July 2014 OMNIBUS - Wilson's School

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Omnibus December 2013

WILSON’S GOT TALENT?

OMNIBUS The termly newspaper of Wilson’s School

Wilson’s Got Talent? Who would’ve thought it!? Where ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ has Ant and Dec, we have Mr Ng; where BGT has Simon Cowell, we have Mr Carew-Robin-son; where BGT has Susan Boyle, we have Michael Ahearn. And at lunch-time on 7th May, hundreds (literally!) of Wil-sonians poured into the main hall in search of raw talent…And they weren’t disappointed! Jaian Patel kicked things off with his moves, and not once did the audience’s attention ‘break’ from his dancing. Yet this plucky Year 8 had fierce competition, as Kyriacous with his superb Zorba’s dance and Luke Stokes with his new and improved dance routine both did brilliantly.

As always, amazing singing acts are expected at Wilson’s Got Talent and that was certainly delivered. The marvellous Michael and Eruba would almost certainly reach No. 1 if a single was released, whilst Sai Prabhu left us all wanting ‘MORE?’ with his rendition of ‘Consider Yourself ’ from the musical ‘Oliver’. Two great bands also took to the stage, with ‘The Blueberry jam’ delivering a delicious performance and ‘Mind The Gap’ showing they had ‘train’ed for a long time beforehand.

All those who proclaim men unable to multi-task have now been proven utterly wrong by Andy Deng (an audacious Year 7!), whose graceful playing of the violin - and skate-boarding! -left the panel speechless. Oscar Taperell (who could that young chap be, I wonder?) then came on stage dressed in explorer attire, confounding the audience as to what (life) on earth his act might be. But the audience’s funny bones were soon well and truly tickled, as this fake David Attenborough did a sketch on ‘Life at Wilsons’.Although there were no huge buzzers for the judges, the panel all did excellently. Mr Carew-Robinson gave some pretty ‘punny’ comments on the acts, whilst Harry Perkin, the head boy, lent his years of experience to the discussion.

These two were joined by a pair of maths teachers, namely Ms Tattersall (her second time as a judge) and Mr Elwood (new to the game).As the panel were deliberating on the winners, Satchit Sri-kanth and Jack Robertson from U6 gave David Bowie a run for his money as they played a fantastic song. Another U6, Jack Taperell, performed some rather unusual (but astound-ing) magic, using all five of his senses. I could see that act coming.And now, ladies and gentlemen, a drum roll for the results:

1st place: Oscar Taperell2nd place: James Watters3rd place: Michael and Eruba

Yet although students were thoroughly annoyed that the event didn’t eat into Period 5, all felt a sense of satisfac-tion to know that the £1 entry fee went to the charity Kids’n’Cancer. Overall, £378 was raised for the charity, which supported Wilsonian James Carpenter recently.

Oscar Taperell tells us about this year’s ‘Wilson’s Got Talent’ event.

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D.M. Charnock, Magister, Floruit 1999-2014

Every Year 7 boy undertakes in his first few weeks at school a piece of work that is designed to develop his skills in evaluation of historical significance. The task is to consider the careers and achievements of a number of different Headmasters of Wilson’s School to assess their significance for the school and to place them in rank order of importance. It is a clever task and one which the boys enjoy, if for no other reason than that it gives them an opportunity to tweak the nose of the pre-sent, soon to be former, Headmaster and put him well in his place, some way down the list. I have never had any cause to disagree with the boys’ usual assessment that my tenure, in the great scheme of things, has not been one of the more significant ones: there are many others with a much greater claim. After Edward Wilson, the Founder, it is Norman Friskney, who rescued the school from almost certain closure by moving it from Camberwell to Sutton in 1975, who usually tops the list, and rightly so.

My main reflection, after a tenure of 15 years, (in itself a distinctly average achievement compared to that of William Jephson,1803-1843, who was appointed at the age of 21 and continued to run the school, almost into oblivion as it happens, for forty two years,) is that while I may not have been the most significant of the school’s Headmasters, I have certainly been one of the luckiest, for I took over the school at one of the most propi-tious moments in its history. I remember the outgoing Headmaster, Chris Tarrant (1995-1999) saying to me, in a rather unnerving aside, that “only a fool could make a mess of this”. He was right. Coming into Sutton in the 1970’s the school had had to struggle long and hard to establish itself. It had started as the Johnny-come-lately of the grammar schools, number three in the list of the three boys’ grammars, but by the mid 1990s those days were finally behind it and it was biting at the heels of the other grammar schools. The school had

finally become fully selective in 1995 and the newest intakes were very promising indeed. Our better facilities and our excellent grounds, added to our already well es-tablished reputation as a fantastically competitive sports school, now began to have strong traction in the admis-sions stakes. To add to the good fortune, the fragile finances of the school were also about to take a turn for the better as the 25 year rent review of the old school in Camberwell came up in 2000, and the income shot up from a paltry £16,000 a year to a handsome £250,000.

Well, I can at least claim not to be a fool if only because I haven’t made a mess of it. Boys sometimes ask me, what does a Headmaster do? The implication behind the question is one that makes me smile, but it is a good question. The answer, of course, apart from being a decision-making machine, is that the most important job of a Headteacher is to employ good teachers and establish a first rate staff. If I am to claim any one achievement in my years as Head, it is to have recruited a superb team of teachers and administrative staff. When I leave at the end of this year, there will remain on staff only three teachers (all excellent) whom I have not appointed. Everything that has been achieved has been achieved only with the teachers, the support staff and of course the boys and could not have been achieved without them. I am genuinely very proud of the school we have made together. Our vision has been a common one, as has our endeavour.

The Wilson’s of 15 years ago was not a school I would very much like to have attended. It had virtues of course: there was some great teaching; the sport was wonderful; there was clearly a strong Wilson’s sense of identity and pride and pleasure in holding the name of Wilson’s. There were some wonderfully clever students and some outstanding academic achievements. The CCF was excellent and embodied the motto of the school in the impressive way it continues to do today. There were some wonderfully distinctive characters. But it was a school in which too many went to the wall both academically and socially, in which too many didn’t fit in, were bullied and were not well cared for. It was a school which had a justified reputation for not being good at pastoral care and, as a result, behaviour was of-ten less than impressive. It was a school in which there was some poor teaching and a good deal of compla-cency. (Continued on the following page)

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The Wilson’s of today is certainly one that I would love to have had the opportunity to go to. It is a deeply inclusive community in which all can flourish and in which all have a contribution to make and in which all are very well cared for. It is a school in which there is a deep admiration of and aspiration for academic excellence and in which teachers and students together will strive for nothing but the best. I am thrilled by the fact that it is a school in which music is now as strong as sport and in which English and philosophy and his-tory are as successful and respected as maths and the sciences and economics. And by the fact that Wilson’s boys have lost none of their edge and sense of fun: that they remain fiercely, proudly competitive on the sports field, that they love the thrill of victory but also take defeat like gentlemen.

While I look to my future in China with anticipation, nothing there will diminish the pride, satisfaction and sense of privilege that I have had in being the Head-master of Wilson’s. My abiding emotion on departing is one of gratitude, to the fates for smiling on me, to all those, too many to name, who have worked so hard for and with me to make the school what it is today, to all the boys who have made us so proud and who have rewarded our teaching and care of them a hun-dred fold with their acute and questioning intellects, their beautiful and elegant work, their achievements, their sense of fun and their the pride in the name of Wilson’s, to the Governors for the unfailing trust, confidence and support. It has been wonderful.

BE OUR GUEST! Husnayn Nazim tells us all about the rehearsal for

Wilson’s summer production ‘Beauty and the Beast’.

‘Beauty and the Beast’ is the famous Disney tale about a beautiful village girl, Belle who’s captured by the Beast in his palace and Gaston, an evil villain who’s desperately trying to make her his wife. This beast isn’t as beastly as he looks and eventually, Belle falls in love with him. When Gaston hears this horrific news, he hurries to try and kill the Beast. With an army of the rest of the villagers, Gaston invades his palace and war commences over love. I won’t tell you the ending, but I can assure you it’s not something you will want to miss!

As the bell rings and the clock strikes 3:30, the school day ends and I’m blinded with a pack of eager and desper-ate children scurrying through the commotion of other students. Whilst the school day ends for those lucky people, there are still about 100 of us whose day continues for another 2 hours…

We chatter excitedly as we walk through the school, searching for the right venue to attend the biggest show of Wilson’s School- ‘Beauty and the Beast’. Is it in the drama suite? The lecture theatre? The main hall?! The canteen? I, along with the rest of the cast, hurry around school to find the right venue. When we finally find the right place (which takes us up to 3:45) we are warmly welcomed into another day of exhausting yet enjoyable rehearsals with the experienced and talented theatre performer ‘Mr Ka-vanagh’- he’s certainly the heart of the show, the director and the captain. As the boys (well, some of them) confi-dently approach Wallington Girls (who also accompany us in this entertaining show), others sit around on the floor laughing away; talking about the previous days rehearsals; having a fun conversation or even having ‘facial’ conversa-tions with the people on the other side of the room. Yet when Mr.Kavanagh orders us to be silent, we follow his command.

‘Today we shall be continuing with the opening number, Belle…..’ Other times, it’s ‘today we shall be starting ‘Be Our Guest’.. As these words are spoken, I see faces filled with excitement, joy, eagerness to start, or sometimes, tiredness and sighs. Well, we all need to endure the pain of dancing through hot temperatures, yet I’m sure every-one would easily say that these rehearsals are absolutely entertaining and a great way to spend 2 hours after school! Complicated dance steps, perfect routines, singing in key, the right timings - all the requirements for a magnificent sight to look at in each and every song. It could be argued that these routines we complete, to accompany songs of this show, could easily be enough exercise for the day (I’m not actually joking). All of this intensive work will defi-nitely contribute towards an eye-pleasing and impressive show that Wilson’s School Year 7s and 8s will bring to you in July!

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After the rigours of the working week, whether it be at school, work or some other endeavour, the prospect of two day’s weekend break is something we all relish. With Saturday morning comes the opportunity to start the day differently, breaking free from the weekly routine. Exercise is surely the best option, as it gives your mind and body a complete change of scene, whilst working your heart and giving you an adrenaline blast.

Unfortunately, what seems to turn most people off is the thought of highly demanding, uber competitive sport, which, when pitted against the weekend lie-in, drives most people back to their beds. Parkrun, however, provides a far more inviting alternative. Starting at 9 a.m. every Saturday morning at 267 of the UK’s parks and open spaces, this event is a weekly 5km run open to all ages, sexes, shapes and sizes. Its local formula of free entry and inclusiveness has proved hugely popular since it was launched in 2004 at Bushy Park in Kingston, and it has become something of a model for other nations, such as the US and Denmark, which have looked to establish similar community events. The nearest Parkrun to Wilson’s is of course right next door at Roundshaw Downs, and with the recent creation of the ‘Wilson’s School’ running club, many members of the school are now regularly running there or at other local Parkruns, of which there are many. The Roundshaw course is challenging, but also offers impressive views of the Croy-don skyline, and is set within a surprisingly large expanse of parkland, tucked away on the boundary between Croy-don and Sutton. Last Saturday’s run gives a typical example of the Roundshaw experience. By 8:50, the Eastern Corner of the park was swelling with runners, simultaneously questioning their sanity and in some perverse way looking forward to an invigorating and satisfying bit of exercise.

PARKRUN!Andrew McDonald tells us about this summer’s ‘parkrun’ event.

People were warming up, standing around and chatting, whilst the volunteers were taking up positions along the route where they would later encourage expiring runners. Like every Saturday, the pre-run sight was a diverse blend of adults and children, friends and family, elite runners and casual joggers, all of whom knew that within the next half an hour they could rest easy for the following two days, having done something physical for the weekend. With a few minutes to go, everyone began to gather at the start of the course, with the backdrop of Roundshaw Downs open-ing out in front of them. The standard announcements were given about safety, new runners were welcomed, and Steven Hewitt, a Roundshaw veteran, was congratulated on having run 250 Parkruns, after which he was given the Parkrun 250 T-shirt, an item instantly recognised within running circles, and which is also awarded in different forms to those making their 10th, 50th and 100th appear-ances. Then, without further ado, it began. The fastest run-ners quickly cut through to the head of the crowd, as eve-ryone began to find a steady rhythm that would see them round two laps of the course. The field then spread out as runners crossed the bottom of the Downs, before running up the far side, turning back along the top and coming back down again, shortly to reach the half-way mark. This is the best and worst point of the run; you realise that you are only half-way round, but also that thereafter every stride need not be repeated before you reach the finish line. By the time the runners reached the top of the Downs for the second time, their facial expressions were a mix of exhaus-tion and relief, as before them lay one final glorious stretch of downhill, the finish line beckoning to them at the bot-tom. By 9:30 most of the runners had finished, although many stayed for a short while afterwards to talk times, the weather, and what they had planned for the rest of the weekend.

This is Parkrun, an event that brings together the whole community in the best of settings for the best of reasons: to keep healthy, to challenge yourself, and to do something a little different on a Saturday morning.

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CARNEGIE SHADOWING 2014JoJo Daniels on what it has been like to be part of the Carnegie Shadowing group.

The Carnegie Shadowing group has been a great adventure where I have been able to share my love of reading. I have especially enjoyed sharing my view-points with my peers and hearing about their views of the books.

We meet every Friday lunchtime and discuss the book that we have been reading. We think about the book from the authors point of view and that helps us to choose which books have been our favourites so far. The books that have been short-listed are: ‘The Wall’ by William Sutcliffe, ‘The Bunker Diary’ by Kevin Brooks, ‘Liar and Spy’ by Rebecca Stead, ‘Ghost Hawk’ by Susan Cooper, ‘Roof Toppers’ by Katherine Rundall, ‘Blood Family’ by Anne Fine, ‘The Child’s Elephant’ by Rachel Campbell Johnstone and ‘All the Truth that’s in Me’ by Julie Berry.

I have currently read three books (‘All The truth that is in me’, ‘The Bunker Diary’ and ‘The Wall’). Generally speaking the internet poll shows that the best books are ‘The Bunker Diary’ and ‘The Wall’ and person-ally I agree. Kevin Brooks writes in a realistic manner that makes you feel the situation is real and not just a fantasy-fairy kidnap book.. I think that one of the novel’s main themes is personal identity.

On the critical side, ‘The bunker diary’ has a slightly disappointing ending. I thought that the last words were fine, but it felt a bit rushed. This was actually a point raised by some of us in the group.

Overall, being part of this scheme has been a great op-portunity, and I would recommend it to the new Year 7s!

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Mr Charnock1. ‘If ’. I remember it from when I was 18 years old.2. Thriller3. Since you’re leaving at the end of this year, do you have any last word to this school?I’ve actually written an article on that in ‘Omnibus’.

Miss Tyler1.‘Life of Pi’.- I felt like it actually did the book justice. It’s a very thought-provoking film.2. Fantasy adventure 3. ‘The Woman in Black’. The film really brings the story to life - it’s very creepy!Mr Manivanan1. ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’. It portrays three different characters in a compelling way’2. Clint Eastwood because I like a good strong storyline and a bit of comedyHave you seen the maths film Pi?3. I liked ‘Life of Pi’ because it was a nice family film and the kids found the Tamil references hilarious. Miss Waterhouse1. ‘Pulp Fiction’ because it had a lot of big names used cleverly. They really brought out the Saturday Night Fever and Grease in John Travolta, for example.2. I’m very versatile with films. I like good char-acters, but am not a big fan of blockbusters as too much money is spent on them.3. ‘Chocolat’, which is a cookery related filmMs Prestney1. Classic 80s- ‘Dirty Dancing’ and ‘Top Gun’ because it had great music and great fashion. It was a great era and I love Patrick Swayze and Tom Cruise.2. Rom com3. Super volcano because it has some great one-liners, ‘Day After Tomorrow’ because it reminds me of Christmas

AN INTERVIEW WITH TEACHERS

Mr Mclaughlin1. ‘Forrest Gump’, which is about a simpleton who finds himself in huge events, such as starting Ap-ple. It also had wide-ranging themes2. Science Fiction3. ‘Independence Day’ because it is all about aliens, sci-fi, action and I enjoy a bit of collateral dam-age and civilian casualties.

Mr Sturt1. ‘Angela’s Ashes’ because it’s a sad and uplifting story about a girl growing up in Ireland2. Comedy3. ‘Supervolcano’ and ‘Day after Tomorrow’

Mrs Christofi1. ‘The Little Mermaid’ because it was my favour-ite childhood film2. Romcom3. Amelie, which is my favourite art filmSeeing as you’re leaving at the end of this year, after being here for a couple of months, what do you want to say to this school?This is the best school ever, you are all very luckyMs Lemaire1. Lord of the Rings (the first one) because it was just before 3D and it had lots of good action and was a good adaptation of the original story2. Comedy, superhero films3. ‘Amelie’, which is a film set in Paris about someone with short black hair who helps peopleMr Winstone1. ‘Fantasia’ because I saw it when I was very young, when it had an impact on me and I think it has some clever parts2. Comedy

Charlie D’imperio and Rohit Prabhu asked teachers three questions:

1. Whatisoneof yourfavouritefilmsandwhy?2. Whattypeof filmisit?3. Bonusquestion/Whatsubject-specificfilmdoyoulike?

3. ‘Le Ballon Rouge’ because it is silly, has a wry look and there’s no other film like it

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A short story by Mahesh Mottram 8S

DUST

Bahram sprinted along the bottom of the dried up river between the Arma mountains in which he lived. His small feet shot dust, which coated the landscape, up into the air in clouds of grit. The naked heat of the sun sliced through the dust clouds and burned his neck. The smell of dead things was welcoming to him. This meant he was near home. Was the dog dried out and ready to be eaten?

Bahram felt free. Free from his sister constantly moaning and free from his mother shouting at him. He stopped at a mound of rocks. He wasn’t far from home now. He looked around and spotted it. The rock, just how he had left it. Bahram curled his bony fingers around it and tugged hard. It fell with a thud to his side. He watched the little beetles crawling around and sat there fascinated. One day he would move to America and work at the zoo. One day.

Spotting smoke rising up into the sky Bahram stared up-wards and was blinded by the sun. He cursed himself as he fell over in confusion. Was it not a bit too early to start the fire? Especially when they were short for firewood. Bahram carefully put the rock back and wandered forward. He leapt out of the river bank. Suddenly he realised that the smoke was coming from far up in the mountains where his father worked. This was not his town; it was the Taliban’s. Bahram ran ahead. The Taliban propaganda on the walls around him was a blur. Somehow he had managed to take the wrong path home. This sun was driving him crazy.

The minute grains of dust made it impossible for Bahram to climb the short rock face above him to reach the road. He was surrounded by Taliban slogans, it was impossible not to look at their fowl teachings. He was blessed by the fact that he could not read. He tried to block it all out as the walls seemed to close around him.

Panic rose from his stomach and spread over his body like a disease. His hands shook uncontrollably and his vision blurred. Bahram kicked out in frustration. The dust mixed with the humid air creating a fowl concoction that got into his eyes burning them. They began to water and vision completely left him for a few moments. But as the dust began to clear, he realised he had staggered back to where the Taliban camp joined the road. Wiping the mess from his eyes with a sweaty, brown hand, he trudged forward. Scrambling over the peak of the mountain, Bahram was met by the full extent of the sun’s glare. It burned his eyes

CREATIVE CORNER

but this boy worked, played and ate under this burning monstrosity and with a quick blink, he moved on.

Bahram stopped.

He had found his village. It no longer looked, smelled or sounded like his village but this was his village. The earth was scorched; Blackened by some source of unimaginable heat. The scorched earth seemed to form a circle around a crater with black streaks radiating from it. Clouds of smoke rose from the epicentre. But these were not dust clouds. These were the toxic fumes of cordite and other explosive chemicals that burnt lungs if inhaled. Bahram no longer heard the crying of babies or the voices of children as they played. He just heard the sizzling of flesh.

A glint in the dirt caught his eye. Ignoring the heat, he picked up a piece of burning metal. Although Bahram could not read, he thought he recognised English letters and numbers.

What Bahram didn’t know was that it was part of a GPS guidance system for a million dollar BGM-109C Tomahawk Land Attack Missile. Designed to be fired from U.S Navy Destroyers over 300kms away and hit a designated target accurate to 20metres. But this missile, which had been authorised to neutralise a Taliban training camp, had missed by over 200 metres and slammed straight into a civilian set-tlement.

There was only one thing that remained of Bahram’s vil-lage.

Dust.

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July 2014 OMNIBUS - Wilson's School