KING’S newsKing’s blossoms

The new Quadrangle springs into life

new lower school 11+ entry opens in 2016

War music The senior school production

SprING 2015

King’s College schoolsouthsideWimbledon CommonlondonsW19 4TT+44 (0)20 8255 5300info@kcs.org.uk

more information is available fromthe admissions registrar:+44 (0)20 8255 5352admissions@kcs.org.uk

For sixth form admissions please contact:+44 (0)20 8255 5320sixthformadmissions@kcs.org.uk

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ANDrew HALLS, HeAD MASter

Contents

05SIxtH ForM LeAverS

06tHe GreAt wAr reMeMbereD

07Co-CurrICuLAr

08ACHIeveMeNtS

09Sport

13Art

14MuSIC

15DrAMA proDuCtIoNS

19pArtNerSHIpS

21KING’S ASSoCIAtIoN

23reNewAL proGrAMMe

The senior school will admit up to 44 boys with two new forms of 20–22 boys each. The junior school will continue to teach its own pupils to the age of 13, as now, but will no longer take in new boys at 11.

the changes will mean a lower school of up to 88 boys, while numbers at other points in the school will remain similar to those that exist today.

the new lower school will accommodate boys in years 7 and 8 (ie. aged 11–13).

Rakesh: A GreAt KING’S CHArACter we wILL reMeMber FoNDLy

we regret to inform the King’s community of the tragic loss of rakesh Joshi (oK 2013) who sadly died in March. our thoughts are with his family at such a difficult time.

new lower sChool for 11+ entry opens in 2016From September 2016 we will take boys aged 11 into the senior school for the first time since the school was founded by royal Charter in 1829. this will enable us to widen access and open our doors to boys from a wider variety of backgrounds.

Welcome

the arrangements enable the younger boys to be looked after by a newly appointed head of lower school, form teachers, and other pastoral staff. the boys will be taught in the new teaching block that is currently being built: it will include six new classrooms, offices, a meeting room and a multi-purpose hall large enough to accommodate 150 people.

they will be taught by senior school teachers in specialist rooms and laboratories, making full use of the school’s facilities.

when boys reach year 9 (aged 13), they will automatically move into the middle school assuming satisfactory progress and behaviour. there they will be joined by 80 boys from the King’s junior school, and up to 40 boys from London’s top prep schools.

the first 11+ entry tests for up to 44 places into the senior school will be held in January 2016.

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Sixth form

story to come

text to come

the Great war remembered

the Great war had a huge impact on the King’s community and The Long Day Closes: King’s Remembers the Great War took place just after the February half term holiday to commemorate its centenary. A carefully researched programme of music and extracts from the King’s archives traced the experiences of pupils and staff during the course of the war. the evening was the product of 18 months’ research undertaken by school librarian Hilary Mavin and her

War memorial in The library anD The noT ForgoTTen assoCiaTion recently King’s was contacted by Colonel piers Storie-pugh, Chief executive of the Not Forgotten Association, requesting to come and view our wwI Memorial. this was in connection with a project he is undertaking in conjunction with remember wwI. He was very interested in hearing about the research and displays in school on the old King’s boys who were killed in the war and invited King’s librarian, Hilary Mavin, and some pupils, to join him and some of his colleagues to look at the war Memorial at the richardson evans Memorial playing Fields on the other side of the common. the memorial commemorates local men who were killed in wwI and it was likely that some old King’s boys were remembered on it. Hilary and the pupils had a very interesting and informative afternoon with them and Colonel Storie-pugh has written an account of the project and our visit.

team of pupil historians who, with David Antrobus, director in residence, compiled the script. Music from the period, performed by King’s Kapella and the Chamber orchestra, combined with the voices from the past, was brought to life again by a new generation of pupils 100 years later, creating a most memorable and moving occasion. Great Hall was a fitting location since it was under its roof that pupils were educated before leaving for the front.

Special event

tHe ArtHur weLLeSLey SoCIetytHe LoNG DAy CLoSeS

The Long Day Closes

SIxtH ForM LeAvING

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achievementS

tHe uK SeNIor MAtHeMAtICAL CHALLeNGe 2014over 100,000 students from over 2,000 uK schools entered this year’s Senior Maths Challenge. of the 78 King’s students that took up the challenge, 34 gained Gold awards, with a further 32 picking up Silver awards and 8 bronze. As a result of these excellent scores, a record eleven pupils automatically qualified to participate in round 1 of the prestigious national british Mathematics olympiad. In addition another 14 King’s pupils qualified for the Senior Maths Kangaroo.

pupils in the lower sixth were able to learn more about research in biomedicine at the royal Holloway rare Diseases Day. the day began with some fascinating talks about ground-breaking gene therapies for some of the most devastating genetic conditions. pupils then enjoyed a lab-based activity on the inheritance of gene mutations, and the opportunity to speak to students and researches about different conditions.

ArMy SCHoLArSHIpS

Congratulations to emily young of the lower sixth who was Highly Commended in the royal Geographical Society’s young Geographer of the year competition. Her essay on the title: “How can Geography help you?” was recognised as being one of the four best entries from a field of nearly 1,000 – a fantastic achievement. emily is pictured receiving her award from explorer and geographer Nick Crane, who presented the prizes at an awards ceremony last week.

KING’S GeoGrApHer wINS royAL GeoGrApHICAL SoCIety AwArD

essay Competitionrob Field and Clara baltay have won an essay Competition set up by Dr walker at the Laboratory of Molecular biology in Cambridge. their prize is a weeks’ work experience in the lab, which will give them access to Nobel prize-winning research groups.

king’s regularly enter into the Olympiad competitions – national competitions that challenge the very best students in the country.

linguisTiCsSam Ahmed took part in the uK Linguistics olympiad and was selected in the top 16 out of 1,400 entrants to go through to the national finals, to be held in oxford later this month.

PhysiCsthis year we have two of the top students in the country; Jamie Corderoy and robbie King, who is actually competing two year’s early! we are also delighted that two of our best physicists, luke baines and Qasim afghan, have been selected to attend a course of independent study in Femilab (one of the world’s most prestigious physics institutions) in the summer. they will be working with some of the world’s best scientists, representing both our school and our country.

trIp to royAL HoLLowAy

co-curricular

the muse asCends: poetry takes off at southside housethe Ceo of Faber & Faber, one of the world’s greatest publishing houses, spoke at the english department’s launch of a new creative community project in September. Aspiring poets from King’s and the ursuline High School, who meet weekly at the eccentric Southside House, are creating their own anthology of poetry inspired by the historic Merton home that recently featured in Mike Leigh’s Mr Turner and ralph Fiennes’ The Invisible Woman.

@KCSenglish

James simpson (left) and Freddie borthwick (right) have both received army scholarship awards to take them to Sandhurst and to help fund their university courses.

olympiadCompetitions

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JuNIor AtHLetICSCHAMpIoNKing’s is delighted to report that lower sixth former, michelle hughes, continues to reign supreme in the world of junior athletics. At the South of england Athletics championships in January, Michelle was once again crowned champion, winning the u20 indoor 400m title in a time of 57.64.

Last year Michelle competed at the Sainsbury’s School Games in Manchester and won the 300m hurdles in a time of 43.90, making her a National Champion. Congratulations to Michelle on her continued success and we wish her the very best of luck for her forthcoming competitions.

sailinG at national level

young golfer and King’s fourth former, babar haq, recently took first place in two of the Surrey rookie tour events. babar also collected winners medals for having participated in two ‘tri-County’ competitions and another first place medal for another Surrey representative trophy.

He sadly lost on the 18th hole in the Surrey u18 knock-out final, but having won five matches to reach the final, babar was pleased with 2nd place. He has been selected to represent Surrey this year as part of the u14 elite tournament squad. Congratulations to babar on a terrific season.

Golfer babar haq provinG to be a very promisinG talent

three sixth formers were extremely successful in the annual british Schoolgirls’ ski races, held in Flaine last term. sacha hopkins Powell won the giant slalom in the non-registered u18 category and came fifth in the slalom. Sacha came second overall in the combined event for non-registered u18 skiers.

suCCesses on the pisteskiinG

Last spring upper fifth former, robbie King, competed on a national level in the two-person dinghy to qualify in second position to represent britain at the international events in the summer. robbie also went to the world championships and europeans, and finished 49th at the worlds.

In the autumn, robbie started sailing with his brother alex King (fourth form). they competed in the selection events for the british national squad and qualified in fourth. over the Christmas period, robbie and Alex came fifth at an international regatta in palamos, Spain, with many of the top Spanish and French boats competing.

boys sKi ComPeTiTion in [PlaCe name]the trip went very well with 25 boys, 10 from the senior school and 15 from the junior school. the boys competed very well in the racing and did superbly in the junior event (under 14 years of age). In the team parallel slalom the first team got through to the semi-final, knocking out whitgift in the quarters in an exciting race.

Giant slalom results1st Fred Mather 4L

2nd will tyrrell 4M

3rd Harvey Jackson 4G

slalom results1st Fred Mather 4L

2nd Jim Mather (JS)

3rd Harvey Jackson 4G

Sport

isabella sodi finished tenth overall in the non-registered u18 category for the giant slalom and finished fourteenth overall in the combined events.

olivia Jones achieved an outstanding time in her preferred event, slalom, and finished a commendable seventh in the non-registered u18 category.

briTish sChoolgirl’s sKi raCe resulTs

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wINNING StreAK For SCHooL bASKetbALL teAMthe team enjoyed a three game winning streak, beating Sevenoaks comfortably by ten points (31–21). their match against St paul’s saw them trailing for most of the game, but took the victory in the last couple of minutes with the final score being 22–19. A strong start to the last game against whitgift then saw a very tight defence towards the end of the game that lead to a 50–42 victory.

CoMpetING oN tHe INterNAtIoNALCIrCuItFeNCINGFollowing his qualification to the u15 england team in 2012, Christian lindsay went on to be named in the u17 Gb Cadet (u17) team for an international competition which took place in Meylan, [month?] 2014.

u18 nationalChampion:equestrian

Sport

Last summer, Sofia Sjöborg (lower sixth) qualified for National competition in eventing u18s which was held at weston park. we were thrilled to announce that Sofia won the CCI*Junior under 18 National Championships for the uK.

King’s 1st xv lock, Charlie allen, has progressed through trials for the Se and Southern Lambs teams. the Lambs are a selection of talented rugby players from independent schools across the country, put together in the Independent Schools rFC to give boys the opportunity to play ‘fast and free’ rugby against one another. the ethos for the Lambs is for players to play ‘heads-up’ rugby with the ball in hand allowing them to give full reign to their creative rugby abilities without being shackled by a win-at-all-costs mentality; to win is good but to win playing the game in the right way is even better. well done to Charlie on his selection and achievement at representative level.

trials for south east & southern lambs team

ALL eNGLAND DANCe CoMpetItIoN

Thi-an nguyen has reached the South east & South regional finals for her group dance, tap trio and tap solo in the All england Dance Competition. She recently came third in her tap solo and second in the tap trio in the last festival in woking. Good luck to thi-An who will compete in the next round in May half term.

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art

During their stay they enjoyed gallery hopping and soaking up much of Amsterdam’s culture; including a visit to the stunning rijks museum, which houses many renowned master pieces painted by vermeer and rembrandt, and also discovered the work of various lesser known Dutch artists. the group also experienced some of the more modern art of Amsterdam at the Stedelijk Museum. they visited

art trip to amsterdam

muSic

sinGinG under the domeIn February, the chamber choir were invited back to sing in one of the most iconic buildings on the London skyline – St paul’s Cathedral. they impressed tourists and worshippers alike as they sang for Choral evensong. It was an outstanding success: the choir sang with professionalism, poise and verve.

Hidden at the back of the bull’s Head pub in barnes is a world-class jazz performance venue and the King’s big band performed there on a Sunday lunchtime in the middle of February. For two hours the band dazzled with energetic performances and impressive improvisations from across the instrumental spectrum. particularly noteworthy was timur pak, whose piano solos explored the entire range of the keyboard.

Anne Frank’s house and were given a tour around the famous annex where Ann and her family hid in the war – a powerful reminder of the atrocities’ that happened to incident civilians.

And…they could not visit Amsterdam without seeing van Gogh’s Sunflowers!

In December, fourteen art students from both lower sixth and upper fifth, and teachers, set out to the city of Amsterdam. they stayed at the hotel van Gogh, situated among some of the most world-renown art museums and galleries in Amsterdam.

bIG bAND IN bArNeS

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Drama

in october, a company of actors from across the senior school years presented War music – adapted from christopher logue’s version of The Iliad. this was the first production from David antrobus, this year’s theatre director in residence at King’s.

house playfestival

warmusiC

in the intimate confines of the drama studio, on the edge of a pit of sand, packed audiences were surrounded by a chorus of storytellers, bringing compelling life to the tale of achilles and the death of patroclus. combining crystal-clear verse speaking, striking physical work and haunting soundscapes, mr antrobus’ production was particularly notable for the poise, engagement and vigour of the ensemble, from the moment the audience was asked to ‘picture the east aegean sea’…

On 12th February, the annual hotbed of talent, creativity and spirit that is the house play festival took over Collyer hall Theatre once again.

More than a hundred pupils from across the senior years were involved in the directing, producing, designing, performing and (in some cases) writing of the six plays, which this year took us from the sultry Spanish streets to Icelandic airliners via enchanted forests and dystopian futures. this year’s adjudicator was oK and school fellow Christopher Luscombe, whose acclaimed rSC production of Love’s Labours Lost had been screened to cinemas worldwide the previous evening.

tHe AwArDS:Best Play:Major House for ‘Fiesta Fandango’

Best actor:Noah poulson (Layton House) for ‘Qikiqtarjuaq’

Best Direction:Sacha Hopkins-powell, benedict Mafi and emily young (Major House) for ‘Fiesta Fandango’

adjudicator’s award for best acting ensemble:Alverstone House for ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’

adjudicator’s award for best gag:Calum Drysdale (Glenesk House) for ‘Locally…’

1817

Drama

the senior school musical “how to Succeed in Business Without really trying” completed its triumphant run at the end of november. With direction by adam cross and musical direction by peter hatch, this was a stunningly vibrant and joyous production of frank loesser’s smart satire. the large and accomplished company sang, danced, acted and played with panache and professionalism. Jasper millard gave a masterfully assured performance in the central role of ambitious window-washer J. pierrepont finch.

how to suCCeed in business without really tryinG

A LArGe CoMpANy AND bAND preSeNteD A MuSICAL extrAvAGANzA!

2019

partnerShipS

pArtNerSHIpS upDAteas our partnerships programme has developed, GCse results at the partner schools have continued their upward curve.

Following revision lessons given by our staff, the average number of pupils achieving five A*– C grades including english and Maths at GCSe at the schools in the wimbledon schools partnership rose from 67% to 69% last year. raynes park and ursuline High Schools recorded especially impressive rises, from 44% to 57% and 75% to 87% respectively. out of 211 entries for IGCSe english Language at Grey Court school, 88.15% achieved A*– C and 30.33 % A*/A, after a seminar given to their english department on the examination by our deputy head of english.

the production, the Merton Mysteries, involved no fewer than ten local schools, including King’s, and a cast of well over 150 primary, secondary, sixth form and special needs pupils.

Inspired by the Medieval mystery plays in which guilds performed different elements of the bible story, each group of pupils worked on their own episode to produce a series of scenes which were expertly woven together by David

CommunityproduCtion: merton mysteries

For the last few years the creative projects with local schools which our pupils work on every Friday afternoon have culminated in a creative showcase in the school theatre. this year, however, the arrival of director in residence, David Antrobus, meant that we could build on the success of our much-loved open Doors evening to create the school’s first ever community production.

Antrobus into a coherent spectacle. whether it was the bond primary school animals trooping into the ark, the rainbow and Creation evoked with perseid and Cricket Green special schools, or the moving enactment of the Flood and passion performed by our sixth formers with their counterparts from Coombe boys’ and ricards Lodge High Schools, each section was a dazzling testimony of our pupils’ capacity for co-operation and willingness to take

risks. the original musical and spirituals composed and performed by pupils at King’s, Coombe Girls’ School and St Mark’s academy provided continuity and endowed the whole occasion with a sense of drama and spirituality.

A triumph of cross-sector collaboration, the Merton Mysteries was an unforgettable experience – and, of course, great fun!

’ArtAtHoN!on thursday 19th of March our Head of Art, robbie Carswell, completed the entire two year GCSe Art and Design course in a continuous 24 hour period, working throughout the night. this included the 10 hour exam that students would normally sit at the end of the course. this huge challenge was all in aid of children’s hospice charity, Shooting Star Chase.

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King’S aSSociation

reGuLAr AND oNLINe GIvINGThere are many ways of showing your support of king’s, and our new online giving platform makes it easy to add your contribution to our important projects.

whether you’d like to make a one-off donation to a specific project, sponsor a partial/full bursary or even name one of our new buildings, we hope you will consider showing your support of King’s by making a donation. Find out more in the Support us section of the King’s website.

The development office’s annual City & Business networking reception took place in March at Morgan stanley.

Sixth formers interested in pursuing a future city and business career were invited, as well as current parents and alumni with successful careers in these

DeveLopMeNt eveNtS

annual City & business reCeption

LAw SoCIety Q&AMembers of our Law Society met for a Q&A evening in Great Hall this March.

King’s pupils quizzed a panel of lawyers representing the various strands of the legal profession at different levels of experience, ranging from a legal trainee to an experienced partner and a barrister.

on thursday 22nd January, aspiring sixth form medics, dentists and vets joined medical experts from across the profession for an evening of networking at the Foundling Museum in London.

Guest speaker for the evening, King’s parent professor Graham Lord, gave a captivating talk on ‘Medicine in the 21st Century’ and the exciting innovations that are shaping the future of diagnosis and treatment.

mediCs and mediCine

GAuDy DrINKS For LeAverSIn January, we invited our leavers from 2000–2005 to an evening of Gaudy drinks and canapés. they were joined by current and former staff members at London’s stunning Home House, a private club in portman Square.

IMprovISAtIoN worKSHopA third successful drama workshop was held for parents and alumni in March. this session focused on improvisation and was run by Hoopla, the uK’s biggest improvisation school, who teach public workshops and have a burgeoning corporate business. using the skills and philosophies of improvisation can make business teams more creative, better communicators, and confident leaders as well as being incredibly fun and entertaining for all participants.

FrIeNDS ruN 2 rIothe Friends held the 2015 leg of their run2rio race this spring in support of their visiting elite Athletes programme, which started before the London olympics in 2012. the aim is to walk or run the distance from London to rio by the start of the rio olympics in 2016. So far, participants have run a combined 2,929 kilometres.

dates for the diaryarthur Wellesley society thursday 23rd April: 7:30pm

Drama workshop thursday 14th May: 7pm

George saintsbury lunch thursday 4th June: 12pm

areas met for drinks and networking with other members of the extended King’s community who work in business and finance. Guest speaker for the evening was vittorio Colao, Ceo of the vodafone Group. we are most grateful to richard Luddington (oK1977) and Morgan Stanley for kindly offering to host this event.

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reneWal programme

We are delighted that the planning committee gave unanimous support for the building to go ahead.

the school has always prided itself on fantastic musical achievements and is celebrated for the success of its former pupils, Marcus Mumford and ben Lovett from Mumford and Sons, and Dan Smith from bastille. It is great to know we will now have a music school that matches our musical success thanks to an exciting landmark design that is sensitive to its surroundings.

Designed by leading architects Allies and Morrison, this will be a building that not only brings excellent teaching facilities but will also enhance the area around the new Quadrangle – the heart of the school. the building will provide six classrooms, meeting rooms and a 150 seat hall.

musiC sChool Granted planninG permission

New CLASSrooM bLoCK MAKING GooD proGreSS