Issue 53 Summer 2015

HigHligHtss t A l B A N s s C H O O l

Genetic ResearchA Sixth former won third place in the Young Scientist of the Year awards in a presentation at the Big Bang Fair in Birmingham. She had been selected as one of the top 5 entries from 200 finalists at the event at the National Exhibition Centre. Ellen’s project studied the genetics of wheat in order to reduce toxins. Ellen spent five weeks at Rothamsted Research in Harpenden, cloning a gene in wheat in order to study the toxic effects of a protein called asparagine.

Ellen gave a presentation to industry experts at the NEC. ‘It wasn’t as intimidating as it might seem,’ she said, ‘as they were all really interested in what we had been doing and were very helpful and friendly.’In further recognition, Ellen’s project has been selected to enter the 27th European Union Contest for Young Scientists, which takes place in Milan next September.

Exceptional University OffersTwelve pupils from St Albans School have been awarded conditional offers from Oxford and Cambridge Universities. The degree subjects chosen by pupils range from English and History to Chemistry and Engineering. Six further students have secured offers to study medicine and another student has a place to study dentistry.

‘The number of offers received by our pupils, and the range of subjects they wish to study, demonstrate the quality and breadth of their talents and the teaching which has inspired them,’ said Headmaster Jonathan Gillespie. ‘Many other pupils have received offers, both conditional and unconditional, at top universities throughout the country,’ he added. ‘This echoes the recent ISI Report findings that the achievements of our pupils are ‘exceptional’.’

ROUsiNg MUsiC FROM JOiNt sCHOOlsThe audience in the Abbey was stirred by the varied programme of music in the Joint Schools’ Concert, marshalled under the baton of Director of Music Mick Stout. Pupils from St Albans School and St Albans High School, together with former pupils and parents, began with two majestic anthems by William H Harris. The orchestra joined the choir for Ralph Vaughan Williams’ inspiring Serenade to Music, where Georgia Davis’ violin solo and Joanna Nolan’s soprano solo were finely judged. The rendition of William Walton’s Spitfire Prelude & Fugue was tremendously stirring, with the forces of brass and percussion to the fore, but leaving space for a violin solo by Thomas Hillman.

The performance of Karl Jenkins’ thirteen part The Armed Man followed the interval, with a dynamic opening drumbeat heralding impending martial conflict. The ‘Adhaan’, a rendition of the Muslim call to prayer The moving ‘Kyrie’ preceded a dramatic male voice ‘a cappella’ and then an ominous ‘Sanctus’. Strong, vigorous music formed the backdrop to Kipling’s ‘Hymn Before Action’, with trumpets and drums then dominating ‘Charge!’ A gong signalled a mournful commemoration of Hiroshima. The dramatic Torches featured the words of the Hindu epic, The

M a h a b h a r a t a , before the mood changed for the final four parts, which expresses hope for a more p e a c e f u l e r a . The ‘Benedictus’ f e a t u r e d a beautiful cello s o l o f r o m OA Joe Davies. An unaccompanied h y m n c l o s e d an evening of i m m e n s e l y impressive and v e r y m o v i n g music.

The Joint Schools’ Concert filled the nave of the Abbey with sound

Sixth Form Drama students staged two challenging performances as part of their A Level studies. Mark Ravenhill’s Pool (no water) examines the fragility of friendship and ends with a horrible accident, and was performed with strong physical theatre ensemble work by the AS students. The actors worked as a chorus as well as contributing as individual characters, and James Smillie’s lighting created a suitably threatening mood.

Bookended by movement sequences, the A2 drama students gave a powerful performance of their devised piece, Agender. On an almost bare stage, their

skilled ensemble work explored the problems, physical and psychological, faced by transgender people. A brave, uncompromising piece of drama told the harrowing stories of individuals w h i l e a l s o e x a m i n i n g p o p u l a r misconceptions, media stereotypes and conventional attitudes. By turns shocking, funny and painful, the piece allowed each group member to emerge in individual roles, supported by sensitive ensemble movement work throughout. Forthright and challenging, to performers and audience, this was an important piece of dramatic work, the students pushing their skills into new areas.

Challenging Agenda for AL Drama

The high profile concert in the Abbey was not the only musical event last term. St Peter’s Church also played host to a lunchtime concert featuring a range of styles, instruments and singers. It followed the Award Holders’ Concert and both contained music for instruments as diverse as recorder and euphonium. There were classical pieces, including Beethoven, Prokofiev and Debussy, and more modern music, with Sean Bracebridge and James Lear even performing their own compositions.

The Jazz Evening was a high-octane night of driven rhythm and varied vocals. The Jazz Band en masse was loud, punchy and controlled, opening the evening and a number of solo vocal pieces shifted the mood, with Sean Bracebridge’s tender version of ‘My Funny Valentine’, James Lear’s own composition ‘Women’ and William Foxton’s controlled ‘Happy Days Are Here Again.’ We even had dancing, though Nadine Carasco and Matthew McClafferty sang ‘I Won’t Dance’, while the full band supporting Jemma Attar and Lizzie Horton in ‘Big Spender’ made a thrilling noise. With musical

Rising from the BASEA Sixth Form team has won the regional heat of student business competition BASE 2015, an annual national competition organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants. As Regional winners, our team of Adam Pittal, Vishal Patel, William Pavey, Ben Bell, Will Maynard and Zayem Shahabuddin will go to the final in Birmingham in late June.

Composition and Performancemastery from performers both young and more experienced, this was a terrific night’s entertainment.

Model UN PupilsSeventeen of our pupils participated in the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School Model United Nations, in which they discussed the great questions of international affairs. Two of our students were recognised for their performances. Tom Alexander was ‘Highly Commended’ and David Clegg won the most prestigious award going at a Model United Nations conference, that of ‘Best Delegate’ in the Security Council.

Lady Rosalind Runcie was remembered at the annual memorial

masterclass. Ronan O’Hara, international pianist and Head

of Keyboard Studies and Head of Advanced Performance Studies at the Guildhall School of Music and

Drama in London, was on hand to offer advice to six young players. The

students from St Albans School and St Albans High School played

pieces by Beethoven, Ravel, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff and Kaski, benefiting from Ronan’s sensitive suggestions and inspirational encouragement. After an interval, Ronan O’Hara himself delighted the audience with piano music by Mozart, Brahms, Liszt and Schubert , demonstrating why The Washington Post said of him ‘his playing is lyrical and full of feeling.’

Scaling Snowdon: The Duke’s

Gold Practice Expedition

Two pupils sample the wurst

the Cologne Christmas

Markets have to offer

Two groups of Fifth Form students tackled their Duke of Edinburgh’s Silver Award practice expeditions at Easter. One group took on the High Peak while another group trekked over the South Downs. Meanwhile, 19 students travelled to the Snowdonia National Park to undertake their Gold practice expedition. No fewer that 43 pupils were awarded their Silver Awards this term by the Headmaster. Three highly successful Gold candidates, Matt Feast, Pippa English and James Govey, who endured a four day expedition in challenging mountain terrain, also received their badges, ahead of a certificate award ceremony at St James’ Palace.

Departmental trips last term spanned Europe. GCSE and Sixth Form pupils visited Madrid to see great works of art and help prepare sketchbooks for their forthcoming exams.

Language students took part in successful exchange schemes, while forty boys travelled to Cologne to visit its famous Christmas Markets, taking in the delicious treats on offer as well as a visit to the Chocolate Museum and the breathtaking views from the spire of the Cathedral.

A Level History students developed their understanding of Germany’s history with a visit to Berlin. They were introduced to fascinating landmarks including the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag.

Student skiers found plenty to test them on a trip to Winter Park, Colorado. Despite demanding skiing, they found the energy for evening activities, including a classic South Western barbecue at Smokin’ Joe’s.

European Excursions

DofE Expeditions and Awards

Totting Up the MedalsUpper and Lower Sixth students took on the challenge of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s International Olympiad where Rachel Hoffman gained a Gold award. The School also traditionally scores well in Senior Mathematics Challenges and this continued with 8 Gold awards, 16 Silver and 23 Bronze. Selected for the British Mathematical Olympiad were Patrick Semark and Thomas Hillman. This is a remarkable achievement for Thomas, who as a Third Former, qualified with the highest mark in the School. Many Middle School mathematicians entered the IMC last term, gaining 59 Bronze awards, 45 Silver and 32 Gold. In March four of our junior boys came first in the Regional Maths Challenge. Congratulations also go to seven L6 pupils who took part in the UK Linguistics Olympiad. They worked out patterns and codes from obscure or artificially created languages. Two gained Silver awards and two won Bronze.

St Albans School is a company limited by guarantee.Registered in England No. 4400125 Charity No. 1092932 Registered Office: Abbey Gateway, St Albans, Herts. AL3 4HB

sPORt: Senior Runners Sign Off in StyleCross Country: The team kept busy over the Christmas break, with a day in Sevenoaks training over the Knole Run course in which they then took 2nd place at the official event on the first Saturday of term. Soon after was the King Henry VIII Relay, widely regarded as the premier race of the season. Though the team was not fully fit, determined running from Ben, Adam Thorpe and Tom Halling placed us within 20 seconds of the leading pack. Captain Robbie Lightowler brought us into the top three and a heroic effort from Dan Myers gave our team a hard-fought second place, forty seconds behind a fully fit Judd School team.

The challenging Judge Cup in Richmond Park saw Robbie Lightowler lead from the beginning and Dan Myers take fourth place just metres before the line to seal the win. These gruelling races kept our runners on their toes despite illness, injury and adverse weather conditions resulting in some well-deserved victories.

Our finest moment was certainly winning The South East Championships run at Harrow School, where our senior team ran expertly over a muddy 7.2km course. Captain Robbie Lightowler finished in first place to become the South East Schools’ Champion and the rest of the team scored a highly impressive 82. Their incredible achievements were a fitting end to Adam Thorpe, Dan Myers and Robbie’s School Cross Country careers.

Hockey: The 1st XI, captained by Tim Richards, proved themselves capable of playing fluent, attacking hockey. They recorded impressive victories against

strong hockey schools (Merchant Taylors’, Felsted and Framlingham) and played well on the Easter tour to Belgium. The 2nd XI had an excellent season, finishing unbeaten against other schools’ 2nd XIs, and good results and fine performances from the U15 age group gave encouraging signs of promise for senior teams in future years.

Lacrosse: The girls enjoyed a successful season. Playing Oakham School’s First team they won 11-9 following on with impressive victories against Princess Helena College in a league match (10-1) and St Albans High School (9-6), Abbot’s Hill (8-4) and Watford Grammar (8-4). The squad played superbly in the South East Schools’ Lacrosse Festival and beat worthy opponents St James’, St Helen’s and Pipers Corner Schools, coming fourth overall.

Netball: The team had a demanding season with great success in the latter half. One particularly impressive victory against Loreto College resulted in 17-0 win. Triumphs against St George’s, Beaumont and St Albans High School in succession meant the team gathered momentum to end the season with victories against Verulam, Roundwood and in some of the Upper Sixth’s last ever game for St Albans, Captain Pippa English led the girls to a spectacular 24-7 victory against Aldenham.

Athletics: George Grant was awarded the Daniel Sacks Memorial Award for Boys’ Outstanding Athletic Achievement for winning the Middlesex U17 pole vault title, competing at English Schools’

Championship in the Pole Vault, where he achieved a personal best of 4m, and competing in the Youth Development National League Final.

Shooting: The Senior A team shot consistently throughout the term. Aidan Collins was the top shot for the team with a 94.4 average. Our A team won the Keith Emsall Trophy for the fifth year running, with a new record score of 398, only two points off a perfect score.

Football: The 1st XI played a nail-biting match against Beaumont, winning with penalties 3-2 to take them into the semi-finals of the District U18 Cup where they narrowly missed out on a place in the final. The U15s went one better in reaching the final in their age group, although they were unable to secure a win. The U16s, U15s and U14s played home and away matches with vigour and won against Sandringham, Nicholas Breakspear, Beaumont, Roundwood Park and John Warner.

I n d i v i d u a l A c h i e v e m e n t s : Ay o Olukotun was selected for the English Independent Schools’ U14 Rugby squad. Tolaji Bola represented England in the international Montaigu Football Tournament and also Arsenal FC at the Alkass Tournament in Qatar. Sam Alexander continues to be selected for the Herts Schools FA team. Matthew Sherriff was chosen to represent St Albans District at the Inter-District Swimming Championships and Louis Rhydderch was selected for English Ski Team training in Norway. Charles Broom won his first International Tennis Federation title. He was seeded second in the Bellevue event in Sweden and his U18 international ranking has risen to a career-high 265. He is in excellent company as previous winners include exalted names in the tennis world. Aidan Collins was selected to shoot in this year’s British School’s Small-bore Rifle Association School’s International Match. He shot for the D team, producing a gun score of 191 and received an England badge.

For several seniors, the season was a fitting end to their School running careers

The girls competed

strongly in the lacrosse season