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Schools related to the United Reformed Church
1. Representatives of the Schools met in London, 14 June 2004. Arrangements for the meeting were made by the Headmaster of Silcoates School.
2. Students, staff, and governors of the Schools met at Corrymeela, 7–10 October 2004. The meeting, arranged by the Headmaster of Caterham School, whose father was the founder of Corrymeela, is referred to in the reports from Caterham School, Eltham College, and Silcoates School. Building on the experience shared with the Collegio Valdese at Torre Pellice in 2002, the Schools now look forward to a similar encounter at Taizé in 2006. They believe that such meetings express and develop the spirit of their foundation.
3. The Schools remain grateful for bursaries provided by the Milton Mount Foundation and the Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust. In June 2004 the latter approved a further generous grant, to be awarded subject to the provisions of the Trust, for each of the three years, July 2004 to July 2006. The Headmaster of Eltham College has agreed to co-ordinate the arrangements for this grant on behalf of the Schools.
4. The Schools congratulate Dr John H Newton on his appointment as Headmaster of Taunton School and thank Mr Julian P Whiteley for his contribution to their meetings during his time as Headmaster at Taunton.
5. Caterham School
Caterham has enjoyed another successful year with a most encouraging ISI Inspection Report.
There has been a significant impact with the new Director of Learning and Teaching, a post to monitor and develop how we teach and how pupils learn.
This development has gone hand in hand with yet another improvement in A level and GCSE results, allowing an unprecedented 90% of pupils to go to the universities of their first choice.
Caterham continues to develop its World links with thirty-three pupils going in three teams with World Challenge to Zambia/Botswana. Another group was on an exchange programme with the Western Reserve Academy in Ohio and they made a DVD of their experience in this key State during the recent USA Presidential elections.
The six United Reformed Church Schools went on the next stage of their European “Building Bridges” campaign to the Corrymeela Community where they learnt a lot about the work of the community and worked with a mixed religious group of students from Belfast.
A trip to the Taizé Centre is planned for 2006.
The new Master Plan has begun to be implemented with the building of a new Refectory and state of-the-art Science building.
6. Eltham College
Eltham College has experienced a face-lift in 2004. Two major building projects have been completed and a third approaches completion. The first and most obvious is the new entrance. On 3 July 2004, Stephen Smith unveiled the plaque on the new Millennium Gateway which acknowledges the contributions of Old Elthamians during his Presidency of the OEA to the completion of this project. The Gateway provides a new entrance to the College from Grove Park Road, allowing parents to deliver their children safely, and easing congestion on the main road. Stephen described it as a gateway of welcome, a gateway to learning and a gateway to our community.
The second development has been the refurbishment of The Grange, the eighteenth-century villa which has housed our Junior School. Working with the local authority’s conservation officer, our architect has re-instated the Grange while enlarging the twentieth-century extensions into a more stylish and purpose-built classroom block for our 7 to 11 year-old pupils. The result is striking and the teaching and learning environment in the Junior School has been greatly enhanced. The official opening was conducted by Simon Weston, the Falklands veteran:he talked to the boys about his personal experiences and his charity, Weston Spirit, which offers a fresh start to young people in deprived areas.
After the closure of the Boarding House in July, construction work began on the conversion of the building into a Music Centre, providing instrumental teaching and practice rooms for our visiting music teachers. This was due for completion in the late spring of 2005.
In January, the school launched a Development Campaign for a Bursary Fund. In the past years pupils have been able to attend the College with support from either the Direct Grant or Assisted Places Schemes. Now that the Government have withdrawn this support – the final group of students to benefit from the Assisted Places Scheme left in 2004 – Governors agreed that a professional approach to fund-raising should be adopted to establish the finances to open education at Eltham to all who would benefit, regardless of their financial background. This campaign has enjoyed a reasonable success in its first year and its positive start has given us the confidence to believe that we shall eventually raise sufficient funds to ensure that the essential ethos and Christian character of Eltham College are preserved.
2004 also marked two sad occasions: Barry Withecombe, Maths teacher, cricket fanatic and manager of the Tuck Shop, died unexpectedly at Easter after twenty-seven years service. A Memorial Service was held in May and many friends and former pupils shared their memories of this Mr Chips-like character. At the end of the summer term a Chapel Service and Luncheon brought together Old Elthamians who were celebrating the life of former Headmaster, Christopher Porteous, and those who were remembering the contribution of the Boarding House to the life of the school. Tributes from Christopher Bradnock, the Revd Peter Swaffield, and the Revd Frank Wells contributed to a most moving service. The passing of Boarding will be a significant mile-stone in the life of the school. However, we hope to ensure that the positive values that the boarding house brought to the school can be maintained in the future.
In October a group of current Elthamians travelled to Northern Ireland with other pupils and staff from the Schools to visit the Corymeela Community. They reported how warmly they had been welcomed and how they understood far more about the troubles there and appreciated what it was like to grow up with this as a back-drop.
Over the summer holidays Eltham College was proud to host a Tented-Village for about 2500 members of the Soul in the City project, on College Meadow. This is an off-shoot of “Soul Survivor” inviting young Christians to spend two weeks working within different London boroughs on youth projects. The project received much local and national press coverage and it was considered to be a very positive programme to help and involve young people in the capital city.
7. Silcoates School
Hail and farewell. Mrs Jo Sharpe succeeded Mrs Rosemary Mackenzie as Headmistress of St Hilda’s School. The Revd Brenda Hill, a wise friend, retired from the Governing Body.
We were very pleased to welcome the new Bishop of Wakefield, the Right Revd Stephen Platten, to Silcoates when he confirmed a number of pupils in the Chapel. The Chapel Choir, wearing their new robes, sang beautifully in Wakefield Cathedral at a Thanksgiving Service for the life and work of Dr John France, a remarkable man who was in charge of our outdoor activities for very many years.
The Choir also performed splendidly, as did other music groups, at the opening of the new Music School. Jane Glover spent a memorable day with us and it was a great treat – and an excellent education – for our young musicians to find themselves under the baton of an internationally renowned conductor.
In June another magnificent new building, the Sixth Form Study Centre, was formally opened. The summer holidays saw a major reorganisation of the rooms in the main building.
Our candidates did very well in the summer examinations, the statistics of the A level and GCSE results mirroring those of the record-breaking students of 2003. At A level the average total of UCAS points per student was again the equivalent of three B grades and virtually all of the Upper Sixth leavers have embarked on a university degree course, or will do so after a “gap” year. The GCSE pass rate equalled last year’s high-water mark of 92%: half of the grades were A* or A.
Two five-star Guests of Honour graced our Junior and Senior Speech Days. Sally Kettle, lately back on dry land from rowing the Atlantic, told of her remarkable experiences. Dr Ingrid Roscoe, Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, charmed us all and indeed made a return visit to watch an excellent production of Duerrenmatt’s The Visit.
Busy terms; busy holidays. Among the many (ad)ventures were trips and tours as far afield as Rome, Luxembourg, the Lofoten Islands, Australia and New Zealand. The most moving were the visits to the battlefields of the First World War and the Normandy beaches (especially poignant in early June 2004) and the days spent at Corrymeela by representatives of the Six Schools.
8. Taunton School
This has been another successful year at Taunton School.
Academically we have had our best results for many years. At A level the pupils enjoyed a 98% pass rate with 65% graded either A or B with some seventeen pupils achieving at least three grade As; our AS results were creditable with 94% of examinations passed and 56% at A or B grade (both improvements on last year); whilst at GCSE 97% of examinations were passed with 47% at A* or A. For a school that is essentially non-selective we believe that these results are a credit to the hard work and industry of both the students and staff.
The students are leading increasingly busy lives: they continue to impress not only with the scope of their involvement in extra-curricular activities but also the enthusiasm with which they enter into them. On the rugby pitch the 1st XV had an outstanding season winning all but one of their games averaging over 45 points per game whilst conceding on 30 throughout the season. The 1st VII were runners-up in the Final of the National Schools Sevens at Rosslyn Park. The girls were not to be outdone. They reached the National Schools Netball Finals although sadly they did not perform to the best of their ability on the day. Two pupils were selected for National Age Group Hockey Teams.
The Arts, in particular music, have flourished over the last twelve months. Many more pupils have been involved in drama including a newly introduced Inter-House Drama Festival and three student-directed productions. Sadly and, one suspects, like many schools, the impact of the Summer Examinations sessions has been significant. It may be that we have seen our last summer musical – a great shame. The resurgence of music at the School has been spearheaded by two new, young, and enthusiastic staff. The number of pupils receiving music lessons has trebled in twelve months, the number of groups doubled. The improvement in standard is unquantifiable but has been, nonetheless, exceptional.
Elsewhere we now have over 10% of pupils assisting with our new Community Volunteers Programme, the CCF is the largest in Somerset and the numbers involved in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme have increased significantly. These facts restore one’s faith in the younger generation, particularly when one is constantly told by the media and other commentators how selfish and lazy the youth of today are.
In February 2004, following eighteen months of preparation, the School achieved the Investors in People Award.
At the end of December the school welcomed as Headmaster Dr John Newton, a Housemaster and formerly Director of Studies at Eastbourne College. He replaced Julian P Whiteley who, in compiling this, his last report, describes his years at Taunton School as “exciting and rewarding, if at times a touch exhausting”.
9. Walthamstow Hall
The academic year 2003-2004 was busy and successful. The previous year saw us start term in September with builders in residence in the main Victorian building and last year ended with more builders, this time working on the redevelopment of the Science block.
Public examination results were very good: 100% pass rate at A level, with 49% of grades passed at grade A. Three candidates secured places to read medicine, one at Oxford. At GCSE 65% of passes were at grades A or A*, with girls achieving between 9 and 12 passes. These results placed us 27th in the Guardian’s top independents’ league table.
Outside the classroom, girls continued to distinguish themselves in extra-curricular activities and maintained a pleasing level of involvement in charity and community work. Our links with the Peckham settlement were maintained, and we had a record number of sixth form girls involved in Sevenoaks Voluntary Service Unit projects like riding for the disabled and visiting local care homes.
We were pleased to re-establish our link with Neyyoor mission school in India through a current member of staff whose parents were in medical missionary work at Neyyoor. Year 11 raised over £400 for Children in Need, and all six school houses supported their chosen charities with commendable commitment. Girls seems to be as adept at making money as giving it, and our LVI Young Enterprise Company won the award for Best Company in North West Kent for the sixth successive year.
In the Spring Term, our Lacrosse squad toured the USA on what proved to be a most memorable school trip. Our U12, U13 and Senior netball teams won their leagues and the U13 reached the semi-finals in the Kent Schools’ Tournament. Our U12 and U14 lacrosse teams were runners-up in the Kent tournament.
Music and Drama continued to be strong with lively inter-house competitions and a succession of pleasing concerts and recitals throughout the year. One notable occasion in the Autumn Term was a Christmas Concert by torchlight following a power failure. In true Walthamstow Hall spirit, the concert continued despite the lack of power.
In the Summer Term, we were delighted to be joined at our Prize-Giving ceremony by Professor Martyn Chamberlain, Master of Grey College, Durham. We were also pleased that an old friend of the school, Miss Downton (aged 103), was able to join us on that occasion. She knew and remembered Miss Blackburn (Headmistress 1946-1979) as a child in Sevenoaks and greatly enjoyed having the opportunity to meet current staff and pupils.
As the summer term drew to a close, the builders arrived to start gutting the Science block, ready to refit. When we returned in September we found transformed science facilities with the Biology Department re-sited to be in the same building as Physics and Chemistry. The new laboratories have the latest in Inter-active Whiteboards and ICT kit as well as state-of-the-art science facilities.
Improvements such as these should enable us to continue providing girls with the excellent education they need to play a full part in life in the twenty-first century.
10. Wentworth College
Value added (measure of progress for each pupil’s career in the school) continues to be a main strength and feature of our examination results. With the publication of the GCSE results, we are able to calculate the amount of value added for each of our pupils based on a national test taken when they entered the school. Last year each pupil achieved an average of 9.2 grades above those predicted. This is an impressive figure as it means that they performed well above pupils of a similar ability elsewhere in the country. Meanwhile, students in Year 13 completed their final modules in twenty-two subjects with an overall pass rate of 100%.
Boarding at Wentworth continues to thrive. Boarders have enjoyed their regular craft, swimming, basketball, and roller skating sessions in school. They have also been out to see films, go ice skating, bowling, and visit places of interest such as Bath, Winchester, and Brighton. The highlight of the year was the annual camping expedition: in June 2004 a group of twenty-one girls and members of staff stayed under canvas near Beaulieu, visiting Lyndhurst and a local dairy farm.
Task Force has continued to flourish. There were canoeing sessions in the school pool in which the girls helped Victoria School pupils to take part in an activity not usually available to them. For many girls the highlight of the school year was the art and music tour to Barcelona at the end of April 2004. Visits were made to art galleries and the chamber choir and flute group gave concerts to large audiences in Montserrat and Barcelona Cathedral.
Many sixth form members were given the opportunity to attend Young Enterprise, to gain an insight into business and mix with local schools. Our sporting teams have also had a successful year, and a number of girls were selected for county squads in badminton, tennis, and netball. Last summer fifty junior members of the school took part in a most enjoyable performance of Tales Untold. Other members participated in the school’s annual Songs from the Shows dinner event and the senior drama group staged After September during the Autumn Term.
Our girls have dedicated much of their time to charitable activities, such as preparing 140 Christmas shoe boxes for the Mustard Seed Relief Mission. Two of our Year 11 girls wrote and produced a musical, Silver Slave, in aid of Cancer Research UK. Staff and girls took part in a charity week raising funds for the BBC Children in Need Appeal and the MacMillan Lewis-Manning Hospice in Lilliput. The girls have also been busy raising money for the Beslan and Tsunami Appeals. Year 9 held a cake sale and the school’s flute group and Gill Price (Year 13) performed at a Tsunami concert in St John’s Church, Boscombe.
The Advent Service for 2004 was held at Richmond Hill URC, Bournemouth, led by the Revd Adrian Bulley, the Moderator for the Wessex Synod, and the Minister, Dr Donald Norwood. It was well attended by governors, parents, and the congregation. The music provided by the school choir was especially pleasing.
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