Private School News

Caterham School Pupil in Final of Competition to be English Heritage TV Presenter

Chris Toomey, a Fifth Year pupil at Caterham School, has just discovered that he has reached the final of the English Heritage TV competition to be a presenter on the EHTV channel with Konnie Huq, Dan Snow and Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen.

To reach the final Chris had to write a 400 word script about a favourite moment or person in history. He chose to write about Henry VIII as a prince having been inspired by a Foyles lecture given by David Starkey promoting his book, Virtuous Prince.

As a finalist Chris will attend a Masterclass being given by Dan Snow on 8th December. The finalists will then each record a professional showreel to demonstrate their keen interest in history and flair for explaining ideas. This will be used by English Heritage to choose the winner.

Sarah-Jane Morris from English Heritage said: ‘’We were extremely impressed by the quality of entries received. Chris’ script particularly stood out though, engaging us right from the start and his enthusiasm for the subject was clearly infectious.’’

Headmaster Julian Thomas said: ‘’Chris is a very talented young man who has considerable ability. Eighteen months ago he was one of the 34 winners in a National competition that required each entrant to create a self portrait. We are delighted that he has done so well in this competition too. This achievement is very much in line with our intention that pupils should leave here as well rounded individuals with a range of outside interest and achievements. We have a very successful History department so, naturally, we hope that the Chris will be able to use his enthusiasm to achieve good results in his History GCSE exams next year.’’