History - Taunton School

2012
Contents
Art / Photography
61
Drama
66
Headmaster Says
4
Music
70
Heads of School
6
Cultural Studies
72
School Charities
6
Creative Writing
73
Chapel
7
History of Art
75
TS Foundation
8
Debating
76
Boarding
9
Junior Academics Society
78
Fairwater
10
John Rae Society
80
Weirfield
12
HAPL
80
Wills East
14
Global Society
81
Wills West
16
The Lisk
82
Woodyer
18
Bridge
83
Bevan
20
Young Enterprise
83
Besley
22
Rugby
84
Evans
24
Hockey (Boys)
87
Goodland
26
Hockey (Girls)
90
Marshall
28
Netball
93
Jenkin
30
Badminton
95
Sixth Form
31
Basketball
95
TSI
32
Golf
96
Staff leaving
40
Cricket
97
Business Studies and Economics
42
Tennis Girls
98
Classics
43
Tennis Boys
99
DT
44
Athletics
100
English
46
Swimming
101
Geography
47
Riding
102
Geology
48
Dance
103
Staff joining
48
CCF Army
104
History
49
CCF Navy
105
Leisure Studies
52
CCF RAF
106
Mathematics
53
Trek Force
107
Modern Foreign Languages
54
Ten Tors
108
ICT
56
The Duke of Edinburgh Award
109
Psychology
57
Australian Exchange
110
Religion and Philosophy
58
China Trip
111
Science
59
Ski Trips
112
Rugby Tour
113
03
Headmaster
says
Fringe
Benefits
“education
beyond the
norm”
I have never been one to shirk my deadlines,
but I always ask for an extension for this
Tauntonian piece for the simple reason that
Commemoration does not usually signify the
end of the academic year.
This August, for example, I was privileged to
attend a performance of The Musicians at the
Fringe in Edinburgh. This is the second year
that the Taunton School Drama Department
has performed in the festival and I must say,
the experience for our pupils, not just the
audience, was impressive. While the hockey
players have their national tournaments to
aspire to, and the musicians have the national
orchestras and choirs to recognise their
considerable talents, drama has perhaps
lacked that glamorous dimension.
Not any more. Building on the glorious
and memorable production in the summer
of Phantom of the Opera, plus the other
theatrical experiences we have enjoyed all
year, the Fringe has given our pupils the
chance to sell their wares to a far tougher
audience. The exposure to competition for
punters has been so healthy for them and
they will return ready to give sharper and
stronger performances in the future.
Such experiences gave me pause for thought
about how we cope with the elite as well as
the less talented pupil. This is a particularly
apt time to ponder this. We see an U6 depart
that has smashed records and delivered
events for the school in a way that has rarely
been matched. We are also in the throes
of the national debate about how to spend
our sports funding – for greater success at
Rio 2016 or to support the workaday sports
person, the one who needs the facilities and
encouragement to enjoy unspectacular but
worthy athletic pursuits?
04
I find elitism per se distasteful. It is so
tempting for some in schools to see a new
astro as the preserve of the A teams or the
concerts the sole platform for the talented.
The founding values of Taunton School
however are definitely against that. We were
founded to be for the whomsoever. While
we give every encouragement to the gifted
athlete or artist, we must always remember
that all pupils should have access to the
facilities and expertise on offer. That is one of
the reasons we changed our sports afternoon
many years ago so that TPS and TS pupils
did sports on different days. How could 800
pupils and therefore 400 boys share one astro
on one short afternoon in February?
The same applies to our academic work. Our
GCSE results will not rival those of selective
schools. Our 47% A/A* at GCSE and our
performance in A level at A* (11%) will not
look good next to a Westminster. However,
we have so many pupils who have excelled
beyond what they thought they could achieve.
They have surprised themselves with joy
when compared to what they would have
done elsewhere. Our calculation of added
value stretches well beyond the academic
- to the theatre and to the sports pitch, to
the parade ground and dispatch box, to the
workshops in DT or the studios in Art. I want
all pupils to be well rounded, while not being
frightened of encouraging our top performers
to go to great heights. It is a conscious and
universally applauded approach at TS and
one that I admire and support.
So do enjoy your read of all the various
events that are described here. Remember
that many of these young people were
inexperienced in their fields of endeavour,
but due to the good offices of TS staff and,
for many, TPS staff before them, they can
say that they appreciate art, have been in a
play or concert and developed an athletic
dimension that will stand them in good stead
for the future. Such qualities make for a life
well lived and an education beyond the norm.
05
Heads of School
They say that time flies when you’re having fun, and
whilst this may be seen by many as yet another clichéd
expression, it certainly holds true at Taunton School.
Whether its been sport, music, RAG Week, drama,
debating, or dance the programme of activities this year
has advanced with lightning speed, and to great success.
We have been privileged to be part of a very talented
year group, one that has led the school to new heights
throughout its time here. This year was no exception with
a second consecutive, record breaking, unbeaten hockey
season for the boys, who yet again attended the national
finals, and also won the inaugural Wessex League. The girls
recorded success throughout the year, narrowly missing
out on a place at the Hockey Nationals, and finishing on a
high with an unbeaten tennis season.
Taunton School prides itself on the breadth of its extra
curricular calendar, and rightly so, however success also
came academically this year: Lewis Chinery, Roger Kim
and James Evry will all be taking up places at Oxford
University come October. All three fought off strong
competition for their places, and our congratulations go to
them. Well done to everyone else who recieved offers and
the best of luck for your studies.
Dr Newton’s catchphrases this year have continued to
ensue unabated. Two we picked up on were “global
citizens” and “cultured”. Both of these have, to some
extent, been implemented in the school’s development
plan this year. It has been common to find statues and
sculptures springing into place at an ever-increasing rate
throughout the year, and on a larger scale whole buildings
have appeared at times. Wills East has gained an annex,
as well as an extension. Woodyer was opened, to help
cater for the increase in boarding numbers, and has settled
seamlessly into the school backdrop. Most recently a whole
new section of the school was created in the form of The
Grange. Who knows what’s in the pipeline for next year?
These expansions have caused topic for debate and have
certainly got people talking, fuelled and advertised further
by the TS expansion into social networking. The outcry of the
year however must go to the “Low Tea Vs. Wi-Fi” scandal,
which raged for a whole term before the Senior Management
decided to appease the riotous crowds by offering both, as
well as a second trip to China.
It is a satisfying thought that we are now able to leave Taunton
School with a global outlook, updating our iPads anywhere
on the campus, with a flapjack in hand. Consequently, it
is no wonder that Taunton School produces such happy
and talented students. It might also explain why we shall
remember this place, and the people that make it so special,
with both fondness and admiration. Thank you all.
Charlotte Pickard and Hugh Wilman
Charities
OVER the past academic year, Taunton School has been raising money for
our chosen charities which were: ‘Changing Faces’, a charity dealing with
facial disfigurements and the CRY Rwanda Project.
Carol Manley is pleased to announced that through fundraising from by
ventures ranging from mufti days to cake sales to RAG week and fun
runs, Taunton School has raised the amazing amount of more than over an
amazing £6,000, not only for our chosen charities, but for other deserving
causes as well. Some of these included:
£1,100 has been donated to Changing Faces, where the money will be put towards the skin camouflage treatment
to the centres in Taunton and Exeter.
£1,100, has been donated to the CRY Rwanda Project. This money will go towards the building of a small building
which will becentre for training teachers and continuing education for children in Kigali, who otherwise would stop
schooling at 12 twelve years of age.
£1,000, has been donated to the Katie Piper Fund through the Leisure Studies Fashion Show.
£510, has been donated to Breakthrough Cancer through the CAS Football Match.
06
cont...
Charities
£500, has been raised from the successful ‘Zumbathon’ that will beand donated to Leukaemia Research and
Breast Cancer Research.
£400 has been used to purchase a wheelchair for Dylan Earle’s cousin.
£213 has been more, donated further to Leukaemia Research through a staff wine tasting event.
Other smaller donations have been made to Africa Food Fund, Cancer Research, MacMillan, Billie’s Butterfly Fund,
Oxfam and Tear Fund.
This is a great result from all the Senior students’ innovative ideas. Sophie Erskine from Changing Faces and Rev
Ray Avent from the Rwanda Project were more than happy to accept the cheques given to them by the School.
The Chosen Charities for next year will be Go Commando and Bisee Books, a charity set up in memory of Lizzie
Pincock, a longstanding, much-loved member of the school and Head of Weirfield House; Lizzie and four other
girls were killed in a road accident in Ecuador at the start of their gap year. Their families have set up Bisee Books
to raise money to provide books for children in Ecuador who would otherwise struggle to find material to read.
Go Commando is dear to the heart of everyone in Taunton who supports our Marines and their families based at
Norton Manor Camp.
Moonraker Challenge
Taunton School entered 20 students this year to compete in the Moonraker
Challenge in the Autumn Term. The event is a 15-mile walk over Exmoor and all
three teams completed the challenge with an impressive amount of points.
In total over £250 was raised for the Rotary Club charities.
Chapel
In the academic year 2011 - 2012, numerous people
have contributed to make the Chapel experience
week by week as varied and rich as time constraints
and the limitations of the building allow. Different
approaches, from the Headmaster’s fast-paced
challenges to Mr Todd’s reflective thoughts have
given us something to think about. Mr Piper
intrigued us with his ingenious chariot of fire,
when he talked about the background to one
of the school’s favourite hymns, William Blake’s
‘Jerusalem’.
We have welcomed several speakers from outside
school, some of them old friends and some visiting
for the first time, and their perspective from their
own experience of life stimulates our thinking. In
the Autumn Term, for the first time in most people’s
memory, we had Harvest Thanksgiving services
and held a collection to give to famine relief in East
Africa. Once again, Mr Brown led us in memorable
Advent services and they were followed soon after
by joyful carol services, when Mr Bridges and the
Chapel Choir came into their own. The choir sang
again in January, at a vibrant service to ‘induct’
Mrs Ager as Chaplain, and supported a service of
‘Tenebrae’ in Lent.
God encompasses us in sadness as well as joy.
The Chapel has also been the place this year where
members of the school met together with her family
and friends to remember Jemima Layzell and to
thank God for the love and joy that she brought to
those who knew her in the brief fourteen years of
her life. The Chapel is often a place of refuge for
people in the school community who need space
and quiet to grapple with some grief or difficulty in
their lives.
Every so often, someone says ‘Why do I have to
go to Chapel when I’m not religious?’ Chapel is
not so much about ‘being religious’ as creating
a time and space in our very busy lives to reflect
on who we are and to interpret the experiences
which shape us day by day. We all need to come to
conclusions about faith and spirituality on the basis
of knowledge and understanding, not ignorance. So
we continue to offer a broad range of services in
Chapel, with the intention that everyone will have a
chance of experiencing something that helps them
make sense of life.
Rev. Ager, Chaplain
07
TSFoundation
Chair of Governors, Jane Barrie with Neil Woodyer
and Headmaster, Dr John Newton
Bob Peirce
The Grand Opening of Woodyer House
Other Progress
The Foundation Patron and major donor Neil
Woodyer officially opened Woodyer House
in March, accompanied by his wife Colleen
and daughter Arianna. Speeches were
made in the new girls’ boarding house and
a plaque was unveiled by Mr Woodyer. This
was followed by a tour of the house and a
celebratory luncheon in the Old Library.
The Parental Fund once again provided
magnificent support to the school through
the provision of facilities such as a new dance
studio, digital information screens, a social area
for the middle school, extensive new theatre
lighting, a new sound system for the chapel,
sports equipment for the Prep School, DT
equipment, support for pupil publications as
well as provision for the refurbishment of the
Carrington Library. The ‘Astro Appeal’ has been
a major focus of the year, to secure funds for
the desperately needed second astro pitch, to
replace the existing shale pitch. This appeal was
supported by a Telethon during the summer
holidays.
Scholarships and Bursaries
The Foundation was delighted to receive a
further £300,000 from the executors of the
Ian Evans-Lombe estate in support of the IB
scholarship bearing his name. This means
that £1,500,000 has now been received,
creating a permanent endowment, which
will support two pupils a year. This will
continue in perpetuity and we are immensely
grateful for this incredible vote of confidence
in Taunton School and the Foundation. An
innovative bursary has also been established
whereby the Foundation, working in close
partnership with the Fulfillment Fund in Los
Angeles and former Consul General and
Old Tauntonian, Bob Peirce, will provide
a positive, life changing experience for a
motivated, inspirational and forward thinking
young student from the Los Angeles area
to study in our Sixth Form, starting in
September 2012.
08
I would like to record my grateful thanks to all
those who so generously supported the Taunton
School Foundation during the past year, it is
sincerely appreciated.
Mr Longstreet
Alumni and Foundation Director
refects
Woodyer P
h the 2012
it
w
r
ye
d
Neil Woo
It is little surprise that boarding at Taunton
School continues to thrive. Facilities and
activities continue to improve and the sense of
community becomes ever stronger. At the top
of the school we were privileged to have some
very experienced, talented and committed
boarders in each House. Leadership was rarely
a problem and new boarders quickly picked up
the ways of the school. The comprehensive
programme of activities for the boarders
continues to thrive. Surfing, shopping, skittling,
fishing, paintballing, hiking …plenty of variety
and certainly lots of fun – and so much more!
Boarding
We welcomed the arrival of Woodyer House
at the start of the year and were delighted to
see the extra dimension that Mrs Coomber’s
team and girls have added to the boarding
community. There was a healthy flow of traffic
between Weirfield and Woodyer and the two
houses adopted a stance of cooperation and
respect. We are all very much in this together.
The usual suspects
Our two most longstanding Housemasters,
Hugh Todd and Declan Rogers, completed
distinguished terms in Wills East and Fairwater
respectively. We now welcome Simon Smith
to Fairwater and David Tarr to Wills East. Their
fresh energy and experience will be great
additions to the team. In addition, we are
pleased to have yet another new House name
in our midst next year – ‘Foxcombe’ returns as
a House entity as we continue to embrace TSI
even more closely into the school community.
Welcome, Foxcombe.
Boarding House Staff
back is
That guy at the
really tall!
House Christm
as Dinner
09
Fairwater
Back in September, who would have
known that these were to be the last
of the golden days of Fairwater?
The boys were welcomed back into the house
and promptly whisked off to the Exeter woods for
paintballing and a barbecue. Team spirit prevailed
which stood the boys in good stead for the Autumn
Term’s house events - the Senior rugby team made
it to the final and we were narrowly defeated in
House Cross Country. Despite the boys nearly
poisoning the Headmaster in the Senior House
Cookery Contest and the ‘unsung heroes’ aspect
of House Singing (technical problems meant the
boys could not be heard), there was much to
celebrate at the end of term curry! Mr Tarr was
bestowed the honour of ‘the lad with the fittest
girlfriend’ and Jacob Needham was celebrated for
his inseparable romance with... the playstation in
the cellar!
The boys aptly marked Lent Term by giving up
trophies for forty days and forty nights, with not a
single game won by Fairwater in House Hockey.
However, our chapel themed on the subject of joy
(the abstract noun, not our resident smiling Upper
Sixth prefect) raised spirits.
The Summer Term afforded much more praise for
the boys, Ross Haines won the cup for best junior
swimmer, with the Senior boys narrowly losing
to Wills East in House Swimming. The sun shone
down on House Athletics as Angus West was
declared Junior Victor Ludorum and Oki Nwakohu
named Senior Victor Ludorum; the seniors narrowly
lost to Wills East (again!) Sam Dunn and Oliver
Hamer were involved in the spectacular summer
musical and it was great to see so many of our
boys up on the stage for the final Head’s Assembly
and at Commemoration Day.
As the midsummer sun sets over the grand
white house, a chapter closes in the history of
Fairwater House. Best wishes go to the departing
Upper Sixth who take their place in a larger, more
demanding world where they will be called upon
to make many decisions. I am truly confident that
the training they have received in Fairwater will
have equipped them to face life’s adventures with
courage and character. Much gratitude to the
prefect team, led by true Fairwater boys, Harry
Speedy and Hugh Wilman. These remarkable
young men are shining examples of their
generation and the very best of role models to the
younger ones who, in a summer of Olympic torch
relays, have been handed a metaphorical fraternal
10
torch to pass on to future Fairwater boys. The boys
will continue to be supported by Mr Baker, Mr
Waller, Miss Iredale and Mr Chatterton, with many
more new faces joining and leading the team - we
wish them well. Who can imagine call-over without
the suitably named Mr Goodhand handing out
birthday treats, collecting keys and awarding house
points? Good luck to him and his wife as they take
over Woodyer Annexe. I suspect there will be an
absence of Enya and incense sticks at evening
call-overs as I move on to Berkhamsted School. A
certain French charm and humour will be lost as
Monsieur Fabre becomes House Assistant in Wills
East, with Mr Tarr as his new boss! I suspect many
of the boys will wander over there to keep in touch
with him - he will make a superb Housemaster,
partly due to his gifts as a true sportsman and kind
gentleman, partly due to his formidable mentor, Mr
Rogers. For 14 years, Declan and Annemarie have
run Fairwater - boys, tutors and parents speak so
glowingly of this pair, many tears were shed at their
departure from those who received the very best of
care from the Rogers. Old boys came back to say
farewell at the end of term; I am sure they will be
back to visit for many years.
When I found out that I was to be a boarding tutor
in Fairwater, I would never have dreamed I would
experience so much in such fine company. By
far, the hardest goodbyes this summer were to
the Fairwater boys, I felt as though I was bidding
farewell to seventy younger brothers. Long may
Fairwater keep that brotherhood alive!
Mr Harrison
Fairwater Tutor (2009-2012)
11
Weirfield
Led by a powerful and multitalented
Upper Sixth year group which provided
Head Girl, Deputy Head Girl and Captains
of teams in all three major games, it was
clear that Weirfield could look forward to a
successful year. And successful it was – on
so many levels.
We welcomed our friends in Woodyer and
enjoyed having them across the way. Rivalry,
yes, but always good natured and friendly.
We even shared some teams and played
each other at football. A popular change
for us this year was the start of our themed
Fridays. Each week we could look forward
to some fun after Prep – Flat Friday, Floaty
Friday, Fee’s Friendless Friday, Fiery Friday …
you get the idea. These proved to be great
chances to get together to eat, chat and
watch movies.
We enjoyed the brief return of a famous
Weirfieldian– ‘Binky’ from Made in Chelsea.
She left a few years back and has pursued
a career in television but it was good to see
how comfortable she was on her return
and how much she said she enjoyed her
time here. No surprise there! Prefects
led the house brilliantly, with the expected
combination of fun, inspiration and challenge.
The Minehead Scramble at the start of the
year set the tone and we never looked back.
In House Singing, we of course gave our
best, doing Bon Jovi’s ‘It’s My Life’ with our
usual verve. Christmas brought its usual
hilarity with the year group sketches and
Woolacombe once again delivered on the fun
and sun. So many good times to look back
on, but at the core is the friendly, loving place
that is Weirfield. We’ll miss the Upper Sixth
girls who have been so influential over the
years. Special thanks to Cally and Flo and
good luck to Kate and Ellie as they take on
the challenges of the next year (and hopefully
enjoy some refurbishments along the way).
And as always, big thanks to the team of
tutors who do so much for all of the girls.
Go Weirfield!
Mr Hallows
12
13
Wills East
“House
spirit”
And so, as another year comes to a close, we
can definitely look back with fondness knowing
that Wills East has once again been at the
vanguard of contributing to what the school does
best. This has been another memorable year for
the best house in the school; there are so many
stories to tell and if I were to record all of the
successes of the Wills East boys over the past
12 months - winning House Singing, basketball,
hockey, cross country, athletics, golf... there
would have to be a book commissioned for us all
on its own!
I am proud to say that the positive and
welcoming atmosphere in Wills East has been
ever-present throughout and really is testament
to the resident boys’ characters as to how well
accepted our new boys feel in the house. “House
Spirit” as we affectionately refer to it has never
waned this year despite the ups and downs
and day-to-day challenges. However, in the
traditional Wills East way this is epitomised in our
supply of volunteers to represent the house, it
is particularly admirable when perhaps a not so
keen runner or debater steps up to the mark and
says, ‘Yes I’ll give it a go for Wills East’: now that
is true house spirit, larger houses, take note!
I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of
the boys to thank Mr and Mrs Todd for all that
they have done for the house as they move onto
pastures new after thirteen years at the helm.
I also wish every success to Mr Tarr and his
family as they take over the reins - I hope you
will enjoy many happy years here. Special thanks
to all our house tutors too - Mr Brown, Mrs
Manley, Mr Hawkins, Mr Smith, Miss Marsden,
Mr Finan, Mr Abell and Mr Godfrey.
Finally, I must say what a great pleasure it has
been to lead such a fantastic house.
Matthew Wood
Head of Wills East
14
House Christmas Dinner
Christmas pose
!
ns 2012
ll Champio
Basketba
pions 2012
Hockey Cham
Senior House
Senior House Hockey Champions 2012
15
Wills West
Other Heads of House will agree when
I say that leading from the top is no
easy task. I began the year excited for
what was to come, and despite various
challenges along the way, it would
suffice to say that Wills West has seen
one of its most successful years. This is
something which I would not have been
able to lead us to if it were not for the
constant and invaluable support of my
deputy, Elliott Scott.
Success in House Singing is something which
usually evades Wills West, but this year we
managed to achieve a respectable third place
in the main event and second in the warm up
act (Rob Clark, Ozed Opia and Jack Hespe).
The boys certainly, as always, have proved
their worth when it comes to team events (but
not to forget the individual efforts), as shown
by the fact we were once again crowned
champions of house bridge, the prestigious
Senior House Debating, as well as Senior and
Junior Chess. Here the skills of George and
Kevin in debating, together with that of Jason
Gu in house bridge, really became apparent.
In addition, the perseverance of those in
Ten Tors (Joe O’Neill, Elliott Scott and Matt
Roberts) is something to be hugely admired.
Trees for goal posts
Unfortunately, house rugby did not turn
out to be such a triumph; both the junior
and Senior house teams missed out on a
podium finish despite the tremendous agility
and speed provided by the likes of Elliot
Blanchfield and Rory Harrison. This, however,
was almost inevitable considering the lack of
depth of rugby players throughout the house.
Similarly, we were outplayed in House Tennis.
Although, the contributions of players like
Mr Pugh giving advice to Benji
16
Benji Mazin-Atfield and Sam Tapp must not
be overlooked, even in the face of defeat.
Yet Wills West is not just about sporting
failure; we saw success in house hockey, as
we won with a ‘Wills combined’ team at the
Senior level. Here, the contribution of Rob
David, George Hallas, and Joe O’Neill proved
critical in ensuring a Wills’ victory. On the
same note of success, we performed well in
cross country, in which, whilst not winning,
we held our own. But, at this time, there is
still much more (potential) success to come,
as house athletics, swimming, and cricket are
all scheduled for later this term. We hope this
will bring a sense of balance to our sporting
achievements.
Overall, my job would be impossible without
the help of the prefect team and the expert
guidance of our excellent tutors who serve
for our every need, thank you to Mr Pugh, Mr
Gush, Mr Large, Mr Cracknell, Mrs White, Mrs
Rixon, Mrs Harris, Mr Brooker and Mr Kirby.
I have found this year to be a pleasure, and I
think that Wills West has gone from strength
to strength this year as our successes have
clearly outweighed our failures as ever. There
is always room for improvement, and I hope
that Wills West continues to thrive even with
the departure of the current Upper Sixth.
Rory on his Kindle....again!
Gleb Filimonov Head of House
Gleb Filimonov
Head of Wills West
Gleb in House Rugby - charging!
17
Woodyer
After only a few short weeks we
were faced with the ‘almighty’ House
Singing, which was real glue that bonded
the Woodyer community. We performed ‘I
wanna dance with somebody’ by Whitney
Houston, which was a very inspirational,
happy and entertaining performance. It was
strongly supported with a great warm up
act ‘Burlesque’ which did not really seem
to fascinate anyone until we began the
performance, but what can we say, Alex
Du stole the crowd with her magnificent
drumming skills!
The enthusiasm and commitment displayed
by the girls starting from the first day
was fabulous and has been earned in the
winning of the Senior Cross Country as well
as the House Cookery competition. A new
addition to the house competitions was the
music video, which was definitely not an
easy task to fulfil, but even when we thought
we would not come through, our team
spirit did not give up on us. We began the
Summer Term fully focused on the exams
to come and with Athletics, House Tennis
and Swimming being organised in the first
couple of weeks it was sure to be another
busy sporting term for the girls.
We do not only support each other in
the house, we celebrate each other’s
achievements both in and out of School.
Woodyer is lucky to have many talented
girls, ranging from dancers to poets to
musicians and horse riders, who provide not
HOW!
18
only the house but the school with much
entertainment. The character shown by
Woodyer is very unique and defines us – we
feel established and have proved our worth
in academic prizes at Commemoration–
congratulations to Anastasia, Hind, Anfisa,
Georgina, Lucy and Anne Sophie.
In the words of Temilola, “It’s an amazing
house with amazing people and an amazing
atmosphere. You could not ask for a better
home away from home.” It has been a very
enjoyable and successful first year and many
thanks must go to the first House Prefects of
Woodyer. I especially would like to thank my
Deputy Head of House, Kristin, who was a
great companion and friend this year.
Yet all of this would not have been possible
without the support from the house staff
spurring us on – or in difficult times – leading
us back on course. The girls have bonded
brilliantly as a community, which has become
home for many of us and they have worked
hard to achieve many things in Woodyer’s first
year. Thus I would personally like to thank Mrs
Coomber for an outstanding job at running
the house so smoothly, giving Woodyer the
best start it could possibly get, and for giving
her continuous support. A big thank goes to
Miss Mortimer who is always approachable
and may I extend my thanks to all the other
tutors who have skilfully supported Woodyer
and the girls.
Jonna Klockenhoff
Head Of Woodyer
Woodyer Girls
Senior House Cookery Winners
Senior House Tennis
Junior House Netballers
“It’s an amazing house with amazing
people and an amazing atmosphere.”
19
Bevan
Undoubtedly
this has been another fantastic year for Bevan, although
perhaps not winning many trophies, we definitely made up for it with our Bevan spirit and
enthusiasm. The year saw the breaking of many traditions, principally the achievement of not being
disqualified from house chess and the addition of a second male member of staff, Mr Dewbery,
to the tutor team (now Mr Blumel will not be the only man on a house outing with sixty girls!). This
has most definitely been a very busy year, in which the Bevan girls have excelled themselves.
The beginning of the Autumn Term saw the (relative) triumphs of the Senior chess team, made
up of Alice David, Bunny and Camilla, the MFL quiz and the Senior Debating, in which Cheryl,
Jenny, Sarah and Camilla all gave amazing performances. Despite Mrs Manley picking out our
least preferred song for house singing, we all pulled together and worked hard as a house to give
a stunning (although the judges did not seem to think so) rendition of ‘This Love’ by Maroon 5,
with our warm up act being composed, at the very last minute, and featuring Camilla, Philippa, Abi
Askew, Courtney, Izzy Clark and Heidi Parsons.
Bevan emerged second in the Junior A house hockey competition (the team consisting of
Ellamae, Heidi P, Milly Day, Emily Bosworth, Charlotte Rogers, Hannah, Annie and Jess Pocock)
and second (out of three) in our tier for Senior Hockey (thanks to Alex Willes, Chloe, Alice Achard,
Kate, Bunny, Clem, Georgia, Rosie Wharton, Livvy Woodhead, Cheryl and Hattie Rogers) with the
Junior Bs doing brilliantly too. Amazingly, we also managed to put up a full team for house cross
country (rather a lot of arm twisting was involved) with Hattie and Charlotte Rogers and Ellamae
Beake performing outstandingly.
During (the less hectic) Lent Term many girls took part in house netball. Although a few Fifth
Formers were concerned that we did not have enough eager players for two Senior teams we did
succeed in playing two Senior teams (with reserves!) and two junior teams. Sadly, the Junior A
team let us down, coming third, not giving us the full house of complete losses that we desired.
Very disappointing. Junior Debating was more of a triumph with Sarah and Jenny coaching
Megan, Heidi P, Emma, Kate Askew and Izzy Clark to success.
“Performing outstandingly”
20
The rather wet and miserable Summer Term gave the Rogers sisters and Ellamae another chance
to prove how lucky we are to have them in our house. Both Hattie and Charlotte broke a number
of school records and special thanks has to go to Heidi Parsons and Hannah Jolley who stepped
into the relay team with just a few minutes notice, having been dragged out of the crowd. A true
demonstration of Bevan spirit. Sadly Sports Day was not rained off, so the day saw many Bevan
girls both embarrassing and proving themselves in the various track and field events. Tilly Heal,
Hattie and Charlotte Rogers and Ellamae were yet again amazing.
Throughout the year, there were numerous concerts and dramatic productions with many
members of the house being involved, all the way through from Third Form to Upper Sixth. ‘The
Phantom of the Opera’ in particular was incredible and praise should go to Heidi Parsons, Clem
and Jenny Brock especially.
Ultimately, in spite of the occasional unwillingness to do the washing up and our not always
victorious attempts at house competitions, it has been a brilliant year. Bevan girls were on the
most part willing and enthusiastic to participate, and displayed true Bevan spirit. A huge thanks to
all the tutors - Miss Burton, Miss Preece, Mr Bluemel, Mr Dewbery, Mrs Hearn and especially Mrs
Foster and Mrs Stent who are vital in spreading the ‘Bevan Love’ that is always prominent in the
house. As one girl put it, “Bevan has the most fun” in all the house competitions, which in the end
is what matters, and I hope that this continues to be the case.
Bunny Upton
Head of Bevan
21
1
Besley
‘Live, Love, Laugh’
These Besley house pages are in memory
of Jemima Layzell. As you read the account
of our busy and fun year, please remember
that smiling, beautiful and talented girl who
contributed to the events listed and who
we will never forget.
Cheering them on!
Christmas Party
“We were crowned THE WINNERS OF HOUSE SINGING 2011!”
22
W
ell it’s been a whirlwind 10
months in Besley this year, with so
much going on and so much success
for the house! The Upper Sixth
immediately set out to organise cake
sales and handle the sheer number
of girls ravenous for volunteering.
After being reunited with fellow housemates,
Besley began the Autumn Term by again
triumphing in the Modern Foreign Languages
quiz, setting spirits exceptionally high for
the rest of the year. House Hockey hit us
fairly quickly, and we had no shortage of
volunteers for the battle. The Juniors and
Seniors fought hard to gain their places in
the tournaments, and all were proud despite
merciless winter weather.
The time soon came for House Singing - the
most anticipated and dramatic event of the entire
school year. The devoted Upper Sixth, whose
time had finally arrived after five years of dashed
hopes, planned inside out. This year, however, all
eyes were focussed fiercely upon the silverware.
After important song decisions, carefully steering
around Justin Beiber, we gratefully switched from
‘Bootylicious’ to ‘Disturbia’ when Mrs Bolland
decided not to allow Besley to put its neck on
the chopping block. This year a brilliant call-back
technique was used, and when 3 o’clock arrived we
all began readying ourselves with ferocious chanting
practices of the famous ‘Besley Chicken’, creating
a localised cloud of hairspray in every room. At 4
o’clock the house charged to the Sports Hall in
feats of red-faced chanting and finger-pointing.
‘Disturbia’ was faithfully performed by an adrenalinefuelled choir of voices, proving more than enough
to finally win the judge’s approval and permit the
screams and tears when we were crowned THE
WINNERS OF HOUSE SINGING!
Reading, coming 3rd in Persuasive Speaking. The
House Music Video also involved much of the house,
including a surprise appearance from Dr Penny, in
MC Hammer’s ‘Can’t Touch This’. The experience
taught us much in the ways of dancing.
Returning from Easter-Egg holidays, the Sixth Form
set about organising House Tennis and Sports
Day. Hopes are high for a successful final term,
heightened by the anticipation of Thorpe Park for our
sure-to-be-epic summer house outing.
A moment of thanks must be devoted to the tutors,
who have been consistently at our sides through the
thick and thin of school life, carrying out their vital
roles in making this year a year to remember. Thank
you to Miss Brayley, Mrs Cooke, Dr Penny, Miss
Battaglino, Mrs Gaskell, Mrs Fletcher and Mrs Beere.
On a final note, I am left to thank the person
who helps in making Besley a truly unique,
united and successful house, committing so
much time to each one of us. To Mrs Bolland “thank you” - from your Besley girls.
Louise Walker
Head of Besley
In the Lent Term, we faced the looming prospect
of House Cross Country, and a valiant effort was
made by many to contribute to this gruelling event
with enthusiasm. The Third and Fourth Form
demonstrated their skills in Junior Inter-House
Debating: Georgie Blackwell won Impromptu
Speaking and Dea Gagoshidze won Interpretive
23
Evans
It has been a year to remember for Evans house.
We got to welcome not only new Third Formers
and other entrants, but a new housemaster in
Mr Hogg and a new tutor in Miss Wedgewood.
The year started with a stunning
performance in House Rugby: A clean sweep
across the juniors, inters and seniors. Every boy
that played rugby in the house was involved and
got some game time.
Just before half term the whole house came
together for the highlight of the year that is
House Singing. We hoped to retain the house
singing trophy but this wasn’t to be; we felt we
were unlucky to miss out on the award for best
boys’ house, mainly due to Mr Henry Olonga
(Knighthood) not being asked to judge again. As
always this gave us the opportunity to introduce
new members of the house to the singing
tradition, none more than Salvi de Sena who sung
an impressive solo in front of the whole school as
part of a fantastic performance of Nickelback’s
“How you remind me”.
We had limited success in the House Swimming,
as only Josh Kelly made it through to the final. But,
as always, there was a brave performance from
Tristan Freeman and Max Jeffs; both successfully
managing to complete their lengths without
armbands!
As well as the house competitions, many of the
house have been achieving greatly outside of the
school. Ricky Parsons has continued his cycling
success with a number of podium finishes in events
across the South West, Ben Clarke has merited
recognition for his commitment to the CCF while
Jeremy Soper has also excelled on the academic
front.
We finished our year with an incredible house
outing, first paintballing and then to the beach.
Most of the house turned out for the beach football,
a 90 minute 9-5 match, which starred both Mr
Roberts and Mr Grant for a titanic footballing duel.
We exceeded expectations in the Senior House
Chess where we reached the final through some
excellent displays from the three man team.
Unfortunately we missed out on winning as we
succumbed to TSI in a tight final. For although
Robin Evans pulled off an unlikely victory, Max
Jeffs could not maintain his unbeaten streak and
James Pilcher could not match the skills
of the Ukrainian National champion.
As well as the major events that
we excelled in, many of the house
volunteered for the smaller
competitions that we participated
in. Fourth Formers Tom Clarke,
Sam Rixon and Todd Freeman did
particularly well in the Geography quiz
where they proved too stiff competition
for the rest of the field. A solid third in the
Modern Foreign Languages quiz followed
and a scalp in the Senior and Junior house
debating with Sam Newton first in the
Impromptu speaking catagory.
Rowan Brockwell playing for the Senior House Rugby
24
r pool
Sam Griffin wins charity kille
Awards for the year include: Storyteller/Dominoes
employee of the year: Rowan O’Brockwell, Young
Girlfriend award: Aaron Mcgough/Ben Clarke,
Rob Abell award for making a hole in the roof:
Tricky Freeman, Bad boy of the year: Nick Hulse,
Josh Kelly award: Max Kelly (Josh Kelly runner
up), Guy Skinner lunchbox of conversation: James
Pilcher and Matthew Morgan.
beach
Evans House outing to the
We have to thank all our tutors for a memorable
final year in the Upper Sixth and especially Mr
McPherson and wish him good luck as he retires
at the end of this academic year. In addition a
special mention and huge thank you to Mr Hogg
on his first year as a housemaster.
Josh Kelly
Head of Evans
Camo!
of Evans
emaster
s
u
o
H
n Hogg
Mr Simo
Maz Jeffs, James Pilcher and Rob
in Evans meet for the House Che
ss final
James
Pilcher
with Jo
sh Kell
y
in supp
ort
25
Goodland
Another year underway and another new set
of Year 9s, another team of prefects led ably
by Rob Haughton, and another tutor team
addition in Mr Brooker – set to torment any
Year 10s who have left their bits and pieces
lying around in the house.
The Autumn Term is a time to settle in,
find a locker, find a corner of the house to
claim as yours and get down to some work.
Upper Sixth are under pressure for UCAS
applications; Lower Sixth are trying to get to
know Charlie Miles; Year 11 are trying to look
cool even though they know it is a busy year
ahead; Year 10 think they know it all and are
listening to Christian Hosie’s music (loudly);
and Year 9 are just...new!
House Singing provides a huge distraction
from the half term holiday and allows the
prefects to wear extraordinarily tight white
trousers. No problem on those high notes
now, but alas the spoils go to other houses.
Nevertheless, there is great unity and
enjoyment for all except those who like good
music!
The Goodland House social allows all the
chance to eat drink and make merry at the
housemaster and tutors’ expense later in the
term. In between and after that there is much
to enjoy in the House – not least of which the
way the boys have “gelled” and the happy
spirit that prevails. Andrew Boucher wins his
persuasive speech again, the hockey is a
triumph for the juniors; cricket and swimming
bring their triumphs as well as numerous
individual moments of excellence. There is
much to celebrate...but then there is also a
number of “issues” to deal with. The worst
excuse of the year goes to the boy who broke
the clock...? There is still a search party out
to find Popplewell’s folder....and towel, and
trousers, and rugby kit, and boxers, and.....!
Is Alex going to get in on time? What will Mr
Hogg auction this week? Does Ed Bluemel
House singing competition
26
have a volume control? Just how organised is
Oliver Kelham? Does Ed Tucker need another
haircut yet? And so the day to day continues
in Goodland.
At the end of the year there are some thanks,
goodbyes and good lucks! To all the Upper
Sixth who have led the house so well, we
wish them the very best. You will always be
Goodland Boys. Mr Brooker has run for the
safety of a boarding house but many thanks
for a really good year. We welcome back
Ms Tracy Coleman in September. Thanks to
Goodland’s tutors – Mrs Mason, Mr Kemp,
and Mr Piper – another terrific job. Most
significantly though we bid farewell to Mr
Hogg who has been a Goodlander for over 20
years. I know that he will miss us, but we will
miss him more.
Time for a holiday for all and then it all begins
again. The same....except different.
Mr Kelly
“Just how organised
is Oliver Kelham?”
27
Marshall
The ‘Class of 2012’ have not been known for bringing home the silverware, infact quite the
contrary, but whilst this year proved to be along similar lines, the famous “Marshall house
spirit” carried the troops to relative success, or at least, greater success than we have
achieved over our five years in the house! With a selection of talented juniors remaining in
Marshall who have all been moulded into the Marshall way of thinking and giving it their all,
the future is bright for the house.
Undoubtedly, the year will be remembered for our ventures in House Singing. After
witnessing our warm up act in rehearsal and strong performances of McFly’s “5 Colours in
her Hair” in practice, murmurings of a potential, unique ‘double’ could be heard amongst
the ranks. On the night however, only our wonderful warm up act of “Better Together” by
Jack Johnson, performed by James Mear, Dylan Earle, Ollie Lucas, Henry Brigden and Tom
Edwards secured the coveted “Best Warm Up Act” trophy, the main performance did not do
quite enough to secure the double. Nonetheless, it was a fantastic performance and great
effort all round and Marshall showed themselves again to be a threat in House Singing. In
between practices we had an early house outing where we had pizza in the house and then
went to Hollywood Bowl where Ed Clark especially showed the pros how it is done!
House sports saw us ‘exceed expectations’ in both hockey and rugby. Strong fourth place
finishes from both the Juniors and the Seniors were rightly celebrated as successes, both
included victories over Wills West, upsetting the bookmakers in the process. In House
Hockey the Seniors defeat of Fairwater late on with goals from Tom ‘the assassin’ White and
Tommy Osmond as well as a strong draw against favourites Goodland can both go down as
fantastic results. House Cross Country saw victory for Charlie Beake in the Inters and the
runner up spot went to Duncan Dibb Holland in the Juniors. Sam Popham, Ollie Large and
Eddie Hatfield also placed in their categories’ top 10. It was also fantastic to see the entire
Third Form and over half the house competing in what is not normally a popular event.
petition
House Singing Com
28
It was not a memorable year for Marshall in House Debating, although we can be rightly proud of
the fact that between the Seniors and the Juniors we fielded 10 different participants in all 10 slots,
something larger houses failed to do. Senior House Chess saw the team led by Captain, Harry Thorne
agonisingly defeated in the semi finals in a debacle that Sky Sports has labelled “Chessgate” - the
less we speak about this better - whilst on a brighter note, the mixture of youth and experience
saw Marshall upset all the pre-event billings to place 3rd in the annual Languages’ Quiz with strong
showings from Archie Burton and Owen Hornsby.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Marshall House and I am sure I echo the sentiments of
everybody in the house, present and past, who would like to thank our master and commander, Mr
Cook, for his effort and leadership in the house during our time in Marshall. It is not just our last year
in the house, it is also Mr Cook’s and he has done a fantastic job and made our time in the house
extraordinarily enjoyable. Thank you to two house tutors leaving Marshall - Dr Hammer and Mr Parvin;
keep up the good work next year, Mr and Mrs Cutts and Dr Franklin!
Dan Rogers
Marshall BBQ
ing
Oliver Large compet
rts Day
in the relay for Spo
House Singin
g Competition
Sixth
l Upper
Marshal
29
Jenkin
Despite losing a great Upper Sixth last
year, the usual Jenkin spirit was soon
restored as we started the year with
fourteen new additions to the House.
The Autumn Term brought to our attention
the impressive sporting talent that our new
Third Form brought to Jenkin, they won House
Hockey! Our Senior team was compiled almost
completely of first and second team players,
sadly we lost to Weirfield. It was really great
to see so many girls willing to participate in
House Debating, with speakers such as Katie
Mackenzie and Emma Perry. Although we were
not hugely thrilled about our song choice for
House Singing, ‘Hey, soul sister!’ we made
it work with the impressive enthusiasm and
determination from the younger years, who
were extremely patient when learning the
Upper Sixth’s over-ambitious dance moves.
Later in the term, we enjoyed a really fun
House outing to London, organised by Ms
Harvie, where we watched ‘Thriller Live’ which
got everyone on their feet! At the end of the
Autumn Term, we enjoyed our traditional
Jenkin House Christmas social and Secret
Santa, which was a great way to end a long but
successful first term of the year.
netball A and B teams. House basketball was
next and we managed to enter two teams
thanks to our enthusiastic Third Form, thank
you to Lizzie Chance for being captain. The
A team lost narrowly to Besley but our B
team won overall which was another great
achievement for Jenkin!
The Summer Term soon arrived, and for
most of us this meant the trials of public
examinations. Nevertheless, the Senior
House Tennis was another triumph as we won
overall; special mentions go to Becky Kinnear,
Issie Hatfield, Hera Bradley and Campbell
Bradley. It was also great to see so many
people offer to participate in House athletics,
in particular Leah Peatroy.
Overall it has been another amazing year for
Jenkin. On behalf of the Upper Sixth, we have
loved being in Jenkin. I would like to thank our
house tutors, Mrs Leader, Mrs Falkingham,
Miss Southcott, Mrs Bluemel, Mr Wood, Mr
Waller and above all, Ms Harvie, for making
sure that everything runs so smoothly.
Hebe Henry
Head of Jenkin
The atmosphere in the house at the start
of Lent Term was somewhat quiet with
examinations dominating everyone’s thoughts.
However, the entire house participated
in House Cross-Country, which was a
phenomenal turn out especially as this is the
house competition that is dreaded by most!
We won the Junior House Cross-Country and a
special mention goes to Phoebe Thomas, who
was the fastest individual girl! House netball
came next and again Jenkins excelled, winning
both the junior netball and also the Senior
Junior House Hockey - Jenkin vs Besley
Junior Hou
se
Hockey A
-team
e Netball
Senior Hous
Junior Hous
e Netball A-tea
m
30
House Singing
Sixth Form
Prefects Leadership Day (L6)
Elysia Upton - RAG week
Although we say this every year, I think it
must be said that this year in particular has
been a great one for the Sixth Form. Despite
having a large work load and the pressure of
exams to deal with at times, everyone has
seemed to find time to participate in a variety
of activities across the school, from playing
in sports teams and bands, to helping run
the CCF and taking part in the incredible
Phantom of the Opera. Many of the Sixth
Form have even performed exceptionally, with
multiple school records being broken by both
individuals and teams throughout the year.
There have also been times to escape the hustle
and bustle of school life. Members of the Sixth Form
have enjoyed the opportunity to relax in the Guvvy,
to go skiing in Italy and trekking across Peru; as well
as having the chance to attend the various themed
socials. RAG week was a massive success and
raised over £4000 for school charities.
Our leavers are now scattered far and wide with
some taking gap years, some heading to universities,
both here and abroad, or instead entering the world
of work. We wish all the leavers the best of luck with
their future endeavours and look forward to
hearing tales of their exploits in the future.
We all have fond memories of Sixth Form and
our time at Taunton and after a few weeks of
fending for ourselves in the big wide world,
I’m sure we’ll be longing for these simpler
times, whether we realise it now or not!
The Leavers
Ball
Lewis Chinery
31
TSISPORT
‘Participation and
excellence’
We have had the chance to try all the traditional
sports that you would expect to do in a British
Boarding school. Rugby in the rain, hockey in the
freezing cold, cross country running in the mud,
netball in the wind, athletics in a heatwave, and
tennis at dusk! Oh, and cricket – what can I say!
Despite the inclement weather, we enjoyed them
all, well, most of us, most of the time! However,
no-one can deny that we have all learned much
and now have the confidence to say that we
have tried and sometimes succeeded in sports
that we once new nothing about. Some of us
came with skills already but most of us were on
a very steep learning curve and the fact that so
much was achieved is down to the staff and their
constant encouragement, patience and continued
enthusiasm even when we were less than willing
to venture out into the cold and the rain!
Highlights of the year include the Boys rugby and
hockey matches against Taunton School (one
day we shall win!), the girls netball tour, Sports
Day and trampolining. It was not only about
participation, however, and congratulations should
go to Ryota and Elio for gaining junior house
colours for representing Taunton School at rugby
and hockey to Iulia, Kalvin, Shun, Niklas and Bart
for the roles they played in the Taunton School first
tennis teams and to Leon and Thorsten for their
achievements in the athletics teams.
Sport at Taunton School International has never
been stronger and we are proud to have played
our part in helping to achieve this.
Good luck next year!
Leon Vornholdt
32
Girls Netball
Boys Football
Tennis
Girls Hockey
Sports Day
33
TSIPRIZE GIVING
I’ve been Principal of Taunton School International
for 9 years now. At the end of each of those nine
years I’ve given a report here at Prizegiving on the
year’s events. Each year I’ve been able to say that
it has been a year of expansion, improvement and
change. But this year, I can only say – what a year!
What a year for the country, what a year for the school
and, most importantly, what a year for you, the students,
the class of 2012.
It has been, and will be, a great summer for the country
– well, apart from the weather. The London Olympics
are about to start and many of you saw the Olympic
Torch here in Taunton last month. And a little over two
weeks ago, the whole country, and indeed the world,
watched the celebrations for the Queen’s Diamond
Jubilee. Much was said then about the many national
and international changes that have happened in the
60 years that the Queen has been on the throne. What
are those changes? Well, for one thing, the world has
become a much smaller place. People travel far more,
meeting and working with others from different countries
and cultures. We really do live in a global village now.
And secondly, this country’s place in the world has
changed. Much has been said about that too and yet
British education is still seen as something to aspire
to, one of our most successful exports, something that
people want for their children, and seen as giving great
advantages.
So what are the advantages that you have gained from
your year here?
I could focus on your academic achievements. You have
all taken 5 or 6 or 7 GCSEs, choosing from 20 different
subjects, in one year instead of the normal two - a great
achievement in itself and particularly for those of you
who are studying subjects you have never studied before
or who are working in a language that is not your own.
It is a great credit to you and also to all your teachers
who work so hard – you may think too hard – to get you
through those all-important exams.
I could focus on the fact that as a result you are going
on to good schools and colleges across the UK to study
for A Levels or IB, schools such as Bedford, Clifton,
Hurtwood House, Dean Close, Malvern and of course
Taunton School. You are setting out on a path which will
lead to university and to interesting careers and for you,
and for us who teach you, that is the primary aim of your
year here. To pass your GCSEs, to improve your English,
to get into a good school.
But along with your academic progress, you learn other
skills too. Quickly getting used to a new school, a new
country, a new language, a new culture, you learn to live
together and work together with people who are very
different from yourselves. You make close friends; but
34
even when others around you are not your close friends,
you find ways to accommodate and tolerate each other
so you can all get on with the job in hand.
And that, in my opinion, is the greatest advantage
that you have gained from your year here. That
ability to work together, which will be invaluable to
you in tomorrow’s world. For with privilege comes
responsibility and I think you are uniquely well prepared
for the responsibility of making this world a better place.
And perhaps by the time that you are, like the Queen, 86
years old, the divisions between us will be lessened by
experiences such as you have had this year.
So it has been, and continues to be a great year, for
the country. And for our school – well, the big news
this year has been our purchase and restoration of a
beautiful old building, The Grange, to become Taunton
School International Middle School. We will now be able
to take international students at a younger age, from 8
to 14, and give them the same kind of preparation for
success in mainstream education as we have done for
older students for the last 16 years.
We bought The Grange less than 6 months ago and yet,
astonishingly, 10 days ago our first cohort of 57 students
arrived to join us there, just as you all joined us less
than a year ago. Which brings me from the changes
in the world and the country, through the changes
to the school, to the changes in you. You’re not the
same person who arrived here last September. You’ve
done so many things outside the classroom, from that
first activity weekend at PGL, through all the different
house competitions, the trips to Paris and Cornwall, to
flowboarding and fishing and the sports day and the ball,
all of which took place this week. You have participated
fully with boarding school life, doing so many things
together as a community.
For you, the class of 2012, I look forward with
confidence to hearing about your future achievements
and hope that you will stay in touch and let me know the
many exciting places that life takes you.
Mrs Nixon
Principal, Taunton School International
Mrs Nixon with Students of the Year
TSI
Teamwork and Leadership weekend
On the first weekend of term, 80 students and 10
members of staff embarked on two days of team
building and bonding at PGL activity centre in
Liddington, Wiltshire. Despite a few rainy showers and
strong winds, the students were eager to get involved
after their first full week at Taunton School International.
On Friday night after dinner the students were whisked
away by PGL staff for an evening of ‘Wacky Races’ (think
five layers of clothes combined with an egg-and-spoon
race!) which they appeared to enjoy.
After a good night’s sleep and breakfast on Saturday
morning, seven groups set off for a day of adventure.
The giant swing soon became a favourite with a fastpaced adrenaline rush!
The next challenge was ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ - a climbing
activity increasing in difficulty the higher you got. A
few groups showed excellent team building skills and
managed to reach the highest level.
Saturday afternoon brought more challenges in the form
of the climbing and abseiling tower. This provided an
opportunity for students to encourage and support each
other, and some even conquered their fear of heights!
We were greeted on Sunday morning by more rain, but
spirits were not dampened and we set off for another
fun-filled day. First up was the zip wire, followed by
Trapeze, which saw the students take a ‘leap of faith’ off
a ten metre high board. For the more confident students,
there was even a chance to try it blindfolded!
Our final afternoon was filled with mountain biking and
a ‘crate challenge’ which really required the students to
communicate and work together. By this time everyone
was exhausted but still smiling.
Despite being keen to get back to school and begin their
first week of lessons, everybody enjoyed their stay at
PGL and formed some solid friendships - some students
are already asking when we are going to return!
Ben Cutler
35
TSI
Celebrating Success
Time flies like an arrow. Unbelievably, we have finished
our one year GCSE programme. This has been a hard
yet memorable year. Remember the first time we walked
in through this gate with our suitcases? Now it seems
only a few moments ago.
I didn’t believe in fate or destiny before. But now I do. I
think fate had mysteriously, magically and meaningfully
assembled all of us from different parts of the world in
Taunton School International (TSI). Together we have
experienced so many things: PGL, delicious Taunton
School meals, Prep detentions, rec. room duty, interhouse competitions, fire drills at midnight and so on…
We have built strong friendships among schoolmates,
House staff and teachers. Isn’t it sad that we are now
going to part?
envious of those returning to Taunton in September as
continuing to be a part of the family that we have formed
is a very attractive prospect at the moment!
If it all must end then the Summer Ball is an ideal way to
bring things to a close. Who will forget the fireworks, Mr
House pogo dancing, the feeling of relaxed friendship
and the beautiful dresses and suits, let alone the limo
arrivals and the infamous ‘Awards Ceremony’? Whatever
path we have chosen, we don’t know what lies ahead.
Only time will tell if Win will be the most likely student
to get to Oxford, Howard will be the first millionaire,
Justin will end up working in McDonalds, Dimitri will be
a criminal mastermind, or Ariane will have her mobile
confiscated more times in her next school? However,
what is certain is that we all leave with special memories
which will live with us always and will be retold many
times in the course of our futures.
Laurel Lam
Some of us may continue our studies in the UK. Some
of us may go back to our own countries. I am secretly
36
37
TSIMS
£2.3 million investment by
Taunton School
Michael Gove, Secretary of
State for Education opens
‘pioneering’ new school
Taunton School opens new International Middle
School at The Grange in Kingston St Mary
Michael Gove: “A school fit
for the 21st Century”
38
New School opens with 37 full time students in 2012/13
School opens with 57 students aged 9 to 16
on an Introduction to British Boarding course
Jeremy Browne, MP calls the new International
Middle School “a remarkable achievement”
39
Salut et Valete
Hugh Todd
Following a teaching degree in Exeter and three and a half years teaching in Maidenhead, Hugh came to Taunton
Junior School in January 1979 where he taught French as well as running PE and games and was a highly popular
assistant boarding Housemaster in Thone. In January 1983 he took over the running of the newly built Sports Hall
and moved to Taunton School.
Hugh ran the PE department for many years, overseeing the introduction of the subject at both GCSE and A-Level.
During his career he has coached many sports. He successfully coached junior cricket teams for many years as
well as the 1st XI for the last six years and he has expertise in many areas of racket sports, particularly tennis
(Master i/c for nine years) and badminton. It will, however, be for his time coaching rugby that he will be best
remembered. He coached the 1st XV for 22 years and was also Master i/c for fifteen years. In such a short space
it is difficult to quantify what Hugh has contributed to Taunton School rugby. His organisational skills helped take
school rugby to new levels of all round achievement. His ability as a coach can only be described as outstanding;
his ability to spot the strengths and weakness of a player and then help them improve in both areas is legendary.
Special mention of the unbeaten 1st XV of 1987 must be made. His skills were recognised by the RFU who
appointed him to a variety of roles in England Schools rugby as well as Somerset Senior rugby. In latter years Hugh has taken on the role of Master i/c golf. It
was perhaps fitting that in his final year he should see the school golf team taking part in a national competition at Carnoustie.
The number of roles he has taken on at Taunton School is long but special mention must be made of his time as Assistant Housemaster in Wills West before
moving on to become Housemaster of Goodland - a role he held for eleven years. He then moved on to Wills East with his wife, Selma and children, Jonathan
and Chloe, in 1999. In all of these houses his calm but strong leadership and guidance has influenced many generations of boys.
At his leaving speech Hugh mentioned that he had hoped that he had been able to make a difference, no matter how small, to the pupils he had known. He
can go happily into a well deserved and, we hope, long and happy retirement sure in the knowledge that many generations of Taunton School pupils will be
eternally grateful for the difference he has made to their lives. Mr Neil Mason
Sarah Hearn
Mary Mason
Mary joined the school in 1996, following a successful career with ICI, as well as taking time off to be a mother to her
two boys, James and Sam. Although new to teaching at the time, she quickly established herself as a highly effective
chemistry teacher who took a real interest in her students, both academically and pastorally. During her time at the
school she has played a significant part in increasing both the popularity of the subject and confidence of the students
in their abilities to do well. They have respected her friendly no-nonsense approach, and I know that many are very
grateful for all the help she has given to help them realise their ambitions. Her interest in the pastoral care of the
students took on a more major significance with her appointment as housemistress of Besley and then as Head of Sixth
Form, where among other things, she oversaw the introduction of the new girls’ uniform. Her final responsibility in the
school has been as Staff Development Coordinator, overseeing the professional development of staff at all levels, from
the training of NQTs to the appraisal of Senior staff. In all these roles, Mary has continued to be very conscientious,
organised and determined to set the highest standards for both herself and all those she has worked alongside. Mary
leaves to enjoy a well-earned retirement, keeping her house in order, visiting her boys and keeping Neil in the civilised
manner to which he has become accustomed.
Thank you, Mary, for all you have done for Taunton School, we will miss you. Mr Martin Bluemel
Lizzie Birkett
Lizzie joined the English Department from Exeter University, where she quickly made her mark, encouraging high
standards from Year 9 up to A Level. She was a whizz at computers, devising a way to enter and calculate our exam
marks, though we always retained our paper copy in the filing cabinet as back up! Lizzie contributed to many areas of
school life outside the department: helping to coach netball, where her main achievement seems to be the crème egg
tradition, in CCF where her Sandhurst background was certainly felt, not least her bugbear of hands in pockets on
parade! She is also incredibly fit, never to be seen without her water bottle, going for her daily run or zumba workout!
She leaves us as a bride, and will marry Rob this summer, taking our sincere wishes for a long and happy life together.
To date she is not sure where she will be living, nor where she will take up her next teaching post, but wherever she
finds a job, that school will be lucky to have her.
We will remember Lizzie’s smile and enthusiasm, her friendship and commitment.
Good luck, and wishing her much happiness and success. Mrs Gill Foster
Ruth Kemp
40
Before coming to Taunton Sarah read Classics at St Anne’s College Oxford and taught at Clifton College for four years,
where she gained experience in boarding and rowing. At Taunton we soon realised what a dedicated teacher she
was and how efficient and inspiring a Head of Classics she was. It is not surprising that the Classics department has
expanded so well under her enthusiastic and scholarly leadership. Many pupils will long remember her exciting and
fascinating foreign tours to Greece, Italy and the South of France, all meticulously planned and researched beforehand.
Visiting Athens in February this year in the midst of riots was a very brave decision, but she had planned a quick exit
to the Peloponnese if the situation became difficult. Trips to Bath, London and Oxford have occurred each year along
with talks at school, given by many prominent Classicists. Her production of Sophocles’ Electra was a great success,
despite the fact that the make up was locked away at the vital moment! She has also found time to guide Fifth Form
scholars and to accompany Mr Moule on his mad, midwinter historical escapades. In the classroom she has inspired,
supported and cajoled many grateful pupils in Latin, Greek and Classical Civilisation, some of whom have secured
places at very prestigious universities. Sarah is leaving us to become Head of Classics at Prior Park in Bath, unable
to resist the lure of living in such a cultured city. We wish her well, knowing that she will be successful and will always
remain a dedicated teacher. Mr Roger Priest
During her time at Taunton School, Ruth has played a significant role in both the Academic Development and
Mathematics Departments. Students at all levels have appreciated her calm, patient and humorous approach to
teaching, and have never been in a hurry to escape at the ends of lessons. A quirky character with a great sense of
fun, perhaps Ruth’s most memorable project was her conversion of a classroom into a propagation unit for sunflower
plants, an action that she justified by an extremely tenuous reference to A-level Statistics. More recently, the infamous
squeaky doors of Densham have finally fallen silent thanks to Ruth and her oil can. In the light of all this, we have
tried hard to persuade Ruth to stay in Taunton with us, but sadly she insists on moving to Wells with Andy. She will be
genuinely missed, but has our very best wishes for the future. Mr Philip Cutts
Neil McPherson
Neil came to us as Head of English in 2006 following a distinguished teaching career in the Bristol area latterly at
Redlands High School. He left us in 2012 having made the inspired decision two years earlier to move to IGCSE English.
Whilst most of the country was wrapped in controversy over manipulated English GCSE results Taunton School was
celebrating 80% A* in English Literature!
However, English as a subject was always far more than just results as far as Neil was concerned. What mattered was
the quality of teaching the pupils received and the love of literature that he hoped that this would inspire. To observe any
lesson of his was always a great pleasure. Whether that class be a Year 9 class coming to terms with a new text or a
Sixth Form class aiming for top grades his lessons were always fascinating to be part of. No pupil I ever spoke to failed
to be inspired by his lessons. In fact one Sixth Form pupil told me that it was always difficult to take notes in his lessons
as it was far too interesting simply listening to Neil.
Outside of the classroom, he was a caring and interested tutor in Evans House, where many boys will be grateful for the
gentle but meaningful advice he has given them over the last six years. Neil took an active part in the running of school
swimming and also in the running of the magazine you are reading now. He has many interests outside of education and
to talk to him for any time about his love of music, particularly American music of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s was
always an enlightening experience.
Neil now enters a richly deserved retirement ; one in which we can be sure he will be able to watch the Cheltenham
Gold Cup in peace and comfort and one in which we can be sure he will never find boring. Mr Neil Mason
Peter Finan
Peter is a man of hidden depths and wide experience. He served with distinction in the Royal Navy between 1967 and 1987,
flying as an observer from ships such as the Ark Royal. He had what he describes as “a fairly active visit” to the Falklands
in 1982. Completing his BA allowed him to progress to teaching and 20 years later, following a distinguished teaching
career, we were lucky enough to witness his immense skill, this time at Taunton School. We already had clues of the quality
of his teaching, as his ability to tame even the wildest class emerged as early as his teaching practice. Placed in front of
a normally badly behaved class, he quietly gained perfect attention. Unsure as to how this unexpected result had arisen,
he was placed with another awkward group, with similar results. How was this control achieved? What was the secret?
Feedback from the pupils subsequently revealed that they did not realise him to be a trainee teacher. They thought he was
a policeman come to search them for drugs.
His classes here have been treated to very high quality and caring teaching, lessons often being preceded with his opening
battle cry of “now where did I leave my glasses?”. The success of this has been easy to measure by the constant stream
of happy faces emerging from his laboratory, also by the unhappy faces which characterised his pupils on the days since
his departure was announced. His contribution in the biology department as a whole has been immense, from lessons to
field trips, writing exams to moderating coursework, organising whole department spectacle hunting trips to organising
pupil excursions, he is always thorough, always ready and always generous with his time. He has quite simply been the
quintessential professional school master. It is almost unbelievable to think that he has actually been part time.
Not content to sit about for more than a few minutes at a stretch, Peter quickly became involved with the DofE at all levels
and has been giving up extra time on Fridays so that he can also run the Navy section of the CCF. This section has been
greatly reinforced under his leadership, not surprising as he is of course a full Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander, as
some RN cadets found to their cost when they underestimated him at CCF camp. One morning the regular cadets, not
anticipating that he would be awake so early, ignored the tradition of paying respects to the colours. Of course the TS
cadets made no such foolish error. Peter burst forth from the ratings mess, thereby employing a startling ruse to approach
the miscreants from an unexpected direction. Our cadets were then treated to the sight of a full military dressing down with
all the trimmings.
Peter is rather a good skittler too, top scoring on his first outing with the staff team. He has an interesting line in jokes well, one joke actually - which concerns rabbits and “mixing my toasties”, which according to the pupils regularly features
in lessons. And when it comes to pulling rabbits out of hats, another thing that may well be news to many is that Peter is an
accomplished magician.
Peter has been a tutor in Wills East where he has been immensely loyal and reliable as a House tutor. He delivered a talk
to the House at Remembrance a couple of years ago when he talked with the perspective of one who had served in the
Falklands and had seen tragic loss on both sides. This memorable and moving presentation typifies him, an unassuming
gentleman of great calm and hidden depths.
So now, as he retires for the third time and having already put in place the convenient escape route of a large allotment, it
remains for me to pay tribute to Peter Finan, a remarkable school master, a true friend and a gentleman of the first water.
Mr James Penny
Alastair Harrison
The English Department’s very own limited edition, Penguin classic!
When Neil McPherson came into my classroom to tell me of Alastair Harrison’s appointment he told me that here was
a young man who ‘would run rings around us all’. Within moments of entering his classroom I wished I was a student
again - originality, humour and culture filled the room. Ally’s imaginative wall displays, infectious passion for reading
and warm sense of humour had the class hanging on his every word. When I spoke with some of the Fairwater boys,
they described him as ‘the closest a teacher can be to being a friend’ and ‘truly inspirational’. They went on to explain
that he always made time for everyone. Similarly, in the English Department, he always knew when someone needed
a little extra support - cards in pigeon-holes, notes posted under doors, small gifts left on desks and surprise Easter
eggs awaiting us before Parents meetings. Ally wove a wonderful ring of friendship in so many ways and I know that he
has been a true and constant friend to me and to the Common Room. Taunton School has been a more magical and
soulful place since he joined, but now the time has come for him to sprinkle some of his magic at Berkhamsted School.
In summary, I think it is fair to say that Alastair Harrison really did succeed in running rings around us all. I thank him for
being such an inspiring friend and teacher, for never losing his naughty sense of humour and for the many random and
spontaneous acts of kindness - I will miss them. I will miss him. Mrs Alexandra Cutts
Andy Kemp
Andy joined Taunton School as Head of mathematics in September 2008. It was, and still is, clear that he has a passion
for the subject. Throughout his time at Taunton School he was been committed to helping students of all ages and
abilities to fulfil their potential. In his four years with us, he immersed himself in all aspects of School life and fulfilled the
roles of timetabler and Director of Digital Strategy. It was in this latter role that he demonstrated his forward thinking
and visionary skills. He was also an excellent tutor in Goodland House.
Andy will be a great success in his new role as Director of Studies at Wells Cathedral School. It is a credit to him that
he has risen to this senior position at such a young age. He will go on to further successes, I am sure, and we wish him
and his delightful family the best of luck for the future. Mr Richard Judd
41
Business
Studies/Economics
On Field Day in October the department presided
over Enterprise Day for all Year 9 pupils - in which they
worked throughout most of the day in randomly selected
groups to produce a short presentation about their ideas
for a totally eco-friendly holiday island off the coast of
Wales. The organisers from Young Enterprise were highly
impressed with the work ethic and cooperation levels of
all the pupils; ‘Isle of Glas’ were the winners - but they
were all winners really!
At the end of the Autumn Term we said goodbye to Ms Ayo
who had been covering for another of Miss Southcott’s
maternity leaves. Our thanks go to Ms Ayo for all of her
contributions to the department and other parts of school
life such as debating and singing. She made quite an
impact in her short time with us. We wish her well.
Mr Abell, Mrs Rixon and Miss Preece took 16 students
from all over the world to Madrid. It was cold but sunny
for much of the 6 days we spent there. The highlight of
the trip was an opportunity to see Real at the Bernabeu,
playing against Levante in a 4-2 thriller with Ronaldo
scoring a hat-trick! We also witnessed some anti-austerity
demonstrations, bought hats and shades at the flea
market, had a lovely afternoon at the Bodegas Winery
and went to the Prada Museum to learn a bit about Goya.
James Carter was ‘top tourist’ and Mikhail Ignatov bought
a new pair of Burberry jeans.
42
Also in February many of the economists enjoyed the
presentation ‘Monetary Policy in Extraordinary Times’
given by David Miles - a member of the MPC at the Bank
of England.
In the Summer Term we took the Year 10 Business Studies
students to the Land Rover Factory in Solihull and to
CadburyWorld. The factory visit was a ‘first’ for us and we
could not have been more impressed. The students were
able to get very close to multi million pound machinery
and flying sparks. Our tour guides were veterans of the
car industry and had lots to tell us about the changes
taking place at the company (in the news that very day!)
as well as the ‘lean’ production process. At CadburyWorld
the marketing presentation was excellent and the free
samples well received!
My thanks go to Mrs Rixon, Mr Pugh, Miss Southcott and
Ms Davey for all of their efforts this year. Our IB results last
August could not have been more pleasing and Phoebe
Newman proved that hard work can bring its own reward!
The challenges continue though...
Mr Abell
Classics
‘Challenging’, ‘entertaining’,
‘busy’, and slightly surprisingly,
‘ubiquitous’ were a few of the
words suggested by our students
to describe Classics at Taunton
School; the last one coming with an
explanation that this word derives
from the Latin ‘ubique’, meaning
‘everywhere’ or ‘on all sides’ – very
nice for a Classics teacher to hear!
Ubiquitous I think we still need to
work on, but challenging, busy
and entertaining I would certainly
second!
Busy and entertaining it has been – trips to
the south of France, Athens, London, Exeter,
Bath and Oxford have opened up new areas
of Classics to our pupils, and have been both
thought-provoking and great fun, allowing us to
take in ancient buildings and towns, plus plays,
lectures and museums. We’ve been fortunate
to host some excellent guest speakers, with
visits from Professor Peter Jones, Professor
Matthew Leigh, Doctor Peter Haarer and Doctor
Lynne Robson. Additionally, a new student-led
Classics Society has been launched, holding
its successful inaugural event, an Ides of March
evening, with talks, a play and plenty of togas.
Challenging I’d agree with too – our pupils
have worked hard and achieved a great deal,
both collectively and individually, including
Roger Kim’s Oxford offer, and Lucy White’s
place at this year’s Greek summer school.
Greek is running for the first time as part of the
International Baccalaureate, and the Classical
subjects remain very much alive here at
Taunton School.
Sixth Form Classics Trip to Athens Feb 2012
Classics Trip to France October 2011
Classics Trip to France October 2011
It has been another immensely enjoyable year
for us too – and we will work on becoming truly
‘ubiquitous’ in the future. Watch this space!
We welcome Dr Aidan Cruttenden as the new
Head of Department in September 2012, as
Mrs Hearn leaves for Prior Park College in Bath.
43
DT
1
2
4
5
3
7
6
8
44
9
10
11
12
13
14
1: A2 Ben Clarke - Greenpower Car Chassis 2: A2 Chloe Hibbert - Personal Belongings Tracking Device 3: A2 Chris James - Bedroom Furniture 4: A2 Dan Booth - Dish Drying
Rack with Airstream System 5: GCSE Nick Hulse - HiFi Speaker 6: A2 Eddie Hatfield - Weight Training Aid 7: GCSE Nick Evry - Rowing Seat with inbuilt Communication Aid
8: A2 Nat Siraviawat - Contemporary Community Centre 9: A2 Tommy Allen - Workshop Woodburning Heater 10: AS Max Bloomfield - Eco Pavilion Concept for ‘Lowers’
11: GCSE Tom Dornom - Gadget Tidy 12: GCSE Jackson Chinery - Children’s Table 13: GCSE Sam Tapp - Rubik’s Cube Chair 14: GCSE Mickey Li - Multiple Saxaphone Stand
45
English
Oliver Kelham enjoying Brideshead Revisited
The English Department has continued to
revel in literary spirit throughout the year.
Lessons have ranged from Third Formers
enjoying ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and creating
haikus, IGCSE students battling through
‘Julius Caesar’ and performing Arthurian
tales and the Sixth Form contending with a
wealth of literature such as Hardy’s elegies,
‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ and ‘Pride
and Prejudice’.
Taunton School marked World Book Day on
1st March with many literary celebrations
throughout the week. Recommendations
from the teaching staff were displayed
around the school campus, while students
were greeted with the opening lines of a
famous novel in their house callovers each
morning. Sixth Formers gave readings of
classic texts, particularly popular was Oliver
Kelham’s rendition of ‘Brideshead Revisited’.
The department has played host to various
guests. Steve Voake, Emma Craigie and
David Gatward, three prominent authors of
adolescent fiction, spent a day delivering
writing workshops to the Third Form. Later
in the Lent Term, Sixth Form students were
appreciative of study workshops with Jean
Evans, an instrumental representative of the
AQA A-level English Literature course.
Third Formers filming Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale
An IB class appreciating Othello
46
Moreover, the department’s promotion of
literary expression has extended beyond
the school walls. Miss Birkett and Mr
Harrison took the Upper Sixth to see ‘Blue
Remembered Hills’ at The Brewhouse and
Miss Commings accompanied her Third
Form set to a screening of ‘The Woman in
Black’. Mr Harrison has also overseen entries
for external academic competitions such
as ‘The Dickens Fellowship Prize’ for junior
students and ‘The Betty Haigh Shakespeare
Award’, where three Sixth Form students
(Oliver Kelham, Olivia Woodhead and Phillip
Roberts) entered their essays.
This summer the department will bid farewell
to three of its members. Our best wishes go
to the Head of Department, Neil McPherson,
and his colleagues, Alastair Harrison and
Lizzie Birkett. This is the end of a key chapter
for the department but in September, a new
one will unfold.
Geography
It has been another busy year in the
Geography and Geology Department.
We have welcomed Mrs Fletcher
to the team as a teacher of Year 9
Geography and Sixth Form Geology
where she has proved herself an
asset to the Department. We have
run many fieldtrips across the year
groups, attended another set of topical
Geographical Association Lectures
at Wellington School and came third
in the local GA World Wise Quiz. Our
numbers continue to be very strong
and this year we have our highest IB
numbers (8).
The first of our trips was a Year 11
trip to Porlock Bay, where we enjoyed
some glorious September sunshine. The
students were tasked with collecting
data to be used to write up their
Controlled Assessment assignment.
Our next trip was the Lower Sixth AS trip to the
River Horner; a beautiful slice through the Exmoor
National park. At its source the river is a trickle
and though it is no Amazon, at its mouth there
are distinct differences; a number of which can
be sampled such as width, depth, gradient and
velocity. This trip is also undertaken by the IB
students in May.
Lower Sixth Geographers on the Cobb at Lyme Regis
We do not only have Exmoor on our doorstep but
also Dartmoor. Year 10 had the opportunity to visit
in order to learn about the characteristics of Granite
landscapes and the pressures that tourism can
bring to national Parks in England as part of their
Rocks and Resources module.
Back to the coast, and on a mild February day, the
Lower Sixth visited both Chesil Beach and Lyme
Regis. Data was collected to investigate changes to
the beach. In Lyme the focus was on management
and after finishing the trip with a group photograph
on the Cobb we treated ourselves to an ice cream
as you have to make the best of the weather
whenever you can!
Finally, the Upper Sixth visited Bristol Docks
and IKEA as part of their Globalisation studies.
As always the dock proved to be interesting and
different; you never know how many ships will be
in or how many brand new cars will be parked up
waiting for export. The most amazing site was the
stockpile of imported coal – just across the Bristol
Channel from Cardiff that was once the biggest
coal exporting port in the world! In the afternoon
we listened to a talk about the organisation of IKEA
as a transnational corporation, whilst sampling all
manner of Swedish sweet treats.
Year 11 enjoying a lovely day collecting data at Porlock
47
Geology
This is our fourth year of running Geology
and it is proving popular with another seven
students taking up the course for Sixth
Form this year, while three past students are
studying the subject at university.
We enjoyed our Field Trips to Kimmeridge
Bay and Budleigh Salterton where once again
the classroom theory was put into practice
interpreting the structures and
past environments.
Mrs Leader
Year 10 getting a close up view of Tor formation
NewStaff
We welcome the following new members of staff who are joining Taunton School this term:
Mrs Barbara Boylan
Academic Development
Miss Lisa Manley
PE
Mr James Brodie
Head of English
Miss Pauline McKay
Maths
Dr Aidan Cruttenden
Head of Classics
Miss Rebecca Miller
English
Miss Bridget Goldsmith
Biology
Mr Ian Payne
Head of Maths
Miss Megan Langley
English
Mr Andrew Pring
Chemistry
Mr David MacLean
Physics
48
History
GCSE history trip to Berlin and
Krakow
Dr Scarlett Epstein (2nd from left)
Swimming upstream – a Jewish
refugee visits Taunton School
The remarkable Dr.Scarlett Epstein came to speak
to year 9 of experiences in her late teens and early
twenties. Born into a Viennese Jewish family, she
was forced to grow up fast when Hitler annexed
Austria. Thinking on her feet to save herself and
her family from the nightmares of the Holocaust,
her dangerous escape route took her from
Yugoslavia to Albania before a terrifying flight via
Germany to England.
Dr Epstein emphasised the importance
of standing up against persecution and
discrimination in its many forms and the debt
of gratitude that she owes to those who helped
her. It was particularly striking how, in Albania,
Muslims helped Jews.
Despite facing many disadvantages, she became
a brilliant academic and worked in such far flung
locations as Papua New Guinea. Her inspirational
story of courage and
determination is detailed
in her autobiography,
Swimming Upstream.
OVER the first week of the Easter holiday, 23
GCSE History students and 5 staff left Taunton to
explore the sights of Berlin and Krakow, two cities
integral to the GCSE History course. The three
days in Berlin were spent looking at places linked
to the Nazi and Cold War periods, with visits to
Checkpoint Charlie, a remaining part of the Berlin
Wall, the site of the 1933 Book Burnings and the
old Gestapo Headquarters.
After a long coach journey to Krakow the students
were able to see the contrast between East
and West during the Cold War, as well as how
different life was like under Nazi rule. The students
visited the site of the Krakow Ghetto and Oskar
Schindler’s factory, and experienced the delights
of medieval Krakow as well.
Mr Hawkins
History Trip to Berlin
A students view of what the History Department will look like
Mr Chatterton
Head of History
Morocco
Owain
continued...
49
continued
History
Trips
George scoops top Cambridge Prize
Trips abroad
George Hallas won the highly prestigious St. John’s
College, Cambridge, Wilkinson Quincentenary Prize
essay competition with his ‘Myth and memory in the
architectural monuments of global superpowers.’
The competition assessed essays for ‘distinction,
measured by reference to mastery of relevant detail,
the fluency and structure of argument, the level of
analytical skills, the degree of originality shown and
evidence of personal initiative in research’.
s
s
s
WWI battlefields – Ypres and the Somme: the
grim reality of the trenches
Berlin and Auschwitz – the bleak horror of
C20th European history
Morocco – kasbahs and camels, mountains,
medinas and mihrabs
Trips at home
s
s
s
s
Sedgemoor battlefield tour – Barry Lane and
the tragic unfolding of the Monmouth rebellion
S.S Great Britain – the genius of Brunel
Wells and Glastonbury – the richness of
Britain’s religious heritage
C19th London centres of power - immigrants,
synagogues and docks
Visitors
s
s
s
s
Dr. Scarlett Epstein, Jewish survivor
Philip Algar, author – his father’s experiences
as a P.O.W
Dr Benjamin Thompson, Somerville College,
Oxford – society in the late Middle Ages
Lieutenant Joe Pruce, US naval intelligence - a
contemporary US perspective on the world
George gained £750 for his efforts – with a similar
sum for the school History Department – and
attended a special prize giving lunch at the college.
He was also afforded the opportunity to spend a
week researching at St John’s during the summer
working; he focused on the influence of Aristotle
and Aquinas.
George’s success was thoroughly well deserved:
he is one of the school’s hardest working students
who has nurtured and developed deep and genuine
academic interests over a number of years.
Mr Chatterton
Miscellaneous
s
History Matters magazine – edited by Lucy
Taylor then George Hallas; produced by
Philip Roberts
History Prizes
s
George Hallas who won the Wilkinson Quincentenary Prize essay competition
U6th - Oliver Kelham and Matthew Wood;
L6th - George Hallas; Yr 11 - Benji MazinAtfield, Alex Willes, C.C Price, Jess Scott;
Yr 10 (The Cortbus) Abi McHardy; Yr 9 (The
Colin) Rosemary Moss; Parsons Trophy Josh
Kelly
Public examination results 2011
s
s
s
A level – 87.5% A/B
IB 100% 7/6 HL
GCSE – 67.9% A*/A
50
History Trip to Berlin
WW1 battlefields trip
THIRTY-THREE Year 9 students accompanied by
the usual team of Mr Hawkins, Mr Jolley and Mr
Chatterton, plus ‘special guests’ Mr Cook and Mr
and Mrs Manley enjoyed another year of four
visiting the First World War Battlefields of the
Somme and Ypres.
Not forgetting the traditional poetry competition,
this year the judges could not decide between two
entries, so the joint winners were Maddy Newton
and Issy Clark.
Don’t just learn it; live it.
Mr Chatterton
The students were able to learn more about
the events of 1914-1918. Visits to Bayernwald,
Sanctuary Wood and Hill 62 were followed by the
staggering Tyne Cot, the largest Commenwealth war
cemetery in the world. Here, as in previous years,
a representative of Evans House - Salvi De Sena presented a cross at the grave of Old Tauntonian
Cyril M. Cook. As part of the trip, the students trace
the stories of twenty OTs who died on the Somme or
near Ypres; of these twenty, Cyril Cook was the only
one whose body was found.
Following Tyne Cot, the students were able to
expand their knowledge through a visit to the
excellent In Flanders Fields museum.
The school took part in the Last Post Ceremony
at the Menin Gate, the highlight of the trip. Liam
Watson and Rosemary Moss laid a wreath on
behalf of all Tauntonians, past and present, with a
dedication written by Dr Newton. This ceremony is
always moving, and the attendance seems to grow
every year.
On the final day, the students ventured further
afield: to the Belgian ‘Trench of Death’ at Dixmuide,
to the German cemetery at Vladlso, and to Essex
Farm, where the poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ was
written. Back in Ypres, we revisited the plaque
which was dedicated last year, with the students
now understanding fully the sacrifice made by onehundred and fifty of their forebears during the First
World War.
On the journey back to Calais, the group stopped
at Lijssenthoek Cemetery, on the site of the main
hospital for those wounded at Ypres. Throughout
the trip, they had carried with them a ceremonial
sword, belonging to the grandfather of Hera Bradley.
He had been presented with it in the years after the
Second World War by the widow of Robert Ingham,
who died at Lijssenthoek during the First World War.
For the first time since his death, the sword was
reunited with its first owner, and Hera posed proudly
as photos were taken.
Battlefields trip
Morocco history trip
This was the fourth such trip for the history
department. We went to Marrakech, Fes, the High
Atlas and the Desert. Of course it was spectacular
and exotic, a wonderful and rich experience for our
group of Lower Sixth pupils, who enjoyed camping
in Saharan dunes and exploring medieval souks
in equal measure. There were several dramatic
adventures. Unfortunately there is not space here
to go into further detail; for further information see
the History Microsite or the last edition of History
Matters.
Mr Moule
Sixth Form Morocco Trip
51
Leisure Studies
This has been another really busy and productive
year in the Leisure Studies department. We
began the year with the two Upper Sixth groups
organising their Event Management units
respectively. The first group (Alex Parmar, David
Cowling, Alex McGough, Oki Nwakohu, Charlie
Miles and Julia Janicki) ran a hugely successful
Casino night in late September, raising an
impressive £500 for Help for Heroes. The second
group (Frankie Petts, Rosie Grieve, Aurelia
Games-Thomas and Aaron McGough) organised
and ran the Fashion Show which was a fantastic,
professional standard event, using students as
models, local designer Henry Hunt clothing and
even included a celebrity visit from Alexandra
“Binky” Felstead from the hit TV show, Made in
Chelsea. All who attended agreed that it was a
huge success and the group were delighted to
smash department records by donating £1000 to
The Katie Piper Foundation.
In the Lent Term, the Upper Sixth completed
their Leisure in the Outdoors unit which included
organising an afternoon for the Pre-Prep
children at Fyne Court and Rage Buggying at
Bristol. Experiencing outdoor leisure firsthand
was certainly fun (and muddy!) but showed
the students just how much planning and
organisation some of these activities takes.
At Fyne Court, the younger students took a
particular shine to Julia and Aaron, and Aurelia
tested her First Aid knowledge. In Bristol, the
boys tested their driving skills in the mud, Charlie
managed to break the tyre of his buggy, Mrs
Turner surprised herself - “loving it” and Dave
and Alex Parmar were definitely the quickest.
Both year groups were then lucky enough
to go to London for a day to tour around the
Olympic Village and see up close just how much
regeneration has taken place in East London
already. To walk across the athletes’ tunnel and
see the warm-up areas where Usain Bolt will be
this summer was a highlight for some. Our next
stop, Madame Tussauds continues to wow the
tourists and it was interesting to see the new
Olympic additions too. The Chamber
of Horrors caused a few screams, and
we ended the day testing the Customer
Service at Planet Hollywood.
Mrs Turner
52
Made In Chelsea
’s Binky with TS
students
The Fashion Show
The Inbetweeners post Rage Bugg
ying
Mathematics
Mathematics continues
to be at the heart of
academia within Taunton
School. The year has
seen many excellent
results, achievements,
competitions and talks.
Accepted by 208 of our students, the challenges
posed by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust
were the mathematical highlight with over 50%
obtaining a certificate. Jason Gu secured the best
result in the Senior challenge, with Jeremy Soper
leading the intermediate. Gold certificates were
awarded to: Lewis Chinery, Alexandra Du, Todd
Freeman, Jason Gu, Edward McBride, Amrita
Patel, Cecilia Price, Sam Rixon, Jeremy Soper,
Molly Wang, Alex Willes, Jacky Yu, Tracy Yuan,
Ming Zhang.
Alexandra and Ming qualified for the Senior
Kangaroo, whilst Jason, Jeremy, Molly, and Jacky
qualified for Olympiads at their respective levels.
Jeremy Soper and Molly Wang must both
be congratulated for earning medals
(the most prestigious awards) in the
Intermediate Olympiad and British
Olympiad respectively.
Our Mathematics teams have also
had great success this year. The
junior team (Alex Willes, Sam Tapp,
Sam Rixon, Sam Griffin) placed 5th
in the regional qualifier, whilst
our Senior team (Jason Gu,
Molly Wang, Tracy Yuan,
Jeremy Soper) won the
regional final, beating other
local schools such as Millfield
and Queen’s. The Senior
team went on to represent
Somerset at the National
Final at the Camden Centre in
London, where they placed in
the top half of all teams.
Mr Dewbery
Assistant Head Of Mathematics
Jason Gu, Jeremy Soper and Molly Wang - British
Mathematical Olympiad qualifiers
53
Modern
Languages
MFL trip to Paris
El niño con el pijama de rayas
Mi historia parece ser una historia que se inventó un señor , pero
no, no es así. Mi historia es una historia completamente real, va así.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
My story seems invented, but no, it is not. My story is an entirely
real one.
Un día cuando yo venía del colegio vi a un montón de gente
llevando cosas a mi casa como para hacer una fiesta de
despedida. Cuando entré a casa me dijo mi madre que papa
había dicho que nos íbamos a mudar de casa a una casa en el
campo. Yo pensé en todo lo malo que nos podía pasar, cuando
de repente saltó mi hermana diciendo lo contrario. Como que si
nos mudaramos de casa podríamos hacer muchos más amigos
nuevos, y que tendríamos la nueva experiencia de vivir en el campo
con animales y todo ese rollo de hermanas de 12 anos.
Por la tarde dieron una fiesta de despedida, con todo los
ayudantes de papá y toda nuestra familia.
A la mañana siguiente salimos despues de empaquetar todos los
muebles y hacer las maletas. Nos montamos en el tren para ir a
nuestra nueva casa. Cuando llegamos pensé que la casa era muy
diferente a la casa de Berlin.
Pasamos un par de días en casa y ya había montado un columpio
en el árbol de enfrente de la casa. En esa misma tarde me estaba
remando cuando de repente me caí y me golpeé la cabeza. Perdí la
memoria , y cuando me desperté un señor desconocido me estaba
poniendo una venda en la rodilla.
Era un señor con un pijama que tenía un número sobre el pecho a
la izquierda , le pregunté como se llamaba y me respondió
“ Pabel”.
Iba a darle las gracias cuando mi madre llegó a casa y me mandó a
mi habitación en una voz muy enojada.
Me dijo que Pabel era medico pero ahora estaba en nuestra casa
pelando patatas y trabajando de jardinero. Quería preguntar por
qué estaba trabajando en la cocina cuando era medico pero mi
madre me miró y yo salí de la cocina.
Un día me di cuenta de que Pabel era uno mas de los de la
granja. La granja era lo que podía ver yo desde la ventana de mi
habitación, que papá cerro un día por que dijo que no se podía
hablar ni mirar a la gente que vivía en la granja. Antes de venir aquí
a Auschvitz papá y mamá no habían hablado de la “granja” y yo no
habría prestado atención porque yo siempre estaba jugando con
mis amigos en Berlin.
A la semana siguiente vi una puerta que llevaba al jardín de atrás.
Entré por la puerta y vi un cobertizo a la punta de atrás del jardín.
Investigué un poco en el cobertizo cuando me di cuenta que había
una ventana. Me puse encima de la silla que encontré por ahí y
salté por la ventana. Detrás de esa ventana había otro mundo
lleno de árboles y troncos y flores y hasta había en río que corría
al lado de la “granja”. Por detrás de la verja había in niño con el
mismo pijama que Pabel. Me presenté y el me dijo que se llamaba
“Schmuell”. Schmuell y yo nos veíamos casi todos los días , a
veces hasta le traía comida que hacía mama o que preparaba yo.
Hasta que un día Schmuell me dijo que su padre había
desaparecido y que necesitaba ayuda para encontrarlo. Entonces
Schmuell me dijo que pensaba él que me mudase con él .
Yo al principio pensaba que era una locura pero al día siguiente ,
después de que mamá nos había dicho que nos ibamos a mudar
otra vez de casa. En ese mismo momento volví a pensar lo que
Schmuell me había dicho sobre buscar a su padre. Al día siguiente
ya estaba todo preparado para salir a la otra casa cuando de
repente me escapé a la granja a ahí me encontré con Schmuell,
nos cupimos en un pasadizo debajo de la tierra y ahí estaba yo al
otro lado de la verja con un pijama que me había dado, me sentía
como uno de ellos! Enseguida nos fuimos a todas las casas de la
granja y no encontramos a su padre. Un soldado nos dijo que nos
teníamos que quitar toda la ropa para ir a una cámara que parecía
una ducha. Nos cerraron las puertas y un aire que dio un olor
empezó.........
One day when I came home from school I saw a lot of people
taking things into my house for a farewell party. My mother told me
that Dad had said that we were moving from our house in Berlin
to a house in the country. I thought about everything bad that
could happen to us, when suddenly my sister jumped in saying the
opposite, that we could make new friends, and we would have the
experience of living in the country with animals and all that stuff
that twelve year old sisters say.
In the afternoon my Dad gave a farewell party for all his staff and
our whole family.
On the following morning after packing all the furniture, we went to
the train station on the way to our new home. When we arrived we
thought the house was very different from the home of Berlin.
We spent a couple of days at home and had already put up a tree
swing in front of the house. That same afternoon I was paddling
when suddenly I fell and hit my head. I lost my memory, and when I
woke up a man was putting a bandage on my knee.
He was a man in pyjamas that had a number on the left side of the
chest. I asked what was his name and he said, “Pabel”.
I was going to say thanks, when my mum came home and sent me
to my room in a very angry voice.
He said he was a doctor, but now Pabel was peeling potatoes
in our house and working as a gardener. I wanted to ask why he
was working in the kitchen, when he was a doctor but my mother
looked at me and I left the kitchen.
Amanda Steele
54
One day I realized that Pabel was one of the people over at the
farm. The farm was what I could see from the window of my room.
One day Dad said I was not to talk or look at the people who lived
on the farm. Before coming here Mum and Dad had not spoken
about the “farm” and I would not have paid attention because I
was always playing with my friends in Berlin.
The following week I noticed a door in the backyard. I walked
through the door and saw a shed at the back end of the garden.
I went inside and found a window. I stood on a chair and jumped
through the window. I was in an area full of logs and trees and
flowers and there was even a river running next to the “farm”.
Behind the fence was a child with the same pyjamas as Pabel.
I introduced myself and he told me he was called “Schmuell”.
Schmuell and I spoke almost every day after that, sometimes I
brought him food prepared by Mum or me.
Until one day Schmuell told me that his father had gone and he
needed me to help him find him. Schmuell then told me he thought
I could move in with him.
At first I thought it was crazy but the next day Mum told us we
were going to move house again. Right then I thought about what
Schmuell had said to me about looking for his father. The next day
everything was ready for move again when suddenly I ran away to
find Schmuell. We slid through an underground passageway and
there I was on the other side of the fence in pyjamas Schmuel had
given me, I felt like one of them! Then we went to every house in
the farm and did not find his father. Then a soldier came and told
us we had to remove all our clothes and go into a chamber that
looked like a shower. They closed the doors and there was a funny
smell .........
Amanda Steele
There was a common theme of food
this year which included a wide variety
of activities organised by the MFL
department. The first one was a quiz in
September to celebrate the European Day
of Languages. Each house put in a team and
the staff devised the questions to cover all
aspects of European culture. There was much
rivalry and shouting as the quiz was played
and much fun was had by all concerned. The
prizes, needless to say, involved sweeties!
The Christmas social also involved lots of
food and a competition to build the best
gingerbread house which Dr Newton then
judged. When the cakes were finished the
teams demolished the gingerbread houses
with great glee. To complete the Autumn
Term, some of our students visited Bruges
and Lille where they enjoyed Belgian waffles
and shopped at the Christmas markets.
In the Lent Term, there was the wine tasting
evening which is always the highlight of
the year for both staff and pupils alike. Mr
Brown did not disappoint with his extensive
knowledge of wine production and the culture
involved. Then there was the visit to a tapas
restaurant in Bristol for the Lower and Upper
Sixth. The evening was voted a great success
as the food was truly authentic, it was a real
experience for them to sample the dishes and
learn the vocabulary.
During the Prep School Taster morning,
a group of primary children from visiting
schools were invited to the MFL department
to participate in a workshop where they
enjoyed some cultural activities , tasted an
enormous amount of Hispanic cooking and
were introduced to some new vocabulary.
Mrs Gaskell
MFL Wine tasting with Mr Brown
“Wow, that was great food and
a great activity, can we do it again?”
MFL at the Louvre
55
ICT
C
It has been a good year for ICT. In the
curriculum we have introduced an IGCSE
course in Year 10 which will eventually feed
directly into our A-Level ICT. The course has
started with good numbers of enthusiastic
students.
Elsewhere, we have introduced a Robotics
club where our talented Sixth Form students
help teach the younger ones about this
interesting subject. They are currently
preparing for entry into this year’s First Lego
League Robotics competition held at HP
Labs in Bristol at the end of November. We
are also running several computing clubs for
all year groups. In these clubs, they can learn
languages like JAVA, HTML and in the future,
Python. Several of these students will be
having a ‘Hands on’ experience by building
their own computers from scratch and
installing a variety of operating systems.
56
In May, we are hoping to host an Enigma day
where Year 9 students will be involved in cypher
and code breaking activities along with a talk from
James Grimes from The University of Cambridge
who will visit with an actual Enigma machine from
World War 2.
We are delighted to have just taken delivery of a
Raspberry Pi. This is a credit card sized computer
designed to help in the teaching of programming
skills. We are now looking forward to letting the
students loose with it. Their first project is to build
it in to the Design and technology department’s
Greenpower car so it can monitor the cars
systems whilst it is racing.
Mr Parvin
Psychology
PsychTalk with lots of celebrities...
‘Dr Dance’
This has been a very busy year
for the Psychology Department,
with the further development of the Psychology
Society and three more editions of the
“PsychTalk” magazine. This magazine has gone
from strength and we have received acclaim
from the national magazine “Psychology
Review” for the exceptionally high standard
of the articles printed.
Antony Curtis, Editor of the Psychology Review
Psychvid
is
TS Students under hypnos
The Psychology Society has also had another
very successful year with two lectures given
by the acclaimed Lynsey Gozna, who is
a lecturer in Forensic Psychology at The
University of Lincoln on ‘Deception, Lying and
the Implications for Interviewing Suspects and
Offenders’. This was extremely well attended
and 150 students and staff came from other
schools to hear the lecture. The second
lecture of the year was given by Anthony
Curtis who is associate lecturer at De Montfort
University and adviser to the NHS on specific
psychological issues including schizophrenia,
as well as being an editor for the magazine
“Psychology Review”. Anthony visited the
Psychology Society at Taunton School for
the second time, with his insightful talk on
‘Schizophrenia: A Divided Mind’.
We were very fortunate to attend a conference
in Bristol on a variety of subjects and one of the
speakers was the celebrity speaker “Dr Dance”
(Dr Peter Lovatt, Principal Lecturer and Reader
in Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire)
who is working on the innovative psychological
study on the way in which hormones influence
cognition in dance at the celebrated Dance
Psychology Laboratory. Dr Dance will be coming
to lecture on ‘Dance, Hormones and Thinking’
in November 2012 at Taunton School.
Mrs Falkingham
57
Religion
Philosophy & Ethics
They say a year is a long time in politics
which appears true when you consider the
continuing consequences of the Arab Spring
and the ongoing financial squeeze in Europe.
World events and changes in personal
circumstances certainly helped students
engage in the difficult concepts raised by this
subject.
Anyone going our way?
The department continued to look for
stimulating ways to stretch pupil thinking: Mr
Judd gave a public lecture on whether ‘all you
need is love’ to live a moral life, Mrs Marsden
spoke a number of times in Chapel and Mrs
White spoke to the Junior Academics.
Model United Nations grew this year with
students attending two conferences.
Speaking in front of 650 fellow students is
certainly not for the faint-hearted. ‘Philosophy
at the Movies’ continued to challenge
students to see the philosophical concepts
underpinning many blockbuster films. A
careful examination of the film Truman raised
question over how free we really are. The
department also went on location this year
with Mr Judd presenting ‘A Rough Guide to
Islam’ for Bicknoller WI in June.
Live a moral life
Within the classroom, students have engaged
with topical issues. The GCSE course
considered the issue of woman bishops and
A-level students reflected on the significance
of introducing gay marriage. Extended essays
continued to provoke debate, for example:
‘Can torture ever be justified?’ and ‘To what
extent is Sartre right to claim that in war there
are no innocent victims?’
All in all, one can say students at Taunton
School are not afraid to ask and try to answer.
Mr Judd
58
Worldly wise TS Students
“The unexamined life is not
worth living.” Socrates
Science
Field Trip Party
Lee Bay
Moorland
The Science Department has again seen a year
of expansion, with larger numbers than ever
progressing to AS and IB level and more classes
in the GCSE years. Consequently we welcomed
Miss Wedgwood, Miss Burton and Mr Godfrey
in September to reinforce our ranks. They have
already made a big impact and numbers look
likely to rise yet again this coming year. We are
sorry to lose three highly valued colleagues this
term, all to well-earned retirement. Mrs Mason,
Mr. Bearman and Mr Finan have contributed
massively and will be sorely missed by staff and
especially pupils.
In the Autumn Term the Lower Sixth IB and A
Level chemists joined with 200 other Sixth Form
students from all over the South West to enjoy
the annual Christmas Chemistry Conference at
Bristol University in November. Lectures included:
‘Pheromones, sex and violence: the chemical
world of bees and ants’ by Dr Adam Hart, ‘The
Chemistry of Extremophiles’ by Dr Preeti Kaur
BBQ
and ‘Chemistry for the Terrified’ by Dr John
Kilcoyne (of ‘Brainiac’ fame).
We have also been well entertained and informed
by another packed programme of scientific
society speakers, while the Pulse magazine
continues to lead the way as an example of
excellence in the quality of writing and publishing
by the pupils.
The Lower Sixth AS and IB biologists enjoyed
another very successful summer field trip to
Devon, the party this year being so large that we
overflowed into tents. Miraculously we chose the
only two rain-free days in June and thus remained
largely dry, apart from slipping in rock pools
while hunting crabs and conger eels on Sunday.
Two highlights were the barbecue party, again
ably incinerated by the Biology tutors, and the
achievement of Dr Penny in managing not to get
lost driving round Exmoor.
continued...
59
continued
Science
We have had great success with Nuffield
Bursary Awards, with a record three students
being successful this year. Georgina Huntridge,
John Pincock and Henry Brigden will all spend
between 4 and 6 weeks in university and hospital
research labs this summer and will in addition
qualify for gold Crest awards. They will be hosted
by Imperial College, Southampton University and
Bristol University. An interesting range of original
science project work also continues in school, with
pupils aiming at Crest Awards at different levels.
We are very grateful to the Parents’ Association
for their kind funding of the new biology garden.
This is now almost completed and is planted
with a selection of rare, medicinal and other
biologically or economically important plants.
There has also been an influx of new creatures
into the Biology department, ranging from giant
millipedes to a bull snake.
Dr Penny
This year the Biology Olympiad team had great
success, James Evry winning a coveted Gold
Medal, while Bunny Upton, Matthew Wood, Jevy
Richardson and Max Kroppen were all highly
commended.
The travelling science shows have attracted large
audiences again and the show has now been
seen by over 4,000 primary school pupils.
Sixth Form Chemists
Lee Bay
Sixth Form Biologists
Biology Coppice Trip
60
Terry the bull snake
Art/Photography
The Art Department has had another
very exciting and successful year - it
has truly been the year of the sculpture.
Densham Green has become home to an
impressive 16ft tall work, depicting a man
and his reflection, a sculpture produced by
Giles Penny. Students and staff have also
been treated to three days of exhilarating
chainsaw carving by artist Matthew Crabb
whose sculpture can be seen on the Wills
quad. World famous sculptors Peter RandallPage and David Mach have also delivered
inspirational and insightful talks about their
work as part of the History and Arts public
Lectures programme. A range of trips to Tate
Modern, the V&A and Broomhill Sculpture
Park, a Royal Academy life drawing workshop
and the BIG Draw make up just a selection
of extra events that have helped inspire and
enthuse both art students and the rest of
the school community. The Art Department
continues to go from strength to strength and
the quality of work produced by the students
continues to impress. This was emphasised
by another phenomenal Summer Exhibition.
Please take the opportunity to come and view
the high quality of work displayed around the
School site.
Photography Department
Another great year for the photographers
of Taunton School. As well as A-level
Photography, the Third and Fourth
Formers got the opportunity to try out
their photographic and image-making skill
during TADs in the Autumn and Lent Terms.
The concepts ‘Seasons’ and ‘Everything’
encouraged some wonderful photography,
well done to all the students involved.
Miss Harris
This year the following prizes have been
awarded to:
T.S. Penny Prize:
Edward Hatfield
Old Tauntonian Western Club Prize:
Campbell Bradly
Wilton Prize:
Emily Pitman
The Dauncey Photography and Film Award:
Sophie Palmer
The Ian Ball Photography Cup:
Anastasia Sinitsyna
The Visual Arts Prize:
Florencia Uthoff
Mr Grant
61
Art/Photography
cont
Matthew Crabb - Chainsaw Sculpture in Process...
Final Sculpture
A2 Fine Art
David Mach Lecture 2012
Peter Randal Page Lecture 2012
A2 Fine Art
A2 Fine Art
GCSE
t
GCSE Fine Ar
A2 Fine Art
62
A2 Fine Art
A2 Fine Art
rt
Fine A
Giles Penney Sculpture in situ...
Final Sculpture
A2 Fine Art
GCSE
A2 Fine Art
Fine A
rt
A2 Fine Art
AS Fine Art
GCSE
Fine A
rt
63
A2 Photography
A2 Photography
AS Fine Art
AS Fine Art
Art/Photography
cont
AS Fine Art
GCSE Fine Art
A2 Fine Art
GCSE Fin
e Art
IB Fine Art
GCSE Fine Art
GCSE Fine Art
e Art
GCSE Fin
64
General Exhibition
Ashley Hansen AS Photography
Eddie Hatfield A2 Photography
Rosie Grieve A2 Photography
Chloe Coleman AS Photography
Jenny Chan - AS Photography
Giorgio Busi AS Photography
65
Drama
Taunton School Drama has had a hugely
busy, exciting and successful year.
We hit the ground running in October with
Alastair’s Kirby’s thought-provoking and
heartfelt production of “Mugged” by Andrew
Payne with a large cast of year 11, 12 and 13
students playing a wide range of roles.
November was marked by a GCSE group
winning the “Acting” section at the Taunton
Speech and Drama Festival with their
performance of “A Memory of Lizzie”
by David Foxton. They scored 90% and
received an outstanding adjudication.
A new initiative in the form of lunchtime
theatre was also popular and prolific in
christening our newly-refurbished drama
studio, attracting large and appreciative
audiences in the form of both students and
staff.
Early December and this time it is the turn of
year 9 and 10 drama students to show their
considerable flair and creativity in the shape
of Suzie Comming’s innovative and highly
entertaining version of “The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner” which was much enjoyed by
full houses at all performances.
A short breather over the Christmas period,
before students were treading the boards
again, this time in preparation for the four
breath taking performances of “Phantom
of the Opera” in June where the music
department formed a production team with
drama taking responsibility for costumes,
properties and makeup and the music
department for the performance side.
Mugged
66
March and April saw many students creating
outstanding performance work for their GCSE
and A level coursework where every student
gained either an A or B grade, with 82%
of pupils achieving A or A*. The AS group
went on to perform their play “Burglars” by
David Rudkin at the Somerset County Drama
Festival where we received an excellent
adjudication and were just pipped to the
winning post by another local group.
August brought about three major events in
the drama department: A trip to Edinburgh
Festival with Mr Kirby’s “Musicians” which
received outstanding audience feedback. It
was a wonderful week with pupils performing
street theatre to a large and appreciative
audience, while myself and other staff handed
out soggy flyers from beneath polythene
ponchos!! A hugely successful week and a
massive “thank you” and “congratulations” to
all involved. See separate “Edinburgh” report
by Alastair Kirby.
The two other big events were the GCSE
and A levels results and my enormous
congratulations go out to all the students who
worked so hard and achieved such brilliant
grades.
A fitting end to a fantastic year!
Mugged
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
DRAMA students from Taunton School have
taken the Edinburgh Fringe Festival by storm
... for the second year running.
After 2011’s production won a coveted ‘Sold
Out’ award, the school returned with a bigger
cast to perform in a more ambitious venue.
The play was performed at school when
those who took part also did a presentation
on the trip, performed street theatre
pieces and showed photos and video from
Edinburgh.
The following attended the festival:
‘The Musicians’ – a witty play by Patrick
Marber – took the stage at TheSpace @
Surgeon’s Hall, just off the Royal Mile in
Edinburgh.
Alastair Kirby - Director
Luke Waller - Technician
Jane Harris
Niki Preece
The staff and cast worked tirelessly to
promote the show, trudging the streets with
flyers to advertise it and their determination
paid off, with the sale of 250 tickets over the
six performances –a huge achievement when
competing with hundreds of other shows at
the festival.
Cast:
Ollie Lucas - Alex
Sam Newton - Roland
Comments on the production’s audience
review form saw the school receive five-star
ratings in more than 50 per cent of replies
and included: “The best production we have
seen at the festival this year.”
Drama teacher Alastair Kirby, who directed
the show, said: “I am so proud to have taken
such a wonderful and dynamic group of
students to the festival – they were a pleasure
to manage and even better to direct.
Orchestra:
Imi Gray
Henry Payne
James Mear
Sam Dunn
Alex Hill
Alice Newlyn
Students also got the chance to meet David
Hasselhoff after watching his one man show
at the festival.
“They have achieved something spectacular
and I hope they take away wonderful
memories of the performances and the
festival itself. “
On set
On the street at Edinburgh Fringe
Edinburgh Fringe
67
‘It was absolutely brilliant. The cast were superb and the orchestra were as
good as any we have heard in the 30+ professional performances we have
seen in the last 25 years.’ – Mr Ball
‘Wow! Phantom was amazing last night - well done to everyone involved,
you were all brilliant. I just wish I could see it again!!’ – Ms Acton
The Phantom
of the Opera
‘I have just come from watching a truly fabulous performance of Phantom
of the Opera at Taunton School and congratulate all involved in the production. Well done to everyone who worked so hard to provide a stunning
entertainment. A night I shall long remember. The standing ovation was so
well deserved.’ – Ms Pacey
68
‘Slowly, gently night
unfurls its splendour.
Grasp it, sense it tremulous and tender...’
(The Music of the Night)
The Taunton School production team resurrected the
most ambitious West-End musical in the summer –
Phantom of the Opera. From the moment those
thunderous chords of the world-famous overture
resonated to the lofty gallery, it was clear that parents,
teachers and friends of the cast and crew were
not sitting in on a school performance, this was a
professional production to rival the best.
The majesty of the Paris Opera House was evoked
by the grandeur of the set, masterfully constructed
and engineered by the Bright production team and
Alastair Kirby. No expense was spared to mirror the
aesthetics of Lloyd Webber’s original production; the
props list must have been endless - from musical
monkeys to gravestones, rowing boats to cobwebbed
candelabra and of course, the iconic chandelier,
which plummeted down to the audience’s breathless
horror. Pyrotechnics and innovative lighting designs,
engineered by Luke Waller, added sparks to this most
electric of performances. The costumes were a work
of art in themselves, praise must go to Jane Harris and
her team who spent hours making tutus and locating all
manner of vintage Parisian haute-couture. The make-up
team skilfully transformed adolescents into adults, as
well as creating the prosthetics of the Phantom himself.
Much of the magic arose from ‘the music of the night’.
The orchestra, composed of professional players and
school students, were too voluminous to fit in the
orchestra pit, so took residence backstage via the
power of a live-feed. Mark Cracknell’s musical direction
and Tim Waller’s orchestral arrangements were sublime
and expertly handled by the sound team.
lead, bringing many to tears during his haunting
rendition of ‘The Music of the Night’. Hannah Deasy
stunned the audience with her operatic vocal range and
ability to encapsulate Christine’s torment, a role which
was handled with equal tenderness by her understudy,
Charlotte Penny. Max Kelly has now entered the league
of leading male roles with his mature rendition of Raoul,
inviting the audience to bask in his lilting performance
of ‘All I Ask of You’. Sophie Gamble supported Ms
Deasy with her beautiful vulnerability as Meg Giry,
daughter to the steely-eyed ballet mistress, wonderfully
embodied by Imogen Gray. Fiona Baker finely tuned
the rhythm of this tragedy with some excellent comedic
interludes, handled by ensemble actors, James Mear,
Sam Newton and Ollie Lucas. Third Former Heidi
Parsons tackled the role of the Italian prima donna
with great aplomb; she will deservedly lead the way
in future school productions. The mark of a musical’s
success rests with the support and attention of its
chorus. Fiona Baker should be extremely proud of the
range of students whose tight focus and co-ordination
in their expressive dancing (choreographed by Natasha
Huckle), singing and acting, brought a presence to the
stage which complemented the talent of the leading
characters. The camaraderie of the cast shone through,
a mark of total professionalism.
This production supplied a spellbinding sequence
of unforgettable moments from the lovers’ duets to
the masquerade. The standing ovations were wholly
justified. Like the Phantom himself, this production will
forever echo in the gallery of the Arts Centre, as well as
the minds of the cast, crew and audience, who are all
wishing they were somehow there again.
Mr Harrison
Director Fiona Baker put together something truly
incredible. Her cast communicated storytelling at its
best, as the audience were drawn into the intense
romantic plot of the rising opera star, Christine, her
suitor, Raoul, and the Phantom himself. Henry Payne
gave a commanding performance of the eponymous
69
Music
Music continued to go from strength to
strength in 2011/12 with over 40 public concerts
and events, featuring in excess of 200 pupils
as soloists or in one of our 24 instrumental
ensembles and choirs. Our music was extremely
well represented in the community with
performances in a variety of venues ranging from
Wells Cathedral, the Wales Millennium Centre,
Taunton town centre, Cornwall, Oake Village Hall
and Tolland Church.
A number of world class visiting musicians have
inspired the pupils through master-classes and
workshops throughout the year - these have
included concert pianist, Tom Poster, and the
Honeymead ensemble, former director of the
National Opera Studio Donald Maxwell, bass
player James Eller and the world renowned mixer
and producer Ali Staton. Ali has produced albums
and tours for Madonna and Seal to name just two
of the many international artists he works with.
We also had the South West’s premier big band
Swing Machine perform a concert for us. These
musicians add a very important an inspiring extra
dimension to compliment the work of our talented
team of visiting music teachers who provide
tuition and guidance throughout the year.
Our pupils have taken part in a number of
competitions this year including the Taunton
Festival, in which we had a number of winners,
the Two Moors Festival, in which Oliver Kelham
took part in the winners’ recital and BBC Young
Musician of the Year in which Mollie Stallard got
through to the regional finals.
70
Alongside the high profile events, we have a
programme of tea-time concerts and informal
concerts which give every pupil an opportunity
to perform on a regular basis. This year there
have been 25 tea-time concerts on a Wednesday
at 5pm, with between 3-6 pupils performing
as soloists in each as well as some ensemble
performances. These informal recitals form
a vital stepping stone for the more formal
performances that take place and give our pupils
a chance to try out pieces in front of an audience
before their Associated Board or Trinity Guildhall
examinations.
The Autumn term focus was our Choral Society
Concert, in the spectacular setting of Wells
Cathedral. On Saturday 12th November, we
performed Karl Jenkins’ moving and spectacular
‘The Armed Man’ with a full professional orchestra
of 55 and choir of 140 including 4 pupils as
soloists. The huge screen behind the choir added
hugely to the experience, showing images of war
and celebrations of peace from across the world.
The congregation was stunned by the quality
and power of the music and the performance
from a first class choir and orchestra. A first half
featuring Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, Karl
Jenkins’ Adiemus and Mollie Stallard playing
Bewald’s Concert Piece for Bassoon made this
one of the most memorable, ambitious and
successful choral society concerts the school has
ever produced.
We had extremely successful A level, IB and
GCSE recitals this year, with 22 pupils performing
as part of academic courses in the Lent Term.
Music continues to be a vital part of school life
and something which hugely enhances the lives of
all who take part in it. There are exciting plans for
2012/13 and we would encourage all pupils to get
involved and parents to encourage and attend our
events next year.
A full list of our 2011/12 events
Autumn Term:
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Mr Cracknell
71
Cultural
Studies
This society, devoted to a serious and
intense study of the arts and their place in
History across a range of cultures, goes
from strength to strength. I am especially
pleased that such a range of year-groups is
so strongly represented, in spite of several
conflicting activities: nor are the Third and
Fourth Formers mute and timid, but rather
full of apposite questions and points. We
meet once a week and have seminars on a
range of topics (some of these this year are
provincial China (hosted by Jeremy Soper),
Dark Age Ireland, Renaissance Florence,
the concept of the Baroque, romantic
programme music and Quantocks poetry).
There have also been several trips, for
instance to Sherborne Abbey, Montacute
House and Bishops Lydeard Church. We have
planned a trip to Tuscany in December. The
aim of such activities is for pupils to discover
new enthusiasms as observers of the arts,
and then to fuel and share these in an
environment conducive to such interests.
Mr Moule
72
The Magic Flute
Creative Writing
Creative writing has continued
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written word.
Mr Harrison
Competitions
Societies
L’attimo Fuggente
This society was established by the Italian
students in the Lower Sixth who I cajoled into
putting pen to paper to write poetry. Each
week a theme was established with a very
short deadline. Many thanks to the founding
members, Giacomo Sertorio (Fairwater),
Federico Escalar (Fairwater) and Riccardo
Sattin (Wills East).
Mr Harrison’s De-tension
On Tuesday afternoons in the Autumn
and Lent Terms, I opened the door of my
classroom to students who wished to make
use of a creative environment. Third and
Fourth Formers enjoyed the opportunity to
meditate in a candle-lit classroom, serenaded
by Enya!
Autumn Term
The 5th and Sixth Formers were challenged
to write a poem entitled ‘The Garden’. Annie
Wilman (Weirfield) was declared the winner
for her thoughtful creation, gaining the
Addiscott Prize for Poetry. Over fifty entries
were received in the PSHE Anti-Bullying
Poetry Competition for Third and Fourth Form
students; Holly Conquer (Besley) and George
Lee (Fairwater) shared the winning prize.
Lent Term
Students from across the school seasonally
sprang into action by penning short stories
based on the stimulus of ‘under the old oak
tree’. Joshua Williams (Fairwater) from the
Third Form claimed the Addiscott Prize for
Prose for his dark and haunting tale.
Summer Term
In honour of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee,
the theme for this term’s poetry competition
was ‘royalty’. Once again, this stirred the
imagination of our wordsmiths who produced
a multitude of diamond-encrusted works.
Among the royal commendations, Oliver
Kelham (Goodland) was announced as the
Poet Laureate.
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continued...
73
continued
Creative Writing
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‘The Garden’
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take me by the hand and watch
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slumbering in their soft beds,
watch our pantomime
An excerpt from an entry by Lucy Taylor
(Woodyer Upper Sixth)
“long may students
here enjoy the power
and the beauty of the
written word”
74
HistoryofArt
The Art Historians (two in the Upper Sixth
and five in the Lower Sixth - all taking the AQA
exam) have been a lively and hard-working group,
passionately committed to the subject, and driven
by the great scope the exam structure offers.
Our great weekly event is the ‘Friday afternoon
quadruple’, a marathon in which we deal with
mountains of images of marvellous paintings,
sculptures and buildings, and enliven our analysis
with fine home-made cakes, obscure songs
(we found one about a medieval architect), and
rare jokes about mismatching Gothic arches
and hyper-intense romantic landscapists. We
have made rich studies of the 13th, 14th and
19th centuries, and I think it is very unlikely that
any school anywhere else will have pupils so
confident in discussing the rabbits in the margins
of the Macclesfield Psalter, the (now destroyed)
Chatsworth Stove, the relationship of Threave
Castle to crannogs, and the Leeds mill designs
of the Egyptologist Joseph Bell and his illustrious
brother Jospeh. Some pupils are developing
specialist interests: from the architectural
projection of superpowers to the symbolism of
the pre-Raphaelites (our class has the youngest
member of the Pre-Raphaelite Society in it).
In addition, we have made numerous trips, most
recently to examine early 20th century garden
design at Hestercombe and Barrington. In freezing
February we walked about six miles round Bristol
comparing architectural styles. In the Autumn we
had a long lesson about royal images in the Old
House of Milverton, where a mighty wall-painting
of Henry VIII was discovered last year. Then we
had an amazing ‘Medieval Christmas Feast’ at
a gorgeous medieval manor house belonging to
kind parents who let us explore everywhere and
then gave us medieval-style venison, after which
we sang medieval carols and told medieval ghost
stories.
This subject has the capacity to move and delight
pupils to a very great extent, and this excellent
class has responded to it extremely warmly.
Mr Moule
75
Debating
The Burke - Debating and Public
Speaking – 2011-12
Once again, the Burke has had a busy and
productive year. Our lunchtime debates
have proved popular and provided students
with an opportunity to consider many
topical issues in an informal setting, whilst
our evening debates have finely tuned the
public speaking skills of our students as
they have considered motions such as ‘This
house would allow Britain to break up!’ and
‘This house would leave the EU’ It has been
fantastic to see familiar faces such as Holly
Hickman, Sam Newton, Lucy Taylor and Dan
Rogers participate and also to welcome new
faces, such as Georgina Huntridge, Will Jolley
and Abidah Ferej.
The Senior Inter-House Debating and
Public Speaking Competition
A rather festive looking chairman, Mr Brown
Impromptu Speaking Winner - Sam Newton
Interpretive Reading Winner - Becca Court
and Jenny Brock
Persuasive Speaking Winner - Anna East
Debating Winners - George Wheatley and
Oliver Kelham
Overall Winners – Wills West
Balloon Debate 2011
Always a highlight of the debating calendar
is our annual Balloon Debate, and this year
proved to be no exception. This year we
witnessed Beyonce (Audrey Sebatindira)
challenge Mr T. (Chijm Onyemenam)
amongst others for a place in the balloon.
Unfortunately for them, they were not to
be saved as the audience instead voted for
Wallace and Gromit (Oliver Kelham and
Owen Hornsby)
“the only thing History
teaches us, is that History
teaches us nothing”
76
Josh Hitchens at the OT Debate
Marshall’s Debating team at the Senior Inter-House Competition
The Junior Inter-House Debating and
Public Speaking Competition
Impromptu Speaking Winner - Georgie
Blackwell
Interpretive Reading Winner - Sophie Gamble
Persuasive Speaking Winner - Roma Sura
Debating Winners - Louis Gush and Harry
Acton
Overall Winners - Weirfield
The English Speaking Union Public
Speaking Competition
Our Public Speaking Team, comprised of Dea
Gagoshidze, Abigail McHardy and Evie Carroll
competed in this year’s ESU Public Speaking
Competition which was held at Queens
College, Taunton. Abigail was confident as
Chairperson, ensuring that the speeches ran
smoothly and to time whilst Evie asked some
pertinent and probing questions to put the
speakers through their paces. Dea spoke
passionately on the issue of stay at home
mothers and the whole team performed
extremely well, despite being the youngest of
all the competitors.
The English Speaking Union Debating
Competition
debater Samuel Newton in this year’s ESU
Debating Competition. The team spoke
against the motion ‘This house would make
parents liable for serious crimes committed
by their children’ and argued with passion
and conviction.
The OT Debate
We rounded off the year with the OT Debate,
which takes place during the OT Reunion
Weekend. This is always a great opportunity
for our students to show off their skills and
take on an opposition with considerably
more life experience and practice in public
speaking. Next year’s President of the OTs
is previous Head of History, Mrs Jill Lisk,
and so we decided to add an historical
flavour to this year’s OT Debate. Budding
historians and keen debaters Josh Hitchens
and Lucy Taylor proposed the controversial
motion ‘This house believes that the only
thing History teaches us, is that History
teaches us nothing’. Both sides presented
some convincing arguments, but for the first
time ever, it was the young Tauntonians who
emerged victorious.
Mrs Brayley
New to Taunton School this year, but already
showing great skill in debating, Georgina
Huntridge teamed up with experienced
Robin Evans and Josh Hitchens at the Christmas Debate
Our OT Debate teams
77
JAS
JUNIOR ACADEMICS SOCIETY
The Junior Academics Society has been
exceedingly active over the last year, with a
terrific variety of talks from our year nine and
ten pupils. The range of topics has been vast
– from the history of national cuisines (with
tastings!) to hippopotami. Staff also gave
excellent talks, which always seemed to go
down well. About forty pupils attended this
society weekly. We had a great quiz against
King’s College.
There were also trips: in June there was an
overnight one to south Wales, in which we
bought a Welsh dragon and explored the
castles around Carmarthen. In December
there was a magnificent six day trip, partly in
the snow, to Newcastle, Durham and York –
we also went to Hadrian’s Wall and the coast.
Mr Moule
78
79
John Rae / HAPL
JOHN RAE SOCIETY
Politics and Economics were high on the
agenda at the John Rae Society in 2011-1012.
Lord Ashdown had long been a target for the
JRS. He had cancelled his first visit due to
the sudden and welcome success of a book
he had just written. But we managed to get
him second time around and he delivered
superbly. Speakers like Lord Ashdown always
enjoy the Q+A and he did not disappoint.
Despite some technical hitches with the
microphones, Lord Ashdown drew upon his
wide experience of politics, to give a tour
d’horizon of the political scene. A highly
popular regional figure, he pulled in a good
audience and that is always good to see.
In February, we were privileged to welcome
Professor David Miles of the Monetary Policy
of the Bank of England. A highly accessible,
but weighty lecture took us through the
current dilemmas facing the economy.
Questions from both pupils and guests were
handled expertly, and more importantly the
`Parkinson’ style interview that takes place in
the Headmaster’s study took our honoured
guest into areas of interest that would not
have come up in a lecture. John Rae will
always aim to bring in high quality speakers,
but let us hope we can take them off piste
from time to time to find out what really
goes in national and international affairs.
Their wisdom is meant to inspire the
current generation to ponder their
contribution to the way the world
will work.
Dr Newton
80
HISTORY AND ARTS PUBLIC LECTURES
This year we had a very strong series of
speakers. Our internal speakers were Richard
Judd (Philosophy), David Hawkins (History)
and Mark Cracknell (Music). The latter
performed Busoni’s heroic version of Bach’s
Chaconne. From outside we were treated
to visits from Benjamin Thompson (Oxford
University) – who also spent a day with
classes in school; the celebrated sculptors
Peter Randall-Page and David Mack talked to
us about their work.
Mr Moule
Gl bal Society
This year has been an important year
for three reasons:
Firstly, we have changed our name; formerly the
International Students Committee now the Global
Society to better reflect our aim of integrating
students of all nationalities into one harmonious
student body.
Secondly, on the committee we have more
representatives from more houses; it is always
a good start to have an integrated committee
which is made up of both international and noninternational students. We are getting there in that
respect.
Thirdly, on the weekend of the 26th May we ran an
overnight trip for the first time. Twelve students,
Mr Brooker, Miss Wedgewood and I went surfing
in Cornwall. Saturday evening was spent watching
a glorious sunset over Fistral, eating fish and chips
and fetching a tennis ball from the sea after Mr
Brooker invariably hit it in there during a game of
beach cricket!
On Sunday the conditions were perfect for surfing;
there was a three to four foot swell, a rising tide,
a light onshore breeze and it was sunny as well!
We surfed for two hours; some more successfully
than others!
Apart from surfing the Global Society has hosted
two international food evenings, been on a trip
to Bath (with Woodyer) and has led a Head’s
Assembly and a Chapel service.
Next year we plan to do the same again but with
some new initiatives thrown in. The first new
initiative will be our inaugural International Music
and Dance show which we hope will take place in
the Autumn Term.
Mr Roberts
81
The Lisk
“Don’t just learn it: live it!”
History Society
The Lisk Parade
Committee members
Oliver Kelham, Matthew Wood, Lucy Taylor, Balint
Veer, Bunny Upton, Holly Hickman and Josh
Hitchens.
The Lisk Parade
The 12th Lisk President’s Parade featured an
appearance by Mrs Lisk herself. Resplendent in a
fine North African djellabah, the President fitted
in superbly with those fresh back from outings
to the souks during the Easter Sixth Form trip to
Morocco. She could not, however, be tempted
aboard the newly acquired Lisk Society tandem.
before meeting a sad fate; there was also a sketch
on C19th/C20th Italian history involving such
luminaries as Cavour, Mazzini, Garibaldi, Mussolini
and Berlusconi and a presentation on Italian
cities by the appropriately attired Lower Sixth Art
History group. The breathtaking scope of the Lisk
Committee’s talents was further demonstrated
with Oliver Kelham’s stirring performance of an
aria from Don Giovanni.
The Welsh Lisk
Miss Brayley’s Big Day: a Welsh male voice choir,
another film, more jokes, a play, Welsh cakes.
The Italian Lisk
Question Time
The Lisk kicked off the new academic year with
an evening commemorating the 150th anniversary
of Italian unification. A welcoming slice of pizza
was followed by a colourful pageant of sketches,
talks, demonstrations, songs and films punctuated
by a series of hilarious Italian jokes courtesy of
resident Lisk comedienne, Holly Hickman.The
highlight of the evening was the premiere of a
new film on C19th Italian history produced by the
Upper Sixth Lisk committee; their somewhat novel
take on events illuminated the drama of nation
building with all its peaks and troughs and was
appreciated by the sizeable audience of nearly
100. A gladiators re enactment saw Big Jim
featuring as a tiger menacing cowering Christians
Panellists Josh Hitchens, Kevin Wickman, Caitlin
Williams, Evie Carroll and Rosemary Moss put the
world to rights .
82
The Boxing Lisk
Former Taunton School History teacher, Ben
Marsden, returned to deliver a talk on race
relations and heavyweight boxing champions in
the USA. He linked the intricacies of race relations
to the careers of such great black heavyweights
as Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Joe Frazier and
Muhammad Ali, demonstrating how each
champion was not only a product and reflection of
his age but also a shaper of attitudes; the political
backdrop to the sport was never far away.
Bridge
The Taunton School Bridge Club
Bridge has continued to flourish, with as many
as thirty students participating in various
events throughout the year. In competition, we
performed very well, with James Carter and
Ed McBride leading the way in the National
Simultaneous Pairs event in November and all
three teams of four in the National Competition
at Loughborough in March performing well
above average - a great improvement on 2011.
The inter house competition in May was won by
Wills West Jason Gu and Gleb Filiminov, with last
year’s winners, Wills East, coming a very close
second.
Plans are laid to expand the number of lunchtime
sessions from two to three in the coming year
to provide more opportunities for busy bridge
players to practise their skills at the card table.
Newcomers, beginners and existing members will be
equally welcome, because bridge is a social game, as
well as a mental challenge.
Many thanks to Mr Brown for arranging the house
competition, to Mr Large for his invaluable support
and for Mr Dewbery’s conversion to the game of
bridge!
Mr Priest
Young Enterprise
Young Enterprise is a national programme involving
students setting up and running their own business
over the course of the academic year. It is open to
all Lower Sixth students.
This year, Taunton School’s team, SkyLight , had to
overcome many obstacles over the course of a year
in which they saw their team dwindle from twelve to
four members.
Their product, the ‘BookWrap’, was launched at
the Prep School Christmas fair, where they made
a promising £60 profit and took the opportunity to
conduct some valuable market research. However,
several weeks later and having hit many brick walls
in their attempts to sell their product concept to
the book industry, the business was on the brink of
folding. However, with a new Managing Director at
the helm and a smaller but well-focused team, they
committed to seeing the competition through.
They attended the Somerset Innovation Awards
in May with some trepidation but found to their
surprise that the judges loved the originality of their
product, the BookWrap, and were impressed by the
quality of the designs they had produced. They had
a successful afternoon, winning Best Presentation
and Best Trade Stand.
The presentation, delivered by two Russian
students, Managing Director, Anton Kraminkin and
Marketing Director, Mikhail Usoltsev, with Dusan
Savicevic managing the IT, received great plaudits;
leaving their native-tongued competitors firmly in
the shade!
Unfortunately, they were narrowly beaten into
second prize for the Overall Best Company award
but can be very proud of their achievements not
just on the day but over the course of the year.
Mrs Rixon
83
Rugby
1st XV Rugby - 2011
Like rugby itself, it could be said
that the season was “a game of
two halves”! Under the leadership
of Tristan Freeman the boys had
taken their pre-season training
seriously and after a useful training
weekend against Pates GS, the
season began with a tough match
against a confident Clifton College.
They were sent packing 13-8, as
were Wellington, QEH, Kings Bruton
and Truro. The Truro match was
one of the best performances I
have seen by a Taunton 1st XV, the
game being decided by a terrific
set piece try by Jamie Fear (Lower
Sixth), one of the players of the
season. Unbeaten in the first half
of term, experienced players Tom
Abell, Roger Kim, George Cook,
Hugh Wilman and Tricky led the
way. Other Upper Sixth boys grew
into their shirts, with increasingly
impressive performances by James
Pilcher, Rowan O’Brien, Josh Kelly,
Oliver Kelham, Jake Gordon, Joe
O’Neill and Gleb Filimonov. As we
knew, the second half of term was
a much harder prospect.
84
Although beating Blundell’s, the squad picked up
injuries and were defeated by Canford and King’s
Taunton, but it has to be said that we did not play
well in those games, and the opposition rose to
the occasion. A further defeat to a good Plymouth
side was sandwiched with victories over Queen’s
Taunton and the OTs. All in all the 1st XV won 8
out of 11 - a good season. Other young players
are emerging for next year: Liam Davies, Robbie
David, Seb Ralph, Ran Jameson, Jack Crichton,
James Spencer and Benson Pocock. With the tour
to South Africa and Namibia in the summer, many
others from the 2nds and the Senior Colts will also
have a chance to develop their game and press for
1st team places next year.
unbeaten. We had pace on the wings with Jeremy
and Dusan, and real power up front with Jan and
Jim to the fore. A match to decide who had local
bragging rights came when we faced Kings Taunton
and once again our superior team showed its skill
to demolish them 38 - 12, one of only 2 teams to
win that day. Queen’s were too scared to put a team
out against us and we rounded off the term with
a victory against TSI which was played in good
spirits.
Many thanks as always to Simon Hogg, Greg Fabre
(on the medi bag) and Jon Gatford, as well as Neil
Gush, James Springer and Mike Cook for their
efforts with the Senior Rugby Squad. I would also
like to pay tribute to all the work Hugh Todd has
done for Taunton School Rugby as he retires this
summer.
As we move into the 2012 season another campaign
beckons....!
Mr Kelly
Senior Colts Rugby – Tauntonian 2011
Played 12 Won 6 Lost 6 Points for 290
Points Against 174
2nd XV
This season the 2nd XV played 10 matches, winning
5. As the results indicate it was a mixed season
and as always the squad was constantly changing,
with several players changing teams throughout.
Highlight of the season was probably our victory
over Blundell’s with a great try by Elliott Scott.
I’d like to thank all the boys who played 2nd team
rugby for a memorable season and a good laugh.
I’s also like to thank our main coach, Mr Gush for
all his hard work and his inspiring half time talks, as
well as all the other coaches who helped us through
the season.
Mr Childs
3rd XV
The 3rd team of 2011 had a fantastic season; they
played some high quality rugby against a number
of strong sides and came out at the end of it with a
good record - 6 wins from 9 games.
Early games were tight losing to Clifton 26-20
but beating QEH, King’s Bruton and Truro. Next
up were Blundell’s who were dispatched 17-0 but
Canford had the better of us - not surprising as they
were arguably their strongest school side and were
Overall this was a fantastic campaign for the
Corinthians; we achieved a winning season and
played some of the best 3rd team rugby around.
Mr Wood
This was a mixed season. We registered some
convincing victories and the points for/against
tally shows a healthy balance. However, there were
some strong sides on the circuit and the boys
often had to compete gamely merely to narrow the
margin of defeat – often substantially - compared to
previous years.
The first part of term was frustrating as a series
of injuries and unavailabilities meant a lack of
continuity and cohesion, particularly in the
backs. Eventually things settled down and the
side produced some fine rugby, not least in gritty
rearguard displays against Daily Mail Cup finalists,
Truro and a talented Blundell’s line up. Against even
the best opposition, we were capable of scoring
some fine tries and possessed too much finishing
power for the likes of Canford and Queen’s.
The forwards constituted the team’s main strength.
There were few weak links here but Nick Evry,
Richard Baines and Ben Willes – all county players
- were the stand out performers. In the backs,
captain Michael Smith, another Somerset player, led
the side well and scored 15 tries in 9 appearances;
Philip Stickler was top points scorer with 113. The
team’s greatest weakness was perhaps a lack of
sustained concentration which led to too many soft
tries being conceded, notably against King’s.
These boys may still have a lot to learn but they
matured considerably during the season and
put together a formidable haka for the Baty Bowl
85
Rugby
continued
assembly. In due course, they should form the
nucleus of a decent 1st XV. Neil Mason and I
enjoyed coaching them: their commitment was
never in doubt and they responded enthusiastically
to the various challenges posed by our sympathetic
training regime.
The SCB’s had a good season winning 8 out of
12 matches and developed a positive team ethos
fostered by Mr Abell. Numbers in attendance at
training were good with many going on the summer
rugby tour.
Mr Chatterton
Junior Colts
The JCA’s won 4 out of 10 matches but showed
that as they are getting older there is a great
deal of potential for the future. Charlie Smith was
selected to train with Devon and led the backline
along with Matt Pearce. In the forwards the pack
grew in confidence with Ben Woolstencroft and
Todd Freeman dynamic in the loose play. They will
all need to grow and toughen up a bit to meet the
challenge of Mr Chatterton and Mr Mason in the
Senior Colts.
The U15Bs had a successful season, winning 6
out of their 11 games. There were some strong
teams on the circuit and the boys therefore had to
work hard throughout the season. The standout
performance was a 17-5 win away at Blundell’s,
closely followed by a narrow win against a tough
Heathfield team. The team was well led by Connor
Coventry with Jack Malden the top-scorer with 56
points. The coach’s award this year was to the most
improved player, Jamie Ford.
Mr Hawkins
Foals Rugby
If the success of a season is determined by results
then the Foals A did not have a successful season.
However, the quality of opposition varies from year
to year and sometimes results can go against you
even though the side is not a bad one. I would
prefer to judge the team not by results but by the
quality of the rugby played at the beginning of the
season to that being played at the end. With this
in mind I believe that success has been achieved.
All players have shown pleasing development and
the play of the team as a whole was significantly
better. This was borne out by an exciting Baty
Bowl; the result was in doubt until the end and
there was some excellent play by all those boys
who took part.
For me, the finest performance was away at King’s
Bruton. King’s had their best U14 team in twenty
years. The opposition had 90% of the possession
and 90% of the territory; they crossed the try
line four times without scoring. Ross Haines and
Josh Williams deserve special praise; both were
tremendously committed in training and on match
days. I could always count on both players to give
of their best and Ross led the team well by his
excellent example.
Mr Atkinson and Mr Waller
Sevens glory for Senior Colts
Following an astonishing day’s rugby, the Senior
Colts won the highly prestigious and competitive
West of England seven a side competition
for the first time since 1995. A series of quite
outstanding performances culminated in Millfield
being pulverised 34-7 (six tries to one) in the
final at Taunton RFC. Previously, the favourites,
Truro School, were defeated in a semi final where
the Taunton boys displayed huge character and
resilience to recover from a 17-0 deficit before
triumphing 21-17.
In the group stages, Heathfield, King Edward’s
Bath, Q.E.H Bristol and Bryanston were eliminated the latter being defeated 38-0 - before the gruelling
tournament reached its climax.
This was a fantastic achievement and the team
deserves massive credit for the skill, tenacity and
sheer pride in performance which brought them
their famous victory. The squad comprised: Michael
Smith (captain), Max Kelly, Jesse de Burriatte,
Ryota Aria, Rhys Walker, Daniel Zastavnyuk, Richard
Baines, Nick Evry, Jamie Skinner, Tom Popplewell,
Kyle Johnson-Goodier, Ben Willes and Kosta
Valchev.
Mr Chatterton
86
HockeyBoys
To suggest it has been a big year
for boys’ hockey is something of
an understatement!
In a year in which we celebrated 75 years of hockey
at Taunton School, the 1st scored 74 goals on their
way to an unbeaten season, which included winning
the inaugural Wessex League. Not far behind were
the unbeaten Senior Colts and the U18 and U16
indoor teams who both reached the National Finals.
Josh Kelly on the attack
As we say goodbye to the ‘class of 2012’ we bid
farewell to a group that have enjoyed unprecedented
success throughout their Taunton School hockey
careers. Reaching the last three in four National
Final appearances, recording back to back unbeaten
seasons and scoring huge number of goals on the
way to winning the league, this group have set the
bar incredibly high for those who have to follow. Of
special mention, this group of players have been led
superbly by Thomas Abell; a fantastic captain and
role model.
Marketing Internet Boys 1st XI
As well as the fabulous run of success at the top,
there have been other successes further down the
school that suggest hockey at Taunton School is
in a very healthy state. In total, Taunton School
teams have played over 100 matches, with levels of
participation from the U14C upwards, as high as at
any time in recent years. That such success has
been attained and levels of participation remained
so high is of course down to the expertise and
energy of the team of dedicated coaches throughout
the school. I would like to thank them all for their
invaluable contribution. Special mention must go
to Mr Todd who retires at the end of this academic
year after being involved with school hockey for
almost thirty years, with his work with the Crusade
in his later years being surely the pinnacle of his
career? With a brand new astroturf just around the
corner and a very competitive fixture programme,
the portents for Taunton School hockey are good.
The school is well and truly on the hockey map and
the challenge for all players and coaches is to keep it
there in the next few years.
National Indoor Finalists U16
Mr Tarr
Master in charge of Hockey
U16 Indoor Team defending
87
HockeyBoys
Senior Hockey
Junior Hockey
An incredibly successful season at the top end of
school hockey, epitomised by the 1st team winning
the Wessex league. Without doubt, the second
half of term provided the sterner tests, with games
against top sides such as King’s, Sherborne,
Canford and Millfield. Particular highlights for the
1st X1 must be the 7-1 thrashing of Millfield and
the tense 4-3 win over Canford in front of a home
crowd, to be crowned champions! Thanks should
go to Mr Tarr for everything he has done for us over
the seasons and to Mr Durston.
The successes seen up at the Senior end of the
school seem only distant dreams when considering
the tough seasons which most of the junior teams
suffered. Only two of the six junior teams achieved
a win/loss percentage over 50%, and the JCCs only
played one match to earn their 100%.
Similarly the 2nd X1 enjoyed success all through
the season, with plenty of goals for (52), and very
few against (9). Special thanks must go to Mr
Hallows for all he has done for the boys.
The SCAs had an equally successful season to the
1st X1 this year. A notable highlight was the last
minute win over King’s, 3-2 with Michael Smith
slotting the winner in the dying seconds - anything
the 1st XI can do…!
The crusade, widely regarded as the most
important team representing the school, played 6
and won 5. I’m sure Mr Todd was not present at
the loss!
Thomas Abell
1st XI Captain
The JCAs ended up on the wrong side of a close
5-4 to BGS, and another 5-4 to Wellington, as
their potential never really developed into good
performances. It was not really until a big game
against King’s College that they started to play, they
beat King’s 5-3; a great performance. Thanks must
go to Mr Abell, for tolerating us this season, and
making us better players.
The JCBs had an equally torrid time. Picking up
only one win across the season – a solid 3-0 victory
over Kings’ Bruton – the main highlight of the
season would have to be their hard-fought 1-1 draw
with Millfield, which could have easily been won.
The U14As, once again, did not have the most
successful of seasons. Finishing with statistics of
11 played; 1 win, 3 draws and 7 losses, it would
be fair to say there is improvement to come! The
U14s performed respectably in the cup, drawing
two games, and losing one – being unlucky not
to progress out of their group. That said, many
players showed potential and improvement.
The U14Bs turned out to be the shining light of
junior hockey this season. In 10 games, they only
lost 2. A highlight being a good 3-1 win over local
rivals Queens.
The U15Cs produced my moment of the season, as
George Whitburn scored 2 goals in 15 seconds to
overturn a 1-0 deficit against Sherborne, to secure
their 100% win record for the season.
Sam Rixon
JCA Captain
akes a tackle
Nick Hulse m
88
Results
SCA
JCA
JCB
W 5-1
W 7-2
L 5-4
L 3-0
W 5-2
National
W 3-0
W 6-0
W11-0
W11-1
W11-0
BRYANSTON
W 4-1
ICE
SHERBORNE
W 4-0
W 4-2
BLUNDELLS
W 6-1
W 8-0
MILLFIELD
W 7-1
W11-2
KING’S TAUNTON
W 2-1
L 3-1
WELLINGTON
W 10-0
W 11-0
WEST BUCKLAND
W 7-2
W 3-0
Total Games
12
10
6
WINDRAW %
100%
80%
83%
OPPOSITION
1
2
3
BRISTOL GRAMMAR
W 6-1
W 1-0
CANFORD
W 4-3
KING’S BRUTON
W 6-1
EXETER SCHOOL
W 7-2
QUEEN’S
L 3-2
W 6-2
4
W 4-2
JCC
14A
14B
D 2-2
L 4-0
L 5-3
L 5-1
L 5-0
L 5-1
D 0-0
W 6-2
W 8-0
W 3-0
D 2-2
W 3-0
W 9-1
L 6-0
D 2-2
L 4-0
W 3-1
ICE
ICE
ICE
L 3-1
ICE
L 3-0
W 8-3
L 3-2
L 2-1
D 1-1
D 3-3
L 3-0
D 1-1
W 4-2
L 3-1
L 6-3
L 4-2
L 2-0
W 2-1
14C
L 4-1
W 6-0
D 1-1
W 3-2
W 5-3
L 3-0
L 5-3
W 2-1
L 5-4
L 4-1
W 1-0
W 6-1
W 10-0
W 3-1
L 1-0
L 1-0
W 5-0
L 5-3
2
7
9
8
1
11
10
6
100%
100%
44%
38%
100%
37%
80%
0%
W 5-1
Awards
Team
Player of the Season
Coach’s Award
1st XI ..............................................Oliver Large and Harry Speedy ........................ Thomas Abell
2nd XI .............................................Hugh Wilman .................................................... Matthew Wood
Crusade A XI ..................................Matt Nawrat ..................................................... Max Jeffs
Crusade B XI ..................................- ....................................................................... Robin Evans
SCA ................................................Jamie Skinner................................................... Charlie Lamb
U15A...............................................Wilkie Whittingham........................................... Charlie Smith
U15B ..............................................Robert Overton-Fox ......................................... Harry Charalambous
U15C ..............................................- ....................................................................... Patrick Morshead
14A .................................................James Lamb..................................................... Champ Boonprakob
14B .................................................Joe Notaro-Livingstone .................................... Sam Reasons
14C .................................................Glyn Hornsby ................................................... Toby Topp
89
HockeyGirls
Girls Hockey
at Taunton
School continues to flourish
with a number of notable achievements again
this year. On paper, the 1st XI did not look
as strong as in previous years, but the girls’
tenacity shone through and we were unlucky
to have been knocked out in the semi-final of
the regional round of the U18 National Schools
tournament. Our 1st XI captain Ashley Leal
comments “that the best way to describe
the season as a whole was mixed, and to an
extent inconsistent”. The 1st XI performed
extremely well under pressure which was
evident in our tournament play and showed the
team’s enormous potential as well as ability to
adapt and work well together. However, the
inconsistency came in our individual games.
Flora Larkin, penalty corner
Hattie Rogers beats a Wells defender
90
Notable wins this year were against Wells
Cathedral, Clifton, Wellington, Bristol Grammar,
Queen’s and Kingswood. Congratulations to
Lauren Plant on winning the Gwynne-Jones
Cup and to Sophie Bowden on gaining a
full scholarship for hockey to Connecticut
University.
Team Talk
The 2nd and 3rd XIs battled through four
months of tough fixtures with much of the skill
and determination exhibited last year. Despite
meeting their match in a few of the oppositions,
the second XI finished the season having played
12, won 5,lost 4, drew 3, with 24 goals for and
only 18 against - thanks to Alex Willes in goal.
The 3rd XI had a fine season winning 9 games,
drawing one and losing one. Their only notable
loss was to Millfield which was the opening
match of the season. Sophie Palmer the 3rd XI
captain comments that throughout the season
each individual player improved significantly,
whilst showcasing extreme team morale to bring
the once random group of people together to
create a strong, unified team. The forwards
worked well together resulting in the numerous
convincing victories and the midfield had become
invincible, playing with undoubted strength and
determination.
On the indoor front - the U18 indoor side looked
stronger than the U16 team but again the
determination of our younger players saw the U16
girls indoor team reach the national indoor finals
held in Worcester in January. Katie Hebditch
Jodie Dibble driving out of defence
being instrumental in the
achievements of this team.
This was the fourth year in a
row that a Taunton team has
gone to the National Schools
Indoor Finals!
Our junior teams also go from
strength to strength with large
squads selected in order to get as
many people involved in matches as
possible. The U14A team produced the
best results of the junior teams playing 12, winning
8, and losing 4. The notable victories for this side
were against Millfield, Blundells and Queen’s.
Things certainly augur well for the hockey teams
of the future at Taunton School.
Next season will see us enter the M5 corridor
league comprising of Millfield, Clifton, Cheltenham
Ladies, Dean Close and ourselves. The results
of all the Senior and Junior teams will contribute
towards a Senior and Junior cup. Come on girls
- get back to training and come and support us in
all our competitions.
Ms Harvie
Sarah Cousins moves it forward
91
HockeyGirls
TEAM
PLAYED
WON
DREW
LOST
1st XI
11
6
0
5
2nd XI
12
5
3
4
3rd XI
11
9
1
1
4th XI
7
4
1
2
U15A
12
2
1
9
U15B
8
4
1
3
U14A
12
8
0
4
U14B
9
3
1
5
Lauren Davey in action!
...get back to training
92
U16 Indoor Squad
What a start for the juniors?
Can the 1st VII team do it again?
The unbeaten 1st VII season of 2011, was on
the mind of the Senior squad right from the
start of the season. Taunton School had
gained itself a reputation of playing fast, tough
and intense netball. With four of last years
squad remaining at school, the girl’s were
confident of another strong session. Not only
that, the U14A team from 2011 had only lost
two games and the year 8 team coming up
from the Prep School had only lost one game
to Millfield by one goal. This was going to be
an exciting season!
The season started with a convincing and
comprehensive win against Bristol Grammar at
the start of the season. Bang! The girl’s were
ready. A few unlucky breaks saw our toughest
games against Wells Cathedral, incur missing
players due to the National Indoor Hockey
Finals and small defeats by King’s College and
Wellington, through injury to GD Leah Peatroy.
The squad can be proud of a successful
season, with Jess Clarke (yr 10) stepping up to
support the 1st VII squad. They have continued
to develop a style of play of high quality,
with a determination to win. Thanks and
congratulations should go to Charlotte Pickard,
who completed her fourth season in the 1st VII
as captain.
The other Senior squads also enjoyed a strong
season, with the 2nd VII only losing one close
game to Blundell’s and the 3rd VII, after a slow
start, also got onto a winning run of games.
The 4th VII had a mixed season, but pleasingly
had 17 players represent then at different
points in the season. With training seeing on
average 60 players aiming for selection, netball
is in a strong place at Senior level.
Netball
U14 County Netball Champions
against Canford. Unfortunately a narrow defeat
to St. Mary’s Shaftsbury meant that we were
placed third in the section and just missed
qualification to the semi-final stage.
The juniors started the season with emphatic
style, with all sides winning against Bristol
Grammar School, Wells Cathedral, Queen’s
College and Blundell’s in the first half of the
season. Playing a quality of netball beyond their
years and convincingly sweeping the opposition
from their path. Netball is definitely moving
forward at Taunton. We have seven players
within the satellite academy and have eight more
coming up from the Prep School next year.
Netball is continuing to go from strength
to strength in the Senior School. With the
addition of Galmington Head Coach and Talent
Performance Coach Miss Lisa Manley to the
school coaching staff, the school is looking
forward to continued success across all levels.
The U14 team started their Taunton Senior
School career with an explosive performance
and success in the County Championships,
beating everyone in a league formation. The
girls even reminded me that we had beaten
Millfield 10-7, when I was not pleased with
their performance! These girls were exciting
and keen to win! The squad trained hard
through the winter to prepare themselves for
the Regional Championships at Bournemouth
in January. The netball squad coached
by Samantha Newton, played well at the
tournament, beating schools from across the
South West, most noticeably a tough game
cont...
93
Netball
cont
Opposition
1st VII
2nd VII 3rd VII 4th VII
U15A
U15B
U15C
U14A
U14B
Bristol
Grammar
Won
24-4
Won
15-12
Lost
8-24
Lost
11-21
Won
17-10
Won
17-5
Won
18-7
Won
28-7
Won
25-5
Wells
Cathedral
Lost
7-25
Won
28-20
Lost
18-26
Lost
12-17
Won
28-3
Won
18-1
Won
31-16
Won
22-11
Queen’s
College
Won
16-12
Won
23-7
Won
32-14
Won
18-9
Drew
15-15
Won
26-21
Regionals
Won
18-9
Won
25-3
Blundell’s
Won
19-17
Lost
20-25
Lost
15-20
Lost
7-18
Won
19-12
Millfield
Won
13-7
Lost
14-20
Won
22-15
Won
35-4
Lost
16-24
Lost
13-25
Lost
12-19
Won
24-10
Won
23-7
Lost
14-17
Lost
11–14
Lost 5-7
Won
19-11
Won
14-5
Won
16-9
71%
71%
King’s
College
Lost
14-16
Won
27-19
Won
31-25
Lost
15-22
Won
11-22
Lost
13-18
King’s
Bruton
Won
36-10
Won
47-11
Won
17-12
Won
27-7
Won
17-8
Won
32-3
Wellington
Lost
18-21
Won
34-13
Won
38-5
Richard
Huish
Won
26-15
Results
63%
86%
57%
94
33%
Won
19-8
U14C
86%
83%
100%
33%
Badminton
“Making a racquet!”
The Team
The Badminton Club has taken a step in the
right direction this year, with some excellent
results and games, as well as the continuing
sessions on Tuesday afternoons.
After the racquet of honour was handed over
by Mr. Grant to Mr. Gower and Mr. Parvin (the
minibus driver extroadinaire) for the majority
of the year, the club has not fallen apart
as predicted, and instead has been a high
performing and well attended area of the
school’s sporting programme.
In the three leagues Taunton School are
currently in, it was the girls’ team which
was the success story - mainly due to the
“comedy” pair who entertained spectators
and other players alike. Most importantly,
much fun was had, and we ended up
as champions of the league - a massive
achievement for the girls, and for the club.
Well done to all the girls who took part.
The boys’ leagues were less successful, but
some excellent matches were played. The
attitudes of the players were good throughout,
although if Nat Siraviwat complained less about
not getting colours, we might consider it sooner.
Well done again to all involved - I hope that
next year will spark the interest of even more
talented badminton players, as well as those
who just want to give the sport a try.
Mr Gower
Basketball
Detailed records are not kept of basketball results
at Taunton School but the side of 2012 certainly
achieved the best record in the last 30 years. In
total 9 games were played with victories achieved
in all of them.
The team was well captained by Lorenzo Arduino
but he was well supported by a very strong
squad: Dusan Savicevic, Max Hufschlag, Chris
Yuan, Howard Wong, Jerry Yang and Max
Kroppen. Mickey Li kindly ran the score table and
earned a run out on occasions too.
The fixture card was almost as tough as it could
be against schools in this area including matches
against Plymouth College, Sherborne, West
Buckland, King’s Bruton and Wellington. The
disappointment was the fact that we were unable
to find a mutually convenient date to play Millfield.
The real strength of this side was its depth as it
meant that the team was not weakened when we
ran the bench. Many of the matches we played
were close in the early stages but no side could
match the intensity that we were able to maintain
throughout. These boys have been a pleasure to
work with and we just hope it is not another 30
years before their achievements are matched.
Mr Cook
95
Golf
TS Team competing in the National Finals held at Carnoustie
The last few years have
been successful ones for
the golfers at Taunton
School and this past year
has been no exception.
National Finals at Carnoustie
The very generous support from Old
Tauntonians has allowed us to continue with
regular coaching at Oake Manor and has also
enabled the School to start work on some
golf facilities on site.
Although not quite able to win the West of
England competition for the third successive
year, losing out to a strong Radley team, we
did win the area final of the Independent
Schools’ tournament for the first time. The
team therefore qualified for the National
Finals held at Carnoustie.
It is fair to say that the team of Jan Becker,
Philip Stickler and Max Rode found the
Scottish courses quite a challenge but
the whole experience of playing on one
of the world’s most famous courses was
unforgettable.
Mr Todd
96
Cricket
Sadly, the dreadful weather became one of the main
talking points of our summer term and we could
very rarely practise outside, particularly before halfterm. However, our groundsmen performed heroics
and our teams managed to play the majority of our
matches.
our two spinners, Charlie and Josh both enjoyed
impressive spells and were rewarded with a fair
share of the wickets taken. Will Abell showed some
real potential behind the stumps and he will have
more opportunities to take responsibility with the
bat, next summer.
Our Under 14 teams certainly showed signs of
improvement during the course of the term and one
or two boys produced some encouraging individual
performances. However, many boys in this age
group need to realise that it is necessary to listen
and apply oneself in a mature manner if they wish
to compete against decent sides in any sport. I
was hugely disappointed that none of this group
attended cricket nets during the spring term.
Sadly, The Tauntonian no longer allows enough
space for each team to have a more detailed report
but I do feel that Thomas Abell’s achievements with
the bat deserve to be recorded.
Inconsistent performances by their stronger players
prevented our Under 15 teams from beating our
stronger rivals but many boys stepped up to make
significant contributions and Charlie Smith and
Henry Gater looked comfortable when playing for
the 1st XI at the end of season festival.
With fewer boys playing cricket at the top of the
school, I had some concerns that we would struggle
to field a 3rd team in June but the commitment of
our Upper Sixth boys, to all three Senior teams,
ensured that this was not the case. I was delighted
that their final match resulted in a thrilling victory
over Sherborne and I would like to thank the
‘regulars’ for their fantastic attitude and good
humour at practices over the course of the last
three years. The highlight of the 2nd XI season was
a magnificent century from Jamie Skinner against
Sherborne and there were some fine bowling spells
from young spinners, Ed Clark and Anton Hotham,
in particular.
The 1st XI were our most successful side, losing
only one match, when our fielding let us down,
and completing several impressive victories. Our
outstanding captain, Thomas Abell, enjoyed a
remarkable term with the bat and led the run scoring
for the fourth consecutive season. He was given
fine support, at different times, by Charlie Solanki,
George Hallas, Max Kelly, Charlie Miles and Josh
Kelly and there were many huge partnerships, as a
result. Thomas and George Cook, who has bowled
with real commitment and consistency for four
years, were an effective pair of opening bowlers,
who probably deserved more luck. Our other
seamers, Oliver Kelham, Joe O’Neill and James
Pilcher all bowled tidily when called upon and
This summer Thomas scored 1156 runs, including
7 centuries, passing 50 every time that he batted,
with an amazing average of 193! It is very rare for
a schoolboy to score over 1000 runs in any season
and Thomas only batted 11 times this summer, as he
dropped down to the bottom of the batting order on
two occasions to give other boys a chance to spend
longer at the crease. Some very fine players who
have played for the school, including future Test and
County cricketers, never reached 2000 runs for the
1st XI but Thomas scored an unbelievable 3630 runs,
including 17 centuries. These are truly remarkable
statistics by a very modest and talented boy, who
has been a pleasure to watch and spend time with.
Many knowledgable spectators and coaches have
been mightily impressed by his maturity and the
elegance and class of his stroke-making. There are
several reasons for his success, but when Thomas
was in year 9 he was always one of the first to each
of our winter nets sessions, having made his own
packed lunch the night before! He was organised
with his kit, so he often batted twice against bowlers
who were three or four years older than himself.
Mr Hogg
The 1st XI after a successful run chase against Dulwich
Continued...
97
Cricket
Cont
This year sees a notable landmark in the life of
cricket at Taunton School as Mr Simon Hogg
steps down as Master i/c.
Having taken over in 2000, Hoggy has overseen
a highly successful period of 1st XI cricket with
some outstanding results - including two unbeaten
seasons - and many boys have benefited from his
unstinting energy, enthusiasm and wholehearted
commitment to the sport.
Charlie Miles
Throughout his time in charge, Hoggy has always
shown as much interest in the exploits of the “B”
or “C” team player as the exceptional 1st teamer
and always has demanded high standards of the
boys representing the School. Taunton School
has much to thank him for and his contribution will
be sorely missed.
George Cook
TennisGirls
The girls enjoyed another successful tennis season in
2012 - only the weather defeated the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and
U14A teams. The Seniors recorded victories against
Blundells, Millfield, Queens, Wellington and Wells, with
the U14s also beating Kings.
A total of seventy three girls represented the school
in forty nine fixtures, with one, rather damp, Thursday
afternoon seeing five Senior teams in action – three
against Queens and another two enjoying the chance
to play some competitive tennis against Kings. The
Senior squads were boosted by new players from
across Europe, whilst the U14Bs welcomed two of the
Australian exchange students later in the term.
This was the second consecutive unbeaten season
recorded by the 1st VI and a fitting end to captain
Lauren Plant’s school tennis career. She has been
a member of the first pair for four years, recording
an outstanding 79 wins out of 83 sets played and
conceding an average of fewer than two games per set
to her opponents. The future continues to look bright
for the 1st team, as this year’s squad also included
three girls from Year 9: Hera Bradly, Rosemary Moss
and Dafi Valcheva, along with Campbell Bradly, TSI
pupil Iulia Gornostali and IB student Nora Puhala.
The composition of the 1st VI also accentuates the
achievement of the U14A team – they completed their
98
unbeaten season despite losing three of their peers to
the Seniors.
This year’s House Tennis competitions also saw more
girls take part than ever before, with 56 Juniors and 48
Seniors, including representatives from all the Houses
plus TSI, contributing to two very enjoyable afternoons.
There was some excellent tennis played, with Jenkin
Seniors and Besley Juniors taking the honours.
My thanks must go to all the girls for their contributions
this year, and for their willingness to play in conditions
which were often far from traditional tennis weather, to
the staff who ran the teams – Mr Grant, Mrs Foster and
Mr Judd and to our roving coach, Richard Stock.
Dr Franklin
TennisBoys
Tennis continues to go from strength to strength at
Taunton School and the boys have enjoyed another
very successful season. Along with an increasing
number of boys choosing the sport, across the three
teams, we have only lost four fixtures from the twenty
three played. It has also been the first year we have
fielded a Colts B team!
Of particular note, a 1st pair in the 1st team, Finian
Orme and Jeremy Soper went a second successive
season unbeaten which is quite some achievement!
We say goodbye to captain Finian, leaving Taunton
School with a phenomenal unbeaten record winning
53 of the 54 sets he has played. He will be sorely
missed, especially by Jeremy! With the arrival of Ole
Nowak this year the future looks good and I have
enjoyed watching the young 1st team develop with the
successful Colts team snapping at their heels!
This year we say goodbye to various school tennis
‘servants’; Chris James has played School tennis for
five years and finished with many fine performances
for the 1st team. At 2nd team level (with the odd 1st
team call up!), Tom Odgers and Gleb Filimonov have
enjoyed frequent success with their steady approach.
Will Durongkapataya managed a full season this year
in the 1st team this year an injury fraught time last year.
It would be great to see all the leavers back next year
playing for the Staff Invitational team.
As we say our goodbyes, I am pleased to say a big
hello to our new Head Tennis Coach, Richard Stock,
who joins us as a professional coach assisting with
squad sessions and also giving the boys much needed
individual lessons. We wish him well as we look to
develop tennis standards across the School.
Captain’s Report
The 2012 tennis season has been a real success, the
1st team enjoyed a good season winning 6 matches and
narrowly loosing out 5-4 in 2 matches. The first team
was boosted with the arrival of Ole Novak and Shun
Matsuyama along side Kosta Valchev, Will Durongkapataya
and Chris James who all contributed towards a strong 1st
team squad. The boys played very well at times and I was
delighted with the performances and success Jeremy and
I enjoyed at 1st pair.
The 2nd team only lost one match all season and
recorded some very impressive results, including a
particularly a dominant 7-2 victory over King’s Taunton.
This really demonstrated the strength in dept and constant
competition for places through out the Senior teams. The
inclusion of boys from TSI accompanied with captain Gleb
Filiminov who guided the 2nd team to a strong season.
Senior Winner: Finian Orme R/U - Ole Nawak
The colts have also enjoyed a successful season,
particularly boosted by the very impressive unbeaten
1st pair of Charlie Lamb and Sam Blood who will be a
valuable addition to the Senior teams next year. The colts
enjoyed some very dominant results including three 9-0
victories. The talented colts quad really stepped up this
year and has provided a bright looking future for Taunton
School tennis.
Mr Tarr
Master i/c Tennis
Finian Orme
Tennis Captain
House Tennis Winners: Wills East
Singles Tournament:
Junior Winner - Sam Blood
Opposition
West Buckland
King’s Bruton
Wellington
King’s Taunton
Wells Cathedral
Blundells
Sherborne
Queen’s
R/U - Charlie Lamb
1st VI
Won7-2
Won 5-4
Won 8-1
Lost 5-4
Won 9-0
Won 5.5 - 3.5
Lost 5-4
Won 6-0 (rain)
2nd VI
Won 9-0
Won 7-2
n/a
Won 7-2
n/a
W 6-3
Lost 7-2
n/a
Colts
Won 6-3 (B team)
n/a
Won 9-0
Won 8-1
Won 9-0
Won 9-0
Lost 6-3
Won 3-0 (rain)
99
Athletics
A curtailed end to the school academic year, meant
an athletics season of only 8 weeks and we were
straight into it. The local athletics meet held at the
Castle Track, between Blundell’s, King’s College,
Wellington and Taunton saw the traditional rivalry
rear its head. To say that Taunton dominated the
boys competition was an understatement, the Senior
boys won the competition by 15 points and the
Intermediate Boys by 17 points. The girl’s did well
with some strong individual performances from Leah
Peatroy and Sarah Cousins in the seniors and by
Yasmin Dankaro and Tilly Heal in the juniors.
The next competition came in the form of the Lutra
Shield, a Boy’s Senior Athletic Competition with
years of tradition and competition. Taunton had
their strongest team for years and showed great
commitment, two late withdrawals was going to make
things tough. But some extraordinary performances
from the boys, in particular the high jump where
Taunton were placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd with Robbie
David, Liam Davies and Oki Nwakohu all scoring
maximum points. Taunton came out in 2nd place
overall behind Millfield, the first time in the 26 year
history of the competition.
This year Taunton has had an influx in the number of
entries into representational athletics competitions.
Starting with 102 entries at District level, with
62 being successfully selected to represent the
District at the County Championship. The County
Championships saw James Spencer crowned as
County U20 Javelin Champions and another 12
athletes place in the top 3. James Spencer (U20
Javelin), Conor Banks and Hattie Rogers (3000m)
and Daniel Zastavnyuk (Shot Putt) were all selected
to attend the South West Championships at Exeter
Arena.
Sports Day
Well what a summer term of weather we had!! The
heavy rain at the start of the summer term, effectively
took out the track for training purposes for the first
three weeks of training. When I said in jest that
Sports Day might be a problem if this weather
continued, many staff laughed it off!! Well what did
they know!!
The first day, afternoon session were cancelled at
lunchtime due to heavy rain and fortunately, with
help from Mr Paul Gibson, a completely restructured
programme was put together in order to try and fulfil
all sports day events. Straight finals replaced heats
and what can only be described as a soggy 100m
straight faced all the athletes competing for their
houses. Unsurprisingly, there were not many records
broken, but Liam Watson in year 9, who broke the
junior boys discus record with a throw of 28.70m.
Thanks must go to Mr Todd, who presented the
trophies to the winners at his last sporting event
in his glittering Taunton School career. The ovation
he received from all of the students after his
presentations clearly indicated the respect and
appreciation that all involved in sport at Taunton
have for Mr Todd.
Congratulations must go to all the winners of the
individual trophies and the house winners of each
year group.
Ms Mortimer
The school is full of many talented young athletes
that are pushing to gain selection for the County
and South West Teams. We are looking at another
particularly strong Senior boys athletics team next
season and look forward to the challenges ahead.
Individual Winners
House Winners
Senior Boys
Oki Nwakohu
Wills East
Senior Girls
Sarah Cousins
Weirfield
Inter Boys
Michael Smith
Evans
Inter Girls
Flora Larkin
Jenkin
Junior Boys
Angus West
Goodland
100
Swimming
With the first swimming gala only two weeks into the Summer Term we had to
start with a bang and everyone swam extremely well at the Sherborne gala.
This continued throughout the term with tremendous team efforts all round.
Queens College has a very strong girls’ contingent and we knew they
were going to be tough to beat. Nonetheless, all the team swam with great
endeavour and team spirit and were not overshadowed by any means, with
the boys being triumphant.
The next gala saw us face a strong team from Wellington School which kept
us focused right until the last touch, which ended in an impressive draw in the
girls’ competition and another convincing win for the boys.
Alex Speak, Chris Wilson, Mike Smith and Ben Willes won the U16 boys
medley relay
Harry Thorne, Jonny Childs, Kenta Oshima and John Muravyev won
the Senior boys medley relay
These results meant that the boys team won the Boys Meade King Cup with
Queens College coming second .
The girls Meade King Cup was won by Queens, with Taunton coming second,
In the relay cups
Although the weather does not really a play a part in swimming, the whole
team were rather apprehensive when travelling to Wells Cathedral as we knew
they had an outdoor pool. However, luckily they decided to close the roof as
far as possible, and even if it was a little chilly on poolside, it did not dampen
our spirits. The girls managed an impressive win with a score of 111 to 93 and
Taunton took the overall win as the boys also achieved an even bigger score.
Jonny Childs, John Muravyev, Harry Thorne and Elliott Scott won the
open boys freestyle relay
The girls open relay was won by Queens with Taunton coming a close second.
Harriet Rogers, Harry Thorne, Chris Wilson, Izzy Evans, Ellamae
Beake, Connor Coventry, Atlanta Allen-Skinner and Supan Fernando
won the Cannon relay.
And the combined Senior girls and boys relays was won by Taunton who
received the Walsh Cup.
The next fixture was against Blundells and we won comfortably with a score
of 205 to 143. Of particular note was the result of the under 18 girls who took
a victory with almost double points.
A fantastic result all round and congratulations to all who competed. Thanks
are also due to our swim coach GRAHAM DAVIDSON who works tirelessly
with all Taunton students.
Against Kings, our local rivals we wanted to swim really and put out one of
our strongest teams yet. Once again it went right down to the wire, which
consequently finished in a draw with both girls teams scoring 87 points each
however the boys won to give Taunton the overall win 194 to 150 points.
House Swimming 2012
With the final school fixtures now out of the way all our focus was on the
biggest gala of the term - The Meade King Cup. This is the oldest running
swimming gala in the country between four schools. With some hard training
and technical work supervised by Graham, the whole team was ready to swim
their best. It was particularly pleasing that we won 4 of the 6 trophies and our
relay teams are the strongest in the area.
This was an impressive conclusion to the swimming fixtures as it meant that
Taunton School were undefeated throughout all the school galas, helped by
the fact that the boys team were undefeated in all competitions too!
Overall the swimming team has grown in strength and every member should
be extremely proud of their achievements, individually and part of the ever
improving Taunton School team, which could not have been achieved without
the help of many members of staff and the coaching from Graham Davidson.
Hattie Rogers Girls Swimming Captain
Meade King Cup 2012
The swimming season culminates in the oldest team competition in England,
the Meade King Cup. We continue, as a school, to do very well in this
competition against Kings College, Queens College and Wellington School.
This year’s results saw wins for the following pupils:
Supan Fernando won the boys U14 50m backstroke in a record time of
31.87
Chris Wilson won the U16 boys 50m butterfly
Harry Thorne won the Senior boys 50m backstroke
Harriet Rogers won the Senior girls 100m breast stroke
Kenta Oshima won the Senior boys 50m butterfly
Atlanta Allen-Skinner won the U14 girls 50m freestyle
This year’s house swimming competition was performed in the TPS pool on
Wednesday 27th June and a large number of records were broken. These
were:
Chris Wilson winning the Senior Boys IM in 1:05.9 and the Senior Boys
butterfly in 27.8
Amy Mansfield winning the Junior Girls backstroke in 37.3
Supun Fernando winning the Junior Boys backstroke in 32.1
Charlotte Rogers winning the Junior Girls breast stroke in 39.3 and the
Junior Girls butterfly in 14.9
Ross Haines winning the Junior Boys breast stroke in 36.3
Hattie Rogers winning the Senior Girls breast stroke in 39.6 and the Senior
Girls freestyle in 31.3
Fairwater won the Junior Boys freestyle relay in 1:00.1
Wills East won the Senior Boys freestyle relay in 54.6
House Swimming Trophies 2012
Costeloe Cup (most improved junior boy or girl) Tesni Collins
Girls Junior Victrix Ludorum Charlotte Rogers
Senior Victrix Ludorum Hattie Rogers
Merit Cup – Girls’ Captain Hattie Rogers
Junior Victor Ludorum Ross Haines
Open Victor Ludorum (Brown Challenge Bowl) Chris Wilson
Wright Swimming Cup – Boys’ Captain Jonny Childs
Girls: Girls Junior Inter House Relay Cup Bevan
Senior Inter House Relay Cup Weirfield
Junior House Swimming Cup Jenkin and Bevan
Senior House Swimming Cup Weirfield
Boys: Lucking Cup - Junior relays Fairwater
Carter Cup - Senior boys relays Wills East
Junior Swimming Cup Fairwater
Senior Swimming Cup Wills East
101
Riding
Hurstpier Point College National Schools
Championships
During the summer holidays of 2011, the 48th
National Schools Jumping Championships were
held at Hickstead. Ashton Caddick, Elliott Smith
and Anna East represented Taunton School at
this prestigious event and were placed second.
The team made it comfortably through to the final
to compete in the main arena and were placed
a creditable second. Anna East was clear and,
therefore, able to do the final jump off as an
individual and was in first place until the last rider
pipped her to the post; she finished, however, in an
excellent 2nd place as an individual.
Blundell’s Inter-School One Day Event
Despite the wet and blustery day, all our riders
did extremely well and everyone came away with
at least one rosette. Rose Vere Nicoll and Alex
Willes entered Class 2 (85cm) and were placed
4th as a team. Millie Moore, Lucy Moore, Ashton
Caddick and Elliott Smith entered Class 3 (1m) and
were placed 3rd. Both Elliott and Millie also came
away with 7th place rosettes as individuals in their
respective sections and Elliott also won the ‘best
boy’ category in his section.
WSVH Inter-School Hunter Trial
On Sunday 2nd October, in the glorious sunshine,
Millie and Lucy Moore, together with their younger
sister, Daisy (TPS), competed in the WSVH U16
Inter-School Hunter Trial Class at Stockland Lovell.
The course was demanding and well up to height,
at 3’, but all three girls rode boldly and were placed
second in the team competition.
Wellington Inter-School Show Jumping
On Sunday 20th November, three teams from TS
took part in the Wellington Inter-School Show
Jumping Competition. Jess Pocock, Izzy Mackin
and Impy Martin-Pope rode in the U15 2’6”/2’9”
class and were placed 3rd. We entered two teams
in Class 3 (3’/3’3”). Lucy Moore, Rose Vere Nicoll
and Daisy Moore (TPS) came 4th, with Impy MartinPope, Rose Vere Nicoll and Hannah Lewis coming
5th against fierce opposition.
Taunton School Inter-School Show jumping
Competition
On Saturday 17th March, Taunton School hosted its
first ever inter-school show jumping competition.
It was held at Stockland Lovell Equestrian Centre
and entries far surpassed our expectations. In total,
there were 240 entries across the four classes,
with many schools entering several teams. The day
went extremely well, apart from some unforeseen
problems with the weather!
The riders representing TS were:
Izzy Mackin, Ashton Caddick, Lucy Moore, Rose
Vere Nicoll, Jess Pocock, Hannah Lewis and Elliott
Smith.
Our riders did extremely well throughout the day.
Results were as follows:
s#LASSn)ZZY-ACKINSTINDIVIDUALRIDING
Chance.
s#LASSn)ZZY-ACKINNDINDIVIDUALAGAINRIDING
Chance.
Ashton Caddick, Lucy Moore, Rose Vere-Nicoll
and Jess Pocock 6th (team).
s#LASS!SHTON#ADDICK!SHA3MITH,UCY
Moore and Elliott Smith 1st (team).
Ashton Caddick, Lucy Moore, Rose Vere Nicoll
and Hannah Lewis 2nd (team).
Blundell’s NSEA Show Jumping Qualifier
On Thursday 7th June, possibly the wettest day of
the year so far, Blundell’s held their NSEA Show
Jumping qualifier at Pontispool. Despite the
horrendous conditions, the girls rode superbly
and were rewarded for their efforts ... and soggy
breeches!
s#LASSCM3HOW*UMPINGTHETEAMOF-ILLIE
Moore, Lucy Moore, Asha Smith (TPS) and Daisy
Moore (TPS) were placed 7th out of 18 teams, just
missing a rosette.
s#LASSCM*UMPINGWITH3TYLETHETEAMOF
Millie Moore, Lucy Moore, Asha Smith (TPS) and
Daisy Moore (TPS) were 4th and Asha Smith (TPS)
was placed 2nd as an individual.
s#LASSM*UMPINGWITH3TYLE!SHTON#ADDICK
was placed 4th as an individual.
s#LASSM3HOW*UMPINGTHETEAMOF!SHTON
Caddick, Anna East and Asha Smith (TPS) came
1st, with Ashton and Anna being placed 1st and
2nd, respectively, as individuals.
s#LASSM3HOW*UMPINGn!NNA%AST
(jumping almost in the dark!) was placed 7th, just
missing out on a rosette by about 20 seconds!
Ashton, Anna and Asha have, therefore, all qualified
for the NSEA Championships at Addington in
Buckinghamshire in October - well done, girls, and
we wish you luck next term.
Mrs Marshall
102
Dance
Dance is a fairly new initiative here at Taunton
School. Impressive though, in its first year we
have seen three major dance performances. The
first being an individual performance evening in
November, which demonstrated solo, small group
and large class dances in a variety of different
genres. This enabled people to show talent that
the school has not seen on the stage before. In
the spring term, we focused on a House Dance
competition, where entries could be made in
either a solo or team competition.
The highlight of the year was the “Back to
Broadway” performance held in the Centenary
Hall. A Dance production across the whole school,
having students performances incorporating
all age groups, from Pre-Prep to Sixth Form
students. The theme of Broadway, encouraged a
bit of glitz and glamour and with over 60 students
involved from the Senior School, showed where
dance is moving in the school.
Dance is not only to be seen in School Shows.
We have also instigated and individual dance
tuition programme, which allows students to
improve their ability outside of classroom hours.
We offer dance as a games option choice and also
give students the opportunity to enter grading or
festival work.
With Mrs Natasha Huckle at the helm of Dance
within the school, we are looking to introduce
Dance as an academic qualification in the near
future.
Ms Mortimer
103
CCFARMY
Keira Kearns and Jennifer Tester
e
CCF Army on parad
War paint
Army Field Da
y
The Army Section this year has seen some reshuffling
in a bid to improve the quality of training offered to
the cadets. The formidable duo of Captains Mortimer
and Birkett has really injected momentum into the
programme, setting up a strong chain of command and
reinforcing some old-school disciple. My thanks go to
them for their unwavering support and commitment.
Within the Advanced infantry this year we have trialed,
to great success, an ability-assessed section structure.
The resulting “keen” sections have flourished in a
challenging environment and have been stretched to
prove themselves in competition with their peers. At the
other end of the spectrum it has allowed some cadets
to enjoy their CCF activities with a positive outlook.
Adhering to the CCF mentality but not worrying about
holding others back. The improvement in attitude, as
well as aptitude, of all our cadets is really impressive and
makes instructing them all the more enjoyable.
Though the cadets rarely step out of line, when they do
it is usually to volunteer themselves as leaders, helpers
or demonstrators. With leadership being the crux of
our recent training. Pressuring the cadets into making
effective decisions has come in several forms: whether
responding to ambushes, planning objectives or carrying
out command tasks, their authority, and at times their
patience, has been stretched. Trips to the electronic
range, .22 ranges, and a field day to Yoxter training area
have maintained our infantry ethos and the cadets have
enjoyed field craft tremendously.
Our recent field day was perhaps less infantry related,
but equally as enjoyable with a trip to Larkhill Camp.
The presentation, on the role of the Royal Artillery’s
capabilities, as well as possible army careers, was well
received, as was the tour of the gun park and a chance
to inspect the vehicles. A very muddy session at the
obstacle course rounded of the day, epitomising the ‘opt
in’ nature of the cadets.
The cohort of recruits into Year 10 this year has proved
a lively bunch, quick to learn and keen to impress. They
have relished the opportunity to familiarise themselves
with the new weapons and a field day of camp craft
helped broaden their knowledge. They are currently
taking their weapons proficiency tests, and may soon
be the ones firing on the training area, not just those
crawling to cover. They all show great promise for the
future.
The Army section prides itself on its variety and from
orienteering to section attacks, and voice procedure to
drill, we certainly have been showing our cadets what its
really like to be the best.
Mr Kinnear
104
CCFNAVY
Casualty sim
ulation
Jacobs Ladder - completed
Raleigh Winners
Royal Navy CCF Inspection
pes
on the high ro
Hannah Jolley
It has been a fantastically successful and
action packed year for the Royal Naval
CCF section. Lt Crd Peter Finan, along with
Mr Jonathan Brooker and Miss Nicola Preece,
witnessed a record number of RN recruits
signing up to take part in the myriad of activities
which have taken place over the past months.
In the Autumn Term, RN recruits enjoyed a fun
filled weekend of surfing in North Devon, where
they experienced the thrills and spills of the
water sports on offer in the local area.
HMS Raleigh Weekend was one of the
highlights in the CCF calendar which culminated
in the shield being awarded to Taunton School
following a victorious inspection and pulling
competition. Inspection Day welcomed Captain
Richard Farrington CBE of the Royal Navy and
saw members of the RN contingent emulate a
night pilotage and casualty simulation. High
ropes and team-building activities were the
order of the day at Cannington Activity Centre
and Vivary Park for the RN field days later in the
year. Wimbleball Lake hosted a group of eager
Fourth Formers to sharpen their sailing skills
and work towards an RYA Level 2 qualification
in the Summer Term. In addition, RN cadets
attended weekly sessions in which they
experienced shooting, climbing and swimming.
Lower Sixth cadets led the fourth formers
through a series of lessons which uncovered
the roles of the Royal Navy, ropes and nautical
navigation. Upper Sixth Petty Officers, Ben
Clarke and Alice MacKeith, did a fantastic
job at leading the section and demonstrated
exceptional organisation, resourcefulness and
leadership qualities.
We will be very sad to say farewell to Lt Crd
Finan and thank him for all his years of service
in the Taunton School CCF.
Miss Preece
105
CCFRAF
The RAF section has enjoyed another successful year. In the
Autumn Term we ventured to Cheddar Gorge where the cadets
honed the map and compass skills which they learn as part of
the taught syllabus. The weather held out, and all groups made
it back safe and sound - although not necessarily in the same
order as when they set out!
In January we welcomed the new Fourth Form cadets, half of whom
were able to go flying. The opportunity was thoroughly enjoyed by all
– even Rex Cole, whose yells of excitement-cum-terror while airborne
could almost be heard from the ground. The other cadets were not
so lucky, as low cloud meant this flying date had to be cancelled:
regrettable, but perhaps to be expected given the vagaries of English
weather. Fingers crossed for blue skies next time.
The Lent Term brought another Field Day and
Inspection Day. Our day at Cobbs Cross Farm
was excellent, with everybody clearly gaining
something from the experience, be it overcoming
obstacles as part of a team, exerting physical
strength and balance...or laughing until the tears
fall as another cadet dangles helplessly from a rope.
Inspection Day was obviously a more formal affair,
and the RAF section carried themselves well.
Unfortunately we did not win the Gun-Run
– exposed buttons under the cargo net
proved our undoing. Lesson learned.
Nervous smiles
Jacob’s Ladder, Field Day
I would like to thank Mr Luke Waller
and Ms Tracey Coleman, without whose
leadership over the past years the RAF
section would not be what it is today.
As they leave us, so too do many of our
cadets in the Fifth Form and Upper Sixth.
I thank them for their commitment and
efforts over the years, and wish them well.
Mr Wood
Vincent Hofmann flight-suited up
Trek Force
“Everyone is valued in Trek Force
as we all have skills we can offer”
Group paintballing
At the start of a new school
year, good weather in the
initial weeks allowed us to
explore more of the local
countryside on foot. During
wet weather sessions we
used the time to learn map
skills in the classroom, and
complete exercises such as
plotting routes.
The Autumn Term Field Day was spent at
Lyme Regis. With our hammers and safety
goggles at the ready (that some felt they
looked very cool in) we went fossil hunting,
smashing open rocks in the hope of being
the first person to see an organism hundreds
of thousands of years old. Miss Wedgwood
became the new Head of Trek Force in the
Lent Term.
Where next?
Trek Force is now split into two mixed form
groups due to growing numbers, and they
alternate different activities each week. So
far we have spent time learning about camp
craft, putting up different styles of tents,
kayak racing in the pool, and undertaking a
navigation session to improve our map skills.
We have also had competitions to test our
observational skills and team work. On the
weeks where the groups are off-site, they
have put their map skills to test with bearings
exercises on the Quantocks and map reading
tasks at Orchard Portman.
We recently had the honour of a talk from
the 16th lady to climb Mount Everest, Dr
Anna Shekdar. She detailled her gruelling
expedition and brought in some of her kit for
us to look at.
Cooking
Our Lent Term Field Day was spent
paintballing with the Fifth Form reigning
victorious.
Miss Wedgwood
107
Ten Tors
It has been a difficult journey to get to
the position of having three teams for this
years Ten Tors event. The training has taken
place in predominantly bad weather, testing
navigation and equipment to the limit. Team
members have also had their ups and downs.
With the ever expanding exams we only had 6
volunteers for the 45 and 55 mile teams, there
was no room for injury. The 35 mile training
threw up a few surprises as well.
The weather on Thursday, when setting up
camp nearly made it impossible to put up
the tentage. We only had one tent up after
2 hours of battling with 40mph winds and
driving rain. However, Friday, May 11th
dawned with improving weather and 18 pupils
ready to do their best. By 8pm on Saturday
night the 35 mile team were camped at tor 8.
The 45 mile team were somewhere between
Tor 5 and 6 and the 55 mile team were
between tor 6 and 7. On Sunday morning, the
weather was even brighter and the 35 mile
team arrived at 12.30pm. The 45 mile team
were complete and finished at 15.01 followed
a little while later by the 55 mile team at 15.57.
45 Mile Team on Coombestone Tor
Taking on this event is probably one of
the hardest and most physical things a
student can take part in. Mr Kinnear would
like to congratulate all who took part to make
this, another successful year.
Mr Kinnear
inish
Team F
35 Mile
45 Mile Team approaching the finish
Relief!
“testing navigation and equipment to the limit.”
108
The Duke
of Edinburgh
Award
The Duke of Edinburgh has had another
successful year with 18 students gaining
their Gold Awards before leaving the
school. It started with Harry Speedy and
Rebecca Kinnear getting their badges in the
Autumn Term and finishing with Charlotte Pickard
passing hers on Commemoration Day.
The next day, 14 Lower Sixth students flew to
Scotland for their expedition assessments in the
Trossacks. After four wet days all successfully
passed. We have also had nine Fifth Form
students doing their Silver Award, three of who
have already finished and moved onto Gold.
Bronze is also progressing well with 49 students
completing the expedition part of in the Summer
Term, even the illegal rave in Belever Forest
didn’t stop them, although some did have a
rather sleepless night at Dury Farm less than half
a kilometre from the music.
Gold Dofe The Trossacks 2012
Gold DofE group crossing Loch Lomond
We are now into another third year of E-Dofe, the
electronic Dofe, which is recorded online and the
participants are now getting the hang of it with
more and more completing each year.
Mr Kinnear
M/C of Duke of Edinburgh
109
Australian
Exchange
Seven Year 9 pupils left
in February to spend six
weeks in Melbourne as part
of the Australian Exchange.
They went to two schools, Carey
Grammar School and Eltham College, and
lived with host families during their stay.
Their partners returned to Taunton in the
summer for six weeks.
The Taunton School pupils were Emily
Bosworth, Tesni Collins, Holli Downham,
Maddie Newton, Max Staniland, Archie
Burton and Milly Day
The return leg started in May. On their
arrival from Melbourne, the seven
Australian students were pleasantly
surprised by the lovely weather that we
get in England. It was a glorious first
week and it allowed them the opportunity
to get out to see some of the lovely
Somerset countryside and visit some
local attractions such as Wells Cathedral,
Glastonbury and Clarkes Village! And
then the real British summer kicked in!
Nevertheless, it did not dampen their
spirits and they fully immersed themselves
in their host families, their new found
friends and an array of school cultural and
sporting activities.
at the School
their first day
on
ts
en
ud
st
change
Australian Ex
Six weeks in Melbourne or Taunton is not
really a long time at all, but it will provide
lifelong memories to all involved.
Mr Kelly
TS Studen
ts
110
at the Airp
ort before
flying out
In the first week and a half of the Easter
holidays I, along with 22 other students from
Taunton School, was given an incredibly
unique and highly educational opportunity in
the form of a nine day visit to the sprawling
conurbation of Shenzhen, Southern China.
Every individual on the trip clearly gained a
great deal, both in the form of souvenirs which
they had obtained, but more importantly
an enlightened perspective upon the most
populous country worldwide. We distinguished
a vast number of differences in the cultures
of the west and east in many areas; cuisine,
apparel, etiquette and many more.
In particular, the food was vastly
different to our own; during our
stay we consumed tofu, seaweed,
goose neck, chicken foot and
huge amounts of rice! Whilst
some students did jump at every
opportunity to visit Pizza Hut and
Made in
China
McDonalds, I think everyone got a good taste
of the colourful foods that are such delicacies
in the region.
One overwhelming perspective that I believe
we all obtained on this visit was the overall
wealth, happiness and tranquillity of all the
locals that we met. Perhaps we were all so
astonished as this is not the view that we
receive from the Western media.
It truly was an eye opening experience, not
one that many of us will forget. I would be
surprised if not all of the students did not see
it as a fantastic insight into the tradition of a
place and culture very different from our own.
Joe de Pass
A group photograph at the viewpoint overlooking the city of Shenzhen
111
Ski Trips
Sixth Form Ski Trip to La Thuile Easter 2012
Beautiful weather and excellent snow conditions greeted 31 Sixth Form pupils and four staff in La Thuile, Italy.
Skier of the week was undoubtedly Jeremy Soper (Lower Sixth) although special mention must be made of Oki
Nwakohu (Upper Sixth) who went from being a total beginner to skiing black runs in four days. Fancy Dress Friday was
a real success with the prize going to the sumo wrestling outfits worn by Josh Kelly (Upper Sixth) and Aaron McGough
(Upper Sixth). It has to be said that the quality of singing at the karaoke evenings was not in the same league as the
skiing but enjoyable nonetheless.
Many thanks to the teachers for organising the week. If you are in the Sixth Form - you really should not miss this trip!
Mr Mason
Junior Ski Trip
The Junior Ski Trip was a great success this year and thoroughly enjoyed by all.
The first day did not disappoint as the snow conditions were excellent and everyone was happy with their grouping.
We were mixed with another school so as to make sure the groups were even and that everyone was pushed whatever
standard they were. The groupings were flexible enabling plenty of upward movement for those who ‘stood out’.
The whole week continued in this vein and apart from some great progress from all on the slopes we enjoyed some
evening activities such as shopping, a ski show, curling and a pizzas evening. A few impromptu snowball fights filled
any gaps and seemed to be the favourite pastime. I must remember to put this in the Risk Assessment next year!
The group as a whole got on very well and friends from a School in Barnsley were made. I would like to thank all the
students who went on the trip for their outstanding behaviour and attitude. They were an absolute pleasure to be with
and represented Taunton School perfectly. I would also like to thank Lucy Turner for her support and expertise.
The trip was a really worthwhile experience and I would encourage any student to come along, whether they are a
total beginner or expert skier.
Mr Gush
112
Rugby Tour
South Africa / Namibia
Rugby Tour 2012
After 18 months of planning and fund raising,
41 boys and 5 staff left for Heathrow for the start
of the tour. Air travel is never the most reliable
and after an 8 hour delay in Johannesburg we
eventually arrived at the Goedgedacht Trust for
a most unusual start to a rugby tour. The project
is a farming community set up to support local
children in poverty and the boys learnt about
the project and met some of the children. A very
grounding experience but very valuable.
Over the next two weeks we visited Cape Town,
Stellenbosch, Knysna and Johannesburg in
South Africa; followed by Windhoek, Otjiwarongo
and the Etosha National Park in Namibia. The
boys saw the natural beauty of two remarkable
countries including: Table Mountain, the coastline
of the Cape, whale watching, great white shark
cage diving, the largest strawberry in the world,
world famous vineyards, cheetahs and crocodiles
up close, a pride of lions, a waterhole teaming
with large game and all sorts of wildlife. They
also experienced the reality of life in Southern
Africa. We were escorted through 3 townships
where people live in poverty surrounded by HIV,
alcoholism and crime.
The main purpose of the visit was to extend
the arm of friendship and challenge ourselves
through rugby. The boys were hosted by local
schools and we played 10 matches winning 7.
This was a fantastic achievement, particularly by
the Development squad (SCA’s) who won all their
matches.
“A once in a lifetime experience.”
cont...
113
Rugby Tour
cont
Results:
Senior Squad
Development Squad
V Presidents HS
Won 19-13
Won 26-7
V Paul Roos
Lost 33-7
Won 64-0
V Roodepoort HS
Won 15-10
Won 22-0
V Windhoek Gimnasium
Lost 36-5
Won 19-14
V Otjiwarongo Rugby
Lost 21-20
Won 46-0
For some, a tour such as this is a
“once in a lifetime experience”
and will live long in the memory
of all involved.
Mr Kelly
114
Avalon Challenge 2013
An incredible voyage of learning, discovery, and family adventure
awaits for a select few who dare to accept the Avalon Challenge
next Easter and Summer.Tread in the mythical footsteps of King
Arthur, Merlin and Lancelot, to uncover clues across Ancient
Wessex, but be prepared - some of these clues you will need all
your daring and strength to uncover... Clues will involve
undertaking classic adventure activities.This is a challenge for the
brave and cunning!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
4 Day Adventure
Cryptic Challenge
Open to Families
Ages 8 upwards
Adventure Activities
Qualified Leaders
Specialist Equipment Provided
Learning, Outdoors, Adventure!
Challenges will take place in the Easter Holidays and Summer Holidays 2013.
Places are limited, so please call us to find out more.This is a very special
and unique experience - be ready for a true adventure!
To register your interest and to find out more - please contact us:
Adventure Café
Telephone 01460 249191
[email protected]
www.adventure-cafe.com
Adventure Café is a specialist organiser of outdoor adventure events, including trekking, cycling, open canoeing, caving, rock climbing, orienteering and abseiling.All leaders
are qualified, and all activities are fully insured.All payments for Adventure Café Tours are protected under the package travel regulations 1992 - with IPP Ltd. Of London.
Offering more
Taunton School, Taunton,
Somerset TA2 6AD
Telephone: 01823 703703
www.tauntonschool.co.uk
Taunton School Educational Charity is a company limited by guarantee. Registration number 4005803.
Registered Office: Clerk to the Governors, Taunton School, Taunton TA2 6AD. A registered charity, number 1081420