Private School News

Sidcot School, Somerset, Open Morning Monday May 4th at 9.30am for Junior & Senior School

Join us on the May Bank Holiday for our whole school Open Morning at 9.30am. This event will provide you with an informal opportunity to experience Sidcot and learn what our students really think of our school.

The morning consists of a welcome from our Head John Walmsley in our brand new Arts Centre, a tour of the school given by our students and refreshments with some key teaching staff. Please contact our Admissions department on 01934 845212 or email to register your interest.

SIDCOT Arts Centre Grand Opening

The stunning new Sidcot Arts Centre is now in use by the children at Sidcot and we are already taking bookings for exhibitions and arts classes for this year. The centre will not only be an extraordinary resource for the school but for our surrounding communities and local schools as well. It is our intention for the centre to become self sustaining by developing usage outside of school hours. The professional performance theatres and contemporary exhibition space will be used to provide a programme of events throughout the year for local residents, activities will include: film, theatre, art exhibitions, performances, art, dance and drama courses and will be available to any groups interested in using our workshops, studios or recording suite. We are also keen to support local festivals and events.

If you would like to learn more about Sidcot Arts Centre and our other campus facilities please click here to contact our Arts Centre & Lettings Manager Alexis Butt by email.

Sidcot continues to excel against other South West selective schools

Newly released league tables continue to place Sidcot as one of the highest ranking schools in the South West, averaging 3 A grades at A Level, outperforming some of the better known selective schools in Bristol and Somerset. These results also do not include our IB students grades, as we are only in our 2nd year, those grades will count towards next year.

As a non selective school, these fantastic results demonstrate the commitment of staff and students in working exceptionally hard, no matter what an individual’s abilities. We are glad the school is finally receiving the academic recognition we deserve for the effort our student’s dedicate to their studies.

NEW HEADMASTER FOR KINGS SCHOOL BRUTON

Mr Ian Wilmshurst has been appointed as Headmaster of King’s School, Bruton, from September 2009

Ian Wilmshurst (42), who is currently Deputy Head at The Royal Hospital School in Suffolk, said he was attracted to King’s on account of its reputation, size and location.

“I was delighted to accept the position of Headmaster of King’s Bruton”.

“King’s is well known for its very strong pastoral care; it has a strong family feel and is part of the community. I have already been impressed by the down to earth attitude of the pupils and the commitment of its staff.”

Educated at The Edinburgh Academy (1971-1984), where he was head boy, Ian Wilmshurst obtained a Geography MA and PGCE at Pembroke College, Cambridge (1985–1990).

His first teaching position was as geography master, house tutor and games coach at Highgate School, London (1990-1992) before moving to Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh (1992-2005) where he taught geography, was a housemaster and the 1st XV rugby coach. He will have spent 4 years as Deputy Head at The Royal Hospital School when he and his family move to Bruton later this year.

Ian is married to Helen and they have two daughters; Anna aged seven and Natalie aged five. He enjoys sports, hill walking and spending time with his family.

He will be taking over in the autumn from Nigel Lashbrook, who has been appointed Headmaster of Oakham School, Rutland.

Founded in 1519, King’s School has been fully co-educational for more than 10 years. Of its 330 pupils, 70% are boarders, while its associated prep/pre-prep school, Hazlegrove, at Sparkford – also co-educational – has a roll of 350 and a strong boarding element.

As Chairman of Governors at King’s, Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Squire said, “The Board of Governors is delighted that Ian Wilmshurst has accepted the appointment and we look forward to welcoming him and his family in September, to lead King’s into the next chapter of its development.”

Prior Park Production of Oklahoma!

Over sixty Prior Park students auditioned for the production of Oklahoma!, with the successful young actors now keen to out-perform all other Prior Spring musicals. Richard Wells, director commented: “We have had some fantastic productions over the years and Oklahoma!, with its familiar, rousing songs, will engage and enthral our audiences this week. Four evening performances and a matinee for other schools on Thursday have been planned. This requires tremendous effort from our young stars, coupled with their normal school day”. He added “It is a wonderful family musical treat and three nights are already sold out”. The show includes songs such as the opener ‘Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’, followed by ‘The Surrey with the Fringe on Top’, ‘People Will Say We’re in Love’, ‘Many a New Day’, ‘I Cain’t Say No’ and the final rousing chorus of ‘Oklahoma’.

Oklahoma! broke all Broadway box office records when it opened in 1943 and changed stage musicals by telling an emotional story through music, lyrics and dance as never before. It was the first collaboration between the legendary team, Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is set in the American West’s Indian territory, in the early 1900s, against a background of conflict between farmers and cattlemen. The tale is of Laurey and the two rivals for her affections: Curly (a cowboy) and Jud (the hired farmhand).

Ten Tors Trails

A group of King’s 4th Formers have safely returned from one of many practices for the Ten Tors. The school has a reputation for doing very well in this event and this recent group of resilient explorers are determined to continue the tradition.

Year 6 science visit to Bristol

Year 6 spent a day at the Science Museum in Bristol being CSI forensic investigators. They took fingerprints, extracted samples of their own DNA, carried out Chromatography on inks and used all their newly learned skills to identify who had carried out a kidnapping. A great day out, and a taste of how science is used in the real world.

King’s Bruton to be represented twice in National Biathlete Championships

The biathletes of King’s Bruton really have something to celebrate as two of their teams have qualified for the National Championships. Year 9 team gained first place in the South West finals at Millfield and will represent the South West area in the national finals at Bath University this coming Sunday. Whilst Year 10 team also came first and gained a place in the finals in Macclesfield, on the 17th May. Biathlete teams have always been strong at King’s but this is the first year two teams have qualified for the national final.

15 Pupils pass their Karate Gradings

Hazlegrove has always offered its students a wide choice of activities and in 2008 the Wado-Ryu Karate Club was introduced by Sensei Peter Fawbert. The club has gone from strength to strength and it now boasts some 40 members. Since its inauguration some twelve months ago, the pupils have worked extremely hard such that 15 of them have now passed their gradings with two boys gaining the 5th Kyu.

Richard III

A magnificent, melodramatic creation of Richard III was played at Prior Park College last week. The production placed Richard in a modern context and played to a packed house each night. The entire cast, the lighting sound management and stage managers all deserve much credit for their individual performances.

David Langley, Director of Drama commented “By placing Richard in the 21st century, with guns, mobiles, knife fights and mortuary slabs it remained perfectly in line with ‘traditional’ staging. The little we know of late 16th century staging tells us it was not particularly big on accuracy. Not to update Shakespeare would mean his work belonged in a museum and not on the stage.”

The character of Richard of Gloucester seems to have an almost mesmeric quality. It is still one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays, regularly performed around the world. Richard III was played by Charlie Cavaliero, a student in his final year at the College.

Combe Down Primary Pupils Maths Art Week

Sixty pupils from Combe Down Primary School visited Prior Park College last week to take part in a Mathematics lesson which explored the exciting phenomenon of the Golden Ratio. The year 5 pupils were enthralled by the revelations of the afternoon’s study.

The students split into five smaller groups, tutored by the College Mathematics team, to investigate properties of the Ratio. It has long been believed that the most attractive rectangles have a ratio of 1.618 between their length and their width and this theory was tested in a number of ways. One group examined the proportions of the Mansion at Prior Park, whilst another looked at the ratios in the faces of some celebrities such as Angelina Jolie and George Clooney. Another group created the Fibonacci spiral, based on the Golden Ratio, which can be found in real-life, such as the Nautilus shell.

Mr Tim Brierley, Head of Mathematics at the College explained “Throughout the week the Combe Down pupils are exploring the relationship of mathematics with art. We hope that a practical look at the Golden Ratio will help to further inspire these students with their studies. We have been delighted to be able to collaborate with Combe Down Primary School’s exciting initiative.”

Prior Park Welcomes Lute Expert, Bill Badley, to the College

The Music Department at Prior Park College arranged a Lute Day on Tuesday as part of their Lent Term music programme.

Roland Robertson, Director of Music commented “The Lute is a rare and beautiful instrument, ancestor of the guitar and was played at the College by noted lutenist, Bill Badley. We are indebted to Bill for inspiring our young musicians, who all performed with maturity and flair”

All the College’s guitar students were present for the afternoon’s Masterclass workshop demonstration which took place in the John Wood Chapel. Bill explained about the lute and some of the students played solos, these included: George Tuckey, Alex Milne-Turner and Nick Warren-Miller. The day closed with a delightful evening concert in the Academy Hall.

The historical setting and elegant ambience of the Academy Hall was a perfect backdrop for the evening’s entertainment. The audience was enthralled by the musicians, including Bill Badley’s lute solos, as well as the student singers and classical guitarists. The College’s soloists were accompanied by Bill and included beautiful songs from the 1600s by Dowland, Ford, Campion and others.
· Bill Badley is an English lute player who first discovered Arabic music when researching his instrument’s origins. He has spent several years touring the Middle East, collaborating with and learning from musicians in over a dozen countries between Morocco and Oman. He taught for a while at the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus, Syria and presented & co-produced the Channel 4 documentary, Music in the Line of Fire about Palestinian musicians. Bill contributed much of the Arab section to the latest edition of The Rough Guide to World Music. (BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music 2003 feature by Bill Badley.)

National Youth Choir of Great Britain Success for David Jones

After a successful audition, David Jones has been appointed to the National Youth Choir of Great Britain. David, a pupil in the Upper Sixth at Prior Park is thrilled to have been selected and commented “This is a great opportunity, life is pretty hectic at the moment and I am really looking forward to the National Youth Choir tour to LA”.

Roland Robertson, Director of Music is delighted for David and said “High tenors are a rare and precious resource for any choir and I am not surprised that the audition panel recognised the natural quality and promise of David’s voice. However, his recent success is an endorsement of the time and commitment he has put into his singing over the years. We wish him an exciting and rewarding career with the NYCGB and look forward to watching his progress.”

It is a busy final year for David, who plays rugby for Prior (Full Colours 1st XV – 2008 season’s awards), performed in the College’s production of The Marriage of Figaro as well as being a significant figure in the school’s choirs and Bath Abbey Choir. He took part in a BBC live broadcast with the National Youth Choir last week.

Outstanding A Level Results

Students at King Edward’s have once again performed exceptionally in their A-Levels this year, with a 100% pass rate. Well over half of all entries were awarded an A grade and an impressive 85.3% were graded A or B.

One third of the candidates achieved A grades in all their subjects, with 13 candidates achieving 4 grade As and 3 candidates gaining the top grade in 5 A-Levels! Most students have again gained entry into the top universities, with 7 pupils gaining entry into Oxford or Cambridge.

Congratulations are due to all students, who have worked extremely hard for their success and of whom the School is very proud.

Martin Boden

HEADMASTER

Prior Park student amongst top ten in the country

Local student Anton Kalyuzhnyy was amongst the top ten students according to Edexcel, the UK’s largest awarding body.

Anton sat the GCSE Russian exam earlier this summer at Prior Park College and the results, issued last month, show that out of 1922 candidates, Anton achieved one of the highest overall marks.

Dr Giles Mercer, Headmaster commented “Anton has returned to the College to study for his GCSEs over the next two years and we are very pleased that he was able to achieve an early result in his native language. He has shown a great level of maturity and ability to undertake a difficult exam, I wish him all the best in his future studies.”

Jerry Jarvis, Edexcel’s Managing Director, said: “This is a tremendous achievement and testament to the hard work students put into preparing for their exams. We send our congratulations to Anton.”

New Head for Prior Park College – September 2009

The Governors of Prior Park College, Bath, are delighted to announce the appointment of Mr James Murphy-O’Connor, to be Headmaster from September 2009. The appointment has been made following the retirement announced earlier this year of Dr Giles Mercer. Dr Mercer has given 13 years of distinguished service to the school and retires in July 2009. 
From school at St Benedict’s, Ealing, where he was Head Boy, James Murphy-O’Connor read History at Oxford and gained a PGCE at Cambridge. After teaching at Stamford School and Sherborne, where he was a Housemaster, he was invited in 2004 to be the founding Headmaster of Sherfield School. In this enterprise he has been highly successful, seeing this co-educational, independent school set up from scratch, with the school roll rising to 540 pupils.

James Murphy-O’Connor and his wife, Ali, have four children and are actively involved in their local parish church. They have a very high regard for, and commitment to, Prior Park’s Catholic Christian character and life, and to its all-round educational philosophy. James Murphy-O’Connor’s father and four uncles were educated at the school.

page two Prior Park CollegeBath BA2 5AHTelephone: 831000www.priorparkschools.co.uk

The Chair of Governors, Sister Jane Livesey CJ, said: “We are absolutely delighted that Mr Murphy-O’Connor, so ably supported by his wife, will be leading Prior Park into its next very exciting phase of development, whilst at the same time cherishing all the vital strengths of the school which has gone from strength to strength under Dr Mercer’s outstanding leadership”.

Mr James Murphy-O’Connor added “I am very pleased to have been offered the position of Headmaster of Prior Park College. It is a privilege to be asked to continue and develop the strong traditions and the all round excellence of the school. I am looking
forward to leading the staff and pupils from September 2009”.

Prior Park College Opera Singers Hit the Heights

Prior Park opera singers hit the high notes, when two of the star performers from the forthcoming production of The Marriage of Figaro received their A level results today. Benedict Hastings and Alberic Elsom, gained 6 A grades between them. Other outstanding performances were by Shin-On Kang, gaining 5 A grades and Isobel Smith gaining 4 A grades and 2 A , AS grades. Heads of School, Natalie Cordon and Iheukwumere Duru gained 7 A grades between them.

Excited Upper Sixth Prior Park pupils are celebrating their success at A Level today. Measured against all previous criteria this was Prior’s best result in its history. With 44.4% A grades , a staggering 77% A & B grades (reflecting a 12% improvement on 2007 results) and 94% A-C grades. A 100% pass rate was the icing on the cake. Over a fifth of the cohort gained 3 A grades or better

The Headmaster, Dr Giles Mercer, said “Records are meant to be broken and this is a year when our students have surpassed all previous achievements. Our leavers have worked hard, heeded the advice and encouragement of their teachers and have reaped this well deserved reward. They and their teachers are to be warmly congratulated.”

Photo: Opera singers Camilla Czul, Alberic Elsom and Hettie Hobbs

The Marriage of Figaro is being performed at Prior Park College Wednesday 10 th, Thursday 11th, Friday 12th (Gala Night), Saturday 13th September. Tickets: 01225 831004. £15 (£10 students).

Prior Park Pupils Face the Facts about Noma