91971_GraemeCampbell_Anyflip

AANNSL2021|2022





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Introduction 5
Our
In June 1958, the late Queen Elizabeth world
visited the College as part of its centenary 49
celebrations, on the same day that she opened Our
London’s second airport at nearby Gatwick. houses
That day, she had already opened an airport 77
and visited the new town of Crawley, yet in a Ourselves
picture taken at the time she looks serene and 81
radiant making small talk with the assembled Our
children. For them, no doubt it was a moment alumni
to remember. For her, one among tens of 85
thousands of similar ceremonies. Our
valete
In addition to the Queen’s visit, the
school’s centenary was celebrated
by a new building, the Centenary
Building now known simply
as the cricket pavilion. Not
content with the visit of a Queen,
the Prime Minister Harold
Macmillan also visited and
reminded the school what they
were here to do. There were three
purposes of education, he said:
‘to know when a man is talking
rubbish, to learn things of real
practical value, and to preserve

the ancient faith’. However much has changed
in the decades since, these purposes still feel
relevant, especially in a time of post-truth and
post-pandemic when there is pressing need for
schools to re-focus themselves on the human
needs of the children, underpinned by the
Christian faith.

This year’s Annals once again provides a
record of ways in which the College lives out
these purposes, and in this at least I hope I’m
not talking rubbish.

B Figgis Head of College

<< COVER Matilda Segalini-Bower Fifth < Lara Tait Fifth

04 Alexa Liesching Fifth >

|
05 Laila Liesching UVI

Our
world

CAREERS

Possible future
careers for each
pupil

The Careers Department

has been an exciting and

busy place, especially

now that we are based in

the Library, which is a

vibrant centre for learning

BIOLOGY refreshing and inspiring to hear him (both independent and

‘MEAT the future’ - Oxford stress the importance of maintaining collaborative), reading,

University Museum of animal farming traditions within ethical as well as enhancing and
Natural History Trip and environmental considerations. His developing research skills.
company is actively employing biologists, The year started with our

A group of L6th Biology A Level and biochemical scientists and engineers. current fifth form students
IB students accompanied by Mr Lane, We all felt that we were part of completing very important
left early on 8 December to attend a online skills, interest,
conference based on the exhibition what the future of meat consumption is and ambition-based
entitled ‘MEAT the future’ at Oxford going to be: inspired by a visionary and questionnaires which
University Museum of Natural History. someone who deeply cares about farming produced a personal
The focus of the exhibition and lectures and the environment. Ivy Farm sausages report detailing a number
was research carried out by the LEAP produced with real but cultivated meat, of possible future careers
project (Livestock, Environment And have been cooked by a famous chef and for each pupil. These
People) based at Oxford University, have been highly rated. It was amazing reports can provide a
which is looking at the environmental, to hear that the first cultivated meat good point of reference
health, social and economic impacts restaurant has already been opened when discussing future
of meat and dairy production and in Singapore, where the aim of the careers, deciding on sixth
consumption. government is to ensure that by 2030 at form subjects and work
least 30% of their meat is sourced locally experience opportunities.
All lectures took place in the which, taking into account the lack of The fifth form students
lecture theatre inside the museum with land for farming, means that this meat also had a workshop on
the exhibition on the upper floor. We will be sourced from cultivated meat work experience – the
first met two LEAP researchers who farms such as Ivy Farm. importance of gaining
described the evidence of the impact valuable experience and
of meat consumption on health, as well The impact of meat consumption how to go about finding
as the health benefits of reducing meat was rendered even clearer during a it. All our fifth form
consumption. They also discussed the presentation by an Oxford Physicist and students had an online
social perception of healthy food and by a LEAP researcher who works on careers discussion with
long-term studies that have looked at the consumer choices. an independent careers
willingness of the public to make dietary advisor and then a number
changes both long and short term. An excellent and enlightening day of them followed up with
which has given students not only much a one to one meeting
The most inspirational speaker was to reflect on in terms of environmental with me to source taster
Russ Tucker, a biomedical engineer from issues and diet choices, but also in terms days, work experience
Oxford University who is the Co-founder of future careers in the field. placements, draft CV’s
and CTO of Ivy Farm, a company that and develop action
uses new technology to cultivate meat Once again, the A Level December plans to help them make
for the purpose of reducing unethical lectures day organised by the brilliant informed decisions about
and environmentally damaging farming educational team at Oxford University their futures.
techniques, whilst still providing meat Museum of Natural History, has proven
06 products to the ever-increasing meat exceptional and, having taken students
demanding population. from different schools to this yearly event
for the past 15 years, I am not at all
Russ’ has a farming family surprised. Well worth the early morning
and the painful M25.

| background, and it was incredibly E SEGALINI-BOWER
07

CAREERS AS PART OF THE CURRICULUM PSYCHOLOGY
Careers advice and guidance plays a vital part in our
PSHE Programme from Shell onwards. This year our Brain Day
pupils completed an online careers questionnaire –
Probe. This introduced them to various careers that On Tuesday, 8th of March, the IB and
might be of interest to each individual while making our A-Level psychology students were lucky
pupils more aware of which subjects lead to particular enough to spend a day with Dr Guy
careers. Sutton discussing fascinating topics
in Psychology that went beyond our
Our Remove students are actively encouraged syllabus. The morning began with an
to participate in live or even virtual work experience explanation of the brain’s structures
opportunities in order to start to understand the world and the effect that drug use can have.
of work. We then moved on to talk about ways
of measuring the brain, from fMRIs to
Life skills workshops are run throughout the the human connectome. We even learnt
year to in order to support our senior school pupils about how being in space can change
in building and developing life skills – these include the brain and why this has led to NASA
networking skills, presentation skills, CV writing, hiring neuroscientists!
interview preparation (MMIs and 1:1 interviews) and
work experience sessions. After a short break, Dr Guy Sutton
gave a talk about the violent mind. This
Our students have been particularly proactive included learning about the role of the
in their work experience exploration this year and MAOA gene, as well as how chemical
although some of the experiences have been virtual, poisoning and brain tumours can
approximately 150 students have participated in work cause an individual to commit violent
experience placements. crimes. This led to a thought-provoking
discussion on whether people can really
DEPARTMENT SPECIFIC CAREERS EVENTS be held accountable for their actions,
We kicked off our live department specific events this and the implications that this has for the
year and hosted an inspiring ‘Charting the Future legal system. We were then lucky enough
Event’, in collaboration with our Alumni and OA to watch a dissection of a sheep brain
Department. The topic was ‘How Geography empowers and were given the opportunity to hold it
us to meet today’s challenges and build a better ourselves!
tomorrow’.
After lunch, we learnt about the
Our Panel included three of our dynamic OAs- an ‘shattered mind’, which involved an
environmental consultant, a MD of an international interesting presentation on schizophrenia
energy exploration and advisory company and a senior and the neurodevelopmental basis
analyst for the Cabinet Office. of auditory hallucinations. The day
ended with one of the most exciting
We host NCS (National Citizen Service) talks, the future of the brain. We learnt
throughout the year. They have been delivering about how human brain tissue is being
programmes mainly during the summer holidays to grown in labs, and what the ethical
young people since 2009. NCS enables young people implications of this may be. Dr Guy
to meet new people, learn new skills and connect with Sutton also explained the interface
their communities. between the brain and computers, and
how technology-aided telepathy is on the
FURTHER EDUCATION FAIR rise. We finished the session discussing
This year we decided to combine a Lower Sixth outing the future of the brain and technology,
and further education fair and have taken the whole and whether this changes what it really
year group to the UK University and Apprenticeship means to be human. We’d like to thank
Fair at Tottenham Stadium. This allowed our students to Dr Guy Sutton, as well as Ms Rice and
explore different further education options and talk to Mrs Carter, for an incredible day which
various universities and employers, offering several next we all found fascinating and incredibly
step options. enjoyable.

J EUSTACE BETH MARTIN UVI

ALEX GARCKA UVI

CHARITY

Money raising events

BUSINESS Orbis (ESB) 303.05

‘Take a Risk’ Competition Young Minds / Hello Yellow 235.87

This year ‘Take a Risk’, our Business competition at Ardingly College, St Peter & St James Hospice 19.00
proved again very popular and we had 43 Lower Sixth students
taking part. The competition is open to the whole of the Lower Sixth Movember (Woodard Boys) 181.88
whether they are IB or A level/BTEC students and they don’t need to
be studying Business to enter. This creates a very healthy competitive Children in Need (Neal) 228.19
atmosphere amongst the teams and this year it was particularly true
as we had another nail-biting finish. Our judges in the presentation DEC for Ukraine 1139.00
evening struggled to separate the teams as there were some excellent
business plans and powerfully delivered presentations. British Red Cross (Tonybee) 225.00

The overall winner after much agonising by the judges was finally Mind Out LGBTQ Mental Health 1843.78
declared to be team Viro with the idea of a carefully researched and
innovative technological device to provide information to car drivers £5 challenge* 4285.04
about vehicle taxes, depreciation and fuel costs. The winning team’s
plan was to encourage drivers and car manufacturers to make more Kangaroos & Black Mamba** 3351.08
environmentally friendly choices.
11811.89
The members of the winning team Viro were Ryan Attari, Ginny
Saraconi, Gustav Robet, Oliver Cash, Nikita Dmitriev and Luke Green. * ongoing

We also saw great ideas from other teams such as a multi-use ** fundraising ongoing over 2021/22 and
electronic device targeted at teenagers, a massaging backpack, a protein
café/restaurant aimed at gym users, a verification software product 2022/23 – these are the school’s nominated
to stop bots mass purchasing in online markets, a physical device to
compress waste in your wheely bins and a portable LED light system charities for this period
for displays in rented offices.
It has been great being able to get
During their final presentations, teams faced difficult questions charity events back up and running this
from the panel of judges and this made them think very quickly year. In addition to food collections
on their feet. We had several humorous answers as teams adjusted for Fareshare, there have been lots of
or clarified their positions. This was also the first year that a team money raising events across the Ardingly
member delivered their presentation standing inside a wheely bin to community.
demonstrate the frustrations of compressing recycled material.
The charity prefects led ‘Movember’
Overall, this business competition is a useful experience that and raised just shy of £200. There was
all competing LVI students can refer to in their personal statements a fabulous whole college Colour Run,
for university applications next year and it allows them to also reflect supported by the CAS students, which
on their team working skills. We are very grateful to all the external raised just under £2000. The student led
mentors and judges who gave so generously of their time. fundraiser for Ukraine involved ribbon
selling and a weight-lifting competition
R ARNOLD that raised £1139. There have been
house events such as Toynbee’s dumpling
sale and Neal/Burgess bake sale raising
£225 for British Red Cross and £228
for Children in Need. However, a huge
well done to Mertens for raising close to
£5000 with a Wild West night and their
‘Merten’s Fest’: superb boys!

L MARSHALL-McBAIN

CHARITY

Catering fundraising

Every term the catering department has a charity that has autistic and down

a no dessert lunch that helps to raise syndrome young adults cooking amazing

money for Haywards Heath Foodbank cakes. We sell these cakes in the café

and now the Ardingly Village. By and support them by providing a chef for

providing 1 lunch service without a the day to cook alongside these amazing

pudding, we manage to raise £500 each adults.

time for these charities. In the past we have supported a

We support Crawley open house Muslim charity in Crawley who feed

with any left-over food items that we can homeless people with a hot meal by

no longer use. This is pre-packaged items donating equipment and disposable items

08 like Sandwiches, Cakes, Muffins etc. for them to use.
|
09 We have recently started to support J DAVIES
a charity called JubyleeBakes. This is

DEBATING of students attended London Oratory
School, representing the UK, Iran and
Debating and Model UN celebrate Senegal. Topics included: Taiwan and the
125 years at Ardingly South China Sea, human trafficking and
‘policing the police’. Sadly, Benenden
‘On March 7th, a general meeting of the reading room MUN was cancelled but we look forward
was called to discuss the proposal of forming a debating to more fruitful debate next academic
society’. year.

This was the first record of the Debating Society, In the ESU Schools’ Mace debating
taken from the Annals of 1897. Within the College competition we were able to put the
Archives, we can find over a century of Annals accounts brilliance of Ardingly debating to the
of the Debating Society. This is a legacy we are proud test against other schools. In the first
to be a part of and are humbled that debating is just as round, we emerged victorious with a
prominent at Ardingly, if not more so, as it was in the team consisting of: Jack Powell, Ethan
late 19th century. This year debating has been one of the Cowdrey and Jasmine Phibbs debating
most popular in the society’s history. the motion: “This house would make
fines for civil and criminal offences
As we approach 50 years since the first girls started proportionate to the wealth of the
at Ardingly, we find an account to the Annals that, at offender”. We then, however, were
this time, there was a debate, proposed by Ian Hislop eliminated in round two after what can
and opposed by Neil Gaiman as to whether “Ardingly only be described as the greatest injustice
should become co-educational”. It is testament to the in the history of debating, with our team
progress society has made when, 50 years on, the final this time of: Stefan Danev, Olympe
of our house debating competition was the motion: ‘This David-Deleplanque and Jasmine Phibbs.
house believes changing public attitudes to LGBTQIA+ However, next year, we intend to return
people is best achieved through legislation’. Only and go all the way to the final!
through debate, discussion and challenging the status
quo can progress be achieved in enacting change. None of this account of the year
would be possible without the exuberant
House debating was the highlight of our debating Mr Davies, who attends and makes every
calendar this year - we had 84 pupils competing from event happen for us, whilst guiding and
10 houses in 25 debates with topics such as: vaccines, coaching us to become better at our
injury in contact sport and women’s empowerment craft. As we move to the end of the year,
appearing in discourse. The Senior Final was comprised we will host a showcase debate, chaired
of the Woodard Boys team made up of: Stefan Danev, by Mr Davies of those leaving Ardingly
Joey Andrews and George Wood who were victorious against those staying. It allows us to
over the Hilton team of: Henry Nott, Bertie Nuttall commemorate 125 years of debating
and Gherardo Sallier de La Tour. The Junior Final was at Ardingly, as well as to say goodbye
narrowly won by Crosse, consisting of: Davey Jerrit, to those who are leaving us who have
Bertie Sheldon and Toby Elms over Rhodes debaters: contributed so much to debating at the
Andrew Inglesfield, William Fitzmaurice and Ben Corfe. school. Stefan and Olympe, in particular,
Thank you to all judges who took their lunchtimes to are brilliant debaters and will be missed
preside over debates. by the Society as well as the people they
have helped to fill their place. Mr Savage,
Following the Covid pandemic, we were pleased as the third team member, retires after
to see that one Model United Nations actually took 10 years of contribution to debating at
place and was completed in November this year. A team Ardingly, and we particularly thank him
for his contribution to running house
debating and all the international MUNs
he has run, such as Mostar MUN. His
team will come up against the Ardingly
team of Mr Deakin, Jack Powell and
Ethan Cowdrey, to round off what has
been a great 125th year of debating at
Ardingly.

JACK POWELL LVI

ENGLISH Law Society Trip

Julius Ceasar In the Trinity term we were fortunate
Theatre Trip to attend a trip to London to visit the
Supreme Court and The Old Bailey.
In May, three Shell English classes
Before our fascinating and
visited The Globe theatre in London informative tour of the Supreme Court,
we saw a copy of the Magna Carta with
to see a performance of Shakespeare’s the famous line ‘to no one will we refuse
or delay right or justice’ written on it, a
Julius Caesar. The performance was pillar of Britain's rule of law. We were
able to go inside the famous courtrooms
highly anticipated and provided us with which offered food for thought of famous
cases and past rulings that had been
an intriguing, interactive and modern made there, one must only think back
to the milestone Jean Miller ruling of
perspective of the classic play we studied 2019. Then in courtroom 3 we were able
to see a case being trialled relating to
in English lessons. Students met at the a niche piece of Trinidadian planning
permission law, where 5 of the justices
Archway and collected their packed sat at the front of the courtroom before
us, including Lord Reed, president of the
lunches, before heading to the AstroTurf Supreme Court.

car park to board the coaches. Before going on to the Old Bailey,
we had an hour to absorb the bustling
Upon boarding the coach, a buzzing atmosphere of Westminster, where

sense of extreme excitement circulated. the immensely impressive stage. An alabaster statue
surrounded by scarlet pillars adorned with gold stood
Although the sky was initially grey prominently in the centre of the stage. The performance
began with an impressive display of costumes that took
with the threat of rain, upon arrival on a present-day twist. Many were surprised but happy
to see that Brutus, one of the main characters, was
in London, the sun began to peek played by Anna Crichlow: a female person of colour.

through the clouds. The shining weather During the second half of the play, a few of us
gradually moved to the area known as ‘The Pit’. This
paved way to a decidedly relaxed and was a circular area in the centre of the theatre; directly
below the stage and where all the action happened. This
picturesque lunch by the river Thames experience was a once in a lifetime opportunity, as we
got to see the actors fully immersed in their roles up
(thank you Catering Department). Many close. One particularly unforgettable moment took place
when soldiers began storming through the doors of
took this opportunity to take some the theatre, costumed fully in helmets and camouflage
uniform.
pictures, while others attempted (rather
In general, although they mostly kept true to the
10 unsuccessfully) to locate The Shard. spirit of the original play, modern additions such as the
| The second we set foot in the guns were badly executed and did not contribute to the
drama. Additionally, some students were unsatisfied by
11 theatre; our eyes were captured by the ending; this was because the character Brutus simply
walked off the stage, whereas in the Shakespearean
original, Brutus chooses to kill himself by running
onto his sword. If this ending were to be added to the
production, it would undoubtedly give Brutus deeper
character development. A student from 9N believed
that: ‘The actors were talented, and the production
overall was a success. However, I felt the ending fell

protesters were rife on CLASSICS and I, perhaps too afraid to commit
Parliament square and myself to either side of the divided room,
outside Downing Street. Book Club limited myself to a series of even-handed
After a rigorously long comments as I kept in mind the apt
security process to get In its debut year, the Classics Book Club advice of Skipper the Penguin: Just smile
into the Old Bailey; we has consistently attracted a devoted and wave, boys. Smile and wave.
sat (without any metal and enthusiastic cohort of like-minded
objects) and watched the individuals from Remove upwards to After such a lively and enjoyable first
trial of a man accused come together and discuss a number meeting, our Lent Term reading material,
of murder. As students of novels which have brought the past Donna Tartt’s The Secret History
of the Law Society this vividly into the present. Whether it was certainly had a lot to live up to. Set in
was fascinating as the Pat Barker putting a modern perspective a liberal arts college in New England,
Crown tried to prove on the classical tale of the Iliad, or America in the 1980s, this novel creates
actus reus and the accused Donna Tart mixing ancient cults with an a fascinating story of a group of Classics
sat in the dock awaiting eclectic group of East Coast university students taught by a peculiar professor
his verdict. Then Court students, the authors whom we read are with a murky past. Told from the
adjourned for the day stellar examples of how classical study perspective of a newcomer to the group,
once the prosecution had is very much alive and kicking despite Richard, we follow his attempt to fit in
completed its case, so we its old age. While incentives across the with this eccentric, close-knit group
can only now ponder over group to attend our termly meetings of friends as a Dionysian ritual, gone
what the verdict may be may have varied, with some, I suspect, badly wrong, drives them to murder and,
as we ensconced ourselves attracted primarily by the buffet put on ultimately, their own disintegration. To
on the train home. by Mr Johns, and others attracted by say that we all found this novel addictive
the discussion which was held, it was an would be an understatement, and the
JACK POWELL LVI overwhelmingly illuminating experience discussion, as before, was as plentiful
to share our thoughts and feelings on as the variety of snacks put on by Mr
flat as they altered the the novels in question, especially so Johns. The main talking point was the
storyline slightly.’ underneath the roof of Crosse House. tragedy of one of the characters, Bunny,
a victim not only of the group’s desire
Key moments from In the Michaelmas Term, we came to cover up their crime, but also of his
the trip and performance together to discuss Pat Barker’s Silence of own flaws. In contrast to Silence of the
included the mind-blowing the Girls, a retelling of the Iliad through Girls, The Secret History united our
ending number, where the female perspective of Briseis, who in group in literary praise as everyone got
the members of the cast Homer’s tale takes the much objectified stuck in, expressing their views on such
performed a piece of role of a war prize whom Achilles claims a thrilling novel with equal measure.
fantastic choreography after the sacking of Lyrnessus. While it Nathaniel again inserted his critical
complete with banjos was a refreshing approach to an age- nuggets throughout the conversation and
and tambourines. The old epic, Pat Barker’s invective style the triumvirate of Joey, Bertie, and Davey
positive energy of the cast of writing proved divisive among our proved that their talents had not been
radiated throughout the group. Mr Johns’ culinary generosity dulled since Christmas.
theatre, leading to a clap- appeared to be a distant memory as
along by the audience. members of the group employed the At the time of writing our third and
The best part of the play best of their critical skill in an attempt final meeting for the year is imminent,
was undeniably the sheer to tear down his positive views on the where we shall be discussing Robert
amount of interaction novel. Joey Andrews, Bertie Sheldon, Harris’ Imperium, a fictional biography
with the audience; a and Davey Jerrit all had no shortage of of Cicero from the perspective of the
campaign poster was even feedback as Mr Johns successfully faced slave Tiro who acts as his secretary. In
taken from the stage at the down a series of criticisms and queries fact, Imperium is part of a wider trilogy,
end! Our classes would as if he were behind the Despatch Box. of which all three books are a fascinating
like to thank Ms Ennos, Nathaniel Best made tactful interjections literary animation of Cicero’s fight for
Mr Greene, Mr Smith and throughout, inserting composure when it the Republic which culminates in not
Ms Harrison for giving us was needed and the same can be said for only in his tragic death at the hands
this brilliant opportunity. Annabel Bower-Nye and Astrid Tarbox. of Mark Antony but also the death
The discussion was certainly animated of the Republic. An immense thanks
MADELYN LUK SHELL to Mr Johns for creating the Classics
Book Club and I am positive that it will
continue to grow and prosper until one
day, the Crosse common room is too
small to hold everyone.

WILLIAM MAY UVI

In the third book of his Roman foundational epic, the of Rome’s first imperial dynasty, the Julio-Claudians,

poet Virgil describes the meeting of the hero Aeneas before descending upon an array of over two hundred

and the Queen of the Harpies, Celaeno. The Harpy artefacts like the wolf on the fold. Almost dizzying

prophesises to the Trojans that when, after years of in the scope of its arguments, the exhibition tackled

desperate wanderings and sufferings, they at long last practically every aspect of the emperor’s life. With

reach their promised land, Italy, vicious hunger would pragmatic level-headedness, the curators rejected the

so consume the men that they would resort to eating over-wrought literary trope present in his supposed

their tables along with the toppings served upon them. murder of the pregnant Poppaea in favour of the much

Only once this comes to pass does it become apparent more likely scenario that his lover experienced a tragic

that the tables referred to are actually baked dough and fatal miscarriage, presenting further evidence that

bases – and that the feast foretold is the early ancestor this event emotionally devastated the sensitive young

of pizza. Although Tottenham Court Road station might man. In response to claims that Nero himself started

bear little resemblance to the harbour of the Cyclops, it the Great Fire, the exhibition pointed out that not only

was the emperor not even in Rome at

the time, but was energetically pursuing

‘Nero – The Man Behind humanitarian and reconstruction

The Mask’ - British projects in its wake. In critically re-
Museum Trip examining the scandalous gossip and
snobbery of the early historians, the

Museum persuasively argued that much

of Nero’s modern legacy was the result

of a closed-minded aristocratic elite

challenged by a well-beloved young

leader with inclinations to demagoguery

and who was unafraid to step beyond

the expectations assigned to him. With

its provocative final image, a bust of

Vespasian recarved from an original bust

of Nero, the exhibition rang out with

resonant tones of populism, political

instability, and ‘cancel culture’ that

was not altogether removed from this heroic precedent sparked fruitful discussion on the journey home.

that the spectral prospect of promised pizzas imbued For some members of the Lower Sixth, the greatest

a forward momentum upon the Classics Department’s surprise of the day may yet have waited in the gift shop,

own quest for Roman culture. with the vindicating discovery that the published works

Despite the thought-provoking questions raised by of the Classics Department’s own Mr Johns had beaten

Mr Johns on the train journey into town going some way writers such as Edward Gibbon for a spot on the shelf

to open our minds, the curators of the British Museum of Museum-recommended Roman histories. Completing

seeking to rehabilitate the figure of Nero, Rome’s fifth our trip to one of the world’s most illustrious museums,

emperor, still had an unenviable task ahead of them. small groups then frantically scoured the various halls

Certainly one of the most recognisable of the Roman in search of the greatest hits: the Rosetta stone, the

emperors, the name of Nero instantly conjures a wealth Assyrian lions and the Balawat gates, the helmet of

of specific connotations: the ineffective ruler who Sutton Hoo, and the Hao Hoakananai’a of Easter Island.

“fiddled while Rome burned”; the sadistic anti-Christ, To collective disappointment the contentious Parthenon

who fed some Christians to lions in the arena, and Marbles were closed for building works, made more

used others as human candles to illuminate his garden acute by the fact that their days at the museum are

parties; or the monstrous family man who murdered his almost certainly numbered. Relieving this one setback

mother, executed his first wife, and kicked his pregnant however, the prophesised pizzas made their timely

second wife to death along with their unborn child. appearance as we ventured to a Pizza Express. Across

From Suetonius’ Twelve Caesars to Robert Graves’ our Aeneid-mirroring banquet, the cultural experience

I, Claudius, almost two thousand years of historical of the British Museum led the topic of conversation

accounting has seemingly been marshalled in the to the question of when and where in history each of

campaign against this one man. us would choose to be, if we had the power. However,

However, the new Nero exhibition, inspired by on that overcast day in early October, mere weeks

the most recent shifts in the academic landscape, was after returning to structured learning, I doubt that any

found to be actively and proudly revisionist. Stepping member of the Classics Department sat around that

12 inside the atmospheric exhibition space, all assembled table would have truly chosen to be anywhere else.
| took a moment or two to refamiliarize themselves
13 with the Game of Thrones-esque intrigues and plots JOEY ANDREWS UVI

DANCE

Dance at Ardingly College

DANCE Dance at Ardingly College has been an amusing and
pleasurable experience over the past nine months.
My Dance Experience Coming to Ardingly this year as a new student to find
such a warm and welcoming dance community, in
I have been involved in dance since I was a small child, addition to building this community as we progressed
but always outside school. So I was very excited when I has been lovely.
heard that Ardingly would be introducing dance to the
College as that has been something I’ve always wanted Since September I’ve watched my fellow classmates
to do here since I joined in Year 2. I was especially grow, improve, and get more comfortable in their own
excited about the plans to create a new dance studio, skin. There were so many girls who started with zero
however I didn’t expect that the studio would be as dance experience and were then able to confidently
good as it is. As soon as a walked in to the studio in perform in a show after seven months of rehearsals and
September last year I was blown away as I had never practice. This just shows the extent of commitment and
danced in a studio of that standard before. quality within the dance department and community.
However, this would not have been possible without out
Besides the new studio, the other key factor in teacher, Ms. Willis-Wood and her constant motivation
the success of dance at Ardingly is our dance tutor, pushing us to improve and reach the standards she knew
Mrs Willis-Wood. She is an extremely motivated and we could reach. I’ve also seen immense improvement in
talented dance teacher who is dedicated to highlighting our contemporary technique, a difficult style to master
the importance of dance at Ardingly. She has ensured if new to dancing. I remember the struggles we had
dance at Ardingly has gone above and beyond what I with our contemporary piece for the show as it was a bit
expected, providing me with numerous once-in-a-lifetime chaotic and messy at first, but by turning our rehearsals
opportunities, including the planned trip to New York into fun weekend activities we managed to get in extra
next February to take part in multiple workshops with rehearsal time and promote even more commitment
professionals, which has been a dream of mine since I and perseverance. In the end I believe the contemporary
started dancing. piece was one of the most beautiful in the show.

During this past year, we were also given the I also love to see the diversity that dance brings,
opportunity to watch Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! at especially in the promotion of boys’ dance at the college.
Sadler’s Wells, which was an amazing experience and We had some Senior and Lower School boys perform
something I will always remember. I also never thought in the show and I believe this shows how accepting and
I would learn hip hop as I have always studied ballet, friendly our dance community is. My hope for the future
and it was never included in my dance outside school. is that we will be able to get a larger mix of boys and girls
However, since I have started learning hip hop it has for upcoming shows.
helped me in so many ways, and has helped me develop
a passion for a dance style based around freedom of The dance activity, as well as the dance show,
expression, which has really improved my confidence has had an immensely positive effect on the college
inside and outside of dance. I was also lucky enough to community. Not only has it allowed for the existing
take part in the many workshops Mrs Willis-Wood has dance students to show their passion for dance, but it
put together, my favourite being the hip hop workshop has also instilled this passion into others. After the show
with Bagsy which helped me develop my skills further, I had numerous students, come and ask me about the
as well as learn the its history and its significance. show and how they can get involved in dance for the next
academic year.
The highlight of my dance experience this year
was the dance show put on by the College. It was so The dance show also had a very positive impact
much fun to get involved in a number of different dance on the other dancers, one referred to the show as “an
styles, including hip hop, contemporary, and pointe, as absolute rollercoaster of emotions, filled with a lot of joy,
well as working on my creativity by performing a solo and sadness when it was over.”
I choreographed myself (something I had never done
before). This really helped me gain self-confidence as I Another concurred by saying “I really enjoyed the
wouldn’t have been prepared to do that at the start of process of preparing for the dance show and seeing how
the year. My confidence received an extra boost when I everything came together. Participating in the dance
won ‘Dancer of the Year’, which was very unexpected! show may have been one of the highlights of my time at
Ardingly because it allowed everyone, of whatever ability
Overall, I would like to thank everybody involved to have a role to play. I am so happy that Ardingly’s
in introducing dance to Ardingly as I am sure it has dance department has been set up and is thriving.”
benefited so many people in the school and will grow to
become a vital part of College life. I can say for myself and the whole dance community
that dance at Ardingly College has greatly improved
LUCY SMITH LVI our academic year and has added some exuberance and
pizzazz to our everyday school lives.

MARTINA BIZZARO LVI

DRAMA

The Addams
Family

The weeks I’ve spent
working with the Adam’s
Family cast, both
ensemble and principals,
have been awesome!
In our rehearsals we’ve
learned to use our skills
to a high standard
while having lots of fun
performing and getting
to know each other
better. I’ve made many
new friends with whom
I have bonded over love
for musical theatre and
performing. I am very
grateful to have Ms Carr-
Bates and Ms McPhilemy
there to help and guide all
of us. The choreography
is amazing, all the acting
tips have helped me so
much, and I’m sure will be
super useful in the years to
come. A huge thank you
to everyone for making
the school’s drama
department such an open
and accepting space, it
means a lot. I could not
ask for a kinder and more
uplifting group of actors
to work with and I am
very excited to see how all
our hard work will pay off!

SONYA MOROZKINA
SHELL

14
|
15



DRAMA

The Little Shop
of Horrors

The process of putting
together Little Shop of
Horrors and extracting the
best version of everyone’s
character as a cast was a
rollercoaster journey. The
music rehearsals from the
beginning were a process
itself, to find the accent
to apply to the music, the
pace which worked, and
particular emphasis in
ensemble songs, as well
as individual songs. Once
we had got comfortable
with the songs vocally,
we added energy to make
the music come alive
through our voice and
then started working on
choreography. There was
an added difficulty for the
boys in the cast as they
had to sing using their
head voice and sing high,
in harmony moments in
ensemble pieces. This
was out of their comfort
zone, but after practising
and getting over the fear
whilst applying the accent
it all merged and sounded
incredible.

This process of
adding dance moves

and focusing more on our physicality show nights to enhance and make the

of facial expression and proxemics of music wholesome and euphoric. The

each character, especially in the large process of finding character work for

ensemble numbers such as Skid Row and everyone in the cast in acting rehearsals

Finale and The Meek Shall Inherit, made was challenging sometimes, as I know

them come alive and made us become a lot of us where uncomfortable to let

the characters. I know I particularly felt go and become this American ‘musical

submerged into the world of Skid Row theatre’ styled character, and to grasp the

and indulged in the plot and meaning accent and how to make it suited to the

of each song. It became transformative. show and style. I know particularly as

Some characters such as Audrey and Audrey, I struggled with her light ‘airy,’

Orin were not on stage for certain ‘ditsy’ and ‘squeaky’ accent and applying

16 ensemble numbers, such as The Meek this to songs too such as Somewhere
| Shall Inherit. However, we were singing That’s Green. After getting used to

17 from backstage in rehearsals and the the character and doing voice work

term, we all saw a huge change in the direction of the
play and could begin to see what it would look like as a
completed performance. Once we knew basic blocking
and our lines, we could experiment in different
deliveries of lines for our intentions, to provoke comedy
for example. All these little details started emerging

with Mr Carpenter and extra singing once we had the basic grounding blocks and that is
lessons, which I know all the principles where the show really took shape. I know as Audrey, the
did, the characters and voice started little moments she shared with Seymour helped create
coming together which, put together with this too and really placed emphasis on the themes and
blocking and acting rehearsals, made the moments in the show. It was an incredible, but hard
performance come alive in rehearsals. experience with late nights and weekends sacrificed,
but every moment we put in bore fruit on the show
Acting and blocking rehearsals nights, and it was amazing experience and helped build
causes each character in the show to confidence in everyone and gather more experience in
understand the play better and their different fields of acting styles and musical ability. We
interactions/relationships with other could not have done it without all the staff who put this
characters. In the beginning it was together with us, and we are all eternally grateful.
difficult as we were still using our scripts
whilst learning our lines and learning LUCIE STANLEY UVI
choreography for musical numbers, but
once we put down the scripts after half

DESIGN TECHNOLOGY

For our Non-Exam Assessment research, the Design and Technology

(DT) Department took the Remove and Lower Sixth DT students to

the Victoria and Albert (V&A) and Science Museums.

We started in the V&A Jameel Gallery in the Islamic Middle East

section of the museum where we saw the Ardabil Carpet, the world’s

oldest dated carpet. This carpet has an impressive floral theme running DRAMA
throughout it with two lanterns on either side of the yellow medallion
centre. After that, we walked in a loop around the Fashion room where Meisner Workshop

we saw styles dating from the early 1700s until now, it was interesting In early Trinity Term, I participated in
a Meisner Workshop led by Dannie-
to see how women’s fashion has developed over the last three centuries Lu Carr. The Meisner technique is
an approach to acting that help acts
We then ventured to the Cast Courts room where a series to respond to the scene around them
and trust their instincts. I found it very
of extensive sculpted towers were present, along with various helpful to tap into my creative potential
and embrace ‘authentic’ acting. The
other interesting artefacts. Afterwards, we went to room 128, the Meisner technique is rooted in living
truthfully and moment to moment
Architecture room where we saw the house front of Sir Paul Pinder’s and is based around improvisation. In
our workshop we performed two main
home from the 1600s in London. From there we went into the very exercises. In the first, the actor actually
did a task like eating an orange, or
hot glass room in which many different glass sculptures were displayed counting all the chairs in the drama labs,
but then subsequently repeating the task
such as the Verzilini as a performance. This encouraged us
to reflect on the truthfulness of acting.
V&A and Science Goblet and the Lalique Another technique that she showed us
Museum Trip Victoire. was to use repetition that allows us to
forget about specific words, but give
My personal different natural reactions as a scene
develops. Often the actors will sit
favourite was the across from each other, and when one
of them is ready a statement is made.
Jewellery room which This could be as simple as ‘your shirt is
blue’. This would get repeated back and
contains over 3,000 forth between the actors. When I did
this simple exercise it felt very hard to
various pieces of control, as my first instinct as an actor
is to control what I’m doing but it really
jewellery. Different helped me let go and to respond to the
scene truthfully as it unfolded. At the
brooches and necklaces, end I think a lot of people found this
workshop very helpful and I have found
rings, bracelets and out that as an actor you don’t always have
to control everything that you do.
earrings were displayed

throughout the room and

on the top floor we even

got to see jewelled swords.

Our final stop in

the V&A museum was

the Furniture room,

highlights being the

Yatman Cabinet, designed

by William Burges, the

Djiin Chair by Olivier

Mourgue and the Cassone

Chest from 1488.

We were then fortunate to have lunch in the John Madejski

Garden in the sun, overlooking the fountain.

After lunch we went to the Science Museum which was only about

a two minute walk away and began to tour around in the NASA and

space travel section. We saw multiple rockets and satellites, including a

full-sized replica of the Eagle which was used by Buzz Aldrin and Neil

Armstrong in 1969 to get to the moon. EVELEIN VAN DIJK REMOVE

From there we went to the Winton Gallery, the Mathematics

room, where we saw a beautiful abstract purple light which was

designed by Dame Zaha Hadid which towered over the rest of the

gallery, containing a scale model of the Globtik Tankers, the Cabinet of

Foreign Weights and a collection of typewriters.

Our final stops in the Science Museum were in the Medicine

room, the Clockmakers Museum and Science City, all of which held

very interesting artefacts

18
| SOFIA HARRISON LVI

19 Mya Lake Fifth >



20 ENGLISH
|
21 Polly Kapff Fifth It is

It is like a man
Man, what makes it?
Whatever contrives man

Suppose It is a woman
Comprehend what makes It so
Whatever contrives woman

Not man
Human

It is like the rhythmic pulses
Inside cages of flesh
Ready to be sprung free

Suppose it is the potential
Abundant in so innocent a life
Ready to be sprung free

Nature
Nurture

It is like a feast
Full of food on which It gorges
Before open windows for all to see

Suppose It is the forbidden fruit
That one glowing apple
On a tree for all to see

Temptation
Satisfaction

It is like the red sea
Parted at the will of one man
Fight for me, fight for you

Suppose It is a symphony
A dulling, ignorant lullaby
Fight for you, fight for me

Parting
Apart

It is like her scream
Scream, what for?
For fear of change, no change

Suppose It is his empty tear duct
Empty, what for?
For fear of no change, change

Not man
Human

It is trust
The fear of which
Keeping the outside always out

No suppose, It is self
The knowledge of which
Keeping inside always in

Inside out
Outside in.

JASMINE PHIBBS LVI

I yearn

I yearn for the familiar rooster ‫أحن إلى الديك المألوف‬
ENGLISH ‫أحن إلى بيت جدي وجدتي‬
‫البعد طال والشوق صار مرار‬
I yearn for mI yyegararnndparents’ house ‫الضجيج والصراخ يكاد يفنى من حياتي‬
‫وأنا جالسة في برد الشتاء وعمار الحضارة‬
The distancIeyiesarlnonfogr,thaenfdamthiliearloronogstienrg has become ‫خذوني إذا عدت يوماً أرجع لعش إنتظارك‬
‫ وشجرة بلا جذور‬،‫ عاشقة بلا حبيب‬،‫عصفورة بلا غطاء‬
bitter I yearn for my grandparents’ house ‫تائهة في أراضي الغرب ورائحة الطين العفن تجذبني‬
‫إليك يا مصر أفديكي بروحي‬
The distance is long, and the longing has become bitter
‫بلادي بلادي بلادي‬
The noise aTnhdecnhoaisoe sanadrechsalooswarleysflaowdliynfgadfirnogmfrommymlyifelife ‫لك حبي وفؤادي‬

As I sit in thAescIoslidt inofthtehceolwd ionfttehre swuinrtreorusunrdroeudndbeyd tbhy ethe wall of
wall of civilicsiavitliisoantion

Take me if I ever come back to your patient nest

Take me if IAebvierdr wcoithmoeutbaaccokvetr,oayroomuarnptiactwieitnhtounteasltover, and
A bird withoautrteeawciothvoeurt,raoortos mantic without a lover,
and a tree wLgroiatsvhtitoianutetths ermoleaonttodsws aorfdtsheyoWu est, the smell of the mouldy mud

Lost in the lTaonydosu,oOf tEhgeypWt, Iessatc,rtifhicee smmy esollulofforthyoeumouldy

mud gravitaMteyshommeeltaondw, amrydhsoymoeuland, my homeland

To you, O EYgoyupth,avIesamcyrliofivceeanmdymsyohueal rftor you
MENNAT ZAYED UVI

My homeland, my homeland, my homeland

You have my love and my heart

ENGLISH

Wuthering Heights
Theatre Trip - 1

In early Trinity Term our A level significant to the plot, which is very important for a play
English class went to see Emma Rice’s like Wuthering Heights.
production of Wuthering Heights in
Brighton. Rice opted to take a more My favourite choice that the director made was to
contemporary approach to the set show how each character on stage was affected by the
design and layout of the play itself, Yorkshire Moors, which almost had its own personality
with mannequins of children being in the production. This also stressed how the moor is
used to show flashbacks to Heathcliff actually like its own character in the book. Therefore,
and Catherine’s childhood, alongside though it may have been a different interpretation
an array of mismatched ladders and from other productions, I think it emphasised the
chairs, that conveyed the disarray of common thread between characters, since each of them
the house Wuthering Heights. I think interacted with the Moor at some point.
both of these choices were very effective
because they simplified things for the This production also included a lot of music which
audience, allowing us not to be confused I personally really enjoyed, but I know that some others
when different characters come on to saw it as unnecessarily prolonging the already lengthy
play the younger versions of Heathcliff show. The only section of the play that did confuse me
and Catherine Earnshaw. In addition was the rock song from Catherine Earnshaw, just before
it suggested a sort of lifelessness in the she was about to become Catherine Linton. Though it
house which could be seen as a result did serve to demonstrate her erratic and wild character,
from so many deaths. Another thing it seemed unnecessary to me since it didn’t do much
that this production did to make things to move the plot on and could have confused people
clearer for the audience by using chalk because it was so different to the mood of the rest of
boards at the front of the stage when a the play. Having said this, overall, I think the music
character died. This, along with breaking was effective at creating a sense of mystery and danger
the fourth wall to address the audience throughout the production, that often also included
directly, made it easier to keep track helpful details explaining exactly which point in time
of who had died and how they were the characters were at, which made it clearer to the
audience.

CAITLIN MORAN LVI

ENGLISH

Bryophyta’s Divide
Named by the Standard Level IB Class of ‘22

today I walk speaking to myself,
putting categories and verbs between me and the world.
I think of others,
I think of the different colours and shapes
that divide and hide what truly lies behind.

today I am a step removed,
today there are such things as my shoes, and your shoes, and shoes.
today, trees to cement to the person next to me,
all are far away and thus separated,
leaving me alone to reflect.

I reflect today so tomorrow,
I can see myself in the gaze of others.
I reflect today so tomorrow,
the natural world around me is no longer around me,
there will be no I to surround; I will be the surrounding.
I reflect today so tomorrow I will be a part,
unified,
and un-reified.

I reflect today so tomorrow my skin will crawl equally to a bug on my back,
to a bug on a tree, and to an itch on the bugs back too.

feel it, take down those walls, closes your eyes and ears and nose and mouth and become more.
I have not seen my friend Gaia for a millennium,
I want to return home.

lose yourself and gain entirety.

SEBASTIAN TORCASSI UVI

ENGLISH ’

Mozart’s Tune

‫ كانت غنوة‬.‫ النجوم ترقصت على طرب الرياح والزجاج الطائر‬.‫ شاهدت منتهى الأحداث في مظضلم الليل‬.‫كل الإشاعات حقيقة‬
،‫ الخفافيش كانت تصرخ حذراً من أتعاب الدنيا‬.‫لموزارت مولعة في كل ركن من السيارة السوداء وهي حاملة ضحاية الفساد‬

‫وهو يصرخ لم‬, ً‫ كانت عيانه ممتلئتان حزنا‬.‫ عفن الدم كاد يهلكني وأنا استجوب الأب‬.‫ملمومون حول جثة الزوجة وإبنها الصغير‬
‫ انتهى لحن‬.‫ رن صوته في أذني ومشهد العائلة في الغابة في ذهني‬.‫ سكتت الخفافيش ناصطتاً للأكاذيب المكررة‬.‫لم أقصد‬...‫أقصد‬

‫موزارت للتو‬

All the rumours are true. I watched the events unfold in the sombre night. The stars danced to the
rhythm of the wind and the flying shards of glass. A tune of Mozart’s was playing in every corner

All the rumoof uthres balraecktrcuaer.bIewaraintcghtehedvtihcetimevseonftcsourrnufpotlidonin. Tthheebsaotms wberree nscigrehatm. Tinhge, wstaarrysodfatnhecebdurtdoenths e
rhythm of othf tehwe winodrladn, gdatthheerefdlyainrogusnhdatrhdescoofrpgslaesosf. tAhetuwnifeeoafndMhoezrayrotu’snwg saosnp. lTahyeinsgicikneneivnegrlyy dcroyr,nsewreoetf
the black cmaretbaelliacrisncgentthneevariclytidmaszeodfmcoerarsuIpqtiuoens.tiTohneedbtahtesfwateherer. sHcirseeaymesinwge,rewfailrlyedowf tithhesobrurrodwe, nas hoef the
world, gathexecrleaidmaerdo“uInddidtnh’et mcoearpnsteo.o..fItdhiednw’timfeeandtoh!”e.rTyhoeubnagtssfoelnl .siTlehnet,seicakvesndirnogplpyindgryo,nswtheeertepeated
metallic scleienst. Tnheearflaythdear’zsevdoimceeinasthIeqwueoostdiorannegdinthmeyfaetahrse.rM. Hoizsarety’setsuwneehreasficlolemdewtoitahnseonrdro. w, as he

exclaimed “I diMdnE’NtNmATeaZnAYtEoD…UIVdI idn’t mean to!”. The bats fell silent, eavesdropping on the repeated

lies. The father’s voice in the wood rang in my ears. Mozart’s tune has come to an end.

22
|
23

ENGLISH -
what song do you think
my minute would fit
my minute?
today I read wait a minute,
that one man it would have to be a minute
takes his own life of a song, or a song
every minute. of a minute,
I stood there – wondering because I have only got one minute
how many minutes will tick by, and that is not that long.
until, -
until its my minute. during those sixty seconds,
- what will I see?
I am happy and loved – of those sixty seconds,
but how many minutes will that last? how much will be for me?
one fateful minute -
I’ll say: what if,
“I was once happy and loved, I miss my own minute.
but that minute has come to pass”. what if I am too gloomy
- to leave the house that day?
where will my minute come from? the crowd in attendance –
from inside or out? the train greased and oiled,
where does that cheeky minute hide, the clock finally ticks its last tock,
is it sneaky, and I am not there,
would I catch it with my own two eyes? too tired,
- too spoiled.
does my minute depend -
on the actions of friends? then, seasons change,
if so, and every morning,
how many friendless interactions I shave, slick back my hair,
will bring forth my own end? but my minute has passed, how unfair,
or, how boring.
will it be me? how dare I go strolling without a sense
am I the blind bell tower that of foreboding, knowing nothing
chimes its own last minute? of my lost minute –
- only hoping,
what thought will that my eleventh hour arrives on time.
anticipate -
my minute – what a surprise it would be –
would that thought be to see a dead man walking, smiling
my thought too? among the living.
-
how many thoughts will I have, SEBASTIAN TORCASSI UVI
until,
I am the proud owner of
my own, personal, anticipatory thought.
or instead –
is it that every thought I have
carries a piece of that
final puzzle?
will I recognize the shape –
my shape,
before I think myself into
completing it.
what image am I constructing
that will bring about
my destruction?

ENGLISH

Preludes (an introduction to life)

I II

If I met a shackleless human I passively consume the world around me
I’d let them take my life Gorging on dopamine fix after fix
Cut me open head to toe Until I am morbidly obese on media lies
Spill my swelling innards Diabetic from gluttonously gorging
Let them seep onto a hard linoleum floor On sweet screen dreams.
It wouldn’t leave a red mark With the aid of substance less substance
Instead, the colour of mindless brain I drink myself drunk
Empty of thoughts and cleared of all reason On the light pouring out of my fifty inch screen.
For I would take my soul with me Through it, I find more addiction at my fingertips
And that’s all that would be left Another way to absorb the world
No different to the innards of another From the comfort of a torn leather sofa
Because the world used on me the same mould. I train myself to fall in Disney love
Birth initiated me into being with a mutilation ceremony With the comfort of a comic sans name
It cut from me innate knowledge The safety of screen-shotted abdominals
And tossed it to stain the same linoleum floor Owned by the cracked up drone of a deep pitch tone
Strewn and lost so I will forever be in pursuit of it Whispering sweet nothings into the ear of my phone
Hindered in my search by a desire-shaped hole It lulls me into a sequence of day sleeping
Another gift birth bestowed on me Eternal possibilities rest behind my resting eyes
A physical deformity, it renders me half human People, realer than figments of reality
Infected with an incurable brokenness Give me life or questions about it
That poisons my entire being Because life is the people you let inside
No antidote for this negation And people can make you doubt it.
Except a placebo that makes my body more sick. I let them in through a world-shaped mirror
Still, I ingest this simulation ecstasy So I don’t let them in at all
Out of the palm of an unwashed hand But if somehow they entered my antechamber of Truth
Dirty fingers caress my face They could hurt me if they want
The sticky pill of life slides down my throat Bruise my body head to toe
It stimulates insulated impulses My unfed walls of thirst and tears
Eradicating the impulse to take the blue pill Would have no defence against real life
It drives in me a hunger insatiable to existing things They would become lonely walls of nails and dirt
A beast only tamed by my impatient starvation The world wouldn’t notice a change
An infinitely suffering thing. It has never seen inside
My living world status would morph from living
To simply being
Offline.

JASMINE PHIBBS LVI

24
|
25

LGBTQIA+ Week Sixth pupils were then fortunate enough to hear from
Tim Burke, Editor of the BBC’s ‘Politics England’,
The heavy bass of Ru Paul’s ‘Cover Girl’ pulsated from who entertained us with tales from his successful
the dance studio speaker as Ms Willis-Wood led a group career - particularly focussing on the challenges faced
of eager students (and some slightly more apprehensive by him as a gay man, while simultaneously weaving in
staff members…) through another part of her vogueing his reflections on the BBC in its 100-year anniversary.
routine. Gesticulating wildly, I turned to my left and Students were particularly entertained by a photo of
noticed none other than Reverend Andy mastering the Tim’s schoolmate, Reverend Andy, with his luscious
moves as if he had been taught by Madonna herself. It locks still intact. The day culminated with a special
was in this moment, a beautiful marker of just how far online talk and Q&A with Devin Ibanez: the first openly
we have come as a school and society, that I realised gay Major League rugby player. Students showed their
how successful LGBTQIA+ Week had been. wonderful engagement in their thought-provoking
questions after Devin’s talk, which prompted yet more
Inspired by a survey of homophobic language at the insight into the lives of LGBTQIA+ sportspeople.
school and the drive of our LGBTQIA+ Societies, this
week involved a broad range of workshops, talks, film It was time to ‘strike a pose’ on Wednesday as
screenings and other events to improve awareness of the Ms Willis-Wood gave students and staff a whistle-stop
community and celebrate the fantastic part it plays in guide to Vogueing and Waacking: two dance styles
Ardingly life. made famous by the LGBTQIA+ community of 1980s
New York. Shell students then had the chance to hear
Monday got off to a fabulous start with all pupils in from two young ambassadors from the ‘Just Like Us’
Shell, Remove and Fifth Form hearing from renowned charity, who carefully explained the meaning behind
author, Simon James Green, who discussed his life and the LGBTQIA+ acronym as well as telling their unique
career as a gay Young Adult author. Funny and moving stories to better contextualise the experience of the
in equal parts, Green touched on his career highs and community. Proceedings moved to the Art studio as
lows as well as highlighting the challenges of being a we marvelled at the work of those that entered the
young person during Section 28 (a running theme in the LGBTQIA+-themed art competition for the week. The
talks throughout the week). LGBTQIA+ society were day was brought to a close with an evening of Sapphic
then lucky enough to spend some extra time with Simon short film, brought to us by the founder of ‘Lesflicks’,
as he joined them for a lunchtime Q&A. The fantastic a video-streaming platform for lesbian films, Naomi
first day closed with a fascinating tour through the Bennett. Again, our students did us proud with their
‘Taverns, nightclubs and bottle bars’ that have provided sharp and thought-provoking questions for our special
spaces of ‘emancipation’ for LGBTQIA+ throughout guests.
history by Mr Jerrit in his themed academic lecture for
the week. To round off the week, pupils were allowed to
participate in a rainbow-themed own-clothes day on
Student Chair of LGTBQIA+ society, Myfanwy Thursday, which raised money for Brighton-based
Heydtmann, kicked off Tuesday’s celebrations with LGBTQIA+ mental health charity, ‘Mind Out’. To
a wondrously insightful talk on Asexuality and diversify things further, students then enjoyed a special
Aromanticism, aptly named ‘A is for Ace!’. Lower LGBTQIA+-themed House Debating Final on the
motion: ‘Changing public attitudes to LGBTQIA+
people is best achieved through legislation’. As if
that wasn’t enough, students then had the chance to
celebrate in the traditional end-of-term social, this time
soundtracked by LGBTQIA+ artists as well as featuring
joyous performances from the cast of the school’s recent
production of ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ and Timi Esan.

Even if we ignore the inimitable vogueing of our
Reverend Andy, the week was a remarkable success,
bringing the Ardingly community closer together and
helping to make the school a more inclusive place for
all. Special thanks must go to Owen Young, Myfanwy
Heydtmann, Ben Jerrit, Lindsay Willis-Wood, Dan
Davies, Reverend Andy, Joanne Navas, Cecile Semple
and, of course, all the members of the school’s
LGBTQIA+ Societies. The Equality, Diversity and
Inclusion department are now working hard to build
on this success by making this an annual week with a
changing focus every year. Watch this space…

L GREENE

GEOGRAPHY

West Wittering Beach Field Trip

One amazing aspect of studying Geography at Ardingly SPORT
College is the interactive nature of the activities we
engage with outside the classroom. An example of Basketball
this was our field trip to West Wittering beach on the
11th May. West Wittering is a Site of Special Scientific Looking back on this season makes
Interest, which is close to important wetland areas for me proud to be a member of the team,
many wild birds. The purpose of this trip was to gather with all the teamwork and dedication
primary data and information on coastal environments required to win the league. Covid and
and to document the investigations we undertook. other external factors created significant
The weather forecast was for pleasant conditions, but obstacles, however, we overcame them to
we arrived to find less than perfect weather for an enjoy the games as much as possible.
outdoor investigation. Those who planned put on their It began with a rather disappointing
waterproofs (most of us hadn’t) and we set off with our start back in September as our team
equipment. We were looking at the relationship between lost against Eastbourne College in an
the size of the sediment and distance from the high- away fixture. Despite the struggles we
water mark using manual clinometers, callipers, and integrated new players, competed with
tape measures. We were applying the knowledge gained a diminished team and led up until the
in the classroom to come to conclusions as to why second half. The reduced number of
beaches are shaped and formed the way they are. After a players provided us with an idea of the
damp lunch of pasties and cake, our enthusiastic guides, level of fitness and endurance we needed.
Mary and Sue, took our group on an insightful tour of To be honest, after the first game our
the sand dunes, pointing out many of the interesting intrinsic motivation and ability were
geographical features of the area. Although the questioned by ourselves and others, but
Wittering trip was interesting, my sights are now set on the performance in the next game proved
the upcoming Iceland trip in October 22. This promises those doubting us wrong.
to be extremely exciting and a chance to experience
some of the wonders of the natural world. With the ever-committed Coach,
Carl, and our inspirational captains,
SADIE HITCHEN REMOVE Age and Seb, we managed to come up
with tactics and strategies that we used
throughout the season. Furthermore, the
support from the Upper Sixth gave us the
power and height we needed. In the next
game, the team from Claremont School
put unexpected pressure on our nerves
and patience. As no team was dominating
the court, this tight game became very
challenging. Fortunately, the support
from the crowd inspired us during extra
time, when we were able to secure the
victory in the last minute.

In the next game, the improved
chemistry between team members
led us to further improve our
interconnectedness. With a variety of
nationalities and ages, time spent training
together is vital to help the team to grow.
Predominantly drawn from the Fifth and
Lower Sixth, an essential connection
was created with many able to practise

26
|
27

together outside of the usual games HISTORY tour was not only great for educational
slots. Unfortunately, just when we were purposes but also all of us being history
acting as one team rather than individual Sixth Form students meant we all loved the history
players, Covid halted our plans: with case London Trip surrounding the place and of course all
numbers rising throughout the country, the death and action that has occurred
the remaining Michaelmas games were On Thursday 17th March, there. We then walked to Borough
cancelled. the A level students in Market to enjoy delicious street food
the Sixth Form went with the chicken tortilla and the burger
A long wait until February ensued, on a History trip up to stand being the favourite pick of them all,
which gave us even more time to practise London, visiting the before making our way to the Imperial
our tactics and grow together as a team. famous Tower of London War Museum.
During that time, not only the team but along with the Imperial
also the sport of basketball in general at War Museum, with a great HENRY NOTT LVI
Ardingly began to flourish. With more lunch at Borough Market
supporters at the games and the addition in between. After the Tower of London and the
of sessions in the Prep School, its delicious lunch at Borough Market the
popularity increased massively, leading The trip began with pupils took the tube to the Imperial War
to a crowded sports hall on Tuesday and a short walk to the Tower Museum to see the Holocaust Galleries.
Thursday evenings, and that increased of London where we were The exhibition focuses on personal and
turnout and the achievements of the team given a small talk from individual stories from the Holocaust told
took us to another level. an expert guide on what through photos, books, artworks, letters,
we would be looking at and personal items such as watches or
With the extraordinary support around the Tower, which jewellery, as well as toys and musical
provided by Mr Davies, we were able was mainly the sites instruments. The Galleries cover Hitler’s
to have regular games during the Lent relating to the topic of rise to power, his control of Germany, the
Term. In each of the games, our team has the Wars of the Roses expansion into Eastern Europe and the
presented its core strength: adaptability which is a huge part of Holocaust itself, as well as the liberation
and determination to come back, even our A Level course and of the camps. The exhibition was truly
after being down 10 points in the what we were studying sobering and moving, particularly the
first quarter against teams with clear at the time. Not only did rooms dedicated to the mass killings of
physical advantages; comebacks against we learn about the topics the Einsatzgruppen (SS), such as Babi
Claremont and Worth were particularly surrounding the Wars of Yar. In this way, the exhibit is not centred
memorable and our fighting qualities the Roses but the history around Auschwitz, it looks at the whole
were responsible for our consistent of the Tower of London Holocaust, from causes to impacts.
triumphs. Special mentions must go to and how it changed over This is a fresh break from some other
Nico and Charlie, for their ever-present time, originally being Holocaust narratives, which sometimes
inspirational performances this season, made by William the only focus on the concentration camps.
as well as Marvin and our captains who Conqueror as a fortress to This humanises the victims of the
formed the spine of our championship- defend his royal power and Holocaust, stopping them being seen
winning team. continuing to be a place as simply numbers. The exhibit has
of protection for royal received almost universal praise, and the
Looking back on the season, I am families through time, but pupil body strongly recommend it for a
delighted to have been part of the team also evolving into a war sobering and moving look at Europe’s
and am honoured to be captain next year. prison where various key greatest massacre.
As always, the team achievements were historical figures have
only possible because of the personal been held throughout BERTIE NUTTALL LVI
commitments of Coach Carl, Mr Davies, history. Overall, the
the Sports Department, Age and Seb,
and of course the rest of the players.

JUSTUS RETHMANN LVI

which face women daily but also reclaim

the power to find solutions for this

institutional misogyny and apathy across

all spheres of society.

Other highlights of the week

included visual representation of the

New Era and International topics we discussed: our Vigil Tree in
Women’s Day the centre of the College (beautifully
created by the Art department), creating

a space to honour the faces and names of

‘I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her the women and girls killed by men since

shackles are very different from my own.’ ‘We have been 2021; a Stations of the Cross exploring

taught that silence would save us, but it won’t.’ female suffering through powerful

- AUDRE LORDE photographs by Anna Ensink; and

mirrors around the college, asking ‘Who

In New Era’s eighth successful year, we have reflected do I see?’ of those passing. Workshops

on the vision of feminism and solidarity raised here throughout the week led by inspiring

by Lorde and, more importantly, aimed to fulfil its women such as adventurer Holly Budge

spirit in our actions, discussions and events for the and a panel on Women in Work with

College community. Beyond our central belief in the successful and passionate OAs, all

social, political and economic equality of the sexes that facilitated thought-provoking discussion.

defines feminism, Lorde implores that we continue to Ms Spink, Ms Gilmore-Bailey and Ms

look outwards and dig deeper into the ways in which O’Neill Kaan ran a workshop on ‘Finding

feminism intersects with wider conversations of equality, your Voice and Using It’ for female

power and privilege. students - a truly moving experience.

Many of our weekly conversations have centred Slambassadors ran excellent sessions for

around this intersectionality: the recognition that students on finding their creative voice

systems of oppression overlap. We believe it is the duty through slam poetry.

of feminism to educate ourselves on the shackles of Finally, our Red Tent evening in

our sisters and raise our voices in protest; to centre and the magically transformed café created

welcome diverse voices and experience, while identifying a space for sisterhood and allyship in

the ways in which the same oppressive structures which a moving celebration and centring of

control women’s bodies and lives can cause further female voices in a safe and creative space.

suffering and limit freedom for marginalised people It has been an immense privilege

when they intersect with class, race and gender identity. to work with students and staff on

These are challenging and complex conversations creating space for these vital questions

but our thoughtful and articulate members (from Shell in our community. Many people have

to Upper Sixth) ably navigate them, demonstrating the commented on their experience of a

compassion, emotional intelligence and communication positive culture shift and on the power

skills which always astound me. This year we had two and beauty of creating spaces where

outstanding co-chairs, Sara Watson and Owen Young, diverse voices are welcomed and heard,

to guide the society and its members. Their passion, where social justice is at the heart of

commitment, vision and relentless tenacity has been our discussions. New Era continues to

second to none. They, and all of the members of the be fully committed to these aims. As

group, are actively committed to helping build an Catherine of Siena said, ‘If you are as you

inclusive, principled and socially engaged College should be, you will set the whole world

community. ablaze.’

The pinnacle of our year was the celebration of J O’NEILL KAAN
International Women’s Day (IWD) over four days in

March 2022. In a year when violence against women,

misogynistic attitudes, regressive policies around

reproductive rights and corruption in state institutions

led many to despair, our IWD Conference explored

‘How to Build A Safer Society for Women and for All’.

The result of much tireless work and passion by our

excellent IWD staff working group, the panel welcomed

28 a stellar line-up of speakers from the fields of policing,
| counselling, communications, local government and

29 alternative medicine to grapple with the harsh realities

It’s time to shout about LAMDA! Emily Ward and Jacob Coughlin have
been doing LAMDA since the Prep
As we emerge from the cocoon of covid lockdowns, School and next term they will take
life is once again ratcheting up to its frenetic pace. their final Grade 8 Gold Medal Acting
More than ever, our children need to be equipped exam. This can carry a UCAS tariff of
with self-confidence. To stand firm, with the ability to 30 points. Emily and Jacob are working
communicate clearly, present their ideas, create, and on three scenes for this grade. In the
connect away from the screens. Restoration comedy, The School For
Scandal, Lady Teazel and Sir Peter
As one of the UK’s oldest and most respected are having a very funny but furious
drama schools, LAMDA ticks all the boxes, with exams argument about money. The duo are
in Acting, Devising, Public Speaking, Musical Theatre, also enjoying the dark and slightly
Verse and Prose, Reading for Performance, Mime, and unnerving play Breathing Corpses and
Shakespeare. While the options could certainly prepare a modern telling of Antigone by Jean
any child for an Oscar-winning role, not every LAMDA Anouilh. The characters they are playing
student is a budding Timothee Chalamet or Florence in each scene are so very different, and
Pugh! Some of our pupils have a quieter, more reserved Emily and Jacob will need to explain
style, and perhaps need a little help to move forward how they developed these characters
into the occasional spotlight. Aside from boosting for performance, using the many acting
young people’s confidence, developing speech skills, technique skills they have learnt. They
stimulating the left-brain (oh, and stacking up some must also talk about the plays in the
handy UCAS points!) LAMDA does more than simply exam, as well as the life and work of their
tick boxes. chosen practitioner Joan Littlewood.

It’s all very well for me to tell you the benefits of LAMDA Emily says —
– but what is it really like? Let’s ask some pupils! “LAMDA has been a great opportunity for
me as it has encouraged me to take steps
Ella Richmond and Izzy Webster got a fabulous out of my comfort zone. It has enabled me
Distinction for their very first Entry Acting exam in to gain confidence and I have developed a
March. This term they have decided to devise two lot as an actor because of it.”
scenes for their Grade 1. For the first scene, they must
devise a story based on a fairy-tale and even before their Jacob says —
first lesson, they had set their hearts upon a retelling of “LAMDA has given me so many
Cinderella and the Little Glass Slipper. Within minutes, transferrable skills that have helped me
the girls had cast themselves as ‘Begonia’ and ‘Petunia’, both develop my acting skills and pursuits,
Cinderella’s vicious sisters and they started to improvise but have also boosted my confidence
arriving at the ball, falling over with excitement as they when interacting with others. The lessons
threw themselves upon the prince! They did make me each week are enjoyable, engaging and
laugh! As they continued to devise their dramatic scene, imaginative and it has been such a worthy
I tried to keep up with them and wrote the words down extra-curricular addition to my academic
for a script. The trouble was that as soon as I had it studies.”
down on paper, the girls had changed it for an even
more outrageous, crazy idea! This will be a slapstick We are so lucky that Ardingly
comedy which has a very unexpected twist at the end… College embraces and supports LAMDA
Izzy and Ella have already started to make a soundtrack as a part of its well rounded education.
of the trumpets and music at the ball. Please come and support us at our
LAMDA Platform evening at the end of
Ella says — term, or stop by the new LAMDA rooms
“LAMDA has helped with my speech and my confidence is by the Dance Hall to say hello to Mrs
really growing. I really enjoy it, every week I am so excited Walters, Mr Bates and me, Mrs Hayman.
to see what will happen!”
We can’t wait to introduce you to
Izzy says — the wonderful world of LAMDA!
“LAMDA is helping me to express myself not only with my
voice but with my face. It's really fun and exciting.” J HAYMAN

Ardingly Medical Society instance, we attempted a few problem-based learning
cases, where knowledge is obtained based on realistic
The Ardingly Medical Society has given us prospective problematic symptoms experienced by patients.
medics, access to a wide range of tools that provide This provides a great insight into certain teaching
us with useful information about the medical degree styles in some UK medical schools, in contrast to
course and profession. We recently attended a virtual traditional lecture-based learning styles that most
UCL lecture which informed us about the components, students experience, which allows us to select medical
advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of evidence- universities that we know we will not regret! We also
based medicine. We have also had talks about the covered topics that are relevant today, such as the
potential application of medicine to treat certain medical concerns faced by the LGBTQIA+ community,
conditions, such as how the immune system can be palliative care in an aging world and medical bias in
manipulated to fight cancer. medical research, through information learnt in lessons
and the book reviews we wrote.
We have also been fortunate enough to have
attended talks from NHS professionals, who have told To further support our path in becoming future
us their experience and highlighted certain aspects of doctors or healthcare workers, Mrs Segalini-Bower,
the NHS that could be improved. In November, we leader of Med Soc has also provided us with various
had a talk from our very own Mrs Haines, who talked BMAT and UCAT courses and resources, one of which
to us about her previous career as an NHS biomedical was delivered by a medical student from Imperial
scientist. She introduced us to the training required College on a Saturday. We were also spoiled with a
for this field and the different areas of pathology selection of fruits, biscuits, multiple cups of tea and
involved, such as bacteriology and parasitology. We coffee, to fuel us with all the energy needed for this
also had a talk from Gemma Dawson, the deputy demanding yet very rewarding course!
director of NHS strategy, who shone light upon the
link between race and being in the most deprived 20% Despite all the challenges of not being able to
and experiencing health inequalities. She also made us have access to in-person work experiences, due to the
aware of her blueprint for solving racism in the NHS, pandemic, all students managed to complete various
which involves health and wellbeing hubs, increased online work experiences, such as those on offer from
BME service options, reduced restrictive collective Brighton-Sussex University, and there is also much
practices and a culturally capable workforce. Our most support for building personal statements.
recent talk was with Dr Stephanie Smith, an NHS
consultant microbiologist, who recounted her journey Ultimately, all experiences mentioned above are
into the medical profession and her experience of how merely a part of what Med Soc at Ardingly College
underprepared the NHS was to contain this pandemic. offers. Med Soc is more than a useful tool that helps
medical school applications; it is more like a small
Additionally, Med Soc also provides great community where long-lasting friendships are made and
opportunities to gain further insight into medical a place where aspiring medics can flourish!
universities, through interactive approaches. For
CHER CHU LVI

SOFIA CLAMP LVI

CRAFT

Nimble Fingers

Nimble Fingers is a new

enrichment programme

for the Senior School

teaching crafts and

boosting creativity. It

mainly consists of origami

and crocheting, but also

gives us the opportunity to

30 use our creativity in other skills first and have followed on to produce pieces like
ways we decide. The EP is crocheted flowers and hearts. We have also improved
educational and teaches us our origami skills creating animals and Christmas
intricate skills, but is also decorations. Over the course of 12 weeks, we will have
relaxing and therapeutic, had a term of an enjoyable, educational, and creative EP
giving us a break from teaching us new skills and having had produced several
academics. We follow of our own handcrafted projects.
videos and steps learning

| the basic units and ISABELLA DENKL UVI

31

Rev’s Reveries

2021/22 was my first year as a school College community singing carols in the
chaplain of any kind, let alone at open air.
Ardingly, so I have nothing to compare
it with, but I’m pretty sure it was not a Lent term saw two important
typical year. After a first half-term of Themed services, firstly for International
full chapel services, singing hymns and Women’s day, to which local vicar Arwen
gathering together, we entered a period of Folkes was our visiting speaker, and the
restricted gatherings and mask wearing in LGBTQIA+ week which saw a rainbow
flag adorn the Chapel tower and various
response to the increased speakers during the week educating the
Covid infections. Full students on LGBTQIA+ matters. Both
College Chapel services of these weeks celebrated and reflected
were cancelled, and I was the work of the College’s EDI group
asked to think creatively. and many students and staff reflected
Ever the adventurous with me in the weeks following how far
creative I set about we as a College have travelled in recent
recording, and having years regarding these issues. The image
lively editing added to, a of a rainbow-adorned chaplain speaking
series of reflections. My positively about LGBTQIA+ issues was
thanks go to my son and for many a revelation and a joy.
Luc West for having the
skills and ingenuity to Trinity term took on a more
take my less interesting celebratory feel and, with May 4th being
talks and make them a Wednesday I took the opportunity
something that senior to enter chapel to the Star Wars theme
school students wanted dressed in full Darth Vader outfit.
to view. Students later exclaimed it was ‘the
best chapel service we’ve ever been to’.
Two half-terms of May also saw a staff member, Donald
restrictions later and Walmsley, leading and preaching at a
we were back in chapel Chapel service, this time on the theme of
again. Now standing at the end of Trinity science and religion.
term things feel like they are getting
back to normal and the whole College As well as Senior School Chapel
community is heaving a great sigh of services there are of course also Prep
relief as end of year events look like they School Chapel, which has looked
will progress in a pre-pandemic manner. at various parables and Jesus’ post-
During those periods when we have Easter appearances, as well as Pre-prep
been able to meet, a number of chapel Collective worship, in which Rusty the
services stand out as important moments. puppet dog makes a regular appearance.
My installation in September by
Provost Bishop Jonathan was a glorious In addition to these I have spent
celebration of all things Ardingly and a good deal of time reflecting on what
an important event in making me feel at Ardingly’s Christian Ethos is and how
home here. we should be putting it into practice.
In October we ‘celebrated’ the more This has linked nicely with the wider
sombre, but equally meaningful, All College reflection on the World Ready
Souls Day which saw over 300 students purpose and how we as a College define
and staff lay candles on the chapel floor our values. This is a longer-term project
in memory of loved ones who have died. and one which I am very pleased to be
October also saw a student, Nick Scherer, involved in.
giving part of the sermon, on the theme
of failure. This is something I hope to I’m not sure how I can top this
develop more in the future. Then in year, but I look forward to being ever
December Covid restrictions forced the more inventive, creative, collaborative
Carol Service to become a Community and involving of staff and students in the
Carols on the Quad event with the whole years to come.

Blessings.

REV ANDY

competing in the inaugural London to

Brighton EV rally before going to trials

at Dunsfold with Cambridge and Durham

Universities.

During this last year, using the

technology obtained over the past

decade pupils have been designing and

building the new flat-pack solar car,

which will be an off-road SUV for the

developing world with the potential

to provide off-grid power. In short, it

is a tuk-tuk replacement with an Elon

Musk touch. The team hopes this may

have commercial applications. We

are presently talking to our sponsored

schools in Kenya to organise trials in

2024.

Due to the profile of the team, we

have managed to acquire sponsorship

for a new venture. We have purchased,

through the sponsorship of GEW (EC)

Ltd and the Rae family, a London

Double-Decker Bus which at the time of

writing has just been wrapped.

Over the summer we are converting

the inside of the bus, with the lower

level a laboratory and the top level a

design come teaching area. The idea

is that this will be located at ICC and

Ardingly Ifield Solar provide a facility where extracurricular
solar activities can occur. This mobile

facility means that we can present STEM

At the time of writing, with oil prices rising and more projects at primary/ prep schools and

frequent weather records being surpassed, the need for events. Hopefully we can make a small

solar energy is becoming ever-more relevant. At Ardingly difference to the drastic shortage the

we have been building solar cars for over a decade, UK faces in STEM-trained workers. The

educating our pupils on the latest technologies. Ardingly science technicians are very

We still hold the record of being the only school proactive and have already compiled a

from Europe to have ever entered the Bridgestone World long list of impressive experiments which

Solar Challenge (Darwin to Adelaide (3000km) in 2015 we hope to demonstrate.

and 2019). Over the next decade we need to

Last summer to highlight the Conference of the make important decisions on sustainable

Parties (COP 26) in Glasgow, the team decided to transport solutions. The team through

undertake a UK tour. This involved having the ‘Basking the guidance of Jamie Large are working

Beastie’ road registered. This was achieved with much on an online course. This we hope will

angst and the support of four MPs and the Secretary empower our pupils to take a proactive

of State for Transport. The car then undertook a UK role in this debate.

tour from Inverness to Haywards Heath, involving 20 Next year we are very fortunate,

students from Ifield Community College and Ardingly. due to the generosity of both Ardingly

Stopovers included Inverness Castle, St Andrews, and Ifield Colleges, to employ two solar

Glasgow (SEC), Holyrood, Edinburgh, York, talks interns Lucia and Ben (Surrey/Brighton

at the Leicester Space Centre, Diddly Squat (Jeremy University). These third-year mechanical

Clarkson), The HQ of the Institute of Motoring (where engineering students we hope will make a

we were awarded IMI Centre Status), Central London huge difference to the project.

and then back to Ardingly College: a mammoth trip that We can make a difference.

raised money for the IMI charity, Ben. DR A SPIERS MBE
We were then invited to present the car to the
32
| Princess Royal, HRH Princess Anne.

33 The team played a key role in organising and Makenna Bates LVI >



SPORT

Fencing

Despite the fact that we, as fencers, fencers because it is the experiences that
already wear masks and gloves and stay matter the most. This year we have really
two metres apart, we have not been able developed, and I am proud to be captain
to fence and this was incredibly difficult of such an amazing team.
for some of us. However, as Covid has
thankfully withdrawn, our team has A memorable moment that I have
grown not just in size but in ability, been asked to mention in this is from
confidence, and engagement. back in September, our first match of the
Being finally able to start playing year against Tonbridge. We were warming
matches again for the first time in almost up and I got a tap on the shoulder from
two years has been exciting and an Ella Bath (Y10) and Jia Yi Ji (Y10)
amazing opportunity for our fencers to and when I turned around, I saw that
show off their skills, like their fleches somehow these two had managed to
snap an entire sword in half, quite an

or balestras. Overall, we were not as achievement I’d say.

successful as we had hoped to be and Some accomplishments that deserve

whilst this may have felt disheartening at to be mentioned include our recent

times, I think we all used each bout as an success at the Public Schools Fencing

34 opportunity to learn and become better Championships where Oliver Hughes

|

35

(5th) came first in the Boy’s Junior Foil, SPORT
Amelia Ward (5th) came 5th in the Girls
Junior Foil, I (LV1) came 32nd in the Boys’ Football
Girls Senior Epee, Jia Yi Ji came 35th
in the Boy’s Junior Epee and finally Ardingly football this year has seen an
Darcey Walker-Lee (Y9) came 49th average of 12 boys’ teams representing
in the Mount-Haes Foil. Additionally, the school on a Saturday, which is a great
Georgia Green (Y9) won the U16 Sussex number of students to be out playing for
County Foil Championships and Jia the school. The fixtures included playing
Yi also qualified for the Open Sussex the likes of Hampton, Millfield, Whitgift
Epee Competition. Finally, the British and Winchester College. From a team
Youth Championships. Oliver came perspective, the 1st team finished seventh
3rd in the U16 Boys Foil, Amelia came in the national HUDL League, competing
11th in the U18 Girl’s Foil and again Jia with the best schools in the country
Yi came 10th in the U16 Boy’s Epee. and the U15s and U14s competed
Additionally, in May we had the Sussex in the Elgin League. Noticeably, the
Championships where Ella Bath and highlight of the 1st team’s season,
Darcy Walker-Lee won their categories from an on-the-pitch perspective, was
(U16 Girls Epee and Foil) and Georgia beating Charterhouse 8-—0 in the first
Green and Jia Yi Ji placing in the top game of the season. The resultant fire
5 of each their categories. Along with created in the squad was unquenchable.
these results, we had many of our Unfortunately, this momentum could not
prep school fencers join us and a huge be translated into victories on the pitch,
congratulations goes to Henry O’Hara however, resulting in an early exit from
in year 3 for winning the U10 Boys Foil! the national ISFA Cup. Nevertheless,
Congratulations to you all, these are this did not discourage the boys from
some stunning results!!! enjoying their football, with some great
goals being scored throughout the season.
Mr Jerrit, on behalf of the team,
I would like to thank you for making The bounceback-ability of the team
fencing at Ardingly possible and for was perhaps embodied best by Pedro
arranging our matches and training Sampaio, who received Hudl’s Player of
sessions. You’ve given us such a great the Season award after an accumulation
and unique opportunity and we are all of stellar performances throughout
glad to be part of such an amazing, albeit the year. Other mentions go to Adam
dangerous, sport. Thank you! Lonsdale, Archie Eaton, Oliver Cowdrey,
Jay Johnston, Josiah Wood, Felix Banke-
Additionally, Matt, Mark, and Mr Wallis, Ollie Cash and captain Timi
Hughes, our esteemed coaches, without Esan, who all received a call-up to their
any of you, we would have just been a respective national ISFA squads after a
bunch of idiots with swords, and it is you series of trials between September and
three that have guided us to the levels December. This is a great number of
that we are, and we appreciate your boys to have representing the school at a
expertise in every session so much. national school level.
I think the most important people to
thank, though, are the members of the A special mention must go to
team. Thank you all for an incredible year Shimmy Mhueka, who represented
of fantastic fencing and memories. Sadly, England U15s and Brighton & Hove
we will be losing two members of the Albion U18s whilst only being in Shell.
team, Lucianna Denney and Alex Fudge. This is a brilliant achievement.
I just wanted to say that from myself and
everyone on the team, good luck with The 4th XI boasted the highest win
your post-Ardingly lives, we will miss you! percentage this year, with a seven-game
unbeaten streak.
SOFIA HARRISON LVI
It has been a good year for Ardingly
football and it has felt great to have a
sense of normality back with the games
programme.

N HUSTLER

SPORT Final
• Ardingly 6—0 The Weald
Girls’ Football
The Under 15’s are no stranger to the U15 ISFA Girls
Achievements National Sevens, having won the competition for the last
• ISFA U15 National 7’s Winners two years.
• ISFA U18 South East League Winners
• ISFA U15 South East League Winners They started slowly with two draws, they then
• Sussex Schools County Cup U16 Winners regained their form, winning the last two matches of the
• Charterhouse U18 Invitational tournament Winners group, taking them through to the Semi-Finals where
they faced Rossall. Holding onto an early lead they
House Football - Junior reached the final against Surbiton.
1 Neal
2 Burgess In the final it wasn’t until the second half that a
3 Aberdeen goal was scored, and although Surbiton pushed hard,
4 Toynbee Ardingly’s defence held firm which secured Ardingly
College the title.
House Football - Senior
1 Neal Our full results were
2 Aberdeen • Ardingly 0—0 St. Albans
3 Toynbee • Ardingly 1—1 St. Helens & St. Katherines
4 Burgess • Ardingly 3—1 St. Margarets
• Ardingly 4—0 Millfield
Club stats • ½ final – Ardingly 1—0 Rossall
P33 W25 D0 L8 GF148 GA47 GD +101 • Final – Ardingly 1—0 Surbiton High

Captain 2022 This year is one of the most successful, and it’s also
Sophia Williams been our biggest year of football with over 70 girls
playing in fixtures for the senior school for several teams
2022 has been the most successful season in history for including U14A, U15 A & B, U16A, 1stXI and 2ndXI.
Girls’ football at Ardingly College. For the first time, we Following on from our team achievements, we have
entered the Sussex Schools FA County Cup in the U16 also had a number of great individual achievements
category. this season. Starting with Lizzie Hastings and Brooke
Burton who, after a long trial day in September, were
The final saw the Ardingly team face The Weald selected to represent the ISFA National U16 team.
Community School, who had scored a lot of goals
during the competition. The first 20 minutes was a They impressed the National team coaches, who
very cagey affair, with both teams struggling to keep had to select 18 players from over 150 who trialled; a
possession, and only creating the odd half-chance. Right simply superb achievement. Following this, our next
before half time, Connie Penlington managed to pounce individual achievements came from Connie Penlington
on some slow defending, scoring two goals in a minute, and Nancy Foster; after getting off to great starts in
taking the team into the half time at 2-—0. In the second their respective teams, these two quickly got into a
half, Ardingly started to play the way they really can, battle to become the club’s top goal scorer. Within
keeping possession and creating a lot of chances. As this battle, both players also achieved some incredible
the half went on, the fitness levels showed and Ardingly records. Firstly, Nancy scored six goals in a game, in
were able to extend their lead to 6-—0 claiming the two successive matches. Secondly, Connie had a run of
Sussex County cup in their first year of trying. Connie six hat-tricks in six games, including scoring six goals
was also awarded the player of the match trophy. in a 6—0 win in the County Cup ¼. Overall, Nancy
scored 17 goals in 11 games and Connie 35 in 17 games,
1st round making her the top scorer of the year. Other notable
• Ardingly 7—1 Heathfield Community College achievements were Sorcha Dunphy and Poppy Chance
for being selected for the ISFA South programme,
2nd round Sophia Williams being called up for the Cayman Island
• Ardingly 1—0 Dorothy Stringer international team, and finally Brooke Burton who
became the first female player at the college to play in
¼ finals the boys U15 ISFA National cup game vs Bournemouth
• Hove Park 0-—6 Ardingly Collegiate, winning 6—1.

½ finals M GARDNER
• Ardingly 2—1 Imberhorne
36
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37

SPORT

Boys’ Hockey

SPORT On the boys’ side, the hockey programme found its
feet quickly after missing a season and a half due to
Girls’ Hockey Covid-19. It was fantastic to see the boys back out on
the astro and they all deserve credit for how well they
The Girls’ Hockey programme has gone from strength applied themselves. The 1st team had an amazing
to strength this year and the continued production line season, and their free-flowing, attacking hockey turned
of players coming up from our Prep School all the way many heads throughout the staff and pupil body, with
up to the 1st XI has been fantastic to see. The 1st XI crowds lining the astro to see the boys play on a Friday
had their best season for many years and the U15 and night! Special individual mention in the first team
U14 girls were county champions. Special individual should go to Josh Barrott and Jack Webb who were
mention must go to Biba Mills and Isla Johnson in Shell selected for England U18 and U17 teams respectively.
who have performed fantastically at the England Hockey In the younger ages, the U14 boys were crowned county
Performance Centre, have become multiple national champions, with captain Josiah Wood the standout
champions with their club team, and also made their performer with 25 goals in 15 games!
1st XI debuts this year. Those two, along with Connie
Penlington and many more, show just how exciting the 1st XI Boys’ Hockey
hockey programme will be for the foreseeable future. Josh Barrott, 1st XI Boys’ Hockey Captain, writes: “The
Ardingly 1st XI returned with a bang after a year out of
1st XI Girls’ Hockey hockey due to Covid-19. The 2021-22 season was a very
Captain Darcey Frankland writes: “This hockey season successful campaign for our 1st team, being statistically
has had a much more professional feel and culture to the best in the last 10 years with a win percentage of 73%
previous years. We had the amazing opportunity to go and - to add to this - the boys went unbeaten in Saturday
to Bisham Abbey for pre-season training, which was the block fixtures. The team this year was boosted by a large
first time girls’ hockey had been given the chance to do injection of fresh young talent with 5 Fifth-form pupils
this. While we were there we trained at the home of Great regularly playing, two Remove students making their debuts
Britain’s Hockey teams and played a match against a local and one Shell student making theirs! This abundance of
team, from which we took away some important lessons. talent accompanied with seven experienced Upper Sixth
During the season itself, we won 10 of our 15 matches. students made for an exciting and very strong team.”
We also made it further in the National Cup than we have
done for a number of years.” “The highlights were a sterling performance to beat
a strong Trinity side 4-—1 and a great finish to the season
“Our players’ player and top goal scorer this season with a 10—0 destruction of Lingfield under the floodlights
goes to Claire Eymer, with 15 goals. I wish the other U6th on a Friday evening, with the Upper Sixth students
girls, Lottie and Claire, the best in the future. And I know combining to score 7 of those in their final game for the
the younger girls in the team, who will be back next year, College.”
have a promising season ahead of them. Thank you to
Mr Naughalty and Miss Brown, who have pushed and • Golden stick Jack Webb (14 goals in 9 games)
supported us throughout the season (even if it didn’t feel • Players’ player of the season George Schooley
like it whilst running the 10 pitch-length fitness sessions!!).” • Players’ most improved player Oscar Jespersen

DARCEY FRANKLAND UVI JOSH BARROTT UVI

ENGLISH

Animal Farm Theatre Trip

I enjoyed the production of Animal Farm due to the use allowed us to see what was happening
of the puppets. This was especially useful as it helped on a larger scale. I also enjoyed how they
us to imagine what the animals looked like. This gave were able to combine this element with
us increased immersion and allowed to have a deeper the larger puppets and actors.
connection with the animals and characters.
However, it did alter the story
Furthermore, the way that they used the production slightly, but I believe that this added
used the screen at the top helped us to find out the more drama to the performance and did
name of the animals, their age and how they died. This improve it.
not only added an element of comedy but also helped us
connect with the animals at a deeper level. Overall, I believe that it was a highly
enjoyable performance that fully engaged
The way that they used the smaller puppets and the audience.
silhouettes added a different element to the show as it
HENRY LAND SHELL

SPORT capacity of the games sessions always stretched. This
year we have added an option to row during the Monday
Rowing EP sessions, which allows some of the more dedicated
pupils to have more time on the water to further hone
After a Covid-induced reduction in activity in the 2020- their craft.
2021 season, this year saw the return to rapid growth for
Ardingly College Boat Club. Highlights of this year included hosting teams
from the University of Sussex, Ardingly Rowing
We are privileged that our rowing takes place on Club, Hurstpierpoint College and our own team for
the reservoir, just a short walk from the campus. Thanks the virtual British Indoor Rowing Championships in
to our excellent co-operation with Ardingly Rowing December. Ably supported by our IT department and
Club, we have full access to their facilities and during catering, we had eight ergometers linked up live to the
2021-22 more than 90 pupils from Shell to Upper 6 have competition. The atmosphere was great: more than 20
been able to experience and enjoy the sport, with the

SPORT

Swimming

Ardingly Swim Squad has had its most At the Bath & Otter Cup, Lyubomir

successful season ever in 2021-2022. The Tushev, Ollie Richardson, Ben Chalmers
team became Sussex League Champions and Alex Davis won a very exciting
with victories in all three rounds against 4x100m freestyle relay to bring the Bath
Eastbourne College, Lancing College and Cup to Ardingly and in a thrilling 4x50m
medley relay, the girls’ team of Helene
Bedes.
Maurice-Jones, Katie Foss, Nicky Lautre
We had six relay teams qualify for
and Georgia Gairdner won the TL Stead
the ESSA Championships Finals, our
most ever, and the first time we have had Trophy.
Lyubo Tushev and Helene Maurice-
any girls’ teams make it through.
In February, the squad took home Jones captained the team superbly this
the prestigious Tonbridge Trophy, beating year across all inter-school galas and the
Ardingly Swim Squad remains unbeaten
10 other schools, including Harrow,
38 since 2019.
| Dulwich, Charterhouse and Eton
39 College. K PICKERING

students competed and Ardingly College Boat Club race appearances at Walton, Teddington, Maidstone
took home three national bronze medals. Angus and Kingston. Will May has had several wins in the J18
Hussey won bronze in the Shell 500m sprint and single and put in good performances with Tom Thurston
Will Thurston won two bronze medals, one in the in a J18 double. Since the start of the side-by-side racing
Remove 500-metre sprint, and one in the Year 10 season, which got underway in April, we have raced at
5-minute race. Will also finished fourth as part of the Ball Cup and the National Schools Regatta, with
the boys’ relay competition, losing out narrowly further regattas planned in the Summer.
by a mere 3 metres to Langley Academy. Ardingly
produced further good places and personal bests The Ball Cup, held annually at Eton Dorney (the
in many events, with the students and visitors Olympic rowing lake), provided an impressive and
thoroughly enjoying the competition. inspiring backdrop for some close and exciting six-lane
The action on the water was no less exciting. racing. Our largest team ever raced in singles, doubles
Ardingly College Boat Club has participated so far in and quads, integrating more pupils new to rowing into
the largest number of races in its history, with head the racing squad. The J18 double with Benedict Weis
and Tom Thurston managed to beat sevem boats to get
into the A final, and Vittorio Sallier de la Tour in his J16
single also made it to the A final but lost out on a silver
medal by the narrowest of margins in a photo finish.
For the National Schools Regatta, Will May represented
Ardingly College on the biggest national stage possible,
and rowed his J18 single into the A/B final, beating two
thirds of the competition on the way.

Our by-now traditional match with Hurst College
was also a fabulous success. Both the boys’ double
with Tom and Vittorio, as well as the coxed girls’ quad
with Sadie Hitchen, Sophie Holland, Charlotte Pope,
Eloise Mode and Christopher Boedeker-Rasmussen
(cox), dominated their opposition with a fine display of
rowing.

With Will May passing on the captaincy of the Boat
Club to Tom Thurston, rowing at Ardingly is in a very
healthy place right now, with plans to grow further and
to introduce an ever-growing number of pupils to this
wonderful sport. We are grateful to Power 10 Rowing
Services Ltd, who provide the expertise, coaching and
organisation, as well as to Ardingly Rowing Club for the
co-operation which makes rowing possible for us.

W WEIS

ENGLISH Song’ allowed a pause in the pace of the show, and was
an interesting interpretation. Heathcliff's character
Wuthering Heights Theatre Trip - 2 experienced a range of emptions over the course of
the show, creating a really dramatic effect. It added
The Kneehigh-Brechtian-style production of Wuthering suspense because we never knew what side of him
Heights, really changed my perception of the novel. The we would see. The rock song allowed for a change in
innovation of having all the ensemble seated on stage tone; an unexpected choice for Catherine’s character.
during the show, made it into a story full of energy Additionally, I enjoyed the set decisions, such as the
and life, and made me think about the characters in isolated door and window hanging from the ceiling; a
a different way. The production was kept pacy as a simplistic choice, but making the geography of the scene
result, and techniques like having chalk boards with easy to understand. However one thing I wished they
the passed children’s names for the funeral helped had done differently was the scene with the window and
keep the audience engaged; I always felt I knew what Heathcliffe calling Catherine – unfortunately they made
was happening even in quite a complex story. In it almost comedic when in the book the addition of a
addition, the live band on stage added an element of ghost makes it quite a horrific, gothic-style scene.
elation and enthusiasm to the production, keeping
it up-tempo throughout. Having the Yorkshire Moor MATILDA LEE LVI
literally entering downstage left and singing the ‘Moor

SPORT

Tennis

After an enforced hiatus, it has been wonderful to
have a full schedule of tennis back at Ardingly College.
Preparation for the season started in September with
over thirty-five players involved in pre-season training
sessions on Tuesdays, led by our fantastic coaching team
from Matchpoint Tennis, headed by Adam and Pat. A
further twenty players braved the cold and dark after
Christmas to play during EP and a games session ran for
juniors on Tuesday afternoons in Horsted Keynes.

The Summer term greeted us with warm weather
and fine matchday food provided by the
wonderful catering team and the start of
a busy fixture list. The traditional season
opener saw our boys play in the Sussex
League at U16 and U18 level.
While the seniors struggled against
three strong sides, the 16s – comprising
Sam Greenyer, Jacob Delo, Archie
Guppy, Luke Taylor and Matthew Peters
(playing up a year) earned well-fought
victories against Bede’s and Worth to
make the 3rd place playoff. The same
side made the quarter finals at the Sussex
Shield at Bede’s later that month, losing
to eventual winners, Eastbourne College.
Both 18s and 16s played strong
Eastbourne sides at the end of April
with the U16s winning 4-—2 with Luke

Young and Sam Greenyer and Tom Francis and Tom
Thorpe winning both their matches. Against the same
opponents, the U18s managed just one win - for top
seeds, Felix Woods and Troy Young. The same pair did,
however, go two better against Worth School in mid-
May with three straight wins. The trip to Lancing before
half-term saw Ardingly earn just one win against a very
strong side – again, Felix Woods with our international
newcomer, Moritz Fassin. At least the season concluded
with a morale-boosting 7-—2 win over Sevenoaks with
2nd pair, Toby Hendrikse and Andrew Bell, repeating
the three wins earned by Felix and Troy. Over the
season, the UVI players were ably supported by Bertie
Nuttall and Max Bussenschutt who will lead the way for
Ardingly tennis next year.

It is probably the U15 VI who can claim to be the
most successful team of the year. Over their season,
the team, comprising Lucas Quinn, Matthew Peters,
Finn Skelsey-Turner, Koby Miller, James Sanderson and
Harrison Oarton, recorded excellent wins against Worth
School, Eastbourne College, Hurstpierpoint College,
Sevenoaks School and a well-earned draw against
Lancing College. Their finest performance however
was at the Sussex Shield in early May where the team
defeated three teams from hosts, Bede’s, plus Hurst
to reach the regional final. They narrowly lost out to
Cardinal Newman to finish in second place. This was
the best place by an Ardingly team for over six years.

Meanwhile, the 14 VI – ably captained by PSYCHOLOGY
Theo Hall - earned commendable victories against
Eastbourne, Lancing, Worth and Hurst with only Westfield, London Trip
second half-term losses against King’s, Canterbury and
Sevenoaks, ruining their 100% record. Theo – along The day began with a coach journey to
with partner, Henry Andrews – can probably justifiably Westfield in London, where we were
claim to be MVP (most valuable pair) over the season. presented with four sessions over the
In these two, with the support of Colton Crozier, Jared day, all focusing on different aspects
Walton, Oscar Boardman and Rory Fitzmaurice, the of the Psychology A Level course. The
future of boys’ tennis at Ardingly looks bright. PowerPoints were projected on cinema
screens and we were given booklets to
Junior girls’ tennis also looks to be in fine form. In fill out throughout the day and then
Shell, a regular cohort of (captain) Emmy Bax, Stella take away. The first session focused on
Welsh, Amelia Francis and Matilda Dougall has been Research Methods, and we began by
ably supported by Veronica Dimitrova, Leila Guettab, answering multiple choice questions,
Heng Man Cheng, Chong Man Cheng and – when looking at the common mistakes students
she has not been representing the school at football make in their answering of questions
– Minnie Bateman. They have earned good wins at before answering questions ourselves.
Lancing and Hurstpierpoint Colleges and would have The booklets were full of exam hints and
learnt a lot from challenging trips to (the much larger) frequently asked questions, and each
Sevenoaks, Eastbourne and King’s, Canterbury. The 15 book had a unique code to unlock online
VI – usually involving Roma Timperley, Marta Persi, revision courses.
Charlotte Steup and Julia Kraus - have had a much-
curtailed season, but have performed well and with great Session 2 focused on Issues &
professionalism. Particular mention should go to Lily Debates, which began with a recap of
Godfrey who often balanced her football commitments all the approaches and how they fit
with tennis on the same day! in the different issues and debates in
psychology. We planned answers to 16-
Equally, the Senior open team has had a mark essay questions that could come up,
challenging term. The opener of the U18 Sussex Cup at and the leaders of the session focused on
how to compare different approaches if a
Hurst pointed ahead to a question were to come up on it.
difficult season with one
single victory from four Session 3 was a masterclass
matches. The subsequent in writing ‘16-markers’; the essay-
loss of captain Nicole style questions demanded by A-level
Sitou and team regular, psychology. The tutor2u team focused
Olivia McCammon, to on the evaluation - or ‘AO3’ - side of the
their IB examination essays, as these paragraphs award the
schedule meant that most marks. An important lesson learned
a fairly young and by all was in the development of these
inexperienced team would evaluation points: how not to leave the
compete over the rest of point open-ended by asking ‘So what?’ to
the season. That said, the yourself after giving evidence.
team always played with
a smile and my recurring Finally, we had the Grade-booster
memory will be of their reaction on being told that they session. This highlighted little changes
would be playing on grass at an away match at Lancing. that we can make to our exam answers
Gingerly stepping onto this novel surface, Martina and techniques that will gain us marks
Bizzaro probably summed up the whole team’s feelings here and there that may add up to whole
in exclaiming: “this is just wrong” but after an hour was grades.
asking me if we “played any other schools who had grass
courts!?”. My thanks to Martina, Joy Duncan, Carolina LAURA CROOKS UVI
Thoenes, Cher Chu and particularly, Lea Ross, who
played through her GCSEs, for their participation over WILLIAM BLENKINSOP UVI
the term.
In House tennis, the Junior trophies were won by
a very strong Rhodes House for the boys and a Neal
House whose team comprised three out of the top four
players in the year.

S WOODHALL

Voluntary Service Charity Shops
We do many jobs at the charity shop!
Over the last year we have taken part in many voluntary We go through many delivery boxes
service opportunities, both within College and off-site. and donations which consist of all
These included a Bridging Ages Café, visiting nursing sorts of wacky and wonderful things.
homes, a club for children with disabilities as well as If a customer needs help, we are there
working in charity shops. to answer all their questions. However,
my favourite thing we do is dress the
The following are accounts by our students of some mannequins according to a theme that is
of their experiences. going on that week.

Bridging Ages Café LOTTY WHARTON FIFTH
For me, Bridging Ages Café is something quite
impossible to explain, but if I had to, amazing is the Volunteering at the Charity Shop is a
word I would use. The Café offers tea, coffee and good opportunity to understand what
biscuits, and a vast amount of board games for young it takes to run and manage a business,
while also getting a lot of experience
working with customers one on one.
The volunteering entails a mixture of
managing and organising donations,
setting up and refilling the shop, as well
as helping customers around the shop
and working at the till.

JACK HARRISON LVI

and old to play together. My personal favourite is chess. Kangaroos Children’s
Since we were lucky enough to be born and raised with Disability Charity
technology, we can offer assistance to any problems Helping out at Kangaroos Children’s
regarding phones, laptops and tablets. It is great to see Disability Charity was truly an amazing
everyone come out of the café with a big smile on their experience, seeing all those children
faces and the feeling of satisfaction in the air. being happy and playing with us was so
wholesome. I hope that more people can
GHERARDO SALLIER DE LA TOUR LVI experience what I have.
We played with the children and
Nursing Homes helped them to make some sensory bags
Volunteering at the Nursing Home is truly an which they loved. I read a book with
unforgettable and meaningful experience. In order to one of them and he showed me his great
interact and bring back nostalgic memories for the interest in reading. Helping at kangaroos
elderly there, who mostly suffer from dementia, I am might not seem like a big thing for us but
involved with the Music and Memory project. I have it will make a huge difference for them.
enjoyed learning a new piano piece each week, recording
it on my phone, and sharing it with some of the TOMMY MARASTONI LVI
residents on my visits.
I am so happy and honoured to be
Ultimately, through this experience, I have volunteering at the Kangaroos Disability
developed better communication skills with the Charity. It is the most incredible
elderly and the staff. Additionally, this experience opportunity where I get to work with
has also allowed me to polish my piano, planning and such amazing children. Volunteering
organisation skills. encourages you to take steps out of
your comfort zone and enables you to
CHER CHU LVI make the most special connections with
people you don't know. I would highly
recommend that people volunteer at
Kangaroos because I can guarantee that
you will adore the people you meet - it is
such a memorable experience that has
taught me so much.

42 EMILY WARD LVI
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43

COMPUTER SCIENCE

Museum of Computing

Unfortunately, our trip to The National Museum COMPUTER SCIENCE
of Computing didn’t get off to the best start as
congestion on the M25 meant it took 3 hours to make Bebras UK and Oxford
it to our destination. Although we missed one of the University Computing
programming workshops, we were given a tour of the Challenge (OUCC)
Museum which ended with us playing some retro games
Mr Woodall would have played when he was younger. All senior school students were invited to
We then spent time in a programming workshop, writing take part in the international BEBRAS
the code for a snake game on the BBC Micro using challenge. Students from over 40
the programming language BASIC. We were all rather countries were involved and were tasked
grateful to be learning Python after this. with solving different problems using
computational thinking.
M SHEIL
Over 27 students had scores which
put them in the top 10% in the country
and were invited to the next stage of the
competition – The Oxford University
Computing Challenge (OUCC). This
involved using code to solve a number of
different problems.

A big thank you to Mr Lear for
organising the OUCC in the Under.

M SHEIL

COMPUTER SCIENCE edge applications of Computer Science such as
how algorithms are being used to analyse stem cell
Computing in Action, production and how it can be used to find a cure for
London cancer. There were also researchers who explained
their work on creating algorithms to develop smart
Upper and Lower Sixth A Level cities and the development of new algorithms to enable
Computer Science students autonomous vehicles to share and process data. This
attended some great talks from would enable some of the most pressing problems in
leading academics and researchers. logistics and transport to be solved.
The talks covered various cutting-
M SHEIL

BIOLOGY

National Biology Week

Ardingly Biology Department celebrated National
Biology Week with a very full programme of events
including dissection, a wildlife photography competition,
talks, lectures, biology cakes, debates and poetry.

Shell students with the support of Charity prefects
and HoMMs produced and sold a fantastic range of
biology cakes, raising over £300.00 for Orbis, the flying
eye hospital.

Our Medical Society attended a presentation on
Neuroscience by Helene Maurice-Jones and a Lecture
on Spinal Muscular Atrophy by Warwick University
Professor Philip Young.

Ardingly Debating Society contributed to the
celebrations with a very lively and well researched
debate on compulsory vaccinations, with the proposition
narrowly losing and the House supporting the idea that
vaccinations should be compulsory.

Upper Sixth IB and A Level students joined in the
celebrations wearing biology themed ties, socks and
jewellery.

Students from a broad range of year groups
attended talks by Professor Lloyd Peck from the British
Antarctic Survey and a fellow of Wolfson College,
Cambridge, on Adaptations of Antarctic Animals and
the impact of global warming on this amazing and

44
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45 Natasha Vogt LVI

James Robinson UVI
Natasha Vogt LVI

fragile ecosystem.
A Lecture on the Anatomy of Honey

Bees by Apiarist and Marine Biology
Lecturer Janet Preece, highlighted the
importance of maintaining biodiversity
in pollinators and the drastic decline in
insect populations in the British Isles in
the last 100 years.

We had amazing wildlife
photography entries for the competition.

The Nature Watch clubs with their
live cameras placed around the campus,
provided us all with a great range of
photos and footage of the biodiversity we
are surrounded by.

Dissection club was oversubscribed
and students really enjoyed the
opportunity to dissect a full mammal.

The winner of the Biology poetry
competition was U6th IB student
Sebastian Torcassi. Seb allowed his SL
class to name the poem.

Thank you to the whole Biology
Team and to HoMMS, prefects and all
students who contributed with such
enthusiasm and a genuine interest for the
intricacies of our wonderful world in all
its forms.

E SEGALINI-BOWER

Jeremy Sanders LVI

BIOLOGY

Bryophyta’s Divide
Named by the Standard Level IB Class of ’22

Today I walk speaking to myself,
putting categories and verbs between me and the world.
I think of others, I think of the different colours and shapes that divide and hide what truly lies behind.

Today I am a step removed, today there are such things as my shoes, and your shoes, and shoes.
Today, trees to cement to the person next to me, all are far away and thus separated,
leaving me alone to reflect.

I reflect today so tomorrow; I can see myself in the gaze of others.
I reflect today so tomorrow, the natural world around me is no longer around me,
there will be no I to surround; I will be the surrounding.
I reflect today so tomorrow I will be a part, unified,
and un-reified.

I reflect today so tomorrow my skin will crawl equally to a bug on my back, to a bug on a tree, and to an
itch on the bugs back too.

Feel it, take down those walls, closes your eyes, ears, nose, and mouth and become more. I have not seen
my friend Gaia for a millennium, I want to return home.

Lose yourself and gain entirety.

SEBASTIAN TORCASSI UVI
46
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47

Anna Edmonds Shell

Dr Anne Throne
Scholar’s Society

The 2021-2022 academic year saw
the inaugural meeting of the Scholars’
Symposium – otherwise known as the
Dr Anne Thorne Scholars’ Society.
Named after Dr Anne Thorne, who was
Chairman of Governors at Ardingly
for five years, the society was set up to
encourage curiosity and broaden the
academic scholars’ perspectives, being
an entirely scholar-led society. Opening
with a social sciences question – “This
house believes that Barbie is a good role
model for young girls” – our Upper Sixth
speakers Stefan Danev and George Wood
provided an animated and enlightening
discussion, with scholars from Year 7
to Upper Sixth providing thoughts on
the motion. The second meeting aimed
to explore a more scientific topic, “This
house is increasingly concerned that
we are breaching the ethical boundaries
of science.” Not quite going to plan, as
both our speakers were ill on the day,
this was an audience-driven floor debate,
with a lively dialogue between some of
our Upper Sixth philosophy students,
and some very brave Year 7 and 8
students standing their ground through
a discussion that spanned the topics of
happiness, ethics, and space exploration.
It has been an honour to co-chair this
society, and to experience the sheer
love of learning Ardingly’s academic
scholars display, with the chosen
questions encouraging participation and
questioning previous ideas and ideals. We
look forward to passing the baton down
to the next Upper Sixth cohort and have
thoroughly enjoyed working with the
academic scholars this year.

OLYMPE DAVID-DELEPLANQUE UVI

NICK SCHERER UVI

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49 Anna Ensink UVI