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Schools
linked with the URC
When Assembly meets, representatives of the Six Schools, together with representatives of the Collegio Valdese, at Torre Pellice, will already have met for their 1999 Conference "Forward with Faith into the Future", held at Wentworth College, Bournemouth, June 14-15th 1999.
2 The Schools continue to value their links with the United Reformed Church, of which this Report to Assembly is a symbol, and they remain mindful of their original purpose, which was to educate the daughters and sons of ministers, missionaries, and others active in the life of the Churches. They would draw attention to the bursaries which remain available for this purpose, particularly those provided through the generosity of the Memorial Hall Trust and the Milton Mount Foundation.
3 The following reports draw attention to school achievements in the past year and a half.
4 Caterham School
A year or two ago Caterham School was being spoken of as "Surrey’s best kept secret". Now the secret is well and truly out. The school has the reputation of steadily improving year on year. In south east Surrey it is becoming the school to attend. Applications for year 7 have increased by over forty per cent and the school has had to turn people away. In addition the vast majority of our present year 11 have indicated that they wish to stay on in the sixth form and pursue their advanced level GCE studies at the school. Boarding for girls, which started just a few years ago with three pupils, now numbers thirty-five. Interest in it has been so great that the governors have approved the building of an addition to the boarding house to accommodate twelve more girls. Boarding for boys, which nationally has been tailing off, has held its own at Caterham. As a consequence it has been agreed that their facilities will be completely refurbished over the next two years or so.
In his speech to parents and pupils on speech day last year the Headmaster, Rob Davey, spoke of his vision for the school. He hoped that "the real depth of our pastoral structures; the quality of our staff prepared to go the extra mile and more for a pupil; the intellectual vision combined with the vigour that drives the expectation of our pupils……[will] conspire to present our children with a view of the world of real worth and sense".
Whilst acknowledging the importance of league tables (and Caterham is doing well in them, achieving 63.9% of passes at A and B at "A" level), the school is committed to quality in its pastoral care, and variety and breadth in its extra-curricular life including sport, music and drama. A notable milestone at the end of the autumn term was the production of the musical Fiddler on the Roof. Those who saw it were amazed at the quality of the production and the acting ability of so many of our pupils. In addition the school is committed to wide-ranging community service, as well as emphasising its Christian ethos and links with the United Reformed Church. (The school continues to educate the sons and daughters of URC ministers and two more are to join us in September). Its documentation and practice concerning the Christian nature of the school has been commended by inspectors. The documentation has been exported to other schools.
Caterham is confident as it prepares to enter the new millennium. It hopes to continue providing a good all-round quality education to the boys and girls it serves.
5 Eltham College
The year at Eltham College sped by in a myriad of activity. Outstanding success was achieved by the leavers with the school’s best ever "A" level results, gaining a place in the "top ten" coeducational Sixth Forms in the country; we have enjoyed a host of splendid plays, concerts and art exhibitions; sporting honours (some of them national) have been won by teams and individuals, mountaineering expeditions and foreign exchanges have challenged many pupils, and we have opened a beautiful new Library, greatly enhancing our facilities.
The school now had its own resident professional orchestra, the Orchestra of St John’s Smith Square, with whom a special partnership has been formed for mutual benefit.
The school suffered the tragic loss of Dr Peter Page, Head of Sixth Form and Academic Deputy, the community coming together to express its thanksgiving in December, when fitting tributes were offered.
A different kind of loss was felt when Mr Derek Foster left after two years’ service in the Religious Studies Department to return to Missionary work in Indonesia. As his replacement, the Reverend Georgiana Heskins was appointed, bringing a wealth of experience and spiritual insight with her. The Reverend Clifford Charlton has joined the Governing Body as the URC representative.
Within the RS Department the major change has been the introduction of the GCSE short course examination for all Year 10 pupils. Members of the inaugural year group sit the examination this summer, a year in advance of their remaining ten subjects.
The Reverend Peter Stevenson of Spurgeon’s College was invited to address the school for the Remembrance Day service, and as usual we have welcomed visiting ministers from time to time to morning assemblies. Speakers at other society meetings have included Kate Clanchy (poet), Lord Weatherill, the Bishop of Rochester, Lord Nolan, Professor Butler, and Lord Puttnam.
The school continues to remember its links with Eric Liddell and will commemorate the 75th anniversary of his Olympic triumph in the summer. Arthur Green, a school contemporary of Eric Liddell, has presented a silver trophy for a special 400 metres race on Sports Day to commemorate the 1924 gold medal. The school will be represented at the Liddell Convention in Edinburgh in July.
6 Silcoates School
Many prospective parents - including, interestingly, those of other faiths - attach great importance to the fact that Silcoates is a Christian foundation. "What it means to be a Christian school" has provoked lively discussion at Governors’ meetings and in other fora. Even though Silcoates is now a day school, we maintain our tradition of lively, committed and regular Sunday worship; numbers attending have declined in recent years, but a significant minority consider it a very important feature of our corporate life.
With 642 pupils on the roll, numbers are at a record level at Silcoates School, as they are at the other two schools of the Foundation, Sunny Hill House and St Hilda’s. Examination results have been very pleasing; our highest ever pass percentage at GCSE has led to a strong Lower Sixth Form year group. The music department, with two hundred instrument lessons per week, is flourishing. So is drama, and a dynamic production of Oh What a Lovely War was a highlight of the Autumn Term. There is a large and busy programme of sports fixtures; the girls’ hockey squad have their sights set on their visit to South Africa this summer.
7 Taunton School
The School year 1997/98 was an important one in the history of Taunton School. It saw a new Headmaster, Julian Whiteley, in post from September; it saw an increase in pupil numbers, significantly in girls’ boarding where alterations to existing premises to accommodate them were necessary; it saw the best ever examination results taken across the board at A Level and GCSE, a reflection on the quality of the teaching staff as well as the pupils. The reputation of the Science Department for excellence and innovative work continued to grow.
Outside the classroom, Drama continued to flourish using the excellent facilities of the new Theatre. So many pupils auditioned for the Summer production of the musical Grease that two alternating casts performed with great zest and humour. The Choral Society’s performance of Haydn’s Creation in the School Chapel was much enjoyed at the end of the Autumn Term. Pupils have travelled far and wide to represent the School at debating in Canada and Argentina, in addition to appearing as finalists in the English Speaking Union competition.
All levels of games have enjoyed some success. In particular the Girls’ Netball 1st VII excelled, being unbeaten in School matches and finishing third in the UK U19 Finals, and the Boys’ Hockey XI reached the final of the West of England Championships.
Three teams from the School successfully completed the arduous and challenging "Ten Tors" expedition on Dartmoor which was covered by a West Country TV documentary.
"Commemoration" in July, blessed with one of the best days of a poor Summer, was well attended. We welcomed Mrs Joanna Kennedy, a Senior Partner of Ove Arup Civil Engineering Consultants, as Guest of Honour; she spoke with enthusiasm for Science.
8 Walthamstow Hall
The school community was saddened by the death of Miss Elfreda Davies MBE, Headmistress, 1970 - 1983, but her memorial service arranged by the Old Girls’ association was a lively celebration of a life of impressive service both in this country and abroad. Sustained by her firm faith, she fought a long and inspiring battle against cancer, and she leaves vivid memories of her strong public leadership and her quiet personal kindness.
The Old Girls’ association this year celebrates its hundredth anniversary. It was founded in 1899 with the planting in the grounds of a commemorative chestnut tree which is still flourishing. A special centenary reunion will be held in June.
The year’s major drama production was The Oak, the Vine and the Mulberry Tree. It was researched and devised in school and told the story of our own corner of Sevenoaks from the time of the French Revolution to the present day, by way of the Huguenot silk mill, Queen Victoria’s visit, the suffragettes, the bombing of Walthamstow Hall and the coming of the Beatles to Knole Park. As it was a piece of "community drama" involving primary-school children as well as girls from our own Junior and Senior schools (and some boys from Tonbridge School), it attracted grants from the Arts Council and the Sevenoaks District Council. We invited groups of local children and old people to see the five public performances.
Other drama productions have included our annual classical tragedy workshop (this year Aeschylus’ Agamemnon), the Junior School’s Alice and Joe Carpenter and Son, and the House Drama Festival with a detective story theme. Concerts, recitals and musical events of all kinds have abounded, and the year culminated with a vast choir of girls, staff, parents, friends and governors joining to sing Messiah.
In July our Deputy Headmistress, Miss Margaret Vokins, retired, but we were consoled by her nomination to the Governing Body by the United Reformed Church, and she will also serve on the committee of the Foundation Fund for the Children of Missionaries. We have at present six daughters of missionaries in school, a larger number than at any time for more than ten years.
We were delighted to welcome in the course of the year four Italian students from the Collegio Valdese in Torre Pellice, which is affiliated to our Six Schools. We look forward to meeting representatives from the Collegio when we all gather at Wentworth College for our conference of heads, governors and staff.
Six daughters of missionaries and three daughters of ministers are at the school.
9 Wentworth College
In the summer, out of thirty-five girls in the fifth form entered for a total of 300 GCSEs, 12% were awarded an A star (the highest grade), while 84% were graded C or above. Even GCSE grades now carry a tariff: 8 points for a starred A down to 1 for a G. Each of our girls averaged 48.51 points. (But especially successful was Gemma Oram with 10 As, 9 of them starred).
Upper Sixth students entered for a total of eighty-four levels in twenty subjects. Between them they achieved a 91% pass rate, (and we were particularly pleased with Natalie Carter, Wing Lam Chow and Jennifer Hutton - our former Head of Boarders - who were each awarded four Grade As).
In September, our Speech Day guest was Sally Taylor, presenter of BBC "South Today", and so the School Officers gave us their insights on 1997-98 in the form of a news broadcast. It worked well and these are some of their items:
Business news: During the last year thirteen girls participated in the Young Enterprise scheme; many held positions of responsibility, including managing director and company secretary. Two girls went to a trade fair in Brussels and our companies received a total of five awards in the end-of-year awards ceremony.
Foreign news: Large groups of girls went on each of the Christmas holidays skiing course in Switzerland and the German and music tour at Easter. This latter group comprised choir, soloists, recorder group and other ensembles - they gave two concerts to large, appreciative audiences in Boppard and Bad Bertrich.
The Arts: The main drama production was The Darling Buds of May. In the summer term we had an excellent Creative Arts Evening which celebrated the girls’ great range of talents, from art through dance to textiles. The senior recorder group reached the National Festival of Music for Youth final in Birmingham and Lucy Cochrane - a member of the fourth form - won a place in the National Wind Orchestra.
Sports news: Girls have enjoyed success both on and within the water. Two of our younger pupils - Pippa Wilson and Lauren Morrison - became the U15 National Inland Sailing Champions; Pamela Young, a member of the third form, won the individual section of the National Lifesaving Championships. Seventy-two swimming awards were presented to various determined individuals. Lacrosse had a good season, the highlight of which was the match against Portsmouth High that our team won 9-1. In netball, tennis and athletics there have been various team and individual triumphs. Since the girls have access to the Fitness Studio, which was opened at the start of last year, they now have no excuse not to be fit.
Community Service: There were various efforts to support selected charities throughout the year. The third form raised £113 in one evening by carol singing in Bournemouth; while each term the School House boarders and their friends entertained elderly members of the local community through their support of "Contact the Elderly". Also, many girls have continued their involvement in Task Force. Through this they are able to canoe, sail and enjoy other activities with disabled young people from the Victoria School in Poole.
Scientific news: The Science Departments organised several educational visits to such places as the Polymer Circus - at which the girls were given a valuable insight into areas of science which cannot easily be demonstrated in school - and the Science Museum, where one visit involved sleeping overnight in the museum.
The Social calendar: There have been many events including the music and supper party for parents, the annual Christmas party for a local group of people with MS, carols and mulled wine around the Christmas tree, the Friends murder-mystery evening, and the Wentworth Annual Science and Technology lecture and dinner, at which the theme was aviation safety.
The School Officers ended with their forecast for the year ahead. This included "showers of goals", "sunny periods in the classroom" and "spells of hard work" before next summer’s examinations. I hope they are right.
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