On Saturday the Rugby Club played a full fixture away at Harrow, and returned with six wins and eight losses. At the top end, nerves were on edge from the onset and ill-disciplined and scrappy rugby was played by both 1st XV sides at the start of the first half. Oundle found their rhythm and began to apply pressure at the end of the first half, but efforts were thwarted by a strong Harrow defence. During the second half, Harrow’s attack proved its worth, and a few well-constructed tries saw a lead in Harrow’s favour. A tough final loss at 15-7, but the team was said to have learned a lot from it.

On Saturday the girls 1st XI hockey played Trent. Expecting a strong turnout from Trent, the Oundle girls took the initiative and opened with aggressive style. Trent soon fought back, relentlessly attacking the Oundle defence. Minna Coke (D) had to make some vital saves and Esme Wishart (W) sent some crucial outlets to our midfield where Grace Easterbrook (Sn) and Lily Craven (Sn) tried to send the ball in our attacking direction towards Hebe Hughes (K) on the right wing. Unfortunately three minutes before half time, Trent scored in a short corner. A deflated Oundle leaked another goal after half time. Oundle showed some determination when Frannie Aldridge (K) scored Oundle’s first goal. Unfortunately it was too little, too late. Oundle’s attack was no match for the Trent defence in the last ten minutes; the final score was 2-1 to Trent.

The U15s had better luck with only one loss out of five games in fixtures against Kimbolton and Trent. The U15A team enjoyed a decisive win, 7-1, while the U16s won two games and drew one.

The boys 1st V squash team played against Rugby School at home. Oundle’s first encounter of the new season was a very convincing win, 5-0 to Oundle. The squash team sent the message out that they mean business this season, and they are confident they will only get stronger with tougher matches to come.

The boys U16 squash team were thrown in at the deep end against Rugby School. Despite the team’s inexperience, they showed immense potential with a 3-1 win. Hugh Stanton's (F) match was the most captivating victory, after he battled it out for five games.

Dylan Martens (L)

The annual Charity Fair was held on Sunday afternoon, with Lower Sixth Form pupils from each House devising a variety of games and stalls to raise funds for their designated charities.

Pupils chose a wide range of charities to support, including the Adam Rogers Trust, Bloodwise, Wateraid and the British Heart Foundation. Wood Green animal shelter and the local Air Ambulance were also represented, and a total of just under £1000 was raised in just a few hours.

The event provides an opportunity for fundraising and also helps pupils get a taste for philanthropic activities. Some stalls were just for fun, such as throwing sponges at teachers, and an egg roulette game, whilst others raised awareness of issues, such as a memory testing game for Alzheimer’s UK.

Last year, pupil initiatives and giving, including the Fourth Form’s involvement in the Big Give Philanthropy in schools programme, raised more than £114,000 for local, national and international charities.
 

The fixture against midland rivals Bromsgrove has history; the national semi-final was lucky enough to witness a masterpiece of school rugby at Allianz Park last season, so there were some wagers placed in anticipation of the 1st XV match.

Oundle conceded early, with Bromsgrove exploiting an overlap out wide and an aerial mismatch. They kicked the ball cross-field to their winger who scored in the corner. Oundle defended an astute Bromsgrove maul and soaked up a lot of pressure after this score. Angus McRae (StA) got Oundle on the scoreboard via the boot. From here on, Oundle hammered the Bromsgrove line, although lacking any venom near the try line. They eventually took the lead as Ben Curry (S), returning from injury, crashed over. McRae converted and added another penalty to take Oundle into a 13-5 lead.

Despite leading, Oundle made simple errors under pressure. Bromsgrove didn't produce anything special nor tear open holes in Oundle's defence, yet the white wall continued to concede needless penalties and executed decisions badly. Oundle gave away one penalty too many, resulting in ten minutes in the bin. Bromsgrove went over despite a relentless defence. With five minutes to go, Oundle lead 13-10. The error count didn't change and Bromsgrove converted a penalty to take it to 13-13. They didn't give in, changing direction of play several times, only for the Oundle organisation to finally give and for the maroon side to score.

Hosting Stowe on Two Acre awaits.

Returning to Oundle from the summer holiday, the badminton 1st and 2nd mixed teams had an away match against Oakham. The 1st team drew while the 2nd lost with a tight score, 10 - 8.

Oundle teams performed very well in the single games, winning three of the four games in total. From the 1st team, Teck Cheah (Ldr) exhibited astonishing skills in his single game, using a mixture of strong smashes and trick shots to control the pace of the game, beating his opponent with an impressive score, 6 - 21. Christopher Bird (L) in the 2nd team, notwithstanding his little experience in badminton matches, showed an outstanding performance in his games. Through communication and different strategies, Christopher and his partners won most of their doubles and mixed games. The girls also gave a satisfactory performance in their games, taking 8 of their mixed games. Matilda Cooper (D) showed a high level of consistency in her games, giving the opposite team an intensive game.

The masterclass with Sam Ward last Sunday proved to be extremely beneficial to the team, enhancing their basic skills to be applied to games in the future.
On Tuesday the Squash Club hosted Uppingham at home. The 1st V won 3 matches and lost 2. There were some notable performances from Dylan Martens (L) whose individual match score was 3-0, as well as from Alex Swanston (G) and Jack Murphy (B) who both won 3-1.

The 2nd V also won 3 and lost 2. Charles Oppenheim (F), Harry Daniels (G) and Alec Bruce-Gardyne (Ldr) produced memorable performances.

The U16 V lost 3 and won 2. There were some spirited efforts from Tom Farmer (S) and Hugo Maynell (Ldr) who won their matches.

Oundle were delighted to pull off an overall victory against traditional rivals with 8 wins and 7 losses across the fixture.

On Thursday the 1st V played away against Bromsgrove. Despite the wearisome bus journey, the Oundle players arrived on court fresh and full of confidence and the fixture was won convincingly, 4-1. Sam Boscawen (B), Kieran Marray (L) and Dylan Martens (L) all managed to win their games 3-0.

Oundle's XI faced The Perse at the weekend. A fired-up Oundle side pressed hard, forcing early Perse errors. In any sport, possession is key and having a lot so early on benefited Oundle hugely, resulting in many shots on target. After a series of short corners and free hits, Oundle still couldn't score. Yet, after a stern effort from Perse, Oundle managed to nick a goal before half time via Anna Hodgkinson (N). With the 1 goal cushion sealed, Oundle oozed confidence. Hodgkinson continued to pester, stealing the ball out of the keeper's legs, slamming it into the back board. Hodgkinson later secured her hat trick from the penalty spot. Izzy Myers (Sn) scored the 4th goal through a deflection off Frannie Aldridge's (K) sharp cross into the D. Lily Craven (Sn) who has displayed some encouraging early season form was rewarded with a wonder goal, slapping the ball on her reverse stick into the top right corner. Credit must be given to Annabelle Barker (N) and Flo Garnett (D), who maintained yet another clean sheet. 5-0 against a very capable Perse side was a dream result for Oundle.

On Thursday, the Swimming Club competed in their first competition of the year. In a multi-school gala, Oundle managed to secure its place as a leading school for swimming, making 5 out of the 8 finals. The intermediate girls performed well with enthusiastic swimming and great support from the team. Imo Caudwell (Sn) gave a particularly strong performance. The intermediate boys achieved great results with personal bests from many.

Finn Clarkson (Sc) competed for the senior team, winning a bronze medal, somewhat against the odds. The senior girls were impressive, with vice-captain Eliza Dundas (D) leading from the fore, and setting example with her attitude. The senior boys won multiple medals in medley and freestyle races, with Ryan Ho (C) impressing all the teams with his speed.

Finn Clarkson gave the swim of the gala, and gained back 15 metres to secure 3rd place, despite being in Fourth Form. Although Bromsgrove were strong, our conduct and support for all teams was exemplary and tone-setting, particularly during the medals ceremony.
Eleven personal bests were gained in this gala and two records were broken: Ryan Ho broke the 50m breaststroke record, which had been held by Sam Woodfield since 2008. Sam’s record was 35.16 seconds and Ryan’s time was a close 35.15 seconds. The other record was achieved by James Alley (G) broke Bruno Ngou’s time of 25.74 with 25.14 seconds. This is a stunning reflection of the quality of the team; overall this was a very successful gala, both in terms of silverware and atmosphere.

Doug Russell (Ldr)

To celebrate European Day of Languages this year, the Modern Languages department invited the best kind of role model they could think up to come and speak to pupils. Hyperpolyglot Richard Simcott, often referred to as the ‘Ambassador for Multilingualism’ was flown over from Macedonia to spend a couple of days in the department. Richard, who is originally from Chester, and who previously worked for the Foreign Office, has studied 40 languages and uses over 20 of them on a weekly basis in his personal life, as well as his work.

Richard began with a debate with the language teachers about his ideas of how to motivate language learners. On Friday evening he gave a Society talk to Sixth Formers and then on Saturday led a series of polyglot workshops and talks. Around 700 pupils came into contact with him. The crowd that gathered around him a break  quizzing him about the languages he could speak was proof of the impact he had and his almost ‘celebrity’ status.

My favourite moment was when the Third Form asked him questions in Dutch, Russian, Mandarin, Thai, French, Spanish, Italian and sign language, and then requested that he spoke French in a scouse accent. None of this fazed him!

So what is his secret? Richard says the key is finding your motivation for learning the language of your choice. Once you have done this, it is all about making your language learning part of your every day life and daily routine. If you have another hobby that you can further in that language, all the better.

‘Over-learn it’, he said. ‘Expose yourself to that language in both an active and passive way as you did as a child when you were learning your first language.’

However my favourite quote of the weekend was, ‘If you are blind, you don’t know what it’s like to see. If you’re deaf, you don’t know what it’s like to hear. If you are a monoglot, you see the world in black and white and you don’t know what it’s like to see the colour of the world.’

S Davidson

When Waiting for Godot first opened at the Arts Theatre Club on January 5^th 1953, it was not met with universal acclaim. Some were bored, some confused, some left at the interval, some before. However, Irish Times critic Vivian Mercier described it as a play where nothing happens twice and yet it keeps the audience glued to its seats. 

Charlie Rogers’ (S) production not only battled the bewildering vagaries of Beckett’s most significant work, but also the challenges of outdoor performance.  Staged in the round with the lonely tree of the School Cloister’s as its centre point, a remarkable version of the play was produced by a tremendously able cast. Nothing did happen, twice, and yet despite the autumn chill in the air and the chiming bells of St Peter’s, the audience remained glued to their seats whilst two Charlie Chaplin like tramps waited….and waited.

Director Charlie Rogers and Assistant Director Tom Younger (G) took the two central roles of Valdimer and Estragon. Together they made a compelling tragic-comic duo. Their onstage relationship, with all its twists and turns gave real heart to this elusive piece and their Laurel and Hardy-esq physical comedy showed great skill and precision. 

Coco Brown (W) was a strangely beguiling, but nonetheless brutal slave-master Pozzo, alongside Axi Hobil’s (Ldr) much maligned Lucky.  His tender portrayal of the character engendered genuine sympathy from the audience whilst Ed Hodgson (Sc) as the boy, communicated an innocence and fragility which gave the play depth and variety.

N M Jones

Community Action pupils enjoyed a busy itinerary over the Michaelmas Field Weekend.

On Saturday 26 September, 112 pupils and seven members of staff headed to Birmingham to experience a night under cardboard in a car park at St Basils, one of the largest and most successful agencies in the United Kingdom working with young homeless people.

For one night, pupils had a taste of the reality experienced by the thousands of young people who sleep rough. It is hoped that as well as raising awareness of the plight of homeless people, the Sleep Out will raise in excess of £8000 for this very worthy charity. Various talks on the work of St Basils were given throughout the evening by organisers and residents.

The next day on Sunday, over 200 visitors to the School, hosted by over 150 pupils, took part in Have a Go Day, participating in various activities from swimming and badminton to crazy golf and face painting and even traction engine rides around the School’s grounds.

Have a Go Day provides an encouraging environment in which visitors with special needs can try their hand at new sports and activities in a safe and familiar environment. Some visitors make a bee-line for their favourite activity as soon as they arrive; the archery is always extremely popular and well supported. Others like to try their hand at rounders or cricket, and football is always popular.

Finally, on Monday, pupils attended a series of talks beginning with volunteers from the new youth café at Fletton House, a local Oxfam volunteer who has recently returned from Rwanda, and a fundraising team from Lepra.

The weekend finished with talks about ‘Modern Slavery’ by International Needs executive directors from the UK, Ghana and Canada.
 

The 1st XV rugby team hosted Stowe on Saturday, and our home team showed much improvement against a strong opposition. Inspired by vocal home support, Oundle attacked with fluency and intent, epitomised by the industrious Ben (S) and Tom (G) Curry twins, and an exceptional performance from fly half Freddie Johnsrud (Ldr). Our defence proved impregnable, with Stowe unable to score a try. The final score was 20-9 to Oundle. After a tough start to the season, Oundle have the ball rolling. An Oakham fixture awaits this week. 

The 1st XI girls hockey team played Oakham away. In light of their notorious rivalry, both teams started aggressively. Oundle’s defence strategically targeted their key player. Esme Wishart (W) and Annabel Barker (N) double-teamed to prevent her from using her pace and skill to get past the deeper defence. Anna Hodgkinson (N) scored the first goal. After Oakham equalized, Oundle fought hard, however the standard of play declined as the team tired in the second half. Oakham’s star player took advantage of this and scored two more points despite tremendous effort from Minna Coke (D) in goal. The final score was 3-1 to Oakham.

The Squash Club played away against Stamford. The 1st V won 4 and lost 1 in a solid performance with some convincing wins. In particular, Alex Swanston (G) showed his grit against an irate opponent, maintaining focus and snatching victory in the final stage of the final game, 3-2.

In the second Squash Club fixture of the week, Oakham visited Oundle. The 1st V continued their winning run and won 4 and lost 1 due to injury. Alex Swanston and Kieran Marray (L) put on an excellent exhibition of their talent, both winning 3-0.

The 2nd V fixture was a nail-biter which was won in the end 3-2 to Oundle. Tom Farmer (S) had to step up to the mark to replace an injured player and pulled off a remarkable 3-0 victory. With the fixture at 2-2 all the pressure was then on Ryan Cheng (Ldr) in the deciding match. He played brilliantly and won 3-2, clinching an overall Oundle win.

The Swimming Club travelled to Bramcote to compete in the annual ESSA regional qualifiers, where they were met by some of the toughest competition from a variety of schools across the Midlands. The teams were age categorised, with swimmers from 11+ to 18 years. The Club was strong in both medley and front crawl relays against challenging opposition, and all competed with spirit.

The badminton teams had a tight match against Rugby away. The boys drew while the girls lost by just one game. Ben Bird (L) and Marcus Lo (C) played as the fourth pair of the boys team and performed extremely well. James Clayton (L) and Francis Yiu (Sc) showed excellent teamwork even though it was their first time playing doubles together. They used varying formations and strategies to gain the control of the pace of their games, giving their opponents some exciting games.

The girls team made great improvements from their previous match. Sophie Crowe (K) and Tilly Cooper (D) both showed great determination and attacking skills by using many strong smashes and high shots to interrupt the formations of the opposing pairs. However, up against some well-experienced teams, their weaknesses were spotted, and their opponents limited opportunities for the Oundle side to progress.

Dylan Martens (L)

Six Oundle hockey scholars attended the sixth MT13 Annual Conference at Repton School, with one of the best line-ups for a number of years. Among the coaches attending the conference were Florian Fuchs (International Hockey Federation Young Player of the Year 2012), Christopher Ruhr, a fellow German international, and Toon Siepman, a leading expert in drag flicking who has worked with the top drag flickers, such as Anna Flanagan.

During the conference Georgie Pringle (W) was lucky enough to have a one-on-one session with Toon. As well as leading international stars, top players from local clubs were also involving in coaching the players.

The morning sessions comprised a series of drills that incorporated game-like scenarios, as well as more technical skills such as drag flicking and 3D skills. The second half of the day involved indoor hockey (the modern game) and breaking the defensive line, which will be helpful for the coming fixtures.

The participating coaches attended lectures by Adam Commens, who is currently the Australian women's senior hockey coach, and by Toon Siepman, who talked about the technical side of the drag flick, demonstrating examples to the staff.

All in all, the day was very beneficial to all the Oundle pupils and coaches.

K Hoskins

On the evening of Tuesday 6th October, the Spanish Society welcomed Dr Paul O’Neill for a much anticipated talk entitled, ‘Linguistics, Language and Identity’. He began by speaking about his experiences abroad on a farm in Spain where he discovered the importance and variation of pronunciation after mispronouncing a word. This was because he found it difficult to differentiate between two phonetic sounds due to his own Geordie accent. This sparked his interest in the subject of linguistics and phonetics, and he now finds himself writing a book composed of the specifics of various sounds.

Dr O’Neill gave an introduction to the science of linguistics which emphasised the importance of linguistics in all walks of life. We learnt about different types of phonemes, how these are produced and how these affect the manner in which one pronounces a word. We were all intrigued by the subtle differences that we usually take for granted, and yet heavily impact our speech. The talk was made even more effective, as it focused on how linguistics applies to the study of the Spanish language.

Dr O’Neill studied Classics and Spanish at Brasenose College, Oxford before moving to Madrid to complete the equivalent of a MPhil, writing his thesis on the phonetics of Andalusian Spanish. He then returned to Britain and studied once again at Oxford. Dr O’Neill then worked at Liverpool University teaching Hispanic linguistics and currently lectures at Sheffield for the department of Hispanic Studies.

Lara Haughney (L)

The 1st XV had a tough week with Oakham away and NSB in the space of five days, both were gritty affairs with Oundle really showing how to win.

Below is an excerpt from the Fifteen Rugby’s report of Oundle vs Oakham. Photos from the match are available on their website: Fifteen Rugby Photos

"The 24-10 scoreline in Oundle’s favour masks what was actually an incredibly tight game, with it really looking like it could go right to the wire. Only in the final few minutes did Oundle turn a 14-10 lead into that more commanding looking 24-10 final score.

If there were two players who defined this game though, it was Oundle’s twins, the Curry brothers. Tom (G) at number 8 and Ben (S) and openside. They were simply immense. Watching them is like looking at a throwback to the international back rows of the early nineties, or to any South African back row. It is abrasive and all action back row play. Neither is afraid to let a fly half know they are there, and they are always there, every breakdown, every play, every chargedown, they are always there.

It is to Oakham’s credit then, that in the face of that they could remain so much in the game.

Oundle opened up an 8-0 lead in the opening quarter of an hour after a Ben Curry (S) try at the tail of an Oundle maul and a penalty from wing Angus McRae (StA).

McRae pegged back a penalty though to give Oundle an 11-7 half time lead. Both sides had reason to be positive, Oundle had looked the better side on balance but Oakham had ridden the storm and seemed to be in the hunt again.

A huge second half seemed on the cards, and so it was. What followed was a brilliant, intense, rugged half of rugby from both sides. It probably was not the prettiest, but that really was not the point. This was school rugby doing what school rugby does, producing intensity that you can feel as a spectator.

Oundle gained the first points of the half, another McRae penalty, to go 14-7 ahead. Bagshaw was then sin binned for Oakham after over enthusiastically moving a player away at the maul, and there was a sense that with a man advantage and a seven point lead, this was Oundle’s moment.

Certainly they tried, Curry was right up in Riddington’s face as he started to use his boot more, while the breakdown was becoming like trench warfare, yet Oakham would not yield.

That tenaciousness paid off and, with just over ten minutes left and back up to fifteen men, Lewis landed a penalty to close it to 14-10. All of a sudden the game was anyone’s to win, and with the players from the earlier kick offs now surrounding the pitch, raising the atmosphere, the intensity seemed to lift another notch, impossibly.

Oundle had the running of it and began to really bang at the Oakham door. Captain George Chatterton (F) at scrum half was showing good composure to keep his side playing the way they wanted, but still Oakham would not let them through.

Broken field seemed the best bet, kick returns and grubbers through seemed to be looking promising for Oundle, as did turnover ball, and it was through one such broken field set of play that they eventually got the breakthrough with barely over a minute left to play as they swept over to the right hand side of the field to score a dramatic late try. It was heart breaking for Oakham, and a further blow to the chest, as McRae landed a brilliant touchline conversion to make it 21-10 with a minute left.

Straight from the kick off Oundle were back on Oakham’s 22, and when the home side conceded a penalty, Tom Curry’s natural instinct to get the game done and dusted kicked in. Straight away he put the ball down, forcing the referee to give the penalty and then pointing straight at the posts before Chatterton could raise an objection. As competitive a beast as there is.

McRae of course obliged, giving Oundle the 24-10 victory. It was a brilliant game, for which both sides deserve immense credit. Robbie Hayes (StA) looked promising on debut, controlling the lineout well. Curry (S), Keane (L) and Tusa (S) all scored from close range.

The second half was a brutal and intense affair that neither side’s bodies will forget in a hurry. Oundle deserved their win, and look set to cause real problems to teams all year.”

During the day, a total of 10 rugby matches were played between the Oakham and Oundle, who showed their class, winning 8 of the 10 matches.

Earlier in the season, there were 14 hockey matches against Oakham, in which Oundle won 12 and only lost 2. They scored an amazing 49 goals, conceding only 12.

For a match against another mighty opponent, Oundle’s 1st XI hockey travelled to Repton to play what would be their toughest match of the season. In the opening phases of the match Oundle managed to slow their players down allowing them to have more composed possession. Repton had a special midfield player who stuck the ball on our foot in the D all game long. They went through their slick short-corner routine in the early in the match and scored.

At times, Oundle were guilty of giving Repton too much respect yet the second half saw a far more aggressive performance. Often in sport, when you attack more you tend to be more vulnerable on the counter, and unfortunately for Oundle, this was the case. Two more short corners for Repton, lead to two more goals. The strength of the side was displayed in how clinical their set-piece was. Nonetheless, Oundle continued to be gallant despite conceding yet another. The final score finishing 4-0. The end result did not do justice to a strong Oundle performance.

In netball the U16 competed for the County Cup of the National Schools Netball Competition, and finished as runners-up, making it to the Regionals.

The first match was against Brooke Western and after a slow first two minutes they started to kick into gear, and won 6-1. The second match started straight after the first and was against Northampton High School which was won 5-0. Thirdly they played Wellingborough which was also won 7-0. Next they played the Weavers winning a strong 7-0.

They knew that the next match was going to be tough against Quinton House. They got quite flustered in the moment and unfortunately lost 1-4. After a much needed break, they played Pitsford and won 9-0.

Having made it to the semi-final, they were against Pitsford again. The previous win put their mind-set a mile ahead of their team and they won 9-1.

This meant that they qualified for the next round in the competition on the road to the Regionals, and just needed to fight it out for positions in the final.

They knew the final was going to be a very tough match, having previously lost to Quinton House. They fought especially hard and when the final whistle went, it was 4-4. The game went into extra time, and the team fought on and turned over many balls, but unfortunately Quinton House pipped them by one goal, making the final score 6-5.

Player of the Tournament was awarded to Lily Craven (Sn).

Doug Russell (Ldr)

Team members of the Oundle Chronicle attended the Shine Media Awards at Stationers’ Hall on Tuesday 21st June, and left with no fewer than seven awards.

The Shine Awards were presented by Dr Simon Heffer, Senior Columnist at the Daily and Sunday Telegraph and Louise Court, Director of Editorial Strategy and Content for Hearst Magazines UK. The Oundle Chronicle was presented with some of the most prestigious awards at the ceremony, including the prize for “Best Newspaper”, as well as “Best Business Strategy”. It was highly commended for “Best Newspaper Cover” and “Best Community Initiative”.

The paper was also jointly awarded the “BPIF Award for Exceptional Overall Promise”, presented by Charles Jarrold (OO) of the British Printing Industry Federation, which includes a course on “An Introduction to Print” for the Chronicle team.

The judges said: “Best Newspaper in 2016 was deservedly won by Oundle School for the Oundle Chronicle. Winning other categories such as Business Strategy, Community Initiative, Best Cover and Best Feature article, Oundle’s entry scooped awards across the board. The almost professional appearance of this newspaper continues to shine amongst the top echelons of the competition.”

Editor Thomas Lambton’s (B) achievements in the field of journalism were demonstrated by his award of “Best Feature Article”, for an article he wrote about a local resident who went to Syria to fight against ISIS. The judges remarked that Thomas’ article was “beautifully written and crafted, this is reporting at its best. This is an example of clever storytelling which underpins all good journalism”.

As Editor, Thomas was responsible for many of the key stories in the paper, and his work was further recognised with a special award judged by Simon Heffer, “Young Journalist Showing Exceptional Promise”. Thomas’ personal awards include a one-on-one workshop with Simon Heffer, and an online journalism course module from the National Council for the Training of Journalists.

As recipient for one of the four major prizes, the newspaper received a cheque for £1000, and a day of workshops at the TES for members of the team.

The Chronicle was represented by Ruby Goodall (L), incoming editor and Jemima Gurney (K), staff writer, who began the day at Stationers’ Hall with three workshops. They learned about the craft of binding with Shepherds Bookbinders, learned the perils and practicalities of setting up a magazine with Output Magazine, and attended a workshop in news journalism with Sarah Lonsdale of City University London. They also enjoyed a talk by keynote speaker, digital brand guru Torie Chilcott from advertising technology company Scoota who advised the audience on “How to make the most of your career and have fun at the same time”.

The Shine project is supported by the Stationers’ Charitable Foundation and has many high profile sponsors such as the Copyright Licensing Authority, Hearst Corporation, The Printing Charity, The Telegraph, Google, Getty Images and many more.

On the eve of an historic vote about the nation’s position within the European Union, this year’s Oundle Lecture was delivered by Edward Troup (Bramston 1972), Executive Chair and First Permanent Secretary of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. In attendance were the entire Lower Sixth Form, Old Oundelians and invited guests.

In his talk titled ‘Tax, War and Democracy’, Mr Troup began by referring to the EU vote as the first occasion where democracy would genuinely affect an enormous change, and admitted that a talk about taxation could not have been scheduled for a worse day, hinting at the issues that would need to be grappled with should there be a vote to leave. His talk focused on how central tax and war are to democracy, and how control of the revenue was essential to the power of government.

He outlined a timeline, highlighting the key historical figures who introduced changes to taxation that led to the modern state: William Pitt who introduced income tax; William Gladstone who was an advocate of free trade; the ‘great reformer’ Lord George whose ‘people’s budget’ introduced progressive taxation; and William Beveridge who wrote the influential report on social justice that led to the creation of the welfare state with its remit to increase taxation to tackle ‘want, ignorance, disease, squalor and idleness’.

While taxation is essential to the power of the state, particularly in times of war, governments cannot assume the right to impose it. Taxation requires engagement with the citizen, and democratic representation is essential. Mr Troup said the public has to be persuaded about the government’s intentions, because losing the public’s confidence can be disastrous, citing the poll tax riots of 1992 as an example.

Mathematicians and economists love graphs, but he emphasized that graphs and theories have to work in the real world. Tax does influence behaviour and tax incentives can work, he insisted, but policy makers must beware of unintended consequences of ‘messy’ policies, referring to the row that heated up over the ‘pasty tax’.

He said that the biggest threat to tax and tax revenue that has been faced over the last 200 years comes from new online companies with global reach that have changed all the rules about terms of employment or trading, such as Uber, Airbnb or eBay. However, he does not see any move to a global flat rate for multi-national corporations; tax is a political issue that requires a democratic mandate.

The hot issue recently has been tax avoidance by large corporations and individuals using offshore tax havens. Mr Troup accepted that there is a problem, and that more data about British citizen accounts is required, but he said that the reality is that the UK is among the most tax compliant nations. He said it is the fault of HMRC that the facts are not communicated more clearly to the public, and he hoped that they could find a way to elevate the public debate.

He concluded with the observation that progress is possible, but major change needs war, crisis or good luck. ‘Tomorrow is another day’, he said, not knowing then how different the day would dawn.

Pupils at Oundle have again performed exceedingly well in their Sixth Form examinations, with just under one in four grades being awarded A* or equivalent, continuing the School’s record of high achievement at this level.  Ten percent of the grades for Pre-U subjects attracted the D1 grade, which represents a step above the equivalent A*.

Twenty percent of pupils scored at least two A* grades, with stand-out results from William Brettle (4 A*, 1 D2), Magnus Jeffery, Ming Ting Lau and Edward Wilson (3 A*, 1 D1), and Winnie Liu (4 A*).

As a result, 30 Oundelians have confirmed their places at Oxford or Cambridge Universities, repeating the success of previous years' cohorts.

Pupil performance was strong across all subjects: noted success came in English, Mathematics, Latin, Greek, and Chemistry, where over 30% of all candidates secured A* grades or equivalent; all candidates taking German this year secured the highest Distinction grades at Pre-U.

I.C. Smith
Deputy Head Academic

Oundle School pupils have this year secured an unprecedented set of excellent GCSE results, further enhancing the School’s reputation as one of the foremost academic co-educational schools in the country.

Sixty percent of all grades awarded were A*, a record for the School, and the sixth year in a row where the majority of results were at the highest level. An impressive 89% of grades were A* or A.

The number of pupils achieving outstanding grades again set a new record, with 28 pupils achieving at least ten A* grades. Chingis Idrissov (Sc) and Yatlong Tse (G) commendably topped the ranking with 11 A* apiece.

Performance was strong across all subjects with Biology (81% A*), Chemistry (73%), Chinese (77%), Greek (86%), Italian (75%), Latin (70%), Physics (83%), Religious Studies (71%) and Russian (100%) being the stand-out subjects this year.

The School is delighted that its pupils have performed so well in all public examinations. The results are testament to the mature commitment of the pupils and the inspiration of their teachers.

I.C. Smith
Deputy Head Academic

The First XV kicked off the season with a trip to Stamford. In torrential rain Stamford gained the upper hand scoring the first try before Will Richardson (S) crashed over the try line before half time to get Oundle back in the game. Following a successful Stamford penalty at the beginning of the second half, Oundle kept piling on the pressure on the opposition with Alex Efford (L) making some crucial turnovers at the lineout, but unfortunately it was to no avail and Stamford emerged victorious by a score of 10-5.
The U16B clashed horns against their rivals from Stamford in a match in which they set a superb example in showing how to defend under pressure. The team withstood a succession of strong attacks from the opposition, and tries from Finn Peyton (C) and Nathan Hoffman (G) ensured the result went in Oundle’s favour with a 10-0 triumph.

The girls hockey 1st XI spent their Saturday at a tournament in Canterbury. After a somewhat sluggish goaless draw against Framlingham, the team shifted up a few gears against the King’s School, winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Frannie Aldridge (K) and Grace Easterbrook (Sn). After lunch, a match against Queenswood beckoned, and Oundle emerged victorious thanks to an accurate finish from Lily Craven (Sn) in the last five minutes. A semi-final clash against the King’s School proved to be a fiercely contested encounter, but goals from Izzy Myers and Ella Johnsrund (both Sn) secured Oundle’s place in the final for the sixth year running, where they faced familiar foes Framlingham.
Having lost to them in the final last year, the Oundelians were keen to set the record straight. Roisin Emmerson (D) did a great job at protecting the goal from the opposition’s notoriously pacey flicks, but unfortunately, a change of tactics allowed Framlingham to open the score. Despite relentless pressure, Oundle weren’t able to find an equaliser and the game finished 1-0. Whilst it was a disappointing end to the day there were many admirable performances, most notably Boo Baker-Munton (D) who played terrifically throughout the competition.

The 3rd XI also faced Framlingham on the same day, with a much more positive outcome. It took a few minutes for Oundle to gel as a team and get into the groove, but a clinical strike from Lilla Powell (D) was nothing less than the team deserved thanks to their superb link-up play. Thalia Garnett (D) doubled Oundle’s lead soon after halftime, and a devastating counter-attack soon after that underlined an emphatic 3-0 victory for Oundle. Not to be outdone though, the 4th XI stole the show on the hockey pitch, beating Framlingham 10-0. Credit should go to Jemima Bostrom (N) for her efficiency in front of goal, and to the outstanding Lucy Scott (K), running the game from the middle of the park.
 
The sailing team faced off against Oakham, Uppingham and Stamford in a round robin tournament. While evident rust could be seen in the first two matches against Uppingham and Stamford, the team seemed to have got their mojo back against Oakham, traditionally the strongest team of the quartet, winning dominantly with all three boats finishing ahead of their counterparts. Such a convincing victory shows that the club is very much heading in the right direction as the season begins.

Sam Herring (L)
 

Over the summer, twenty Oundle School pupils were led by three members of the Biology teaching staff on a biology expedition to Madagascar.

The first week in the forest for the group involved long sampling treks. One app recorded over 30km walked in a single day, with pupils fuelled by a daily lunch of lentils and rice.

Along the way, pupils had the opportunity to observe flora and fauna in their natural habitat. Many species, such as the lemurs, vangas, chameleons, geckos and hognose snakes, could only be seen in a particular area of forest and potentially had not ever been seen by any biologist before. Some invertebrate specimens caught by our pupils are now being catalogued for the Natural History Museum to officially classify.

The pupils also visited Mariarano Primary School, spending time with the school children.

The second week at the marine site was for reef ecology and conservation and allowed some opportunity for relaxation fitted around diving and snorkelling. A national park marine reserve on an idyllic tropical island provided opportunities for sunbathing as well as the chance to snorkel and observe turtles, triggerfish, sting rays, huge lobsters, and a shark was even spotted.

The results are in from the annual Cambridge Chemistry Challenge held in June. Four pupils: Kevin Law (Sc), Maurice Gedney (S), James Chapman (Ldr) and Andrea Veronese (C) were all awarded a Gold Award, which placed them in the top 7% of the highly able cohort who sat this paper. In addition, five pupils achieved Silver Awards and twenty-one pupils achieved Copper Awards. Of these, Rebecca Siddall (L) did very well, as she was also taking her GCSEs at the same time.

The competition takes the level of thinking beyond the normal discussions held in the classroom, and also provides a good breadth of the subject that pupils may not be exposed to. Normally reserved for the Sixth Form, for the first time this year, selected Fifth Form pupils were invited to take part. The assessment comprised a 90 minute written paper which pupils took at school. Entrants who did well in the competition were sent certificates of achievement, and those who performed best nationally won an invitation to a residential camp at the University of Cambridge at the end of August. 

This week, the Rugby Club played Harrow. The seniors stayed at home and produced mixed results whilst the juniors fared better away. The 1st XV faced one of the toughest sides they will see this season and the fine quality of the Harrow players showed on the score line which stood at 47-0 to Harrow. The 2nd XV had a better game from which they came out on top, taking a well-deserved win of 17-3. A highlight from lower down the school was the result of the Colts A team, who despite missing two of their key players, won 23-10. They worked well together as a team and focussed on putting their recent training sessions into practice, which eventually paid off.

Great Britain hockey player Sam Ward came to Oundle to give the 1st XI girls a masterclass in which they learnt many new, high level skills. Sam's advice of "Try it or you'll never get better" worked wonders on the team and helped them improve very quickly at skills they had never previously attempted.

On Saturday the girls hockey 1st XI and 3rd XI travelled to Trent College to play the Trent 1st and 2nd teams respectively. The 1st team faced tough opposition and fell behind in the first half against a very well trained, slick team from Trent, who took advantage of any errors given away by the Oundle girls. However, in the second half the Oundle side rallied and were able to place far more pressure on the Trent side, with some excellent work from Corky Barlow (Sn) up front. The final score was 5-2 to Trent, but player of the match went to Roisin Emmerson (K) who played in goal and was instrumental in preventing countless attempts on goal from such a strong Trent side.

The 3rd XI were more successful and took the lead against Trent in the early stages of the match and then immediately consolidated with an excellent single handed run up the line and shot on goal from Charlotte Fray (L). In the second half the 3rd team continued to pull ahead, so that the final score was an impressive 6-0 to Oundle.

Elsewhere, the U14 boys cricket team was in action at Oundle Town Cricket Club in the county finals against Northampton School for Boys. Oundle won the toss and chose to bat first, opening with Harry Thompson (F) and Guy Farrand (B), who made a 43 partnership before Farrand was dismissed. Tom Aubrey (L) was the leading run scorer with 28. By the end of the first half, Oundle had reached 127 in 30 overs. Oundle came out after tea needing early wickets and Zac Atkinson (L) did that. He took 3 wickets in his 6 overs, dismissing NSB’s key player. After the seamers did their part, the pitch was looking ready for some spin, and at one point, NSB lost 4 wickets for 0 runs. Oundle bowled out NSB for 46. Tommy Simeons (StA) took 5-3, Atkinson 3-12 and Giles Mallinson (StA) 2-7.
Oundle won by 81 runs, and as county champions will compete in the U15s national knockout next summer. They will be joined at the nationals by the U12s, who also won their county championship game during the week.

Ruby Goodall (L)

A record number of Oundle pupils have each been awarded a much sought-after Arkwright Engineering Scholarship that identifies them as a future leader in engineering and related areas of design. 

The pupils, Ben Bird (L), Christopher Bird (L), Nikita Belenkov (S), Edward Jinks (L), Reuben Parry (S) and Arthur Thomson (StA) were selected for their potential as future engineering leaders during an assessment process which looked at their academic, practical and leadership skills in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). These are assessed through a rigorous selection process comprising: an assessed application form including a teacher’s supporting reference; a two-hour aptitude exam; and a university-based interview. The scholarships support STEM pupils through their Sixth Form studies and encourage them into top universities or higher apprenticeships.
 
The scholarships consist of an annual financial award to each Scholar and their school, and a range of enrichment activities, such as mentoring and industry visits that enhance a Scholar's experience of engineering and technical design in a real-world context. Arkwright Engineering Scholarships are highly regarded by universities and industry and are one of the most prestigious accolades that a talented Sixth Form pupil can achieve.

Ben, whose scholarship is sponsored by The Reece Foundation, intends to study structural or mechanical engineering at university. Chris is sponsored by Bristol University Civil Engineering department and intends to study either civil or mechanical engineering at university. At the moment he is working on an Extended Project Qualification on the future of mountain bike design.

Nikita, whose scholarship is sponsored by The Eranda Rothschild Foundation, hopes to study electronic and information engineering at university and is currently building an eight bit computer. Ed is sponsored by Sir William Lyon’s Charitable Trust and hopes to study computer science at university. For his Extended Project Qualification, Ed is involved with a green power car project, making some software for the car to communicate with the pit during the races.

Reuben, whose scholarship is sponsored by The Smallpiece Trust, is intending to study engineering at university. Arthur is sponsored by The Reece Foundation and also hopes to study engineering or maths at university.

The Scholarships will be formally presented to the pupils at a prestigious ceremony supported by The Institution of Engineering and Technology later in the year.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding in 2015, SACU sponsored the first Needham Essay Competition for Oundle School Sixth Form pupils. Now in its second year, this year’s competition was also open to pupils at St George’s School, Harpenden, and two £100 prizes were awarded, one to each school. The essay topic was ‘The Significance of Mao's Little Red Book both in China and across the World’.

From Oundle, Anneka Shah’s (L) essay was selected to be awarded a prize, and she was invited to the A Taste of Beijing conference held on 14 September in London, hosted at the British Library by the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU), Peking University and the Beijing Publishing Group.

During the day, the delegates attended lectures relating to the importance of literature and communication in strengthening relations, and lectures on ‘Chinese literature going global’. Chinese scholar Tan Liefei discussed architecture in Beijing, and John Moffett, from the Needham Institute in Cambridge, gave a keynote speech on the life of Needham. To accompany the conference the British Library curated an exhibition of books relating to China.

Joseph Needham, after whom the Physics Department and Chinese Society at Oundle is named, played a large role in improving Anglo-Chinese connections. Originally a student at Oundle (Grafton 1918), Needham studied biochemistry at Cambridge and later became Master of Gonville and Caius College. Needham is best known for his magnum opus, Science and Civilisation in China, for which he wrote the first 15 volumes about Chinese technological achievement.