5th September 2006
Dear Parents,
I trust that you have all had a good summer. I extend a particular welcome to the parents of new pupils, obviously in Year 7 but also in the Lower Sixth, many of whom have produced outstanding GCSE results.
The A Level results were very pleasing, being marginally better than last year’s record. Excluding General Studies, 93% were at our target grades of A, B or C; 78% at grades A or B; and 46% at grade A. The results overall were such that over 75% of students will go to their first choice of university. Four or more A grades were achieved by 17 students, five A grades were achieved by 8 students, and Simon Xu achieved six; he will read Medicine at Cambridge. I am very pleased that 12 have secured their places this year, and the 12 boys concerned are even more pleased!
I was especially encouraged by the Lower Sixth’s AS results, which are the best by far. The percentage of A & B grades has improved dramatically, from 53% in ’04, to 63% in ’05, and now to 73%. This is a remarkable improvement and must augur well for the present Upper Sixth. From 4 AS subjects and General Studies, 16 have achieved 5 A grades and no fewer than 53 achieved at least 3 A grades.
At GCSE, the pass rate was 98%, with 61% at the A grades, including 17% A*s. There were some outstanding individual results including Songyang Zhou’s 11 A* grades. Two departments excelled: Jonathan Akinyemi’s Religious Studies paper was among the top 5 from 18,545 nationally, and English had two students, David Segurola and James Barnett, among the top 5 in English Literature from no fewer than 362,438 students. The School encourages students to study their parents’ home language, and Julio Garay-Roa, whose mother is Colombian, was entered for Spanish in Year 10, and was among the top 5 from 35,112. My congratulations to these students and to all who excelled at GCSE.
A number of new staff are joining the School. Miss Bird is appointed Assistant Subject Leader for Mathematics. She studied French Horn at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, followed by a Diploma in Orchestral Studies at the National Centre for Orchestral Studies at Goldsmiths College, University of London. She became a peripatetic music teacher in South London, specialising in the French Horn, at which she continues to play freelance and with the Surrey Sinfonietta, Stowe Opera Orchestra and the Lambeth Orchestra. In 2001, Miss Bird graduated with First Class Honours in Mathematical Sciences at the Open University. She joined the Graduate Teacher Programme at Sydenham School, subsequently becoming Second in Charge of Mathematics. Miss Bird has travelled widely and enjoys the opera, arts and theatre. Also joining the Mathematics department is Miss Bannaghan. Following a Master of Mathematics degree at the University of Durham, Miss Bannaghan undertook a PGCE at Manchester University. The Deputy Head Girl at School, she has a strong interest in Drama, public speaking and Music. She has produced plays, sung in choirs and played the cello in various orchestras. The department is also strengthened by the appointment of Dr. Schiavo, who initially studied Industrial Electronics in Vicenza, Italy before undertaking nine years of mathematics’ study at the University of Padua, Italy where he was awarded the title of “Dottore in Matematica”. He taught Mathematics in Italy before coming to England in ’01, working as a Mathematics tutor and in Administration, and completing his PGCE at King’s College, London. Mr. Schiavo has extensive experience in computers, and is involved in music, art and sports. He plays both the piano and guitar and is an accomplished choir singer; his hobbies include black & white photography; and he plays volleyball and is a good skier. Mr. Nathan is appointed to teach both Mathmatics and ICT. He studied for a BSc in Mathematics at the University of Ibandan, Nigeria and taught for 9 years in Nigeria. Coming to London, he worked in ICT before completing a BSc in Computing Studies at South Bank University. Mr. Nathan undertook a PGCE at Brunel University, which included teaching practice at Nonsuch High School in Cheam, before teaching ICT for two years at Chiswick Community School.
Miss Colclough is appointed to teach English and will serve as Assistant Subject Leader for English during the maternity leave of Mrs. Beevers. Miss Colclough studied English & Theatre Studies at the University of Warwick and took a PGCE at the Institute of Education in London. She taught at Charles Darwin School in Westerham, Kent and joined the “Outstanding Teacher Programme” of the London Challenge, becoming an Advanced Skills Teacher. Miss Colclough has an active interest in music, playing the acoustic guitar, singing with a jazz band and writing songs. As a writer, selections of her poetry have been published and she has worked as a script editor for a comedy group on the Edinburgh fringe and London productions.
Mr. Pletts is appointed to teach Geography. From Sutton Grammar School for Boys, where he was Deputy Head Boy, Mr. Pletts went to Birmingham University to study Geography. He then undertook a PGCE at the University of Cambridge. Mr. Pletts has been involved in producing magazines and newsletters, in ICT and in sport, especially football, tennis and cricket; he is keen to support school rugby.
Mr. Bean joins the department of History & Classical Civilisation. He graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2004 with joint honours in History and Ancient History. He became a teaching assistant, supporting pupils with special educational needs before undertaking the Graduate Teacher Programme. At university he founded the Nottingham Automobile Society and during his GTP year a school war games club. Mr. Bean is a keen footballer, photographer and skier. Dr. Meek is appointed as a Fast Track Teacher to teach History and Critical Thinking. He took a BA in History and Philosophy and an MA in History at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, serving also as an Assistant Lecturer. He was a Visiting Fellow in Medieval History in New Jersey, USA before completing a PhD at Trinity College, Cambridge. He worked as an Education Officer for the British Dental Association before taking a PGCE at the Institute of Education, London. He has travelled widely, has interests in 19th century and medieval literature, plays the guitar and has a large collection of music, and enjoys sports, including cricket and rugby.
Miss Tweedie is appointed to teach Religious Studies and Critical Thinking. She studied Theology at the University of Durham and then undertook a PGCE at Cambridge. Miss Tweedie was Head Girl at the Abbey School, Reading. She has been active in debating, Guiding, rowing and, as well as being a competent flautist, has a keen interest in Scottish dancing and Italian culture.
Mr. Mumby is appointed to teach Economics and Business Studies. He studied Economics at Sussex University and completed his PGCE at Brighton University. He is particularly interested in sports, playing rugby at school, club and university and playing cricket semi-professionally for the Sussex 2nd X1 and touring Sri Lanka and South Africa with the Sussex Academy. Also joining the department is Miss Ramadharsingh. She studied Economics & Management at the University of West Indies, before working briefly in the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago as a research assistant, then lecturing at the Hospitality & Tourism Institute and teaching Economics & Business Studies at a grammar school. Since coming to this country, she has lectured at a Sixth Form College and taught at a school in Croydon. Ms. Ramadharsingh is actively involved in sports, including cricket and soccer.
Mr. Chapman will teach Design & Technology. He studied Architectural Technology at the University of Glamorgan. Following a career as an Architectural Technician Mr. Chapman undertook research at the University of Glamorgan before completing a PGCE in Design & Technology at Swansea Institute of Higher Education. Mr. Chapman has a keen interest in Architecture and has played American Football for the Cardiff Cobra’s.
Mr. McCarthy is appointed to teach Physics. He studied for a degree in Computational Physics at Trinity College, Dublin and completed his PGCE at St. Mary’s, Twickenham. He attended a boarding school with a strong sporting tradition, and has been mainly involved in soccer and basketball. Dr. Whiting is appointed to teach Biology. She studied for seven years at University College, London and emerged with a First Class Honours degree in Microbiology and a PhD. During her research, Dr. Whiting was a volunteer classroom assistant and a Student Mentor, demonstrating and teaching laboratory skills to final year degree students. She then secured employment on the INSPIRE project at Imperial College, London, sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Whiting has worked with us on this scheme for the past year completing her PGCE at the Open University. She gave a fascinating talk to the whole School on her PhD research on “Genome Diversity in Antarctic Dry Valley Environments”.
Mr. Young is appointed as a Games Coach and Cover Assistant. Mr. Young is an Old Boy of the School who went on to achieve a degree in Rural Resource Development. Subsequently he obtained diplomas in Agriculture and Garden Design and worked for landscape garden companies culminating in running his own garden design business since 1998. Mr. Young has represented Surrey at U17 and U19 and the London Division University XV. He has played for the Old Walcountians 1st XV as well as coaching there for a number of years. Currently he is responsible for the Old Boys 1st XV. He holds the RFU Level Two Coaching Award and is awaiting the results of the RFU Level Three Award, the highest award achievable for non international coaches. Mr. Young also holds a coaching award for cricket and has played for 25 years.
Mrs. Adam has been appointed as an Administrative Assistant in the school office. Mrs. Adam worked for 18 years as a Senior Administrator with the local newspaper Trinity Mirror before it relocated to Teddington.
Parents may not be familiar with Critical Thinking, a new AS Level course, which has no syllabus content as such, but aims to develop the key skills of thinking and analysis. We have piloted this with classes after school with the top 15 students in the Lower Sixth for the last two years, and it is now compulsory for all Lower Sixth students. I hope that the course will help to develop our students’ thinking skills for life, and also enhance their performance in other subjects.
The range of interests of the staff cited above may well impress; teachers are generally out-going and talented people. The School has always recognised the value of teachers’ commitment outside the curriculum. I must emphasise that this is voluntary. Teachers are employed to teach, and what is given outside their teaching subject is a matter for an individual teacher. However, the School is extremely fortunate in its staff, and we have always prided ourselves on our extra-curricular activities. We hope this year to expand and extend them. Do encourage your son or daughter to become involved. It will enhance their enjoyment of the School, extend personal and team skills, boost academic performance and foster their all-round development as people.
