Rydal Penrhos Newsletter - Issue 1

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WelcomeI hope that you will enjoy reading this first edition of the new-style Rydal Penrhos School newsletter. This edition spansthe period of the Autumn term 2011 and Spring term 2012, but we are planning that future issues will be published termly.

The thinking behind the new format is that we want to spread news and reports about the school more frequently than oncea year, in order to keep the information current. What goes round comes around - looking back through the archives, wehave come full circle from the 1950s, when each term Rydal produced ‘The Rydalian’ for this very reason to keep pupilsand parents informed about events and achievements within the school.

The excellent range and quality of academic and extra-curricular activity that this newsletter records is a reflection of thehard work and time that pupils, parents and staff dedicate to the school and its aims. So much more goes on daily in theschool that is not reported in these pages, and it’s great to know that there is such diversity in our pupils’ achievements andto sense the enjoyment that they derive from doing well and taking part.

Patrick Lee-Browne, Headmaster

2011 saw the school’s best A-level results since the current A-levelcurriculum was introduced ten years ago, and it is significant thatall bar four of the candidates secured at least one B grade, showingthe breadth of the schools’ success. 85% of pupils achieved A*-C, 64% scored grades A*-B, and out of 25 A-level candidates,37% were awarded A* and A grades.

The A-level results stand alongside the school’s success in the International Baccalaureate; those results were published in July2011, and the 28 IB candidates achieved an average score of 31.5 points. On the tariff usedby UCAS for university admissions, the average IB score of 398 UCAS points is equivalentto 2 A*s and an A – a truly outstanding achievement. When combined with the A-level

results, the school’s average points score is356, equivalent to every leaver achieving 3 Agrades.

In GCSE 91% of candidates scored A*-Cgrades – the standard measure for success atGCSE – and 46% of those were A* and Agrades. The year group scored an averageof 9 A*-C passes. Three candidates scoredall A* and A grades: Annabel Large, HenrySalisbury and Sarah Wright amassed 34 of the top grades between them, anda total of 17 pupils achieved at least seven A* or A grades each.

Excellent Exam Results in 2011

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Wednesday 16 May, 9.30am-12pmPreparatory, Pre-Prep and Early Years Open Morning

Friday 18 May, 2-4pmRydal Penrhos Open Afternoon

Friday 22 June, 6.30pmInformation evening for new Year 7 parents

Wednesday 4 JulyInto Year 7 Induction Day for Year 6 pupils

Friday 5 OctoberPreparatory School Open Day

Saturday 6 OctoberRydal Penrhos Open Day

We are delighted that current Head Boy, Thomas Warrington,has been offered a place to read Engineering at EmmanuelCollege, Cambridge. Stephen Brown, who left last summer,has also been awarded a post-results place to study Mathematics at Churchill College, Cambridge.

Academic News

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The 2011 cohort found they were competing against a hugenational increase in applications, as students around thecountry tried to gain entry to degree courses before the increase in tuition fees at the beginning of September 2012. Amazingly, only one student had to be placed through clearing, with the majority being accepted onto their first-or second-choice course while others are taking a GAP year.The universities of York, Newcastle and Manchester Metropolitan were the most popular destinations for RydalPenrhos leavers. The most popular courses applied for wereMedicine, Business courses and Law degrees. This reflectsa national trend of vocational courses becoming more popular. A number of German students either applied toAustria or the Netherlands as the German University systemalso had a shortage of places last year. Of those who tooka year out, we are pleased to report that following her success with 44 out of 45 IB points, Josefin Betsholtz has - secured an offer to read Physics at MIT.

Leavers’ Destinations

Maths Highlights

2012 Upcoming Events

The Senior Individual Maths Challenge, which took place in November, saw twenty Sixth form mathematicians take part -and do exceptionally well. Bronze certificates (top 20%) were awarded to Julienne Krool, Michelle Tan, Nikita Bogatyrev,Josh Jackson and Kristina Sagalied. Silver certificates went to MayaLin, James Fulker, Sion Roberts and Andriy Levitskyy. Tom Warrington and Ken Ngai gained Gold (top 6%). Tom Warrington gained the ‘Best in School’ award.

At the Intermediate level, twenty Year 10 and 11 mathematicians tookpart, achieving two Bronze certificates for Jan Heins and JohnMarston, Silver certificates for Vlad Verminskiy, Andriy Levitskyy andShirley Sha. Robert Warrington gained Gold (top 6%) Robert Warrington also gained the ‘Best in School’ award and went forwardto the Pink Kangaroo round.

Another highlight of the year was the Maths Inspiration lectures we attended in Manchester. These lectures are designed to inspire ourSixth form students; they cover a wide range of topics and demon-strate just how useful Mathematics is in real life. The lectures consisted of ‘Maths in the Simpsons’, ‘From Google to Gaming’and ‘ Reconstructing the DamBusters’. I think the most memorable moment was when we all realised that with just ourknowledge of Matrices and Simultaneous Equations we could have invented Google! However, the Dambuster lecture reallywas truly inspirational. The trip was so successful we intend to make this an annual event.

Tom is heading for Cambridge

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For his swansong Mr Lavin chose to return to Shakespeare, perhapshis greatest love, but also one of the greatest challenges for anyschool drama production. Helped by Miss Cunnah, a fantastic castand a host of extremely competent backroom – and front of house– helpers and assistants, all of these difficult challenges were overcome with panache, energy, and a huge sense of the fun of thecomedy. Not bad for such a young cast working with language over400 years old. A huge credit to all concerned.

The Memorial Hall had been set up virtually “in the round” for the production but with one side (the traditional stage side) being leftfree of seating – except that is for the Art Deco chaise longue whichwas to host Titania’s mid-forest boudoir later in the play.

All in all this was a pacy, funny and enjoyable production, much enjoyedby this reviewer and the audience on that night. I regret not seeing Ann YuEngebretsen and Emily Harrison as Helena and Hermia and Laura Nunez-Mulder with her interpretation of Titania, but what I did see I enjoyedvery much indeed. Mr Lavin will be sorely missed.

The full review by Dr Edwards can be read at www.rydalpenrhos.com.

Matthew Grosart was a revelation as Bottom,with boundless energy demanding attention andgrabbing the audience every time he emerged.

From the moment LaniHarker took to the stage shecommanded it with resonantvoice and real presence.

From the moment LaniHarker took to the stage shecommanded it with resonantvoice and real presence.

Joel Sugarman played Oberonwith verve, style and a lovelysense of both the potentialmagic that the part involvesand the rhythms and nuancesof the iambic pentameter.

Jaime Chan brilliantly cap-tured the difficult balance ofthe spoilt, petty, vain butalso wronged Hermia.

A Midsummer Night’s DreamTr

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New York, New York!The Canadian director, James Francis Cameron, once said that New York wasthe ’finest three-day town on earth’, and this is indeed near the truth. For thefive days the Rydal Penrhos Drama Group were in that greatest of metropolises,there was never a spare moment. From when we arrived, after nearly a day’sworth of travelling, to when we left, the group was constantly active, exploringthe Big Apple. You will forgive me, I’m sure, if this account is somewhat fractured or confused, as I was amongst those who had the least sleep.

Initially, we were split into our four groups, each governed by one of the adultspresent on the trip: Mr Murphy, Mr Lavin and the two Miss Cunnahs. All of theboys in my year group, as well as several girls in the year above, were put intoMr Lavin’s group.

On the first night, there were many of my group who witnessed for the firsttime what G.K. Chesterton called a ‘Glorious garden of wonders’; the lightsof Times Square at night. Many members of the group were overawed andstunned to silence at their first sight of this grand display.

Certainly over the following days and nights I experienced some things that,even in my state of sleep-deprivation, I could appreciate as being experienceswe may only have once in a lifetime. Seeing ‘Sister Act’ and then ‘Chicago’ whilesitting in the orchestra pit, a four-hour guided walking tour of the city, a journey on the subway, the two performance workshops (one with the Chicago’s‘Dance Captain’ and the Professor of acting at NYU, and the other with two ofthe performers from ‘Sister Act’) and seeing the whole of New York at night,from the top of the Empire State Building and the Rockefeller Center. We alsomanaged to squeeze in Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, Trump Tower, FifthAvenue, 42nd Street, the NBC Studios, the Winter Gardens, St Patrick’s Cathedral and Central Park. Not forgetting the unofficial ‘taste tour’ of NYC: munching our way through hot dogs, chilli dogs, dunkin’ donuts, ‘cawfee’, pizza,bagels, muffins, cheesecake, frozen yoghurt, cheese burgers and fries, ice-creamsundaes, pretzels, ‘beef jerky’, jelly beans, pancake stacks… there’s more butwe wouldn’t want to appear greedy!

However, many individual memories occur to me; a friend of mine ordering aplate of chips (or ‘fries’!) in a coffee shop when we were already running lateto meet the rest of our group; drinking four cups of iced coffee in one sittingin the foyer of Trump Tower (and feeling the effects!); walking around NewYork for nearly an hour to find a Subway sandwich shop and then finding thatone was inside the Rockefeller centre where our search had started; the entiregroup, led by an extremely excited Miss Cunnah, spontaneously bursting intoJourney’s 1980’s classic ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ as a ‘Flash Mob’ in Grand Central Station, complete with harmonies and hand movements. Truly our tripto New York was one to be remembered.

To conclude, I would like to thank the teachers who looked after our groupwith far more patience and diligence than I could have dreamed of providing.Without their care, our trip would have been ultimately doomed to failure, andfor that I most sincerely thank them, as do all my classmates who went on thetrip. Finally, a quote from Jonny Carson, ‘New York is an exciting town wheresomething is happening all the time, most unsolved.’ And another from SamuelJohnson, ‘When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life’. The same can definitely be said about New York.

Gabriel McCluskey, Year 10

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Performing Arts


Rydal Penrhos School scooped four first place prizes at theSpeech and Drama Festival, which took place on 10 March2012 and forms part of the Chester Competitive Festival ofPerforming Arts.

Year 10 pupil John Marston was awarded first place in VerseSpeaking for Year 9 & 10 and also collected the DelphineHargreaves Memorial Cup for the second year running!

In the Year 9 & 10 Solo Drama category, Year 10 pupil Kashmala Khan-Rehman won first prize and collected theMacDonald Trophy. Kashmala also won second place in theSolo Mime competition.

The Year 7 & 8 Solo Drama category saw three Rydal Penrhos pupils take part; Caroline Large secured secondplace while Tara Edwards and Olivia Rogerson received Commendations.

There were also successes in the Group categories, with Caroline Large, Tara Edwards and Olivia Rogerson scoopingthe first prize in the Year 7 & 8 Group Improvisation and thePrepared Original Scene categories. Second place for thePrepared Original Scene went to the group of Ed Lunt,Louis Thomas, Jacob Kingsley and JamesHarrison, whowere also commended for their Group Scene.

The Memorial Hall was filled to capacity as an audience of family, friends and pupils took to their seats for an evening ofmusical entertainment as Rydal Penrhos celebrated Christmas.

The Junior Chamber Choir accompanied by Miss Hearn and Sian Stanworth on the harps began the concert with an unforgettableversion of ‘In the Bleak Mid Winter’, followed by the Choir and thePrep School’s Junior Vocal Ensemble (JVE), who performed ‘Rise up Shepherdand Foller’. Incredible perform-ances followed by the Orchestra,the String group and a voicesolo by Emily Harrison beforeValentin Joerss, Max Lenzer andLuke Hellinga sang ‘Gaudete’.

The second half began with the Jazz Band performing an arrange-ment of ‘The Christmas Song’ by Year 10 pupils, saxophonist GlenDavies and pianist Nicholas Widdowson. They were followed by excellent performances by the Orchestra and the Wind group.

The evening drew to a close with the rugby boys (and friends)singing ‘Good King Wenceslas’, before the whole crowd were ontheir feet to sing along to ‘OCome all ye Faithful’ and ‘Wewish you a Merry Christmas’followed by huge applause forall of the performers and forMiss Hearn for arranging theevening.

Pupils Shine at Chester Speech & Drama Festival

Christmas Concert gets Crowd on their Feet

The music department has seen an exciting and energetic start to the academic year with not onlythe curriculum teaching of music but also all the extracurricular groups it encompasses. Musical enrichment is important at Rydal Penrhos and pupilscan get involved with orchestra, rock band, an ‘introduction to classical music’ club, African drumming, string quartet, the woodwind group, guitar club and the girl’s choir which is ever expanding in size and recently performed exceedingly well at the Llandudno Choral Festival in Llandudno accompanied by the Junior Vocal Ensemble (from the Prep school). This term welook forward to the Summer concert on 27 June2012.

Music Dept Update

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Being Creative


Eleanor Murphy, A-Level

Amelia Dunton, IB

Sophie Elliott, A-Level

I Can Hear The Thrush…

My mother says I’m strange. She says that I don’t belong. I sometimes wishthat they had never found me that dark November morning…

* * * * *

Animals had always fascinated me. I could stand in front of the elephant forhours, just looking, contemplating the graceful, yet clumsy animal. But myreal passion was birds. All I wanted was to feel the exhilaration of spreadingmy wings and to fly free, free as a bird you might say. That was where it allstarted, I suppose. When I looked at the song thrush, and it spoke.

“Did you hear that?”

“What?”My mother was looking at me, with an expression of – what was it?Worry? Fright?

“Hello.”

“Who said that?” I cried, spinning around frantically, looking for some othermouth, which the voice had come from. My mother was definitely scarednow,

“What can you hear?”

Instead of answering, I turned slowly to look at the thrush.

“Hellooo, are you listening?” said the bird in a singsong voice.

“Yes. I– I think I am.” I replied.

“Laura, what’s wrong? Laura!” my mother pleaded.

“It’s all right Mum.” I answered dreamily.

All my life I had wanted to talk to a bird, to ask what it felt like to soar highabove the clouds, and now I had the chance. But then a jolt of pain twistedthrough my skull. Another migraine. I turned to ask my Mum for a tablet, andwhen I looked back, the thrush was gone. I was feeling dizzy on my feet, sowe went back to the car. On the way home she grilled me for information onwhat had happened, but I was too tired to answer, and eventually she gaveup.

The second time it happened, I was in the park. The robin told me to runaway with her, where no-one could find me. Once again, my mother questioned me about what had happened, but I was too shocked to answerher, and the scared expression remained on her face.

The birds I could handle, but I got scared when the giraffe spoke to me inLondon zoo.

Suddenly every animal I passed talked to me, I heard things that no humanhad ever heard before. My mother kept shooting me worried glances, but Iwas too excited to notice, wrapped up in my own little world.

So when I said I was going to meet some friends, mum was visibly relieved.I had lost all contact with my mates at school. What I didn't tell her was thefriends were animals. I ran away that night, free at last.

I was found the following morning, by an elderly couple,talking to myself ona park bench in central London, and was taken to the hospital. They told mymother first. It was incurable now, they said, it was best if I didn’t know.Mum told me anyway. She always said I was strange.

Lily Spillane, Year 7

Maya Lin, IB

Six Nations Success!While Wales won the Grand Slam in Cardiff, Rydal Penrhos’ Rugby team lifted the Plate at the Powder ByrneSchools Six Nations tournament.

Held at London Scottish FC’s ground in Richmond, Sur-rey, school teams represented the six nations. Played overtwo days, the ten teams were split into two groups of fivewith the top two teams of each group qualifying for themain tournament and the runners-up competing for thePlate.

S u c c e s s f u l l y navigating throughthe early games ofthe pool stages withwins over LondonScottish (28-14) andTiffin School (17-12) the Rydal Pen-rhos team concededtheir first loss against Merchiston School 14-38 despite ex-cellent tries by Toby Twigg and Rhodri Mayor, convertedby Dion Jones.

Finishing in third place in their group, Rydal Penrhos qualified for the plate competition. In a semi-final matchagainst Fettes College, Rydal Penrhos won convincinglywith a score line of 28-0 and secured a place in the final.

The final saw Rydal Penrhos take on Tiffin School oncemore, and through quality of play and increased confidence, Rydal Penrhos earned a 36-0 win and the Plate.

Boys’ Sports

Rydal Penrhos are Welsh Schools Ski Champions!The Welsh Schools Ski Championship trophy has returned to NorthWales and to Rydal Penrhos for the first time since 1999!

The Boys ‘A’ Team of Henry Salisbury, Harrison Holmes, BenCrocker and Tom Harding secured the title at the Welsh SchoolsSkiing Championships held at Llangrannog at the beginning of October 2011.

Although the team had reached the podium over the past few years,the top place step had eluded them. However, Rydal Penrhos’ fortunes changed when Henry Salisbury and Harrison Holmesbegan the campaign with two excellent runs. Team member BenCrocker made an explosive entrance onto the run by bursting outof the gate, seemingly only hitting the ground half way down the course! Meanwhile, final team member Tom Hardingjoined a very select group of skiers on the Llangrannog course by putting in an 8 second run. Tr

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Twelve pupils represented Rydal Penrhos School at anU14 Tournament held at Eton on 22 January 2012. Thetournament was an individual competition where participants played with different partners, with the bestfour players progressing to the final.

Matthew Harding, Tom Cotterell and Shaswath Ganapathi played very well and won all of their gamesagainst some very tough opposition.

Shaswath successfully progressed into the final of thetournament, and with his partner took on a pair from StOlave’s who had won the same competition the previousyear. St Olave’stook some earlypoints andstormed to a 6-2lead but Shaswath produced somebreathtaking fivesto bring the scoreback to 6-6.Again they let thelead slip and weredown 11-8 until they brought it back to 11-11 with agreat display of mature fives. However, Shaswath andhis partner were not able to make their chances countand lost the game in a very tightly fought affair.

A new kit and a new coach marked the start of a much improved football season. Lee Williams used his experienceas a player to coach the boys, and training sessions increasedto twice a week. Wins against Rhyl FC and Ellesmere werenotable victories and a strong performance against The NewSaints demonstrates how far the team have come this year.

Lower Sixth pupil Roy Sterling has had an incredible year in thepool. Along with his Gold and Silver medals secured as part of theRelay Team at the Urdd Gala, he also claimed a further Gold forthe individual breaststroke as well as a Bronze medal in the individual backstroke.

At the Welsh National Championships,Roy’s race time in the Men’s Open Finalof the 100 metre Breaststroke resultedhim being ranked third overall in Britainin his age group as well as sixth in Walesfor any swimmer. The swim also earntRoy qualification for the British Championships for 17 and 18 year olds,taking place in the summer.

Roy Qualifies for Championships Fives Success

Improved Football Season

Talented runner, Tom Harding (Year 11) added another medal to his already impressivecollection, securing the silver medal at the Welsh Athletics Indoor Track & Field Championships held at UWIC Cardiff on 21 January 2012.

Competing in the U17 800 metre race, Tom crossed the line at an impressive 01:59:15only a few tenths of a second behind the gold medal winner.

Tom is currently ranked number two in the UK in the Under 17 category for the 800m,up from 101 in 2011, and impressively he is currently ranked number 63 in the 800mfor all age groups for 2012.

Talented Runner wins Silver

Swimmers Triumphant at Urdd GalaPupils travelled to Cardiff to compete in the Urdd National Swimming Gala on 29 January 2012 – returning to School clutching many medals!

The Senior Relay Team consisting of Roy Sterling, Tom Harding, Henry Salisbury andlate replacement Pavel Nevmovenko secured a Gold medal in a thrilling Freestyle Relayand a Silver medal in the Medley Relay.

The Year 9 & 10 Boys Freestyle Relay team of Dylan Coombes, Max Copeland, AdamZeitoun and Will Murphy secured second place and a Silver medal in the Freestyle Relayand finished in 4th place in the Medley Relay.

Individual swimmers also performed well with Louis Coombes securing a place in theIndividual Backstroke finals, while his brother Dylan finished in 5th place in the Individual Freestyle and 7th in Individual Backstroke. Year 9 & 10 Boys Freestyle Relay Team

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Ellie is a Future StarGirls’ Sports

Year 8 pupil, Ellie Scarff has been selected to join the LawnTennis Association’s AEGON FutureStars programme,which recognises and supports some of the best junior tennis players in the country. Chosen as part of the2011/2012 intake of tennis players,Ellie is joined by 477 other youngtennis players who will receive vary-ing levels of funding and supportfrom the Lawn Tennis Association(LTA). The selection is yet anotherachievement for Ellie, who recentlyrepresented Wales in the Interna-tional Tri-Nations Tennis Tourna-ment and is currently ranked number23 in the Under 12 category in Great Britain, as well asnumber 65 in the British Under-14 category.

In February 2012, Ellie secured the title of Scottish 12UIndoor Champion at the Scottish Open Indoor Championships held in Glasgow. Ellie beat Lancashireplayer Olivia Peet 6-4, 2-6, 10-6 in the final of the competition.

Ellie was also selected to represent North Wales along withher brother Adam, a pupil in the Upper Sixth in theAEGON 18U County Cup tournament thanks to their fantastic rankings. Ellie is currently ranked the number 1

player in North Wales in theUnder 12 and Under 14 category and an impressivenumber 5 in the Under 16 category. Meanwhile, Adam iscurrently ranked number 3 inthe fiercely competitive Under18 category.

Equestrianism Thrives2011 has seen the introduction of the Equestrianismclub into the Outdoor Education programme inschool. Based at stables just outside St Asaph, a groupof pupils are learning all about horses, from the saddling and mucking out through to different ridingtechniques in the indoor arena.

During the Easter break Year 11 pupil, Charlotte Rowlands competed for the school’s equestrian teamin the Interschool Dressage competition held atMaelor Equestrian Centre, Flintshire, and of coursewe are proud to have Georgia Wilson from Year 11who has been awarded a place on a prestigious equestrian training scheme as part of the World ClassPara-Equestrian Development Programme, whichtrains young riders to compete at Olympic level.

In November 2011, the girls’ senior team which includedClara Meyer, Annabel Large, Vanessa Biermannova and LilyRae won the senior girls event at the new Eirias Park course.While Seren Kerfoot-Robson finished in 9th place in theYear 8/9 individual category.

Annabel Large took part in the Welsh Schools Cross Country finals in February 2012 representing Eryri alongwith Nick Bellamy and Tom Harding. The standard of com-petition was extremely high and Annabel finished a highlycommendable 24th position in the U18 girls’ category.

There were excellent performances as the whole school tookpart in the Inter-House Cross Country in February 2012.Taking place on a new course route, Samantha Randall (Year7) led the Junior girls’ race, with Ellie Scarff (Year 8) andJenni Greenwood (Year 8) finishing in second and third place respectively.

The Intermediate girls’ race was saw Jodi Anchors (Year 9)in third place, Jemelia Bentouri (Year 10) in second and an excellent performance by Seren Kerfoot-Robson (Year 9)who finished in first place.

Cross Country

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U16s Win Netball FinalThe U16 netball team took part in the Conwy U16 AnnSmart Final in January 2012, where they faced competition from Dyffryn Conwy and Bryn Elian.

A 27-0 win over Dyffryn Conwy began the tournament,however Bryn Elian proved to be fierce competitors. Taking an early lead, Rydal Penrhos settled into a fluentpattern of play but Bryn Elian played well defensively andpulled the score back to 7-8 at half time.

The second half saw Bryn Elian continue to dominate thegame but, with focus and determination, Rydal Penrhosstarted to pull the score back with some excellent shootingby Beth Mather and Hannah Cashell. The final score of

15-12 resulted inR y d a l P e n r h o sb e i n g declared theConwy U16Champions.

U14s are Eryri ChampionsThe Under 14 girls outclassed all opposition in the EryriTournament held in March 2012.

The team’s first game against Ysgol Friars began slowly,however the U14s soon got into the game and won 5-3. The team then went on to beat Ysgol David Hughes10-4, Llangefni 8-2, Ysgol Y Berwyn 12-1 and Ysgol SirHuw Owen 8-6.

Some excellent shooting from Hannah Cashell and LydiaDixon, some fabulous mid court play from Seren Kerfoot-Robson and Robyn Cannell and very strong defending from Abi Klazinga, Ellie Scarff and AngharadGrindal saw Rydal Penrhos’ U14 team become the Eryrichampions.

Hockey RoundupThe Girls’ Hockey season was full of hope and promise, muchof it realised but without anything tangible to prove it. TheU12 team enjoyed a winning season and there is much to lookforward to in this talented group of girls. The U13 team beganslowly but their mid-season thrashing of one opponent by 13-0 sparked a fresh determination in the team and, marshalledsuperbly by Ellie Scarff, Jenni Greenwood and Tara Edwards,they ended the season well. The U14 team were the most successful team and were area champions and virtually

unbeaten all year. Like the U16s, who alsoqualified for the Eryri as area champions, they missed out dueto external examination clashes. There is plenty of room forrevenge next year, though. The two senior sides played manyplayers from younger years and gained useful experience. Wewill be sorry to lose a notable group of Year 13 girls after manyyears of service – well done to Catherine, Lydia, Beth, Anna,Amelia and Eleanor in particular.

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Outdoor Education


Rydal Penrhos School has a long-running history of Outdoor Education, thanksin part to the School’s location close to the Snowdonia National Park, as well asits walking distance from the sea.

Mr Proudlove was appointed Outdoor Education Coordinator in September2011, responsible for the organisation of the weekly programme and primary manager of the Rydal Penrhos Duke of Edinburgh Operating Authority.

Mr Proudlove is hugely qualified for the role, having studied Outdoor Education at University. He is supported by experi-enced staff including Dr Roberts, Mr Baxter, Ms Margerison,Miss Hearn, Mr Bathie and qualifed freelance staff includingMark Hedge and Darren Williams of Eryri Mountaineering.

Pupils take part in a range of different and exciting activitiesincluding biogeography, canoeing, kayaking, climbing, cycling, mountaineering, sailing, skiing, walking, orienteering and navigation.

Direct experience outside the classroom stimulates and reinforces learning, while also encouraging young people to take

greater responsibility for their own learning, increasing self- confidence, developing communication and problem-solving skills andcreating a positive can-do attitude.

The Duke of Edinburgh programme has seen a huge uptake within theSchool, with 59 pupils currently working towards the Bronze Award,. TheAward helps pupils to improve their fitness, develop new skills and requiresa minimum of three months of volunteer work. A two-day and one-night expedition arealso required and pupils take part in training weekends to help prepare.

Mr Proudlove runs a help session every Friday lunchtime for pupils whohave questions or need advice on how to continue with their Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Upper Sixth pupils Steffan Robbins and Tom Warrington have been awarded theDuke of Edinburgh Gold Award.

To earn their Award, the boys were required tocomplete a personal programme of activities infive sections (Volunteering, Physical, Skill, Expedition and Residential). They have been busycoaching kayaking, improving their water polo skillsand levels of fitness, working in the Outdoor Education store as well as completing a four-day expedition in the mountains of Snowdonia where theyobserved changes in team dynamics.

Tom and Steffan were presented with their Gold Award pins during School Assembly;however they will also be awarded formally at a ceremony at St James’ Palace, Londonin the summer.

Steffan & Tom Secure Gold

Duke of Edinburgh

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The highlight of the year for Head of House, MrRobson, was the Christmas Carol competition

which takes place on an annual basis in the Memorial Hall,which involves singing, dancing, acting and dressing up andwhich Payne House won this year.

Payne was the third house to perform and with the entirehouse on stage, or so everyone thought, there came the exciting entrance of the house elf, played by Andriy Levitskyy, closely followed by Head of House Mr Robsonon a bicycle. This was a very solid house performance withstrong singing throughout.

“It won us the competition and got us into Christmas lunch first!”says Mr Robson. “The thing that I liked about it was that it is theonly activity in the whole year that the House performs as one. Everyother competition is split into various age groups so isn’t really a resultfor the whole House.”

This academic year has seen a series of successstories for Morgan House including a

resounding win in the Inter-house Netball competition forthe Junior girls and a second place for the Intermediates.Congratulations go to Matthew Harding who defeated WillMurphy (Osborn) to win the Junior Boys’ Inter-houseSquash tournament in a very strongly fought and competitive match.

Showing that the house skills lie beyond the purely sporty,the Year 7 Debating Team also secured victory in the Interhouse Debating competitions held during the winter andspring terms.

However, perhaps the biggest single contribution that Morgan has made this year to school life was in the Hand-made Britain competition. Charlotte Owen won for her300 piece completed jigsaw, Tara Edwards and Jenni Green-wood for their necklace which included hand-made beadsfrom ‘upcycled’ paper, Lloyd Parry-Williams, Harri Zhouand Luca Bakshi for theirMother’s Day card andbunch of hand-made flow-ers, and Eve Davies, Ho-wing Ma and SebastianCarnegie Wuster for thebird feeders made fromplastic bottles.

M P House N

ews

House Captain, Anna Stevenson

Having had so many wonderful experiencesand with many memories over my schoollife in Wesley, it has been an honour to rep-resent my House this past year. Wesley isfull of welcoming enthusiastic people andfrom coaching junior netball to arrangingchapels with Mr Tickner, it has been a pleasure to be involved and I have enjoyed every minute of my role.

House Captain, Jakob Schrandt

It was an honour to be voted the Head ofHouse this year. Anna and I have made agreat team and I would like to thank her andMr Tickner for their support.

There have been many highlights includinghelping to coach and motivate the Junior

rugby team to victory and helping Wesley to catapult fromfourth place in the House leader board to first place.

Being Head of House has been a great experience and I have enjoyed the responsibility that has come with the role.

The pupils in Osborn House have continued toshow determination and commitment through-

out this year. They have worked hard in their academicstudies, collecting many merits and certificates of achievements. The senior pupils have involved themselvesin the junior competitions, helping to coach and supportthe teams in the many varied activities.

In netball, the Intermediate girls played fantastically to win.In cross country Samantha Randall and Divine Shanganyaput in impressive winning performances and yet again Osborn took the coveted title of Pancake race winners!Laurie Brummitt and Jack Bowley cooked their way to victory. Robert Warrington led his team to a convincing victory in the University Challenge competition.

I would like tothank everyone forbeing prepared tovolunteer and par-ticipate in all the dif-ferent aspects ofSchool life. Thanksmust go to Adamand Yasmin and the

prefects for their help in organisation and I am sure thatthe House can look forward to another successful year.

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Head of House, Shona Brummitt Head of House, Rob Tickner

Head of House, Rosy Hearn Head of House, Dave Robson


During the Easter holidays, 43 pupils and 4 members of staff set off on the annual skiing trip which involved a mammoth journey to Mammoth Mountain Inn, MammothMountain, Mammoth, California. After the long journey, spirits were not dampened andin true Rydal Penrhos “work hard, play hard” style all went straight out to ski on arrival.

The snow was fantastic, the skiing perfect and the evenings were spent in the pool orthe hot tubs resting weary limbs. On the last day the group were lucky enough to meetGlen Plake – World Champion off piste skier and his wife Kimberley.

To end the trip on a high it was off to Las Vegas, an amazing 5½ hour walk up thestrip, a trip to M & M World and to watch the world famous Bellagio fountains. Thelast day was an adventure up the stratosphere tower to look over Vegas (and watch aman bungee jump off it!!) the obligatory shopping forsouvenirs andand then thelong flighthome.

Issue 1 - Page 14

A group of nine pupils and four teachers flew to Uganda for two weeks during July2011, with the main aim of visiting projects and working in poor rural areas, supportedthrough the Methodist Relief and Development Fund, while also forging closer linkswith three schools in the south west of the country.

Rydal Penrhos has previously established links with these schools; Mbarara Central Highand Eden International based in the town of Mbarara and Citizens High in a small town nearby, and is keen to continue to grow and develop theserelationships.

The group visited each of the schools where they were welcomed warmly and the pupilswere invited to participate in lessons – where class sizes reached a staggering 70 pupils.After experiencing a lesson, the Rydal Penrhos pupils were asked to share their own experiences and stories from their school life in North Wales with the class.

Following on from the successful time spent at the schools, the group drove to remote villages where they met local farming co-operatives. Here they helped in the efforts toimprove the health and hygiene in the local area.

The trip to Uganda was organised as part of the World Action in Methodist Schools(World AIMS) charity, which encourages pupils to be more aware of the wider world andthe ways they can give back to other communities.

Second Successful Trip to Uganda

A Mammoth Skiing Adventure

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Issue 1 - Page 15

Rydal Penrhos Society


The Prep School offers pupils a wide range of clubs andactivities available during and after the school day, with oneof the most popular clubs being Chess.

The Chess Club is run by keenchess player and teacher, AndyCamp who has introduced funinitiatives, including a ‘Learn toplay’ session and a knockouttournament to encourage newplayers. Members of the Chess

Club, who are as young as six years old, have competed innational competitions with 19 pupils successfully qualify-ing for the UK Chess Challenge MegaFinal in April 2012.

It has been an incredible year for members Imogen Camp(Year 6) and Arjan Bolina (Year 4) who were selected torepresent Wales at the Junior Quadrangle Team Tournament which took place in December 2011. Bothplayers were also successful at the Welsh Junior ChessChampionships in March 2012, where Arjan was namedthe Welsh Champion in the Under 9 tournament, and Imogen wasjoint champion in the Under11 category. Imogen’s nextchallenge will see her travel toRomania to take part in theWorld Schools’ IndividualChampionship in May 2012.

It’s a really exciting time for theRydal Penrhos Society with re-unions and events takingplace all around the world!Within the last year we’vehad dinners in Ger-many, Hong Kong andDubai, as well as Lon-don, Cambridge andBetws-y-Coed. We havealso seen the Vikingstake on RGC 1404 andthe ‘Old Girls’ versus the 1st XI.

We will soon be launching our new online portal, where former students can log in to a secure website where theycan create a profile, share photographs, update their details,search for other members, and book tickets for events. There will also be opportunities for careers networking andmentoring where our former students will be able to offeradvice and guidance to current students through the careersdepartment, and directly to fellow Society members.

We are in touch with over 4500 alumni, who between themhave a huge wealth of knowledge and experience to share!All former students automatically become members of theSociety when they leave school, so there is nothing to doother than to remember to keep your contact details up todate.

For further details please see www.alumni.rydalpenrhos.comor contact Sarah Ritchie, Alumni & Development Director,on [email protected].

The Sixth form Charity Committee organises fundraising events throughoutthe year for charities includingComic Relief, Children in Need,Jeans for Genes, WWF andBreast Cancer Research. TheCommittee encourages pupils ofall ages to get involved in fancydress, games and, of course, thealways-popular Bake Sale.

Jeans for Genes - October 2011

Eco Day - March 2012

£1231.75

£911.17

£621.15 £90Breast Cancer Awareness - October 2011

Children in Need - November 2011

Prep School News

Sport Relief - March 2012

£576.86

Fundraising at Rydal Penrhos

Documents

Rydal Penrhos Newsletter - Issue 1