvest loaf and a local farmer donated two bales of straw and some turnips for the display that enriched the three services of Thanksgiving in the College Chapel.

Help for Heroes runThis December a group of daring individuals decided to run 10 miles but with an added twist. For those who have run 10 miles before they should know how hard it is, especially in December with cold conditions and possibly rain or snow. We ran the 10 mile course in combat trousers (used by the armed forces) while carrying a loaded stretcher. Our plan was to run 2 miles out onto the course where we dropped off the stretcher, ran a 6 mile loop and then completed the last 2 mile carrying the stretcher back to the start line. We raised over £1600 for the charity Help for Heroes who provide support and relief for those people and their families who have been affected by war or conflict. Although this was a challenging task it was very much worthwhile knowing that we raised a lot of money for this worthy cause. Aside from this it was a great way to keep in shape, apart from the pain we had in our arms and legs for a week afterwards. Oliver Trapnell (G)

Macmillan Coffee MorningBradfield pupils and staff baked their socks off and raised nearly £900 for the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning on 27 September in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support many thanks to all the bakers and their customers.

Bradfield joins Theale Green School in Celebrations

Prep Schools’ Strings DayTuesday 24 September marked the date of the annual Bradfield

College Prep Schools’ String Day, a popular event in the Music

School calendar, now in its 5th year. We were delighted to welcome

young, talented players from Brockhurst & Marlston House,

Caldicott, Hall Grove, Ludgrove, Moulsford and Thorngrove who

joined us for a day filled with specialist string workshops and

rehearsals, preparing a concert from ‘scratch’.

Everyone worked extremely hard to put together some terrific performances under the leadership of Carol Hultmark, Ruth Frost and Ros Witcombe, with some effective support from Bradfield’s string players. A well-earned, refreshing swim in the College pool between rehearsals ensured our visitors were revitalised and ready for the catchy rumba rhythms and syncopated ragtime melodies exploited in the programme of dances by Anita Hewitt-Jones. It was fantastic to work with such enthusiastic, musical pupils who clearly enjoyed the experience of performing in a large string ensemble and we look forward to working with them again next year!

Prep Schools’ Creative Arts DayGirls from Godstowe and St Andrew’s

Pangbourne enjoyed a busy day at Bradfield

in November working on Volcano themed

Art and Music Projects. They had a great

time in the Textiles department making

colourful felt pieces which involved getting

wet and soapy – but ultimately very clean!

After lunch the girls moved on to the

Music School, where they were joined by

some of the Faulkner’s Music Scholars, and

worked hard to prepare a rendition of

Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King for

the concert to parents and staff at the end

of the afternoon.

Prep Schools’ NetballOn Saturday 16 November, the College welcomed a number of schools to its annual U11 Netball Tournament. The tournament was played in two groups with the winner and runner up of each section progressing to the semi-finals whilst others went into position playoffs. In Group 1 reigning champions St. George’s and Twyford took the top two spots after an incredibly tough group with Bishopsgate just missing out. Group 2 saw St. Piran’s take the top spot, with Lambrook in 2nd. The semi-finals saw last year’s finalists, St. George’s and St. Piran’s, battling it out with St Piran’s emerging victorious. The second semi-final was a clear win for Twyford. There was some excellent netball played throughout the day, but particularly in the final where both teams displayed skills and team work that were highly impressive. After going goal for goal, St. Piran’s won the nail biting 7-6 final. Well done to all the teams taking part!

Prep Schools’ Science ChallengeTeams of Year 5 pupils from 11 Prep Schools

took part in the Science Challenge in the

Blackburn Science Centre on Tuesday 8

October. The pupils completed tasks in the

Biology, Chemistry and Physics Laboratories

- followed by a fascinating talk from Dr David

Brooks, Director of Science, about the various

properties of liquids. The highlight of this was

the destruction of the deep frozen flower!

The afternoon was rounded off by the

presentation of the Science Challenge Trophy

to the winning team - Thorngrove - and then

a Nitrogen Bomb was exploded in the Quad.

Prep Schools’ Football The annual U11 Prep schools football tournament took a different shape this year. 20 schools competed but for the first time teams comprised of 7 players compared to the 6-a-side event in previous years. In addition a ‘Plate’ competition was run alongside the main cup which meant more boys played football for longer. The weather conditions for most of the day were atrocious but this didn’t deter the large number of supporters who came to watch their sons in the driving rain. It was clear early on that both Parkside and Yateley Manor were the teams to watch out for, and both eventually reached the final. In a tight game neither side could break the deadlock, so a penalty shoot-out had to decide the winners. It was Yateley Manor who held their nerve to retain the cup from 2012. Shrewsbury House won the Plate.

Steve Long CelebrationOn Saturday 2 November a celebration in honour of Steve Long took place to mark 26 years as master in charge of Bradfield College football. The day began with an exhibition match on Rectory One played by two hand-picked teams of old members of the football 1st XI and some members of the SCR. The match was refereed by Steve Long himself; with Jonny Saunders (F 88-93) ex-Radio 2 sports reporter and current Deputy Head of Faulkner’s, commentating. The final score in an exciting close match was 4-3.

Teams then headed up to the AWP and were met by other OB footballers to play a competitive six-a-side tournament. Six teams of Old Bradfieldians from different year groups, ranging from the class of 1990 to 2011 leavers, and an SCR team took part. In the closely contested final the SCR team took on Daniel Hutchinson’s (C 00-05) team. The OB team of 2005 leavers managed to secure the win.

The evening’s celebrations began with a drinks reception in the Linnell Room followed by a fantastic three-course black tie dinner in Hall. Speeches were made by Headmaster, Simon Henderson, Chris Saunders (SCR 64-80) and BBC Berkshire news and sports commentator and reporter, Tim Dellor (G 89-94). Steve was then presented with a framed picture in recognition of his service to Bradfield football. Luke Webb (G 00-01) succeeds Steve as Master in Charge of Football.

Chapel ReviewThe Life and work of the Chapel continues to be central to the traditions and ethos of our Christian Foundation and it has been a joy to commence as Chaplain this term at Bradfield College.

We have continued with existing structures, though with increasing events and most pupils being away on Sundays we are deciding where to insert the “Sunday slot” into the working week. The form of an evensong with a guest speaker seems the most likely option, so watch this space!

The introduction of a mid-week Candlelit Eucharist on a Wednesday evening has been an attractive development. This service is contemplative in style and a haven for many amidst the business of school life allowing them to escape its many demands and acquire peace. Pupils have enriched this service with their own playing of instruments and live singing, and next term we even have the College Jazz Band playing some jazz arranged for the Eucharist setting.

Harvest and Remembrance were well supported and for the former a huge amount of food items were donated to the West Berkshire Food bank. A big thank you again to parents who supported this worthwhile cause.

Chapel Prefects have been helpful this term and as I write we look forward to the rich festivity of music made manifest this advent and Christmas, where there will be a warm welcome to you all.

www.bradfieldcollege.org.uk admissions@bradfieldcollege.org.uk Admissions Office 0118 964 4516

Dates for the Diary - Lent Term 2014Wednesday 15 - Friday 17 January

Of Mice and Men (Big School)

Friday 31 JanuaryTempest Flute Trio Concert (Music School)

Sunday 2 February MidYis Shell Parents’ Presentation

Sunday 9 FebruaryFaulkner’s Parents’ Presentation on GCSE choices and Parents’ Meeting

Monday 10 - Thursday 13 February

Junior Play (Big School)

Sunday 23 FebruaryMidYis Faulkner’s Parents’ Presentation

Tuesday 4 - Thursday 6 March

The Winterling (Big School)

Sunday 9 MarchShell Parents’ Presentation and Parents’ Meeting

Friday 21 MarchSpring Concert at Reading Town Hall

Monday 24 - Wednesday 26 March

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Big School)

Friday 28 MarchLower Sixth Parents’ Presentation on UCAS and AS/IB Preparation followed by Parents’ Meeting