in touch emag - summer 2014

Trips and Visits

Wells Cathedral School In Touch Summer 2014

A

In Touch

Summer 2014


Head's Letter 1

When I pointed out to our head of history, Chris Eldridge, that we seemed to have emerged relatively unscathed as a school compared with some places, he immediately corrected me. The school was far smaller then, with a cohort of about 28 in any one year. We hit the national average for independent schools one third. We were the same as everywhere else. Some of them were Wells boys, some came from further away. One died fighting for ANZAC forces. One for Canada. And this year, as you will read, 24 current Wellensians took a four day trip to the Western front, found the graves and memorials of family members and of these five Old Wellensians. They read poems, presented wreaths and bugled the Last Post. They came back shaken and stirred. And they had fun.

Their trip is remembered in this In Touch; and so is much else that is both profoundly personal and also entirely community oriented. There is much individual and group success here, much enjoyment and much challenge. And none of the successes were lightly or easily achieved. We’ve extended our Hong Kong partnerships, travelled to Iceland, taken risks intellectually and physically and tried to learn by supporting other people.

And whilst we continue to celebrate and support the success of individuals and groups we also

This year marks the centenary of the start of the ‘War to end all Wars’ and how hollowly, or naively, or inevitably that phrase rings down the years to 2014. We know of five Old Wellensians who died on the western front (and a total of nine who were killed during those war years, and whom we’ll remember as these years pass).

FROM THE HEAD...In this issue...

This magazine is printed on paper made from 100% recycled post consumer waste and carries the FSC label.

Wells Cathedral School, Wells, Somerset BA5 2ST

Tel: 01749 834200 www.wells-cathedral-school.com

Design by Mercer Design www.mercerdesign.co.uk

Cover image: Chatting outside De Salis

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Head’s Letter 1 Successes 2Open Mic Night 2Cows Call the Tune 5Uni Dreams 6Two in a Row! 7Creative Arts 9Artistic Endeavours 10Bugsy Malone 12Junior School 14Arts Week 14Fundraising for Farmers 16Eddie Saves the World 17Sport 18Cross Country 18GB Gold! 19County Champs 21Outdoor Ed 22Gold, Silver & Bronze 22CCF 24Biennial Bonanza 24Trips & Visits 26Top of the World 26Trip of Remembrance 27Music 29Percussion Project 29Wells Virtuosi 31Malcolm Arnold 34A Fond Farewell 34Symphonic Journey 36Foundation 38People 40Choristers 42New Music Wells 42

acknowledge the significant contribution to this community of three outstanding people who are leaving it, Roland Ladley, Duncan Gowen, and, above all, Charles Cain. Read all about them here, and wish them very well as they continue to be advocates for Wells in other places, doing other things.

I hope that those men who were never able to return to Wells because they didn’t come home from fighting in the first world war, would be pleased by what we are now, and I hope they would recognise it as their school if they read these pages.


3Successes

Olympiad ExcellenceFive Wells chemistry students have been awarded certificates for excellence in this year’s UK Chemistry Olympiad.

Year 13 pupil Olivia Morley was awarded a Gold certificate, which puts her within the top 8 per cent of candidates, whilst fellow Year 13 pupils Charlie Ablett, Jeremy Reich and Vincent Chan were awarded Silver certificates, and Year 12 student Alex Gordon, a Bronze.

Congratulations to Year 12 pupil Cyrus Cheng, who achieved a British Mathematics Olympiad 1 certificate of distinction after scoring in the top 25% of olympians.

OPEN MIC NIGHT

SIERRA LEONE

This year’s Open Mic Night to raise funds for our Sierra Leone Project was a raving success.

The audience was treated to a large variety of excellent musical acts, ranging from solo singers to tight-knit vocal harmonies, from

Power to InspireAt the start of the Whitsun term, John Willis visited Wells as part of his power2inspire challenge, which involved swimming 1,000m in 50 pools in 100 days. John was born with no real arms or legs and so this is an incredible feat for him.

John was accompanied on his swim by 16 of our lower school students, finishing the distance in just over 35 minutes. He later spoke to pupils in the junior and lower school about his life, challenging them to come up with games and sports that can be played equally by disabled and non-disabled people, the main thrust of his charity.

iFor more information

or to donate to John's charity, follow this link:

www.power2inspire.org.uk

neck straining rock to deranged cocktail lounge, that married ear-melting stylophone solos to Spanish crooning!

Thanks to everyone who performed and the judges, Jayne Obradovic, Michael Meally and Andy Kemp for their time and expertise. In total the night raised over £350 for Sierra Leone.

A Dragon in Wells Cathedral!Pupils from Wells celebrated the Chinese New Year in style with a special Monday morning assembly, involving a spectacular dragon dance and a star turn from head Elizabeth Cairncross.


In Brief

Wells Young Chef

Both winner and runner up of this

year’s Wells Rotary Young Chef of

the Year competition are pupils

at Wells. Overall winner, Anna

Morgan in Year 13 cooked chicken

wrapped in parma ham, followed

by plum and vanilla cream tart for

her victorious menu; whilst Year

10 pupil Alex Corum prepared

five-spiced duck with bok choy

and soya beans, followed by apple

tart. Congratulations to both

young chefs on an outstanding

achievement.

De Winton Lectures

This year’s de Winton lecture

series has provided a broad range

of diverse and fascinating speakers

for the student body.

In March, head of Humanitarian

Communications for Save the

Children, Cat Carter, visited the

school to talk of experiences

at ground level working for the

charity. She has spent time in Syria

and the bordering refugee camps,

and was a key member of the

team responding when Typhoon

Haiyan struck the Philippines.

Well known philosopher

Professor AC Grayling also visited

in March. Known for his often

controversial books, he is also

Master of the New College of

Humanities, about which he spoke

with much enthusiasm.

5Successes

COWS CALL THE TUNECongratulations to the boys of Shrewsbury house who have raised over £2,000 this year for local charity Send A Cow.

As part of their fundraising campaign the boys put on a fantastic sell-out concert in the Ritchie Hall in March, raising over £800 from tickets and a collection. The boys performed to a packed audience, performing a diverse mix of classical, folk, and rock music. Shrewsbury’s own comic duo, Jamie Farrington and Tom Highnam, just back from the percussion finals of the BBC Young Musician Of the Year, provided a medley of songs on the melodica and ukulele for the finale. The audience left with hearts filled with laughter and minds filled with hope for what the future will hold for those supported by Send a Cow.

Earlier in the term many of the boys were interviewed about the concert and their fundraising for the BBC Somerset Breakfast Show, which provided an opportunity for media experience and for the boys to reach a wider audience.

The boys chose to fundraise for the charity Send A Cow this year following a set of inspiring talks given by Jackie Laws, a ex-Wells parent and volunteer with the charity.

William Fox, head of house, said “We’ve all been moved by the work that Send a Cow does in areas of extreme poverty and deprivation and chose to put on a concert in our free time withthe aim of raising funds and spreading the word of those in Ethiopia and Rwanda whose lives have been transformed by the charity.”

Jackie, in her thanks to the students, said, “The students of Shrewsbury needed little encouragement, and I have found their

understanding and commitment to Send a Cow quite astounding. It is an evening like the one in the Ritchie Hall that gives me confidence that the Africa we are working with now will not be forgotten by the next generation. The poor will not remain poor and our efforts are not wasted.”

FARADAY ENGINEERING CHALLENGEWells students became real-life engineers for a day when they researched, designed and built solutions to real engineering problems as part of The Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) Faraday Challenge Day on 25th March.

Forty-five schools across the UK were chosen to host the 2013-14 IET Faraday Challenge Days and Wells hosted the event in mid-Somerset. Six teams of Year 8 pupils from local schools competed to find the best solution to an engineering-related challenge.

In addition to the Wells team, there were teams from the Blue School, King Edward’s School, Bath, Downside, Sexeys Middle School in Blackford and Millfield Prep.

The teams had to race against the clock to construct rockets, putting their engineering and technology knowledge and skills to the test.

" What a fantastic day - making and testing rockets - it was brilliant! Not sure that Mr Murdoch's ceiling will ever be the same again!" said Year 8 pupil Rollo Tully.

Gareth James, IET Head of Education, added, “Students who take part in the Faraday Challenge Days experience

hands-on design and practical work giving them a peek into the life of a real engineer, the variety of engineering out there and the central role it plays in our everyday lives.

There is huge demand for new engineers and technicians and we’re confident that this will challenge young people’s perceptions of engineers and hopefully make them consider engineering as a career choice.”

“


7Successes

Wells pupils received well over 100 offers of places at the prestigious Russell Group of Universities, including six places at Cambridge and Oxford colleges; offers to read a diverse range of subjects from accounting to architecture, chemistry to computer science; and many of the top scholarships to music conservatoires.

Cambridge University has offered places to the following students, subject to grades: Roc Castells to read Music at Selwyn; Adam Hickox to read Music at Gonville and Caius; Olivia Morley to read Natural Sciences at Emmanuel; Joe Penaliggon to read Music at Clare; and Jack Whitehead to read English at Gonville and Caius.

Oxford University has offered a place to Judith Edmondson to read English at Corpus Christi.

Musically, it has been another successful year, with Wells musicians gaining over 40 of the top scholarships to prestigious music colleges in the UK and abroad, with particular success for Felicity Cowell, Clara Daly Donnellan, Rebecca Holman, Andrew Humphreys, Rita Lam, Nurry Lee, Victoria McBride, Rebecca Toal, Benny Vernon, Elizabeth Whitehead and Vivien Yau who all gained multiple scholarships to continue with their musical studies.

Wells Head of Careers and Universities, Ben Taylor, said, ‘It is lovely to see so many students fulfilling their ambitions and gaining offers at some of the UK’s top educational establishments. They deserve credit for their efforts and hard work which have resulted in so many impressive offers, and I have no doubt that they will flourish and make a real contribution to university life.’

Director of Music, Dorothy Nancekievill added, “We are delighted that so many of our young musicians are in the enviable position of being able to choose from a variety of offers and scholarships from leading conservatoires. They are competing in a rigorous international field and so have done extremely well.”

Head, Elizabth Cairncross added:

University and Music College Offers Final year students at Wells have achieved particular success this spring, receiving an excellent array of university and music college offers from some of the UK’s top academic institutions and world leading conservatoires. The finals were split into three

sections: a designed poster on a chosen topic, a Powerpoint presentation about the topic, and finally a geological quiz against the opposition teams.

The Wells poster and presentation entitled 'The impact of plate tectonics on the evolution of life' went down well with the judges, eminent geologists from the Geological Society of London.

Going into the quiz it was evidently going to be a very close contest. Quiz rounds entitled ‘Famous Geologists’, ‘Where in

the World?’, ‘Name that Rock’, ‘Greek Mythology and Geology’, ‘Catchphrase’ and ‘The Geology of Britain’ were all covered. The Wells team scored well and won by a narrow margin, in an entertaining contest against some strong opposition.

Congratulations to the team of Kate Ballan-Whitfield, Rupert Brown, Alex Gordon, Oliver Press and James Voysey for retaining the trophy and bringing it back home to Wells! And congratulations to head of geology, David Rowley, who is clearly an inspiring teacher!

TWO IN A ROW for Wells GEOLOGISTS!A talented team of sixth form geologists from Wells travelled up to the Geological Society of London in Piccadilly in May with the challenge of retaining the 'National Schools Geology Challenge' title won by the school the previous year. As a result of their victory at Plymouth University in March, the five strong team had been chosen to represent the South West region in the national finals.

REGIONAL GO4SET CHAMPSThe Wells team of six Year 9 pupils were crowned regional champions and awarded a large trophy at this year’s Go4SET competition, at the Celebration and Assessment day held at Bristol.

Pupils Thomas Fone, Juliet Howard, Elizabeth Jeffrey, Patrick King, Hamish Lindsay and Samuel Sutherland designed an eco science block to replace some of the science buildings on the school site. They produced a 77 page report, a large model of the building and presentation stand.

The assessors were very impressed by the professional approach taken by the Wells pupils and the quality of their engineering skills. Wells beat 15 other schools to win the regional finals.“Education at Wells is about

where it takes you and how it enables you to develop for the future; these successes

show the foundation for life that they are creating for

themselves here. Good for them!

Wells Cathedral School In Touch Summer 2014Wells Cathedral School In Touch Summer 2014

History of ArtThis year the art department has organised regular art history lectures across a variety of inspiring topics, as a new initiative, to introduce pupils to this exciting subject. Lectures have included: 'Objects' by Dr Jenny Rintoul, art history teacher and university lecturer ; Kate Tiernan, art historian and lecturer at the Tate Modern, Tate Britain and British Museum; and 'Masterpieces of the 20th Century' by Professor Anthony Slinn.

From September 2014 the school will be offering AS level Art History for the first time.

PhotographyPhotography GCSE and AS courses continue to be popular subject choices since their introduction in 2012. In September we will also be offering photography at A2 level. An exhibition of photography work and GCSE art work produced this academic year will be on display in the art department on the last day of term following Speech Day.

The team of ten pupils aged from 13 to 18, comprised Hannah Dennis, Judith Edmondson, Dillon and Gabriel Whitehead, Matthew Green, Catherine Hill, Patrick King, Lucy and Isabelle May and Marianne Sutton.

The Philosothon is a competition based on philosophical dialogue whose popularity is spreading very quickly through Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Competing against eight other schools, each Wells team member participated in 'Communities of Inquiry': with round one assessing the students’ ability to 'think' and whether computers can do that; and round two considering the role of 'unhappiness' and 'happiness' and what these mean.

Rather than emphasis on debate, each candidate was marked by an academic philosopher on their contribution, including how they helped analyse, evaluate, refine and conclude arguments.

After dinner and two more mixed age rounds, with round 3 debating whether we would be good if we were invisible; and round 4 assessing whether we can judge what another culture does as wrong, the scores were counted.

With a consistent effort from everyone in the team, Wells won the overall magnificent trophy - a bronze sculpture of Rodin's Thinker - with a significant points margin.

Congratulations to the whole team and Brian Poxon, the then head of Religion, Philosophy and Ethics.

WELLS WINS PHILOSOPHY TROPHYA TEAM OF PHILOSOPHERS FROM WELLS WON THE FIRST UK PHILOSOTHON, A PHILOSOPHY COMPETITION, AT KING’S COLLEGE TAUNTON IN MARCH.

Creative Arts 9


Creative Arts11

Visiting artistsSeveral artists and practitioners have visited the art department this year to talk to the pupils about their work and to run practical workshops. Visiting artists play a vital role in extending the knowledge and understanding of a variety of disciplines and concepts, providing pupils with a valuable insight into how their work in art and design can lead to exciting careers in the arts.

Duncan Elliott is a local sculptor whose work was exhibited in the Bishop’s Palace last October.

Year 7 pupils visited his exhibition and then created a 'surreal' project inspired by some of his sculptures. Duncan visited the art department to give a talk to the pupils and show examples of his work. We are hoping that some of Duncan's sculptures will be on show on our school site later this year.

This year 8M have been working on a musical mosaic as part of their Integrated Arts project on 'Styles'. Ruth Ames-White, a parent and mosaic artist visited the department to give an illustrated talk on mosaic design and has attended lessons regularly to offer expert advice and assistance.

Kate Tiernan, art historian and lecturer, ran a workshop for Year 10 and 11 artists on 'Understanding Art and Critical Theory'.

Sebastian Edwards from local design company Seven Boot Lane gave an inspiring talk to the Year 9 students on shoe design, marketing, advertising and manufacture, which proved extremely useful as the Year 9 graphics course this year included fashion design.

Community ArtThe community art students produced a collection of photographs and illustrations of the Bishop's Palace and gardens which will be printed as postcards and sold in the Bishop's palace shop. The money raised from the proceeds of the sale will be used to support the fundraising project to renovate the Great Hall in the Bishop's Palace. This project has been kindly funded by Waitrose to support local schools and the arts in this area. The postcards will be on sale from 1st August.

Drama13

At the end of the Lent term the lower school put on a fabulous set of performances of musical gangster favourite Bugsy Malone. The show’s stars, their friends and families clearly loved putting on and supporting the production, and the final performance was even watched by Alan Parker, the director of the original 1976 Bugsy Malone movie.

Anything that they wanted to be…


Junior school, pre-prep and nursery pupils enjoyed an inspiring week in May exploring the theme of Time during our annual junior Arts Week.

Amongst art and design workshops given by local experts, dancing classes, cookery and handiwork, highlights included Year 6’s exploration of Salvador Dali’s melting clocks from The Persistence of Memory, Year 4’s papier mâché heads of famous people through time and the wonderful lifesize grandfather clock created by the nursery pupils.

Junior School15

Arts Week


In Brief

The Tempest

In mid-March older pupils in the

junior school were visited by The

Young Shakespeare Company

- a team of professional actors

and storytellers who perform

Shakespeare’s plays for young

people in schools and theatres

across the country.

The Company are invited to the

junior school every year to put

on a workshop for pupils in Years

5 and 6, and over the years have

performed Hamlet, A Midsummer

Night’s Dream and Macbeth.

This year they put on a fantastic

interactive workshop on The

Tempest for the pupils.

Five Young Shakespeare Company

actors brought the play vividly to

life around and among the pupils,

at times including the whole

audience to create such dramatic

scenes as the storm that wrecks

Prospero’s boat, Caliban’s chant of

freedom and the magical banquet

with which the spirits of the island

trick Prospero’s enemies.

Throughout the performance the

pupils became actively involved

in the play through a carefully

structured range of drama and

language activities. Head of drama,

Judy Burns said, “It was a fantastic

afternoon’s learning experience.”

Junior School17

On the last full day of the Lent term junior pupils held a Farmers’ Day to raise funds for the farms affected by the flooding on the Somerset Levels last winter.

Pupils and teachers came to school dressed as farmers, in wellies, jeans, checked shirts and caps; and Cedars lawn was adorned with animal pens, tractors and trailers which were popular with the younger pupils.

Pupils enjoyed welly-wanging competitions, races, and much stroking and cuddling of lambs, alpacas, goats and calves, which had been brought in to school by parent farmers.

CHEMISTRY WORKSHOPJunior pupils particularly enjoyed the big explosions during the chemistry workshops this year.

At the end of the Lent term our nursery and pre-prep pupils put on a heartwarming performance of Niki Davies’ environmental musical Eddie The Penguin Saves the World.

Eddie’s story focuses on global warming and the effect of the melting polar ice caps on his penguin and polar bear friends. With his extended family, Eddie visits countries across the globe from South America to Australia to show humans how to save energy, recycle, save water and help preserve our planet.

The entertaining script and lively songs provided a fantastic introduction to ecological and environmental issues to our youngest pupils, ending in an upbeat finale for Eddie and his friends, and great applause from a packed audience of delighted friends and family in the Ritchie Hall!

Eddie the Penguin Saves the World

Julie Barrow, who has been at Wells for many years, has taken over as interim head and already embraced the role with creativity and enthusiasm.

She says “I love Wells - it is a very special place and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to enable the next generation to grow up bright, balanced, articulate, resilient and prepared for the challenges that the 21st century will bring.”

Junior Interim HeadAt the end of the Epiphany term, junior school pupils said goodbye to Katherine Schofield as she, Paul and their three girls moved on to new and exciting adventures.

Farmers’ Day Fundraiser


In Brief

Bath Bucs

Congratulations to Jacob

Connock and his hockey team,

the Bath Buccaneers U18, who

won the national hockey cup

finals at the end of March. Jacob

scored three goals in the semi-

final against Ben Rydding, and they

convincingly beat Peterborough

in the final 4-0. Fellow Wells

sportsman Campbell Gray missed

the finals as he was on the school

trip to Iceland, but played in every

game prior to the finals.

Tom Sinclair

Year 11 swimmer Tom Sinclair’s

success in the pool continues to

go from strength to strength. He

won the Junior Somerset titles

in the 100m butterfly and 50m

freestyle at the Somerset County

Championships, competing in six

events and winning three golds

and three silvers in the U16

category, where he achieved

personal bests in all of his races.

He has also been selected to

represent the South West for the

second consecutive year at the

English School's Inter-Divisional

National Championships in Bristol.

Tom will finish his season in

Sheffield for the National Youth

Championships in early August.

Sport19

Congratulations to talented athlete India Cooper, who won a Gold medal for Great Britain at the World Series Biathle in Tirrenia, Italy in June.

India, who is in Year 10, was selected for the Great Britain squad following her excellent performance at the National Schools Modern Biathlon Championships, held at the inspirational Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford in April.

India travelled with a team of 33 Biathletes to Marina di Pisa in Italy for the second round of the 2014 World Tour. Biathletes from Germany, Austria, Cyprus and Portugal as well as Great Britain and Italy raced for medals in 30 degrees heat along the promenade of Piazza Sardegnia and the calm waters of the Tirrenian Sea.

India has a busy schedule ahead of her with the South West ASA Swimming Championship, the National Schools Biathle Championships, the South West ASA Open Water Championships and World Tour Biathle in Germany at the start of July! She has also been invited onto the first stage of the England Talent Programme for Modern Pentathlon.

GB GOLD FOR INDIA!

Eight Wells students were chosen to represent the Mendip Area in the Somerset Cross Country Championships at the start of February in Yeovil. Congratulations to Matthew Howard and Elena Sidman in Year 7, Flora Hartz and Thomas Cundy in Year 8, India Cooper in Year 10, Charlie Ablett in Year 13, Chris Knight in Year 12 and Emily Smith in Year 13.

Four of these runners were then selected to represent Somerset to run in the South West Cross Country Championships. Congratulations to Elena Sidman, Matthew Howard, India Cooper and Emily Smith.

CROSS COUNTRY

SUCCESSRegional SuccessCongratulations to the following pupils who have been selected for county and regional squads:

• Toby Connock in Year 8, who plays U13 cricket for Somerset

• Hannah Passmore in Year 8 who plays netball for Somerset and the South West

• James Taylor in Year 9 who captains the Somerset U14 boys hockey team

POWER OF 10Both Elena Sidman and Emily Smith are POWER OF 10 top 5 UK athletes, the key national ranking system for UK athletes. A fantastic achievement for both girls. Well done!


Marathon GirlCongratulations to Year 7 athlete Elena Sidman, who was selected to represent the south west in the U13 section of the Mini London Marathon, which takes place before the main London marathon - over the Easter holidays. Elena travelled up with the south west team the night before the race, then took part in the three mile long course, which stretches from London's Old Billingsgate to The Mall, the following day.

Two pupils, Elena Sidman in Year 7 and Lydia Guest in Year 12 gained multiple titles; whilst Jasmine Watson in Year 8 was crowned the 100 metres champion for her age group, with a personal best of 13.55 seconds for the race.

Elena was crowned champion of two events: the 800 metres - which she ran in an incredible time of 2:20, smashing the championship record by a clear 9 seconds - and the 200 metres, where she finished in a time of 28 seconds. As well as her two golds, Elena was also awarded a bronze medal for her performance in the long jump event.

Lydia was crowned county champion at three events: the triple jump, the high jump and the

Sport21In Brief

On Guard!

Congratulations to Year 10 pupil

Alex Corum, who was selected

to fence in the national fencing

championships in Sheffield at the

start of May.

Several Wells pupils have taken

and passed the Level 1 British

Fencing Association award

this year, under the tutelage

of fencing coach, Jeremy Boot.

Congratulations to Leo Boot,

Douglas Howell, Henry Lockyer,

Brian Low and Ben Richards.

Becky Ager Golfing Success

Year 10 pupil Becky Ager won

the Michaela Chivers Trophy at

the recent Somerset Junior (U18)

Spring Meeting at Mendip Spring

Golf Course.

The event was the first county

junior girls competition of the

season and the 18 hole stableford

produced some excellent scores

in the spring sunshine.

Becky, who plays for the junior

section of Wells Golf Club

became overall champion with

the best score of the day - an

impressive 43 points.

The event is open to entrants from the nine regions of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, and included teams from all 33 London Boroughs.

Previous winners have included London Olympic Gold medallist Mo Farah.

long jump - performing years above her age in the Under 20 Women’s group.

Following on from her success at the County Championships, Lydia was selected to represent Somerset in the Heptathlon at the South West Regional Combined Events Championships at the end of May, competing against Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and The Channel Islands at the Yeovil Athletics Arena.

Lydia competed in all seven heptathlon events: 100 metres hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 metres, long jump, javelin throw and the 800 metres.

Congratulations to Lydia, Elena and Jasmine on their exceptional performance.

Somerset County ChampionsThree superb young athletes from Wells claimed county titles at the Somerset County Athletic Association Track and Field Championships in May.

Cricket Week The First XI, in new kit funded by the Wells Parents' Association, ready to play the MCC on Cedars at the start of Cricket Week.


Outdoor Ed23

WALES TO WELLS WALKCongratulations to all the Wells cadets who took part in the first Wales to Wells Challenge in March! With a total of 70km and 1,182m in height climbed over the two days, the cadets covered a lot of ground, showing determination and enthusiasm throughout the weekend.

12 AWARDED GOLD12 of last year’s upper sixth achieved their Gold Duke of Edinburgh award and many have been presented with their certificates at St James’ Palace throughout the year. These included Sasha Bailey, Rebecca Blackburn, Charles Cook, Imogen Cook, Joselyn Felton, Adam Friswell, Lauren Gray, Eleanor Mitchell, Michael Murton, Caitlin Sherrard and Charles Sisson.

The parents of Ellie Rowe, also in last year’s upper sixth, who tragically died last August, were able to collect Ellie’s Gold award, awarded posthumously, from the Duke of Edinburgh in a private ceremony.

OrienteeringIt has been a fantastic first season for the school’s orienteering team, which finished the season with another great win in the Avon Schools Orienteering League at Wellsway School in May.

Overall Wells finished second in the League, just 55 points behind the leaders, Redland High Seniors, who have a long and distinguished record of success, and 189 points ahead of Kingswood School, who came third.

Particular congratulations to Charlie Fraser and Innes Yellowlees for finishing top of their respective classes. What a great first season!

On the Saturday the groups walked 30km from Chepstow to Bristol, crossing under, over or walking along the M48, M4, M49 and M5 motorways.

The next day covered the 40km stretch from Bristol to Wells, with the groups climbing 864m and following the Monarch’s Way - a popular long distance walk based on the lengthy route taken by King Charles II during his escape after defeat by Cromwell in the final battle of the Civil Wars at Worcester in 1651.

““The Cadets’ positive attitude and determination

to carry on despite sore feet, hockey fixtures and a few

very nasty colds was highly commendable!”Captain Rondel

Silver and GoldThis year another record 52 students have been involved in working towards their Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award; whilst 17 students have completed their Gold Award. Congratulations to Year 13 students Jacob Connock, Chloe Firbank, Jonathan Forsey, Shen Yin Gan, Rachel Garty, Adam Keys, Kaiya Kim-Saville, Eleanor Kirwan, Nancy Lunnon, Rosina Malone, Olivia Morley, Emma Murray, Jack Phelps, Emily Smith, Isabella Smith, Jake Spooner and Eden Wan.

A scenic view from the Bronze camp site!

The success of this year’s expedition was largely thanks to our Gold Duke of Edinburgh helpers: Layla Bray, Rachel Comber, Cameron Davidson, Annie Green and Tirion Rees-Davies, who helped prepare the participants before the expedition and then staffed the checkpoints along the route.A huge well done and a big thank-you to everyone involved!

A record 58 Duke of Edinburgh Award participants took to the Mendip Hills in June for their Bronze qualifying expedition. Participants from Year 10 trecked from East Harptree Woods to Cheddar via Blagdon, where they camped out overnight. The girls stayed in a field next door to Haversham matron Claire Vaughan, who, against all the rules, fed them lemon drizzle cake, whilst the boys enjoyed the company of Mr and Mrs Barnard’s sheep and guinea fowl.

Thanks to satellite tracking the groups could be spotted making the occasional navigational error and in a few cases adding some lengthy detours to an already arduous two days. However, despite the odd navigational hiccups, all the participants successfully completed the expedition.

BRONZE, SILVER & GOLD Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award


CCF25CCF BIENNIAL INSPECTIONThe CCF’s Biennial Inspection took place at the end of April, with a day of rotational training activities at Yoxter Ranges on the Mendips. The morning fog provided an atmospheric backdrop to the manoeuvres, which included section attacks, archery, air rifle training, signalling, MTA leadership and orienteering. It was a great day and Inspecting Officer, Col David Carson, who has recently been appointed Colonel Cadets 42 (Wessex) Brigade, was particularly struck by the inclusiveness of the contingent, including musicians in the drum corps and a strong signals section.

Over the first weekend in March the National Cadet Signals Competition, Ex Rolling Thunder, was held at the Defence School of Communication and Information Systems at Blandford Camp in Dorset. Cadet Signallers Edward Firbank and Harry Evans, joined by Ella Felton, Issy Meek and Stuart Abercrombie formed our contingent’s first signals team.

The team performed extremely well and received a special mention for ‘endeavour’ at the prize giving ceremony, narrowly missing out on a trophy.

Gary Takes to the SkiesOur CCF School Staff Instructor, Warrant Officer Gary Tonks, took a flight in the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Chipmunk aircraft at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire. The flight was a special treat from the RAF to mark WO Tonks's 30 years outstanding service to the Air Cadet Organisation, which incorporates the CCF and the Air Training Corps.

EX ROLLING THUNDER


Trips and Visits 27At the start of the half term holidays 23 hardy Year 9 and one brave Year 12 pupil enjoyed a four day trip to the First World War Battlefields of France and Belgium, with the aim of developing insights into the events, experiences and consequences of the First World War and more specifically to pay their respects at memorials to fallen Wellensians and family members.

The trip, organised by head of history, Christopher Eldridge, incorporated visits to Ypres, the Ljissenhoek cemetery, Vimy Ridge on the Western Front and the great battlefield of the Somme. During the series of brutal battles centred round Ypres, three Wellensians fell, none of whom have known graves. Henry Bussell is commemorated at Tyne Cot, the huge British cemetery built near the infamous village of Passchendaele. At his memorial pupil Sam Sutherland movingly recited the poem In Flanders Fields. Later, pupils Abigail Light and Fergus McCreedy presented a wreath during the Last Post ceremony at Ypres’ Menin Gate in remembrance of Charles Croom and Ernest Davies, both remembered there.

Amidst the sombre splendour of Lutyens’ famous Thiepval memorial at the Somme, trumpeter George Andrews, performed an unforgettable Last Post on the bugle to a spellbound audience of pupils and visitors, and the group remembered Old Wellensian Cyril Parsons who is one of over80,000 names recorded there.

On the final day the pupils stopped off in the Artois region of northern France to visit the serried ranks of French graves at Notre Dame de Lorette, with a visit to the trenches and eerie twin pinnacled memorial of Vimy Ridge. At this memorial George’s bugle skills were utilised one

a history trip of

RemembranceGlaciers and geysers, volcanoes and waterfalls, hot springs, rifts and lava tunnels - the unique landscape was both a fitting backdrop and integral part of some detailed studies, in addition to the hillwalking, 8-wheel drive and snorkelling adventures.

For the fourth time in the last five visits we were lucky enough to see the Aurora Borealis in all its spectacular and memorable glory, this time from the foot of Eyjafjallajokull volcano!

last time as pupils placed a wreath before the name of George Abrams, the last of the Old Wellensians to fall on the Western Front.

Head of history, Christopher Eldridge said " The particular significance of our visit in this, the centenary year of the outbreak of the First World War, was not lost upon our pupils who showed a respectful enthusiasm, engagement and awareness throughout. In every way a tremendous start to the four year centennial remembrance of the ‘War to end all Wars’."

Iceland Trip

Iceland again proved to be a destination full of wonder for the sixth form geographers and geologists, not to mention the 'mature students' of the wider Wells community!


Music29

In late January, the Wells percussion team visited the Royal Academy for Deaf Education, in Exeter, as part of the school’s music outreach programme. A large array of percussion equipment, students and staff arrived early to begin the day with a concert given by the percussion students from Wells.

Music is a universal language and percussion in particular is a great medium to be shared with children who are hearing impaired. Some hearing impaired children may not experience music very often, some not at all. The workshop provided by Wells students was the first of its kind to be held in Exeter and the children were incredibly excited.

32 students were divided into four smaller groups. Throughout the day the groups studied samba and drum line. The Wells music technician had also devised a “vibrating box” for small groups of

hearing impaired children to sit or stand on and feel the beat and vibration of a variety of different music. The delight on the children’s faces and their rhythmic dancing styles was a joy to behold.

The students’ improved ability and confidence levels resulted in a full performance at the end of the day’s session, which was hugely enjoyable to watch and take part in.

Head of percussion, Jayne Obradovic, said,

Percussion Projectat Exeter Royal Academy for Deaf Education

This was one fantastic day: the Academychildren were a joy to work with and the

Wells students learnt so much about working with children with special needs. This will stand them in good stead for our summer tour later this year, where we have been invited by the British Council to work on a music project in Budapest with the hearing impaired, called “90 Decibels.”

‘‘

LIVING LA VIDA ESPAÑOLAA mix of students in Year 7 and Year 10 studying Spanish went to Spain for six days to experience the local culture, the gastronomy and of course practise their language skills over the Whitsun break.

Students were placed in different Spanish families with children of similar ages who are also studying English as a foreign language. This gave them all an opportunity to put into practice what they had learned this year and also to have an insight into the Spanish way of life. It was also great to see our students being such excellent ambassadors for the school.

Students had Spanish lessons in the morning with topics relevant to the trip, including activities interacting with the locals in the streets of the centre of Granollers, where they stayed. There was also time to explore the beautiful Barcelona ‘Eixample’ with its Modernist buildings, the Park Güell and the old town (‘Rabal and Borne’) with

GERMAN EXCHANGE 2014The German Exchange with the Liebigschule in Frankfurt took place at the start of the Easter holidays. 17 students from Years 8 to 12 stayed with their pen friends for six days. During the school week, there was a trip to the monastery at Lorsch and a tour of the city of Frankfurt. A morning was spent attending lessons in school, which was interesting and challenging! The weekend was spent with families and a wide variety of activities and outings were undertaken.The trip was greatly enjoyed by all. New friendships were made and students learnt a lot in terms of both culture and language. The German students are now looking forward to their return trip to Wells.

a city guide. We even got to hold the Champions’ League trophy at the Barcelona ‘Nou Camp’ Stadium.

If we had to pick a highlight of the trip it would probably be our paella day by the seaside and our fantastic farewell tapas night with our hosts. Learning about food and culture does not get much better, ¡qué maravilla!

Thank you to all the students and parents, as we look forward to our future trip. Our Spanish hosts cannot wait to have us back.


Music31

AN ENGLISHMAN ABROADDavid Heyes has been the specialist double bass tutor at Wells for the past 17 years and during that time has given recitals and masterclasses in 13 countries. His most recent invitation was as visiting professor to the Prague Conservatoire in April.

David studied in Prague in the 1980s with Frantisek Posta, the revered principal bass of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra for more than 40 years, and David’s invitation also included two recitals in memory of Professor Posta. David has performed and published many works from the rich Czech heritage and these concerts were a wonderful invitation to perform some of this repertoire at the very heart of the Czech capital. Invitations in 2015 include Prague, Montana, Athens, Copenhagen and Minsk.

Wells pianists achieved a clean sweep of first places at the Mid Somerset Festival, held in Bath, winning all ten of the classes that they entered.

Year 11 pupil Kirsty Chaplin, who won the Bath Young Musician of the Year in December, won the Concerto class, the Romantic Open class and also the award for the Most Outstanding Pianist.

Year 10 pianist Adam Heron won both the Open Recital class and the Baroque Open class; whilst Year 9 pupil Julian Chan won both the Post 1900 Open class and the Own Composition class.

Fellow Year 9 pianist Xavier Taschini won the 15 Years and Under Repertoire class. Sonja Sun in Year 13 won the Classical Open class; and Year 8 pianists Lulwa Al Shamlan and Nina Savicevic won the 13 Years and Under Repertoire, and Grade 7 classes, respectively.

Head of keyboards, John Byrne said, “We’re delighted that so many of our talented young pianists have done so well in this competition, particularly after all the hard work and hours of practice they do to develop their skills as musicians.”

Clean Sweep at the

Mid Somerset Festival

WELLS VIRTUOSIAt the end of June, the Wells Virtuosi performed a concert at St Andrew’s Church in Cullompton to raise funds for the Two Moors International Music Festival.

The Wells Virtuosi comprises the most talented young string players at the school, and is conducted by celebrated international viola player and Wells head of Strings, Matthew Souter.

The musicians performed a stunning evening’s repertoire, incorporating Mendelssohn’s String Symphony No. 9 in C major, Barber’s Adagio for Strings Op 11, Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 3, and Strauss’ Metamorphosen TrV 290.

Over the summer the Virtuosi will be touring Europe, with performances in Luxembourg, Bad Homburg, Friedrichshafen, and a finale at the Auditoire de Calvin in Geneva.

A Lively MasterclassIn mid-May Wells senior oboists were treated to a exceptional masterclass from oboe player Jo Lively. Jo is a professor of oboe at Trinity College of Music, an examiner for the Guildhall / Trinity exam board and a freelance oboist. She also tutors the National Children’s Orchestra.


33Music

Congratulations to trombonist Clara Daly Donnellan who won the Yamaha Brass Bursary at the Feis Ceoil in Dublin, Ireland’s premier music competition at the start of April. Clara beat off strong competition to take the €2,500 first prize, despite being the youngest in the competition by a number of years. She played a solo at the National Concert Hall in Dublin for the Prizewinner’s Gala.

Following this success she was invited to apply for the Royal Dublin Society €10,000 bursary, available to all ten winners of the senior Feis Ceoil competitions, which she also won. Along with this significant financial award, Clara has been given the opportunity to play solo with the RTÉ national symphony orchestra next year, and have a solo recital in London.

Success for

Clara

BIG BAND LAUNCH NEW YEAR IN STYLEIn February, the Wells Cathedral School Big Band played their first gig of 2014 at the Parish Church in Street. The event was organised by The Rotary Club of Avalon in order to raise funds for the charity Somerset Young Carers.

The band played a selection of big band and jazz classics from Count Basie's Flight of the Foo Birds, and Teddy the Toad to new arrangements of Dave Brubeck's Blue Rondo a la Turk. The concert featured various soloists, including Elizabeth Whitehead, Rebecca Toal, Joe Penaliggon, Darcy Williams and Old Wellensian Alex Western King.

Chris Brodie, a Rotary Club member, said ‘The concert was a great success both musically and financially! I thought the band sounded great. My feet were certainly tapping and the finale of three pieces was tremendous. It was clear from the audience how much we all appreciated the skills and effort put in by Andy Tweed, the conductor, your fantastic musicians and support team. The whole evening was a great success and we raised over £900 for the Somerset Young Carers.’

The Big Band returned to Street in May to play their annual event at the Strode Theatre, which was a fantastic evening's entertainment.

Warcry ConcertAt the start of March the Wells brass and percussion ensembles performed Warcry, a Prestige Concert, at Wiltshire Music Centre. It was a fantastic night, with beautiful music commemorating the centenary of the outbreak of World War 1, and 75 years since the outbreak of World War 2.

The evening’s programme, conducted by head of brass, Paul Denegri and head of percussion Jayne Obradovic, included Walton’s Spitfire Prelude and Fugue, as well as his Suite from Henry V; Albinoni’s Adagio in G minor, and Prokofiev’s Montacutes and Capulets.

The concert followed the brass and percussion Composition Schools Project for primary school musicians which took place in late January.


MASTERFUL MUSICIANCongratulations to percussionist Tom Highnam in Year 12 for a spectacular performance in this year’s BBC Young Musician category finals. His performance was masterful, and his evident enthusiasm and love for life and Wells was inspiring to all who watched. WELL DONE TOM!

Emilie ColliarViolinist Emilie Colliar has been selected to play in the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland. Congratulations Emilie.

Music35In Brief

Cellist Success

In April, cellists Shu Odawara,

Yuki Mochizuki and Sasha

Boult competed in the Liezen

International Cello Competition

in Austria, with Year 13 pupil Shu

taking third prize in his category.

In June, Year 10 cellist Marina

Martins joined her teacher,

Richard May, in George Town,

Grand Cayman, for a performance

of Vivaldi’s Double Cello Concerto

with the National Orchestra

of Cayman Islands. Richard also

performed the Haydn C Concerto,

a recital with Olena Shvetsova,

and they both gave masterclasses

during their visit.

International Renown

In March, Year 8 pupil Lulwa Al

Shamlan performed at Carnegie

Hall, following her second

place in the American Protégé

International Competition of

Romantic Music.

In April, she participated in the

Third International Festival of

Young Performers (under 20) of

Classical Music in Baku, Azerbaijan,

winning first place and performing

at the gala concert in front

of a large audience of foreign

dignitaries and a live television

audience.

LEONID GOROKHOV MASTERCLASSESWells string players were treated to a series of masterclasses by world famous cellist Leonid Gorokhov who visited the school in March.

One of the finest cellists of his generation, Leonid Gorokhov has been a soloist with the most celebrated orchestras in the world. The only Russian cellist to have been awarded the Grand Prix and First Prize of the Geneva Concours, he also played Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the Philharmonia Hungarica conducted by Lord Menuhin; and gives regular cello-piano recitals at festivals and concerts across the globe.

A professor at the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater in Hannover, Leonid has made recordings of all the great composers, including Rachmaninov, Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky. His most recent project is the Hannover Cello Consort - a dedicated group of eight young cellists, all students of Gorokhov and international prize winners, who play in duets and octets around the world.

Following the masterclasses, Leonid was joined by pianist Larissa Gorokhova, violinist Karin Leishman and violist Matthew Souter for an incredible concert in Cedars Drawing Room. The programme included Schubert’s String Trio movement in B flat, his Sonatina in D for ‘cello and piano, and Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G minor, Op 25.

The retiring collection raised funds for the Wells Virtuosi’s forthcoming European tour.

Malcolm Arnold Trumpet CompetitionAt the end of January, Wells trumpet specialists took part in the second annual Malcolm Arnold Trumpet Competition.

This year the distinguished adjudicator was international trumpet artist and trumpet professor at the Royal College of Music, Michael Laird, who spent the afternoon listening and providing invaluable advice to the musicians.

Michael was bowled over by the standard of the Wells musicians, whose range spanned from Year 7 to Year 13 trumpeters. Joseph Penaliggon was awarded overall winner, whilst Jess Scott was the most promising young player. Congratulations to all trumpeters who took part.

A FOND FAREWELLAt the start of May the Wells Woodwind players put on a stunning Wind Prestige Concert - A Fond Farewell to Britain - at the Barbican, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama’s new concert hall. Billed as "An all-British programme for a British Bank Holiday", the evening’s repertoire included Divertimento by Martin Ellerby, Mike Mower’s Jazz Suite for Wind Quintet, Guy Woolfenden’s Suite Francaise, the Iolanthe

Overture by Arthur Sullivan and Ruth Gipps’ Seascape.

The concert also served as a farewell to Wells head of Woodwind, Kevin Murphy, who taught music at Wells for 24 years. Kevin has gone to work as a sales consultant for Yamaha, where he is based back in his native north America. We wish him every success for the future.

Previous head of Woodwind, Kevin Murphy


In Brief

Voices Rejoice!

On the cusp of the Easter

holidays a lucky audience at

Wells Cathedral were treated to

a spectacular Prestige concert

which showcased the talents of

our most talented choral groups.

Voices Rejoice! featured

performances from Choralia,

the Wells upper voice girls

choir selected as the first

British finalists for over a

decade in the prestigious

European 'Let the Peoples sing'

competition in October; as

well as a performance of the

cantata Carmina Burana by the

massed choir and percussion

instrumentalists. The concert,

conducted by distinguished choral

conductor Christopher Finch,

provided a beautiful end to a

busy term.

Purbeck Arts Week

Congratulations to Year 13 cellist,

George Owen, who performed

Vivaldi's Concerto for Two 'Cellos

with the Bournemouth Symphony

Orchestra at St Mary's Church

Swanage at the start of June.

The concert formed part of

Purbeck Arts Week, a series of

arts events that take place in the

region over a number of months.

37Music

Wells Cathedral School’s Symphony Orchestra performed the Symphonic Journey Prestige Concert in the Nave of Wells Cathedral on the evening of Friday 14th February.

The orchestra of talented specialist musicians, led by conductor in residence, Christopher Adey, played a series of beautiful and dramatic pieces in the concert, including Holst’s The Perfect Fool Overture, Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Glazunov’s Symphony No. 5.

The Perfect Fool Overture, is taken from Holst’s comic opera, The Perfect Fool, which mockedthe British public’s ignorance of the art form. It begins dramatically, with a trombone invocation,which symbolises a wizard summoning forth spirits of earth, wind and fire.

SYMPHONIC JOURNEY WITH SHOSTAKOVICH

Alexander Glazunov wrote his Symphony No. 5 in 1895. Nicknamed ‘The Heroic’, for the rousing build up to its climactic final section, it has a conventional four movement structure and was first performed in Glazunov’s city of birth, St Petersburg, conducted by the composer himself.

Shostakovich’s piano concerto was written by the Russian composer for his son’s birthday in 1957 and is a lively and energetic piece. Year 13 pupil, Nurry Lee, was the piano soloist in this concerto,

and very much enjoyed the opportunity of playing with the school orchestra.

Nurry started learning the piano at the age of six and achieved her grade 8 piano with distinction when she was just 11 years old. She has performed across the country and abroad, taking part in many prestigious concerts, and has been invited to play as guest pianist with the Bristol Ensemble, in Symphonic Journey and for the Countess of Wessex.

She has had a number of successes in major competitions such as Longwell Green Eisteddfod, Bristol Festival of Music, Mid Somerset Festival, European Piano Teacher's Association competition and Gregynog Young Musician of the year. Recently, she went to Sierra Leone to help and teach music to the Ballanta Music Academy in Freetown. After Wells, Nurry hopes to continue her musical studies at music college.


39Foundation

Progressing our Bursary AppealA message from Mark Coote, CEO of Wells Cathedral School Foundation:

In November 2013 we launched the firstpart of a ten year Bursary Fundraising Appeal, initially to former pupils. Bursary funding enables gifted children to attend Wells Cathedral School regardless of their background or family circumstances. It is this diverse social mix of pupils that is the hallmark of who we are. We are delighted to report that the first two Foundation Scholars will be beneficiaries of new bursary funds from September 2014, directly as a result of this campaign. Thank you to everyone who has supported this important enterprise.

For more information about supporting bursaries please contact Mark Coote on 01749 834255 or at [email protected]

Showcase in Hong KongThanks to our six specialist musicians who undertook a programme of six concerts in four days across Hong Kong at Easter.

Shu Odawara (‘cello), Vivian Yau (soprano), Rita Lam (violin), Zhu Sun (piano), Cyrus Cheng (piano) and Eyra Norman (soprano) gave virtuoso performances in all sorts of venues, accompanied by Dr Edward Pick from the music faculty.

School visits saw recitals and masterclasses at the Alliance Primary School, Ying Wa College and the Jockey Club Sara Roe School, all in Kowloon. The students also performed in Sky100 at the top of Hong Kong’s tallest building, as part of the ‘Music in the Sky’ programme.

The Wells showcase concert was held in St John’s Cathedral to a large audience of supporters and new friends, and featured special guest Junlin Wu, a 16 year old pianist from the Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou.

FAR EAST COMES WESTIn April, and in the spirit of real reciprocity, we welcomed 36 children, their teachers and parents, from Hong Kong’s Alliance Primary School. We have built strong friendships with this dynamic school which has a wide spectrum of musical talent.

The children brought with them strings, woodwind and a versatile choir and performed in both the Cathedral and St Cuthbert’s Church, drawing large and appreciative audiences.

Our relationship with the school is through the Wells Music Society of Hong Kong which fosters musical excellence but also a culture of friendship and international understanding, both elements of this great visit.

For more information about the Society, go towww.wellsmusicsociety.hk

INTRODUCING OUR NEW FOUNDATION TRUSTEESJenny Kingston: Jenny moved to Wells from London in 1997 with her husband, Peter, and their four children to set up Wells Orthodontics which provides orthodontic treatment for many local children and adults. Jenny’s four children have all been cathedral choristers and pupils at Wells Cathedral School.

Ann Whalley Gummer: Ann is an Old Wellensian, having left the school in 1979. She and her husband, music lawyer Andrew, have three children at the school. Ann has worked in Qualitative Market Research for 30 years, and is owner of The People Partnership.

Jenny and Ann join Gary Brown (Chair), Elizabeth Cairncross, The Very Revd. John Clarke, John Baxter, Patrick Cook, Stella Clarke, Tim Lewis, Phil Lemanski, Kit Jackson, Chris Seaton and Max Costantini on our Board of Trustees.

‘‘

”九龍塘

宣道小

學

Trips and Visits


People41PASTURES NEW….As the school year draws to a close, we have said goodbye to the following members of the Wells family, as they move on to exciting opportunities and adventures elsewhere:

On the teaching staff, Naomi Boyd, head of Philosophy, assistant head of sixth form and house assistant at Plumptre; Nicky Brookes, examinations officer ; Hetty Brown, English teacher ; Matthew Forest, head of drama; Tamsyn Hopkins, RPE teacher and house assistant of Edwards; Caroline Kelly, modern languages teacher, head of sixth form and EPQ; Sarah Larkham, maths teacher ; Brian Poxon, head of RPE; Martin Swarfield, director of sport (Martin will be house parent of Shrewsbury); and Katherine Wells, sports teacher.

Our teaching assistants, Angela Legaut Maille, French language assistant; Edward Payne, sports assistant and house assistant of Shrewsbury; and Tianhua Qui, Chinese Mandarin language assistant.

In house, Kate Day, matron of Claver Morris; Duncan Gowen, house parent of Shrewsbury; Amy Jolly, house assistant of Canon Grange; Jayne Obradovic, house parent of Haversham (Jayne remains as head of Percussion); Anne Payne, matron of Cedars; Rebecca Redman, house parent of Claver Morris (Rebecca is moving to Haversham House); and Mary Walker, house assistant of Claver Morris.

In the music team, Kati Boosey; Stephanie Gilbert; Carole JennerTimms; Kevin Murphy; Rebecca Palmer ; Edward Pick; Gus Tredwell; and our Graduate Music Assistants, Alice Baxendale, Helen Briggs, James Donaldson, Amy Hughes and Octavia Serrano.

CHARLES CAINThis July marks an end of an era at Wells, as much loved deputy head Charles Cain retires from the school after 28 years of teaching, managing and looking after our children.

Charles, his wife Hilary and their two children, Nick and Naomi, arrived at Wells from Stowe in January 1986, when Charles took up the post as head of history. A few months later Charles was also appointed as house parent of Shrewsbury, and he and the family moved into Vicars Close, which would be their home for the next 14 years.

Wells is clearly in the Cain family’s DNA: from 1990 Hilary ran the school clothing store, and later the school bookstore, dispensing much valued friendship and advice along the way; whilst Nick and Naomi embraced life as Wells students, despite very different interests. Nick played first team hockey and rugby, obtained the Gold Duke of Edinburgh award, enjoyed playing the French horn and became head boy; Naomi is very musical, she was in the very first cohort of girl choristers at Wells in 1994 and became an oboe specialist.

Charles was promoted to deputy head in 2000, managing the day to day running of the school, heading up the marketing team, and responsible for pastoral care of all students and staff. Charles’ voice is the voice of calm, care and reason at Wells, and he is justly proud of the way in which his team have looked after people during his time at the school.

In his 28 years Charles has made the most of the opportunities at Wells, singing with the Vicars Choral and Chapel Choir, coaching and umpiring netball matches, and still holding the honour of being

the most successful Wells rugby coach, his Under 12 team unbeaten and unscored against during the 1987 season!

We shall miss Charles and Hilary enormously, and wish them every happiness and enjoyment in the next chapter of their lives!

Roland LadleyThis summer we also say goodbye to Roland Ladley, mathematics teacher and head of co-curricular activities, who is leaving Wells after an active and dynamic eight years at the school.

Roland joined Wells in 2006 after a 25 year career in active service in the army, and was soon followed to Somerset by his wife, Claire, who was appointed house parent of Edwards in 2007. Before Wells, Roland served operationally in Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Northern Ireland, leaving the army as a full colonel, with a masters in engineering.

At Wells, he initially taught maths and PE, soon taking over the running of cross country and athletics. He set up the successful school Sierra Leone Project, through his links with the country, and in 2009 coordinated our 1,100 anniversary celebrations, which launched the much loved biennial Event on the Lawn. Following this success, he joined the senior management team, responsible for staff development and co-curricular activities, particularly sport, where he feels he has been able to make a real difference to the profile of sport within the school.

Roland and Claire are leaving Somerset to go travelling across Europe and northern Africa in their trusty camper van this summer. We wish them a huge amount of fun and lots of exciting adventures!

Duncan GowenDuncan completes his 19th year at Wells this summer, as he prepares to face new challenges teaching in Africa.

Duncan joined the school in 1995 and has been involved in many Wells activities: teaching and heading up history, where he specialised in modern history, and established trips to Moscow, St Petersburg and the D-day Landings sites; coaching the First XV rugby team, and leading tours to Australia and Italy; running the Ten Tors expedition; and supporting the lives of many hundreds of boys throughout his 14 years as house parent of Shrewsbury.

Duncan set up our link with Thirrukovil, one of the islands in Sri Lanka which was devastated by the 2004 Asian tsunami and led many trips to Sri Lanka for pupils. He also established a strong focus on charity amongst the boys, inspiring fundraising for numerous charities, including Send a Cow, Smile Train and the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Duncan is moving to Africa for the start of the next academic year, where he will be the deputy head of Hillcrest International School in Nairobi. We wish him and Philippa enormous fun as they pursue their African adventure together.

This year's featured composer was Sir John Tavener, who sadly passed away in November 2013. In early 2013, Cathedral Commissions commissioned Tavener to write two new pieces for Wells Cathedral Choir, for what was to have been the year of the composer's seventieth birthday. The two works were among the last that he wrote and were premièred on Sunday 18th May: the Missa Wellensis at the Eucharist service, and Preces and Responses at Evensong. Tavener's music was also featured in services and concerts throughout the week. The Cathedral was very pleased to welcome Lady Maryanna Tavener for the weekend.

new music wells 74-14

The festival also included world première performances of works by Brian Chapple, Ronald Corp (who was born in Wells), and Adam Hickox, a Year 13 student at Wells and the school's student music leader.

There were three concerts during the week, with students from Wells giving lunchtime recitals on the Wednesday and Thursday, which included music by the school's student composers and Sir John Tavener. The Cathedral also welcomed International Concert Organist Margaret Phillips, who performed an eclectic mix of organ music.

Wells Cathedral celebrated its seventh annual festival of new music in May. Building on the success of previous years, all music during the Cathedral's services and at three special concerts was selected from the last 40 years.

BBC Radio 3 Choral Evensong BroadcastOn Wednesday 19th March, Choral Evensong was broadcast live from Wells on BBC Radio 3. The well attended service, was sung by the Vicars Choral and surpliced choristers in Years 6 and above. The music included the Padilla’s anthem Joseph fili David.

People all over the world tune in to listen to the weekly BBC Radio 3 Choral Evensong Broadcast, and afterwards we received many lovely comments, including “I was particularly struck by the broadcast service…...I nearly wept at the sheer beauty of the music at the start of the service, and then throughout.”

Choristers42

in touch emag - summer 2014

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