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Beyond the Classroom: Latest News
The number and variety of entries below give a flavour of the breadth of activities that take place here at Shrewsbury. If your particular interest is, say, Music or the CCF, please use the links on the left to navigate to its section where you should find a page showing just the news that you're interested in.
Please click on the news headline to display the detail for that item.
We also post regular snippets of news on Twitter. Follow us @ShrewsSchool
Latest News - Beyond the Classroom
Friday 22 September 2017
Blueprint for a Bright Future: Reflections on Foundation Fortnight
For most of us, Sunday 3rd September 2017 will have been just another day. For 126 individuals, however, that date will have been etched in their minds for some time as one of particular significance. Some of them through the summer holidays will have been anxious about the date and with each passing day will have dreaded its accelerating proximity. Others will have experienced excitement in the anticipation of the date, eager for the day to finally arrive. Many more will have experienced both polarities of these emotions, excited and anxious in equal measure. For Sunday 3rd September 2017 marked the day that 126 new boys and girls joined Shrewsbury School's Third Form.
A new school; a new start. New teachers, new classmates, new subjects, new activities.
It will have been, no doubt, somewhat daunting, somewhat overwhelming, but as Sunday rolled into Monday, Week One into Week Two, this group of young men and women will have day by day felt a little more at home and a little more at ease.
Foundation Fortnight is an extraordinarily busy first two weeks for the new pupils, and deliberately so. The architect of the programme is Head of Third Form Jeremy Lucas, who carefully drafts together a carousel of activities that not only keeps the new pupils fully occupied (and distracted from thoughts of home) but also serves to enthuse and inspire, to spark that crucial first flame of enthusiasm.
Aside from finding their way around Shrewsbury's large campus (my colleagues who wear Fitbits inform me that considerable mileage is covered each week from just walking around school site!), the new pupils are introduced to a veritable feast of activities to whet their appetite for what is available to them. With such a strong co-curricular offering that provides an unrivalled breadth and depth of opportunities, there is, quite literally, something for everyone. We want to enable all pupils to find their passion, whatever that may be, and to nurture and encourage them in developing their interests and talents to the best of their own particular abilities. That process begins from day one of the Third Form.
For many of the pupils, they will have tried something new during Foundation Fortnight. That might have been getting on the water in a rowing boat for the first time, it might have been playing Fives. It might have been dance, or drama, or running with the Hunt. Many will have stepped out of their comfort zone in doing so, but it's not quite so daunting when everyone's in the same boat (literally, of course, down on the Severn). The message is clear: give it a go!
Following through the rotations in their House cohort, day by day these groups begin to gel, the unfamiliar faces of that first Sunday soon transformed into the faces of friends and best buddies.
There's a pride in their faces as they don the House top for the first time running in the Third Form Race. Their partisan spirit is even more evident during the second weekend as they compete in the House hockey and football tournaments. A goal is scored, they cheer as one, huddle as one, high-five as one. They are no longer that isolated individual in the far-too-big-blazer that stood awkwardly on the first Sunday uncertain of what lay before them. Now, they will proudly tell you, they wear the colours of their House, shoulder to shoulder with their mates. This is my House and I'm proud!
Housemasters, Housemistresses and Matrons play a crucial role in the process, not just in the first fortnight of term but in the many months and years that went before them as those initial visits were made. Shrewsbury's pastoral care lies at the heart of who we are as a School, and the devotion and dedication of the House teams to their boys and girls is of the very highest order. For the boarders, their House very much becomes that 'home from home'. Mugs of hot cocoa on the Private Side each evening, a helping hand from matron, the kind word of a Sixth Former. All help in the process of settling in.
There is, of course, plenty of academic work that goes on in the first fortnight of term for the new pupils. Whether in Hodgson Hall, Chatri Centre or the Main School Building, they will have been taught and already inspired by Shrewsbury's talented Common Room of staff, a dazzling bunch of bright sparks and enthusiasts. Each and every one is passionate about their subject, and passionate about nurturing the progress of all Salopians. Collectively we want to ensure that each pupil is supported, encouraged and inspired.
Coach Weekend now awaits, and some very tired Third Formers will drive out of the Moss Gates feeling very ready for some much-needed rest. The ground has been broken, the foundations laid. An array of towers and skyscrapers are now waiting to be built: the Salopian skyline awaits.
To enjoy a flavour of what the Third Form have experienced during Foundation Fortnight, please have a look at the video that has been made by our new Film Fellow, David Clifford: Foundation Fortnight in Film.
Wednesday 20 September 2017
Foundation Fortnight in film
Friday 15 September 2017
Visit to Shrewsbury School by Mr Terry Waite CBE
As a member of the Archbishop of Canterbury's private staff, Terry Waite successfully negotiated the release of many hostages during the 1980s. But in 1987, while attempting to secure the release of four men held in Lebanon, he was taken hostage himself. He survived almost five years in strict solitary confinement.
On Saturday night he spoke for an hour on 'Survival in Solitude' and provided us with an insight into what captivity meant to him as he coped for 1,763 days with an almost total absence of light, human contact, conversation and reading material. He shared that from the outset he was determined to live by three resolutions: "no regrets, no sentimentality and no self-pity", and it was his remarkable ability to adopt certain self-disciplines that allowed him not to be broken: "You can beat my body, bend my mind, but you will never take possession of my soul," he declared to himself in the presence of his enemies. He shared the value of recalling literature and the set prayers of the Church, which prevented him from descending into displays of costly emotionalism.
All those who listened that evening realised how much they were in the presence of greatness, not because of anything he was born with or achieved in material terms, but because of his authentic and humble response to extreme deprivation without malice and hatred.
At St Mary's, the School, who had been primed of Mr Waite's background, sat in awe and expectation as he climbed into the pulpit to preach. He first invited us to "look back at the School's achievements, to reflect on the situation we face as a world today and look to our hopes and desires for the future". From the School's foundation in 1552 to this present day, he stated, there has always been religious conflict, but extremism should not be confused with the healthy expressions of faith.
He pointed out that fundamental mistakes can be made by leaders and the led alike, by a lack of awareness of history, the arts and religion, so that not knowing the differences between, for example, Shia and Sunni Muslim belief and the understanding of their history has itself led to irreparable damage and conflict.
Terry Waite spoke of his appreciation of prose and poetry learnt at school, which enabled him to keep his mind alive during captivity and maintain an inner calm. He ended his sermon by reciting his own text about peace which formed the libretto for Karl Jenkins' choral work 'The Peacemakers': "Peace is the fragile meeting of two souls in harmony, the reconciling of opposites, rooted in love, waiting to be nourished, blossom and flourish until it embraces the world."
We have been blessed indeed by the presence of a man who has lived out his beliefs and walked the talk in his particular way with a consistency and humility, perhaps unique in our generation: an example to us all, who will never be forgotten by our Salopian community.
Revd Alex Aldous
Kayaking up the Caledonian Canal - Gold DofE Expedition
After a training camp last October and another at Easter, the team (Amelia Marriott, Thomas Brennan, Emma Hill, Molly Stokes and Alice Wenger) decided that their assessed expedition would be the Great Glen Crossing, navigating the Caladonian Canal linking the main lochs of Lochie, Oich and Ness.
They set out from Neptune's Staircase following a meeting with their assessor. All packed up and prepared for any eventuality, they had put months of planning and training into their undertaking.
They were met with moderately good weather, apart from periodic torrential downpours to clear away the midges for a few brief moments.
The planning certainly paid off, and the team felt they had a very enjoyable experience with only a few points to pass on to the next team to make things even easier for them.
The expedition section is not quite over for this team yet, however. The final part is to produce an Adventure Film of their experience and present it to parents and supporters at the end of term. Some three hours of footage and 400 photos have now got to be 'edited' to produce something about 15 minutes long. The team agreed that they aren't too sure which is more challenging: the expedition itself, or trying to squeeze a week's worth of stories into something inspiring. The film will be available to view online soon.
Major Jo Billington
Friday 8 September 2017
Foundation Fortnight Photo Gallery
Please click on the image below to view a gallery of photos that show a little of what the Third Form have been up to over the past few days. - More photos to follow next week.
Clicking on the magnifying glass in the top right-hand corner of a photo will open it at a larger size.
Wednesday 6 September 2017
Summer Gliding Club
On the first day of the summer holiday, five cadets from the CCF RAF Section gathered with Mr Wray and instructor Paul Fowler for the annual Gliding Camp.
Tom Brennan (I), Candy Li (MSH), Jack Li (Rt), Ollie Shutts (PH) and Ben Holehouse (O) were resident at the Midlands Gliding Club on the Long Mynd, just a few miles south of Shrewsbury; the view off the ridge to the west is pictured below. This ridge is what makes the Long Mynd such a great place for gliding, as it generates lift for the aircraft from a predominantly south-westerly wind.
The camp is a fantastic opportunity to maximise the effectiveness of flying training on account of having five full and consecutive days staying at the Club, with much better weather expected than Thursday afternoons throughout the rest of the year. The weather this year did not disappoint, which meant that each cadet was able to have an average of five hours of flying time, so they all made great progress.
The first evening was even fair enough to set up a game of croquet, and we enjoyed a surprise visit from Alfie Yeoward as well as the somewhat more predictable arrival of Ed Jones. Both are recent Old Salopians who have gained solo gliding wings with the RAF Section at Shrewsbury, and Ed now has a permanent role as winch-driver at both the Long Mynd and Lasham Gliding Clubs.
Our current cadets' flying skills came on in leaps and bounds during the week. Tom, who is already a solo glider pilot, flew in two different designs of single-seat glider for most of the week, one of which was new to him.
Ben, on day three, was allowed to go solo for the first time. Despite some apparent nerves (forgivable, given that he was being connected to a V8 400+ horsepower tractor engine, which would launch him half a mile into the sky, on his own, for the first time), he nailed it. They do say your first few solo landings will be your best ever, because you concentrate so hard!
Jack, Ollie and Candy all checked off a large number of competencies and Jack is now within a whisker of solo flight as well. Candy's highlight of the week was a half-hour flight in a "T-21" open cockpit glider, during which she filmed a great advert for the CCF from 4,000 feet above Church Stretton!
The training during the week is not just about flying, but the accompanying aspects of aviation. At a gliding club, being an effective member of the ground crew is essential, as well as having an understanding of the reasons for the layout of the airfield each day based on interpreting weather maps and cross-sections of the air mass over the club. As a solo pilot, Tom gave the 9am weather and 'NOTAMS' (Notices To Airmen) briefing to all the club present one day as part of his Bronze Gliding Badge.
On the ground, everyone was responsible at some point for unpacking the gliders from the hangar in the morning, including the use of manual and electronic winches, jacks and trolleys, inspecting the fitness of gliders to fly every day, fitting batteries, checking parachutes, attaching gliders to the launch cable, positive launch control checks, signalling for launch, driving the cable retrieving winch, clearing the landing area of sheep, retrieving gliders after landing, putting parachutes away and (when they were at their most tired) packing the gliders back into the hangar again.
The effort required to get gliders into the sky is well worth it when it is your chance to fly, and the cadets were also well rewarded at mealtimes. The cooked breakfasts at the Club are excellent, the (generous) slices of cake are just what's needed through the day, and the evening meals at the pub, Indian restaurant or off the Club's barbecue were well received by tired bodies.
Huge thanks must go to the volunteers at the Club who care for us so thoroughly each year, and to Paul for his continued tutelage.
David Wray
Wednesday 5 July 2017
School charity fundraising total tops £128,000
Giles Bell's Team of the Week
As we come to the end of another term packed with sporting, musical, artistic and dramatic brilliance – (I can't remember another time in my career here when we have had four different cricket teams involved in National Finals days) – I find myself wondering what it is that fuels our industrious students.
Clearly the Kingsland Hall team have to take much credit for "keeping the army on the move". Then there are the motivational words of Housemasters, tutors and classroom teachers, the medical skills of the San sisters and the matrons, the hygienic and germ-free atmosphere provided by the cleaning team... I could go on. There are many teams that should be highlighted and perhaps will be one day, soonish. However, it is the School Shop team that have won the last spotlight of the academic year.
As I walked crisply through the door with other walkers, I was instantly struck by the friendly and welcoming atmosphere created by a hardworking and smiley staff, who have nothing but positive words to say about their Salopian clientele. "I have nothing but positive words to say about the girls and boys," said Michèlle Hignett, who is the manager of the shop.
"Nor I," added Julie Millar "unless they dare to suggest that Liverpool are not the best team in the Premiership". I asked Julie if she knew which newly promoted team had knocked Liverpool out of the FA cup in 1983 and 1984. She went strangely quiet and offered me a vomit-flavoured Bertie Botts Every Flavour Jelly Bean. The answer of course is Brighton and Hove Albion.
I tried vainly to get Julie to serve up some favourite stories involving misdemeanours by staff or pupils from the past, but she stuck to her mantra of everyone being lovely. This was something all the ladies I interviewed agreed on – and if there are any pupils reading this, I would like them to know that it may be that their biggest supporters reside in the School Shop.
I guess there is an even bigger incentive to be polite in the shop when all that stands between one and a cornetto, bacon sandwich, mars bar or bag of crisps is a brief conversation with a lovely lady, even if she is a Liverpool fan. Thinking about it, bribery works in the classroom too! A friend of mine passed his teaching practice by promising the whole class a mars bar each if they were nice. They were very nice and he spent a lot of his student grant on mars bars (or an astronaut's favourite chocolate, as it is called by some sub-standard comedians!).
Michèlle arrived nine years ago, having transferred from Build a bear. "It was all fluff and no substance," she told me. "In the end I couldn't bear it. I would drive to work in my Panda in quite a good mood but my boss was so grizzly the atmosphere was positively polar. It is so nice to work in a place where everyone is so warm and friendly."
There were quite a lot of potential customers deciding what confectionary to purchase, but Maria McKenzie who is in charge of Wind at Shrewsbury (and there is a lot of it), was not there as she is off on maternity leave. Some of her colleagues in the Music Faculty know her as M and M. (I think it is something to do with her initials rather than her love of rap music.) This reminded me of another poor joke. Why did the M&M want to go to college? It wanted to be a smarty!
The shop does not just sell sweets. Euan Cooper was looking forward to a bacon butty. "I am looking forward to my bacon butty," he told me. "I think I will wash it down with a coke and follow it up with a chocolate brownie. That should keep me going through my next two lessons until lunch." Euan is a growing lad.
I asked Euan if he had a joke for me. "What do you call Chewbacca when he has chocolate stuck in his hair? A chocolate chip Wookie!"
Not everyone allows the indulgent gene free rein. Oliver Shutts told me that he likes to pop in for a cleansing glass of water. "I like the purity and simplicity encapsulated by a glass of water. I think I may have been inspired by the spiritual nature of your Philosophy and Theology lessons, Sir."
Ollie went on to ask me "What is a French cat's favourite dessert?" I could not think of the answer but Ollie told me that it's chocolate mousse!
Nina Lange and Amy Pook were very excited by what they had purchased. Coming from Germany, Nina travels quite a bit and she was keen to tell me that she enjoys buying plane chocolate at the airport! Amy was very keen to tell me that she likes lambs covered in chocolate, otherwise known as Candy Baas!
Sitting just behind them, Artem Stopnevich was concentrating on meditating. "I find the shop is a great place to come and switch off," he told me. He went on to ask me, "What do you get when you dip a kitten in chocolate? A Kitty Kat bar!"
After that I asked him to go back to his meditative state!
It was quite clear from my visit to the shop that it is a place where pupils can relax and have a laugh. Flora Moreau explained that she likes going to the shop because the staff are always so positive. "They all liked my fringe when I was having second thoughts about it. They also told me I had nice hand writing. My self-esteem is always higher after a trip to the school shop." I can concur with Flora, as no one commented on my lack of hair which makes a welcome change!
There were so many smiles I wondered if the shop staff had trained as 'giggle doctors'. They refuted this claim but my overriding sense is that the School Shop is one of the happiest places on the site and much credit must go to the marvellous team who spread the love in there. They did admit to doing quite a lot of counselling, and I suspect if you really want to know what's going on at Shrewsbury School you need to spend some time in the Shop.
By the way, what kind of candy is never on time? – ChocoLATE!"
I hope you all have a very happy and smile-filled summer!
The School Shop staff team are Michèlle Hignett, Julie Millar, Tasha Alldritt, Petra Gwilliam, Mohamad Hami, Beth Lane, Margaret Foulkes, Mary Smith and Caroline Wetherby and they are all very sweet!
Tuesday 4 July 2017
Junior Play: 'All My Sons'
A balmy Sunday morning in the outskirts of an American town, the Stars 'n' Stripes fluttering gently atop a flagpole in the Keller family garden, a garden carpeted with carefully manicured lawn, rose bushes in bloom, and a white picket fence surrounding this little slice of the American Dream. Joe Keller, self-made businessman in the prime of his life, sits reading the Sunday newspapers, his deckchair at centre stage a throne within the kingdom that is his back yard.
It is August – high summer – but autumn (or, more appropriately for this particular Eden, 'fall') is on its way. As the lights come up at the start of the play, our eyes are drawn towards the stump of a fallen apple tree, uprooted in a storm the night before, foreshadowing the more metaphoric storms that will come as the play progresses. The splintered tree is the first of many cracks we will encounter in the play, not least the cracked cylinder heads sent out from Keller's plant during the Second World War resulting in the deaths of 21 pilots. And there, at the back of the stage is thrust a near-full size P40 WW2 fighter plane, a symbol of the past that will come back to haunt Keller and the terrible truths that will, ultimately, lead to his own sacrificial death.
Miller based his play on a story he had read in an Ohio newspaper, but it is to Greek Tragic theatre that he turns to provide the model for the construct of the play, aligning the drama to what Aristotle termed as the three 'unities' (Time; Action; Place). It is a play that deals with big themes and is, without doubt, one of the great tragedies of the modern era. It was an ambitious decision by Director of Drama Helen Brown to turn her attention to All My Sons for this year's Junior Play, but it was a decision that paid off in some style.
Indeed, in the lead role, Orlando Williams (Rt) gave a bravura performance as Joe Keller that was entirely convincing and, despite only being in the Third Form, here was a young actor able to command the stage and grapple with the nadirs of Keller's inner torment with consummate expertise. Likewise, Eleanor Niblett (MSH) provided a depth to her performance as Kate Keller that belied her years. As in many of Miller's plays, it is the central female figure that is perhaps the most significant pillar of strength within the family (Beatrice Carbone in A View from the Bridge for instance, or Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman). There was real poignancy in Niblett's depiction of a mother whose despair lay not in her husband's actions but in her refusal to accept that her son Larry – a pilot who went missing in action during the war – is dead.
This refusal provides the central tension within the play, where the Keller's other son Chris intends to marry his brother's sweetheart Ann Deever. Taking on the role of Chris, Rider Hartley (Ch) presented a more idealistic view of the world and a refusal to be sucked in to the more materialistic, success-driven thirst of his father ("The business? The business don't inspire me!"). As the truth, and implications, of what his father has done is slowly revealed, the heroic statue that Chris had built of his father begins to topple off its plinth like the fallen apple tree. Hartley conveyed this shifting relationship with impressive skill, confronting his father towards the end of the play with the reluctant acceptance of his father's actions: "I know you're no worse than most men but I thought you were better. I never saw you as a man. I saw you as my father."
Perhaps the most intriguing of all the characters in the play is that of Ann Deever, played by Phoebe Morris (EDH). Dressed in a blue and white polka dot 'A line' dress, at first she appears the ingénue figure within the play, but as the events unfold, there is a strength and steeliness to her character that is conveyed expertly by Morris, who in her first year at the School has made significant contributions to theatre and music at Shrewsbury. A promising future awaits.
The catalyst for the final dramatic events of the play is the arrival of Ann's brother, George Deever, a lawyer just returned from visiting his father Steve in the State penitentiary, Keller's former business partner but now incarcerated having shouldered responsibility for the cracked cylinder heads. Ed Tarling (R), despite only being on stage for the final half of the play, made an immediate impact, laying the case for justice and responsibility at the feet of Joe Keller and refusing to allow his sister to marry someone stained with the blood of association.
A similar impact is made by fellow Riggite Oscar Hamilton-Russell in the closing moments of the play as Larry's final letter is read out. The P40 fighter plane is brought into action in a hauntingly beautiful but tragic scene, as his last moments flying in enemy territory are re-enacted, with Barber's Adagio for Strings an apt choice for such a moment of poignancy.
As in many Miller plays, the neighbours and associates play a key role within the play, much like the 'Chorus' would have done on the Greek stage. Imogen Morgan (G) brought bounce, enthusiasm and energy to the role of Bella Bayliss, a symbol of innocence in a play laden with guilt. Freddie Lawson (SH) played her father, Jim, a doctor whose dreams of going into research are quashed by his wife Sue (Lucie Lovick (G)), whose sharpened knives of aspersion on the Keller family ("Everyone knows Joe pulled a fast one to get out of jail") were delivered with barely-concealed envy and anger. On the other side of the Keller's garden fence were the Lubeys, where Imogen Jones (MSH) charmed as Lydia, the epitome of middle class domesticity, and Tom Allen (Ch) gave an equally endearing performance as her husband Frank, a man feverishly obsessed with fate and astrology.
This was a young cast well capable of grappling with the play's big issues, and the Ashton Theatre was treated to an evening of stellar acting from each and every one. As ever, behind the scenes were a team of lighting and sound designers, stage managers, hair and make-up artists and set painters, amongst others. Each contributed to the success of the piece, though a few key individuals should be singled out in particular.
The first is Alex Davies, Shrewsbury's Theatre Technician, who has for many years designed and built some quite startling sets. The set of All My Sons, however, soared to new heights, with the task of building a near-full-size replica of a WW2 fighter plane a challenge that Alex fulfilled with remarkable skill, ably assisted by his assistant Willem James. (Alex has written a fascinating account of the process of designing and constructing the set, as well as paying tribute to the other members of the stage crew: All My Sons - The Wind Beneath the Wings
The vision for this – and indeed the whole play – was Helen Brown's, who as Director of Drama has directed and overseen an impressive range of productions this year. All My Sons was a fitting finale to what has been a vintage season in the Ashton Theatre, and we look forward to further ambitious projects next year.
More photos can be viewed at: Junior Play 'All My Sons' - photo gallery
Thursday 29 June 2017
Junior School Play: Arthur Miller's 'All My Sons' - photo gallery
"My only accomplishment is my son. I ain't brainy. That's all I accomplished."
Joe Keller seems to have everything: his business is thriving, his wife adores him, his son is a war hero.
However, behind the white-picket fences of American suburbia lurk sinister secrets that can destroy a man's dreams...
Arthur Miller's classic depiction of a family in crisis is performed by students from the Third and Fourth Forms.
Performances take place in the Ashton Theatre at 6.30pm on Wednesday 28th June, at 7.30pm on Thursday 29th June and at 6.30pm on Friday 30th June.
Tickets are FREE and may be booked online at www.ticketsource.co.uk/shrewsburyschool or from Juliet Young, tel. 01743 280812.
Please click on the image below to open the gallery:
Friday 23 June 2017
A Chamber Concert for Schütz
Peter Hankin writes:
One of the universal experiences about losing someone whom you loved is the business of them continuing to talk to you in your head. If I close my eyes I can still hear Mike's voice. We are driving back home from one of our many October trips to the vineyards of south-western France. We have just finished listening to eight hours of Samuel Pepys' Diary and he is slotting in a CD of a Bach Cello Suite. After a while he turns to me and says, "You know, there was very little great music written after this". It is one of those moments – and they were all too frequent with Schütz – when you either nod and turn away or take him on. The problem with the latter option is that he almost always won. Contrarian though he was, he always knew so much more than you did. I nodded dutifully.
It was therefore with some trepidation that on that warm tender June night last week we went to his Memorial Concert at the Maidment Building. After all, it was Mendelssohn and Schubert. What would he have said about that? All heart on sleeve stuff! Too much sentiment! I can hear him now. And yet, he was one of the most tender human beings I have ever met; a man capable of a vast spectrum of emotions.
But I admit, I was anxious on his behalf.
And then the magic began!
The Mendelssohn was instantly remarkable. Not just technically demanding but intensely emotionally affecting. The musical empathy of the trio was abundantly evident from the outset. They played as if they had been with each other for years, yet it was their first time together in concert. John Moore's brilliant virtuosity on the piano was exhilarating. There was a real charge of excitement in the audience. We stamped the floor when it was over! I looked down at Mike's children and his widow on the front row. They were clearly entranced.
The Schubert was, if anything, even more of a treat. The quintet produced music that flowed like clear chalk-stream water. We stood and cheered!
In the true Spanish Flamenco tradition, there should come a moment when the dancer transcends the formal structures of the dance and music and enters into the mystery of the moment. At such a time the audience must shout 'Duende!' in recognition of a shared ecstatic experience. I know that there was such a moment at Mike's Memorial Concert last week! We all felt it!
I know too that the dear old chap would have loved it – though, of course, he would never have admitted it. That was his style – that was his mystery! How we miss him!
Thursday 22 June 2017
Beekeeping hero catches swarm
The swarm eventually settled in a mass about the same size and shape as a traffic cone, but hanging in a tree some 12 feet above the ground...
Members of the School's Beekeeping Society acted like some form of military quick reaction force to remove the swarm.
Hero of the day was Chad Usher (S V) who, as President of the Beekeeping Society and keen amateur beekeeper (and under the supervision of Teacher in Charge of Beekeeping Sara Fletcher), climbed a ladder provided by the Grounds Department, hit the centre of the swarm with a broom, knocking the queen into a waiting cardboard box below.
Where the queen led, the other bees followed - helped by some strategic raking by Chad, who managed to survive the day with only one sting.
On a hot sunny afternoon pupils walking between lessons were confronted by a swarm of bees on Central. The swarm eventually settled in a mass around the same size and shape as a traffic cone shape, but hanging some 12 feet above the ground. Members of the school beekeeping Society acted like some form of military quick reaction force and removed the swarm. Hero of the day was Chad Usher (5th S) who as President of the Beekeeping Society and keen amateur beekeeper, who climbed a ladder provided by the ground department, hit the swarm with a broom and with more hits it then where it promptly fell into a waiting cardboard box, hopefully with the queen at the centre. Chad managed to survive the day with only one sting.
A nice touch to this was that another keen beekeeper, William Cowper (Rb IV) took the swarm for his own hive at home, a nice present to his family on his 15th birthday!
Nick David (Director of Acitivities)
Photos by Kate Bronner
Monday 19 June 2017
Super Cycling Man Zooms into Bangkok
It is Will's belief that 'We Can All Be Heroes' – and he certainly lives by his word. Ever energetic, determined and ready with a flash of wit, this is a Super Hero and a half!
Greeted by the School's Headmaster, Stephen Holroyd, Will was delighted to be back amongst some of his old teachers, although addressing them by their first names proved beyond his super powers: 'Mr Holroyd' and 'Mr Baxter' it would forever be.
'Mr Baxter', AKA Simon Baxter, Will's former maths and rowing Guru, was delighted to see his former protégé, but couldn't resist the opportunity to throw the board rubber at him when given the chance. Fortunately, our super hero's reflexes were up to the challenge!
Will also met some of the pupils – and it seems they found each other mutually inspirational: "They were incredibly friendly, polite and happy children, just like me, Horrocks, Humphreys and Ballard….".
Will is raising money for five charities including Parkinson's UK, as his father has had the disease for the past 20 years. All donations are being collected on Will's online giving page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/SCM.
Friday 16 June 2017
Why we're running the Shrewsbury Half-Marathon
With a couple of days left until the Shrewsbury Half-Marathon, I sat down with a few of the Rigg's boys to discuss we are participating in the Shrewsbury Half-Marathon. I say 'participating' advisedly, as whilst Hunt superstars Nik Amthor and Owen Mock will certainly be running, I may be reverting to a slow crawl by the half-way point…
However, participation is the key to success as 11 students, eight teachers and six Shrewsbury parents will all be running for the same great cause: the Alder Hey Children's Hospital, which is the busiest children's hospital in the UK.
The money we raise for the Alder Hey Children's Hospital will not only support the pioneering treatment they currently give to the children in their care – including one of our fellow members of Rigg's Hall – but will also help fund innovative work to treat future generations.
As someone who is much more used to rowing on the water than running on land, Sunday will be a great challenge. But what better way to finish my last few weeks at Shrewsbury School than enjoying the sights and sounds of Shrewsbury – with the emphasis on the sounds, as I might not be able to see much, wiping the sweat from my eyes in the 28+ degree heat!
Rigg's Head of House, Rob Hartwell, will also be running on Sunday. Rob is also a rowing sort and I wondered if he was just as nervous. "I'm not worried at all," he said bluntly. "It's going to be a walk in the park." Thanks, Rob, for those words of comfort.
Owen Mock, who is currently Shropshire Schools & County Champ in the 400m and 800m and was part of the National Knole Run Winning Team this year, has played a vital role in organising the Rigg's Hall Fundraiser. This will take place at the Ashton Road Tennis Courts from 9:30-11:30am and all supporters are invited to come and and enjoy a grandstand view of the race, donate funds and enjoy the African drumbeats of 'The People's Republic of Djembe'.
Owen and Nik are clearly looking forward to running the longest race of their careers so far. "I'm in it, to race it!" Nik stated with pure determination. He has been training incredibly hard and I look forward to seeing what time he produces; I hope there are lots of spectators at the Supporters' Station to cheer him on. "It's my favourite distance and I already have my eyes set on the Knole Run next year," he explained. Nik also stated that being able to do something you love while also raising money for a fantastic cause is a great opportunity. "That's why we're doing this, and to also show the community what Rigg's Hall represents. We persevere, we endure and we support each other, and that's exactly what we're going to do on Sunday!"
Although I am nervous and this will certainly be the longest (and first) running race of my career, I know Rob, Nik and Owen will be there at the finish line to pick me up off the floor.
We're anticipating a large crowd on Sunday, so please head down to the Rigg's Fundraiser! There's also still plenty of time to donate to Alder Hey Children's Hospital! Please click on the link below:
See you on the other side...
Rob, Nik, Owen and Mr Graham
Friday 9 June 2017
Just published: Student Creative Writing Anthology
Editors Charlie Johns (I) and Sam Bayliss (Rt) have compiled, and contributed to, a fascinating collection of writings that explore dystopias, disease, war and the idiosyncrasies of modern art. In a year-long search for creative inspiration and excellence, the increasingly prolific and talented members of the Creative Writing Society – who also included Glory Chan (MSH), Flora Moreau (G), Ollie Thorpe (Rb) – were led by Mr Fraser-Andrews through a series of workshops, talks, trips and dedicated writing time, enthusiastically consumed amid the mad rush of all other school business, as their Thursday afternoon activity.
Inside the pages of the new anthology, the editors are also proud to publish Luke Russell's winning entry of the Schützer-Weissmann Letter-Writing Prize. The Rigg's Third Former is the winner of the £100 prize in its inaugural year after it was generously endowed by Salopian parent Aidan Hartley, who was taught at Sherborne by 'Schütz', aka Michael Schützer-Weissmann, the much-loved and admired former English teacher who cherished the art of letter-writing, among so many other things, before he died, too young, in 2015.
Fire Engine: Volume 2 'On The Edge' – the fruits of the Creative Writing Society's hard work – can now be enjoyed in a 54-page bumper edition, available now in Houses, or by picking up copy, free, from the Moser Library.
An online version is available in pdf form by clicking on the image below:
Praepostors then and now...
The Praepostors of 2017 have now retired from their duties after a sterling year of service and leadership to the School, which has been greatly appreciated by the whole Salopian community.
This year has seen them more involved than ever in the running of the School, whether at Open Days, Old Salopian drinks receptions or reflecting the pupils' views to the Headmaster and Senior Leadership Team.
The new batch of Praepostors have now taken up the baton and we look forward to seeing them be as innovative and full of pride in all Shrewsbury has to offer as their predecessors of both 1 and 130 years.
Friday 26 May 2017
Gold DofE Awards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace
They were accompanied by Major Johanne Billington, who runs the Gold Award at the School. "The Award presentations are usually held at St James' Palace, but on this occasion they took place on the lawns of Buckingham Palace," she explained. "It was a beautifully hot and sunny day, everybody was in high spirits and it was a perfect opportunity to be able to get dressed up, enjoy the spectacular surroundings and soak up the celebratory atmosphere."
Every Award ceremony is attended by members of the Royal Family, who are introduced to groups of Award winners and their guests. This is the final year when HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh himself will be at the ceremonies, following his announcement that he will fully retirefrom Royal duties later this year. HRH Prince Edward the Earl of Wessex and his wife HRH Sophie the Countess of Wessex attended the ceremony on Wednesday.
"A number of 'celebrities' are also invited to the ceremonies to talk to small groups of participants," said Major Billington. "Our cohort was accompanied by Steph McGovern, presenter of BBC Breakfast and BBC Watchdog. She was extremely friendly and approachable, and the students had plenty of opportunity to chat to her.
"The Award winners were only allowed one guest each, so families had to draw lots to decide who got the ticket! It was delightful to meet the parents of the students and hear their side of the story of the trials and tribulations of trying to complete the Award whilst still at school, the truth about how tough they really found the expedition, and how rewarding they found the volunteering section."
The Gold Award is a difficult one to achieve. Thousands of students from all over the world attempt it, but the number who actually complete it is very small. It involves committing to three activities for 18, 12 or six months, in Volunteering (Service), Skill (Hobby) and Physical (Sport). In addition students have to organise their own five-day, four-night residential trip, and undertake a four-day expedition in wild country either on foot or by boat. When undertaken simultaneously with A Levels, this is no mean feat.
"Of the 25 students at Shrewsbury who attempt the Award each year, only about ten ever get to the finish line," said Major Billington. "With such a low completion rate, it's clear to see why it carries so much weight when students apply for jobs after university."
Security for the Awards Ceremony itself was not surprisingly very tight, but once the guests were inside the grounds of Buckingham Palace, they were ushered towards the lawns beside the lake where they were entertained by rousing music played by the Band of the Royal Marines.
"We were then taken into different areas where we are met by a steward and a county Award Representative," said Major Billington. "Here we were registered, checked again, and briefed on the proceedings. Eventually we were all ushered into a 'horseshoe' formation in preparation for meeting a member of the Royal Family. We receive more briefings from a representative from the Duke's office who was a little of a 'warm up act' prior to the main event. Cameras were stowed away, phones switched off and we were all prepped on the manner in which we could address the Duke himself. For those in the know, it's easy to spot the undercover security and the discrete ear pieces. The whole day is choreographed to the very second.
"Each group gets about ten minutes to speak with a member of the Royal Family. When Prince Edward arrived, he quickly put the group at ease and had everyone chuckling and laughing within minutes. It was clear to see that he very much takes meeting the public in his stride.
"Steph McGovern had the responsibility of introducing the students to the Prince and presenting them with their certificates. She was extremely relaxed and personable and congratulated all the students on their amazing achievement.
"The day finished with more formal photographs and a few more 'meet and greets' before everybody was allowed to disperse. I felt very privileged and honoured to be invited to such an important day, and it was a fitting celebration of the achievements of young people everywhere who have invested so much time, energy and effort into such a rewarding programme. Well done to everybody who has ever achieved their Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award."
Medea, perhaps the most famous of Euripides' tragedies, is an intensely difficult play to produce. Dealing with Medea's own descent into madness and her inexorable journey toward a series of horrific, unthinkable acts – a successful production requires a careful balance of the sensitive and the dramatic. Paul Fitzgerald's production achieved all of this in a professional, brilliant and quite spectacular fashion to provide a thought-provoking evening of entertainment that will remain in the memory for some time.
The bold decision to present this play using traditional masks certainly presented a challenge to the actors – but one which they overcame in triumphant fashion. Expressive movement and careful modulation of the voice throughout allowed the audience to empathise and understand the characters they created, while the masks themselves – exquisitely crafted by Emily Stokes in our Art Faculty – really did allow us to see the action unfold as it would have been.
The transportation of the audience into the ancient state of Corinth was further enhanced by the stunning and elaborately detailed set. The House of Jason, complete with its classical friezes and ornate wooden doors was of a quality one would usually associate with high-level professional productions and Medea's appearance at the dénouement, rising above the house in her dragon-pulled chariot was a truly breathtaking coup-de-théâtre . A soundscape of eerie chamber music – dominated by mournful cello and lonely piano – cocooned the action in an atmosphere of deep sadness while the soft, subtle lighting plot effectively demarcated the different scenes, particularly highlighting the choral odes.
Medea herself, played by Nina Churchill, presented with the audience with a woman defiant in defeat, determined to wreak her terrible revenge not just on the unfaithful Jason, but on the state of Corinth itself. Mysterious, angular gestures of her hand combined with some impressive vocal work to produce a disturbing performance rooted in a mature understanding of and sensitivity to the text.
Her erstwhile lover, Jason, admirably portrayed by Rhys Trevor, drew us in to his frustrations and the simplicity and recklessness of his hubris and flawed logic. Creon (Angus Moore) and the Aegeus King of Athens (Dan Powell) both made easy work of complicated and intense sections of stichomythia – presenting their arguments and exposition with a naturalness and clarity which meant that the audience remained engaged throughout.
The same could be said of the Tutor (Sam Browne-Swinburne), Nurse (India Eaton) and, of course, the Messenger (Will Shawe-Taylor) who worked hard to convey the emotional turmoil of Medea's household and the human responses to the dreadful vengeance she unleashed on the royal family of Corinth. A special mention must be made of Reggie Bell and Alfie Wright, whose innocent and touching portrayal of Medea's children heightened the pathos of her final, hideous action.
In any Greek tragedy, however, it is the Chorus who play an utterly pivotal role – explaining exploring the action and the meaning in direct address to the audience. This, for me, was where the play really shone – the ensemble (Tiggy Cowan-Taylor, Amelia Cox, Mollie Matthews, Liv Moir, and Eleanor Niblett) worked brilliantly together to dissect the meaning of the preceding scene, to consider the consequences, and to foreshadow the darkness to come. A combination of voices in unison and solo highlights produced vivid and exciting odes that added to the momentum of the play as a whole.
To view a gallery of photos from the production, please follow the link: Medea - photo gallery
You can also read more about the creation of the masks: Covering the Crime: The magic of masks in 'Medea'
Salopian musician joins CBSO Youth Academy
The Youth Academy is a chamber orchestra conducted by Michael Seal and the players are usually selected from the CBSO's larger Youth Orchestra. It is unusual for Frank to have been offered a place in the Academy straightaway, as he is not yet a member of the Youth Orchestra.
The Youth Academy's concert this summer takes place in Birmingham Town Hall and will include performances of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 9, Barber's Cello Concerto and Stravinksy's Symphony in Three Movements.
Friday 19 May 2017
Dancing in the aisles of Shrewsbury School Chapel
It took only a few minutes before the whole of the congregation entered into the spirit of what was shared by the choir - joy, praise and enthusiastic singing, interspersed with some poignant personal testimony from the choir members.
For 45 minutes pupils were totally immersed in the exuberance of the occasion, ignited first by an upbeat version of What a friend we have in Jesus and ending with nothing less than a glorious rendition of O Happy Day and Lovely Day.
The evening concluded with choir members carrying their mikes down the aisle singing, whilst the keyboardists still jammed away up in the chancel. They gathered in the vestibule still singing and giving high fives to every pupil on exit... A night to remember!
Revd Alex Aldous
Covering the Crime: The magic of masks in 'Medea'
The play's Director, Head of Classics Paul Fitzgerald, says: "Having taught Medea as an A level set text for a number of years, I have always been drawn to its power to deliver. Produced in 431 BC, it still raises issues that are incredibly pertinent today: feminism, racism, love and loyalty and, of course, revenge. I wanted to hark back to a more traditional look and thought that the use of masks by the characters would create a powerful visual element. I looked on-line for masks to buy, but there was nothing out there that really caught my eye, so I decided to have them made. Thankfully, Art Mistress Emily Stokes was keen on my proposal to make them in school, got on board and the results are nothing short of stunning."
Miss Stokes used mod rock for the base of each mask and clay for sculpting the features of the face. "It was slightly more difficult to produce the masks for the Chorus of Corinthian Women as they required individually made hair pieces," she explains. "In painting the masks, I decided on a muted colour palette similar to the one used by Peter Hall in his National Theatre production of The Oresteia.
Mr Fitzgerald adds: "When you see the actors and actresses wearing them onstage, under lights, the masks almost come to life; they have a disarmingly powerful effect. They contribute to the look, the feel and the drama of the whole piece; I hope to adapt and use them again in future productions."
Performances of Medea take place in the Ashton Theatre at 7.30pm on Friday 19th and Saturday 20th May and tickets are free.
To see more photos from the production, please follow the link: Medea - photo gallery
'Medea' - photo gallery
Photos by William Temple Photography.
Thursday 18 May 2017
Piano recital by Arthur Yu (SH UVI) - a review by Mr Fraser-Andrews
In his first and last full length recital at the School, pristine technique and impressive command of Romantic idiom joined in a show of supple talent and breath-taking vigour.
Arthur, the latest pianist to glide from the Maidment to world-beating conservatoire, steered the auditorium's glistening Steinway (fresh from a Polish polish and extensive refurb) through a programme of early- to mid-Romanticisms with panache, dexterity and remarkably assured facility. Thoughtful programming allowed this young musician to make revealingly elegant links to the often classical temperament, particularly in the first half, which pulses under the skin of much of this music.
Mozart's enervated and tender A-minor sonata made a bold beginning to the evening which, while light on operatic tragedy perhaps, was strong on deft fingerwork and poise. Something more of the night infiltrated Arthur's rendition of the Nocturne in C minor, the wistful ache at the heart of the piece stylishly achieved with mature sensibility and comprehensive vision. Chopin's third Scherzo inspired fluttering descents, lovely ethereal touch and contrasts to the exigencies of bravura passages which he despatched to a collective and appreciative gasp. Yet there was even more, as an artful, glittering rendition of Andante Spianato et grande polonaise brought the first half to an end.
After the interval, Arthur explored the deeper reaches of the instrument. Liszt's B minor Sonata, the high-price entry ticket to the world of serious pianism, was paid with change to spare. In a change of gear made to look near-effortless, Arthur managed to emerge from and return to its world of still subterranean colour and, in its fervours, stroke the purring Steinway bass into a roar. This piece demands much on many levels, but here was fine musicianship to match.
Arthur concluded with Liszt's La Campanella, the rippling peals and bracing virtuosity finding confident and energetic voice in one so startling young. Astonishingly, there was still enough left in the tank to replay the Scherzo as an encore, yet another triumph for the nurturing talents of Peter Bradley-Fulgoni and School House.
As he heads north to the RNCM, Arthur can count on many more admirers following an evening as full of personality as this. Bravo!
Tuesday 16 May 2017
'Sifaka' in concert - "a breath of fresh air in the Salopian landscape"
Arriving in the Maidment Building fresh from highly successful appearances at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Sifaka were a breath of fresh air in the Salopian landscape.
Their music draws on many roots for its inspiration. The rhythms and sounds of contemporary African popular and traditional music, the rhythm and blues of the late 1960s in the UK, and even jazz inflections and harmonies make their way into the writing, which is always thoughtful, but powerful and immensely accessible at the same time. The musicians are all superb performers, whether on guitars, drums, keyboards or vocals, and in Sam's case on flugelhorn as well!
Mared, their wonderfully versatile singer, leads the vocal line supported by Sam, who does a lot of the song-writing himself. Mared has a voice of quite extraordinary range and power, which is clearly one of Sifaka's greatest assets. However, they are a band that is very much the sum of their individual talents, and that combination is a winning one, which will take them a long way we hope.
Their latest single, Sun Down on Cape Town, is a superb piece of writing. Catchy, funky and with a great hook-line, one cannot help but love it. (Available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUaIKflb1u0)
As a finale and to acknowledge the clear debt they owe as a band to the past, they finished with Joe Cocker's timeless version of the Beatles' With a Little Help from my Friends, which they played with complete conviction and authentic detail. The spirit of Cocker himself was almost visible in the room, so powerful was their rendition.
The whole evening was started by a wonderful set from Cameron Bates (S UVI) on keyboard and vocals. Cameron is the real thing, blessed with a wonderful singing voice and genuine brilliance as a songwriter in his own right. The audience loved him, and it was terrific to see a current pupil so capable of supporting a professional act whilst still at school. He is a name to watch out for in the future.
So, a wonderful evening of great contemporary popular music, with Sam Wilson leading the band so very well. We hope next year to bring other similar Old Salopian talent back to the School, and I'm sure that there will be even more to celebrate in future years.
Friday 12 May 2017
Instrumental Diplomas for four Shrewsbury School musicians
Sophia Price (EDH LVI) (Flute), Henry Mayhew (Ch LVI) (Clarinet) and Jesse Mattinson (Rb UVI) (Saxophone) have now gained their ATCL diplomas, which is considered the equivalent of a first year undergraduate final recital. Sophia and Henry were awarded distinctions.
William Bedson (Rb UVI) (Saxophone) took his LTCL, which is considered the standard of a third year undergraduate final recital at University. William is now the third Shrewsbury School student to have achieved this level, following in the footsteps of Henry Kennedy (I 2009-14) (Saxophone) and Nateewat Ruechuseth (Ch LVI) (Piano).
"Obviously I am delighted with these marks," said Head of Woodwind Maria McKenzie. "They all should be very proud of such high level achievement for which they have all worked incredibly hard."
"Thanks for the memory"
The project has been a collaboration between the School's Art Department, Sabrina House Care Home and Creative Inspiration Shropshire, a social venture established in 2014 by Dr Jane Povey to provide participatory creative arts programmes for vulnerable and isolated people in the local community.
Shrewsbury's Head of Art, Rose Shawe-Taylor, explains: "I had been wanting to do some activity with Shrewsbury School students which takes art into the community, and Jane Povey's initiative proved to be the perfect opportunity. The planning stage was the difficult part; how to incorporate a diverse range of memories into a coherent whole. Then one of our students came up with the idea of a series of windows, rather like an advent calendar, and after that the design was straightforward.
"Part of the fun was hearing the residents talk about their memories – from racing pigeons to driving a double-decker bus, and chatting to the lovely staff who made us endless cups of tea. I only wish that Dan, who was at Sabrina longer than any other resident, had lived to see the finished result."
The residents and staff at Sabrina House have been thrilled with the project: "Having the students from Shrewsbury School visit Sabrina House has enriched the residents' lives immensely. Those residents who are not able to socialise outside of the home can become somewhat isolated from the outside world. So having the girls and boys visit gives them the opportunity to interact with people from outside, which is particularly important for those residents who don't have family and friends who visit.
"It has been lovely to see the artists interact with the residents. Right from the first day when the artists were asking residents what they would like the mural to look like, it was plain to see a bond forming. The students showed a real empathy, far beyond their years, which was obvious to all of us looking on. The mural has become a talking point, especially when visitors see it. The residents take great pleasure in pointing out the various sections and chat about something in it they may be personal to them."
"Being a part of this life-changing experience was not only a privilege but it was also an honour to give back to the community," said Nifemi Runsewe (MSH LVI). "Socialising with the elderly and the carers at Sabrina House was a key aspect of painting the mural. Not only were we able to ask the elderly people at the care home what memory of theirs they would like us to reflect on the mural, but we also got to know a bit more about them and their lives. So we were able to create a mural that was done with love, as art is the moment where work meets love.
"The mural also brought us students a lot closer together. This project enabled me to feel a part of something a lot bigger than an average school project, whilst making friends I am sure to keep for years to come. At the end of the day, seeing the smiles on the faces of the elderly as they recognised which painting was dedicated to them was the icing on the cake because happiness is not from what we get, but what we give."
The mural project forms part of a wider collaborative programme between Shrewsbury School, Creative Inspiration Shropshire and care homes in Shrewsbury that has included concerts, sing-alongs and a hugely successful Afternoon Tea Party for guests from Sabrina House and Swan Hill care homes, held at Shrewsbury School in the spring.
Creative Inspiration Shropshire has greatly valued the contribution the Shrewsbury School students have made this year in enriching the lives of residents and staff at local care homes," said Dr Jane Povey, Creative Inspiration Shropshire's Founding Director. "The beautiful mural at Sabrina House marks the end of a fantastic first year of collaborative work with musicians, artists and chefs from the School."
Thursday 11 May 2017
General Election Hustings
Report by Richard Hudson.
Barely a month from the election, a packed Ashton Theatre was treated – and it was indeed a treat – to five-minute presentations from the five candidates for Shrewsbury and Atcham, a Q & A session and two-minute closing speeches in a Hustings chaired with military precision by Ed Plaut (S UVI) and Megan Redhead (MSH UVI) sitting either side of Mr Matthew Clark, whose sphynx-like demeanour gave no indication of his own political sympathies.
Presentations were variously slick, confident, smug, complacent, passionate, wooden, mechanical, well-informed, self-contradictory, delusional – but always fascinating. The candidates revealed few surprises and in all but one case displayed loyal, if not always believable, admiration – even devotion – to their party leaders.
Unsurprisingly, Brexit, hard or soft-boiled, featured heavily in the Q&A section, with only the Conservative and UKIP candidates personally convinced by the wisdom of the popular mandate. Other questions dealt with VAT on school fees, the balance between local, national and international politics, the integrity of party leaders, university tuition fees, EU staff in the NHS, low-paid workers in highly profitable businesses and the tax system.
All candidates dutifully stressed the importance of the youth vote, even though a larger turnout by young people might benefit some parties more than others, and the fully-engaged audience applauded each candidate with admirable even-handedness.
A drinks reception followed and, to judge from the headlines in this morning's newspapers, nothing off-message was revealed in this more informal gathering.
Clearly this is an enormously busy time for the candidates and the audience expressed its warm appreciation to them for giving up so much time, showing by their presence that democracy is alive and well.
The Grove House Play 'The Penelopeaid' - review
"History," says Mrs Lintott in Alan Bennett's The History Boys "is a commentary on the various and continuing incapabilities of men … History is women following behind with the bucket." This certainly was the strong message portrayed by this short, punchy and wholly captivating production of Atwood's feminist classical satirical fantasy.
The Penelopiad is Margaret Atwood's (of The Handmaid's Tale fame) witty rewriting of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, or parts thereof, from the perspective of Odysseus's long-suffering wife Penelope, feistily portrayed by Niamh Thomas in Helen Brown's all female production.
Maintaining a kingdom while her husband Odysseus, played with mischievously arrogant self-regard by Flora Moreau, was off fighting the Trojan War was not a simple business for Penelope. Already aggrieved that he had been lured away due to the shocking behaviour of her beautiful cousin Helen, played with a mesmerising mixture of metropolitan sophistication and flouncing vulgarity by Eve Hartley, Penelope must bring up her wayward son Telemachus (Betty Chau), face down scandalous rumours and keep over a hundred lustful, greedy and bloodthirsty suitors at bay. And then, when Odysseus finally returns and slaughters the murderous suitors, he brutally hangs Penelope's twelve beloved maids… It was a man's world, and maybe still is now.
Helen's Brown's visually seductive production does not reflect well on the menfolk, as the women, lounging around the bar in Hades, reflect on their earthly lives on Ithaca while Odysseus enjoyed himself for 20 years at Troy and returning from it. The actresses handled the brilliant script - part classical tragic pastiche, part Manhattan bar banter, part Ladies' loo gossip, part elevated Brechtian didactic theatre - with aplomb and very evident enjoyment.
Minor parts were also wittily presented, not least the wonderfully dippy Oracle, played by Stephanie Christenson, emitting the conveniently ambiguous advice for which Delphi was notorious – perhaps the most famous example being, 'Trust no one'.
Congratulations also to the many backstage who contributed to a production which felt much more like a School than House play, and left the audience - or should have left them - reflecting on the 'fake news' patriarchal flavour of so much historiography.
To view a gallery of photos from the play, please follow the link: The Peneolopeiad Photo Gallery
Shrewsbury School performs Purcell's 'Dido and Aeneas'
Purcell composed what has come to be regarded as England's 'first opera' in 1688 for performance in a school, so the roles suited our young singers very well.
Heading up the cast were Sophia Price (EDH LVI) as Dido and Angus Warburg (PH LVI) as Aeneas. Both singers were superb and delivered their arias and recitatives with aplomb. Dido's famous lament never fails to move and Sophia Price captured the spirit of this beautifully.
Notable supporting roles were sung by Amelia Marriott (EDH LVI), Jessie Inglis-Jones (EDH LVI), Phoebe Morris (EDH III), Julianna Hinwood (MSH UVI), Amber Wilkinson (MSH LVI) and Will Hope (Ch V) and the chorus provided some final ensemble singing.
The first half meanwhile was a sequence of solo songs by singers from all year groups. Angus Kincaid (Ch UVI) opened proceedings and demonstrated yet again his immense vocal talent, Fintan Simmons (Ch UVI) sang with warmth and charm and Emily Hartland (G IV) dazzled with virtuosity, but it was Orlando Williams (Rt III) who closed the first half and brought the house down with his consummate performance of the 'Hole' song!
Praise must also go to Mr Moore for his superb piano accompaniment and the singing teachers Kathryn Turpin and Jonathan May for their excellent vocal tuition.
Alex Mason, Deputy Director of Music
Announcing the winners of the Biology Photographic Competition 2017...
Junior Category (Third, Fourth & Fifth Forms)
Winner: Nicholas Yale (S)
Runner-up: Anna Cowan (MSH)
Commended: Max Green (I), Danila Polyntsov (I)
Senior Category (Sixth Form)
Winner: Morgan Butler (EDH)
Runner-up: James Crewdson (S)
Commended: Miu Tran (EDH), Amelia Marriott (EDH)
Staff Category
Winner: Raymond Vardill
Runner-up: Kate Bronner
Commended: John Balcombe, Jackie Matthews
Please click on the image below to scroll through the winning photographs. (Clicking on the magnifying glass in the top right-hand of a photo will open it up at full size.)
Friday 5 May 2017
The Grove's House Play 'The Penelopeaid' - photo gallery
Please click on the image below to open a gallery of photos of the production. (Clicking on the magnifying glass in the top right-hand of a photo will open it up at full size.)
Friday 21 April 2017
ISI Inspection Reports 2017
The first inspection was a Focused Compliance Inspection, which concluded that the School is fully compliant in all respects with the highly rigorous regulations and boarding standards.
The second was an Educational Quality Inspection, which reports on the quality of the School's work. It focuses on two key outcomes: "the quality of pupils' academic and other achievements" and "the quality of pupils' personal development". In both cases, the School was assessed as "excellent", the highest available category.
The inspection process was part of a new 'no notice' format, which meant that the School was informed of the inspection 24 hours before it began.
A team of five inspectors observed lessons, conducted formal interviews with pupils and examined samples of pupils' work. They held discussions with members of staff and with the Deputy Chair of Governors, observed a sample of the extra-curricular activities that occurred during the inspection period and attended house meetings. Inspectors visited boarding houses together with the learning support and education resource areas. The responses of parents and pupils to pre-inspection questionnaires were analysed, and the inspectors examined curriculum and other documentation made available by the School.
The full reports are published on the Inspection Reports page of this website but may also be downloaded by clicking on the links below:
Wednesday 19 April 2017
School Firsts
Each term a committee of Sixth Form pupils meets to award the School's highest form of 'colours' – a 'School First'. The committee members take their work seriously, for two main reasons: firstly, this is a good example of pupil power – while teachers may make nominations, it is only those ten or so Upper Sixth pupils sitting on the committee who have the power to vote; secondly, to retain the value of the 'School First', precious few are handed out.
Nowadays School Firsts have been split into two types: sporting and non-sporting. Below is a list of those pupils who were given the coveted award for their exceptional contributions to School life in non-sporting activities.
For his exceptional contributions as Governor of the Bastille Society and his dedication to the study of History:
Ed Plaut
For their commitment to and success in MUN:
Max Morris, Max Yale and Rhys Trevor
For their outstanding service and commitment to the CCF:
Jack Lock, Rob Hartwell, Guy Morris and Will Hayward
For the creation of the Humanist Society and chairing the Charities Committee:
Alex Penman
For their outstanding contributions to and success in Debating:
Peter Stanley and Alec Barnes
For his exceptional contributions to and highly successful leadership of the Quiz Society:
Caspian Cowan Taylor
For their unstinting and exceptional contributions to the musical life of the School:
Joe Thevathasan, Fintan Simmons, Dan Orchard, Alys Howells, Nateewat Ruechuseth, Jemima Price, Ross Orchard and Will Bedson
Friday 24 March 2017
CCF cadets taking to the skies
This picture shows one of the club aircraft the pupils are instructed in, and also demonstrates that the RAF section in particular is popular with both girls and boys.
'Fantastic Mr Fox'
There used to be a great 150-year-old beech tree by the side of a lane near the village of Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire. Known locally as the 'witches tree', it was a tree, so Roald Dahl's children were told, where Mr Fox and his family lived in a hole under the trunk. In turn, this story was shared with the children of the nation when Dahl wrote his timeless classic Fantastic Mr Fox.
The Upper Sixth A Level Theatre Studies group chose to stage an interpretation of Dahl's work for their examined performance piece and, whilst normally the examined piece is watched by a select few, this year the Ashton Theatre was almost packed out, such was the enthusiasm for seeing the work on stage.
A quick refresher, in case you need any reminding:
Boggis, Bunce and Bean
One fat, one short, one lean
These horrible crooks
` So different in looks
Were nonetheless equally mean.
The three agricultural antagonists of the play were played by Katie Edwards as the obnoxious and obese Boggis (ably plumped up by a pillow stuffed under her shirt), Claudia Fang as the diminutive Bunce, and Ella Davies-Jones as the cider-swilling Bean. Opening the play with some comic dancing from each of them immediately generated much hilarity from the audience, who were lapping up the larger than life characters. Indeed, it didn't take long before there was plenty of audience participation, too, with some energetic dancing from the front row of Johnsons, Bells and Peaks (as their children looked on in embarrassed horror).
The eponymous Mr Fox was played by a dapper, bow-tied Dan Powell, who was very much at home as the enterprising and audacious pater familias of the fox clan. Yet when he loses his tail to Boggis's gun and, forced into subterranean incarceration and his bucolic way of life under threat, it is Mrs Fox (a glamorous and stylish Niamh Thomas) who comes to the rescue. As Mr Fox bellowed out the rousing lyrics of 'Wind Beneath My Wings' ("Did you ever know that you're my hero?"), Mrs Fox was prepared for battle, armed with flak jacket, machine gun and other assorted military accoutrements. Mum was very much in charge!
The Fox family's forays into the farms of Boggis, Bunce and Bean required further audience participation ("Come on, everyone, dig!") and one by one, we were taken into the chicken farm of Boggis, the duck and goose farm of Bunce, and the turkey and apple farm of Bean. The Fox family, of course, included the offspring of Mr and Mrs Fox (requiring multiple swift costume changes for Edwards, Fang and Davies-Jones) and along the way, various other woodland creatures emerged to play supporting roles, including the flamboyant figure of Badger (Niamh Thomas's dancing skills coming to the fore here) and the cider cellar-dwelling Rat. (I began to lose count of the number of roles Katie Edwards was playing!).
It was a fast-paced farmyard adventure with plenty of originality and laugh-out-loud comedy. My eldest daughter's favourite moment was when a rambunctious Bean (pedalling with difficulty on a children's toy tractor) was scolded by Mrs Fox and sent back into the wings, bottom lip pouting and suitably berated. Sophia, our middle daughter, said her favourite moment was when a terrified chicken laid a Cadbury's creme egg. If our youngest daughter had been there (it was past her bedtime and she would have been a distinct liability if allowed to watch the show), she would undoubtedly have found greatest pleasure in the doughnuts handed out at the end. Her culinary vacuuming almost rivals the chicken thieving of Mr Fox himself…
A finale of glitter balls, balloons and baskets of treats saw the children in the audience invited on stage for a final dance alongside the performers. As the actors took their bows at the curtain call, they were met with a rousing ovation from an appreciative audience who had been treated to a quite wonderful evening of drama. Performing to a young and unpredictable audience (never mind the notoriously hard-to-please theatre critic Giles Bell) was a gamble, but it was a gamble that paid off with the children (and adults) won over by the fizz and wit of the piece. My children loved it; the fact that our ultra-shy middle daughter got up on stage at the end is an achievement in itself and testimony to the engagement of the piece. The cast of five students gave us energy, wit and creativity in a short play packed full of surprises and theatrical innovation which nevertheless stayed true to the original charm of Dahl's farmyard yarn. Fantastic!
Thursday 23 March 2017
Art Scholars' Exhibition and Dinner
Each of the Scholars had chosen a favourite picture to present and talk about before the Dinner, which led to a lively discussion about the work of many different artists, including Anthony Gormley, Picasso, Van Gogh, Cézanne and Velasquez.
A presentation was made to the President of the Arts Society, Imogen Luczyc-Wyhowska (G UVI), for her good stewardship over the past year.
The Art Scholars' Exhibition continues until 5pm on Friday 24th May in the Art School.
Friday 17 March 2017
'Phenomenal Women'
Sara Hankin (Shrewsbury's first Housemistress) reflected on the first steps taken by the pioneering girls who joined the School as Sixth Formers in 2008, and some of the challenges and highlights of those early years.
The evening began with Abi Watkinson (G V) giving a spine-tingling performance of the poem 'Pretty' by Katie Makkai, with further highlights coming from three Sixth Form girls who took to the stage to speak about 'phenomenal women' who had inspired them.
It was (as even the men in the audience agreed!) an inspiring evening.
Jasmine Lo (EDH V) gives her own reflections on the event:
On Wednesday 8th March, the School gathered together to celebrate International Women's Day and reflect on the role of women in the 21st century.
During the evening we had a number of inspirational talks from Shrewsbury School girls. Abi Watkinson (G V) recited the poem "Pretty" by Katie Makkai, which angrily challenges traditional expectations that are still so often engraved into the brains of girls. It tells girls that "the word Pretty is unworthy of everything they will be. They will be pretty intelligent, pretty creative and pretty amazing, but will never be merely 'pretty'."
Emma Gardener (G LVI) spoke about the rock music pioneer, Joan Jett. Hattie Bramwell (EDH LVI) told us about Martine Wright and how she became inspired to be a Paralympian after a life-changing accident in which she lost both her legs. Lastly Nifemi Runsewe (MSH LVI) spoke about gender inequality in Africa, and the dreadful and shocking situations in which many young girls are forced to live. All three of the Sixth Form girls explained what they believe makes a 'phenomenal woman' and what we should learn from them.
Mrs Hankin described the early years of girls arriving at Shrewsbury School and studying in a predominantly boys' school, and what we have done to change how girls are perceived in society. She described the challenges girls took before us in Shrewsbury School and the achievements they have gone on to make in their lives, showing us that even if historically girls have been considered the 'lesser sex', we can be and do whatever we want. Mrs Hankin ended her talk with a piece by Pamela Redmond Satran called '30 Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know by the Time She's 30. It was originally written for Glamour magazine in 1997, to tell younger women about the things she really wished she had known earlier. It has definitely given all of us some advice!
To close the day's celebrations, all the girls at the School were asked to nominate who we thought the influential girls in the School were: those who commit themselves to different challenges and, in some cases, may even change history. We all thought highly of Nina Lange (LVI G) for playing in the boys' 1st XI football team and breaking the boundaries of single sex sports. Issy Wong (IV G) was also commended for engaging in cricket and leading the School to success. Last but not least, Lauren Powell (EDH UVI) was given due credit as a leading oarswomen and for inspiring girls in the Shrewsbury community.
On leaving the theatre, each one of us received a letter from OS Elle Gurden (MSH 2008-10). She was one of the first girls at Shrewsbury had most definitely made the most of her time at the School. As she was not able to attend the International Womne's Day event on Wednesday, she sent us a letter telling us "to be brave and to be your own person… throw yourself into school life and you will love every minute of it… Floreat Salopia!"
I believe this event not only lets the girls of Shrewsbury unite together as one and celebrate what it means to be a women, but it also helps us realise as young women to support, empower and fight for one another. It was a very enjoyable night for the students and teachers, motivating us to be the women we want to be.
I must thank Mr Middleton for making this event happen and allowing us to celebrate the special day with all of us. He has gone through a lot of planning and work to let us all be part of such a memorable event.
A film of Abi Watkinson reading the poem 'Pretty' was recorded for International Women's Day and published on the Shrewsbury School TV YouTube channel. To view it, please click on the image below:
Tuesday 14 March 2017
"Shrewsbury School music at its very best"
Any review of a Shrewsbury School concert runs the risk of very quickly exhausting available superlatives. Forgive me, therefore, if I begin by proclaiming that the quality of musicianship at Sunday evening's concert in London's Cadogan Hall and the electric energy of the programme really had to be heard to be believed. This was Shrewsbury music at its very best.
After a Friday evening concert in the Alington Hall for pupils and the local community, two coachloads of musicians travelled down to London early on Sunday morning for a few snatched hours of rehearsal ahead of an evening performance in the grand venue of Cadogan Hall.
Following a reception for Old Salopians, parents, guardians and other friends of Shrewsbury School, the concert opened with Sir Malcolm Arnold's rousing Scottish Dances performed by the Wind Orchestra and conducted with typical verve by Maria McKenzie. As a Scotsman recovering from the humiliation of the Calcutta Cup the day before, the ebullience of the four movements did wonders in restoring my deflated mood, the soaring flutes and earthy clarinets almost transporting me back to the heath and heather of homeland. Ah, ye bonny banks and braes…
There was no time to become too misty-eyed and home-sick, however, for there soon came the first of the solo items: Steffan Williams (O) performing the first movement of Horovitz's Euphonium Concerto. This was an extraordinarily complex piece played with aplomb by this highly talented musician, a final year student who is off to study Human Sciences at Oxford University next year and is no doubt destined for great things.
Greatness was likewise evident in the extraordinary performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major by Nateewet Ruechuseth (Ch). Played from memory and with an exhilarating energy combined with control and poise, the performance was a tour de force and an outstanding achievement from such a young musician. Four hours of practice a day, I'm told, is what it takes to play to this kind of standard, and I don't doubt it, such was the faultless quality of the performance.
Similar poise and effortless musicianship was evident in the third of the solo items, Upper Sixth Former Jemima Price taking the stage to perform Carl Maria von Weber's Concertino for Clarinet and Orchestra. We were treated to yet another masterclass, with Jemima's beautiful tone and timbre mellifluously rising and falling with the cadence of the piece. She fully deserved the rapturous applause that was bestowed upon her by an appreciative and highly impressed audience.
As we moved towards the Interval, we were treated to the glorious Finlandia by Sibelius, a rousing hymn to the composer's home nation underscored by a political tension resulting from the oppression of Russian rule under Tsar Nicholas II. The context of the piece is fascinating, but as a piece of music it is sublime and a fitting way to end the first half of the concert. Most wonderful of all was the fact that the piece was conducted by Old Salopian Henry Kennedy (I 2009-14, who is now studying clarinet and conducting at the Royal Academy of Music. His energetic command of the orchestra on the conductor's rostrum was enthused about over half-time glasses of wine by audience members drowning in superlatives.
A shorter second half provided us with two final gems: Haydn's 'London' Symphony in D Major and Arturo Márquez's Danzón No 2. The first is a firm favourite amongst Salopians and the Cadogan Hall was, of course, a fitting occasion to perform this work commissioned during the second of Haydn's two London residencies in England. First performed at the King's Theatre on 4th May 1795 led by the composer himself, Haydn wrote in his diary that "the whole company was thoroughly pleased and so was I. I made 4000 gulden on this evening: such a thing is possible only in England". The Shrewsbury School version was conducted by Director of Music John Moore who, whilst not earning 4000 gulden for his efforts, can nevertheless be equally pleased with the performance of the symphony and the skilled manner in which his musicians brought the piece alive.
I hope I haven't exhausted the superlatives entirely, for the final piece, certainly for me, was the most memorable performance of the evening. With an orchestra composed of pupils, staff, music teachers and Old Salopians, we were soon given something quite strikingly different to Haydn with the hypnotic swish and sway of the Mexican composer Márquez. In his own words, the Danzón is "a music full of sensuality and qualitative seriousness… which old Mexican people continue to dance with a touch of nostalgia and a jubilant escape toward their own emotional world." The six-strong percussion section were in their element on bongos, snare, timpani, bass drum, maracas and woodblock, and John Moore seemed to be less conducting and more dancing, such was the fun he seemed to be having with the music. It was infectious and whilst the audience showed suitable English restraint and limited their outpouring of emotion to the odd tapping of toe or nodding of head, the finale was met with a standing ovation from members of the audience and even a whoop or two (possibly from the Headmaster).
John Moore once again created a mesmerising evening of music along with his team of staff and of course his wonderful musicians both Salopians present and past. Bravo!
A footnote from Director of Music, John Moore:
I would like to express my deep gratitude to those Old Salopian Musicians who gave up their Sunday to come and take part in the concert: Chris Carver (viola), Patrick Craig (harp), Ollie Darrington (percussion), Sam Grainger (viola/recording engineer), Richard Hudson (trombone), Andrew Hughes (cello), Louise Hughes (Violin) (OS Elect), Henry Kennedy (clarinet/conductor), Laura Nightingale (cello) Henry Southern (percussion), David Theodore (oboe), Alastair Thomas (bassoon), Henry Thomas (trumpet).
We are immensely proud of these wonderful musicians, and it was also so heartening to see many more OS musicans during the course of the day and in the audience at the concert in the evening. Following on from the highly successful Epiphany Evensong in St Mary-le-Bow Church in London in January, the Cadogan Hall concert further strengthens the links between the School and its wonderful extended Salopian community. We will hope to plan more events for the future, and what our pupils gain from this contact is immeasurable.
Floreat Salopia.
Friday 10 March 2017
'ShrewsMUN' - Shrewsbury School's inaugural Model United Nations Conference
Devised and organised by a small and extremely hard-working Executive Committee made up of Sixth Form students led by Secretary General Ed Plaut (S), ShrewsMUN 2017 was hailed an outstanding success by delegates, organisers, Chairs of Committees and accompanying members of staff alike.
Together with Ed, Deputy Secretary General Max Morris (S), Joint Heads of Press Michael Schützer-Weissmann (S) and James Whitaker (Rt) and Head of Media Sebastian Hervas-Jones (S) had collectively put in hours of work in the weeks and months leading up to the Conference. They were supported, too, by a team of fellow 'MUN-ers' who took on the roles of Chairs of Committees and Presidents of the Security Council, preparing resolutions, and researching and writing briefing notes for delegates.
The Committee were delighted that seven schools from across the UK signed up for the Conference and they were particularly thrilled that two teams from Frankfurt International School travelled over from Germany. They were also very honoured to welcome Justin Bedford, Head of the UN Strategy Team at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to give the Keynote Speech at the opening General Assembly – particularly given the fact that he had spent the previous week travelling in China and South Korea and had flown back to the UK only the day before. He gave a fascinating insight into the world of international diplomacy, and answered very skilfully some challenging and probing questions.
The Keynote Speaker in the final General Assembly was former Head of School Esmé O'Keeffe (MSH 2013-2015), a talented and enthusiastic 'MUN-er' during her two years at Shrewsbury, who is now at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge studying French and Italian. She spoke about her experience last summer working for a humanitarian aid agency in the Ukraine and her research for a report she had written for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. As Ed Plaut said in his vote of thanks, she demonstrated to the ShrewsMUN delegates "that these issues are not as removed from us as we might think, and that we do not have to wait to make a difference to those things we debate at MUN".
During the course of the weekend, the ShrewsMUN delegates debated some of the major global issues currently being discussed in the 'real' United Nations, including the question of migration, the Syrian Civil War, sustainable energy in developing countries, cyber warfare, the use of drones in war and the treatment of terror subjects.
Work in the each of the six Committees was intense and productive. In their closing remarks in the final General Assembly, all of the Chairs of Committees paid tribute to their respective teams of delegates for the high quality of debate – commenting that it made the awarding of Commended, Highly Commended and Outstanding Delegates difficult to decide.
"It was great to see all of our hard work and hours of preparation pay off over the weekend, as everything worked extremely smoothly," Ed said at the end of the Conference. "Everyone really enjoyed their weekend and learned a great deal, either as a delegate, a chair, or on the organisation side of things."
Michael Schützer-Weissmann agreed: "Given Shrewsbury's prolific MUN record, it's extraordinary that we have had to wait until 2017 for our own ShrewsMUN conference. But no matter - it was well worth the wait. For me, the key to this conference's success was its almost entire dependence on pupils' commitment and initiative."
As joint Heads of Press, Michael and James were responsible for producing a newspaper during the weekend, which they published in time to hand to delegates in the final General Assembly. Meanwhile Sebastian, as Head of Media, roamed the Conference with his camera and put together two films that captured the lively spirit and positive atmosphere of the Conference.
Speaking at the end of the Conference, Ed Plaut was warm in his thanks not only to his fellow organisers but also to the members of staff who gave up their weekend to help with the Conference. In particular he paid tribute to Mr Peach, Master in Charge of MUN. "He is the man I must credit with not only introducing me to MUN, but supporting me and mentoring me every step of the way, including to the end of this conference. His leadership of MUN has irrevocably and positively shaped generations of Salopians, who, like me, are eternally grateful for all the hours that he has put into us as MUNners, but more importantly as people. ...He believed in our vision for the conference, and let us run with that vision with complete control, for which we are so thankful."
Mr Peach expressed his huge pride in their achievement. "Ed, Max and their team of committee chairs, administrative staff, delegates and journalists shouldered the vast majority of the planning and work for this conference and were a tremendous credit to themselves and Shrewsbury School. Because this conference was their brainchild, they 'owned' it, and were thus determined to make their conference a success. It's strange, but true, but some of the greatest moments that I have experienced in my teaching career (and this was definitely one of them!) have come from standing to one side, doing very little and just watching as talented stars of the future like Ed and his team take flight."
Ed concluded the Conference with his favourite quote, from Ronald Reagan:
"I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph, and that there is purpose and worth to each and every life."
Ed, James and Sebastian gave a very engaging interview on Radio Shropshire shortly before the start of the Conference on Saturday morning. Please follow the link to listen to it and scroll forwards to 2:17:15 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04sx4st
Organist Fintan Simmons (Ch UVI) performs in London and Lichfield
Fintan's Lichfield performance was before Evensong on Monday 6th March at which our own Chapel Choir performed (see report). His London performance the following day was part of a series at St Lawrence-Jewry featuring talented young organists from schools across the UK. Fintan shared his lunchtime concert with two organ pupils from Tonbridge School and he performed three pieces by Bach, Mendelssohn and William Mathias.
One of the main challenges for the organist is adjusting to different instruments in a short space of time. Fintan managed this brilliantly, going from the 'Romantic' Hill organ (built in 1884) in Lichfield to the 'modern' Klais organ (2001) in St Lawrence-Jewry with effortless ease. On both occasions Fintan made imaginative use of the organs' stops and showed off some nimble footwork in the Bach and some rhythmic playing in the Mathias.
There are some interesting Salopian connections with both places: Mr Mason was Assistant Organist and Director of the Girls' Choir at Lichfield Cathedral; the father-in-law of Fintan's Housemaster, Richard Hudson, built the organ at St Lawrence-Jewry before the Klais; and Catherine Ennis, Organist of St Lawrence-Jewry, is a former Salopian parent.
There is an opportunity to hear Catherine Ennis play a recital in the School Chapel on Wednesday 14th June at 6.30pm as part of our summer series, so do put the date in your diaries now!
Alex Mason, Assitant Director of Music
Thursday 9 March 2017
Chapel Choir trip to Lichfield Cathedral
Shrewsbury is part of the Lichfield Diocese, so it was good to return to our 'local' Cathedral once again, the Chapel Choir having last sung there in 2012. Indeed our connections with Cathedral and School have been strong over the years, with many Lichfield choristers joining the ranks of Shrewsbury Music Scholars.
The Cathedral itself is an extremely impressive building and its three medieval spires dominate the countryside for miles around. The magnificence of the architecture certainly inspired the Choir in their singing of music by Herbert Howells and Antonio Lotti.
Opening with Ayleward's Responses and Psalm 32, the Choir then embarked on Howells' setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis written in 1945 for the choir of King's College, Cambridge and known affectionately as 'Coll Reg' in choral circles. This piece is one of the high points of 20th century 'Cathedral' music and has some wonderful soaring lines for the sopranos, exquisite close harmony for the sopranos and altos, and muscular phrases for the tenors and basses, all of which were sung with great confidence and finesse by the Chapel Choir.
Ben Higgins' (S UVI) solo at the start of the Nunc Dimittis was delivered with great sensitivity and control, with the full Choir accompanying in hushed tones.
The anthem was Lotti's well-known setting of part of the Creed, 'Crucifixus', in eight parts, composed 1717-19. This has become a firm favourite of the Choir and they brought out the expressive qualities in the harmony with great care.
In addition to the superb choral singing, there was some fine organ playing before and after the service by Fintan Simmons (Ch UVI) and Dr Godwin.
Tuesday 7 March 2017
Art Scholars' Exhibition 2017
A few examples of the work that will be on show are included here.
Please click on the main image below to open the gallery of images and click again to scroll through them.
Friday 3 March 2017
Churchill's Hall House Play: 'Julius Caesar'
Tackling one of Shakespeare's most famous and oratorically brilliant plays is hugely ambitious for a House production, but the Churchill's boys have never been afraid of a challenge. Julius Caesar feels almost prophetically significant in the current political climate, with its story of would-be dictators, cynical demagogues and ruthless coups d'état.
The play opens on the streets of Rome, where the people are celebrating the return of Caesar after a string of great military victories. Directors Richard Hudson and Fintan Simmons had chosen to set the play in an unnamed Fascist state: the banners and brutalist architecture of Niki Holmes' set design harked back to the menace of the 1930s.
Caesar, played with confidence and maturity by Elliot Crossley, is a man on top of his game; he has conquered the world and returned to receive the adoration of the masses. Among the sycophants and toadies who surround him, he depends upon the love and loyalty of his wife, Calpurnia (Anna Cowan) and dearest friend, Mark Anthony (Toby Pattinson).
It quickly emerges that the political machinations of the Senate can be harder to navigate than a battlefield, and Caesar finds himself surrounded by plots and conspirators. Chief among these are the ambitious and cynical Cassius – played by a brilliantly slimy Rider Hartley – and the honourable Brutus (Tim Lovick). Brutus' decision to murder Caesar stems from a genuine desire to preserve the republic, and Lovick's performance left the audience in no doubt that this truly was "the noblest Roman of them all".
Caesar's death leaves a power vacuum, and there is no shortage of men wishing to fill it. His funeral becomes a masterclass in spin, as one side and then the other takes to the podium hoping to manipulate and harness the power of the people. Brutus speaks first, but his bluff honesty is overshadowed by the rhetorical fireworks deployed by Mark Anthony, whose address to "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" is perhaps Shakespeare's most brilliant piece of writing. It is always difficult to reinterpret a speech that your audience know by heart, but Toby Pattinson managed to bring a powerful sense of immediacy to these famous lines.
The second half of the play – largely cut in this production – follows the civil war that follows Caesar's death, culminating in the rise of Octavius (Harry Remnant) as the new dictator. Appearing in the dead Caesar's regalia, he left the audience in little doubt that while names and faces may change, the archetypes of politics do not.
To open up a gallery of photos please click on the main image below and click again to scroll through the images. (Photos by William Temple https://william-temple.com/)
Lenten Supper and Reflections
This was a new idea brought to the School by Reverend Aldous and seems to have had many great reviews, with everyone present having a fantastic night. The evening included pupils from across all year groups and houses, with a set seating plan and smart dress code. The Lenten Supper began with drinks which preceded a lovely meal provided by KH.
In between courses we were privileged to have the artist Paul Hobbs talking about his artwork and how it related to faith in modern life. He even brought some of his exhibits to the meal, including 'The Gate', which is a small wooden gate that stands by itself, referring to the invitation from Jesus to "enter through the narrow gate" (Matthew 7:13). More of Mr Hobbs' work was on display in the gallery in the Art School from Saturday to Tuesday (and please follow the link to visit his website: https://www.arthobbs.com/)
After the Lenten Supper there were also four Lenten talks spread over Monday and Tuesday by Revd Henry Corbett, who is attached to the Shewsy, Shrewsbury School's Youth and Community Centre in Everton, Liverpool. He particularly spoke very honestly about whether Christianity is "worth it?", making these discussions engaging, especially when pancakes were involved on Tuesday night!
After the success of this year, hopefully we can look forward to the Lenten Supper becoming an annual occasion.
Hattie Bramwell (EDH LVI)
Mr Middleton's 'Have a Go Friday'
The idea started somewhat by accident during a badminton session that Mr Middleton was covering where he decided (dressed in full three-piece tweed suit!) to 'have a go'.
From that Friday onwards he has sought to challenge himself each week with something new. In his own words, he has been outmanoeuvred on rugby field and football pitch, outclassed on lacrosse field and netball court, and experienced what he describes as 'utter trepidation' ahead of a public performance (playing piano at a Friday lunchtime concert in the Maidment Auditorium).
He's been up at the crack of dawn to take part in a Strength & Conditioning session, rowed in a boat for the very first time, and last Friday was up early before lessons to take part in a dance masterclass given by choreographer Sîan Archer and Upper Sixth Former Niamh Thomas (G).
Whilst the hashtag #haveagofriday may not have quite gone viral on Twitter (yet!), the idea seems to be spreading. Mr Middleton was joined at the dance session by three of the U16 rugby team (Fingal Dickins, Frank Morris and Harry Remnant) who were keen to 'have a go' at something new. After 45 minutes, the resulting routine can be viewed in the video on the Shrewsbury School TV YouYube channel by clicking on the image below. (Please note that for copyright reasons, the sound has been muted by YouTube - though the dance routine is entertaining even without the soundtrack! The dance with the music can be enjoyed on Twitter.)
To read a fuller account of Mr Middleton's 'Have a Go Friday' experiences and see more photos from previous weeks, please follow the link: Shuttlecocks and Schubert: 'Have a Go Friday' and the value of challenge.
You can follow Mr Middleton on Twitter @ShrewsburyDHCC.
Shrewsbury School dancers and musicians get ready for 'Happily Ever After?'
Towards the end of the last academic year, I was approached to see if I would like to oversee and assist some Shrewsbury School students in their production of a dance showcase event. This is something that has been a real pleasure to be involved in, and I have enjoyed working with some very talented students.
Since the start of Lent Term, Niamh Thomas (G UVI), Angel Chan (EDH V), Fiona Lim (EDH LVI) and Anya Tonks (MSH IV) have been working hard on their dance pieces for a showcase on the evening of Tuesday 7th March, which will be held in the Schools Ashton Theatre The event is entitled 'Happily Ever After?', and each piece is connected through a fairy-tale theme.
Niamh's piece 'I wana be a real doll', is based on the tale of Pinocchio and explores the idea that ballet and dance is not all sweetness and light but can have a much darker side. She looks at the ideas that dancers strive to be perfect like a doll and the pressures that this brings.
Anya has created a contemporary dance called 'Cinderella Story', which looks at the title character longing to be someone else, the girl she was before her stepmother arrived. Anya's dance is supported by vocals from Jessie Inglis-Jones (EDH LVI), with Jessie portraying the once happy Cinderella and Anya the fairy-tale character that we all know.
Angel and Fiona have collaborated to produce a piece entitled 'Into the Mirror'. This is a dance that looks at the story of Snow White and focuses on the devastating impact of greed.
The showcase is tied together by a selection of musical numbers from Broadway hit musical 'Into the Woods' that has been put together and rehearsed by Dan Powell (Ch UVI) and friends.
Friday 24 February 2017
Sponsored Walk total reaches £100,000
This is double the amount raised by the last Sponsored Walk in 2011.
"Club members and staff have been completely overwhelmed by the amount raised," said Dave Brereton, Senior Youth Worker at the Shewsy. "This funding is a lifeline for the young people of Everton. It has given all of us at the club a massive boost to morale and to what we are able to plan for the immediate future. Thank you!"
For more about the Sponsored Walk itself, please see: our report Sponsored Walk for the Shewsy; a selection of some of the stunning photos taken by staff and pupils: Sponsored Walk Photo Gallery; and a wonderful video that captures the atmosphere of the day: Sponsored Walk Timelapse Video.
Thursday 23 February 2017
International pianist Peter Donohoe performs at Shrewsbury School
Piano maestro Peter Donohoe treated Shrewsbury to a masterclass in the craftsmanship at the heart of the Romantic repertoire - Chopin, Schubert and Schumann, via the beguiling Scriabin, whose luxuriant harmonic sonorities hid flashes of that Russian Chopin's captivating darkness.
From the start, we were held in thrall by the limpid rivers of sound that Donohoe conjured at the keyboard. Donohoe nurtured the Alington's Steinway D with swagger and elegance through Chopin's Grande Valse Brilliante and the éclat and soul of the Polonaise-Fantasie in A-flat. The A minor and E minor waltzes delivered contrasts of more sombre, reflective colours; his sense of command and communication unimpeachable throughout.
At the centre of the programme, Scriabin's Piano Sonata No.3 – prepared as part of as Donohoe's new recording of the complete cycle for SOMM Records – offered his musicianship full voice. The opening of the Drammatico first movement was utterly arresting; the song lines of the second and third, where the return of the theme was astonishingly offset by the individualised shimmering of eddying inner voices, prepared the ground for the anguish of the Presto con fuoco finale before the soul, as Scriabin's programme has it, plunges into the 'abyss of the non-being' in it sabrupt end. We had been warned during Donohoe's touching piano-side chat, to expect something terrible in the sudden ending in the piece's minor home key, the sort of terror we may find on the opera stage. Yet even forewarned, when it arrived, it was staggering, and we began to understand why a musician of Donohoe's magnitude would want to re-engage with the visceral charge of this giant of the late Romantic and early Soviet era.
The second half's Schubert set of Impromptus Op. 142 was clearly an audience favourite. Again, the attentive craft Donohoe lavished on the inner voices gave these miniatures the conversational fizz of chamber music, ensuring folk melodies bejewelled by art remained supple and authentic and fresh. Schumann's Fantasie in C major delivered a fitting virtuosic finale for a performance full of imagination, brilliance and truth.
Donohoe plays the complete Scriabin sonata cycle at the Barbican in London on 23rd April. St George's Day. Shakespeare's birthday. On the strength of this performance, it will be reason to celebrate in itself.
James Fraser-Andrews
President of the Creative Writing Society is published in a 'Successful Writers in 2016 Anthology'
His story 'Cobblestones' was submitted for a competition run by Black Pear Press last summer and was selected for publication in their Short Story Anthology 2016 'The Day of the Dead', described as containing "the finest short story writers in the UK right now".
It begins...
Michelangelo was bringing the Sonata to a close. A resounding G, followed by a more tentative C (played with the appropriate feeling and emotion), this C giving way to a powerful and triumphant E that rang around the concert hall, adding a sense of impressiveness to the beautifully painted angels on the ceiling; mouths open, wings open, arms open. Michelangelo juddered and shuddered as he hammered down these keys multiple times, now looking up at the audience who stared back at him; women in expensive, embroidered ball gowns and pins in their hair, transfixed by the heightened rhetoric of his messianic playing. Some of Michelangelo's charcoal hair came untucked from where it had previously been neatly positioned behind his ear, and dangled loosely. Other locks stuck to his damp forehead. He now began his signature flourish, moving his fingers expertly over the correct keys with a beautiful fluency, and the melody which flowed from the piano was pure. Michelangelo felt his heart soar as he imparted his unique gift to the crowd, just as it had on the night of his first concert. The delicate tones coming from his fingers had that magical quality such that it both relaxed and excited the seated members in front of him. He played his last note and remained motionless as the enraptured crowd brought their hands together in wonder at this piece de resistance, and the curtain was brought down. Michelangelo disappeared from view, all that was left was the memory of his spiritual music. Although he knew the moment could never be repeated, he took comfort from the fact that he'd be creating more history the following night.
The anthology can be ordered from Black Pear Press via the following link: https://blackpear.net/2016/12/15/successful-writers-in-2016-anthology/ and is also in the School Library.
The Creative Writing Society have been spending this term exploring written responses to extreme settings (most notably the landscapes, both emotional and literal, of the First World War). Braving the elements and "the wind through woods in riot" on Wenlock Edge, they embarked on a Field Day that was devoted to 'The Edge'. This is the theme of this year's edition of 'Fire Engine', the anthology of new Salopian writing, which will be published in the summer.
Led by Mr Fraser-Andrews, they communed with the spirit of the poet A.E. Housman on Wenlock Edge and recited into Major's Leap his poem 'On Wenlock Edge the wood's in trouble…', amid flurries of snow that were "icy" but not, mercifully, "thick".
Over teas and coffees and sweets, they explored the interactions of personal memory, history and fiction during an informal workshop at Much Wenlock Books, proper bookshop and nerve-centre for the acclaimed Much Wenlock Poetry Festival.
Friday 10 February 2017
Bertold Brecht's 'A Respectable Wedding' - a review
Tackling Brecht is a weighty task at the best of times, and so Severn Hill's offering of 'A Respectable Wedding' was a brave one.
Director Ben Higgins, ably assisted by Ed Plaut, kicked off the House play season with real gusto, with a witty and interesting take on a play that is reliant on witty repartee. We were quickly involved in the wedding breakfast of the bride and groom, deftly played by Ella Davies-Jones and Angus Moore. Instantly, we were given the idea that the two were not the model picture of married bliss, two hours in to the rest of their lives. Their tension was palpable throughout the performance, until the final and honest reconciliation at the climax.
As with any wedding, hilarity ensued with the rival for the bride's affection, whom Max Morris endowed with a sense of one-upmanship and putdowns that drew inspirations from the greatest of rivalries – the Inbetweeners. The bride's bombastic father wants to hold court and dominate conversation, which Seb Hervas-Jones managed to develop as the play went on. Esther McLaughlin was his counterfoil as the groom's mother, adding a frisson of a 'will they, won't they' to proceedings; the rest was left to our imagination.
Not left to our imagination was the blossoming relationship of the bride's brother, played in sardonic style by Ben Oswald, and Jasper Mitchell as the porter's son, whose inclusion on the guest list leaves us guessing until a fateful scene half way through the play.
Ending the table plan was Cameron Bates, who brought a Captain Haddock quality to his drunken putdowns and sartorial elegance, though I had never known Tintin's companion was so musical.
His long-suffering spouse, played with alacritous zeal by Sebastian Ingram, brought the house down with barbed invective launched at anyone who got in his way.
Severn Hill have lain down the gauntlet to Rigg's and Churchill's, though they can be justly proud of a completely pupil-led production.
Thursday 9 February 2017
Confirmation Retreat
The facilities in this remote converted farmland, six miles out of Newtown, proved to be a wonderful resource.
The speaker, 'Rev K' Owen, leading four interactive teaching sessions, engaged with all the pupils superbly and quickly won the Confirmands' respect. In addition, pupils were introduced to some early morning Reflection times by Dr Elliot, there was a staff-led Any Questions Forum and on the Friday evening, after a themed candlelit banquet and some lively games, Rev A led a thoughtful candlelit Meditation to which pupils could respond using their own candle placed somewhere near a lit Icthus (Fish) symbol on the ground.
The final act of the weekend came in the form of a Do-It-Yourself service for which all 43 pupils were responsible. It was most moving to hear some of their contributions, with mini speeches prepared by Angus Moore (S UVI) and Arthur Bramwell (R III) and some excellent readings, prayers and poetry, a drama and rapturous singing, led by Mr Lucas on keyboards.
This was a new initiative at Shrewsbury and something all agreed to have been hugely beneficial to their formation of their beliefs as Confirmation candidates before they formalise their commitment next term.
Revd Aldous (Chaplain)
ShrewsMUN... a month to go! - by Ed Plaut (S UVI)
However, although the event itself will be taking place in March 2017, its origins actually lie in an idea that I conceived with a friend of mine, Max Morris, while we were in the Lower Sixth in December 2015. We had both been to MUN conferences in Paris and London over that winter and thought if such metropolises could hold a conference, then so could Shrewsbury. Together, we pitched our idea to our ever-supportive and ever-patient Master in Charge of MUN, Mr Peach, who said that he would happily support our idea. And so ShrewsMUN was born (at least, on paper).
After being granted permission by the School, Max and I sat down and began to plan our conference…
While trying to study for our AS level exams, we started to make our first tentative steps into the world of conference organising. As two 16-year-olds, we had little idea where to start with such a task!
We decided that it was pointless to have a conference without people, and so we started to reach out to schools around the UK and Europe that we had a rapport with to try and make them aware of the conference and carefully cajole them to come. Over another bout of MUN conferences in Manchester and London during 2016, the charm offensive continued. Eventually, we sent off our invites to schools from far and wide (at about the same time we were sending our university applications off…).
Once we had schools signed up, the attention turned to each individual detail. Max and the rest of the top team of Michael Schutzer-Weissman, James Whitaker and Seb Hervas-Jones and I quickly realised that there's a lot more to a conference than getting a lot of people to turn up in one place at once! We had to select our chair people for the conference and get together Salopians who were willing to give up a weekend to come and help host the conference, as well as staff. On top of that, there have been flags to buy, badges to make, dietary requirements to note down, committees to organise, nations to allocate and catering to be organised!
On top of all of this, we've been balancing A Level studies, a House Play (featuring in some capacity four of the five ShrewsMUN Executive Team) and sporting commitments. It really has been a busy journey that shows little sign of slowing down as we enter the final month of preparations.
We all hope that all the hours spent poring over databases and emails will result in a great first conference that could one day become a regular feature of the Shrewsbury calendar, and maybe even nurture some of the leaders of the future! However, our collective inputs probably pale into insignificance by contrast with those of Mr Peach, who continues to make a gargantuan effort in the conference organisation alongside all his duties as a dedicated Head of German. The conference would still be a pipe dream without him!
We look forward to welcoming all delegates, guests and visitors in March for what should be a great weekend.
Ed Plaut (S UVI)
Details of the conference, including the topics each committee will be debating, may be found by following the link: ShrewsMUN 1
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Friday 3 February 2017
'Mr Darwin's Tree'
On Sunday 29th January, 250 members of the Sixth Form piled into the Ashton Theatre to watch the production of 'Mr Darwin's Tree', written and directed by Murray Watts, with the solitary actor being Andrew Harrison.
A seemingly last-minute but well received change of plan had led them to be in the Ashton Theatre instead of the usual evening chapel. Shockingly, some Sixth Formers were skeptical; others were keen and unbiased, open to having their preconceptions about one-man theatre obliterated by the hammer of dramatic performance. I would put myself in this camp.
Mr Middleton, Deputy Head (Co-Curricular), descended the stairs onto the stage and stood blinking in the spotlight like a TV host. He told us of the critical acclaim that the play had received. I surveyed the packed arena and wondered if these critics would be doing similar acclaiming, or would be baying for blood like in the Colosseum. Actually, everyone was being quiet and well-behaved, obviously tired after the exhausting exertions that come hand in hand with a Sunday at Shrewsbury School.
There was a great deal of intrigue about the stage set-up, and rightly so. To stage left was a lone chair, and centre stage was a bizarre construction, which consisted of a step ladder, from which wooden branches made of what looked like metre rulers, protruded. It bemused me at the time, but upon further rumination and reflection I've decided that it might be some conceptual reference to the tree of life which Darwin devised during his interesting and enduring life. Below that were a round table and two chairs, where Harrison enacted Darwin's frantic writing scenes and also the deeply poignant deathbed sequences. A nice minimalist and portable set, I thought.
But what of the actual acting?
It's astonishing how one man can hold the attention of 250 tired young men and women for upwards of an hour. As Mr Middleton perceptively put it in his summarising evening email, "There were moments when you could hear a pin drop". Too right there were.
There was writing from Watts that would not have looked out of place in a high-ranking poetry book. Harrison's intonation, had this been delivered in French, would have gained him a distinction grade in a Pre-U oral exam. He rolled his 'r's with precision, and glided gracefully over some of the more tranquil narrations. At times he spoke rapidly and heatedly, at others he faltered and feigned, his voice quivered with emotion. This guy was able to portray Darwin as a squeamish university student, a young, shy, seasick yet passionate expeditionary aboard HMS Beagle, his traditional and domineering, yet benevolent father, and even his dying ten-year old daughter Annie. Mesmerising. I now feel like I've got a tangible grasp of the personalities of all these characters, despite having had no prior knowledge of them.
The play challenges many preconceptions about Darwin and his legacy and the supposed conflict between faith and science. Along with the dramatic story of Darwin's own life, struggles and scientific quest, there are the powerful themes of his wife Emma's Christian faith and their poignant conflict on issues of belief in an otherwise perfect marriage, and the personal tragedies and joys of their journey through life together. As a philosophy student, I found it very engaging, and the ideas were discussed in a way that was very accessible, even to those who were new to the ideas being raised.
I attempted to gauge the reception in the immediate aftermath, in Ingram's Hall, a building that fills me with joy to be able to call home. One friend of mine said, "Yeah that was a really good!" I'd never seen such an outburst of passion, derived from a dramatic stimulus, from him before. We even had a brief debate in the Link about exactly what it was about it which was so enjoyable. The air in Ingram's was positively thick with erudite debate; unanticipated.
This was a very powerful piece of theatre. I have to say, my prejudice that one-man shows are naff and a bit boring was dismantled, destroyed and shattered in one hour. I'm sure this was true for all others present.
Thursday 2 February 2017
Hot debate at Shrewsbury School
Last week on Thursday two teams represented the School at the Oxford Union Schools' Competition in the regional round. Peter Stanley (SH UVI) and Alec Barnes (PH UVI) made it through to the Final in Oxford on Saturday 11th March as one of eight teams from a competitive field of 54.
That same day the Junior House Debating Competition started with a great round on whether the NHS is doomed.
On Sunday, a talented Lower Sixth team of Angus Moore (S LVI) and Sam Bayliss (Rt LVI) competed in the regional round of the Cambridge Union Schools' Competition and acquired valuable experience for competing next year.
On Monday, our debating veterans Ed Plaut (S UVI) and James Whitaker (Rt UVI) (pictured above) debated on the issue of all-women's shortlists to redress parliamentary imbalance, in the English Speaking Union Competition. The audience enjoyed their way of combating gender inequality and I was proud to see them speak so compellingly on the need to empower women. A great last debate, as they unfortunately did not make it to the next round of this highly competitive competition.
Sonya Milanova
Wednesday 1 February 2017
'Baptism of Fire' - Shrewsbury School commemorates Wilfred Owen
The life and work of Wilfred Owen, Shropshire's most famous poet, was celebrated with a day of activities on Saturday 28th January, one hundred years after his arrival on the Western Front in January 1917. Sam Bayliss writes.
The day, organised by James Fraser-Andrews of Shrewsbury School's English Faculty to raise funds for St Chad's Church, remembered the household name who not only pioneered war poetry as we know it today, but changed people's views of war.
Helen McPhail, former chairman of the Wilfred Owen Association, led a tour that followed in Owen's footsteps, as they were guided around the town. The church then played host to world authorities on the writer with three lectures in St Chad's Church in the afternoon.
Speakers included Dr Guy Cuthbertson, Owen's most recent biographer, Dr Martin Deahl, ex-army consultant psychiatrist and Iraq veteran, and Dr Adrian Barlow, formerly of University of Cambridge. Insights into Owen's life, explorations of 'shell-shock', and Owen's cultural impact on later writers proved fascinating subjects to the 200-strong audience.
The day concluded with an evening recital of words and music, devised by James Fraser-Andrews. Led by Director of Music John Moore and Head of Woodwind Maria McKenzie, musicians from Shrewsbury School performed music from the period and beyond – including a world-premiere of a new setting of Owen's poem 'The Letter' by student Dan Powell (Ch UVI). Readings included Owen's best-loved poems, letters home, and brand-new writing from the School's Creative Writing Society.
The day was a fitting tribute to the poet who revolutionised war poetry after his first experiences of the Western Front in 1917, and who would tragically lose his life only seven days before the signing of the Armistice, on 4th November 1918.
"The pupils performed with great sensitivity for the kinds of art - by Owen and others - that civilises, dignifies or, at the very least, lays bare the contortions of the soul in times of such terrible violence," said Mr Fraser-Andrews.
The Friends of St Chad's were pleased to raise £1700 throughout the day, which will help maintain the unique church in Owen's home town. The event was a precursor to the major centenary commemorations of Owen's death that are due to take place next year.
Editor's note: As Sam Bayliss was himself part of the group of Shrewsbury School pupils who took part in the concert, he is perhaps a little reticent in stating just how warmly received their contributions were. The Headmaster received the following email after the concert from parents who were part of the audience. It was entitled 'Shrewsbury School at its best':
"The evening recital of poems and music at St Chad's last Saturday evening to mark the 100th anniversary of Wilfred Owen's move to the Western Front was quite brilliant; magnificent musicianship and singing accompanying readings that inspired and moved in equal measure. Owen's baton moves on to a new and worthy generation.
Congratulations to every last participant and to Mr Fraser-Andrews, Mr Moore and Mrs McKenzie for helping to make it all happen."
Woodwind Prizes
With such large numbers performing, the event was rather epic in proportion but demonstrated the sheer talent of the woodwind musicians at the School.
The Junior Class was for students working up to Grade 6, the Intermediate for Grades 6-8, and the Senior for anyone working at Diploma level.
Katherine thought the overall standard was fantastic and was delighted to give a performance herself at the end of the Senior Class in the beautiful acoustic of the Maidment Auditorium.
Junior Class
1st – Jeffrey Li
Highly Commended – Francesca Harris
Commended – Gordon Chong
Special Mention – George Clowes & Josie Williams
Intermediate class
1st – Oliver Toms
Highly commended – Phoebe Morris (Sax)
Commended – Joe Thevathasan
4th – Harriet Adams
Special Mention – James Snell & Rueben Denison
Senior class
1st – Orla McCormack
Highly commended – William Bedson
Commended – Sophia Price
4th – Jemima Price
Special Mention - Jonty Gould & Ella Johnson (Sax)
Maria McKenzie, Head of Woodwind
Friday 27 January 2017
'Floreat' Awards
Based on the principle that a word of encouragement can have a significant impact on an individual, the intention is to celebrate and commend both curricular and co-curricular success stories in order that pupils may be encouraged on their Salopian journey and further flourish. The intention is to promote an 'I Can' approach amongst Salopians, to applaud effort rather than just attainment, and to encourage pupils to be confident in their abilities and ambitions.
Floreat is hosted by the Headmaster and members of the Senior Academic Staff every Friday following nominations from the Common Room and the pupil body. Those nominated this term include bee-keepers, Classicists, charity fundraisers, hockey goal-keepers, drummers, poets and Arabists. All have impressed and inspired with their qualities of determination, resilience, fortitude and, in many cases, the courage to step out of their comfort zone.
Thursday 26 January 2017
Sponsored Walk - view from a glider
Tom Brennan (LVI I) gained his pilot's wings via his membership of the CCF (RAF) section and flew a glider kindly loaned by the Midland Gliding School.
This short clip was taken as he flew southwards along the Long Mynd escarpment at less than 80 feet in places. Tom then landed and journeyed on to complete the walk on foot. He had certainly earned his ice cream at the end!
Please click on the image below to view the film on the Shrewsbury School TV YouTube channel:
Friday 13 January 2017
Prep Schools' Musical Theatre Day
This year, our theme was 'A Bit More Moore', celebrating the oeuvres of our Director of Music, John Moore.
John has been writing award-winning musicals for Salopian casts for 20 years, including last year's production of Great Expectations which won 5* reviews at the Edinburgh Festival in the summer. Many of the cast were available to help out and mentor our young guests, as they all learned numbers from past shows including Jekyll!, The Bubble and The Lost Domain.
The senior students also gave a wonderful lunchtime concert in which they sang some of their favourite songs from the shows. Particular highlights were Phoebe Morris' glorious rendition of On my own and Angus Kincaid's velvety version of Ole Man River.
The day ended with all of our visitors and helpers – as well as their parents and teachers – joining in a rousing sing-along, complete with waving glowsticks. It was a hugely enjoyable day for all involved, as this lovely thank you message from one of the prep schools shows:
"Thank you all for another splendid, inspirational Musical Theatre day last Friday. It is definitely the thing to dispel the January blues! The children had a great day and were full of it on the way home. Very many thanks to you all and to your delightful, humble pupils, who shared their time, energy and expertise with such grace."
Helen Brown, Director of Drama
Fourth and Fifth Form Art Exhibition
Please click on the image below to open a gallery of pictures that are part of the Fourth and Fifth Form Art Exhibition, currently on display in the Art School.
The exhibition continues until Friday 20th January.
The Art Department is now on Instagram. Do please follow them at: https://www.instagram.com/shrewsbury_art/
Friday 6 January 2017
School Firsts
Each term a committee of Sixth Form pupils meets to award the School's highest form of 'colours' – a 'School First'. The committee members take their work seriously, for two main reasons: firstly, this is a good example of pupil power – while teachers may make nominations, it is only those ten or so Upper Sixth pupils sitting on the committee who have the power to vote; secondly, to retain the value of the 'School First', precious few are handed out.
Nowadays School Firsts have been split into two types: sporting and non-sporting. Below is a list of those pupils who were given the coveted award for their exceptional contributions to School life in non-sporting activities.
For their exceptional contributions to the musical life of the School:
Angus Kincaid (Ch UVI), Marvin Hui (M UVI), Josh Himsworth (Ch UVI), Ben Higgins (S UVI), Steffan Williams ( UVI) and Arthur Yu (SH UVI)
For their exceptional contributions in School and House drama:
Robin Huber (G LVI) and Toby Pattinson (Ch V)
For his outstanding contribution to the cultural life of the School through the Creative Writing Society:
Charlie Johns (I LVI)
Sunday 1 January 2017
News will be published here shortly for 2017